Hidden Nuggets we see all the time...

[Merciful_Death]

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).

The Tower Hills. Where the three white tower still stand to watch over the lands, and to the far west. Legend has it that one of the King's seeing stones was held there, and the stone is one that is unaccounted for.

[Alakranus]

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

The cave is actually west of Stone Trolls Glade along the path.

[Resi]

One of the first things I looked for in beta was Fatty Bolger's house in Crickhollow. I don't know why, but I just knew that if the door to the house was kicked in, then this game would be great. Sure enough, the house was right where it was supposed to be, and his door was shattered.

Then I ran to Farmer Maggot's to see if his dogs were there. Of course, they were, and named appropriately.

These were just the tip of the iceberg. There have been tons of little touches that have really done a lot to add flavor to LOTRO. The devs have done an awesome job and I can't wait to see the rest of Middle Earth.

The repeated Sharkey references are my favorite.

[Elfheart]

I don't know that this is mentioned in the books anywhere but I love the giant snowman in Ered Luin. It's very cool.

[Witchchild]

Here's a few nuggets I noticed and said "yay!":

Old Man Willow makes you "tired".

In Book 1, Frodo is mentioned as Mr. Underhill.

You feel dread anytime you're around Frodo in Rivendell since he has the One Ring.

Trolls are found out in the open only at night (they hide in groves/shaded areas during daytime).

You can see flocks of crows/ravens(?) scouting through the skies in the distance at times (High Graphics I think).

The ruins south of Breeland actually does run from the Old Forest to Midgewater Marshes. It was mentioned in passing in one of the books and I happened to be playing around there that day and decided to trace how far the Ruins ran.

[Gumawerian]

One of the first things I looked for in beta was Fatty Bolger's house in Crickhollow. I don't know why, but I just knew that if the door to the house was kicked in, then this game would be great. Sure enough, the house was right where it was supposed to be, and his door was shattered.

Then I ran to Farmer Maggot's to see if his dogs were there. Of course, they were, and named appropriately.

These were just the tip of the iceberg. There have been tons of little touches that have really done a lot to add flavor to LOTRO. The devs have done an awesome job and I can't wait to see the rest of Middle Earth.

The repeated Sharkey references are my favorite.

The Sharkey references are great I agree, but I also have a much smaller, but more personal 'nugget,' of all places found on the huge ruin of Weathertop. I was standing there outside the stone ring, looking at the awe-inspiring and expansive view, when I looked down at a stone by my feet...

...the stone was inscribed with a rune: "G3". That's right -- this was the clue that Gandalf left for Strider on the mountain of Weathertop, which Aragorn guessed was to mean that Gandalf reached the mountain on the third of October. I remembered the passage instantly -- and it made me feel like I was really there.

[Chrysoprase]

In Evendim you get to do a chain of quests by "Hal," who is Sam Gamgee's uncle, I believe. In the books Sam talks about his uncle Hal seeing a dragon, and the other hobbits comment on how they think uncle Hal is full of it. In the game you do quests where Uncle Hal seeing strange things and you seek to help him prove they're true. Once you do your reward is "Sam's kitchen knife," and the description says that Sam gave the knife to Hal without much explanation (apparently when he found out he was going on an adventure). I thought it was so cute I keep it in my bank, hoping to return it to Sam someday.

I was also running some people through an instance once, and a two-handed hammer dropped that nobody wanted. However, there was a description that described that the hammer was "Brought over the Misty Mountains by the ancestors of the Harfoots, used to fight off brigands," and I immediately asked if I could have it . It's sitting in my bank! I love that hammer.

[chrisciscoioio]

Not to drop the bomb, but the game is one giant nugget.

[Resi]

The Sharkey references are great I agree, but I also have a much smaller, but more personal 'nugget,' of all places found on the huge ruin of Weathertop. I was standing there outside the stone ring, looking at the awe-inspiring and expansive view, when I looked down at a stone by my feet...

...the stone was inscribed with a rune: "G3". That's right -- this was the clue that Gandalf left for Strider on the mountain of Weathertop, which Aragorn guessed was to mean that Gandalf reached the mountain on the third of October. I remembered the passage instantly -- and it made me feel like I was really there.

Yar! I ran up there with sole intention of finding the rune, and maybe taking in the view second. I had forgotten about that one - thanks for mentioning this one.

[Moepy]

Its not exactly a lorenugget... but I found a funny little thing in Evendim

On the small Island when you swim from Tinundir to the lady of the Lake there is right next to a bush a Small sand Castle ^_^

[HighbornDemonaSolace]

One thing I noticed was that the pyres that get lit in The Two Towers (I think) are there and you can climb up just like Gandalf had Perrin do in the movie. I love that scene in the movie with Aragorn bursting in shouting that the signal fires have been lit.

[Rhorzhan]

Here's a quote from the book when Aragorn and the hobbits are about to cross the Last Bridge :

He held out his hand, and showed a single pale-green jewel. 'I found it in the mud in the middle of the Bridge,' he said. 'It is a beryl, an elf-stone. Whether it was set there, or let fall by chance, I cannot say; but it brings hope to me. I will take it as a sign that we may pass the Bridge; but beyond that I dare not keep to the Road, without some clearer token.'

And guess what item is used to create hope token? That's right, beryls.

[Catster]

Not sure if this really counts since it's just a description of the landscape, but there's a passage in Fellowship where Frodo looks up at the hill around the Barrow Downs and thinks the stones around the edge look like 'jagged teeth protruding from a great maw' or something to that effect.

The cliff between the Great Forest and the Barrow Downs really does look like that. The stones look like giant, jagged teeth.

[Nylonus]

In Evendim at the High Kings Crossing the statue holds a broken sword.

There is also a 'white hand print' at the rock where you meet Sheriden's contact at night.

[Gumawerian]

In Evendim you get to do a chain of quests by "Hal," who is Sam Gamgee's uncle, I believe. In the books Sam talks about his uncle Hal seeing a dragon, and the other hobbits comment on how they think uncle Hal is full of it. In the game you do quests where Uncle Hal seeing strange things and you seek to help him prove they're true. Once you do your reward is "Sam's kitchen knife," and the description says that Sam gave the knife to Hal without much explanation (apparently when he found out he was going on an adventure). I thought it was so cute I keep it in my bank, hoping to return it to Sam someday...

That's a charming aspiration... I wonder if experienced GMs might ever make a few of the characters approachable, even for a minute, on some rare occasions? It would be a great way to throw a few random variables into the game... and you could give Sam back his knife! Maybe he'll give you something from Frodo's garden in return.

[Ocie-1]

There is a quest in Bree where you help a Hobbit fight Blackwolds who stole from him. At the end, the Hobbit shares a roast with all the Blackwolds and one of them says out loud, "He's a capital fellow!"

It parallels Rory Brandybuck, who was given bottles of Ol' Winyards by Bilbo. He votes Bilbo a capital fellow after one or two bottles.

-O

[Cleo256]

The moment that made my girlfriend squeal with glee, to a degree that my eardrums have yet to recover from, was when she walked into Bag End and looked at the wall next to the door, to see the pegs. The pegs from which the dwarves hung their cloaks in the first chapter of The Hobbit.

I was also goofily excited when I encountered Gaffer Gamgee, not that he's particularly well-hidden.

[MCO_Dakota]

I normaly don't listen (read) to the NPCs as I pass by them in towns and on the trails and what-not....But the other day I had started a Hobbit alt, and while running past a "hungry hobbit" she "said" that she hadn't eaten since Elevensies. I thought that was pretty cute...I will start "listening" more now.

I haven't read the books in several years, time to pull them out of storage.


Dakota

[Brugman]

Man, I gotta read the Hobbit. All this talk makes me feel like I'm missing out on so much. I think I'd like the game even more if I could relate parts of it to the novels.

[Witchdoctor]

Man, I gotta read the Hobbit. All this talk makes me feel like I'm missing out on so much. I think I'd like the game even more if I could relate parts of it to the novels.

It's crazily, spookily, uncanny.

I love it.

Turbine, good job. I'd buy ya'll a beer, pint, cup-o-rum even since ya'll seem to be into the pirate thing lately.

/cheers!

[KKMacLeod]

Yesterday while travelling through the North Downs I ran into one of the beacons between Gondor and Rohan.

But it was unmanned. Guess Gondor is screwed in the comming battle.

[gildhur]

Actually, the beacons that a couple of you mention are not the ones between Rohan and Gondor. That region is very far South and not in our playable landscape yet. There is a beacon on top of one of the hills just East of Othrikar in the North Downs, though it certainly isn't part of the Gondor-Rohan system. So while the particulars aren't the same, it's certainly an indirect reference to the Beacons of Gondor.

[JO420]

I recall there being a mission in the North Downs i believe where you have to talk to an NPC named "Curanir" i kinda chuckled and wondered if this was Sauroman in diguise because "Curanir" is what elves call Sauroman in the same way as Gandalf is refered as "Mithrandir"

[Adder]

I noticed something a while back during one of my search-that-unused-corner-of Middle-Earth forays that may be a real hidden nugget. I have yet to figure out who it is supposed to be and I'll keep my guesses to myself for the time being. Perhaps one of you can solve it. I do have a few screenshots but can't get them posted at the moment (I'm not on the computer where they are stored). I'll try my best to get them on here unless someone beats me to it.

When you go through the ruins of the Refuge of Edhelion, you'll find a little-visited valley. The road leads to a locked gate that presumably will eventually open to Northern Ered Luin (Lindon). On the left as you head towards the gate is the door to Skorgim's Tomb.

I looked around this valley for any nodes thinking that I might have found a good spot to gather tier 1 resources (there is none ) and slaughtered a few helpless critters for the hides. As I worked my way back to the Refuge, I spotted something on the southern cliff wall that looked out of place. As I got closer, it didn't fade into the rock surface (so it wasn't just the way the textures looked from a distance). There, about half-way up the wall, was the outline of a man's head in profile. It is quite distinct but to see it you must be either north or northeast of it. I couldn't see it from the west as I entered the valley.

Go take a look. Maybe someone will recognize the profile and solve this.

[karakedi]

I recall there being a mission in the North Downs i believe where you have to talk to an NPC named "Curanir" i kinda chuckled and wondered if this was Sauroman in diguise because "Curanir" is what elves call Sauroman in the same way as Gandalf is refered as "Mithrandir"

There's probably no relationship at all. The elves used 'Curunir' for the Istar Saruman. Both names translate roughly as 'man of skill.'