LOTRO Beta Stress Test a Success!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

The Beta Stress Test which was open to everyone ended on Monday.

Don't know if you were able, but at last when Turbine opened the doors to Middle Earth Online to the general public, I signed up, downloaded the game and jumped right in... I believe this online gaming adventure has a lot of potential to give Tolkien Fans the opportunity to walk in the footsteps of the Fellowship.. eventually to the very Gates of Mordor! We shall see... It was not as good as I had hoped, but I was still impressed. The link below has a review of the test..

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Rings RPG Expands Tolkien's World
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Deff Anderson, president and chief executive officer of Turbine Inc., told SCI FI Wire that Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that takes its cues directly from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, but that also expands on them. "[We] took a lead from the master [and] focused [the game] on the first book [in the trilogy] and covered the storyline as Frodo and Sam leave the Shire and start moving towards ... Rivendell," Anderson said in an interview at the New York Comic Con over the weekend. "Post-launch we are going to tell more of the story as the fellowship leaves that area and goes forth ... all the way to Mount Doom."

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Dark Domain Update... Orodruin, Mount Doom!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Here is our latest update to our Dark Domain section of The Land of Shadow.com... Orodruin... Mount Doom... Saurons Forge!

Coming soon... an update to the Morannon, the Black Gate of Mordor!

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Five New Dark Desktops Featuring Mount Doom!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

We have just added 5 new dark Desktops in our new Dark Wallpaper Design...

We have created 3 dark desktops for Mount doom to herald in our new Orodruin Dark Domain and we have also added a new Dark Tower and a new Eye of Sauron wallpaper.

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Don't Forget the LOTRO Beta Stress Test!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

It begins today!

Ready to get involved in the most exciting Beta of 2007? The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ (LOTRO) Stress Test Event starts on Friday, February 23rd, 2007, and ends Monday February 26th. This is your chance to try the most recent Beta version of the game for a weekend, and possibly win great prizes!

If you don't already have a Stress Test Product Key, visit GameSpot.com and sign up today to get started! If you're already in the Closed Beta you're all set - just show up and play during the Stress Test!

Lay your staff ~HERE~

The First Dark Domain Update... Barad-dûr!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Take a look at the first in our series of Dark Domain updates beginning with the Barad-dûr... the Dark Tower!

Then at last his gaze was held: wall upon wall, battlement upon battlement, black, immeasurably strong, mountain of iron, gate of steel, tower of adamant, he saw it: Barad-dûr, Fortress of Sauron.

All hope left him...

Soon we will be updating the other existing Dark Domians and then adding new ones...

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Delight your Friends with a Dark Tower Desktop!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Get your hands on your very own Dark Tower of Mordor Desktop Wallpaper...

Created exclusively for the Minions of Mordor, we have four variation on Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower found only in The Land of Shadow.com

Lay your staff ~HERE~

John Howe Updates His Online Journal
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

THERE AND BACK AGAIN (AGAIN)

You know those split seconds when a whole realm of possibilities flashes before your eyes, such as getting eaten alive, having to go to the hotel without our suitcases (or the hospital with no ID because it was swallowed whole by the hound of the Baskervilles), being arrested for unlawful entry... all in all, a remarkably brisk, if thankfully brief, acceleration of potentiality. Luckily for me, I have no imagination. (I grew up on a farm, had a paper route and thus many interesting encounters with the local canine population.) By the time I got back to the gate with our things, he was asleep again.. MORE...

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Want To Enter Middle-earth? Now You Can!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Lord of the Rings Online, Shadows of Angmar is now ready for a live test of it's Beta... I know I will be there!

Ready to get involved in the most exciting Beta of 2007? The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ (LOTRO) Stress Test Event starts on Friday, February 23rd, 2007, and ends Monday February 26th. This is your chance to try the most recent Beta version of the game for a weekend, and possibly win great prizes!

If you don't already have a Stress Test Product Key, visit GameSpot.com and sign up today to get started! If you're already in the Closed Beta you're all set - just show up and play during the Stress Test!

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Sauron has RETURNED! New At Sideshow!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

At this years Toy Fair Sideshow Collectivles unvield a host of cool new items! Including a breautifullt crafted bust of the Dark Lord of Mordor! A MUST have, but order fast because these are going to be gone quick!

The Dark Lord Sauron is the third character in Sideshow Collectibles' line of Legendary Scale Lord of the Rings busts. The Sauron bust is the largest in the series to date, and will easily dominate any collection and add presence to any room. This impressively large bust is cast in polystone and fiberglass, hand finished and painted to exacting standards. Each bust is packaged in a durable foam interior, and will arrive intact to menace your other Lord of the Rings collectibles.

The Orcs of Za Frûmi Have Returned!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Za Frûmi has just released their 5th CD - "Shrak ishi za migul" which is chapter 3 in their "Za Frûmi saga". A dark fantasy which follows a band of Orcs. Jens from Waerloga Records just sent us this message.

Some time ago we spoke and you helped promote our main band Za Frûmi. Things have happened since then and Za Frûmi is now bigger than ever.

The band started out back in 2000 and made a CD with orcs inspired by Tolkien.
In 2001 they did a follow up.The band releases two CDs after that in the "Za Frûmi Legends" which are totally instrumental and dark fantasy music. One with more general moods like an inn, a olog forest, the gathering of the tribes and more.And the other exploring the vampire.

So, after 6 years they have now released the third CD in their
saga. It is taking the orc idea to the max! Over 20 actors helped out doing the CD and the black speech spoken were now extremely well written with exact detail and following the outlines of Tolkien 100%.

Jens
Waerloga Records

Lay your staff ~HERE~ The latest review: ~HERE~

The Dark Domain Updates Begin!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

We are kicking off our Dark Domain updates beginning with the opening page of our Dark Domains section...

In addition we are also premiering the new layout of the Dark Domains Menu. We added 4 new evil places! Emyn Muil, Fangorn, Zirak-Zigil and last but not least Angband, the strong-hold of Morgoth, the first Dark Lord of Middle-earth. We will be creating these new pages in the coming months.

Soon we will be updating the existing Dark Domians and then adding the new ones... kep you eyes on the Dark Places in Middle-earth!

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Dark Servants of Shadow Update Complete!
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Finally we have completed our updates to the
Dark Servants of Shadow section.

As you may have noticed in the last months we have been making a series of updates to our Dark Servants of Shadow. We are now done!

We updated all of the original Dark Servants of Shadow, finishing with Shelob, and also added 6 new Dark Servants! The Dead, Crebain, Siege Beasts, Werewolves, Gothmog and last but not least we have placed Bill Ferny back on the list...and we will be creating those new pages for them in the coming months.

Over all we added or updated a Dark History for each of these evil characters, updated the Flash animation and content, adding a volume contol and made plain it's Tolkien Canon status. But now our work is done!

Many of you have felt that we have neglected the Dark Domains section... but fear not! We have not forgotten! Tomorrow we will premiere an all new Dark Domains Menu which will feature updated graphics and 4 new Dark locations in Middle-earth. So check in this weekend for the update!

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Beowulf Created with Performance Capture...
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Quint at AintItCool.com brings us a first look inside the offices of Robert Zemeckis' BEOWULF!!!

In 2007 Robert Zemeckis is releasing his next film, an adaptation of BEOWULF that was scripted by Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman. The cast includes Crispin Glover as the monstrous Grendel (the first time Glover has reteamed with Zemeckis since all that bad blood surrounding BACK TO THE FUTURE 2), Ray Winstone as Beowulf, Angelina Jolie as the demonic mother of Grendel, Anthony Hopkins as the King being tormented by Grendel. Also in the cast is Brendan Gleeson, Alison Lohman, John Malkovich and Robin Wright Penn.
There has been some concerned discussion about this film online since it was announced. People are worried it will be watered down or kiddie friendly because of Zemeckis choosing to make this story using the process he calls Performance Capture, which he used recently on the kid's book turned holiday family film POLAR EXPRESS. I'd be lying if I said I was a little disappointed that he wasn't filming it live-action as I've always wanted to see this story done balls to the wall in flesh and blood on the big screen.

In the concept art, Grendel seems to stand about 15 feet tall and is almost completely hairless. His arms and legs are long, ending in arthritic looking knuckled hands and feet. He looks bent and awkward, his body covered in tumorous lumps. His skin is gangrene green and covered in sores and splotches. His teeth are crooked, broken and protruding from his maw. More...

Lay your staff ~HERE~ and See the Official site ~HERE~

Lord of the Rings Online... The Ettenmoors
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Welcome to the first of many Developer Diary installments discussing monster play. We’ve kept the wraps on this aspect of the production for long enough, so here’s your first look behind the curtain at the geography of your monster playground!

In the north, flowing out of the Misty Mountains, is the Hoarwell River. The great river flows toward the south, becoming impassable until the Last Bridge at the border of the Lone-lands and the Trollshaws. It is rumored that Fallohide Hobbits may once have migrated along the shores of the Hoarwell River, perhaps even making themselves a home along its banks as they journeyed west across the Misty Mountains.

In the Northwest, a terrible peak rises to cast its great shadow far to the east. This mountain, once home to the goblin Golfimbul, is known as Mount Gram and at its foot, the fearsome forces of Angmar have laid claim to the land... MORE...

Lay your staff ~HERE~

Shelob Cometh at Last to Mordor...
TheLandofShadow.com ~Ring Lord~

Updates to the Dark Servants of Shadow... Shelob!

In our continuing updates to our Dark Servants of Shadow, we now have added Shelob...

She was there, who was there before Sauron, before the first stone of Barad Dur; and she served none but herself, drinking the blood of Elves and Men, bloated and grown fat with endless broodings on her feasts, weaving webs of shadow; for all living things were her food, and her vomit darkness. None could rival her, Shelob the Great, last child of Ungoliant to trouble the unhappy world.

Lay your staff ~HERE~