I never imagined an MMO could feel like Tolkien offcuts, but Turbine put real love into the project – its F2P baggage notwithstanding – and the Tolkienian atmosphere survives astonishingly well.

One example of a small thing done exactly right. As with many MMOs, beasties (oh all right, ‘mobs’) have a general type as well as a specific type – ‘Goblinkind’, ‘Spiders and Insects’). Undead enemies aren’t called ‘Undead’. They’re called ‘The Dead’.

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‘Anything Nice’ is is a series of very short posts highlighting things I liked about the treatment of narrative in other people’s games. It’s a deliberately magpie, grab-bag approach. Some of these games I adore, some I don’t even like, but I learnt from all of them.