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The Road to Mordor: 10 things to do in the Shire before you die
A couple of weeks ago I decided to embark on a long-planned project to play through the entirety of Lord of the Rings Online -- or at least a whole heck of a lot more than I ever have previously. My thought was that in the rush to level and progress, I had been skipping much of the content that makes LotRO so unique, and I wanted to force myself to slow down, take it all in, and get over the desire to hit endgame as quickly as possible. Thus, I created Slyppi, a brand-new level 1 Hobbit Burglar with the intention of experiencing the game in full. My rules with Slyppi are thus: She will clear out every solo quest in a zone (including the epic storyline but excluding tasks) before moving elsewhere. She will go through all three newbie zones and ignore the fact that the quests aren't giving her much XP. She will take detailed notes, package them up, and send them back to me for the purposes of turning them into a guide to the interesting out-of-the-way quests and places in Middle-earth. If you're anything like me, you probably die a lot, usually in very embarrassing ways (hey, that cliff wasn't there a minute ago...). Since we all have a death warrant on our heads, we might as well get the most out of our journeys, which is why I've come up with 10 things that you should do in the Shire before the inevitable occurs. Why 10? Because it's two in computer-speak!
The Road to Mordor: Hallowed be thy burrow
One of my all-time favorite amusement park rides is Disney World's Haunted Mansion. More than anything else, the Haunted Mansion encapsulates the Halloween experience for my life -- a combination of goofy gloom, maudlin macabre and spooky spirits. I've never been into the gory side of Halloween, nor the freaky scares, but there's nothing I love more than traveling through a haunted house that's completely into crafting a perfect Halloween atmosphere. This is why I feel like a kid again as I spent the last couple days exploring the new Haunted Burrow in Lord of the Rings Online. While some see the notion of a haunted hobbit hole silly, lore-breaking or a frivolous waste of time, I think it's one of the best virtual haunted houses I've ever seen. As one person Tweeted, "It's like Scooby Doo, but with Hobbits and no Velma Dinkley!" The only complaint I have is that I truly wish there was more of it, and more to do in it. Instead of handing you a guide to the Haunted Burrow -- A Casual Stroll to Mordor covers all the bases, and TheREALify has a great map on the forums -- today I thought I'd just share my thoughts on each of the wings of the house and the little details that truly make this place shine. Take my hand and don't be scared... ...oh mercy me, what WAS that noise!?!
