Hidden Nuggets we see all the time...

[Snow_blind]

The Lead Dog is the toy that his son Michael lost while on vacation to the beach.

Michael was very distraught, he would not even put the dog down to dig in the sand, which is probably how it got lost.

JRR wrote a story about the dog and what happened to it to console his son. You can see it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Roverandom-J-R...ion/0007149115

[Alakranus]

Just slightly north of Bilbo's stone trolls you can find the troll's cave where Bilbo found Sting and Gandalf found Glamdring (Thorin got Orcrist as well). The cave has a large iron door with a huge keyhole in it.

[Eothain]

It's not hidden, but I still love the fact that the game calls them "taters".

[Hijynx]

Actually Ered Luin does not connect to the Shire. There is a missing region between Ered Luin and the Shire, hence the loading screen and the portal.

This is true. If you look at the new LoTRO Google Map feature and zoom out, the missing area is obvious: http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Frodo...h_to_Rivendell. It's pretty huge (bigger than The Shire, I'd say).

[willwheels]

The quest "Forgotten Company" (to find arrowheads in Fornost) is based on a really brief mention of those events in the intro to Fellowship of the Ring. Well played, Turbine.

[House_of_Dexter]

and of course Halbarad and the Grey Company at Esteldin...

"This is an evil door, and my death lies beyond it. I will dare to pass it nonetheless...".

[Klapton]

All of the lands in the game are physically connected to one and other with no load screens between them except for Ered Luin which is isolated.

I read in a dev chat that there is some landmass / content that will be added in the future between Ered Luin and the Shire, and that's why there's a "warp" thingie there.

[KelticSamurai]

Love this thread. There are a ton of things I've found along the way that pop out of the lore. Thats what makes this game more than just another MMO. Lifetimes of people that have poured themselves into Middle-Earth via the written word to have it take shape with a virtual one now is so much more than merely the sum of its parts.

I know one that stood out to me was while doing quests in Bree-land. I was running west of Bree and came upon a house. As I drew near it was revealed to be Bill Ferny's house. I suddenly had a tremendous anger come over me. I actually for no "in game" reason what so ever stopped in front of his door and stood there yelling insults and expletives at him in the "say" channel. I apoligize to any tender ears that may have been within the sound of my voice but his betrayel still burns so many years later.

Keep up the good work Turbine!

[Eothain]

I know one that stood out to me was while doing quests in Bree-land. I was running west of Bree and came upon a house. As I drew near it was revealed to be Bill Ferny's house. I suddenly had a tremendous anger come over me. I actually for no "in game" reason what so ever stopped in front of his door and stood there yelling insults and expletives at him in the "say" channel. I apoligize to any tender ears that may have been within the sound of my voice but his betrayel still burns so many years later.

Yeah, if only hobbits got a "Throw an Apple" racial trait.

[Bertkelley7]

Not sure if this is ture or not, but I read in a magazine (PC Gamers review of LOTRO, I think) a few months ago that the stars alignment in game is the same as if Tolkien himself were looking at the night sky during the time he was writing LOTR.

[Mandella]

The one I saw most recently that gave me a chuckle was Gloin making a mention that he feared his company of dwarves was overstaying their welcome in Imladris, "much like he did at a certain hobbit's home some time ago."

[atteSmythe]

Most enemies North of Breetown serve Angmar while most enemies south of Breetown serve Isengard and in some quests you see some interfaction rivalry.

This has been a shining gem for me. It's fantastic story design, IMO, and lends an enormous sense of scale to the conflict. Saruman's ambition is so clearly displayed, and it gives a real sense of immediacy when you learn the brigands in the southern Bree-lands are aligned with Isengard, though even they don't know it yet. And I really appreciate the thinking you have to do about Candaith's and Saeradan's speculation...they seem to have not quite properly guessed the real story, and I do enjoy not being able to take a character's word as canon.

[Berephon]

Not sure if this is ture or not, but I read in a magazine (PC Gamers review of LOTRO, I think) a few months ago that the stars alignment in game is the same as if Tolkien himself were looking at the night sky during the time he was writing LOTR.

The constellations that Tolkien mentions in LotR do appear in-game and in the alignment he describes. Our skies-guru was awesome!

[Eleazar]

The constellations that Tolkien mentions in LotR do appear in-game and in the alignment he describes. Our skies-guru was awesome!

Wow, that really is awesome ! Great work

[avlee]

*snip*

There's also three large trolls that are turned to stone around a campfire in the Trollshaws. It's kind of expected I suppose, but it's kinda out of the way from the quest routes and I loved finding it.

My favorite part about those guys is that one of them has a bird's nest behind its ear, which Aragorn mentions as being an odd adornment for a live troll (paraphrased, of course -- at work, no access to books) in FOTR. When I saw it, I went nuts and then had to explain to my fellowship members that I wasn't a psycho, just a Lord of the Rings fangirl

[Taliko]

Well, not sure that this is "Hidden" exactly, but a hunter kin mate of mine got a pair of medium armour agility+ gloves that were, "Worn by Bard the Bowman as he let loose the arrow that killed Smaug." I thought that was pretty damn cool.

[Arcor]

It's not hidden, but I still love the fact that the game calls them "taters".

Ha ha, yeah... I often get laughs from this... as in:

--> Player 1 [Trade]: "WTB Taters"
--> Player 2 [Trade]: "What's tater's precious?"
--> Player 3 [Trade]: "Po-ta-toes"

And more laughs from this..

--> Player 4 [Trade]: "Taters are potatoes in this game..."
*Which clearly has no idea that Player 2 is imitating Gollum* =)

Good times.

[Thurag]

It's not quite a hidden nugget, but I really appreciate the humour that went into the description of cooked food items. One night, my wife was cooking up some roasted boar and suddenly laughed. I turned to my side and she pointed at the description: "it came from a mighty boar; now it's mighty tasty". Way to go Turbine for keeping it fun and light .

[Thurag]

Ha ha, yeah... I often get laughs from this... as in:

--> Player 1 [Trade]: "WTB Taters"
--> Player 2 [Trade]: "What's tater's precious?"
--> Player 3 [Trade]: "Po-ta-toes"

Good times.

Me and my wife say that to each other when we run across taters in the field. Yeah, we're such geeks

[N9IWP]

IIRC the moon shows up in the northern sky, while it should show up in the southern sky (at least in Eriador)

I could be misremembering though.

Brian

[Hamma]

Just slightly north of Bilbo's stone trolls you can find the troll's cave where Bilbo found Sting and Gandalf found Glamdring (Thorin got Orcrist as well). The cave has a large iron door with a huge keyhole in it.

hmm where is this exactly I would love to check it out

[Adder]

I really must take one of my characters on a tour. Some of these I had no idea were there. That night sky just blows my mind! It must have taken a lot of painstaking work to put in there.

[Desiat0]

So has anyone else spotted little golden nuggets like this elsewhere?

I found some golden nuggets the other day. They were delicious with BBQ sauce.

[Macbeth]

I found some golden nuggets the other day. They were delicious with BBQ sauce.

LMAO

This is the kind of stuff that makes my day

[Bainsliver]

One of the NPCs in the Crafting Hall at Thorin's Hall tells you that Dwalin wants to build a statue of one of his traveling companions and the companion was not even a Dwarf!

It seems that the NPC is referring to Bilbo's trip with Dwalin (and the rest of the 14) in The Hobbit.

Cool lore-related inside reference.