This poll is pretty quick and should be fairly straightforward to answer. Which of the four starting areas in LOTRO is your favorite? You can only pick one so think carefully!
Which is your favorite starting zone?
- The Shire (42%, 472 Votes)
- Archet (22%, 246 Votes)
- Celondim (21%, 238 Votes)
- Thorin's Gate (11%, 127 Votes)
- I haven't made a new character in ages! (3%, 33 Votes)
- Other (Leave a comment) (1%, 3 Votes)
Total Voters: 1,119
Loading ...You are welcome to explain why your choice is your favorite in the comments below!
June 23, 2012 at 9:24 am
Easily The Shire, it looks and feels exactly like I always wanted it to. There’s such attention to detail and the hobbits dotted around are so much fun to do menial tasks for.
June 23, 2012 at 9:26 am
There’s an other option? o.O
June 23, 2012 at 10:34 am
No, not really (other than combinations of zones, or…whatever), but if it wasn’t there someone would complain that there wasn’t an option that didn’t suit them *exactly* and Goldenstar would be sad.
June 23, 2012 at 12:33 pm
And we couldn’t let that happen!
June 25, 2012 at 2:50 pm
I don’t get sad. I mostly get annoyed. I give the “Other” option but then people feel the need to tell me I missed their specific reason or even get rude about “how could I have missed…” instead of just selecting other and telling us.
June 23, 2012 at 9:33 am
I chose Celondim, because I’ve leveled up quite a few elven hunters and it goes really fast and smoothly in Ered Luin. Recently I made two new human toons, and it’s been alright too, although it took me some time to get used to the different area. But it’s really good that we have different starter areas, only one zone would become old so quickly. o.o I just wish we had a liable alternative to Bree-land (lvl 14-22 ish). :/
June 23, 2012 at 9:36 am
Agree with Aure 100%
Prefered Celondim for it’s easy and options that said I’ve never done a dwarf.. so not sure how it goes from the top of Ered Luin 
Hated Archet and the fetch quests of Shire drove me batty.. LOL
June 23, 2012 at 5:26 pm
I used to skip Breeland entirely and run to the Lone Lands at lvl 12 but that is no longer possible but sure wish it still was… I don’t like the Bree quests although they are better organized now and the progression is really good, just don’t like the area I guess.
June 23, 2012 at 9:46 am
Even though I primarily play Elves, I had to choose the Shire. The atmosphere is simply unparalleled. Celondim would be my second choice. Those lands are really beautiful and underutilized.
June 23, 2012 at 9:48 am
I have a whole neighborhood of alts, though only two dwarves. I picked thorins hall for my fav, probably because I hadn’t done them to death like archet and shire. It is pretty majestic and moody.
June 23, 2012 at 9:50 am
The Shire all the way.
Middle Earth will not be safe for respectable Hobbits, or any free peoples for that matter, until Pies and mail are delivered in a timely manner.
And nothing strikes fear deep into Sauron’s black soul more than the sight of the CHICKEN MORPH OF DOOM !!!
June 23, 2012 at 9:53 am
I still remember the first time I explored the shire, I thought it was so big, the music, the characters, everything was spot on
June 23, 2012 at 10:36 am
Since they were revamped…a year ago ish? There are no bad starting zones, but I love the Shire. It is a whole other world out there. When I make my next character I’ll go to…um…I just do the starter zone for that race, really. I have a cappy and a champ left to do, so at least one of the zones will be Archet, I guess.
June 23, 2012 at 10:56 am
Anything except Shire… post mail and pies are soooooo… boring.
)
June 23, 2012 at 10:57 am
Archet for me. It was my first experience of the game and I remember it very fondly.
June 23, 2012 at 11:01 am
With the current influx of new players to withy I’ve been recommending the shire as the better option as there’s more quests to do that dont involve competing for kills.
I still have fond memories of getting lost in the shire back in beta and as much as I love snow I still tend to make my way to the land of pies with my new characters.
June 23, 2012 at 11:05 am
Well… all of my characters have generally done ALL the starting zones (that’s 11 of 12 chars so far btw).
And I’ve developed a system, I always start in Celondim, regardless of race (okay, having 9 elves may affect this!), then move to Thorin’s, then to the Shire, then to Archet and onwards to Bree!
And despite running through these areas 11 times so far, 12 for Celondim… Celondim is still my favourite!
June 23, 2012 at 11:08 am
I like Celondim, because the leveling there is really smooth and enjoyable. I find the Shire really cute with all the hobbits’ quests, but slow when leveling.
I’ve never played a dwarf, so I can’t say anything about Thorin’s Hall.
June 23, 2012 at 12:08 pm
ARCHET! i just love it xD
June 23, 2012 at 12:23 pm
Celondim! It’s just so… breathtakingly beautiful. Ive never tried the Shire though…
June 23, 2012 at 12:59 pm
Celondim. I dislike the shire.
June 23, 2012 at 2:10 pm
I guess I should say Celondim because I have more elf characters, but I’d have to say the Shire is my fav, just because it’s so nice.
June 23, 2012 at 2:35 pm
I love Celondim when I take it slowly. Speeding through it just isn’t fun for me.
June 23, 2012 at 2:51 pm
Archet. I even use it to level up elves, dwarves, and hobbits.
June 23, 2012 at 3:38 pm
For convenience, the Shire wins. Once you finish the intro, the first quest takes you directly to Michel Delving, a major hub with everything you need all together. When I’m making a new alt, it will usually be a hobbit so I can first pop in there to get an outfit from the wardrobe, pick things up (or drop them off) in shared storage, start up a crafting profession, and set a milestone. After that I can decide to keep questing nearby, take the swift travel to one of the other starter zones for something different, or stay parked by the mailbox/vault/AH for a while, if it’s a crafting/storage alt. I like having ways to connect my new alts to characters I’m already playing. Archet is the worst from this point of view – you have to get all the way to Bree before finding any of those things, and then they’re spread out all over the city.
From a less cold-blooded, calculating point of view, I’d still have to say the Shire is my favorite, for atmosphere, humor, and community. There are certain quests that still make me laugh out loud, no matter how many times I’ve done them. The land is beautiful, especially when a rainbow comes out. It’s the place I would be fighting for, if I were in Middle-earth and needed a motivation to do the right thing.
June 23, 2012 at 4:51 pm
It’s the Shire, hands down. None of the other starting zones grabs my affection like the Shire does. My main is a level 75 hobbit warden, and every so often he just has to go back to hang out in Michel Delving for a bit. And I notice that when I have a character in the Shire, I’m smiling without even intending to. Green grass, blue sky, sunshine, and pie.
June 23, 2012 at 8:16 pm
I’ve done every starting area and it’s gotta be Archet. Thorin’s Gate takes second place. Celondim and Michel Delving(the shire)feel too far removed from the epic story.
June 23, 2012 at 8:54 pm
It is the Shire for me! Not *all* my characters have done the pie and post deliveries, but *almost* all of them. It goes very quickly (especially for someone like me who has the safe routes all memorized by now), and provides a lot of XP with little or no risk of defeat while also providing a new character with all the stable routes along the way.
And then the crafting or storage alts stay parked there in Michel Delving for the easy access to all amenities.
June 23, 2012 at 9:12 pm
Always go straight to Archet. Can hit lvl 20 very quickly. All the quests are bunched together without much travelling
June 23, 2012 at 10:03 pm
I always go to the Shire on any alts, seeing the zone at night got me to buy a lifetime sub years ago.
June 24, 2012 at 2:31 am
Love the Shire!!! After all this time it is still my most favorite area of the game. I just wish they would finish it…cough, cough…Southfarthing.
June 24, 2012 at 8:36 am
The shire all the way! It always places me in a calm and relaxed mood everytime I visit.
June 24, 2012 at 10:02 am
I first started with an Elf and found the starting area really lacking (I kept falling off of bridges….) my 2nd character was of the race of man and Archet sold me on staying with the game.
June 25, 2012 at 7:04 am
The Shire easily, for a number of reasons. I just love the overall impression, both visual and sound; it just feels right.
The quests are such a good mix, fit perfectly with the hobbit theme, and how can you not love an area that has chicken play.
lastly I cannot say I geek out a lot in games, but finding the landmarks from the books had me grinning at times in the my first playthrough
June 25, 2012 at 2:47 pm
Archet by far
June 29, 2012 at 6:18 am
I chose other, because for me it depends on the race I chose. I find the starter area created for the race I chose always the best suited. Also in terms of immersion and RP.
July 5, 2012 at 4:51 pm
Though almost all my characters are Elves, I can’t confidently choose Celondim. It’s beautiful and nice, but most of the quests you do in Ered Luin are for dwarves, not elves, which really bothers me. I was hoping in making an elf you would be surrounded in elvish culture, but that wasn’t the case. Dwarves are surrounded in Dwarvish culture, and same with men and hobbits, but elves don’t get that luxury I suppose. Since the Shire does the best at displaying the culture of its people, I would pick the Shire.