LotRO

A Deluxe Bree-Land Home #LotRO

stargrace November 2, 2010 0Comment

That’s right, after scrimping, pinching, and saving (I’m so sorry if you were one of the players who saw my characters wandering around in rags these last few weeks as I could not afford any new gear for them) I have purchased a deluxe home in Bree-Land. In the neighbourhood of Lockberth (where there are LOTS of homes still for sale of anyone would like to be my neighbour!) at 4 Garden Street, resides my little hobbit Lysthia and her “sisters” (ie: alts) Ellithia, Velours, and Petites.

While I’m not fond of the “hook” method of decorating that the game uses, I DO really love the way the neighbourhoods look, and there is enough customization for me to feel as though the home is truly “mine” which is important.

Now, back to writing for NaNoWriMo.. Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Beautiful Views #LotRO

stargrace October 30, 2010 0Comment

Yesterday after much debate with myself, I decided I did in fact want a fourth alt to pick up the Historian branch of crafting, granting me a scholar. Until now I’ve been selling all of my scholar supplies on the auction, to fund my “saving up for a deluxe house” goal. There is a large combination of crafting types that players can choose from, but with four alts this gives me access to every craft available. I have an Armourer (prospector, metalsmith, tailor), Tinker (jeweler, prospector, cook), Woodsman (woodworker, forester, farmer), and Historian (scholar, farmer, weaponsmith). With the new alt came all of the fun that I typically have. I created a human (my first) captain (also my first) and am now level 14 running around Bree-Lands with my herald. It’s a lot of fun doing quests I haven’t done before, exploring areas I haven’t been to, and learning a new class I’ve never played. Mean while my level 36 minstrel sits on the edge of the Ford of Bruinen, with Lord Glorfindel’s elf stone, shaking her fist and cursing the elves.

It’s a little bit of a pain to ship supplies between all of my characters – but – I do have the shared vault that I purchased when Mirkwood + adventure pack came out, so I haven’t had to pay any extra for those things and it makes passing items between characters MUCH easier. If I had to send them through the mail I doubt very highly I’d try to work all my crafters up. The way it’s set up is that my historian and woodsman send food items to my tinker, my woodsman processes pelts for my armourer, my armourer sends gems and precious stone to my tinker. It works out well for me – but I can certainly see how it would be a lot of money wasted if I were to mail the items between everyone.

I spent a good portion of last night playing Fable 3 and look forward to doing more of that today. Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself! Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Housing Discoveries and Lazy Elves #LotRO

stargrace October 29, 2010 5Comments

Posted above is a screen shot of a painting in my home. I purchased the smallest house a few weeks ago, and am patiently (ok not so patiently) saving up for the delux. I’m a little over half way there. With the Halloween events going on I’ve been having a lot of fun, not only running quests and collecting festive tokens but making my way through the haunted house daily to collect the rare chest contents. I’m really after the skeletal mount, but I do manage to get furniture or cosmetic gear every now and again. It’s the same items that can be purchased for festival tokens, but this is free, leaving me to spend my tokens on other items.

I discovered something unusual yesterday that I had never noticed before. There are two paintings sold by the festival vendors, and each has the word “watchful” in the title. I never paid this much heed until I was showing off my little home yesterday and noticed that the EYES of the paintings will follow you around if you bounce and jump close to it. This seemingly simple idea entertained me for a good portion of my evening, and I squeeled and yelped with delight (irl, at that).

Then I made my second discovery. If you /sit while standing on a chair (at lest the chair in my home works this way) you will actually SIT on the chair. A different pose then the one when you decide to sit on the floor. Another roleplay aspect to the game that I adore (as if there was not already a lot to love about this game). That was the later part of my evening, sitting on chairs and bouncing around in front of paintings. Honestly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself.

P.S. As I am on Epic Vol 1. book 4 chapter 5 I have come to the conclusion that elves, especially Lord Glorfindel are incredibly lazy. Sure, I will make my way to your beautiful city, I will bring you an elf stone. I will take that stone to the Ford of Bruinen (any idea how FAR that is for a hobbit?) then I shall return it to you. Then I will go seek out your friend in the little camp that I JUST CAME FROM, bringing this stone. He will then send me to some not-so-friendly caves in the middle of the Trollshaws (key word here, TROLLS) and after I run around testing the stone like a candle (seriously?) I will run back to him – stone intact, only to be told to go visit this other friend of his. Bloody elves.

A Crafting Adventure #LotRO

stargrace October 25, 2010 4Comments

I really enjoy crafting, in pretty much any MMO (and real life, for that matter). I enjoy how complex the crafting is in games like Vanguard and how simple it is in games like World of Warcraft. I enjoy being able to step away from the game while I craft, unlike games like EQ2. When it comes to the Lord of the Rings Online I have a love/hate relationship with crafting – in specific the mastery system. On one hand, it’s fantastic. Once you have leveled through a tier you have an option to master it. This basically involves leveling through it again but you need more combines (points) to do so the second time around. You also have a chance to get critical combines, which auto upgrades the item that you’re creating. You can up this chance through various means such as improved tools, scrolls, and dropped items.

The dislike comes from the amount of combines required to master something and in specific the lack of tin that I found while trying to master apprentice metalsmithing. See, my 35 Minstrel happens to be an Armourer. This means she can create not only metal gear and shields, but tailored. She also has the prospector harvest skill. I’ve reached artisan rank in each of these three arch types – however I never bothered to master anything as I leveled up (and of course you have to master things in order). I spent almost all of my in game time yesterday meandering through the bogs of the shire looking for tin. Lots of tin. I found approximately 1 tin node for every 6 copper nodes, and it took a long time to FINALLY master apprentice metalsmithing, but I did it.

I also managed to master apprentice jewelcrafting, and cooking (on alts). The purple items I created were very worth this endeavor, and I eagerly filled up my broker with items hoping for sales. It was a nice peaceful way to spend a Sunday afternoon, and I really didn’t mind it that much. I am looking forward to mastering the rest of the tiers, so I can make myself some pretty purple (or even blue) named gear in the future.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Haunted Burrow Video

stargrace October 24, 2010 1Comment

This was by far the coolest Halloween thing I saw this year, and I had a blast running through it.