To Read or Not to Read

[renegade_34g]

Is it worth reading all quests you come across or just the Epic Book quest line? I wonder if some non Epic Book quests actually include characters or other pieces or Lore/Information that tie the whole story together in a richer, more filling way.

[Haruno]

Is it worth reading all quests you come across or just the Epic Book quest line? I wonder if some non Epic Book quests actually include characters or other pieces or Lore/Information that tie the whole story together in a richer, more filling way.

I usually read most quest that have a connection to the main story line. The story of Golodir from the first epic quest line to the last is ok, same for some other rangers.
The quests that don't have follow ups usually don't add much to the story line (for example to collect material or resource x because person y or group y run out of them won't add much story).

and then there are the side stories like the much hated Forlong (cause of all the running around) that are intertwined somehow, how minor it might be, with the epic quest line.

[Oelle]

even quests, that have nothing to do with the mainstory contribute to immersion in middle earth.
there are questlines besides the main story that give additional information or cool stories, which you would not know or which are just funny.
so, imo, read everything.

and most quests are well-written. my gf started playing lotro recently and till now (lorien) found only about 20 typos or weird formulations.

[Dmunney]

I NEVER NEVER NEVER read the epic quest lines nor read the regular quests. It is far and away one of the least enjoyable parts of the game for me, if i need to read the quests to complete them. If others enjoy that more power to them!!

That said I never knew Lord of the Rings was a book until AFTER I started playing this game. I saw the movies said "Wow, I like those, I wonder if there is a video game".This was in the year 2010. Low and behold there was.

Then I see people QQing in glff (yes before there was world chat) about breaking the LORE. I asked what lore?. That was the first time I ever heard of Tolkien. It happened around 2011 or 2012. I am not trolling I just do NOT enjoy reading plain and simple!!

So the order of my discoveries of existence went movies---> LOTRO---> Tolkien/books

[renegade_34g]

I know this game follows the book rather well but are the quests in anyway tied to the book? What I mean is if I read the books, not just the three main books but the Similarion (pardon the spelling) or many others, would the names of the people that I interact with also be in the books? I have this crazy idea to read the books while questing to get a deeper understanding of Middle Earth. Granted it would take time but just wondering if anyone has done this before.

[ertr]

I know this game follows the book rather well but are the quests in anyway tied to the book? What I mean is if I read the books, not just the three main books but the Similarion (pardon the spelling) or many others, would the names of the people that I interact with also be in the books? I have this crazy idea to read the books while questing to get a deeper understanding of Middle Earth. Granted it would take time but just wondering if anyone has done this before.

Unfortunately Turbine only has a license to Lord of the Rings (and possibly The Hobbit - they used to have a license for that; then dropped it. Current status is not completely clear.)
They don't have any rights at all to use content from The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, or any other material outside LOTR proper. They usually take care to not contradict any of that material, and sometimes allude to it, but can't use any names, persons, or events directly from any of those books.

[Harla]

Is it worth reading all quests you come across or just the Epic Book quest line? I wonder if some non Epic Book quests actually include characters or other pieces or Lore/Information that tie the whole story together in a richer, more filling way.

Short answer: Yes. Read the quests; more than most MMOs, this one is more heavily about story than others, because it comes from a lore-rich background that itself has a long and deep history. Most people who play this game come to it as fans of LotR in some way already, and they come for the story... it's also why they stay. Players like Dmunny, above, are an extreme minority... and they are also the sort of player that I don't expect to still be playing the game a year after they first come to it.

For a slightly longer answer: Because turbine are making a game that is interwoven with an existing lore which they don't own and cannot freely adapt, they must work closely with the material they do have the rights to use to create stories and environments that are fresh, but also still appropriate to the lore and believably based within it. It's a difficult job which they do very well, and which I don't feel the writers get enough credit for, really. This isn't like another MMO where they can simply make up whatever they like, but they still have to try and make things in a creative process all the same. If you Have read the books, then you Will get a lot more out of a LOT of the game's quests than you might otherwise. There are a lot of things which they carefully allude to, which lore-buffs will recognise and smile for, which they might not be able to name or reference directly, and they also put a to of work tying things into the story of the core books, even though that isn't, technically Our story (as player characters).

There are also a lot of things which, if you are familiar with the books or the background lore, you'll be able to piece together just a little bit ahead of the game's revelations, and that's a really nice feeling, just personally. One example of this... some of the revelation that the writers have woven in in our most recent content was hinted to all the way back in volume one of the game, years ago now; people with a lore interest picked up on the hints, and knew there was Something there, which made parts of what we've gradually seen unfold all the more satisfying.

If you see threads around here of people complaining about broken lore by turbine, most of it is not true; they've actually been very good, very careful, and very clever with what they've done, from beginning to present day. They trade in the 'wiggle room' quite a lot, but for the most part they fly the line of being epic, while still fitting in and not breaking any actual facts. They also build on things that were only briefly described but for which we don't have any further lore; these places are excellent places for them to create new things to see in Middle Earth without contradicting anything, and they do it well. Forochel is one such example here, where they took what tiny fragmented mentions of the land and the people the lore provides, and reverse-engineered a whole culture from it for us to see and feel, and, most importantly, it works, and it fits, really well.

Many people that you interact with in game are representatives of characters from the books, very much so. there are the big obvious names, like our main fellowship, Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, all of whom you'll have chances to interact with and even take quests from... but there are a LOT of much more subtle ones... Such as in Esteldin; you'll meet a ranger there, just like many others, overseeing most of the leadership of the refuge... but if you recognise his name, you'll know exactly where his story is going, eventually. They don't make a big song and dance about it; he's just another NPC to us, and he's not identified any differently from the others... that he is a lore character, and not a turbine created name, is so indistinguishable that you'll only know if you're familiar with the name already... and personally, I think that's a wonderful thing.

So, yes, read everything. People have worked hard on it, and it will enrich your experience of the game.

-Harla

[daedalusAI]

I NEVER NEVER NEVER read the epic quest lines nor read the regular quests. It is far and away one of the least enjoyable parts of the game for me, if i need to read the quests to complete them. If others enjoy that more power to them!!

That said I never knew Lord of the Rings was a book until AFTER I started playing this game. I saw the movies said "Wow, I like those, I wonder if there is a video game".This was in the year 2010. Low and behold there was.

Then I see people QQing in glff (yes before there was world chat) about breaking the LORE. I asked what lore?. That was the first time I ever heard of Tolkien. It happened around 2011 or 2012. I am not trolling I just do NOT enjoy reading plain and simple!!

So the order of my discoveries of existence went movies---> LOTRO---> Tolkien/books

So you don't even read your virtues, trait trees, ability tooltips etc.?
On topic: reading the book quests is mandatory for me if you play lotro for the first time. As for the other quests texts: it really depends on their quality. Some zones are well written like evendim or duneland, others are rather bland like shire.

[renegade_34g]

Really appreciate all the feedback everyone, thank you.

[Kostas2112]

If its your first time doing em, ofc read em. Some of the quests are very well written.