17 May 2011
Continuing our pictorial journey through Middle-Earth…
We left off our journey arriving at the town of Bree. Here you can see it at nighttime.
More ruins from ages past.
Ah, the swamp with the neeker-breekers. Which of course in the game are not just an audio component, but big bugs that you have to squash.
More swamp. I took a ton of shots of the swamp because I found it so oddly beautiful. The low sun hitting the haze, with all the ruins poking out of the muck… not exactly inviting, but not exactly an eyesore either.
We’ve worked our way out of the swamp and into the Lone Lands. Here you can see Weathertop, also known as the ruined tower of Amon Sûl. In the game you can play out a nighttime defense against a ringwraith raid.
South of Weathertop there’s this rundown inn along the main road (which of course Strider avoided as much as possible).
Some ruins in the Lone Lands. In the background is the fort of Ost Guruth, which isn’t covered in the fiction at all but does serve as an important quest hub for players in the game.
We’ve worked our way out of the rather desolate Lone Lands and into the area known as the Trollshaws. On account of, well, the trolls. But when it’s not pouring rain and you’re not getting bagged by a wandering troll it can be quite lovely.
Speaking of trolls, here are a few famous ones. Bert, Tom, and William can be found as the stone statues that Bilbo and company left them in.
Here’s a river going through part of the Trollshaws. Not the river, mind you (by which I mean the Bruinen, the river that Elrond used against the Nazgûl).
South of the main road and the great river’s ford it all empties into a little lake.
We’ve crossed the river, climbed up and down, and have now descended into the valley of the elves: Rivendell.
Some of the nice architecture of Rivendell.
Here we’ve stepped inside the Last Homely House: Elrond’s home. Apparently he doesn’t live humbly.
At least Elrond knows how to entertain. In his decadent dining hall you can find old Bilbo, happy to play the riddle game with anyone who’s willing to chat with him. Nothing like a creepy old hobbit walking around asking you what’s in his pocket.
29 Apr 2011
In the book High Fidelity (and the movie too, for that matter), the main character is obsessed with making “Top 5” lists and categorizing his music collection. There’s a moment where he decides to organize his records autobiographically - the order in which he experienced them. I’ve always been intrigued by that idea: trying to express one’s journey in life through the music that accompanied it. So I’m going to do just that, except instead of sorting stacks of records I’ll be producing a playlist.
Unlike the character in the book I have no intention of organizing every single piece of music I own in such a matter. Really I just want to capture the inflection points. The problem is that as soon as you introduce choice into this exercise it becomes an entirely different activity. In defining the timeline of my life, what music was most important?
Do I choose songs that represent the evolution of my taste in music? Or do I choose songs that are steeped in personal memory? Sometimes hearing a song can take me to a time, or to a specific feeling. Some songs are tied so tightly to poignant memories that hearing them transports me to an exact moment. Clearly a musical timeline of my life has to include these songs. They may not represent me musically, but they do represent my human experience.
As I’ve tried to put this list together it’s become clear that I can’t just do one or the other. A progression through my music tastes alone is soulless; a trip through the highlights of emotional moments lacks context. There needs to be an intentional blend in order to achieve a sensible storyline. It’s a tricky task, and one I’ve been working on for months now.
I’ve finished reconstructing my timeline, and now it’s down to the logistics of writing, linking, and presenting this to the vast anonymity of the internet. Let this post serve as an introduction to the project. The next time you hear about it we’ll jump right into the early years of my exposure to music. Everything from Bob Marley to Michael Jackson to even New Kids on the Block. You heard me, I’m baring it all.
25 Apr 2011
I’m generally not a fan of landscape photography. Maybe it’s because the subject matter is infinitely patient. In general the photo will have everything in focus, and whatever is being captured has been there longer than you or I. There’s no immediacy to it. Sure, mountains and trees and waterfalls are pretty, but I just don’t know what a landscape photo is telling me other than “doesn’t wherever you are now suck in comparison?”
While writing my series on Lord of the Rings Online I decided I wanted screenshots to go with it, and that for some reason it was important that they be personally taken screenshots instead of stock images from whatever the internet had to offer. As I went about I decided I really enjoyed the hunt. No longer was I just some hero in Middle Earth; now I was some hero with a camera.
Once I started I just couldn’t stop, and I quickly gathered far more photos than I needed for my article. So I’ve decided to post them here as a visual journey through Turbine’s rendering of Middle Earth. I feel like I was a little harsh on them, because truth be told there are many beautiful scenic areas in the game. Anyway, here you’ll find no rants about game mechanics, just pretty pictures and some light captions. Enjoy.
It seemed natural for these photos to follow the hobbit journey from Hobbiton to Rivendell. Here we have Bag End in all its cozy glory. And excellent place to host a dozen dwarves.
A cute little hobbit hole cut out of the hillside. I’m thinking maybe this whole rectangular door things is overrated.
Frodo was found of hikes into the woods around the Shire. I imagine this forest path might have been one of his favorites.
Hobbits are none to comfortable around the water, but they have on big beautiful river running through the Shire. In classic hobbit fashion this river is named “The Water”.
They’ve gotta get over that river somewhere, and here’s one of the crossings at nighttime with a Bounder keeping watch. He probably doesn’t see much action, and more than likely is drunk on the job.
It’s daytime in this shot, but this is the Buckleberry Ferry where the hobbits escaped the black riders into Buckland.
I know they were trying to shake those scary black riders, but I don’t think going through the Old Forest was the brightest idea. It is not a happy place.
Here we have Old Man Willow, luring all passersby into a blissful slumber.
We’ve emerge from the Old Forest into the Barrow Downs. Cairns and tombs, oh my! You can’t take two steps without stumbling over reanimated bag of bones. This is where players will likely experience their first dungeon instance.
North of the forest are beautiful fields that would have provided a much more enjoyable path. But I guess the big open is just begging for a Ringwraith to swoop through and gobble you up.
All throughout the land of Middle Earth are ruins of ages past, such as this one.
And here we see the town of Bree, looking perfectly pleasant in the day light. For low level characters this is their main hub for banking and auctions. I guess it’s a more friendly place if you’re not trucking around the One Ring of Power.