For me, one of the key aspects of LOTRO’s early game is the integration of friendly NPC civilization in the tamer areas of Middle-earth. You see, most MMOs treat their world in a uniform fashion, where the entire planet is nothing but one giant killzone of death punctuated by small, quest-giving oases in the form of villages, a tent, and occasionally a city. These places have no function other than to allow adventurers to repair and resupply before heading out, but for the most part they have no real life. It’s hard to buy into the illusion that they are places where folks are actually living and working, especially when most all of them are standing still, waiting for your coin.
The Shire and Bree-land never feels like that to me; they actually feel the opposite, kind of a giant pocket of civilization dotted by small concentrations of bad stuff. It has an electrifying effect on those who go through the areas, especially players who aren’t quite used to civilization being so widespread. Personally, I love it. It’s important to get a feel for the people and the culture you’re fighting for, and sometimes you just want to do something different than head into the lava-spewing wild for the millionth time to cut through a wall of mobs just to click on a glowy.
I relished the quests in these areas that may seem mundane and trivial in the large scheme of things, but felt more important just because they were more believable. Farmers having a dispute, an old guy courting a widow, a Hobbit who buckles under bullying, a practical joker bent on ruining peoples’ day.
Apart from Elves and their mega-hippie communes, we really don’t get this feeling of expansive civilization and alternative-style quests after Bree-land. I know, all of Middle-earth can’t be a hand-holding theme park ride, so it’s good to venture out into the unknown where towns are few and far between. But it’s something I miss, and something that I hope makes a comeback in future expansions as we head down into Gondor and Rohan — two kingdoms that should, by all rights, boast a lot of civilization. As long as they don’t have me picking flowers or boxing with bees, I’ll be happy with whatever personal tasks that lie ahead.
Bio Break 
Know what I’d love to see?
A MMO where we play families through their dynasties with a Meier Civ game type backdrop. Imagine the cheers around our faction as we discover the wheel. That would be awesome.
DUDE!
I think you’ve just showed me the reason why i make lots of alts and don’t progress anyone past their 30’s. I have 9 alts in each of 3 servers and only one char is past 30 (he’s 35 so as to use better crafting tools).
I am just now doing the Lorien quests, and it has that same “civilization” feeling, but on an odd way. It’s depressing! You help with their daily tasks that happen to be gloomy, about people they lost, or about setting up their banquet which seems to be the only thing to do if you are not fighting the orcs. Made me miss the cheerful dwarves in Moria.
I agree entirely that MMOs don’t have nearly enough of the Shire type of homely adventure. I’m not quite so sure, though, that MMOs are as generally devoid of ongoing civilization, culture or plain daily life as you suggest, though.
MMO designers seem to have a depressingly repetitive penchant for using the imminent destruction of the world as a backdrop, but they seem to have trouble focusing. Rift, for example, has the most apocalyptic of settings and still we find ourselves looking for overdue library books or dealing with gambling debts. And while Sanctum and Meridian may be the seats of governments in exile, Fortune’s Shore seems to be carrying on with business as usual despite the regular occupation of its central plaza by unholy creatures from beyond.
Everquest has a plethora of thriving communities, from the small villages in the Karanas where fishing and hunting are a way of life to the great cities of the coasts. You can take on all kinds of work there, from finding a child’s lost doll to combing a halfling’s foot-hairs. Half a millennium later in EQ2 there may have been several cataclysms but quotidian life goes on, with dresses to be fetched for spoiled teenage girls or sulky teenage iksars to be cajoled back to their worried mothers. There’s a family drama around every corner from level 1 to level 90.
I think this is true of most MMOs I’ve played. You do tend to find what you look for, so many players will just pass this stuff by unnoticed. The Shire is a special case, though, and it would be nice to see its example followed.
It was quite a culture shock when I finally got as far as Lothlorien to be asked to go picking pretty flowers even as the Orc hordes approached.
Aww, I was hoping this was a writeup on Civ __. Still interesting, and in particular as newer MMO’s tend to ignore the virtual world part of things.
I noticed that to and enjoyed it. I felt that I was really interacting with a civilization and not npc’s. Even some of the enemy camps are like that, especially endenwaith. So perhaps there will be stuff like that in Gondor and Rohan. I just hope I never have to pick up Orc filth ever again.
holy hell you’re right! And its not just the city – its that you wander out and there is farmland and houses that show signs of occupation, and not by things that need to be killed : /
Wow, don’t count on much civilization in Rohan – Except for Edoras, most of the people are scattered in small communities and other hill-forts similar to Edoras, plus the refuges of Dunharrow and Helm’s Deep. Although the chance of riding with Gandalf and the Rohirrim to the rescue at Helm’s Deep is something I really, really look forward to. After that, the Hornburg can be opened as a player hub for southern Rohan! If I had to make a wishlist, I’d absolutely want Rohan to be very open, but rough, lots of foothills and ravines so that you can’t always see what’s waiting over the next hill.
Gondor has lots of potential for civilization, though – and it’s the IDEAL place for a new PvMP zone, Osgiliath, if one enjoys PvMP. Plus, Gondor would actually be close enough to Mordor to taste the evil rainbow.
You need to be in a totally different mindset to enjoy that flavor of questing. You actually need to stop and read the quest text, and get into the story, otherwise you’re doing nothing more interesting than mail runs. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but it’s certainly a change of pace from killing 10 Rats.
“Hello, brave adventurer! Can you lend me a hand?”
Sure, what do you need me to kill?
“Kill? Good heavens. How droll. I’ve merely been having a dispute with my neighbor, and…”
You want me to go kill him? Got it. Back in 5.
“What? Wait! No! We worked on a job together and I believes he owes me some money, so…”
You want me to go beat it out of him? Got it. Back in 5.
“What? NO!!! Heavens no! It’s just I believe I did my calculations incorrectly, and it’s actually I who owe HIM money. So I was wondering if you could give him…”
A beating. Like I said. Back in 5.
“You truly are a barbarian, aren’t you?”
No, I’m DPS. Look, do you want me to go give this guy a thrashing or what? If not, you’re wasting my time; I’ve got Rats to kill.
Brilliant article! Civilizations are surely needed in MMOs primarily because the player needs to feel like there is something worth fighting for. It’s vitally important that for a world to feel real that there is an active civilization and settlement going on.
All of these elements that make a civilization should be considered foundational infrastructure by MMO devs and they should not be ignored.
In today’s combat-centric MMOs where as you said that are full of wastelands full of deadly creatures that somehow survive it’s easy for MMO devs to forget about the inclusion of homes, farms and other buildings. I always appreciate these things and sorely miss then when they are not there (points at RIFT).
To their credit Blizzard achieved this beautifully with Elywnn Forest in WoW. There are actual farms that product food and people there to work those farms. In a MMO like RIFT there is barely any form of civilization whatsoever — more in the intro levels actually than the actual post-intro game world.
The addition of children in MMOs is also another way that virtual worlds can become a bit more believable. So far Blizzard is one of the few MMOs to incorporate this and it makes a big difference in establishing a solid foundation for players believing in the world.