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LOTRO: Turbine trying to make Tolkien proud
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I just find myself like most readers, being lost in the world and always wishing, when I was reading the books, that I could be there with Aragorn that I could be there at HelmÂ’s DeepÂ… All of those places that we created so magically in our mindsÂ… to be a part of that amazing adventure.
 So sayeth Turbine Inc. President/CEO Jeff Anderson to MMORPG, about The Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadow of Angmar (glory be to the lifting of the NDA, and the loosening of lips across the land). Such be the rationale that has driven Turbine in this great quest to create and partition Middle-Earth among Eru knows how many online servers. Such be the perils that Turbine faces, that they must faithfully recreate the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, lest they incur the wrath of the Nazgul Tolkien fans.
Willfully did they set about this task, this fellowship of devs. So notes MMORPG:
"We wanted to make sure that when you play the game, it resonates." [Jeff] continued, "ItÂ’s got not just a little bit of content, but a ton of content."... In terms of space alone, Middle Earth is over 50 million square meters of space. The game has: 10,000 unique items, 1,500 different quests to go on, 5,000 NPCs and monsters and more.
To one source must all such content adhere to greatly, the One Ring that Binds Them All (though not in the Darkness): Tolkien. Anderson speaks of expanding on the beasts described in the stories, of keeping a hobbit hole a hobbit hole, and of Tom Bombadil making more than just a cameo appearance.
But one source Turbine may adhere to NOT, and his name on the scrolls is "Peter Jackson". Turbine hath not the license to use that which appeared in the movies, but only to use the books and writings of Tolkien himself. Such be that Gandalf shall not look like the esteemed Sir Ian McKellen in LOTRO...
And that Legolas shall not look like Raiden Orlando Bloom. Sorry, ladies, better luck with Pirates of the Caribbean.
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