Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-26149161-20150913221551/@comment-7489882-20150915133730

At the time of Bilbo's birthday there were no orcs wandering around just outside the Shire. The (not very numerous) ranger's prevented that. There were not even very many orcs between the Shire and the Misty Mountains, as the company didn't encounter any until Moria. There would have been a few more by the time of the hobbits' return to the Shire at the end of the book, but still not enough for them to have any trouble along the road.

I agree that it makes travelling much more interesting, however the number of NPCs in many areas is kind of uncannon. A more realistic version would probably not be possible until major structures are added, so for example there would not be many Gondorians scattered about Gondor, but there would be larger clusters of them travelling together, or in villages, cities etc.