This was just a life-changing perspective-changing course for me. I have always loved Tolkien and have a background in literature and theatre. However I had always thought of LOTR as genre fiction and not "serious" literature. Studying it in the context of English Romantic quest narratives and poems changed my perspective. Beyond that, the world of online gaming was opened to me. I had viewed games from a distance with fascination but they missed my generation and so I had never dived in. As a newbie gamer over 60, it WAS a steep learning curve but I loved the challenge and the community I met in the game. Such a lively and nice bunch of people. I don't know what I did with my time before.

A fascinating course for those who love games, digital narrative, and literature.

The course materials are done with love and it shows: the videos are fantastic, clear, entertaining and well paced.

The course revolves around Lord of the Rings (in its iterations of books, films and videogame), but discussion about art, literature, gaming and narrative in general is encouraged.

The community is supportive, helpful and very friendly, in the forums and in the game, so those who are new to gaming but are interested in the course have no reason to shy off!

Ce cours est très intéressant car il ne porte pas que sur l'oeuvre de Tolkien, on y découvre des textes, des poèmes etc qui permettent de comprendre la tram narrative, les choix d'écritures et ce qui a inspiré Le Seigneur des Anneaux, sans oublier le fait que ce cours explore aussi le travail effectué pour l'adaptation en jeu vidéo de l'histoire du Seigneur des Anneaux. Je ne suis vraiment pas déçue et j'espère retrouver un cours d'aussi bonne qualité sur le catalogue de Coursera!

Exceptional course that explores the remediation of books, narrative, and other artwort like paintings into MMOs. The discussed example is Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" and the games "Lord of the Rings Online".

The support is outstanding on Coursera as well as in the game. Several servers are home to course accompanying groups who offer support and guidance with course related in-game assignments and the game itself.

Great fun, great people, great content.

Although I’m not really a gamer, I took the first session of this course since I was studying art and computer science in school, and I thought this course would give me some insights as to what decisions people make when they design a computer game based on a well-known existing story, and as to how art and technology are integrated into the overall game design. It certainly did! And I found it so engrossing that I’ve continued to play LOTRO ever since.

A very enjoyable course that shows art can be appreciated in many forms, people of all walks of life and ages enjoy online games and that you can be anything you want with a little imagination.

The course videos are a series of discussions between the course tutor and his team of young enthusiasts. Its an unusual method and one I thought was lively and entertaining.

Fun and engaging course with a lot of material I would have otherwise not looked into. I made so many friends and have a deeper appreciation for Tolkien and LOTRO than I did before this course! I highly recommend this to anyone looking to take a course that can truly be informative and fun at the same time.

Loved it. A pleasure from start to finish. Jay Clayton is so clearly in love with what he teaches that you cannot resist being pulled along for this ride. I gained a great deal of knowledge on the construction of stories and how they've evolved across the years, from books, to painting, to video games.

This was a very interesting course that brings together different and unexpected sources and ties them with Tolkien's classic narrative in ways that help you gain new perspectives on LOTR, but also on modern and classic works of art, books, games.

This course was incredible! Jay is such a passionate instructor and the course materials between literature, gaming, and narrative are so engaging. The only thing I wish is that I could have been present for the discussions!

very special course, combines; literature, gaming, lord of the rings, creative writing structures,

rarely do i find a course so specifically right for me it could have been personally tailored for me.

simply mind blowing.

An interesting course for anyone who likes lord of the rings online, fantasy (modern and presents), literature, video games, and/or movies! It's the ultimate combination for maximum nerddom!

It was very interesting and fun. I liked the literature and examples of the workshop, it was very interesting and It did awaken a much slept passion for poetry and romance.

I am really grateful for the course that gave me the idea and theorethical background to create a transmedia experience with my daughters around the Hobbit and Lotro

Great juxtaposition of online game play and relevant classic literature. Interesting format. Makes the opposite of the usual boring lecture class.

Extremely interesting and course material that is one of a kind. Definitely a must learn if you have an interest in video games and literature!

Great class, thank you for teaching us about all those great works of Literature. It was really enjoyable to listen to you and your students!

This was challenging and rewarding. I loved it. Very well done! Thank you!

An excellent insight in Literature through the modern medium of gaming.

I loved the fusion of literature, movies, and games

Excellent, informative, and fun!

A great experience!

As a long-time LotR fan and LotRO player, I enjoyed this course immensely. I had not read many of the great texts that are discussed in the course but I really enjoyed learning about the connections between the different media discussed, and also making my own connections in the various assignments!

The content of the class is very interesting, however as non-native English speaker it was hard to follow at times. Particularly, the readings have complex vocabulary. Also, I wanted to complete the honors tasks, but was unable to since downloading LOTRO requires a lot of memory space.

Quite an interesting course for those interested in the literature of Tolkien, especially for understanding how it was and can be translated to other mediums.

Come expecting an introductory course on literature and not a course about game design and narrative.