One incredibly dedicated Lord of the Rings Online player has recreated Frodo's entire journey from The Shire to Mount Doom in the MMO, which he says is the best way to experience Tolkien's universe outside of reading the books.
In a 10-hour video aptly titled 'Frodo walks from the Shire to Mordor', the owner of the YouTube channel Emulated Vintage Gaming (EVG) does exactly that. He walks and occasionally rides his way all the way from Bag End to Mount Doom, even going as far as to stage the final scrap between Frodo and Gollum just before Gollum and the One Ring are plunged into the fires of Mount Doom.
Admittedly, skimming through the below video, I found Frodo's journey to destroy the One Ring a lot more engaging in Peter Jackson's beloved film trilogy, but EVG deserves a massive amount of respect for the effort. The channel owner, who preferred to remain nameless, told PC Gamer it took him five months and "meticulous" planning to assemble the video, which is made slightly more cinematic thanks to the occasional narration from Gollum actor Andy Serkis, pulled from the book series' official audiobook.
What you won't find here are dragons, compelling character drama, or large-scale battles, but apparently what you will find is authenticity to the world J.R.R. Tolkien created. According to EVG, Lord of the Rings Online's world is incredibly faithful to its source.
"Like anyone who's read the books or seen the movies, it's impossible not to want to inhabit Middle-earth in some way," he said. "Lord of the Rings Online is the closest one can get to experiencing Tolkien's realm the way countless works of art, games, music and entertainment have attempted over the past half-century."
"For me, and many other players, you find yourself wandering and wondering at the beauty of the world around you. 'I remember that bit from the book!' is a common thought as you stroll through the Shire, or explore Rivendell, or Lòrien. You notice the attention and love the devs put into every little detail—an impressive feat for such a sprawling universe."
The arduous process of putting together a world-accurate route to Mount Doom involved scouting for locations as EVG's main character, confirming their viability by cross-checking them with Tolkien's works, and then logging in as Frodo and recording him walking through them.
"Every single step you see in the video is a first take," he said. "You'll notice that Frodo gets notifications along the way, [like] 'Discovered: The Trollshaws!' That's because it's the first time the character has set foot in that region. I felt that was an important part to maintain."
This feels like a good enough time to indulgently end this article on one of my favorite lines from Samwise Gamgee in the movie series: "If I take one more step, it'll be the farthest away from home I've ever been."
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