The Lord of The Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar - Setting

Setting

As of the Riders of Rohan Expansion, the latest events in The Lord of the Rings Online are set in The Two Towers. The player starts simultaneously with Frodo and company leaving The Shire. Each Region of Middle-earth is represented as being permanently "frozen" at a certain point of time. For example, it is always September of the Year 3018 of the Third Age in the Shire, December 3018 in Rivendell, February 3019 in Lothlorien, etc. The timeline moves on and is currently set at the Fellowship's breakup at the shores of Nen Hithoel, and the subsequent chase by the three hunters across the plains of Rohan and into Fangorn Forest following the trail of Merry and Pippin.

In the initial release, only the area of Eriador was available. Eriador was further divided into Ered Luin, The Shire, Bree-land (this included the area around Bree, the Old Forest and the Barrow-downs), the North Downs (lands to the east and south of Fornost), the Lone-lands (the area around Amon Sûl), the Trollshaws (the area surrounding Rivendell), the Misty Mountains (then excluding Goblin Town), Angmar and the Ettenmoors. There have been three new major regions added to the game since launch and before the first expansion. The Shores of Evendim update added the region surrounding Lake Evendim and Annúminas, about 100 miles north of the Shire. Book 13, Doom of the Last King added Forochel, a snowy tundra at the edge of the ice bay. With the release of the Mines of Moria expansion, Turbine also released Book 15, the last free update, containing Eregion. Other books have added areas such as player housing, or expanded already existing zones, such as the addition of Goblin Town and the High Pass to the Misty Mountains, and Tal Bruinen to the Trollshaws.

Originally only players who purchased the Mines of Moria Expansion had access to Moria and Lothlórien. This type of expansion was continued with the release of Siege of Mirkwood, the region of south Mirkwood including Dol Guldur and the storyline continuation Book 9 to those who purchased the game. With the addition of the Region of Enedwaith in 2010, the game returned its attention to the lands west of the Misty Mountains (although it was added under Eriador in error). As a result, Turbine revised its approach to expansion in the Update following in November: all players could now visit expansion regions, but those playing for free were still barred from most of its content until said purchase was made. This approach was continued with the Rise of Isengard expansion, where the Regions of Dunland, The Gap of Rohan, and Isengard could be visited by all players. Crossing the mountains again, Update 6 added the area around the Anduin south of Lothlorien. With the Riders of Rohan expansion, the areas of The Wold, the Eastwall, Eastemnet and the Eaves of Fangorn were added as well. Turbine has stated that their intention is to eventually fill in the entirety of Middle-earth, while prioritizing the areas visited by the Fellowship.