Taure's LotRO

New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 12:34:00 +0000

Here's the link to the new Taaure's LotRO blog. This blog will remain up for back reference when needed. It was time for a new blog for LotRO.

The One Server To Rule Them All

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 01:57:00 +0000

OK I really thought I could handle 2 servers since I had 4 servers for a long time - but I'm tired of shutting off the program and restarting it to change servers and check on and play the other characters. I thought one server over and over. Well I got all my Landroval characters I wanted to keep ready to move to my Crickhollow server with my group over there but no server transfers were available until October. I did not want to wait a month to play the game over transfers. I wanted the 6 toons moved badly and would have paid for those transfers on the 1st or 2nd of September gladly!! But I could NOT wait until October so I re-made them on Crickhollow instead of waiting to transfer them - I didn't want to do that but I did it anyway! And after I did that the server transfers are now available once again!! Hahaha - and it was too late for me this month $-wise to have them transferred. OH but I did get me another 3 month subscription instead of transferring toons!

Anyway -- long story short: I have ONE server now and all my best characters are on that server. I'm done trying to handle 2 servers and I was way past done handling the 4 servers. And I have another 3-month game subscription and get all those great benefits now!!

All Level 32

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 06:26:00 +0000

♪ ♫ Running through the Trollshaws as a little hobbit can...
Gathering ores, wood and honey like no other man... ♩ ♬

LOL!!! Getting all my crafting up to par...

all are lvl 32 now so it's time to make sure they are all up to date before they move on!

One Toon Switch

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Sun, 21 Aug 2016 04:24:00 +0000

Meet Ahron (I brought him back as a Lore-Master)

This is Faron's youngest son. I decided two Elven Female Lore-Masters

was too much alike and I was missing playing at least one of Faron's sons.

I ditched Heliah on Crickhollow in favor of a Human Male Lorrie.

Goodbye Heliah.

On Riddermark I have Phayel, Taure's sister as a Lore-Master

I loved Heliah but this is too much alike - wanted to mix it up better.

I'm definitely happy with all my toons, now time to get them perfected. :)

Charrwin

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 00:11:00 +0000

Charrwin defending Trestlebridge.

Fun instance - lots of Orcs to slaughter before and during this instance.

Charrwin against the big signature elite boss Drukordh.
Burglars are great, the higher their level the better they are to play - much fun!

Movie & Game Characters

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 09:27:00 +0000

Aragorn - Lord of the Rings (Online)

Movie ----------------------------------------------- In Game

Elrond - Lord of the Rings (Online)

Movie ----------------------------------------------- In Game

Legolas - Lord of the Rings (Online)

Movie ----------------------------------------------- In Game

Gimli - Lord of the Rings (Online)

Movie ----------------------------------------------- In Game

Drukordh

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 19:38:00 +0000

Drukordh - Elite Signature. Yes I can get solo and kill this guy!

I had a high level player wanting to hold Drukordh off me while I killed him -- I was like "Thank you much, but no thank you. I'll get him myself" and did. I just wanted him to stand back and watch me get this guy solo!! Hehehe!!!

Pushing 32s

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 16:42:00 +0000

I'm trying to get all my toons to level 32 then wear my

anti-leveling pocket piece. The reason is make sure all my crafting

and guild reputations are up, as well as completing most all (or all)

lower level deeds. Dilliar is up next for 32! :)

Shanyar VS the Worm-Wight! (Yea he won the battle) hehehe

He's dead! LOL -- Love these Rune-Keepers.

Phayel in Minas Eriol -- Got 3 large spiders - they died, I lived. LOL!!
I really like Boggy the Bog-Lurker, great battle pet.

Phayel in Agamaur. An Instance (Book Quest) with Radagast the Brown - fun stuff.

Black Ash Wood Hunting

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Fri, 05 Aug 2016 22:25:00 +0000

Faron and I are in the Misty Mountains.
We need Black Ash Wood.
I hope we can find enough without to many battles...He needs to make some weapons - need a good bow and crossbow.. among other items. Also for the woodworkers guild.

LOL... He hope I can gather enough in a short time.

Faron cries ... gets back to the craft hall only to realize didn't go far enough into the Misty Mountains for the Black Ash Wood - got more Lebethron instead.. hahahaa!!! I'm a dork.. oh well, instead of going back there to go deeper into the Misty Mountains he'll (I'll) go to Eregion. :P Silly me... that's ok I needed more Lebethron anyway.

Eregion. Made it -- got a couple of pieces of Black Ash... to hunt for more lead to the Twisted Holly area... started chopping wood and....

Hahaha yep - 2 Twisted Holly's on me... kicked me and I went flying backward. Fun but run!

Made it to Gwingris safely. Made the horse connection while there. Now to careful try to find some Black Ash Wood. LOL.

Went back to Misty Mountains for the Wood - too much trouble in Eregion. Snowblinded for a bit and ran across the rare Sulmog.

Krabakam! 771,877 HP -- another rare. I avoided him out hunting the much needed Black Ash Wood.

Back in Esteldin Crafting Hall with a load of the Black Ash Wood. Nice day of wood hunting lol. :)

Happy Dance Time!!!

Inside Faron's Home

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:29:00 +0000

Faron's Bree-Land Home. He's got a campfire now.

Inside Faron's Bree-Land Home. They've given us more hooks (YES)! That means displaying more things inside at one time. I'm overly excited about that.

Summer Festival 2016 - Faron

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 00:24:00 +0000

I started out flying kites. lol.

Spewing water *ahem* cooling off the patrons.

Carrying the ice to the Bywater

Mixing drinks.

This heat wave has got to go.

Enjoying the fireworks.

Won the Delving Horse Race.

Won the Bree-land Horse Race.

Some fishing just before dawn.

Steed of Nárië - got Faron one! YES!

7 Taverns - 6 Beers at each place -- Faron's blitzed!
Drink 42 Beers Challenge accepted and won. lol.

Overall, a great day at the Summer Fest with Faron. I really enjoyed it.

Summer Festival 2016 - Taure

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Sun, 31 Jul 2016 06:49:00 +0000

All the pies -- and we could even get a bite hahaa.
I wish the pie eating contest would start!

Taure delivering ice from the Party Tree to the Bywater.

Taure saw a cat today in the Shire burning up from the heat this summer.
Poor thing kept running away from him he wasn't able to help him.

Fishing in the Shire... many people out there - to the right and left ... the banks were full!

Taure caught a few good fish anyway lol.

Fighting the heat wave, delivering ice, flying kites, finding lost items, cooking desserts,

playing the horse races (I lost both horse races), keg races (which my runner won),

The Taste of Hobbiton (which my pick for the winner lost) and did some fishing...

fun time at the Summer Festival this year with Taure.

Steed of Nárië - had to have one!

When the servers condensed, I moved from Riddermark to Landroval -- everything moved but the bed! So finally got a bed at the festival, I like this one better anyway!

Taure won't have to sleep on the floor anymore. lmbo!

Taure got home drunk from the festival... those Hobbits have good Ale. lol.

Overall a fun festival! Planning on taking Faron out there next - Crickhollow here I come!

Creep

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Sat, 30 Jul 2016 21:03:00 +0000

One of Taure's titles is CREEP! Yep he wears it proudly!

Glondif's Encounter

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Sat, 30 Jul 2016 19:47:00 +0000

I'm Back

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Sat, 30 Jul 2016 17:34:00 +0000

Feels good to be home: Middle Earth

Boy have I been missing playing. Feels so good to be back in-game. Had computer issues for awhile. All settled down, game re-downloaded and I'm ready to go!!! :)

What a nice surprise to find the steed (pictured above) in my bag today!! 5 years I've been with LotRO and that is what the steed is for (each of my toons get one). Feels like home again.

Back In Game

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Sun, 28 Feb 2016 07:30:00 +0000

I am back in-game after the holidays and other things... first thing is first getting my crafting up to par and making sure my gear is up to date before any major game play.

I took the time with Taure to doing a bit of fishing today. He tricked-off the Trout Master Deed. He's got 2 trout towards the deed today -- so I'm happy about that. Not to mention a trophy fish for the wall. LOL :D

Goodbye Riddermark, Hello Landroval

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 09:51:00 +0000

Yesterday was the day for Riddermark to transfer to a remaining server of your choice. I did decide to move Landroval. I've been wanting to play on Landy for a long time now.. I'm there now from Riddermark!
The transfers were successful!

I forgot and left 2 of my Riddermark toons inside the home... after the transfers the 2 toons were inside another players house! LOL! It's not a problem - I just hope they didn't mind drinking some of their ale for the Inn League Keg they had. ;)

Glondif "steals" a drink or 4!

Glondif passes out.

He awoke inside the Forsaken Inn (Lone Lands). What happened? LOL

Phayel drank from the keg too. She awoke in Angmar!

What a fun time they both must have had... but dang it those hang overs are ruff!

One toon had to change her name - which is not a big deal. Turbine gave us a free name change just in case we needed it. Charwin found her name to be Charwin-1 after the transfers. I used the name change token to change her name to Charrwin (I just doubled the "r" in her name and it works for me).

All of my other toons could keep their names. I'm just extremely glad that Taure could keep his name. That name is important to me - I feel extremely lucky. He's the namesake of this particular blog!

We had to purchase a new house. I decided to move one door down from where I was on the Riddermark server. Love the new house.

Taure overlooking his new home.

The ONLY thing I could not find after the transfers was Taure's bed. That's not a big deal, he can get another one.

Taure stares in the empty room upstairs.

He decides to sleep on the rug and dreams of his new bed.

All in all - the transfers were successful for me. I had one minor problem Taure's missing bed and, as I already said, it's not a big deal. One free name change - not a big deal. And two toons that got to enjoy some Inn League Ale! I had a lot of fun with the transfers. Looking forward to playing on Landroval!

Sweet dreams Taure. You'll get a new bed soon.

Server Consolidation Announcement

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Thu, 20 Aug 2015 13:26:00 +0000

It's here! The LotRO servers are merging. We have a small delay in US server transfers that may begin again tomorrow.

UPDATE: US Transfers delayed:
“After monitoring and encountering some non-transfer related difficulties this afternoon, we are going to delay the opening of the cross-world transfers between the US servers:

Brandywine (off world only), Gladden, Landroval, Crickhollow, Arkenstone.
We hope to have these available for you tomorrow.
Thank you for your patience!”

The producer also stated there will be a free period of transfers to Brandywine in the future:
“We will give at least 30 days of free moves to Brandywine once it is available for transfers on to it from the other remaining US worlds, as we are doing with the other servers. As for timeline, rough estimate is Fall. The new hardware is in build out stage now, but it is not a short process and a number of factors could affect timelines on it being ready to go."

The Launch

The In-Game Letter:

Now to make up my mind: Do I go back to my old server Arkenstone or to Landroval where all the player festivals are? Both are good servers... I'll decide and will transfer from Riddermark soon. :D

World Closures

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 00:47:00 +0000

Good By Riddermark *sobs*. I love this server <3

A couple of weeks ago LotRO players found out that World Closures are definitely happening. Turbine decided to go from 29 servers down to 10. 5 US & 5 EU servers will remain open.

Well, long story short Crickhollow will remain open so my toons there are "safe" - I don't have to worry about them. Riddermark is closing. That means I have to decide which server to transfer those toons to permanently. The process will begin in a few weeks - time to make a decision.

I will most likely transfer to a US server - and my eye has been on Landroval for a long time now. I've often thought of creating toons there - if for nothing else - the Weatherstock festival which is held exclusively on Landroval. It's a yearly festival put on by LotRO players. And the reason I've had my eye on this server for years.

Landroval will remain an open server - I'm thinking of moving my Riddermark toons here. I've heard great things about this server over the years.

Brandywine and Gladden will stay open - two very populated servers. I've only heard that Brandywine is very populated otherwise I really know nothing about it or Gladden.

Crickhollow will remain open - and I already have toons on that server. It's a great server!

Arkenstone - I used to have toons on that server before I re-rolled my toons and condensed servers. Here is a post I made on the toons I had on Arkenstone at one time: Arkenstone (Final). I can say from experience that Arkenstone is a really good server to play on.

Basically I'm torn between Landroval and my old server Arkenstone. It's getting close to time for me to make that decision - the server closings / mergers will begin fairly soon. I might create a couple of "dummy" toons on both servers to check them out before I make a blind decision to move my toons. Re-experience Arkenstone and check out Landroval for the first time.

More information can be found at these links: World Closure Announcement & World Transfers.

An Idea Of Gameplay

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 13:56:00 +0000

For those that have never played an MMORPG - much less Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO for short) - let me give you some photo examples of what it looks like for an in-game battle. I snapped these photos quickly just for the reason of showing off an in-game battle or fight. This is nothing fancy nor is this a "big battle" - these are "out in the field" type of battle shots. Some of the photos I toggled off the UI (user interface) to get a good area shot and left the UI on in some photos so one can see what it looks like during gameplay.

Click the photos below to make them larger.

Riddermark server: Here's my elf Champion Taure in battle with an orc:

UI toggled off. Taure is The Lone-Lands across the road from

Ost Guruth in a heated battle with an orc.

UI togged on. Taure is fighting the same orc but I have the UI toggled on

to show you a LotRO player view of the battle. I did turn the camera

sideways to show Taure & the orc more clearly.

This is elf champion Taure in battle with a spider in The Lone-Lands.

That is Ost Guruth in the background. The UI is togged off to get

a clear view of the battle and I turned the camera towards Taure so

one can see a player in battle from the front view.

Riddermark server: Here is my elf Runekeeper Shanyar in battle with orcs:

Shanyar in battle with orcs not far from Weathertop in The Lone-Lands.

Two orcs - one Runekeeper a fun battle to win! UI toggled on. Camera

angle slightly turned for a view of both orcs.

One orc down, one to go! Love the lightening! UI toggled on. Camera

angled sideways for a better view.

Two more orcs on their way! UI toggled off. This is a back view of

Shanyar and a fairly good idea of what a LotRO player sees.

Crickhollow server: Here is my hobbit Warden Bontao in battle with a Rauta-Lehma hunter:

Bontao in The North Downs doing battle with a Rauta-Lehma hunter,

one of the Earthkin. UI toggled on. This is the angle a LotRO player

sees normally when playing.

The hunter is up-close and personal now. The Earthkin are

giants and being a hobbit they are truly enormous to us. This photo

give you a good idea of the size differences. Check out his spear!

UI toggled on.

Bontao is about to finish this guy off. Who says size matters?

UI toggled on and camera turned for a better view.

Crickhollow server: Here is my dwarf Guardian Lyoin in battle with a warg:

Lyoin in battle with a dire warg. These guys will claw, bite and their howl

will put a fear into you. Lyoin is up for the battle. UI on & camera

turned for a view of the fight.

Lyoin is just about to finish him off. This warg is no match

for my dwarf guardian.

Lyoin has finished him off & unlocked a new deed: Warg Slayer

for The North Downs. I think this dwarf is ready to take that challenge.

UI on and camera still angled to get a better view.

Crickhollow server: Here is my hobbit Burglar Hoppii in battle with a wildcat:

Hoppii is "sneaking" up on the wildcat. Will he see her first?

One of the advantages of being a burglar is the fact you can sneak up

on your foe. She appears "invisible".

Hoppii in battle with the wildcat. Burglars are tougher

than one may expect. They also have lots of

"tricks" up their sleeve and are willing to "take a gamble".

Hoppii is going in for the kill. This wildcat is not a match for a

hobbit burglar. Bilbo would be proud of this adventurous and

heroic hobbit.

This is just a few example photos of what is it like to be a LotRO player and what it looks like inside the game. As I mentioned above, I quickly snapped these photos by in-game screenshot just to "show off" some LotRO style gameplay.

If you are interested in playing you can play for FREE by joining (click here to sign up). You can also become a VIP member with lots of benefits for $99.99 for a YEAR of gameplay. See VIP membership information at this link. I was VIP for a bit - now a premium player that would love to go VIP again - maybe I can one day.

Crickhollow Rerolled

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 07:25:00 +0000

This is simply some pictures of my rerolled toons on Crickhollow server with a brief overlook at each of them.

You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

Faron Level 30 Man Hunter & Woodsman in The North Downs.

Faron is married with 5 sons.

He is in The North Downs scanning the area for wargs, orcs & the Rauta-Lehma.

Ottavia Level 25 Man Captain & Explorer in Esteldin.

Ottavia is an orphaned child.

She in in Esteldin to talk to Halbarad about the situation in The North Downs.

Bontao Level 25 Hobbit Warden & Explorer in Esteldin.

Bontao is the husband of Hoppii.

He is in The North Downs to do battle with the Orcs in the area.

Hoppii Level 25 Hobbit Burglar & Tailor in The North Downs.

Hoppii is the wife of Bontao.

She is in Esteldin to do some Tailoring.

Dilliar Level 25 Dwarf Champion & Weaponsmith in Esteldin.

Dilliar is the middle child of 3. Married with one child.

He is in The North Downs to gather ores and make a few weapons.

Lyoin Level 25 Dwarf Guardian & Metalsmith in The North Downs.

Lyoin is the eldest child of 8. Married with 5 kids of his own.

He is in The North Downs for his Metalsmithing craft.

Oodon Level 30 Dwarf Runekeeper & Jeweler in Esteldin.

Oodon is unmarried and an only child.

He is in The North Downs in search of gold.

Hodrath Level30 Beoring & Explorer in Esteldin.

Hodrath has many brothers and sisters of the Beoring kind.

He is in The North Downs to help with the situation.

Heliah Level 25 Elf Loremaster & Cook in Esteldin.

Heliah is the wife of Linlorien.

She has been called to The North Downs by Halbarad who wants her help with the orcs.

Linlorien Level 25 Elf Runekeeper & Scholar in Rivendell.

Linlorien is the husband of Heliah.

He is at the Last Lonely House to further is Scholaring.

This completes the list of my new and rerolled characters on Crickhollow server. These guys should do well and will make it to the top of the game one day.

Riddermark Rerolled

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 06:12:00 +0000

Here are some photos of my rerolled characters and my new Beoring on Riddermark server:
You can click on the photos to enlarge them.

Taure Level 27 Elf Champion & Weaponsmith at Ost Guruth in The Lone-Lands.

Taure is the brother of Phayel & Coremar; son of Shanyar.

He sees orcs in the fields near by.

Shanyar Level 24 Elf Runekeeper & Jeweler in The Lone-Lands

Shanyar is the father of Taure, Phayel & Coremar.

He's nearby Candaith's camp ready for a battle with the Orcs.

Phayel Level 23 Elf Loremaster & Cook in The Shire.

Phayel is the sister of Taure & Coremar; daughter of Shanyar.

She is getting ready to cook some food for the long journey.

Coremar Level 24 Elf Hunter & Woodsman in The Lone-Lands.

Coremar is the brother of Taure & Phayel; son of Shanyar.

He's ready to deal with the nearby Orcs.

Augustinn Level 24 Man Captain & Explorer at the Prancing Pony in Bree-Town.

Augustinn is the brother of Marinus; Husband of Charwin.

He is inside the Prancing Pony to celebrate a recent victory.

Marinus Level 23 Man Warden & Explorer in The Lone-Lands.

Marinus is the brother of Augustinn.

He is near by an Orc encampment and ready to deal with them.

Charwin Level 23 Man Burglar & Tailor in Bree-Town.

Charwin is the wife of Augustinn.

She is getting ready to leave Bree-Town - she has her eyes set on The Lone-Lands.

Glondif Level 23 Dwarf Minstrel & Scholar in the crafting hall of Bree-Town.

Glondif is the eldest of 7 children.

He is mastering his Scholaring skills.

Ponric Level 23 Hobbit Guardian & Metalsmith at the Three Boar Fountain in Bree-Town.

Ponric is the 3rd child of 4 children.

He is in Bree-Town to do some Metalsmithing.

Katlaa Level 23 Beoring & Explorer in Bree-Town.

Katlaa has many brothers and sister of the Beoring class & race.

She is in Bree-Town reading herself for a long journey to The Lone-Lands.

This is shows off my characters on Riddermark server. This should be a great group of characters to play.

Since September 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 05:34:00 +0000

Since September 2014 I have slowly rerolled all my toons - I am now playing on 2 servers instead of the 4 that I had for a long time. Why did I reroll even my level 89 Hunter named Faron? I even rerolled Taure who was right at level 70. Well in all honesty 4 severs with 11 toons on each was simply too much! 44 characters across 4 servers had me a bit overwhelmed.

What I did was to pick out my favorite characters out of the 44 and recreate them on 2 servers: Crickhollow and Riddermark. I now how 20 characters on two servers (10 toons per server). I have to admit that I like having just the 2 severs to play on - I can now concentrate on my favorite characters and it's less time consuming and confusing this way.

What else has happened since I last blogged in September?:

I became a VIP for a month and now I'm a Premium member. I prefer to be VIP any day of the week - and maybe one day I can up my status back up to a VIP. It's worth it!! I've been bumping and grinding as a F2P member for far too long - and I did open up A LOT as a F2P member. I even opened up the Rohan Great River pack as a F2P - no kidding! That was back in June of 2012! LOTS and LOTS of bumping and grinding with 44 characters as F2P member to do this.

Is LotRO F2P - YES! It will take you a long time to grind to open up all you need, plus other things like more vault space, horse-riding skill etc.. but you can do it as a F2P member.

Is LotRO more fun as a VIP? Yes in a way. As a VIP you get special privileges and things much easier because of it (not to mention the 500 TP each month!) So it is WORTH becoming a VIP! But as a F2P member I had "bragging rights" because I did things the hard way to make it. I guess I still have my bragging rights - but I feel better as a Premium member - and still prefer to be a VIP.

Taure Level 40 Champion in Evendim

Well Before The Rerolling of The Characters

Taure Level 27 Champion in The Lone-Lands

After the Rerolling of Characters

Yes Taure is still the same Champion even after the reroll - in fact he might be even better after rerolling him since LotRO has updated the classes.

I LOVE My LotRO! <3

Quick Update

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 09:25:00 +0000

I'm still "grinding" to get all my new characters their horse riding skill (trait) opened up - not too many left to go!! I will post the pictures and information on the changes I've made soon very soon (next couple of days I hope).

Reroll and Condense

noreply@blogger.com (Rainey Dawn) — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 23:21:00 +0000

I am in the middle of "re-rolling" my characters and condensing the 4 servers I was on down to 2. The 4 servers was fun but getting to hard to handle. I am down to putting my favorite characters on 2 servers. I have removed Arkenstone and Imladris while keeping Crickhollow and Riddermark to re-roll my toons. I choose to "re-roll" my toons for personal reasons and yes I lost quite a bit of good stuff in the process but I think it will be worth it.

I will post pics and new character information in a few days.