Locations

Geographic Locations

Geography is the study of the Earth and its features, its inhabitants, and its phenomena. For Middle-earth the same applies as a way to distinguish places and structures found during the players time in this vast world created by J. R. R. Tolkien.

For the purposes of Locations on the wiki, Archival Geography best represents how we define locations; by the use of the maps in game. Use of the world maps, names under mini-map, and the text type and colour when entering an area all help define location names for Lotro-Wiki location articles.

For more on naming location articles see: Help:Locations

For more on naming conventions in general see: Help:Names

Types of Locations

There are several types of locations found in Middle-earth and for the purpose of Lotro-Wiki they are as follows:

Land - Lands are comprised of many different regions.
Region - Regions are comprised of different sub-regions and/or areas.
Area - Areas are comprised of different settlements, landmarks, and natural places.
Settlement - Settlements range from large cities to small camps.
Landmark - Landmarks are places of interest, marked with flags.
Interior - Interiors include instanced friendly places that are inside a location, such as taverns, shops, houses, and rooms within a building.
Dungeon - Dungeons include instanced unfriendly (in most cases) places that are inside a location, such as caves, tombs, and ruins.
Instance - Instances are those that go into Regional Instances, i.e. large & repeatable.
Other Location - Not landmarks but places of significant value, e.g. several NPCs, originality, etc.

Hierarchy of Locations

These classifications are listed in hierarchy based on the tiers on the Middle-earth map.

Land > Region > Area >= Settlement > Landmark

Note: Area and Settlement are greater than or equal to, because some larger settlements are also tagged as area in-game.

The following classifications are not part of a hierarchy as they are complimentary categories that are defined by the above categorization.

Interior

Dungeon

Instance

Other Location

Location Coordinates

Map coordinates determine exactly where a character is in the world, denoted by (X,Y). The X-axis represents the directional East / West on a map, while Y-axis represents the directional North / South.

The format of the coordinates are X-axis 00.0N/S, Y-axis 00.0W/E.

Example: The town of Combe is found on the map of Bree-land; it's coordinates are 28.6S, 49.2W

Location coordinates are shown using the template {{Tooltip Coords}}:

Mouse-over shows a Map with a "swirling" indicator at the specified coordinates --- ^{[28.6S, 49.2W]}

The coordinates form an arbitrary grid for each of the regions (Eregion, Rhovanion, etc.), so the region name must be provided together with the coordinates. The zero point [00.0, 00.0] is typically off the accessible map. Each coordinate unit corresponds to approximately 200 meters.

Where to find coordinates

There are several ways to find your character's current location coordinates.

Option 1: Coordinates of your current location can display under the Radar display in the main game window - referred to as Mini-map.

In Options select UI Settings, Scroll near the bottom to the Misc section, select "Show Location Coordinates on Radar."

Option 2: World Map display, the lower left corner of the map will show the coordinates of the cursor as you move it across the map.

In Options select UI Settings, Scroll near the bottom to the Misc section, select "Show Map Cursor Coordinates."

Option 3: Type ;loc and the coordinates will display in the chat window where you typed the pre-programmed alias.

Alternatively you can also type /tell YourName ;loc to have the coordinates display privately in a PM instead of disturbing other players.

Option 4: Type /loc command will give both coordinates and provides a much longer set of location information that can be copy / pasted for ease of creating /bug reports.

For in-depth details on what is displayed using /loc, see Mechanics:Coordinate_Systems

Map Navigation

In order to display a map of Middle-earth either use the keybind letter m, or click on the map button on the radar (mini-map). This will display the map appropriate to your current location.

The Middle-earth map has several layers, each one can be seen by clicking on the map, either right clicking to view previous layers or left clicking to view the next layer. The hierarchy of map layers are Land > Region > Area >= Settlement.

Maps have many functions other than showing where a character is in the continent of Middle-earth.

By using the "Filter Map Notes" drop-down menu, maps can display various services: