A Casual Stroll to Mordor

Many LOTRO players have shown a great interest in the large and growing body of serious scholarship on J.R.R. Tolkien. The Mythopoeic Society is one of the oldest organizations dedicated to the study of the writings of Tolkien and the other members of the Inklings, such as C.S. Lewis and Charles Williams.

Here it is: the long-awaited (or at least long-delayed) conclusion to my series of posts on the NPC hobbits in the back room of the Bird and Baby in Michel Delving!

Way back in 2007 when LOTRO was first launched, one pretty consistent gripe from reviewers concerned the whole concept of the Minstrel class. Sure, everyone knew that the game needed a healer of some sort, but many people just didn’t get the concept of the Minstrel.

Punggo introduces the real-life counterpart of the second of these hobbits from the Bird and Baby in LOTRO, Carlo Williams.

It has been said many times (and I agree) that LOTRO has the greatest community of any MMO out there. Players are by and large respectful towards each other in their in-game interactions, and new players are not insulted when they ask basic questions about game play in the chat channel.

The first time I made it into Evendim, not long after the zone opened up, I was blown away by the ruins dotting the landscape and the views across Lake Nenuial. If you have never spent any time there, you are missing out on what I think may be the most visually stunning zone in the entire game.

If you play LotRO, you have probably paid a visit to Michel Delving, the “capital” of the Shire, at some point, even if you do not play a hobbit. Maybe you needed to turn in mathoms for reputation, or perhaps you’re a member of the Cooking Guild. On the other hand, if you completed the Shire Brew-master deed, successfully finished Inn League initiation, or did the “Recovering the Lost Leaf” quest chain (available from Ronald Dwale near Dwaling), you would have gone inside the Bird and Baby Inn.