Hey all, it's been a long time, I know. Worst of all, my keyboard is so buggered that I can't take screenshots (the FN key doesn't work), so I haven't been able to recommence the image work I used to do on this wiki. Hopefully I'll be able to fix that one day.
Anyway, I just thought I'd post a little thread about what you like to spend your time doing while playing this mod. After all, this mod is so much deeper and more immersive than the Vanilla Minecraft, so there are so many more opportunities for players to find their own "hobbies". I have a couple presumably common mod hobbies, including collecting and displaying gear from all factions. However, my newest and (possibly) strangest hobby is relocating Vanilla NPC villages into Middle Earth by means of Elven Portals. For some reason, I've always liked villagers, but the overworld that they dwell in is so bland in comparison to Middle Earth, which is miraculously picturesque for such a blocky landscape, so I wanted to take them with me into ME. In my main survival world, where I have long been settled, I often make trips to the overworld, find a village, round up the occupants into one room using soul sand one-way doors (it's easier than you'd think; if you break every other door in the village and only leave the one-way doors, all the villages will run into the same building come nightfall, and won't be able to leave), and use an Elven Portal to transport them into ME. Overworld monsters are no problem either - they're simply no match for good LOTR gear; a creeper can't stand a chance against a pike, and the puny bows of skeletons have got nothing on the bows of the High Elves. Once they're all in ME, I build a village based off LOTR mod design, and completely in survival, which makes the experience all the more enjoyable. I know that seems like a lot of hassle, but I've always liked my builds to be lively and occupied, and as NPC respawners aren't available in survival, I decided to go for villagers. Besides, the amount of work that goes into safely transporting the villagers, plus building their settlements from scratch, gives me a slight feeling of accomplishment when I look at a complete and occupied village in Middle Earth.
So, what are your mod-hobbies? Exploring? Collecting gear? Wreaking havoc? This mod has so much to offer, so I'm sure you've all found your own ways to enjoy it. Feel free to share them below!