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I'm trying to compose a long term campaign, involving a start of the war between the humans and Wolfen. It'll involve finding ancient weapons and magics from the Elf-Dwarf war, maybe exploration of the Palladium world, and otherworldly influences.
Normally, when I run a campaign, it doesn't last long due to the lack of ideas and lack of preparation (I think these two are linked... lol). I want to give the campaign a Final Fantasy VI feel. I was originally thinking of a Lord of the Rings feel, but I don't know if I have what it takes ^^;
Basically, I'm asking for campaign-writing advice. I have no real experience writing storylines, and I'm not sure how to write something longer than a few vague ideas.

Start with an outline. It doesn't have to be rigid (and, in fact, it probably shouldn't be), but have an idea of what is out there for them to find and how they're going to get from hook to hook.

Work out some major NPCs. Not necessarily their "M" (who, ideally, they'll see only a couple times, between adventures), but opposing teams and other nemeses. See where they wind up, and where it makes sense for things to happen.

One option I find works very well is to come up with what the bad guys will be doing in their plans. "If no one plot-significant interferes (i.e. Player Characters), what is going to happen ten days from now?" That lets you know where the bad guys want to be, how they intend to get there, and how they will react when the players mess things up.

A normal campaign focuses around what the players are doing. An epic campaign procedes whether the players are doing anything or not. Unlike a normal campaign where the players pretty much are the plot, in an epic campaign, the players will be trying to figure out the plot, just as much as all the NPCs are. Similar to what Mark suggested, I'd recommend first and foremost figuring our your meta-plot. What world events are taking place? What factions are involved? What will be the actions and reactions of all of those factions to the events that unfold? Who are the primary movers and shakers in each of those factions; not just villains, but all NPC factions allied, opposed, neutral, or otherwise? What are the motivations of these leader NPCs? Who are the disrupters, who are the helpers, who are the issue-focused groups, and who are the generalists?

The key thing to remember is that all of those people, and all of their factions, will be taking action according to events that are unfolding, regardless of whether or not the players have done anything to affect them. The events themselves also will unfold with or without player initation, possibly at times the party finds inopportune, simply because they are on a much bigger scale than the party is able to manipulate. If you're playing a Wolfen War scenario, then war will happen when it happens, not conveniently one day after the group finds ancient magic weapon X. History waits for no man, and in an epic campaign, the players are toying with history. They can either step up, or vanish beneath its boot-heels.

Always keep in mind what the much larger picture is, even if the momentary focus is quite concentrated. You don't need to stat-out every runner, stoolie, and merc in a far off place, but know how to do it in case your players decide to go there. Think of it like a giant map, with very fine writing. As the players move around, you move around your magnifying glass to focus on the spot they're in, but the other areas never cease to exist. They are always still there, still active, and you need to be at the ready to swing your focus wherever the winds take your party.

I once posted a description of games like this:

A single game session is like a single episode of a TV show. It has a specific challenge to address, using the skills already available to the protagonist, to advance them towards a larger goal.

A campaign is like a season of a TV show. It has a series of challenges building towards a final major point, and allows the characters the learn and develop over its course, accomplishing multiple smaller objectives with a mind to complete the big one.

An epic campaign is the entire run of a TV show. Numerous major challenges over a long period of time, with major character development throughout its course, resulting in a protagonist who is greatly changed from the beginning, and a world that is significantly different than it once was. Greater use of back-references and foreshadowing allow for a smoother feel over long periods, and development time allows archtype characters to bloom. The final objective might not be clear, and may not even exist.

Start your players as very small players in the events that are going on but then they are given a task that is crucial to the outcomes of major events. It's pretty difficult to craft an epic but you can look to a lot of stories for inspiration. I've personally never crafted a full epic story in any of my GMing experience. So, good luck to you sir.

Though I totally could.... hmmm.

I set it up like J Lionheart.

I will also have a big bad for the season,with different servants,some recurring and others shots I will also have a few villains who do not wokr for the Big bad at all.

I always thought the Dunegons & Dragons Tv show would have been much better and last longer,if Venger was not the villain of the majorty of the Episodes.
I would have him use more Lt and servants against the Young ones in season 1 and ther would be more one shot villains who do not wokr for him too.

Maybe some people can show some ther villains here?

I always like to start with the PCs the players are gonna use. Post the race, OCC(s), alignments, hostilities and we could throw some ideas back at ya!

Epic can be awesome, if done correctly.

There's a great article in Rifter #4 (available at DriveThruRPG)by Mr. Coffin on this very topic! Also good info to be mined in the Rifts Adventure guide.

In my games I have found that I get the best luck by crafting the villians first. Once you have an epic villian you focus on how to introduce the villian to the players. At that point instead of planning on what the players are going to do, change the perspective. Plan on how the villian would react. It becomes a game of cat and mouse. As the players grow in experiance they become a bigger threat. It may cease being fun for the villian and then you can really start hunting them. We love our heroes, but a hero is only as epic as his challange. Go crazy, make a huge villian that can destroy the group easy, and watch the players improvise adapt and eventually try to overcome.

Some of my best villians have been
- Raksasha love toy who really is the power behind a widowed queen
- A intelligent zombie plague with a hivemind intelligence (the borg meets army of darkness)
- An organization of assassins who are trying to assassinate all heroes, brining the old ones back when the "last blood of the hero falls"
- A plague that causes plant life to lose all nutritional value, forcing the country to contemplate cannabilism when the supply of game animals runs out. The heroes had to stop it before it reaches that point
- The discovery of an ancient city that houses an immobile doomsday rune weapon. Designed by a group of depressed dwarves at the end of the war. It will bring about global disaster if the rune weapon can not be appeased/stopped. The rune weapon would love nothing more then to either full fill its purpose or end its torment, my group never found out.
- A shadowed man (evil Deity) decides he needs a break and appears before the group to tell them in 1 week he will destroy a town. He even tells them with what forces. The group needs to get to that town, rally some defenders, and stop the impending doom. Can they convince the town it needs help? or is he just a crazy doom prophet? The Deity may find it fun and repeat it a few times.

Hope these help, give those players hell!

- A plague that causes plant life to lose all nutritional value, forcing the country to contemplate cannabilism when the supply of game animals runs out. The heroes had to stop it before it reaches that point

That might be one of the most interesting hook's I've heard in a very long time, and most importantly, is completely unlike anything else I've ever heard. Starvation as a problem is standard obviously, but I've never seen it be from something sapping the nutritional value of plants. Very original twist. Kudos.

I like others above usually flesh out the main villain first.

I usually start from the end and work backwars, while at the same time start at the beginning and work foward, meeting somewhere in the middle. That way you know where you are and where you want to go.

Always aks yourself these qestions:
Who?
What?
Where?
How?
Why?

Who are the Player Characters, who are the major NPC's, and who are the major Villians?
What are the Player Characers after. What do they hope to acheive? What about the villians wants?
Where in the Campaign will this take place? Where will they start? Where will they need to visit on the way?
How are they stopping what's happening and defeating the badguy?
Whey are they to do this. Why are the badguys's doing what they are doing?

Usually by the time to get to the end of these questions, the ideas a flowing quite well and you have enough ideas to start a good outline.

Another way i do it (sometimes) is by thinking of the campaign as a tv show or comic book series (be carfeful though, because this CAN lead to "railroading") think of how many "episodes" you would want this tv show to have. Break them into major "acts" of the play or tv series, with the important happenings, and decide how many adventures will be in each "act".

Maybe in a worlk trotting campaign you will have one act for each section of the world, and based on the story line you will be able to know how long you will want the characters to stay in the section. Also, throw in some side adventures to add just a little spice and so the players aren't CONSTANTLY on the ball looking for item X.

These are just a few ideas i use when i begin something big. Hope it helps.