This game is a wonderful place for fans of Lord of the Rings so long as you don’t mind polluting the wonderful world Tolkien created with a Dungeons and Dragons/World of Warcraft aesthetic and can cope with variations to the actual flavor of the original book. That said if you can distance yourself from actual Middle Earth, and see this as a separate but similar place, this is one of the most enjoyable online massive multi-player role play universes to explore. The first release Shadows of Angmar contains twelve epic quests called ‘Books’, and with each expansion or update more Books are added. Thus the recently released Mines of Moria which has received awards for best PC Game expansion, contains two new Books or quests with another five expected in updates.

With less races than similar games, only having Elf, Dwarf, Human and Hobbit, and a standard range of classes albeit with less emphasis on magic classes; Burglar, Captain, Champion, Guardian, Hunter, Lore-master, and Minstrel. (the expansion Mines of Moria adds Rune-Keeper and Warden). LOTRO relies on a less intricate and quite original character development system than traditional DnD type role playing PC games, to bring variety and individuality to this role playing PC game and a texture which is more Tolkienesque. In some ways the game is a simplification of the kind of traditional skills and feats systems as found in DnD and a game like Neverwinter Nights, but within the simplicity there emerges a great variety of less structured options.

Having chosen a class, players then develop a vocation, where each vocation incorporates three professions. For example if you are learning to be a Woodsman you are able to learn the professional skills of forestry, farming and wood crafting. Another point of difference is that when a character has gained enough experience to go up a level in expertise, they don’t just click a button but must go to non-player characters in the game to ‘purchase’ skills. For example at the blacksmith, this represents having been regularly to the blacksmith to train. One great idea that has no bonus value for you character but adds an interesting layer to the way role play evolves is the character naming system. While you get to create your own name, the game engine adds prefixes and suffixes based on things you have achieved in game, such as ‘Spider-Foe’ if you have slain a great number of spiders. Thus Howlin (a Dwarf) would become ‘Howlin Spider-Foe’, or perhaps even ‘High Warden Howlin Spider-Foe’.