Vanessa “Saffron” Price, Online Community Representative for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, writes: Also called “Efts” by the most learned of Scholars, Salamanders are fearsome creatures with a fiery breath and a lust for treasure. Salamanders are found in out-of-the-way places like the region of Evendim, and “out of the way” is just what the unprepared adventurer should get when faced with one of these descendants from dragon-kind!
Category: Gaming
Vanessa “Saffron” Price, Online Community Representative for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, writes: Barliman Butterbur, the proprietor of The Prancing Pony, is always happy to supply a pint and a warm fire to adventurers and townsfolk alike. If you find yourself in Bree, stop in to the famous inn and meet the shrewd innkeeper and his hobbit assistants!
Vanessa “Saffron” Price, Online Community Representative for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, writes: When travelling the shores of Lake Evendim, visit the island of Tinnudir and seek out the rangers standing guard over the ruins of Annúminas. Ever-vigilant, they keep the tombs of the kings safe from lowly tomb-robbers.
Jeff Anderson is not a nerd. The 40-year-old chief executive of Westwood (Mass.) video game developer Turbine is six feet tall, with the frame of an NFL linebacker. Nevertheless, he presides over a vast and rapidly growing virtual world of elves, orcs, dragons, and hobbits. In April, Anderson’s company took the wraps off the Lord of the Rings Online, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for PC, based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic books. The explosive growth of the game—players have created some 4 million unique characters in just five months—has vaulted the company into the top tier of online game design companies and made it the largest privately held developer of massively multiplayer games in the U.S.
Vanessa “Saffron” Price, Online Community Representative for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, writes: On your next visit to the Shire, be sure to tour the quiet and charming village of Whitfurrows. In true Hobbit fashion, it’s a pleasant place to meet and share tales (and second and third breakfasts!).
Wellywood’s next hit could be on the small screen, with the release today of the PlayStation 3 game Heavenly Sword. The game’s character dynamics are a product of the Weta Digital motion capture studio, which is part-owned by Peter Jackson. Jackson helped to develop the game version of his 2005 blockbuster King Kong, and Weta Digital’s graphics were used in the Lord of the Rings’ gaming equivalent. Jackson is leading the development of a series of games for PlayStation’s main rival, Microsoft, based on the Halo franchise. Halo 3, due out next week, is expected to raise the stakes in the international game market.