The now 18-year-old MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online lets you explore the vast continent of Middle-earth that you know from the books and movies. But how long does it take in the game to retrace the arduous journey from Frodo and Sam to Mount Doom?
So, how long does it take? That is exactly what the creative mind behind the YouTube channel “Emulated Vintage Gaming” found out a few days ago. For his latest video, he strolled from Hobbiton with his character from The Lord of the Rings Online to eventually reach Mount Doom in Mordor.
During this, the player kept as close as possible to the route taken by Frodo and Sam, as far as the game allows – always accompanied by descriptive original texts voiced by Andy Serkis (the actor who brilliantly portrayed Gollum, among others).
The next expansion of The Lord of the Rings Online is already on the horizon:
The player also pays attention to small details and exchanges his Hobbit clothes for Orc armor in Mordor, just to eventually drag himself up the mountain with the last remnants of cloth. In the finale, there’s even an appearance by Gollum himself, only to burn in the lava of Mount Doom after 9 hours, 43 minutes, and 39 seconds.
For comparison: Watching the original theatrical version of the film trilogy takes about 8 hours and 55 minutes. The extended editions, as we know, are significantly longer, with just over 12 hours total runtime. You can watch the complete run on YouTube or below:
“Someone should really write a book about this journey”
How does the community react? Despite the long runtime, the video already has nearly 500,000 views, over 24,500 likes, and more than 1,900 comments.
- Mecceldorf celebrates the project under the video: “This is a better tribute to the map design of The Lord of the Rings Online than anything else.”
- bobyews2826 calls on all fans of the universe: “Give HdRO a try, guys. Even if you’re not interested in MMORPGs or think the game is outdated. Discovering it for yourself is like seeing the movies for the first time.”
- wwld9823 wants to give it a try now: “It’s just amazing that you can REALLY walk from the Shire to Mordor. This has sparked my interest in trying the game!”
- TonySpike jokes: “Someone should really write a book about this journey.”
A different path was taken by a player in September, as he traversed The Lord of the Rings Online from the northernmost point to the very south. He also demonstrated one of the great strengths of the MMORPG: the game world.
Since the new Lord of the Rings MMORPG from Amazon Games and Embracer is highly likely to be canceled, MeinMMO editor Sophia Weiss recently set foot in Middle-earth from The Lord of the Rings Online for the first time. You can read her amusing report here: I was really excited about Amazon’s MMORPG for The Lord of the Rings – Now I’m questing with Elrond in the original from 2007 and it’s old, but wow!
