Shamus Plays: LOTRO, Part 5

[Sonic Doctor]

I started playing LOTRO when I read the first part of this comicization,(decided to create a new word), of the game. I have to say I really like the game, it definitely has enough to keep me playing for a long time. But I have to say my favorite part of the game so far was after I pulled my hair out trying to navigate the Old Forest, I finally found Tom Bombadil's house. I have to say it is the most cheerful and uplifting place I have been in a game. I wish that that part of The Fellowship of the Ring had been put into the movie. It probably would have tacked another 20 minutes onto the movie, but if it was done right it would have been crazy awesome.

Great job Shamus, this comic is hilarious and so true.

 

[mptothedc]

I laughed at the pictures of him getting up and then jumping THROUGH THE FIRE hahaha. good stuff. Now he's going to go chase after Bilbo Baggins instead -.- lol

 

[LaughingAtlas]

Even in a smoldering village of outstanding stupidity, there's never a bad time for Monty Python. I wonder what an MMO with remotely intelligent NPCs would be like...

 

[Delmar Wynn]

I started playing LOTRO when I read the first part of this comicization,(decided to create a new word), of the game. I have to say I really like the game, it definitely has enough to keep me playing for a long time. But I have to say my favorite part of the game so far was after I pulled my hair out trying to navigate the Old Forest, I finally found Tom Bombadil's house. I have to say it is the most cheerful and uplifting place I have been in a game. I wish that that part of The Fellowship of the Ring had been put into the movie. It probably would have tacked another 20 minutes onto the movie, but if it was done right it would have been crazy awesome.

Great job Shamus, this comic is hilarious and so true.

An interesting fact. There are 2 licenses for Lord of the Rings. There is the movie license which does not allow the reference to Tom Bombadil and then there is the book license which does. LOTRO is based off the book license and hence why we are able to meet Tom. I am sure there is someone out there that can explain to me why Tolkien Enterprise did I currently have no clue as to why.

 

[Epicurus]

Tsk, shame on you Lulzy for your misanthropic ways. I was quite saddened by the passing of the gaoler when I played that part, even if he was a bit thick.

 

[DTWolfwood]

never notice the ridiculousness of the newb area before XD

 

[ravensshade]

you know... i think the dwarf/elf end of tutorial sequence is better then... atleast you know.. the baddie stays dead then

 

[Eldarion]

Gaaah, normally I just gloss over this kind of stuff with my ample supply of Willing Suspension of Disbelief, but this image of the well from page 3 just jumped out at me and wouldn't stop punching me in the face:

Spoiler

How. Did. She. Reach. That. Handle?! It doesn't even look like Lulzy could reach it with her arms up over her head. If she tried turning the handle she'd have to be a few feet off the ground just to keep it going around in a circle! Or did she just haul the bucket on a rope straight up the well with her exceedingly muscular physique? Her immense, ogrish forearms?!

This will haunt me forever.

Otherwise, very entertaining!

When I saw that image I burst out laughing.

Not because of what you said, but look. The well is labeled "well".

They......labeled......the.....well.

Are people that stupid?

 

[ravensshade]

Honestly, vicarious MMO playing is much better than real MMO playing, you save time, get the gist of the story and NO GRINDING!

Champions is turning out to be...*SHOCK* fun least until the nerfs hit everything...then it will be like COX was a year or so after launch...oh sorry we made this game for grinding and PVP not to have fun with....because PVP is serious business....

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/2/a/4/2a4770708407e0d2f59f97784593bc0f.jpg

sorry fail pic is fail >>

give me a few sec to get into a pvp arena thingy in champions online and i'll give you a better picture.. (one in which someone is busy running away) since running away is what champions online pvp is about! (yes i got champions online)

 

[Amazon warrior]

Cor! You were really lucky that Eogan didn't taunt you a second time!


.....I'll get my coat.

 

[asterismW]

Sorry if this one is a bit of a downer. "A village burns down and everyone dies" is a pretty tough set-up for jokes, actually.

Au contraire, I thought this was your best, and funniest, episode so far. Well done!

 

[Sonic Doctor]

I started playing LOTRO when I read the first part of this comicization,(decided to create a new word), of the game. I have to say I really like the game, it definitely has enough to keep me playing for a long time. But I have to say my favorite part of the game so far was after I pulled my hair out trying to navigate the Old Forest, I finally found Tom Bombadil's house. I have to say it is the most cheerful and uplifting place I have been in a game. I wish that that part of The Fellowship of the Ring had been put into the movie. It probably would have tacked another 20 minutes onto the movie, but if it was done right it would have been crazy awesome.

Great job Shamus, this comic is hilarious and so true.

An interesting fact. There are 2 licenses for Lord of the Rings. There is the movie license which does not allow the reference to Tom Bombadil and then there is the book license which does. LOTRO is based off the book license and hence why we are able to meet Tom. I am sure there is someone out there that can explain to me why Tolkien Enterprise did I currently have no clue as to why.

Wow, didn't know that. It would be interesting to find out why. My take would be that Tolkien Enterprise saw some of the stupid changes that Peter Jackson was making to the story(i.e. the elves coming to help out at Helms Deep, which they didn't in The Two Towers book), and decided that they didn't want him to screw up the great character that is Tom Bombadil.

 

[DaveMc]

"Dying hard or hardly dying?" Gold. Gold!

 

[commasplice]

Mundo Sackville-Baggins.
Mundo. Sackville. Baggins.

Really? That's really this guy's name? I have to admit that I own The Hobbit and the three LOTR books, but I've never actually finished any of them, so imagine my surprise when I learned that "Sackville-Baggins" was actually something Tolkien himself came up with. Funny part is that in the official Baggins family tree, there appears to be no Mundo Sackville-Baggins. In fact, according to Wikipedia, there were only Otho Sackville-Baggins and his son, Lotho. Lotho was killed and, with him, that line of the family died off.

 

[Triaed]

I missed a good limerick.
Bad taste, maybe, but perfectly funny. Missed opportunity

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Honestly, vicarious MMO playing is much better than real MMO playing, you save time, get the gist of the story and NO GRINDING!

Champions is turning out to be...*SHOCK* fun least until the nerfs hit everything...then it will be like COX was a year or so after launch...oh sorry we made this game for grinding and PVP not to have fun with....because PVP is serious business....

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/2/a/4/2a4770708407e0d2f59f97784593bc0f.jpg

sorry fail pic is fail >>

give me a few sec to get into a pvp arena thingy in champions online and i'll give you a better picture.. (one in which someone is busy running away) since running away is what champions online pvp is about! (yes i got champions online)

I Don't PVP its worse than grinding 0-o

 

[ravensshade]

Honestly, vicarious MMO playing is much better than real MMO playing, you save time, get the gist of the story and NO GRINDING!

Champions is turning out to be...*SHOCK* fun least until the nerfs hit everything...then it will be like COX was a year or so after launch...oh sorry we made this game for grinding and PVP not to have fun with....because PVP is serious business....

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/2/a/4/2a4770708407e0d2f59f97784593bc0f.jpg

sorry fail pic is fail >>

give me a few sec to get into a pvp arena thingy in champions online and i'll give you a better picture.. (one in which someone is busy running away) since running away is what champions online pvp is about! (yes i got champions online)

I Don't PVP its worse than grinding 0-o

meh pvp can be interesting and fun (well can be..) but in champs it's just run and gang on people who didn't run fast enough.. (or don't have the teleport power) meaning you spend most of your time running after some biggot and possibly having to run away yourself because your getting ganged..

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

Honestly, vicarious MMO playing is much better than real MMO playing, you save time, get the gist of the story and NO GRINDING!

Champions is turning out to be...*SHOCK* fun least until the nerfs hit everything...then it will be like COX was a year or so after launch...oh sorry we made this game for grinding and PVP not to have fun with....because PVP is serious business....

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/2/a/4/2a4770708407e0d2f59f97784593bc0f.jpg

sorry fail pic is fail >>

give me a few sec to get into a pvp arena thingy in champions online and i'll give you a better picture.. (one in which someone is busy running away) since running away is what champions online pvp is about! (yes i got champions online)

I Don't PVP its worse than grinding 0-o

meh pvp can be interesting and fun (well can be..) but in champs it's just run and gang on people who didn't run fast enough.. (or don't have the teleport power) meaning you spend most of your time running after some biggot and possibly having to run away yourself because your getting ganged..

I think champs suffers from alot of oversight issues...PVP should first be one on one and require dual consent to start it,if team based all in both teams MUST ok it to be part of it....I don;t care much for PVP I like doing the loner thing and helping out randomly when I feel like it.

 

[ravensshade]

I think champs suffers from alot of oversight issues...PVP should first be one on one and require dual consent to start it,if team based all in both teams MUST ok it to be part of it....I don;t care much for PVP I like doing the loner thing and helping out randomly when I feel like it.

it's teambased and by selecting join hero league (pvp match thingy..) you give your consent that's it done but meh in most mmo's i don't like pvp either

 

[ThySensFan]

An interesting fact. There are 2 licenses for Lord of the Rings. There is the movie license which does not allow the reference to Tom Bombadil and then there is the book license which does. LOTRO is based off the book license and hence why we are able to meet Tom. I am sure there is someone out there that can explain to me why Tolkien Enterprise did I currently have no clue as to why.

I did a research on this last year and from what I remember, J.R.R. Tolkien sold the television and radio rights to The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit to pay off some debts in the 60s. Those rights passed trough the hands of a few companies and are currently owned by Saul Zentz/Tolkien Enterprises - not affiliated with Tolkien Estates headed by Christopher Tolkien-. Any media produced is based on this license. As such, Turbine isn't allowed to reference or use anything coming from Tolkien's other works - The Silmarilion, Unfinished Tales, etc-, which are still held by the Tolkien Estate.

My guess is that if something (e.g. Battle for Middle-Earth, I think) is based off the movie it uses the movie license and since Tom Bombadil wasn't referenced in the movie they can't use it, but if it uses the license directly from Tolkien Enterprises (e.g. LOTRO), then the company would have access to all the material in The Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit.