The Shire
It's Five Fandom Friday, and that means another geeky post! This week's topic was the Green Photo Challenge, and the participants were stimulated to share 5 green inspired photos in honour of St. Patrick's Day. In what is by now Ravalation tradition, I decided to go with screenshots instead, and Lord of the Rings Online was the first game that came to my mind.
LOTRO is my go-to game when I want to immerse myself in beautiful landscapes. Even though it's a pretty old MMO by now that has been overtaken graphics wise by new games, there's something about its landscapes that makes it feel more lively and 'real' than any game world I've visited. Perhaps it's the beautiful skies and weather mechanics. Or I'm just biased because I'm a huge Tolkien fan. Either way, here are five pretty green screenies from virtual Middle-earth.
Westemnet, Rohan
The first 'green landscape' you can access is the Shire (top picture). This region was released in vanilla (2007), so ten years ago, but it still looks very pretty to me. It also has the cutest music, so this is where I go if I need cheering up.
The picture above shows the endless green plains of Rohan. You can hate on mounted combat if you like (I do always get stuck when passing through towns, ugh), but riding through those plains on your war-steed gives a tremendous feeling of freedom.
Isengard
During one of the epic story chapters, players get the chance to visit Isengard before Saruman turned truly evil. It's beautiful and green and sometimes I wish I could stay there a bit longer. But then I get a feeling of sorrow because I know what's going to happen.
Isendale
Isengard lies in the Isendale, near the Gap of Rohan (86.9 S, 8.2W). This region is designed much later in the game than the Shire, and you can clearly see a difference in style. The ground is covered with so called frills, the soft looking grass cushions that I've grown to love.
Fenmarch
Finally, if you're after a romantic spot for your Lord of the Rings Online in-game wedding, look no further. The Fenmarch (Eastemnet, Rohan) has water lilies, black swans, emotional trees and a turquoise sky. If I take a character through Rohan, I always make sure to stop by this small village near the marshes. It's just so darn beautiful.
This was your daily dose of Middle-earth eye candy. If you like pretty pictures sorted by colour, make sure to check out my 6 on 6 series (featuring six screenies on the sixth of the month). You can find more specifically green goodness in Six times green. And for those of you that celebrate: I hope you had a great St. Patrick's Day - or Bullroarer Took's Day, for the hobbits among you!
5 Fandom Friday is a weekly event organized by the Female Geek Bloggers group on Google+. You can look up past and upcoming topics on The Nerdy Girlie.
I love seeing your interpretation of the challenge!
ReplyDeleteWow, so many pretty places to visit on LOTRO yet. I do love their landscapes (most anyway) and the details they've added.
Still waiting for mu acceptance into the G+ group. It'd be great to connect with more people. :D
Thank you! I added some pictures of higher level regions partly also because I figured not everyone may have visited them yet. It does take quite a while to level up.
DeleteIf you don't hear anything back from the group, let me know and I'll check if something went wrong.
I agree it does take a while, especially after you hit Moria. I didn't care much for it the one time I've been through. Now I get to go again since I switched from Landroval to Laurelin. I really enjoy my Beorning though, so some day I'll get back to Rohan and make it all the way through this time. :)
DeleteUnfortunately still nothing from the group yet.
I didn't realize you moved to Laurelin (or maybe I forgot, bad Rav). That's my server! :)
DeleteWhen did you apply?
Cool! I'm not sure I mentioned it previously or not. :)
DeleteShortly after I saw your comment on my blog about it...so last week sometime.
I've recently started to dip back into LotRO again after a long break and it's the countryside that always impresses. It's a very clunky MMO in so many ways, more so than many others of its generation, but the one thing Turbine undeniably nailed was the worldliness of Middle Earth. That look they found is ageless.
ReplyDeleteI can only 100% agree. MMOs don't age well, nor has LOTRO in many aspects. But that it's the (landscape) graphics of all things that survives the weathering of time is astonishing.
DeleteThose are gorgeous! Fenmarch looks so vivid, like a painting. I love a game with weather mechanics (I don't have the time to MMO, unfortunately, but my fiance plays ESO nightly, and I enjoy watching him as I work).
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that you say that. I always get the urge to draw or paint LOTRO landscapes when I'm looking through my screenies. One day I'll do it!
DeleteMMOs do take a lot of time if you want to fully enjoy them. Luckily there are tons of other games out there. :)
I don't mind the old graphics or simple landscapes, I'm the "less is more" type and I find those landscapes great looking! If I had to pick a favorite, I'd go with the 3rd, Isengard. (hope this isn't a double post, I've been clicking that "publish" button a few times now and it seems bugged).
ReplyDeleteI love the Isengard picture, too! I think it's the reflection in the water. Both the waters and the skies are so pretty in LOTRO.
DeleteSorry to hear the publish button has been screwing you over. It's the first time I've heard of it, so I hope it's not something new that sticks. I only received one comment on my end, so nothing to worry about there (I can always delete comments if they're posted double).
The landscapes were one of my first loves in LOTRO especially as they make me feel in the world that I imagined as I read the books. Shire has to be my favourite as so English or Irish. Your photos capture so well some of the places that I have yet to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know that you could get married in LOTRO? How? (I first married my wife online in the game we met in - Perfect World International).
Yes! The places are very close to how I envisioned them from reading the books as well. It was one of my main concerns when I started playing back in 2007. Just like movies can really disappoint me if they look very different from how I imagined in the books they are based on (I usually prefer the books in those cases). The only thing in LOTRO that didn't live up to my expectations is Lothlórien, but I set the bar quite high there.
DeleteAnd, alas, you can't officially marry in LOTRO, but that doesn't stop people from doing it (like, in their own organized RP events). It's strange that the option hasn't been added, really. You can, after all, officially adopt people at the notary, and they will show up in your heritage tree. But there is always only one parent per child, and that does seem a bit odd.
LOTRO is such a beautiful game! Many times I logged in and never even played the game, I just rode around exploring and looking at the scenery. I never got as far as Rohan, but I wish I had. Fenmarch especially sounds really cool, the screenshot is gorgeous :)
ReplyDeleteHeh, I do that as well from time to time. Sometimes I'm just after some pretty screenshots. Of course when I'm logging in only for that, it's always night and I have to wait until the virtual sun comes up. ^^
Delete