May 16, 2008

Kirana, the hobbit minstrel

For the last few weeks I have mainly been playing Lord of the Rings Online. I actually started playing it about a year ago while I had my last WoW-burnout, but then took a long break again when the burnout symptoms subsided. Now I am back and enjoying my stay in Middle-Earth.

I can say that LotRO is a whole lot of fun. As a Tolkien fan I was blown away by the atmosphere, especially in the Shire. The hobbit NPCs do "hobbitish" things and give quests that are very fitting for a hobbit lifestyle. It simply looks and feels great - a place where I would like to settle down and enjoy the beer and food.

And the contrast in the atmosphere from the serene Shire to scary places like the Old Forest is very striking. The screen gets darker, the background music changes to ominous tunes, and the whole world seems to close up around you, trapping you in fog and the encroaching trees. A hobbit stumbling in there for the first time will surely shake in his boots, err ... have the hair on his feet stand up (yes, Kirana is going barefoot as is proper for a hobbit).

I find myself standing awestruck a lot while exploring the world, whether from the beautiful sight of a rainbow while standing in front of Bags End, or the feeling of dread in the Barrow Downs.

The instances I have visited so far, mainly as part of the epic story quest line, are also beautifully crafted. Unlike most WoW instances there is always a story going on inside the instance, with NPCs and scripted events leading from one encounter to the next. The only WoW instance that comes close to this feeling of an actual storyline is Old Hillsbrad, while most of the others WoW instances are just places where a boss happens to wait for you to come and kill him for loot.

My favourite instance so far was the level 15 class quest for my Hobbit Minstrel. That one involves a hobbit who had his lunch stolen by brigands. You help him face the thieves, reclaim his roast, and later write and perform a song about this little adventure. I don't want to spoil it - it is so funny that I was roaring with laughter by the end.

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