Quote Originally Posted by Valather89 View Post
I don't know about an exact 1:1 PvE copy of the Ettenmoors since the zone was designed from the ground up with only PvP in mind. But I do agree that there are stories to tell for that part of the world.

I think an argument could be made for relocating the current Ettenmoors a little to the northeast. Of course, I'm no dev so I know nothing about the technical challenges it would pose (I can only guess at the difficulty of changing the coordinates of every single thing and the complete mess it might create), but it would benefit the game world's connectiveness in several ways.

Take something like this (left is how things are in the game, right is my totally-not-feasible-idea ):

->

Moving the PvP zone to the northeast would allow for a wider space for "Rhudaur", instead of having to work with the relatively narrow gap that currently exists between the North Downs and the Ettenmoors. This zone, as previously debated around here, would be where the original capital of Rhudaur was located, and basically the homeland of the Hill-men that joined Angmar. There would also be more space to fit Mount Gram somewhere in the northern parts of the region.

And at the same time, we would now have a decently sized gap north of Trollshaws that could be its own zone, a part of "Rhudaur", or an expansion of the Misty Mountains region. I've named it Edge of the Wild on my image, for it's a term used by Tolkien several times during The Hobbit for an imaginary line that crosses this space (and where Karen Wynn Fonstad placed that name on her Eriador map), but they could name it something else, like Etten-something). This zone would act as if it were a PvE version of the Ettenmoors, expanding and fleshing out the lore about Rivendell's role as a bulwark against the north, and I think it might entice more players to try the actual PvP Ettenmoors after completing the zone.

Lore-wise, I think it makes some sense for the Ettenmoors to be a more remote and cold place than its current location in-game, even if it's not really an issue since the area isn't reachable on foot anyway. But I do feel that the region might be placed a little too close to Rivendell and the Trollshaws, while the Steps of Gram at the northwest still seem a little too far from Angmar.

Connection-wise, "Edge of the Wild/Ettendale/Ettenreach/Ettensomething" would offer an alternate way to reach the Misty Mountains' region, bypassing Rivendell. As has been said here before, Rivendell is supposed to be a hidden place that not that many people know about, but at the moment, in the game world, everyone just has to go through the place to reach the High Pass and cross the mountains. That issue would be fixed after this. This zone would also link with the Northern Trollshaws, the hypothetical "Rhudaur" region, and of course the PvP Ettenmoors (even if it's through a portal or stablemaster). I added a connection with Rivendell too, since that would be the path taken by the Elven armies to reach the moors.



/end-of-fanfiction
Think moving the Ettenmoors up is quite an interesting idea. Think the path through Rivendell can be ignored a bit and turn the road crossing the Bruinen into grass. The road could change direction to the north to the Edge of the wild and skip Rivendell entirely. Leave the ramp and the slope till Rivendell, but make it don't stand out. I think that is a pretty cool idea. So I think connecting Rivendell is not a good idea, but having the road lead around Rivendell is a pretty fun one. Could even let the road go up the slope on the otherside of the Bruinen, and let it continue north from that point on. That way the high moor camp doesn't seem out of place either.

Quote Originally Posted by Aleziana View Post
I know it's a minor issue but I don't like the name Rhuduar for a location range north of Lone lands.

In most if not all the maps of middle earth in google search you will notice that Rhuduar is located in Trollsaws.

I understand that Arnor's sub-kingdom took Rhuduar name and expanded it all the way to weather top but that is not the case after the fall of Arnor as Rhuduar became Trollsaws.

Now I don't want to go against the books and the lore and of course I want to see what is north of Lone lands one day BUT the name in my opinion fits well in the region is Weather Hills.

Weather hills feels more catchy and fits more for the region close to weather top.
Rhudaur is actually a pretty good name. The Trollshaws were only Rhudaur for a small part (Only the westside). Most of the people of Rhudaur lived in the east of the North Downs, North of the Lone-lands and the land inbetween. The Trollshaws was really just a forest without inhabitants, except for the north where the lost temple is.