The Update 16 beta introduced a new Gondor map that suggests future locations. With the game getting so close to Mordor, we decided it would be a good time to predict how the next several years will play out based on the new map.
Minas Tirith and Beyond – Predicting What Is Next For LOTRO
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Polls
What Is The First Thing You Will Do When Mordor Is Released?
- Simply Walk Into ........ (43%, 63 Votes)
- The Epic Story! (38%, 55 Votes)
- Other (Leave Comment) (15%, 22 Votes)
- Side Quests (2%, 3 Votes)
- The Black Book Of Mordor (1%, 2 Votes)
Total Voters: 141
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after the scouring of the shire, I am split between going into Harad to clean up the Mumakil pits and pursuing the blue wizards into eastern Rhun! That could be an exciting plotline
Travelers tip, never visit Mt. Doom during the ring melting season. Wait till the off season. But most importantly do you think we will finally be able to visit the Stonebeans?
Assuming we get a good, long, hard look at Mordor and after the scouring of the shire of course, I would be most interested in either:
– Destroying the Mumakil pits in Harad with Aragorn
– Or venturing into Rhun to find out what happened to the two Blue Wizards! THAT could be a compelling plotline with enough ambiguity around it to give Turbine lots of room for creative license! Did they stem the flow of troops to Sauron and aid in the War of the Ring? Did one get corrupted like Saruman while the other strove against him??
Cheers, Braag of Vilya
I think we encounter some of the servants of the Blue Wizards, both in Dale (in the instance), and in the Brown Lands, and they are two different priesthoods serving ‘Yeltkin the Violet’ and another who’s name I can’t remember. If I remember rightly from the storyline of the Great River, the priests were forbidden by their leaders (who I think are the Blue Wizards) from marching East, but they did so anyway, and went to war.
But still, there’s a lot of potential for Turbine there!
I am very happy to see the Morgul Vale and Southern Gondor on the map. It gives me hope that there is some group content in the Vale and a future landscape road map for Southern Gondor.
This was a really interesting discussion, and there were some great ideas thrown out there (particularly Jajax as the last heir of Castamir – that would be wonderful – although we would have to kill him…)
I thought I’d add my thoughts to this debate, but I just want to apologise pre-emptively for the wall of text…
My hope is that with the Pelennor update (not with the Minas Tirith one, because I want them to get that done perfectly – with interiors, and lots of people! -, plus I think they should take some time around then to make the Osgiliath PvMP map), they will also include new landscape in northern Gondor – Anorien and Northern Ithilien, including the highlights of Cair Andros, Henneth Annun (Faramir’s hideout) Amon Din (the beacon) and the forest of the Druedain.
Although due to the separate maps (they seem to be on different tiles), we wouldn’t be able to ride directly from Rohan to Gondor if these areas were filled in, they could add in another Fords of Isen-type portal at the crossing near Beaconwatch – and I’d really like to return to Rohan, and ride with the Rohirrim and encounter the Druedain en-route to saving Minas Tirith – perhaps as messengers alongside the Red Arrow?
It should also be taken into account that our little fellowship (Corudan, Horn and Nona) are still in West Rohan, and as we know Horn is at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, they’ll need to make their way to Minas Tirith, and I can’t imagine them getting there any faster than with the Rohirrim host (although I do fear that Corudan is dead after his disappearance just before the Battle of Helm’s Deep). Therefore I hope we return alongside them, as meeting them after the battle would be rather upsetting (the Lay of the Mounds of Mundburg might be a spoiler you want to avoid if you’re not aware of why this is).
My preference for entering Mordor would be via Minas Morgul, and I think, given the big reveal of Vol 4, Book 3 (don’t worry, not going to say what it is), I think we could have an interesting fight against a certain important figure there, or against Shelob in Cirith Ungol. I don’t think we’ll go much further into Mordor, and personally I wouldn’t really want to (while Shadows of Mordor looked pretty cool, there’s no way that the LOTRO engine could make Mordor look quite as impressive), and I don’t think we’ll ever get any closer to Northern Mordor (Barad Dur and Mount Doom) than the Black Gate (and thus a bit of Dagorlad – maybe connecting up to the Dead Marshes?), which I think we might visit with Aragorn and co.
Then things get more hazy, but I think the next logical step would be to head into Southern Gondor (as Pineleaf said, while we wait for Arwen to arrive and for the wedding to take place) – but I can’t see us going into the depths of Harad, given its vast scale, and thus we’re unlikely to go much further than Umbar, probably through Harondor and across the Poros river, which could take us through northern Harad, although its all rather undefined by the maps I’ve been able to find, and as such Turbine are free to make up their own story (perhaps putting the cities of the Haradrim in the far north, for ease of access!)
Then, of course, there’s still the Scouring of the Shire to do, and I hope they’ll take the opportunity here to add in the southern Shire, including the lands down to Tharbad (accessed in the Windfells in Enedwaith), from the Southfarthing, as that would mean that we could enter from the south of Waymeet, and then head straight for Hobbiton, thus saving the World Builders from ruining the entirety of the Shire, which I imagine will be a very time consuming process. This could also allow us to FINALLY go into the Tower Hills and the Far Downs, an area which has been missing between Ered Luin and the Shire for a long while, but is colonised by Sam’s daughter and her family.
Perhaps we could also access this area from the Rhovanion map, so instead of crossing the Fords and then using the portal, we could instead move continuously up through Dunland and Enedwaith, up to Tharbad and then Sarn Ford towards the Southfarthing (an area which has generated some excellent suggestion posts in the past).
So essentially, my map for how I’d hope the game to progress up until the license ends in 2017 would go:
Autumn/Winter 2015: Minas Tirith and Osgiliath PvMP map
Spring 2016: Battle of the Pelennor Fields, Anorien, Cair Andros and Northern Ithilien
Autumn 2016: Minas Morgul and Cirith Ungol (Shelob raid!), Black Gate
Winter 2016/Spring 2017: Southern Gondor, Umbar
Autumn 2017: Scouring of the Shire
Shadows of Mordor? There goes your credibility.
You’ll note that I was drawing a significant distinction between Shadows of Mordor and LOTRO – there are some things that each game engine is more suited for and, to give Monolith its due, Shadows of Mordor did manage to create an immersive and interesting world inside of Mordor.
However, I do not think that the Mordor that we see in Shadows of Mordor would suit LOTRO – firstly because there’s a significant difference in the time period, and secondly because the graphical engines are so very different (the world of the Shadows of Mordor is tiny compared to LOTRO, and thus can be far more detailed).
Thirdly, and most importantly, as you will have seen if you’d read my post, I don’t think our characters have any business going as deep into Mordor as Shadows of Mordor did, and I think those that say they want to see the region around the Sea of Nurnen, for instance, are basing this around the depiction of this zone in Shadows of Mordor.
For me, I’d much rather spend more time amongst the Rohirrim and the Gondorians than head into the barren plains of Mordor, or even into the lush lands of the Sea of Nurnen, because it allows us to interact with the peoples of Middle Earth, and their culture.
Thus, for me, other than the Black Gate and the Morgul Vale (and as an extension of that, Cirith Ungol), I have no desire to go further into Mordor – and I’m rather confused as to how you think this perspective damages my credibility. I don’t claim that Shadows of Mordor is canon in any way – rather I use it here as an example of something that I don’t think can be, or should be, brought into the world of LOTRO.
I think by his comment he meant that it is Shadow of Mordor and not Shadows.
I personally think that it could be interesting going to see how Sauron was able to feed his armies and also how those slaves got freed (as mentioned in the books). Those could both be places where our characters could spend a relatively large amount of time and still be loyal to the lore.
I would much rather see the Scourging of the Shire and the Gray Havens than Rhun or Harad. Before we get there, The black gate and the Morgul Vale is a must too in my opinion. I would hope we get to see Cirith Ungol in some way too, a Frodo /Sam session play and a raid later too.
The second half of 2017 really has to be the Gray Havens and prepping to wave Gandalf , Frodo and elrond off into the west. Nothing else would beat that IMO. Plus that’s a lot of work as someone is going to have to carry Elrond all across Eriador in his library as he literally can’t leave it.
The reason I proposed them in the order above was that, according to the timeline, it makes more sense for us to have something to do (as Pineleaf suggested) in the immediate aftermath of the destruction of the Ring. I am certainly more excited about the Grey Havens and the Scouring of the Shire than I am about visiting Harad, but I think chronologically, it would make more sense in this order 🙂
I would just be worried about squeezing all that in Tirian. Hopefully there’s more to come post 2017 but not necessarily . If we say go on to 2020 that’s a really exciting prospect with perhaps tying up all loose ends everywhere. Given their perceived limitations my must have list skips harad/rhun.
The same is true for me – if we had to skip something off that list, Harad would be it 🙂
I think there will be two Minas Tiriths, just liek there re two isengards. The one that exists on the new Gondor map (pre-seige), and another one that will be approached through Anorien as the Rohirrim join the battle, and this version will be under seige and damaged.
After Mordor and Shire (although there were only hobbits retaking it, so not sure we should interfere 🙂 ) there should be added the only areas well described by Tolkien which are not in the game as landscapes – Northern Mirkwood and Erebor with Dale, next area should be Iron Hills. We can come there to help them rebuild and eliminate last groups of enemies. We can be send by king Elessar or Gandalf worried what had happened there during a war. Would be great to get more places with Elfs and Dwarfs and some new buidlings. I am already so bored with humans and Gondor architecture :). Harad and Rhun can be added later, There is no detailed descriptions by Tolkien so it would be almost purely Turbine fantasy, this makes this areas much less interesting for me.
I’d love to see Northern Rhovanion, especially Erebor and Thranduil’s Halls! Though I fear that it might be a bridge too far for Turbine 🙁
While I’d agree that Harad and Rhun would be entirely of Turbine’s invention, I’d argue that some of the stuff that isn’t based too heavily on the original works (e.g. the Volume 1 storyline) is actually some of their best work, although obviously that’s rather subjective.
Would like to see the Battle of Dale.
Sigh. I miss the days when folks would/could take the time to write out an article.