Exciting times with my gaming lately. Not only does WoW have a large update due in today, but so does EQ2, and House of Thule goes live for EQ. Thankfully while all three of these games are down for maintenance, I can still dive into LotRo to get my ‘fix’ (that was sarcasm there folks).
I spent most of yesterday playing, having a VIP account until the end of February. Toargo also has a VIP account until December, so we haven’t had to purchase any content yet. Not that it has stopped me from ogling the store, especially those cosmetic items. I’m a sucker for a pretty dress/hat/backpack. As I mentioned yesterday I did purchase the riding skill (which is 75% off) for my four characters for 48 turbine points. I find almost everything in the store is really well priced except maybe the shared bank slots item and I can understand why that one is so pricey. I enjoy the way the store is set up, and I’m confident I’ll be making a few more purchases over time. I wish I had picked up a life time account when they were available.
In game my Minstrel went from 29 to most of the way through 31 – sure I had accumulated a lot of rest experience but the bulk came from doing skirmishes. I had never done these before, always being slightly out of reach level wise. When the game went Free-To-Play a bunch of options that used to unlock at 35 (riding, skirmishes) lowered in level to 20. To be honest I didn’t have the faintest idea what these were about. I was pleasantly surprised when I did the tutorial, and then even more so when Toargo and I decided to team up and complete the newer ones as a duo. Apparently these skirmishes work almost like daily quests, the first time you complete them (each day?) you earn a good chunk of experience. We completed all that were open to us and racked up tokens and other goodies. I upgraded a few pieces of gear as well as my soldier. I own three of them now. The default warrior that everyone starts out with (which I did not upgrade), then I also purchased a sage for when Toargo (who plays a guardian and has a herbalist soldier) is around, and a protector for myself when I’m out soloing. I haven’t actually tried the protector yet, and it’s lacking a lot of skills, but I’m interested in seeing how I do. The first time through I used the sage and had her tank due to damage agro, and just healed through it.
You can purchase a whole lot of ‘stuff’ with skirmish tokens. There’s gear, potions, cosmetic items, skills and traits for your soldier, a huge selection of NPC selling level based items. The more players involved in your skirmish the better the items for sale. For example the classic skirmishes require you to be in a full fellowship, and reward some outstanding looking gear (to me at least) for my level. Problem is I rarely see anyone from CoW (Casualties of War, my Kinship) on these days, and well. We all know how much I just LOVE to PUG.
I also bought my first ever LotRO home. I could never afford one previously and I couldn’t afford a 7g one (maybe some time in the future) but I had enough saved up to purchase a 1g home and a few furnishings for it. My favorite feature is that I had saved a door mouse house item from when I first created my characters, and finally got to place it. I was tickled pink when I noticed a little grey mouse running out from the hole in the wall to nibble on some cheese I had placed. I purchased a home in Bree-Land, which is just fantastic looking. I live at 8 Chestnut Street, in the neighbourhood of Ellham. While housing is not as customizable as other games I have played (EQ,EQ2,VG) at least it exists and it is absolutely beautiful. My home over looks the entire lot, and there’s a guild hall next door. It’s backed by rocks and I planted a few trees outside. I love how I have a mailbox.
I’m excited to see where my travels take me next. I was afraid when the game went F2P that the community would suffer, but so far the community has persevered and aside from channels being a little ‘spammy’ with conversation, it seems like Landroval at least has upheld it’s role play aura.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
stargrace 
