Lord of the Rings

Penny Arcade starts off Freeday Friday with a little bit of snark about the Chronicles of Spellborn payment plan. While it’s true that you can now use a credit card like for every other game… I think trying to figure out their Coins-based plan is a fun game all on its own, don’t you? Reported everywhere is Lord of the Rings Online’s second anniversary promotion. Free to try again, 25% experience bonus on kills that stacks with all other bonuses, tokens you can trade in for cool stuff, etc etc. The xp boost is very nice, anyway. I haven’t seen what the tokens trade in for, but I have my suspicions I have a lot of Blueberry Tart recipes in my future. ...

The two characters I set for transfer from Windfola to Landroval a couple of weeks ago, my 36 Captain and my 21 Champion, finally arrived safely in their new server yesterday. I’m still not sure which of the three characters I have on Landroval I want to focus on. I have hope that I can join my Captain with those in Casualties of War who are about her level. Stargrace and Kasul largely adventure during days I work, so aside from boring soloing, there might not be much available for my two lower level characters. ...

Wednesday? Seriously? All these MMO companies, at the same time, said, we’re gonna have some big news, and it’s gonna come out on a Wednesday? What’d I do to them? Last night, I was going to do a new one panel comic, and then sit down and game for awhile. That little test I linked to yesterday that where they wanted to know how MMOs were destroying your life? I wanted to pencil in, want time to play MORE. ...

These are the games I’ve played at least a little in the past week. I’m going to end up with Chronicles of Spellborn, because I haven’t talked about it in awhile. First up: I’ve been spending quite a lot of time in Free Realms and as much time as I’m allowed in another which I can’t even name. What I can say is that I predicted awhile back that 2009 could be the best year ever for MMOs, and I’m sticking to that. There is some incredible stuff coming this year. ...

This whole Web 2.0, social media thing is pretty cool, isn’t it? Friday, the Lord of the Rings Online branch of Nostalgia the Guild, using Twitter and XFire, decided to move en masse from Windfola to the Landroval RP server to join the Casualties of War folk. Since it will take several weeks for the Turbine staff to slog through the backlog and move our current characters, I started a new Hobbit hunter and did the introduction Friday night. ...

It’s been bugging me for awhile that my Woodworker, Eraindiel, never mastered apprentice woodworking. She just leveled out of the area too soon, and needed to get making journeyman and now expert weapons – without mastery, so not as good as they could be, but good enough. Last night, Windfola was acting up and moving around was difficult, so largely we stayed in the Bree crafting hall. I felt that would be the perfect opportunity to finish off master apprentice woodworking so that at least the journeyman-level weapons I was making for kinsfolk would count. ...

Yeah, it’s a Jimmy Buffet song. Did you REALLY want me to…? Really? Okay, just for you, because you’re a friend, the real title of this post is “We are the Champions”. And, we will, we will rock you. Last night, I joined Stargrace and Kasul in LotRO for a little Nostalgia action. Gozad peeked in for awhile, and if we can get some other Nostalgians – looking at you, Sirhyl and Malfi – to return, we will have a pretty amazing group. ...

In the times of war and strife, still there must be hope. Spring brings with it new life, and the Free Peoples of Bree have chosen for a time to put aside their worries and cares and take joy in the seasons turn from the cold fastness of winter’s reign to spring’s joyous green awakening. Mayor Graeme Tenderlarch has caused to be built, with the lore of the elves, the good cheer of the Halflings, which some call Hobbits, the craftsmanship and drink of the Dwarves, and the industry of Man, a Hedge Maze in the festival portion of the Horsefields above Bree. ...

I’ve been deliberately avoiding my Captain since I returned to the Lord of the Rings – she’s so much higher level than anyone else I know who plays – 35 to everyone else’s 13-23 – that it just seemed wrong to not play a lower level character while everyone catches up. But heck, everyone in my circle of gaming companions is staggering under as large a gameload as I am (and why is that?) so – hey, look, I have a character who isn’t looking forward to dreary months soloing in Lone Lands. ...