Post Sections ⇅
- What is Birding? Is it a Real Thing?
- Why have Birding in LOTRO?
- How to Start Birdwatching
- How Birding Might Work
- Other Points
- When Will Birding Start in LOTRO?
- Initial Birding Questions
- TL;DR Get Ready to Test Birding on Bullroarer
What is Birding? Is it a Real Thing?
Birding, also known as Birdwatching is a real-world hobby. My parents tried to do it around work life. From gazing at those found in the garden, to others found on the (exceedingly rare) holiday abroad, they would want to know the birds they could find.
Some are seriously committed. We used to have a neighbour who would look for news of rare bird sightings in the UK and make a trip to the other end of the country in the hope of seeing it. He called it “twitching”, though whether that term stuck – especially in the era of livestreams – I don’t know.
Why have Birding in LOTRO?
Orion mentioned that they’ve wanted to create a new Hobby for a long time. Clearly they have to have dev time for what I call “Serendipity” – doing things because they’re nice to do, without any business or profit logic per se. It’s something for all existing players, whether they’ve ever paid into LOTRO or not.
Back to Orion, roughly speaking he said the idea was to get you to think about what it’s like being in the game world. Any who role-play, or even have a head-canon for your characters, this is just part of the deal. Other players may join for the group content, the gear progressions, whatever. We all have our reasons to play in Middle-earth.
Birdwatching Immersion
By introducing Birding as a Hobby, we are encouraged to slow down and engage in the area around us. Doing what I’ve often referred to as “Stop and Stare” (A reference to “Leisure” by William Henry Davies
). Orion mentioned there could be over six hundred bird types in the game world to discover over time. Do we notice many as we dash from quest-to-quest or teleport between daily zones just for the XP, rather than for the experience?
Engrossed in the Area
In Orion’s words, they want you to be “engrossed in the area you’re in”. Or “Stop and Stare”. Birdwatching in the real world is a patience test. Birds are easily startled – they are prey creatures, we are predators. Many birds are small, we are not.
So, I reckon the idea is to slow yourself down, enjoy being in Middle-Earth and if you spot your bird, great! If you don’t, then that’s not a gaming session wasted, but a relaxing time in LOTRO. That is worth having.
How to Start Birdwatching
Birding is a new Hobby, therefore your first port-of-call is to find a Hobby-master.
As with fishing, they will give you your Birding Kit.
How Birding Might Work
I’ll emphasis might. It is still in development as we move towards Update 41.
Go Places
Visit locations marked in the collections panel as having birds to find.
Make sure you have your Birding Kit equipped.
Use your Birding Actions to begin searching the skies for your avian friends.
Searching…
Different birds have different calls so you’ll first call for birds.
To be able to spot them, you’ll have a spyglass. (As this new Hobby is on the back of the Corsairs of Umbar expansion, this tool is logical and appropriate for Middle-earth!).
When you have spotted a bird, use your Birding Action again.
Record & Continue
Once successful, your Collections Panel will update. But you can continue searching for more birds from the same area if you want to.
Interesting Immersion Information
Unlike fishing, Birding is more than just tap-wait-click. Per the Beta 3 thread, there are a couple of other factors to take into consideration:
- When you spot a bird, you may get an opportunity to find a rarer bird in the area. So all birds in Collections will be in the areas they say, but may not be those you can initially find. Be patient!
- I quote: “After a while, the birds will have grown wary of your presence and you will need to come back later to spot more birds in that area.” This is neat and isn’t a mechanic I’ve come across in LOTRO before. I have in Fishing in alternative universes, but not this one. If this happens to you, then maybe consider installing one of the LOTRO Plugins like LOTROPad to make a note of when/where to return.
Birding in the Collections Panel
The most recent beta/Bullroarer (at the point of writing) had an update about Birdwatching in LOTRO! We couldn’t get our hands on the kit or go ahead and find them, but the Collections Panel had had an update!
- A new Birding tab has been added
- All the possible birds you can find are featured in the same way as your Mounts/Emotes/Pets.
- A birdwatching progress bar sat at an initial 214 Birds!
- You can see a basic overview of appearance, technical name, which region they can be found in and what sort of habitat to look in.
Rarer Birds
Not all birds in the world have healthy populations. In the same way I mentioned about my old neighbour trying to see a rare bird, Orion mentioned they’re looking at that too. My parents took us to some places to try and see one particular bird – the last one was a Purple Heron, but it wasn’t showing itself during our time, unfortunately.
From Orion, they’re considering things like special birdfood/seed that may help to draw out rarer birds.
Other Points
- This could lead to possible birding festivals.
- Birds could appear during transitions/seasons, as well as locales. I (FJ) would also like variances such as rain, thunderstorms, snow storms, cloudy and sunny days. But that gets mighty complex after a few layers of variation!
- Birding would have rewards, housing items and titles etc.
Before the Shadow Collectors Edition
When Will Birding Start in LOTRO?
Birding is part of the in-development Update 41, which has a ton of new stuff in it!
Orion was hoping for it to hit a first round of Bullroarer testing shortly after this post was originally written. I don’t think we’ve had an updated timetable yet, but when we do I’ll amend this birdwatching intro!
Initial Birding Questions
Here are some questions I managed to pick up from other players. I hope I’ve explained Orion’s answers faithfully enough.
How Will Found Birds Be Tracked?
They’re going to add a section in the Collections Panel. Given you don’t physically capture the birds, they needed another way to keep track of them, without adding another item or system. So, into the Collections Panel. And I think that makes some sense.
See it as a “Birding Log”.
Is the “Camera” Detachable, So We Can Look High in the Sky?
Not at this point. I would love to be able to detach the camera, personally. The opportunities for screenshot variances would, excuse the pun, skyrocket.
Orion said they are looking into it, but they have a possible issue should you disconnect while in “flying camera mode”. Okay “flying camera mode” was my wording, but you get the idea. The game needs to know your exact coordinates when you log out so you’re put back into the correct place next time – and that sets the camera’s position and angle. If the camera is split from the character, you have basically two locations that may not even be close. So, it’s complicated.
Will We Be Able to Taxiderm the Birds?
No! This is not about hunting or killing birds, but watching them and noting that you’ve found them. Then, slip away leaving the birds very much alive.
Are Any Other Hobbies in the Works?
Orion stated that they see Birding as the “First Next” Hobby. He said that other hobbies are being “spec’d” – probably something like being written down, planned, figured out etc.
Either way, after years of waiting for other ways to spend time in Middle-Earth, the SSG team are looking into multiple Hobbies. And that’s got to be good for the game.
Being Spec’d
Thank you to Dandelion on my Patreon Page, for clarifying:
“Being spec’d” means having a “functional specification document” written. Old school game design term.
TL;DR Get Ready to Test Birding on Bullroarer
Birding is on its way and I hope a fully testable version is out for more than 24hrs next time (as I missed it!). This is a good take on a real life hobby and it sounds a great way to explore more of Middle-Earth and maybe visit corners you’ve not seen before.
This is supposed to be a relaxing way to spend time in LOTRO. Treat it that way and I think, whether you’re inclined to the great outdoors in the real world or not, that you may find Birdwatching surprisingly relaxing – and maybe, dare I say it, a little challenging!
About the Author
I have been playing MMOs for about ten years and began writing guides to The Lord of the Rings Online in 2017. I've only been creating content about Final Fantasy XIV since 2022, but I am glad for the mix. My current games include LOTRO, FFXIV and the occasional Palia session too.
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