Enter Middle-earth: A Comparison of The Lord of the Rings Online with The Lord of the Rings

The purpose of this study has been to explore how the story in The Lord of the Rings is experienced in the game, The Lord of the Rings Online, compared to the book. The focus has been on the concepts of narrative, interaction, immersion, and themes. I have used my own experience from the game in addition to other academic sources when I have examined how the game differs from the book, and when exploring the themes in the book, I have relied on influential Tolkien scholars. What I have found is that the outcome of the narrative is different in the game due to the players’ interaction. The players are a part of the narrative, and they also create their own narrative while playing. The story is also experienced differently due to the different points of view. Immersion gets a new meaning when the players are 'bodily' immersed in the storyworld through avatars, instead of just mentally immersed. Spatial immersion in the game leads to a better understanding of the scope of the storyworld when reading the book. The maps are no longer used only for strategic purposes, but also have affective value due to emotional spatial immersion since the places they depict have become familiar and filled with memories. Since the themes from the book are mainly integrated into the gameplay of combat and the aesthetics of the landscape, they are approached in a more playful way as opposed to the serious approach that the book has. The book’s message is lost because the point of view is from the players, and therefore they do not get insight into the main characters’ thoughts. However, on some occasions, players are directly involved in the story. Instead of reading about the heroic deeds of the main characters, the players themselves are the heroes, which changes the narrative and makes the players the protagonists in their own adventures