Anyone who knows my gaming habits understands that I am not a fan of desert zones, expansions, or even Tatooine. Sorry Luke, but it’s not as if you weren’t trying to escape that sandpit either! I typically find them dull and lacking imagination… but I’m always willing to give one a shot to prove my presumptions wrong.
That brings us to Legacy of Morgoth, the most deserty desert expansion that Lord of the Rings Online has ever made. In fact, the game as a whole hasn’t really done “desert” yet, so I’m keenly interested to see how SSG interprets a Middle-earth version of this biome. Oh, and I’m looking forward to the stories as well, of course.
In typical SSG fashion, the decision by a select few (including the player) to head out into the wilderness to chase down two dangerous figures results in a lot of tarrying and hem-hawing. I swear, I don’t use those terms in my normal life, but they seem apt here. There’s no journey in this game that doesn’t start with a lot of dragging feet and overly long goodbyes, but that’s the way of LOTRO.
After spending months in — and under! — the city of Umbar, I thought it felt delightfully freeing to be back in the less complicated countryside and moving along in an adventure. I’m just not a city guy in any RPG or MMO, so out here in nature is where I feel least constricted.
If you haven’t visited these newer areas, you might think that Harad mostly draws from Middle-Eastern biomes, yet it often comes across as Polynesian to me in places, with the huts and palm trees and rich colors.
I got a kick out of the fact that many of the locals, who’ve never met Hobbits before, keep addressing me as a child — and I have to keep assuring them that I’m a full-grown adult.
When you immerse yourself like this in this game, it rewards you. I don’t get tired of being the transient small-town hero, helping individuals while getting to know them and their stories. That simply doesn’t get old to me. It’s almost a good thing that the War of the Ring is in the past because I don’t even have to pretend now that my adventures are part of this huge, sweeping, world-saving narrative.
While some people have the time and inclination to speed-run through expansions, I’m about as opposite to that approach as you can get. For starters, four zones and over 350 quests isn’t something you can knock out in a weekend in this game. But on top of that, I enjoy the languid unfolding journey of each expansion in LOTRO. I take a lot of detours, do some sight-seeing, read all the quest text, and genuinely want to get to know the land.
I also want to enjoy a new expansion as long as possible. Blitzing through it just to get a full review won’t make that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. In fact, the rush might make me overlook important details or critiques that only a more thoughtful, thorough run could produce.
I stumbled upon an instantly fascinating questline involving a very unusual branch of Elves. LOTRO’s been exploring different types of the standard four races of the Free Peoples, and it’s kind of interesting to see Elves that are divorced from their northern relatives in more ways than just distance. I won’t spoil too much of this here for you other than to say that this story is worth doing.
On a recent devstream, the team was talking about how it’s getting harder and harder to deliver “Big T” moments — characters, landmarks, or story beats that are intimately familiar to anyone who has read the books or viewed the movies. We’re several expansions past the end of the War of the Ring, and while the occasional famous face makes an appearance, I can testify that this viewpoint is true.
It’s not that there aren’t other parts of the books or appendices that aren’t waiting to be used (think: the Glittering Caves, the Scouring of the Shire, South Farthing, etc.), but I get the sense that the devs are keeping those last few famous references for a rainy day. For now, we head south into nearly completely unknown territory. It’s not bad at all, but it’s also not familiar.
As I said a few weeks ago, I don’t feel any sting at the lack of a tentpole feature in this expansion. That’s because SSG’s world and writing team delivers such great content that makes for a very filling meal. I intend to savor this one bite for bite.
Every two weeks, the LOTRO Legendarium goes on an adventure (horrid things, those) through the wondrous, terrifying, inspiring, and, well, legendary online world of Middle-earth. Justin has been playing LOTRO since its launch in 2007! If you have a topic for the column, send it to him at justin@massivelyop.com.
