Hidden Nuggets we see all the time...

[zonemaster]

I think that's an early version of Moria with Aragorn using a default Ranger skin.

maybe an early screen made from this video

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/middl...ated-content;1

[lunafatal]

maybe an early screen made from this video

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/middl...ated-content;1

OMG...

That video should be banned or edited... The fireworks looks AWESOME...

Can you please bring back those early beta build fireworks

[TheOneRinger]

Okay, I did a bit more thinking about that reference, and I noticed one other thing that Butterbur says later on.

For there's been folk worse than robbers about. Wolves were howling round the fences last winter. And there's dark shapes in the woods, dreadful things that it makes the blood run cold to think of. It's been very disturbing, if you understand me.

From this quote, the wolves, lieutenants, (such as the Echo of Death) and arguably the orcs also have reason for being in Thievery and Mischief/Defence of the Prancing Pony.

Now, about those folk that were killed dead...

The first in the list is Mat Heathertoes. I did a Lorebook search and then found him in Bree.



Now, if you remember the Fall Festival game where you run up and use emotes on various Bree-folk, you may recall that Mat here was the pessimist whom you had to /mock (I think). Obviously, he's had a rough life, what with his half-starved pony and house (I assume that it's his) with broken windows, not to mention the robbers out back (since the Bree-land revamp). I guess this to be Turbine's interpretation of Butterbur's calling him "poor" (see first RotK quote a few posts above). Notice, too, that the skin of the man murdered right in front of you matches Mat's exactly.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a Rowlie Appledore anywhere. Using the Lorebook, I found Daisy Appledore, Dawn Appledore, Lilly Appledore, and Bert Appledore. The only one of these that wasn't a trainer or provisioner was Lilly, and she also doesn't give out any quest, so she's suspicious but her name isn't at all close to Rowlie, obviously.



Now, I couldn't find any Tom Pickthorn either, but this was a bit closer, at least:



Butterbur notes that Tom was "little", so maybe he was Ted's son? That would fit the other descriptor, "from over the Hill", since Ted is in Combe.

For Willie Banks, I came up with nothing except Alric Banks, who is the Inn League Taxidermist.

For the unnamed Underhill from Staddle, I found only two candidates.



The other candidate was Lilly (of the Falco's Folly chain), but Ponto here actually has the exact same skin as the murdered Hobbit from Thievery and Mischief.

Continued in the next post due to picture limit.

[TheOneRinger]

I searched Bree, Staddle, and Combe for any more Bankses, Pickthorns, or Appledores, but I came to the conclusion that the skin of the first dead man in Thievery and Mischief is too common to be a significant character in one of these places. I sure hope Rowlie Appledore wasn't this guy though, that would be just depressing.



Finally, I think this woman is a real prophet, haha. Just a neat little reference that's related to the rest of this.

[steelsnake]

Thanks for the research! +rep

[Berephon]

Now, if you remember the Fall Festival game where you run up and use emotes on various Bree-folk, you may recall that Mat here was the pessimist whom you had to /mock (I think). Obviously, he's had a rough life, what with his half-starved pony and house (I assume that it's his) with broken windows, not to mention the robbers out back (since the Bree-land revamp). I guess this to be Turbine's interpretation of Butterbur's calling him "poor" (see first RotK quote a few posts above). Notice, too, that the skin of the man murdered right in front of you matches Mat's exactly.
...
Butterbur notes that Tom was "little", so maybe he was Ted's son? That would fit the other descriptor, "from over the Hill", since Ted is in Combe.

Mat lives in the district beyond the Ash Gate, which is the poverty stricken part of town, so your overall supposition is correct here.

And great thinking on Tom Pickthorn (not that he's necessarily related to Ted, who is a Combe resident, not a Bree-town resident). Most folks I speak with always assume Tom Pickthorn is a hobbit, when he is in fact a human child/young teen (one reason why you don't actually see him in-game, since we don't have a suitable model, and visually killing a kid off in-game could potentially garner us an M rating.)

As far as the other two lying dead in the Skirmish, the Man is clearly then Rowlie Appledore. As far as the hobbit goes, take your pick...neither of the hobbits appear in-game, and I'm not sure if jwbarry intended a specific one; however, I should note that he did pick the dead ones based on Butterbur's quote from the book (as he ran it past me first).

[Aegya]

Mat lives in the district beyond the Ash Gate, which is the poverty stricken part of town, so your overall supposition is correct here.

I think you mean the Mud Gate, there.

[Berephon]

I think you mean the Mud Gate, there.

Oy, yeah...I knew it was something dirty.

[gildhur]

Yeah, I was trying to remember where in the world the Ash Gate is....

[Cerridwen]

Yeah, I was trying to remember where in the world the Ash Gate is....

That's the gate where the Pokemon decided they were tired of being imprisoned in tiny balls so they revolted.

[TheOneRinger]

Mat lives in the district beyond the Ash Gate, which is the poverty stricken part of town, so your overall supposition is correct here.

And great thinking on Tom Pickthorn (not that he's necessarily related to Ted, who is a Combe resident, not a Bree-town resident). Most folks I speak with always assume Tom Pickthorn is a hobbit, when he is in fact a human child/young teen (one reason why you don't actually see him in-game, since we don't have a suitable model, and visually killing a kid off in-game could potentially garner us an M rating.)

As far as the other two lying dead in the Skirmish, the Man is clearly then Rowlie Appledore. As far as the hobbit goes, take your pick...neither of the hobbits appear in-game, and I'm not sure if jwbarry intended a specific one; however, I should note that he did pick the dead ones based on Butterbur's quote from the book (as he ran it past me first).

Thank you very much, Berephon, and all you people who gave me rep. I enjoyed working through this.

Well, Butterbur does say in the quote that Tom was from over the Hill, so that would at least put him outside of Bree, I think... and unless Tolkien actually intended him to mean from the Overhill area (in the Shire), which would be odd for so many reasons, it seems to me that Combe is still a possibility. Especially since Butterbur specifically says that the Underhill was from Staddle, which is obviously also outside of Bree itself. I really hadn't considered the point about younger skins/the M rating. It's too bad Butterbur says he was "little", or else you could just say he's a really tall teen.

Y'all really should put Rowlie and Willie in-game somewhere. I'll just continue to believe the hobbit is Ponto Underhill, I suppose (I may shout, "FOR PONTO!" at some Isengarders or brigands, for a RP example. ), since he has the same skin, and Butterbur doesn't give the first name, but does say he's from Combe. I suppose it could be Lilly Underhill, depending on your interpretation of "good fellows all," but I hope not, since she's such a sweet neighbor in the Falco's Garden chain.

[gurt40]

My favorite nugget would probably be the three stone trolls, I know most people know about them but it really just hit me when I saw them I was like "OMG THIS GAME IS AWESOME!" That same day I subscribed =D

[Angeliel]

My favorite in-game nuggets include, to date:

* the chicken quest in which we get to actually interact with such animals as Grip, Fang, and the fox who witnessed Frodo, Sam and Pippin's flight from the Shire

* the first glimpse I had of Bilbo's trolls, Bill the Pony, Bill Ferny's dilapidated house, so many other little moments...

* the first times I spoke with Ted Sandyman, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, Aragorn, or Elrond

* The thrill I got from questing with Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir, and (in flashback) several of Bilbo's dwarves and of course Gandalf in DG

* Gollum's cave paintings, and the other goblin paintings in Goblin Town

* Seeing the! Actual! Original! Balrog! in flashback. I mean, forget the Rift. That little guy is a cuddly Care Bear compared to Durin's Bane. I tried to stand against it and then ran because honestly it was the first thing in-game to scare the wits out of me. I was petrified. There was no standing against that creature. At all.

* Seeing the stars above my head in Mirror-mere. For that matter, simply leaving Moria, which I ultimately hated (a year of in-game darkness was just too much for me).

* doing the beryl quest at the Ford

* getting the Eye for the first time (and getting killed by dread via the statues in Angmar!)

* following the trail of the Fellowship in Eregion (and trying to go up Caradhras!)

* seeing the remains of the Balrog in the snow at Zirak-Zigil (I jumped out and had to go over to it, just amazing)

* seeing the Doors of Durin and then eventually the Chamber of Mazarbul

* leaning over the water to see the stars in Mirrormere

* seeing Lorien for the first time (even getting killed by the Elves felt good), and all the landmarks there... picking the elanor, seeing the Fellowship in CG

* my first glimpse of the Anduin (I tried to swim across of course)

So many others.

[Sylux14]

I've started re-reading the books (been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long) and just from the first few chapters I've realized how much from the books Turbine's managed to get in here. Among other things:


-Old Winyards
-The various pubs in the Shire
-Old Odo Proudfoot (his farm is in the game)
-Looking upwards in the Elf-camp near Woodhall, I saw that the "hall-like" roof of trees was somewhat there.
-The Walking Tree. When I realized this I smiled.
-Svalfang, of all things, gets a passing mention as "a giant near the borders of the Shire".
-Several others I am too tired to recall...

[TheScyphozoa]

-The Walking Tree. When I realized this I smiled.

What? Something other than your average Huorn in LOTRO?

[Sylux14]

What? Something other than your average Huorn in LOTRO?

No. The walking tree. It's a quest to rescue a Huorn in the Shire, one of the rewards is "Strange Flowers", which has flavor text which is something along the lines of "These strange flowers came from the North Farthing, where Hal claims he saw a walking tree!"

Said flavor text is a reference to a line from the book which comments on Hal Gamgee (claiming to, anyways) seeing such a thing.

[jeffm]

There's a white rabbit near a rabbit hole you can get into in the Lich Bluffs in Enedwaith. The hole doesn't go anywhere interesting and the rabbit isn't wearing a waistcoat. Too bad.

[Darej]

There's a white rabbit near a rabbit hole you can get into in the Lich Bluffs in Enedwaith. The hole doesn't go anywhere interesting and the rabbit isn't wearing a waistcoat. Too bad.

ah...maybe its a reference to a certain bunny from Monty Python.....

[EnemyAbove]

ah...maybe its a reference to a certain bunny from Monty Python.....

"So, how many did we lose?"

"We lost Gawain, Hector, and Bors, so that's five."

"Three, sir."

"Ah, yes, three."

[jhans]

If you kill the killer bunny and look at him up close he actually has a bloody mouth- I aggro him to see if hed one shot me......nope, I memorized the second book of armaments and was equipped to conquer the foe!!!!!!......he has only 1 hp....

[lescastor]

These are two of my favorite nuggets in moria

Love this one gandalf and the dwarven company escaping on the eagles after setting the forest on fire

Not too sure what this one is. Looks like either Bolg or Azog killing some dwarf king. Maybe this was the battle of the dimrill dale? So cool! I gotta look for more

[lf2536]

Love this one gandalf and the dwarven company escaping on the eagles after setting the forest on fire

Not too sure what this one is. Looks like either Bolg or Azog killing some dwarf king. Maybe this was the battle of the dimrill dale? So cool! I gotta look for more

this one is probably the destruction of Moria, notice all the Dwarves fleeing Moria and the Durin IV (or more likely his son) being killed by a really big creature that I'm assuming is the Balrog.

[Maeshani]

And I thought that those were in Goblin Town not Moria... could be wrong

[gildhur]

And I thought that those were in Goblin Town not Moria... could be wrong

There are similarly styled paintings both in Goblin-town and some of the towers around Barad Gularan, though I don't think they depict the same events.

[Dun'Raven]

I'll say it again . . . this thread is a real feel-good thread for me, and I'm sure the rest of the team. It shows that our efforts were not wasted.

To all the online team, developers & designers.. Thank you

It really is the little things, the details and these "hidden nuggets" described so well here that make the game so special for me and many others. It would just be another MMO without them and I, for one, would miss them a lot.

Kudos to you all and may you keep up the great work of inspiring us all!

*Salutes*

I love this thread