MikeJL Blog - LOTRO

LOTRO Free To Play this Fall!

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:54:34 -0700

This is exciting news. LOTRO is going Free 2 play!

http://www.lotro.com/news/709-announcing-the-lord-of-the-rings-onlines-move-to-free-to-play-

I always liked LOTRO however I'd take it in small amounts of play and found it hard to justify the monthly sub. This fall I'm heading back. I will purchase some Turbine Points ans an upgrade to bag slots and gold cap.

Details..

LOTRO Itch

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 00:43:50 -0700

Spent some time paging though a John Howl art book I got for $8 at Boarders.
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Guess getting a big fix of WoW over the holidays I feel I could throttle back on WoW some.

Top it all off watch little of Return of the King and BANG! I got the LOTRO itch. So got a three month sub (at $10 a month its not bad.

Reloading now .. let it patch over night and get back to Middle Earth for a little while.

*Update:

Patched and logged into see if all was good. Had to pay some back rent to open my house.

My hunting lodge.

Logged in with my Hunter:

paid back rent(taxes) and stepped into my house. Besides some dust all was in order.

*Update: 1/7/10:

Now sure what it is. Post Siege of Mirkwood (SoM) combat changes or a previous changes to hunter. However, hunter seems very very squishy. And thing I use to be able to do (like handle two equally level opponents) now easily end up dead.

I got some new equipment and upped my stats. Also started into the skirmish system. The repair costs were more than the rewards from my skirmish I did. The "no fun" bell started to ring.

So.. I moved my hunter to The Prancing Pony (he is now a retired adventure and now working on a drinking habit). I clean out the house, sold off bunch of stuff and rolled a Warden.

Welcome Ulfrgar Warden of Rohan.

I really hate starting over however I was not having fun playing hunter anymore. I canceled my ongoing sub so I have till April 3rd to see how much I play this new character. I'll see if I re-sub again in the Spring. Hope I fin the fun in LOTRO again.

Sorta disappointing on this turn of events. I found myself quitting LOTRO early to play WoW. And actually took up mining and blacksmith trade skills on my Orc Death Knight.

A week of free LOTRO!

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 10:21:10 -0700

My LOTRO account expired March 11th. I have been holding out in hope of another $199 lifetime special this April. Still .. Book 7 launched and I love to peek at the changes and try out the “new player experience.”

And look at the e-mail I get last night…

Oh Turbine where did you plant that brain implant on me? So I patched my client with book 7 and will poke around this weekend.

Yea!

LOTRO .. Some

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 10:15:37 -0700

Played little LOTRO this weekend. Did level up to 36. And getting a few Rivendell and Trollshaws quests. Got a drop from a boar (perfect board tooth). It started a quest to take it to a master elf weapon smith in Rivendell. Ended up getting a boar-tooth dagger from it. Very nice. Now need to decide to use that or my spear.

Also picked-up my level 36 "Guide to Esteldin" hunter quest. Love the fast travel for hunters. Also the Trollshaws looks great ....

...and its fun to romp around the western areas (inner parts get a little dangerous until I'm about 38).
May keep a LOTRO around little more... its a great game. Wish I could get that lifetime $199 special .. I'll get another month or two.

Deepen my LOTRO Experience

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:33:37 -0700

Inspired by Beau Turkey and his immersion project I deiced to do some changes with how I play LOTRO.

With all the MMOS I play (currently three: WAR, LOTRO and giving AoC another try). They all have same base game MMO mechanics so I will leverage some of the strengths LOTRO has for the Role Player Like; the open world, outfit system, crafting, fishing, housing, music, etc.

And now with my hunter, Zandier, is the mid 30’s I have mount, home and great set if hunter skills to use. I feel now is a great time to stop quest grinding and immerse myself into Middle Earth.

Here is my plan…

Maps - I'll use roads and lands marks. As the game map fills in as you explore areas I will use them. I find that exciting and I love to explore. Try to limit mini map use.

UI and chat – Will see if I can turn off experience bar. I'll move region, trade, and LFF chat to a new chat tab. Turn on chat bubbles. Communicate via say and yell. I will keep guild chat on. Also turn on the RP flag.

Talk – Stay in character.. not “Thou thy slay dem wyrm!!” just stay in character. Like; You need any help? Care to join me on this task? RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!! Just talk normal.

Travel – Minimal use of the “map home” and fast horse travel. However; as a hunter I have lots of “guide to” abilities and I will use them from time to time. However, I will use my horse and enjoy the ride. Also avoid travel (and questing) late at night .. unless its to my advantage or needed (like I am searching out an Orc who only comes out at night). Will seek shelter or head into local town or village to drink, eat and craft.

Music – I uploaded some “.abc” files that match the "feel" of Middle Earth .. no Van Halen or Led Zeppelin. However some classical, Enya, etc. Zan plays music to relax at his campfires at night (nice little hunter skill that lends to RP).

Home – Family friend, Hobbob the Hobbit (alt), has agreed to live in the house and take care of the garden, Also fetch mail and store and send items while my Zan is out.

Auction Hall – I am not one to sell much stuff, however when in town Zan may use the Auction Hall as normal.

Food & Drink – Take time and eat and drink in game as normal.

Crafting – Craft as I collect materials. Sell some of my work (forester and woodworker). Also use my own bow. Melee weapons can be from rewards, drops or AH. The bow is the heart of the hunter and Zan only trust his own bow.

Most important – Take time and do not grind! Quests are parts of a story I pick up in my travels. Get into the quest story and take time to complete it. If I get few quests done or just part of one or end up in Bree drinking and play my lute...its all good. For me It's not all about leveling XP or gear.

I will take time and document parts of Zan’ s adventures. I find it's fun to post screen shots and story here.

Nothing like shooting your own

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:45:49 -0700

With the help of a guldie (needed 1x dwarf ignot) I was able to craft a new bow.

Took it out to break it in..

Reinforced Lebethron Bow

Love using my own bow. In the process I leveled-up in Forester profession (processing a stack of Lebethron wood did it) to completed tier 4 "Artisan." Now master tier has opened up.

LOTRO WIKI Woodworker Recipes page.

Getting my legs and a trophy

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 10:15:36 -0700

Out to finish up the last few pixels of my xp bar to get level 35 last night. I deiced to just take down a few "yellow" mobs (mob one level above me). I chose to hunt the local wargs in Evendim as they also dropped pristine hides (I also need these for crafting).
Just before I dinged 35 the warg dropped an Undamaged Warg Corpse

So I head to Bree to train, repair and also hit the local taxidermist to make the Warg Corpse into a Warg Trophy

Here it is in my house

Nice little prize and looks great with my latest fishing trophy (I purchased the White Wolf). So the hunting cabin is looking great.

Also did the mount quests (as referenced in lotrolife.com). Its noted for the last quest:

[35] Proving Your Quality

Eogar now wants you to mount a Bloodbay Horse/Pony and follow a marked track race around the farm. You need to make it through each of the gates to win. There are 12 gates total. This is timed, and can get tough. I have heard of many players needing multiple tries to win the race. Just remember that the path isn't always leading you in the right direction (especially when you see a big hill to the right!). Space Bar will allow you to jump over fences and small objects while riding. And you can run in water, as long as it's not to deep.And you can run in water, as long as it's not to deep. One member of our Kinship, Blythe, stated, "A lot of folk struggle on the race. A tip is to cut corners where you can on it. Be prepared to fail at least the first time as you learn the loop."

I don't think this is timed anymore .. I followed the path and hit all twelve gates and complete the first time. I was ready to run this again. Guessing the first run around was to get an idea of the track. Cool!

So at the end I purchased the chestnut horse..!

So got my legs (all four new ones) and a great trophy for home.

Gratz LOTRO

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 12:07:37 -0700

Big gratz to LOTRO for 2008 Reader's Choice Awards - Best Expansion: Winner.

LOTRO Article on a few rewards .. including Best Overall Game of 2008!!

Well deserved .. I came back (after grabbing a $20 deal from Best Buy.com) and gota say the game keeps getting better. I am still in the original content and have not played a new class or see Moria yet. The warden looks like a fun class, however love playing the hunter.

Look forward to future content and improvements.

Grab a copy!

Upcoming for my hunter..

With level 35 only 1/2 level away ..

• Get my mount (guide on getting the mount)

• Plan to find the recipe and craft a Fortified Lebethron Bow

• Craft me a new spear

..also; fish, explore, craft and adventure.

Shaking off the LOTRO dust

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 11:35:08 -0700

Had to shake of the dust in LOTRO .. forgot some of the skills and tactics that the hunter has. After a few hours of breaking myself in .. Since Friday I hit my stride and:
• Gained two levels
• Got a home in Bree Homestead
• Got up to Book 4 on the epic quest line
• And finally made it to Rivendell.

The house has become very handy .. yea decorating is fun. However, I have a level 5 Hobbit home/bank alt with access to all his empty bags, the house storage and his own bank. Also the discount crafting mats from the homestead vendor.
Add a mail box in front of the home I have a bank alt with lots of storage and a mail hub.

And Rivendell .. is just fantastic looking.

Inside new home.

Little fishing between Warg and Orc hunting.

Rivendell bliss.

More Rivendell goodness.

Also .. got Guide to Bree skill so even though I look at few alts .. Hunter is a blast to play (tracking, porting to different locations, great DPS and traps).
So I look forward to mount at 35 and the zones of Evendim, Trollshaws, Forochel .. and Moria.

LOTRO .. Back

nospam@example.com (Mike) — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:35:17 -0700

Was going to wait till later to try LOTRO again.. however a sale at Best Buy (purchase off web, store pickup) had me nab LOTRO MoM for $20!! 50% OFF! Nice.
The game has really improved. The new trait system is great .. along with other improvements. Like the myLOTRO.com and more. Like the new sigs..

I am still in my Old Guild Exodus . If the lifetime sub goes down to $199 again I'm going to get that.

Off to go questing.. hunting ..

.. and a little fishing.

Zandier Bowman .. backstory

Zan (Zandier) hails from the realm of Gondor. Zan has nothing but love for the land and people of Gondor. However, does not have a good opinion of the current leadership. Not wanting to be under direct command of such questionable leadership, Zan takes for the wilds of Gondor;
Scouting and feeding information to the army of Gondor. Hunting for himself and helping defend local villages is where Zan felt the best.
New evils about Middle Earth prompted Zan to make hast to Archet to help and now furthers his skills as a Hunter and Woodsman in the fight against the shadows of evil. His keen shot is only outdone by his need to explore.