Hidden Nuggets we see all the time...

[TranZdog]

As a farmer I cross the bridge in the Shire many time. Right next to the bridge is the Mill. I have to stop every time and Tell Ted Sandyman that he is a mean and nasty person and that he better change he's ways or he will pay for it in the end....

[Parker]

Thank you! And thank you for challenging me . . . I love lore discussions. It makes me happy to observe the sheer number of players who actually care.

We have so many Doom-and-Gloom threads (admittedly handily slapped down by the player-community at large ) that it's nice to see more constructive ones like this.

The Elvish solar year (loa) began with the day called yestarë, which was the day before the first day of tuilë (Spring); and in the Calendar of Imladris yestarë "corresponded more or less with Shire April 6." (The Lord of the Rings, Appendix D.)

Source: http://ttt.by.ru/prtrans/erebor/er_orig.shtml#1_3

That’s awesome. I just read the above footnote and realized that April 6 was also the day that this game went ‘live’, wasn’t it? Kudos to you guys, once again.

[FelixIrrumator]

I don't know if this is Lore accurate or not but I get a kick out the Bounder in Crickhollow who says

'These sticks aren't going to be much good against some madman on a horse.'

[CardinalTRE]

I always like seeing the constellations, but I would really like to see one bright star to the North all by itself. Earendil!

[Chrysoprase]

As a farmer I cross the bridge in the Shire many time. Right next to the bridge is the Mill. I have to stop every time and Tell Ted Sandyman that he is a mean and nasty person and that he better change he's ways or he will pay for it in the end....

Every time I get near the mill I say, "Sandyman's mill... looks a lot more cheerful than Ted Sandyman!" A cookie to anyone who recognizes it =D

[Saramela]

I remember there being a half-starved pony in Bree. I thought it was Bill Ferny's pony, but I haven't re-read the books since I started playing the game so my memory is a little fuzzy on the details.

Bill Ferny's half-starved pony (from the books) is Bill, whom they buy from Bill Ferny when the hobbits leave Bree. The half-starved pony that you see in Bree by the Fell Scrying Pool is just a half-starved pony.

[mkepg]

Just found this one...

In Evendim, the hobbit (Ronald Dwale) that gives the Toy Dog quest then asks to find a Lost Page. He then sends my to the Bird and Baby to express that he can't make the meeting. And who should be there but Owen Fairfield, Carlo Williams and Jack Lewisdown? And they talking about books, of course, and hoping that Ronald is actually working on his.

What a wonderful set of Inkling references!


I guess this isn't a Hidden Nugget we see all the time. But I was tickled.

[Berephon]

Just found this one...

In Evendim, the hobbit (Ronald Dwale) that gives the Toy Dog quest then asks to find a Lost Page. He then sends my to the Bird and Baby to express that he can't make the meeting. And who should be there but Owen Fairfield, Carlo Williams and Jack Lewisdown? And they talking about books, of course, and hoping that Ronald is actually working on his.

What a wonderful set of Inkling references!


I guess this isn't a Hidden Nugget we see all the time. But I was tickled.

As a related reference, The Bird and Baby and its proprietor themselves are both plays off a pub that Tolkien frequented.

[Beery]

From my first day in LOTRO, I felt right at home. My highlights were the shire with the party tree, Sandyman's mill and all the little details all over the place. Having played MERP forever (without being a total lore nut) it all felt "right", and to this day it still feels "right". This depiction of Middle Earth is where I want to live. It's beautiful.

I had less of a 'love at first sight' experience - I just couldn't get into it during beta. But I gave it another chance and now I'm hooked (I just bought a lifetime subscription today). Anyway, I too feel it's the little things that are most important: when I see waterwheels actually turning - not just unmoving as in some games; when I see people smoking; when I pass some hobbit and he says something unexpected and funny; when a NPC says something that shows he knows how I've helped the community (if I do a quest that would be known throughout an area the NPC messages change).

The only downside is that it leaves me wanting more. I want more things to do in inns - I want to play mini-games, I want to sit and smoke, I want more humorous quests, I want to take a fishing rod out to the Brandywine river and spend some time just sitting and pulling in the occasional fish. I wish the devs would concentrate more on adding more of these details, because it's details like this that make me want to keep playing, not the new dungeons and monster play that the leets want. Running around in tunnels for two hours killing everything that moves? Boring! Those things have no attraction for me at all. I'd rather do almost anything else.

[Saxzon]

I noticed while I was playing the game... there was this stuff, that was like, In the books too! WOW! Cool!

[steelsnake]

[...] I want more things to do in inns - I want to play mini-games, I want to sit and smoke, I want more humorous quests, I want to take a fishing rod out to the Brandywine river and spend some time just sitting and pulling in the occasional fish. I wish the devs would concentrate more on adding more of these details, because it's details like this that make me want to keep playing, not the new dungeons and monster play that the leets want. Running around in tunnels for two hours killing everything that moves? Boring! Those things have no attraction for me at all. I'd rather do almost anything else.

In general, I agree. However, I think we're the minority.

My background comes from playing pen&paper RPGs, specifically with GMs and groups that didn't just do the straight "go to dungeon, do quest, be happy" boring kind of stuff. We wandered the world, talked to people, generally had a fun time without having to get out the weapons every time we met somebody. I would love to see more "fluff" activities. Libraries with readable books (LOVED that in AC!). Board games in pubs, playable against NPCs and PCs alike (preferably watchable by bystanders too). Fishing. Boating. Horse races. Music stages that can be rented by musicians for the right to exclusively play their pieces. Casual clothes. Cooperative emotes. There have been plenty of suggestions about that kind of stuff in the past, but I doubt we'll ever see much happening there.

That being said, the Summer Solstice festivities were AWESOME.

[Beery]

In general, I agree. However, I think we're the minority.

Maybe, but being in a small minority of players hasn't stopped PvP players getting PvP zones. I wish the developers just placed as much emphasis on our needs as our numbers demand. Besides, I think we're a larger minority than we're given credit for. The real problem is not that we're a niche group - it's that game developers don't understand us and don't get why we like the things we like, so adding the stuff we want takes a little 'thinking outside the box', whereas adding monsters and dungeons is easy and well within every developer's experience.

[andulinde]

I would love to see more "fluff" activities. Libraries with readable books (LOVED that in AC!). Board games in pubs, playable against NPCs and PCs alike (preferably watchable by bystanders too). Fishing. Boating. Horse races. Music stages that can be rented by musicians for the right to exclusively play their pieces. Casual clothes. Cooperative emotes.

Hear, hear.

Would board games in pubs be that hard to implement? I enjoyed a number of chess games in the inn at Fornost back when I was playing MUME. Would love to see stuff like that here.

Oh man, wouldn't it be great to be able to read a copy of the Red Book of Westmarch in a library in the Shire? (One can dream. )

LOVE this thread.

[Beery]

Oh man, wouldn't it be great to be able to read a copy of the Red Book of Westmarch in a library in the Shire? (One can dream. )

I'm no LotR expert, but I think that at the time we're playing the book is in Rivendell - Bilbo is finishing his part of it. I agree it would be great if we could read it through the game. Here are my ideas for it:

Make it accessible via a quest from Bilbo in Rivendell. Once you get it, you get the option to read it online, but you'd have to pay for access to it with real money (like an online version of any book) - perhaps Turbine could work out a deal with the copyright owners about this so we could do this. The money would simply be deducted from our account - a one-time payment, handled much as our subscription is handled.

While reading, other people would see you sitting at a desk (generated like the tailor's desk is when crafting) in the library in Elrond's house.\

I haven't read The Hobbit in years - this would be a great way to immerse myself in the book again.

Hey, they could do the same thing with The Silmarillion - perhaps have it available in various parts in Elrond's library. Quests could unlock the various books.

[mkepg]

I always like seeing the constellations, but I would really like to see one bright star to the North all by itself. Earendil!

I've never looked for it, but is Earendil visible in the game?

He was the morning star in the Professor's world. (Actually evening and morning both - Venus, in modern terms.)

Something more to do! :-)

[gildhur]

Hey, they could do the same thing with The Silmarillion - perhaps have it available in various parts in Elrond's library. Quests could unlock the various books.

Except they don't have the rights to the Silmarillion, so they can't quote it, reference it, or even include content in the game that was mentioned there (and not in LOTR/Hobbit as well). Certainly they could add books that included some histories of the world, but they would have to do it either based on the Hobbit, LOTR appendices, or completely make it up. I would rather them leave such things out than have them create readable histories that have to dance around the actual histories that we know of.

[Gouru]

Playable games in the Inns?

First time some hobbit comes along and tells me to play the red ten on the black jack, I'm quitting for good!

[andulinde]

Playable games in the Inns?

First time some hobbit comes along and tells me to play the red ten on the black jack, I'm quitting for good!

Well, I'm not talking Texas Hold 'Em tournaments broadcast on the Shire Cable Channel... there could be lore-appropriate games. Certainly they had card- or dice-type games.

And I dunno why, but chess just feels Middle Earth appropriate to me.

[Vhaelin]

Maybe, but being in a small minority of players hasn't stopped PvP players getting PvP zones. I wish the developers just placed as much emphasis on our needs as our numbers demand. Besides, I think we're a larger minority than we're given credit for. The real problem is not that we're a niche group - it's that game developers don't understand us and don't get why we like the things we like, so adding the stuff we want takes a little 'thinking outside the box', whereas adding monsters and dungeons is easy and well within every developer's experience.

The Player Versus Player crowd is FAR from a minority. There is a reason it has been an ever increasing focal point in MMORPGs - the people WANT it. And rightly so. I've yet to read a story where the characters were unable to draw blades and fight to the death. It is only appropriate that it be implemented in this setting. (Though I do admit that weighty repercussions are few and far between.)

As for fluff, it's not a focal point because it scarce competes with what the people demand from this media type. Few of us log in to play chess at the Prancing Pony. In fact, I laugh at the ridiculousness of this notion. If you're looking for online chess I believe Yahoo Games has that available (for free I might add!!). And for people to watch? C'mon... This is Middle-Earth!! Remember - the epic tale of good versus evil? The burden of the One Ring? The forthcoming peril of the Freepeople...?

... and you want to play CHESS?! Tolkien is rolling over in his grave, to be sure. To think that he created such an exciting, compelling, and exotic world that people want to... play chess in it...

[andulinde]

Few of us log in to play chess at the Prancing Pony. In fact, I laugh at the ridiculousness of this notion.... Tolkien is rolling over in his grave, to be sure. To think that he created such an exciting, compelling, and exotic world that people want to... play chess in it...

It doesn't seem ridiculous to me; at least not in the ways you describe. It'd be nice to have games like that to sort of doodle with while I was talking with someone at the Prancing Pony, etc. The same way you might play darts or pool at a real pub.

And, I think, Tolkien would most certainly not scoff at people playing games (like chess) in a pub in Middle Earth. The point of the epic battles is to preserve what is good in the routinary, the provincial... all that the Shire represents. When the hobbits return to the Shire, they are distanced from it by their experiences, but they do not despise it. Tolkien certainly didn't.

Of course, I'm admittedly wide open to the charge that chess is out-of-context. But I'll still raise a half-hearted hand for some pub-game-like medium of alternative social interaction.

My thoughts anyway. You're welcome to disagree. You don't have to play chess with me, either; just don't knock over my pieces when you walk by.

[Cleo256]

A couple hidden nuggets that don't have much to do with lore, but are fun anyway:

- Colbert the Mad and his insistences that that most evil creatures on the Fields of Fornost are the bears. It took me until the second time I talked to him to get the bear thing. Before that, I wondered if it might just be a coincedence.

- In Bree, up in the Northern section where the Hobbit houses are, there are a pair of Hobbit legs sticking out of the hedge, while some drunken Hobbits look on. None of them seem to say anything, and the Hobbit's head is not on the other side of the hedge (despite my Winnie the Pooh jokes). I can't seem to figure out how the poor Hobbit got in there, but his plight is hilarious anyway.

[Theftwind]

... and you want to play CHESS?! Tolkien is rolling over in his grave, to be sure. To think that he created such an exciting, compelling, and exotic world that people want to... play chess in it...

Well, I COULD counter this statement with "Tolkien is rolling over in his grave. After all he did in his books to draw the line between GOOD and EVIL you want to KILL your fellow players?

Methinks if he had an option between the two that he would have played chess. The latter option destroys everything he tried to say in the books.

Now before you get all up in arms and want to kill me, remember it is all personnal opinion!

[paladin2007]

I like how there is a pocket slot for equipment. A subtle reference to the Hobbit where Bilbo asks Gollum a riddle about what is in his pocket.

My favorite zone is the Shire, you guys did an awesome job on it.

[Chrysoprase]

A couple hidden nuggets that don't have much to do with lore, but are fun anyway:

- Colbert the Mad and his insistences that that most evil creatures on the Fields of Fornost are the bears. It took me until the second time I talked to him to get the bear thing. Before that, I wondered if it might just be a coincedence.

- In Bree, up in the Northern section where the Hobbit houses are, there are a pair of Hobbit legs sticking out of the hedge, while some drunken Hobbits look on. None of them seem to say anything, and the Hobbit's head is not on the other side of the hedge (despite my Winnie the Pooh jokes). I can't seem to figure out how the poor Hobbit got in there, but his plight is hilarious anyway.

It was the result of a wagon crash. Notice the wrecked wagon right next to them. The "drunken" hobbits are just wobbly from the crash, and the one in the hedge got tossed there from the impact. If you look there's a female hobbit up on the hill behind them freaking out about it.

[Beery]

I've never looked for it, but is Earendil visible in the game?

He was the morning star in the Professor's world. (Actually evening and morning both - Venus, in modern terms.)

Something more to do! :-)

Actually the stars and other celestial bodies are seriously screwed-up in the game. For some reason Orion, the Pleiades and the Great Bear move in relationship to other stars(?!!!) and the few chances I've had to examine them lead me to believe that they are in geosychronous Middle Earth orbit(???!!!). I realise that technically we are part of the cluster of stars that includes the Great Bear, but I seriously doubt that the constellation would be tied to the Earth's rotation - somehow I think that would cause the constellation to be in serious violation of physical laws, unless the objects were very close to Middle Earth (however, we know they are not). Also, the star background rotates on a plane that seems more in keeping with Eriador being within 10 degrees or so of the North Pole!

I guess being an amateur astronomer in real life has its drawbacks. If I wasn't, this stuff would go unnoticed by me, as I'm sure it does for most players.