These were screenshots sent in to me showing the difference from a low-end graphics card to the very highest end.

You can even click on these pictures to study them in their full size! 

As a test, compare the blurry tiles in the foreground of picture 1 to that of picture 5. A HUGE difference!

1. Low Resolution 

 

2. Medium Resolution

 

3. High Resolution

4. Really, oh my goodness, High Resolution

 

Pretty impressive, if you ask me! 

Send me your screenshots! What's the best graphical settings we can see in The Lord of the Rings Online?

I've had more than 80,000 unique hits to this column in the last week.

I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has read my colum, and who has taken the time to post comments.

Keep them coming. I want to hear your news and all the juicy gossip from Middle Earth. 

I was asked to join a guild the other day. But before I could join, I have to 'prove' my worth by doing a quest with them, they wanted me to do something called an ‘Epic’ Quest.

Now, I had no idea what this meant at the time, and many of you might not, either. So when I detail the quest later, there will be a * * *SPOILER * * * section written over the bits that aren't safe to read.

Now I want to savour my time in Middle Earth; I don’t want to race through the quests at breakneck speed; I’ve been pottering about so far, and as far as I’m concerned that’s more than enough for me.

For those that don’t know, I was involved in a race to 60 on the Warcraft servers the moment they went live (at midnight) and it took me until my mid 40s to realise: what the HELL am I doing? I have a life, this is a game, not a job, and I’d like to savour what content there is left in this game rather than simply racing through it.

So that’s what I did there, and that’s what I’m doing here. Certainly, Middle Earth has a lot more content and a lot more to offer, so it’s well worth taking your time. After all, it’s the journey that counts (unless you’re currently close to 40th level in which case please don’t sleep until you’ve got to 40 and want to message me offering yourself up to my lovely spider in Monster Play – tee hee!)

So with the guild offer declined, I finally managed to get myself to Bree where I would soon find out about Epic quests on my own, without people rushing me through the content on a wild race to level 50.

The streets of Bree

 

Now, aside from some lag issues (which apparently are being sorted)
Bree looks amazing. Other game developers take note: this is how to make a PROPER town!

Again, Turbine have done a fantastic job of keeping Bree entirely
with the character and style of the books. It's a great place to visit! 

The only thing I don’t like are the fact that all the buildings are instanced – but that’s just a personal thing. I imagine it’s got something to do with the complexities of programming and makes the game run smoother and anything that does that is OK by me!

Finally, I found the Prancing Pony.

And here’s Barliman Butterbur, a fat innkeeper who only remembers his name because people shout it at him all day…

 

Bree by night. Simply gorgeous!

 

My point here is that there's all this beautiful scenery, there are more quests than you can possibly shake a very large+5 Stick of Shaking at, yet people seem intent on racing through the content, only to reach the top level when they cry "there's no content!"

Well maybe if you slowed down, read the quests, enjoyed the journey, you wouldn't be so frustrated to have raced through the content, which really is a joy to play through. There are so many quests, and some of them really are incredibly charming, funny and even quite difficult.

In a MMO it's the journey that matters - this is especially true when the game is brand new and the developers are still finding their feet.

There's so much to do - but more on Things to Do In Middle Earth - later...

There are all kinds of quests in Middle Earth, but what strikes me as the most important quests are the Story Quests. Yes, there are the homogenous: “Take A Pie to the Party Field”, or “Kill Six Bears”, but by far the best quests, and where Turbine absolutely stands out, is with the Story Quests.

You begin with the Prologue, which sets the scene for Middle Earth and introduces some new evils to the world.

But first, some background. 

Note: What follows is only the ELF introduction; I’ve not yet played any of the others, but here’s a sample of how intricate and interesting the storylines are in Lord of the Rings Online.

If you remember way back to the introduction; that’s right, when you first started up the game and created your very first elf character, you began the game at the Refuge of Edhelion when all kind of bad things were happening.

Now, the Refuge was being attacked by an evil dwarf-lord called Skorgrim Dourhand – and we will learn more of his evil later. You had to run through burning buildings, kill evil dwarves, only to finally discover that Skorgrim was seeking some mystical relics which were cloistered away deep within Edhelion.

Sadly, when Skorgrim tries to steal the relics, the building (ruined in the attack) collapses on him, killing both Skorgrim, and burying the relics forever.

Or so you thought …

Twelves Levels Later: The Epic Quest Line really is stunning. It began in Bree at the Prancing Pony, where I found Strider in his private chambers. He appraised me with his dark eyes, and at once, his face fell, as he was filled with shadow.

* * * SPOILER – DON’T READ ON IF YOU WANT TO PRESERVE THE MYSTERY OF THE FIRST PART OF THE ELF EPIC QUEST * * *
 
Apparently, the dwarf-lord Skorgrim was not slain in the destruction of the Refuge of Edhelion – oh no. As these things invariably do, the evil one survived to sew his wicked seeds anew, and this time, he’s hiding out with his evil cohorts in the Blackwold Camp. There he lurks, with a wicked shadow called Amdir. It is this shadow Strider could sense, and it is Amdir we seek to destroy.

Agreeing to help, I went off with Strider into the darkness of Chetwood where we met with Lenglinn and Torthann (lots of Ns at the ennd of nnames there!)

I had to accompany Torthann to investigate the shadow that surrounded Blackwold Keep. Together, Torthann and I went down into the darkness, where we encountered some bandits. Nothing too scary there, I hear you cry.

While a simple Loremaster, my combat skills were insufficient to defeat the bandits; instead I focused on keeping Torthann alive as we ventured ever deeper into Blackwold Keep.

Finally, the bandits slain, we fought our way to this huge stairway.

What I encountered on the other side surprised and thrilled me, for at the top, we encountered Amdir, Skorgrim, and a much greater threat: the Nazgul.

 

It seemed that Skorgrim was in league with the darkest powers of Middle Earth – which can only mean one thing: that the Eye was upon us!

A cold mist enveloped the top of that stairway and the place we had found ourselves – Ost Baranor – was transformed into a realm of pure terror. We were frozen in place with fear as Skorgrim conducted his foul dealings with the wicked shadow. Thankfully, the Nazgul fled, leaving us with Skorgrim and Amdir, no longer a mere servant, for he arose from his funeral slab after making the ultimate sacrifice. The Nazgul had bestowed upon him the wicked power of the Dark Lord - transforming him into a fell wight!

No longer was he merely Amdir, but the fell shadow Cargul!

 

Destroying the wight, we faced the unholy wrath of Skorgrim himself…
But we were victorious. My group and I shattered his power (I had to
come back a few times, with a group, to be sure to finally defeat the
evil of Amdir and Skorgrim).

Returning to Strider, we claimed our prize, but this all goes to show how in-depth the story is. Nazgul, evil minions, and the story goes on, for Skorgrim has his own dark masters, and what is his connection with the Dark Lord Sauron?

I’m sure I’ll find out in the fullness of time.

Overall, a surprising, thrilling, and really very evocative story. One of the best I’ve encountered in any MMO.

And this is just the beginning!

I'm a bit bemused and puzzled over this one. Sony apparently went a bit far at the God of War 2 launch event - by having a freshly-slaughtered goat in full view of the guests, who were invited to “reach inside its still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach”.

Topless girls added to the "Greek Orgy" atmosphere, while a male model portrayed Kratos (the game’s hero).

 

 

This all sounds entirely un-shocking to me so far.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare said the stunt was "outrageous", and that the animal’s death had been used "to sell a few computer games".

A representative for Sony said that the goat was not slaughtered for the event and was purchased from a local butcher. People were not eating the goat's intestines - it was in fact stuffed with warm offal.

Here's a 'safe' picture of the 'bleeding' goat. 

The Daily Mail says that 'subscribers, who already have received Official Playstation Magazine, have been subjected to the shocking images across two pages of the magazine, which has been recalled from shelves'.

The two page spread shows more vivid pictures from the event under headlines such as "Topless Girls!" and "Flesh Eating!"

Topless girls in an adult game! Goodness. Oh the travesty of it all! So there are some naked breasts, and a bit of pixilated blood. Hardly anything to make me run out, strip naked, steal a sword and start hacking into the neighbors.

Sony describes God of War 2 as "an adult-rated, fast-paced bloodbath – and enormous fun to boot", adding that it is "bigger, better, and as brutal as ever".

The Aftermath: Sony, which released the game in the UK on Friday, admitted that the stunt had been a mistake. In a statement it said the following:

• "Sony does not condone or sanction any inappropriate behaviour by its staff or sub-contracted staff.
• "It has come to our attention that at the God Of War 2 launch showcase, an element of the event was of an unsuitable nature.
• "We are conducting an internal inquiry into aspects of the event in order to learn from the occurrence and put into place measures to ensure that this does not happen again."

Update: Since writing the report, I've heard from guests of the event that "What purported to be warm intestines was actually warm offal". So it's a bit gross and probably highly inappropriate for these sensitive times, but it's hardly shocking to the point of outrage!

Sony is this weekend recalling the entire 80,000 print run of the magazine and the offending article will be removed because of the "sensitivity of the general public over issues of animal welfare" - so people will complain about the alleged death of a goat, but no one cares about the shocking waste of 80,000 pieces of high-quality paper!

In Summary: One can only wonder if the world has gone mad. After all, people will seemingly shout outrage about anything – even without knowing the full facts.

But you all knew that anyway!

With Sony's recent reputation, this all does seem a bit odd, though. Makes you wonder exactly who's making the decisions at the top these days...

There are some unfortunate reports of people being charged multiple times for their Lord of the Rings Online Lifetime subscription.

So make sure you check your credit card statements carefully in the foreseeable future.

I think this is pretty bad and Codemasters (the publisher for LOTRO) should get this cleared up as soon as possible.

Turbine have done a cracking job on this game, the last thing they need is their publisher cocking up any more than they already have.

So go check those statements! 

Been charged twice? Let me know. 

These are just some of the improvements mentioned in the last Developer's Chat. Consider these the highlights for your viewing pleasure!

There's no really hard and fast information here, but it is still an appetiser for what's to come... 

CONTENT

• Give me Content - and Lots of It: The Shores of Evendim is the next planned content patch (coming in June). Much of Evendim will be focused towards level 27-40 players, with some high-40s content. We also have Helegrod Raid (find out more about that - soon!) - which is designed for level 50 characters. Clearly, Turbine are giving end game some serious thought here!
• High End Content: Turbine intend on releasing a number of large six-man instances and one 24-person Raid in the expansion.
• Monster Play: Monster play is clearly a priority and they are intent on updating both monster and landscape solo play for end game users. In the Shores of Evendim they'll be making some changes to monster play, like updating monster skills so they're more competitive in order to deal with the higher level heroes. Even bigger changes are afoot - and coming soon!
• Level Cap: The level 50 cap is not intended to last for the lifetime of the game. Further expansions will include higher levels and higher level content as well.
• Solo Instances: You’ve all wanted it (in every game since Ultima Online). Now here it is! There is a small instance for solo players in the Shores of Evendim that allows you to fight alongside a group of NPC henchmen. Solo excitement abounds!

And lastly, complaints about the game being too easy: Think again. You’ve not sampled Carn Dûm yet!

GAME IMPROVEMENTS

• Improvements: In testing now are percussion instruments, sustained notes for wind instruments, the ability to enter music into the game in ABC notation system, and at least one more octave. They may also add more instruments in the future... possibly even including voice.  
  

GRAPHICAL IMPROVEMENTS

• Character Updates: Turbine’s Artists are keen on adding more options to avatar hair and more options for avatars in general.
• World Weather: You can expect to see rain and thunder storms return with the Shores of Evendim.

GENERAL UPDATES

• Storage: Storage will eventually be expanded - no time line for this.
• Housing: Still in the planning stages, but housing is high on the list of features Turbine wants to implement.
• Fishing: Fishing will feature in the game at some point (although I think you could just go out and find a local stream and catch old shoes there, too!)

GRAPHICAL UPDATES

• Time: /time and an in game time-of-day UI are both coming in the Shores of Evendim update.
  
• Icons: Several ilter changes to buffs and debuffs are coming in Shores of Evendim to allow players to hide buffs and
  debuffs that may be impeding their experience while in Fellowships and raids.

And that's it! A lot of things covered there.

A lot of updates coming in the next expansion, barely two months away!

Before I go on to my next exciting adventure, I wanted to show you just how amazing Middle Earth really is.

This is the Shire.

 

Just look at that rainbow!

Imagine sitting here with Gandalf, blowing smoke rings and discussing past adventures.

Enjoy the simple and awesome beauty of Hobbiton. Notice the beautiful water effects on this glorious summer’s day.

Now I’m only playing the game on a crappy low-spec PC, and I can only imagine what Hobbiton would look like on a higher setting. In fact I long to see the game with the high-resolution textures on a really meaty top-end PC.

MESSAGE FROM THE DARK LORD

Something very interesting happened when I reached 10th level: I received a message from the dark powers when I found this. 

 

This instrument of evil allowed me to peer into the depths of the Enemy’s mind - and allowed me access to Monster Play (MP). If you don’t know, monster play is a form of PVP where a player can assume the role of a monster and engage in battle with other players.

But it's also SO much more... 

Now, one thing I’ve learned about life is that people frequently dismiss things without trying them, and so many people have uttered: "Bah, LOTRO has no PVP."

I've heard it SO many times.

And boy are they wrong!

While it’s not PVP as you would expect, it’s new and innovative and fun and has a LOT of potential. In fact, it’s absolutely brilliant. I'd say it's more evocative and exciting than PVP in any other game.  

Once you access the Monster Play screen (and you must be 10th level or higher), you are presented with the five monsters you can play:

• Orc-reaver
• Spider-weaver
• Uruk-blackarrow
• Uruk-warleader
• Warg-stalker

 

Now they’re all level 50 monsters, so at the time of writing they’re FAR too potent for any normal player of Middle Earth to face – but that time will come.

Note: This is the first time I’ve been dying for those power levellers to
reach level 40 just so I can sink my fangs into their throats in
service of the Dark Lord, Sauron!

Be warned - this isn’t your Alliance vs. Horde stuff. You really feel like you’re playing a different game in a bloody and violent world. The stakes have changed, the very world has changed... Gone are the peaceful, fat hobbits - to be replaced by trolls and uruk-hai!

I was so very surprised to be wandering among the wicked minions of Middle Earth. It’s very atmospheric and yet another string to this already accomplished game’s bow.

This is me as my wicked spider Varshk.

 

Running really creeped me out!

When you log in as your monster, everything changes. For a start, the whole interface is darker, and you really feel, as you log into the Ettenmoors (one of the sites of the Dark Lord’s power) that you’re on the side of evil.

Here's a look at the Monster Play starter area.

 

And here's your first quest giver.

 

I wouldn't like to meet him on a dark night out... 

So, as there weren't any Free Peoples players of a high enough level to engage in PVP, I had to find something else to do. 

But what else is there to do in Monster Play?

Well, a lot, actually!

What surprised me the most was that you have quests to do as a monster (the Dark Lord has his dark schemes in place and you are a part of those plans to bring the shadow to Middle Earth). Quests earn you all kinds of juicy rewards (see below). 

There are lots of quests - from poisoning the water supplies
of the Ettenmoors (mwa haa haa) to obtaining resources for the Dark Lord's evil schemes. Or you can ignore the quests altogether and go about gaily killing other players. Well, you can when they get their fingers out and actually get to a high enough level to pose a threat to you!

There’s a lot to do here and I had picked up 12 quests in the short
time I explored Monster Play.

It's good being mean! 

MONSTER PLAY REWARDS
So, apart from the sheer joy of slaughtering the Free Peoples of Middle Earth in bloody carnage, why would you bother with Monster Play?

Well, there are lots of advantages - they come in the form of:

•    Destiny Points
•    Rank
•    Renown & Infamy
•    Rating
•    Prestige
•    Perks

Destiny Points: Both your Free Peoples characters and monsters can earn Destiny Points (DPs), and both your monster and your Free Peoples characters can benefit from this pool of points. DPs can be used to purchase new skills, improvements to armour, extra damage, and so forth for your monster character. In addition, Free Peoples characters can spend them on Perks (see below).

Rank: Rank is a reflection of your standing and service to the Free Peoples as a normal character, and favour earned in service to Angmar's army as a monster character. Each type of character, monster or Free Peoples, can earn up to 15 of the available ranks (note I've no idea what these ranks are - yet!).

Renown & Infamy: Renown (for Free Peoples characters) and Infamy (for monsters) are similar to experience. Each time you defeat an enemy, whether solo, in a fellowship or in a raid, you earn an amount of Renown or Infamy largely based on the rating of the defeated foe. Earned Renown and Infamy are never lost, and continue to drive you closer to ever higher Ranks.  

Rating: Rating is a fluctuating number that rises and falls based on your victories and defeats in player vs. monster player combat (PvMP). The amount of rating points earned or lost depends on your rating and the rating of your opponent or opponents. A higher rating grants bonus Renown/Infamy from PvMP victories.

Prestige: Prestige is a visual representation of your Player Versus Monster Player (PvMP) rating. Prestige appears as a collection of stars surrounding your player portrait.

Perks: Perks are short-term buffs which benefit your Free Peoples characters, and can be used to boost your strength, increase your speed, and even give you more experience points. Perks are purchased with Destiny Points earned through monster play.

In Summary: There’s a lot to take in here and this is just the beginning. I know Turbine has plans to greatly enhance Monster Play, and as it’s already so fantastic (and a great amount of fun), there's so much potential.

I can see myself spending a LOT of time in Monster Play.

For those people who say: Bah LOTRO has nothing new to offer, I say look again! It has something better, something totally in-keeping with the mythology and the setting. Something far more atmospheric!

Monster Play is a brilliant idea.

Tomorrow: I really will make Bree, visit Aragorn, and face up against the evil Barrow Downs, but for now, here’s me logging as my spider on a rock. I really did feel very evil and I’ve heard there’s a MP Raid at 4:00pm today, so watch this space later for an update on how it went.

To all those Free Peoples players I say: why on earth are you reading this? You need to hurry to 40th level so I can bite off your heads and drink your blood! 

But for now, I'm going to log out, skulking, on this rock

 

I hate typos. I really do. They’re so annoying- the bane of a writer. I write this column, leave it over night, and then post it the next day. I spell check it and I read it about ten times.

You’d think that with that level of scrutiny on something so simple, that there’d be no typos, right?

You’d think!

But there’s always one. There’s always one little blighter that creeps into the text no matter how painstakingly diligent I am.

So if you see them, please do let me know!

The Lord of the Rings servers were down pretty much all day yesterday, so there's no update today.

I didn't get to play at all.

More updates tomorrow - I hope! 

Yes, The Lord of the Rings servers are down, and with them, as reliable as clockwork are the forums posts: "Are the servers down?" 

Yes they are! 

So, to all those people worrying about the server downtime, I say this: it's completely natural. We've had this in every game since time began. The sky isn't falling.

It's a new game with new tech... These things happen. Frustrating, but part of the life of a MMO.

Do what I did and go for a long walk.

And then another...

It might take Turbine a while to bring up the servers, but they'll be back.

Which sucks when you have to spend three hours trying to write tomorrow's report...

Maybe I won't see the Barrow Downs and Bree after all... 

You could spend this time doing something productive, like, oh, I don't know, registering on my brand-new Forums and getting ready to win HUGE prizes!

Or something

It's day two in Middle Earth. And my questing has taken me far from the safety of my starter area and into Hobbiton.

Here's me. My god I'm gorgeous!



It's at this point since yesterday when you're expecting me to say something derisive about Turbine or how much this game is like World of Warcraft...

But you're wrong. I've put all of that behind me, and what I have noticed is this: while it's no secret that WOW was a game copied from the best bits of every other game, Lord of the Rings Online takes those improvements a step further. Everything has been improved, tweaked, and enhanced. And it's a better game for it. Yes, there is stuff that is missing, and there are some annoying niggles in the game engine, but on the whole, it's a superior product with lots of nifty and surprising features.

Note: People have asked me to document what those annoyances are, so here are some of them: I'd like to have seen footsteps in the snow and some of the animations are a little on the odd side. I find there's a general lack of emotes (the emote system is generally lacking). I find selecting people to look at them unreliable and fiddly, and the quest log divides up quests into whole regions, which, when those zones are very large, can make finding quests in your specific area difficult. I'd like to have seen more voice acting as I hear the same voices over and over...

Questing: I mentioned yesterday about the game's quests, and how dreary I found them. Well reaching Hobbiton, things couldn't have been more different.

In fact, I'm in love.

It's here that the game comes into its own. There's a wealth of new quests here, of all shapes and sizes and they're all in keeping with the lore of Middle Earth. Here are just some of the quests I had to do.

* Take a pie to the Green Dragon Tavern (avoiding hungry hobbits on the way).
* Save a farmer's chickens from ravenous wolves.
* Defend a hobbit from some hulking bears.
* Collect an old cooking recipe from a tavern.

All these quests serve to bring the game world to life, and better still, they go FAR from the oh-so-dull quests in other games. I really do think they were spectacular, massively removed from the 'kill twenty goblins and come back for your reward' or 'take this letter to X and return for your reward'.

If the game keeps going on like this I'll be very happy indeed.

I have to say again that the world feels very much alive. Hobbiton is incredibly atmospheric and seeing characters from the books come alive is simply wonderful (I'll take better screenshots tomorrow, I was so in awe of my new areas I kept forgetting to take pictures!)

Another fantastic surprise was that I finally worked out how to use the scroll that transports you back to a selected area of the map. I used mine to return me to the starting area, to discover a whole new set of quests had opened up to me - the world had moved on and things had changed from when I was previously there at level 1. This was very new and exciting and another major plus for the game.



I noticed the game has a transport system where you can swiftly travel from place to place through a stable master. This is a great idea as running is slow and the world is very large. However, you have to explore these places first, so you can't just race off to Bree in your first hour of playing the game.

I got some criticism yesterday for saying that WOW has more content than LOTRO. This may be true, but what I've seen so far of Middle Earth, it's quality over quantity any day of the week, and some of the quests have been a pleasure, where I felt quest grind in WOW quite early on - you got bombarded with the same kinds of quests, which didn't change at all through the life of your character.

So, from what I've learned of LOTRO, there's a whole plethora of quests to come, from kidnappings, ambushes, and a lot more. Yes, there's still the kill ten wolves quest here, but they're just one of many, and many of them have other aspects to them (like kill ten giant frogs to get Lobelia (the pet frog!) to appear - she's terrified of the other frogs!). It's all good stuff and plays on the books very well indeed.

My Quest: While searching for Bree and the Prancing Pony, I got lost and found myself in the scary Frogmoors. While there, me and my trusty pet raven were ambushed by some huge frogs and I died.

Only I didn't really die, instead, I ran out of morale, which is this game's version of health. Morale is like your confidence, and attacks diminish it until you collapse, exhausted and have to retreat to a safer region. I like this idea a lot as it gets away from the endlessly resurrecting idea of other games.

So I abandoned the Frogmoors in search of Bree, only to fail dismally. The monsters got too tough and I lost my way entirely, so I had to go back and do more of the quests in Hobbiton. Oh what's a poor elf to do?

Here's me looking down at Celondim



So, what did I learn in day two? That the game is a deceptive beastie. It plays great, it looks gorgeous, and that there's a whole load more to do under the surface than at first appears.

I don't think I'll ever love a game like I did with Asheron's Call. But The Lord of the Rings Online made me feel excited in a way I haven't since those early days. There's a lot to see and explore here, and while I know the Middle Earth map pretty well, the thrill of exploration is back.

Tomorrow I'll find Bree and I'll get to meet Aragorn and see what quests await me there. I'm hopeful that I'll even find myself a magical item one of these days.

The Nasgul are abroad and I know dark things are shifting in the shadows of Middle Earth.

So I'll be avoiding magic rings like the plague!

Watch this space!

I was given a trial account for the launch day of The Lord of the Rings Online. So, I thought I’d give you my opinion of my time in Middle Earth.



Disclaimer: Call me grumpy but I’m reasonably anti-Turbine. I’ll never forgive them for allowing my hard-earned motes to be stolen in Asheron’s Call and for doing nothing about it! I’m also pretty frownsome (not actually a word) about the endless bugs in (the now deceased) Asheron’s Call 2. And of course, I’ll gloss entirely over Dungeons & Dragons Online – words fail me – nothing to see there!

So Turbine isn’t doing so well in my eyes. But along comes The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, a meaty title for Turbine’s newest game and a chance to put all previous wrongs right! In a nutshell, this is a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game set in J.R.R. Tolkein’s world famous setting of Middle Earth.



Who hasn’t fantasized about romping through the Shire, getting a pint at the Prancing Pony, and facing up against the Nasgul at Weathertop?

Well, now you can…

It’s IMPOSSIBLE to write an article like this without comparing it to the other MMO currently in circulation, the BIG DADDY of gaming: World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft (WOW) currently has around eight million subscribers – all paying around nine pounds per month to quest in Blizzard’s virtual playground. So it’s only natural that Turbine wants a piece of the action.

With two failed releases under their belt, Turbine’s developers clearly sat down and took a different approach to this new game: they designed LOTRO to be as close to WOW as possible. In fact, the two games are eerily similar. A friend came in while I was playing today to note “Ooh the interface is just like WOW!”

And indeed it is. Turbine has copied the winning formula all the way, not just from the interface, but to every aspect of the game.

And that’d not a bad thing. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

But, rather than reel off all the similarities between the two games, it’s best to say what’s different. There isn’t much, but one thing Turbine does better than anyone else, is story. Right from the outset, you are immersed into Tolkein’s world. Characters, script, story – LOTRO has it all! Defend Dwalin (remember him from The Hobbit?) as he faces off against a cult of wicked goblins, or as a hobbit, encounter some nefarious characters and even a terrifying Nasgul – all before you’ve learned your first skill!

It’s the story and attention to detail that makes this game such a fantastic tribute to Tolkein’s work.

So how did I find my time in Middle Earth, and did Turbine win me over?



Well. I wasn’t drawn into the game at first. I just kept seeing how much like WOW it was. And to be honest, that’s a bit of a turnoff. I’d have liked to have seen a game that pushes forward the industry by being at least a little innovative, but there’s nothing like that here.

Yet once you move past that, you start to see what the game has to offer.

While most of LOTRO is standard MMO fare, there are some lovely touches, like titles. As your character performs actions in the world, they gain titles. For example, if you survive to level 5 without being slain, you gain the title "Wary”. There are countless titles, from Warg Slayer, to, I hope, Vanquisher of Nasgul!



Exploration: I’m three hours in and I still haven’t found the Prancing Pony, or sampled Monster Play (which is this game's version of Player Versus Player (PVP) combat). I reckon I've barely scratched the surface. There’s a lot of regions to explore and each one fits perfectly into the setting.

Interface: The interface is easy to pick up. You can be going in minutes, and even a novice gamer will soon be effortlessly roaming Middle Earth. The interface is fully configurable, so you can change it as much as you like to your own standards.

Quests: Quests are make or break for me, and the majority of quests were disappointing. I had three: one to collect a horn from a giant Auroch, another to kill 6 lesser Aurochs and collect their meat, and a last one to kill 6 creatures. Hmm. Kill and collect quests. So nothing new there, either.

But what I found was that unlike WOW (whose quests remain duller than dishwater throughout) there are some truly cracking quests here. The “Defend Dwalin” quest was truly exciting, and there are others that are equally well scripted. There’s really nothing like this in any other game and if it continues to be as exciting, that alone will keep me playing just to see what happens next.



In summary, LOTRO is well worth a closer look. It really is. With such an engrossing story, so visually appealing a world, and all those disenfranchised WOW players looking for the next big fix, how can it fail?

Only time will tell.

If you’re coming from WOW and want a refreshing change of pace, this is a tiny hop toward something new and fun. Just remember: it’s practically the same game you’ve been playing, only with no PVP combat, and substantially less content. But it's early days, and a with Turbine's track record at producing excellent content, the future for Middle Earth seems bright indeed.

However, with a game that’s almost nothing new, how long will it be continue to be entertaining when WOW has so much more to offer?

Come back in a few days and find out.

Find out about World of Warcraft http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml here

Find out about The Lord of the Rings Online http://www.lotro.com/ here:

This is pretty neat: a hot air balloon in the shape of Darth Vader.



Can you just imagine soaring over the rooftops, seeking out rogue Jedi from your lofty viewpoint and smashing them into obliteration with the dark power of your...

<ahem>

Sorry. Where was I?

Oh yes. You can visit the Darth Vader Balloon Website by clicking here, and maybe you too could feel the power of the Force.

Isn't this one of the most awe-inspiring and beautiful things ever?



This is a genuine, untouched image of the universe taken by the Hubble Telescope.

It makes me feel very small and humble. There is such beauty out there beyond our tiny Earth.

You really cannot imagine how mind-bogglingly vast the universe is. These things are so far away that I find it incredible to try and imagine how far away they really are. It's impossible, of course; the distances (in terms of linear length) are unimaginable.

And this. It's like something from Star Wars:



These were all taken from the NASA website.

You can find NASA's Image Gallery at: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/index.html

I recently conducted an experiment: I signed up to a dating website with false details and the most attractive fake picture I could find.

Now, I put the most insanely boring information into my profile. I didn’t make any attempt to stand out or be deep or insightful or interesting.

And I was astonished by the responses I received.

People messaged me from all parts of the country to say what an awesome body I had, how sexy I was, and generally wanting to meet.

My real profile is full of information about myself, with positive messages about life. Yet it doesn’t get a fraction of the hits my fake one got.

So that got me to thinking: Would a person rather be miserable in an empty relationship with a gorgeous partner than one filled with the potential rewards a compatible mate might bring?

Are people simply attracted to beauty at a cost of all else?

While we can all admire a pretty face, isn’t it about time we looked a bit deeper? For the literally hundreds of people who checked out my profile, most of them couldn’t even be bothered to do more than send me a message saying: “Hi, how r u?”

Not an auspicious start.

Looks fade with the years. If people can’t look beyond the surface, beyond their physical desires, no wonder their relationships fail. They’re searching for instant physical gratification and to hell with the personality beneath the looks.

Not the best foundation for any long-term relationship.

From my research, I’ve discovered there’s a hierarchy to appearance. An attractive person often considers it beneath them to communicate with someone they consider less attractive than they are. They may totally ignore a person they consider unattractive. Certainly, a vast majority make no effort to get to know a person before making a judgement about them – one based entirely on appearance.

This is less true with the less classically good-looking people.

So, do we live in a world where looks breed exclusivity?

Is it the case that the more attractive you are, the higher your own personal standards? The more you feel you deserve an equally attractive partner (regardless of their personal qualities).

I find this all rather disappointing. This is the twenty first century, surely we should be moving past an emphasis on looks and into something more spiritual or at least less hedonistic. Surely the qualities of personality should be far more important than the firmness of someone's breasts or six pack!

In a Vogue world where everything is centered on beauty, it seems increasingly unlikely that a person’s inner beauty will be made the centre of attention any time soon.

While I think attraction is an important part of relationships, far too much emphasis is placed on it.

The point of this article is not to go out and have charity sex with someone less attractive than yourself, but this: there’s a whole world of people out there, and we are all created more or less equally. We all have our strengths and they’re not all about how you look or what you do in the bedroom.

Possibilities are everywhere. Take time to look more closely at the people you encounter every day.

If you dismiss a person simply on looks, you could be drastically reducing your chance of relationship bliss.

What the Buck quite literally defies definition... Currently number one on You Tube and Myspace, this guy is such an evil genius, he totally deserved a mention on my website - purely for making me laugh at 2:00am when I should be asleep!

Visit Buck's Myspace Page http://www.myspace.com/buckthehustler

I wonder what the Phelps family would think of Buck (or the people on whom he comments)?

I hope we'll be seeing Buck on UK TV screens in the VERY near future.

Another movie review, this time of the breathtakingly spectacular Howl’s Moving Castle.

Yes this is a Japanese animated movie, but before you start complaining about subtitles, incomprehensible stories, and chesty teenage girls in various states of undress, fear not, for it’s been completely reworked in English with top stars like Lauren Bacall and Christian Bale doing the voices.

Howl's Moving Castle is a romance set in a world of magic and mystery. It's got everything: magic, wars, strong characters, and a story that really pulls on your emotions. It's just beautiful.

I particularly loved the way the way the magic of the world blends in with the story. The world is filled with magical scarecrows, strange demons, and flying cars, but the most impressive animation is that of the home of Howl, his strange walking castle (reminiscent of Baba Yaga's Hut from Russian legend).



But what’s best about Howl’s Moving Castle is Calcifer, the fire demon. He gets all the best one-liners and is just about the cutest demon ever (quite like Abrax from the Summoner Chronicles).

Of course, as with many Japanese stories, not too much is explained and everything feels rather vague and undefined, but it really is a gorgeous two hours as the main character, Sophie, is aged seventy years by a curse from the Wicked Witch of the Waste (that's right, you heard me!). So Sophie seeks out the wizard Howl, who, she believes, can help remove her curse.

And Sophie, naturally finds more than she bargains for when she decides to meddle in the affairs of wizards.

Howl's Moving Castle is a gorgeous story and beautiful animation, so check it out.

I promise here and now that this column is not going to become dominated by movie reviews... OK, so maybe it will, and maybe I'm hopeless at keeping my promises, but that's the point of a column.

So, I just came back from seeing 300, which, as you will all know is a movie about three hundred nearly naked Spartans trying to resist the advance of King Xerxes' army on Sparta.

That's about it for story, but what the script loses in complexity, the movie more than makes up for in style. Absolutely gorgeous, stunning visually with some truly breathtaking moments.

It's very visceral and oh-so-gory (so not for the squeamish) but it's a really fantastic piece of film-making.

What gets me, though, is how people are complaining that it's not historically accurate. Who cares? It's JUST A MOVIE! It doesn't need to be accurate. I always say: style over dreary realism any day of the week.

After all, no one stood up and said: "Hey! Hobbits never existed?"

So ignore those naysayers and go see 300.

Well, I'm back from the London Book Fair. It was a busy event, far larger than I could have imagined. Earls Court One was filled with thousands of publishers and agents, all seeking to sign the next big book deal.

Disappointingly, there weren't a lot of authors there and the agents and publishers were all consumed with the task of networking with other trade persons, so I didn't get to speak to any of the hard-hitters in the industry.

But I did get to speak to some key people - and watch this space for news on those fronts.

Just as I posted about how much I loved The Queen last week, I felt I HAD to comment on the movie Sunshine, the latest flick by 28 Days Later director Danny Boyle.

The basic premise is this: it’s fifty years in the future and the sun has cooled, or gone dim, or something... It’s still burning, but it’s a shadow of its former self.

So, the Earth sends the Icarus II armed with a huge nuclear bomb to restart the sun.

And, that’s about it, really. There no explanation, no real story, just the ship going to the sun and what happens to the crew along the way.

Now, I really don’t want to use my column as a hate-fest, but this movie was TERRIBLE. I felt like it really wanted to be like 2001: A Space Odyssey, but instead, it just came out as confusing, unfinished, badly edited, and left you with far more questions than it answered!

The acting was great, but the cast was badly let down by the story.

Sunshine was just a mash of drawn out computer generated space images and totally confounding scenes in which something (involving special effects) was happening, but I’ll be damned if I knew what any of it was about.

And the ending! Can someone translate?

In summary: go see it for yourself and let me know what it was about…

Not a slow news day, or anything, but I thought I'd let you all know that I'm going to start Darkness Rises: The Great War over the next few days.

I might even start it tonight! I'm feeling that whimsical.

Actually, this story is kinda newsworthy as it's been a long time coming. I know I put the outline together 13 months ago, but for some reason, it just didn't feel like the right time to start it.

But I've procrastinated for more than long enough. Now it's time to finish the story.

Watch this space as I report LIVE from Vale as the Children of Vangual destroy the city and reduce humanity to slaves and cattle.

It’s Easter, but does anyone wonder what that means any more?

Chocolate eggs and four days off work, that's what!

People look forward to our holidays with just as much enthusiasm as they ever did, yet is it religious fervour? Absolutely not! Take Christmas for example. Christmas is all about time off work, the presents and the trimmings, but who thinks about the birth of Christ and the actual meaning behind the celebration – not many of us, I’d warrant.

So, have our celebrations lost their meaning? Has what they originally stood for been lost in our fast-paced world?

And does it really matter anyway?

If you look back through history, Christmas was just one of many holidays stolen from previous religions, so it’s all pretty much pointless to argue about their origins.

Shouldn't we just accept them for what they have become and move on, safe in the knowledge that our holidays have become utterly devoid of meaning.

As the religious aspect of our holidays has been lost, shouldn’t we abandon them all together in favour of non-denominational celebrations? It makes sense in a country where a vast majority of the population celebrate festivals other than the Christian ones.

In a world of waning religion, basing our holidays on religious festivals seems hopelessly outdated.

If people want to celebrate Easter, then let them! No one should be denied their holidays or their beliefs.

So let’s just scrap them all. Let’s forget about the resurrection of Christ and focus on holidays that do exactly what they say on the tin: Spring Holiday – a three day holiday to replace Easter that has no religious significance whatsoever and represents nothing more than a spring holiday

Of course, then people will say we are losing our heritage, and I’d never want to denounce anyone’s religion, but I feel that religion has no little, or place in today’s society.

Would losing our religious festivals really mean losing our heritage (as some people have claimed)?

I’ve just watched the movie: The Queen, starring Helen Mirran. Never has a film touched me for such beautiful acting. Mirran utterly deserved the Oscar for best actress; she is wonderful as the Queen; distant, alone, aloof.

This movie was a ninety minute insight into the world of the Queen, the election of the new Labor Prime Minster, and the death of Diana: Princess of Wales. It portrayed Tony Blair in a very positive light and at first, I thought the movie was going to be anti-monarchy, yet in the end, it skillfully carried across the trials and difficulties encountered by the current Queen of England and set her character in a very intriguing light.



I always compare Oscar winners to The Silence of the Lambs. I think you can tell the sign of a good performance if you can see the role reflected in the actor’s eyes. It was there with Hopkins and Foster, and it was there again in The Queen, that stoic resolution carried by Mirran as the head of the British monarchy.

And with all the current speculation: was Diana Wales killed or was it all merely a terrible accident? I certainly have no way to know whether the events portrayed in The Queen were accurate, but it was a wonderful movie that really made me think about the monarchy and the lives of people who’s existences we cannot begin to comprehend.

And in this day and age, anything that makes you think cannot be a bad thing at all.

It's impossible to go through life without making waves. The best of intentions can create conflict, even when that might be the last thing you ever want to do. When you go out of your way to be nice, polite, well-balanced and peace-loving, there's always someone wishing to take offense at something you've said.

Often, merely standing up for your principles and saying what you think can often get you into a whole heap of trouble. Sometimes just being 'nice' can be enough to fuel the fires of rage.

I've been the subject of so much misplaced anger over the years, and sometimes, I just wonder where it all comes from. People seem to misread conversations, and generally see what they want, depending on their mood. It's my experience that if people can read something negative into an encounter, they invariably will.

So, that got me thinking: when did it become so easy to upset people?

Have people always been this sensitive?

I can only speculate that people just don't have enough time or inclination to look at something from someone else's perspective. When they aren't getting their needs met, they lash out, creating conflict and ill-feeling, often without provocation - at least this is my experience. People see negativity everywhere and any conversation that could possibly be misinterpreted in a negative way, invariably is.

This has happened to me so much lately, sometimes because I believe in being honest and saying what I think.

Big mistake! As my friends keep telling me: people don't want to hear the truth, or at least they don't want to hear the real truth. They want to hear a moderated, easy-to-swallow version of the truth.

So, knowing that, do we have to be on constant vigilance against offending others? Does this mean that in order to avoid any confrontation and upset, I have to continually suppress who I am?

That can’t be right. The world can't be that screwed up. Or, more properly, people can't be that screwed up! Can they?

Recently, I've encountered trust, anger, and fear issues, people who will see negativity in the smallest thing, and people who just want to vent at anyone who will listen. And I do listen, and I try to make a difference and tell them that being positive is a good way to change their life.

Being negative only breeds further negativity.

Yet it seems impossible when people only want to hear their own point of view. They wrap themselves in their own negative reality from which there is no escape. I think it's a defence mechanism.

Only when we look at things from another's perspective can we make a step toward breaking down conflict and really understanding the people around us.

Do we have our work cut out? I reckon so.

I watched Louis Theroux last night in his documentary about the Phelps family in America. If you don’t know who they are, the Phelps family is dubbed “the most hated family in America”.

Their ‘religion’ is centered around hateful, anti-homosexual propaganda, with many of their activities stemming from the slogan: “God Hates Fags”, which is also the name of the group's main website www.godhatesfags.com.

The Phelps family is most commonly known for staging protests at the funerals of American Army personnel. Holding their “FAGS are EVIL” banners, they generally promote hate and incite violence under the guise of "educating the world on the gospel".

Now, as soon as I mention FAGs, you’d be thinking that this is an article about anti GAY propaganda. But you’d be wrong! Because the Phelps family believes that any sexual relations performed beyond that of husband and wife in holy matrimony is FAG SEX.

If you’ve had or are having Fag Sex, you’re going to hell - according to the Phelps family. So all those threesomes, adulterers, people who have sex before marriage, and all those people who perform sexual acts just for the sheer fun of it – they’re all going to Hell.

Hell’s going to be pretty full when Judgement Day comes …

Now I’ve spoken to a lot of people about this since yesterday and the web is certainly alight with conversation and outrage about the Phelps family. And the general consensus is that violence and rage begets violence and rage. Meaning: you reap what you sew! If you spread disharmony and disrespect, you should expect to receive it in equal measure.

People actually think it’s OK to treat the Phelps family badly, to abuse and be generally violent to them, just because that’s what they do to others (albeit in a passive way).

I disagree. Just because the Phelps family chooses to stage their protests at the funerals of American Army personnel, or continue to spread their bigoted hate propaganda about FAGS, it doesn’t give us a right to treat them with the same level of contempt.

That makes us just as bad as they are.

As far as I see it, the Phelps family is just a family who knows no better. Have they been brainwashed? Who knows? Do they have a right to their views? Of course they do.

Does it make them right, respectful, considerate, compassionate?

No, it absolutely does not! While the Phelps family claims their protests are "a respectful education of the masses", I consider it to be quite the opposite. It’s disrespectful, hurtful, and quite frankly, cruel.

Yet anger and retribution never solved anything. It only creates further bad feeling and causes nothing but pain.

The Phelps clan is just one family in a million. Their existence on the Earth is fleeting; they will leave no mark when they are gone.

My point to all of this is that, yes the Phelps family has very different views to normal (reasonable) people. But let them be. Let them have their moment of righteous anger.

Be safe in your own knowledge, knowing that your views are less militant, less vengeful, and that you live in a world of balance where things are not so black and white.

Seeing the world around you from a different point of view is the only way to live in harmony with the many cultures, beliefs and people of the world.

Inflexibility is a road to disaster.

Unlike the Phelps family, who believes their opinions are always right.