Have you read the Lord of the Rings/listened to it?

[Thovald Banehammer]

I'm clearly a rare outlier but I've never read any of the books, and I can barely sit through the films. To me, the books are far too slow. You can read four pages and not move forward an inch. I understand people's view that it's 'world building' but that's the job of an encyclopedia, not a fantasy novel. I've tried a few times and just got bored. I'm about 15% through Andy Serkis' audiobook and I'm still skipping through.

I enjoy the world, I gave lotro a go during a break from WoW and never went back. I love learning about the stories from the game. The game is fun. The books feel like they go into so much moment by moment detail that Tolkien might as well have described their toilet breaks too.

 

[Vatikiotis]

Ah, but the books are a lot more than a fantasy novel. They are primarily character stories, full of allegories and symbolisms. Some of the characters are comparable to characters you'll find in philosophical real world-based novels of the highest quality. For example, the Golum, his vain struggles to "come back" from the grip of Evil and his final involuntary but necessary role in the final climax, or the Denethor/Boromir/Faramir trio. In a philosophical novel, it is entirely normal to read four pages and not move at all - what am I talking about - it's entirely normal to read 400 pages and not move at all . So yeah, no wonder you feel the way you feel if you are expecting a fantasy story of the Harry Poter type. And I don't mean this in any derogatory way at all - for you or for Harry Poter .

LOTR is also Tolkien's exercise in his beloved linguistics. It's also an ode to the simple life and simple people, and his personal statement against the industrial revolution, which he considered a fatal error for humanity. It is also world building as you mention, but I think the fictional, mythical world is just the canvass, so to speak. The actual painting is the characters. It's also many other things.

 

[Pike]

I love learning about the stories from the game. The game is fun.

That's really cool. One thing I love about this game is the sheer amount of storylines and quest text, I never get tired of reading it, no matter how many alts that I have.