A Tale of Two Hunters

Wallpaper: The Stone Council

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:51:00 +0000

Perhaps it's because I had heard so many complaints about Moria, but I am surprised how much I'm enjoying it. I hasn't been since my first few days of playing LotRO that I've seen so many breathtaking sights. I think the reveals in Moria are better than they have been in the rest of Eriador.

As always, click the image to see the maximum resolution. I have also corrected the resolution on the previous two wallpapers. There is also a widget in the sidebar with the entire collection of wallpapers.

Wallpaper: The Lonely Span

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:31:00 +0000

I'm working on a Moria collection of wallpapers. That's where I'm spending most of my time right now. It's also an area of great vision and architecture, from both an in-character and out-of-character perspective.

Click on the image for maximum resolution.

Wallpaper: The Gates of Gondamon

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 01:39:00 +0000

Click image for maximum resolution.

Outfit: Prized Angmar's Free Peoples Horse

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 00:19:00 +0000

This is definitely my favorite horse. It first caught my eye in a news post several months ago. At that time the mount was bugged, and using the same skin as another mount in game. While that mount was pretty awesome as well, the new artwork for it made me decide it was just the mount I wanted.

It wasn't too hard to work up the rep for it, once I levelled a character up high enough. It didn't help any that I quit playing for a while, and couldn't afford a subscription during some of the time I was working my rep up. But I'm surprised this mount isn't more frequently seen in game, since its one of the first armored horses available.

I was happy to see Hymne do an outfit for it. However, I found that my male character looked pretty ridiculous in the elven mail, and some of the pieces were store items I didn't own and didn't care to spend my points on.

So this is my take on armor for the Prized Angmar's Free Peoples Horse.

Pros: The shoulders are the same that Hymne used. However, I am fonder of Dwarf armor than Elf-make armor. I particularly like how these leggings match the burgundy padding on the horse, and it's odd lavender coat color.

Cons: I'm not so happy about the gloves. I am still holding out that there are a pair of gauntlets out there that will dye the same as these shoulders. I also would like to find a better pair of boots, but I'm not having much luck.

Head: Traveller's Hood (Burgundy) - Store Cosmetic
Chest: Shining Dwarf Steel Breastplate (Burgundy) - World Drop
Legs: Dwarf Steel Leggings (Burgundy) - Thorin's Hall armor vendors
Shoulders: Burnished Elven Warrior's Shoulderguards (Ranger Green) - crafted
Gloves: Gloves of the Helmingas (not dyeable) - Isengard preorder red set
Boots: Boots of the Eorlingas (not dyeable) - Isengard preorder green set
Back: Plain cloak (Burgundy) - outfitter cosmetic

Fashion of the Fellowship Walk

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 16:53:00 +0000

The Lonely Mountain Band at CSTM's Fellowship Walk party.

I have to make some confessions.

First, I have been playing LotRO again for a while now. I've moved through Angmar and Eregion, and I'm now well into Moria. I love Moria more than any other part of the game so far, but that's for another day.

Second, I have always been into the cosmetics feature of the game, but once the wardrobe system came out it became especially addictive. I'm an avid fan of several of the LotRO outfitting blogs out there. I find that I spend the majority of my time at the bank or auction house rearranging outfits. Maybe it's because I've never been interested in real life fashion in the least.

I went to the Fellowship Walk party on Saturday. It was my first time on Landroval in over a year. I have to say I was impressed with how much more sophisticated the bands' music has gotten in that time (and it was pretty good before!) While I listened to the music, I also looked around the crowd for outfit ideas. Here are the ones that stuck out for me.

Lottery Improvements

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:50:00 +0000

Original My LotRO Configuration

I have finally reached the point where my lottery winners have become too much for My LotRO to handle. Granted, it took me a lot longer to get so many winning entries than some people who are lottery hogs, but I got there nonetheless. Eventually, you probably will, too.

Once you get lots of entries, your winning entries window on My LotRO gets all scrambled and its hard to tell which ones are recent, or if there even are any new ones. They start to get sorted randomly, so when you scroll to the bottom of the list, it's not necessarily the most recent winner.

GreaseMonkey Icon

*** UPDATE: Digero updated his thread a few hours after I posted this and has given instructions for both IE and Chrome users.*** There is a fix for this, however, if you are a Firefox user (and you should be!) Digero of Landroval posted his fix on the official forums back in June, and I will provide the steps for you here.

First, install the addon GreaseMonkey. This addon allows you to apply custom javascript to pages in your browser. You'll be prompted to restart Firefox, which you should do. Down in the bottom right corner of your browser will be the GreaseMonkey icon. You can left-click the icon to enable and disable all GreaseMonkey scripts.

Right-click on the icon and choose "New User Script..." and enter this information in the window that comes up:

Name: SortLottery
Namespace: my.lotro.com
Description: Sort the Lottery winnings by date, and filter out old winnings
Includes: http://my.lotro.com/*

* The asterisk is not a footnote, be sure to include it in the entry. This is a wildcard symbol, which means that ANY url starting with my.lotro.com will be included.

When you hit OK, Notepad should come up. If it doesn't, you'll be prompted to choose an application. Choose Notepad or a similar, simple text editor. When the text editor window opens, paste in the following code:

// ==UserScript==
// @name SortLottery
// @namespace my.lotro.com
// @description Sort the Lottery winnings by date, and filter out old winnings
// @include http://my.lotro.com/*
// ==/UserScript==

// *************************
// ***** User Settings *****
// *************************

// Any lottery winnings older than this many days will be hidden. Set to a
// very large number to always show all winnings.
var maxAgeDays = 7;

// Set to true to use the standard browser scroll bars instead of the custom
// My LotRO scroll bars (which don't support the mouse wheel).
var useBrowserScrollBars = false;

// ************************
// ***** Begin Script *****
// ************************
var now = new Date();
var today = new Date(now.getFullYear(), now.getMonth(), now.getDate());
var minTime = today.getTime() - maxAgeDays * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
var dayNames = ["Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"];

function LotteryEntry(row)
{
this.isValid = false;

var dateSpan = document.evaluate(".//span[@class='lotteryEndDate']", row, null, XPathResult.FIRST_ORDERED_NODE_TYPE, null).singleNodeValue;
if (dateSpan == null)
return;

this.date = new Date(dateSpan.innerHTML);
this.dateText = dateSpan.innerHTML;

var serverNode = document.evaluate(".//span[@class='server']/strong", row, null, XPathResult.FIRST_ORDERED_NODE_TYPE, null).singleNodeValue;
if (serverNode == null)
return;

var nameNode = document.evaluate("a", serverNode.parentNode.parentNode, null, XPathResult.FIRST_ORDERED_NODE_TYPE, null).singleNodeValue;
if (nameNode == null)
return;

this.serverAndName = serverNode.innerHTML + "/" + nameNode.innerHTML;
this.server = serverNode.innerHTML;
this.name = nameNode.innerHTML;
this.nameHref = nameNode.getAttribute("href");

var lotteryText = document.evaluate("td/text()", row, null, XPathResult.ORDERED_NODE_ITERATOR_TYPE, null);
this.lotteryName = "";
while (textNode = lotteryText.iterateNext())
{
this.lotteryName += textNode.nodeValue;
}
this.lotteryName = this.lotteryName.replace(/^\s*/, "").replace(/\s*$/, ""); // Trim whitespace

this.isValid = true;
}

function compareLotteryEntries(a, b)
{
// Put the ones closest to today first
var result = Math.abs(today.getTime() - a.date.getTime()) -
Math.abs(today.getTime() - b.date.getTime());

if (result == 0)
{
if (a.lotteryName < b.lotteryName)
result = -1;
else if (a.lotteryName > b.lotteryName)
result = 1;
}

if (result == 0)
{
if (a.serverAndName < b.serverAndName)
result = -1;
else if (a.serverAndName > b.serverAndName)
result = 1;
}

return result;
}

function newEntriesOnly(entry)
{
return entry.date.getTime() > minTime;
}

function oldEntriesOnly(entry)
{
return entry.date.getTime() <= minTime;
}

function addEntries(lotteryContainer, entries, entryFilter)
{
var hasDatesInPast = false;
for (var j = 0; j < entries.length; j++)
{
if (entries[j].date.getTime() != today.getTime())
{
hasDatesInPast = entries[j].date.getTime() < today.getTime();
break;
}
}

var lastLotteryName = null;
var lastLotteryTime = 0;
var charList = null;
var listWrapperInner = null;
var filtered = 0;
var lastCharTextNode = null;
var lastEntry = null;
for (var j = 0; j < entries.length; j++)
{
var e = entries[j];

if (entryFilter(e))
{
if (e.date.getTime() != lastLotteryTime)
{
var listWrapperOuter = document.createElement("tr");
listWrapperOuter.style.verticalAlign = "top";
lotteryContainer.appendChild(listWrapperOuter);

listWrapperInner = document.createElement("td");
listWrapperInner.className = "left right pad";
listWrapperOuter.appendChild(listWrapperInner);

var dateSpan = document.createElement("span");
dateSpan.className = "lotteryEndDate";
dateSpan.setAttribute("title", e.dateText);
if (e.date.getTime() == today.getTime())
{
dateSpan.style.color = "#FFFF00";
dateSpan.innerHTML = (hasDatesInPast ? "Ended" : "Ending") + " Today";
}
else if (Math.abs(e.date - today) <= 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000) // Yesterday or tomorrow
{
dateSpan.style.color = "#C2C242";
if (e.date < today)
dateSpan.innerHTML = "Ended Yesterday";
else
dateSpan.innerHTML = "Ending Tomorrow";
}
else if (Math.abs(e.date - today) < 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000) // Less than a week
{
if (e.date.getTime() < today.getTime())
dateSpan.innerHTML = "Ended " + (e.date.getDay() < today.getDay() ? "on " : "last ") + dayNames[e.date.getDay()];
else
dateSpan.innerHTML = "Ending " + (e.date.getDay() > today.getDay() ? "on " : "next ") + dayNames[e.date.getDay()];
}
else
{
if (e.date.getTime() < today.getTime())
dateSpan.innerHTML = "Ended on " + e.dateText;
else
dateSpan.innerHTML = "Ending on " + e.dateText;
}
listWrapperInner.appendChild(dateSpan);

lastLotteryTime = e.date.getTime();
lastLotteryName = null;
lastEntry = null;
}

if (e.lotteryName != lastLotteryName)
{
var titleDiv = document.createElement("div");
titleDiv.innerHTML = e.lotteryName;
titleDiv.setAttribute("title", e.lotteryName);
listWrapperInner.appendChild(titleDiv);

charList = document.createElement("div");
charList.style.paddingLeft = "10px";
charList.style.paddingBottom = "5px";
listWrapperInner.appendChild(charList);

lastLotteryName = e.lotteryName;
lastEntry = null;
}

if (lastEntry != null && lastEntry.serverAndName == e.serverAndName)
{
currentCharCount++;
lastCharTextNode.nodeValue = " (x" + currentCharCount + ") ";
}
else
{
var charItem = document.createElement("div");
var nameLink = document.createElement("a");
nameLink.setAttribute("href", e.nameHref);
nameLink.innerHTML = e.name;

var serverNode = document.createElement("span");
serverNode.style.color = "#858585";
serverNode.innerHTML = e.server;

charList.appendChild(charItem);
charItem.appendChild(nameLink);
charItem.appendChild(lastCharTextNode = document.createTextNode(" "));
charItem.appendChild(serverNode);

lastEntry = e;
currentCharCount = 1;
}
}
else
{
filtered++;
}
}

return filtered;
}

var lotteryTables = document.evaluate("//table[@id='lotterysignups']/tbody", document, null, XPathResult.UNORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE, null);

for (var i = 0; i < lotteryTables.snapshotLength; i++)
{
var lotteryTableBody = lotteryTables.snapshotItem(i);
var entries = [];

var rows = document.evaluate("tr", lotteryTableBody, null, XPathResult.UNORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE, null);

for (var j = 0; j < rows.snapshotLength; j++)
{
var row = rows.snapshotItem(j);
var entry = new LotteryEntry(row);
if (entry.isValid)
{
entries.push(entry);
lotteryTableBody.removeChild(row);
}
}

entries.sort(compareLotteryEntries);

var filtered = addEntries(lotteryTableBody, entries, newEntriesOnly);

if (filtered > 0)
{

var linkTr = document.createElement("tr");
lotteryTableBody.appendChild(linkTr);
linkTr.style.verticalAlign = "top";

var linkTd = document.createElement("td");
linkTr.appendChild(linkTd);
linkTd.className = "left right pad";

if (filtered == entries.length)
{
msgDiv = document.createElement("div");
msgDiv.innerHTML = "No winning entries in the past " + maxAgeDays + (maxAgeDays == 1 ? " day" : " days");
linkTd.appendChild(msgDiv);
}

var a = document.createElement("a");
linkTd.appendChild(a);
a.innerHTML = "Show all " + entries.length + " winning entries";
a.setAttribute("href", "javascript:null");
a.addEventListener("click",
(function(linkTr, lotteryTableBody, entries)
{
return function(evt)
{
lotteryTableBody.removeChild(linkTr);
addEntries(lotteryTableBody, entries, oldEntriesOnly);

// Refresh the jQuery scrollbars
if (!useBrowserScrollBars && typeof unsafeWindow.jQuery != 'undefined')
unsafeWindow.jQuery(".scroll-pane").jScrollPane( {showArrows:true, dragMinHeight:12, scrollbarWidth:15, scrollbarMargin:0} );

evt.preventDefault(); // "return false"
}
})(linkTr, lotteryTableBody, entries),
true);
}
}

if (useBrowserScrollBars)
{
var scrollPanes = document.evaluate("//div[@class='scroll-pane']", document, null, XPathResult.UNORDERED_NODE_SNAPSHOT_TYPE, null);
for (var i = 0; i < scrollPanes.snapshotLength; i++)
{
var pane = scrollPanes.snapshotItem(i);

pane.className = ""; // Prevents the jScrollPane script from finding this div
pane.style.overflowX = "hidden";
pane.style.overflowY = "scroll";
}
}
else if (typeof unsafeWindow.jQuery != 'undefined')
{
// Prevent the thumb from being less than 12px high
unsafeWindow.jQuery.fn.jScrollPane.defaults.dragMinHeight = 12;
}

GreaseMonkey Configuration

There are two settings at the very top that you can use to customize the script. Save the file (it will be named automatically) and refresh your My LotRO page to see the changes.

The Current Entries window now indicates when the lotteries will close. More importantly, the Winning Entries window is now sorted by most recently ended lottery, and will keep all your winning entries in order indefinitely.

Finally, if you want more info on the My LotRO Lotteries, check out Xy's guide on Mordor or Bust.

Quick Shot: Ales and Tales Fish-fry

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:40:00 +0000

I know this is kind of a bailout of a post, but I have a term paper due in two days. Sorry!

Xy and I went to Ales and Tales on Monday, and boy was it packed! Fishing, music, campfires, cliff diving... Good time had by all.

I was mentored in the harp, and I was super-flattered by all the kind comments people gave us about the podcast. Unfortunately what began as front-row seats for the two of us ended up in the nose-bleed section by the end of the night, as there wasn't a clearly defined stage and people kept creeping closer to be able to hear the music. It's a shame the Turbine has made player music so muted.

After the concert, there was a five-minute fishing derby with prizes. It seemed like many folks were reluctant to leave. It was nice to wander from campfire to campfire as people cooked up fish, and hear a different band playing at each one.

Thanks to the Lonely Mountain Band for another great event.

New Tournament Event System for LotRO

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:58:00 +0000

This is exciting!

Sapience just posted the first of some all-new Tournament Events for the game. Sapience says that to begin with, there will be a Skirmish Tournament this weekend, and from the looks of things, it's already starting.

How Do I Join?
Keep an eye on mylotro.com/tournaments for a list of upcoming events along with the information you’ll need to participate. Every event will have at least one round with a start and end time, along with an activity that players must complete to qualify for the round. Once the event begins, simply do the action required and we’ll automatically enter your character in the event – there’s nothing else you need to do.

Sapience goes on to say that other in-game mechanics could be used as well. This opens up a lot of possibilities for in-game activities between expansions and volumes, not to mention spicing things up with a little player-to-player competition!

Round One
Starts:Thursday July 15 5:00PM Eastern (-4 GMT)
Ends: Friday July 16 4:00PM Eastern (-4 GMT)

Challenge: Complete the Stand at Amon Sûl Skirmish in the shortest time possible.
Reward: 1,000 Skirmish marks and 500 Silver to the 78 players per server with the fastest times.
Round Two
Starts: Friday July 16 5:00PM Eastern (-4 GMT)
Ends: Saturday July 17 4:00PM Eastern (-4 GMT)
Challenge: Complete the Siege of Gondamon in the shortest time possible.
Reward: 1,500 Skirmish marks and 1 Gold to the 21 fastest times on each server.
Round Three
Starts: Saturday July 17 5:00PM Eastern (-4 GMT)
Ends: Sunday July 18 5:00PM Eastern (-4 GMT)
Challenge: Complete the Trouble in Tuckborough Skirmish in the shortest time possible. Only your most recent attempt will count.
Reward: 2,500 Skirmish marks and 1 Gold, 500 Silver to the 5 fastest times per server.

Players must qualify in each round to advance, but you can use players that didn't qualify to fill out your group. There are a lot more details, so be sure to check out the original post!

Festival Dances: Aliases and More

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:16:00 +0000

Today, as Xyderias and I were running around doing our dances for the festival, we tried to explain to a few people our tips and tricks for getting the dances done quickly. This is a run-down of information that should make things go more smoothly for you.

Getting the Aliases Ready to Use

The alias macro system in LotRO is a little complicated. So, to make matters easier, here is a guide specifically for making dance aliases.

1. Setup Aliases
Type into chat:

/alias add ;d1 /dance1

where d1 is what you want the alias identified as. Choose something short (like d1) because you'll have to use the ;d1 handle if you want to edit or remove it later.

Repeat this step for the other two dances.

/alias add ;d2 /dance2
/alias add ;d3 /dance3

2. Make Quickslot Buttons
This step is a little more complicated. First, you'll want to have a quickslot available for each of the three aliases, and you don't want them to be too difficult to hit quickly. I prefer to just open up the last three buttons on my main bar by moving those skills elsewhere or just removing them. You can always put them back when you're done. Also, you have to know what the numbers are for the slots you want, which is easiest to do on the main bar since it is always 1-12 and never moves. If you don't want to leave the dances there, once the button is available you can move it to another slot like any other skill button.

Once you have the slots picked out and vacated, type the following:

/alias shortcut ;d1 10

where 10 is the slot number you want the shortcut to go to. For simplicity, you can put each alias up in the same place, moving them to other slots as you go.

Repeat this step for the other two dances.

/alias shortcut ;d2 11
/alias shortcut ;d3 12

Now you have your aliases ready to go!

How the Dance Quest Works

The dance leaders can be found in the festival area for each race:

Thorin's Hall Tavern for Dwarves
Duillond for Elves
The Party Tree for Hobbits
The Festival Grounds for Men

The dance leaders will be active every 20 minutes or so. Once you do the dance quest for a particular race, you have to wait until the next day to do it for the second emote. You can, however, go around to each race's dance leader in a single day.

You have about three minutes before the dance starts to get the quest from the dance leader. Once you accept the quest, don't run off, or the quest will fail. Once the dance starts, you have to keep up with the steps.

Tip #1
The steps go faster toward the end of the dance. Be prepared to hit the steps very quickly, because if you don't do it by the time the dance leader stops resting, you'll fail the quest.

Tip #2
The dance quest is always the same. The order is as follows:

Step 1, Rest
Step 2, Step 3, Rest
Step 2, Step 2, Step 3, Rest
Step 3, Step 1, Step 3, Rest

Don't forget to go talk to the dance leader afterward and claim your new moves!

Holy Freakin' Awesome!

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 16:29:00 +0000

I was totally ready to make a real post today, but luckily for me Brian stumbled upon something so awesome I had to post about it.

Check out The Bree-land Times. It's an electronic copy of a real newspaper about Middle-earth with contributions from lots of LotRO bloggers.

Being the editor of my college newspaper, I know how much work goes into making something like this, so I think everyone should stop by and give Vatna and Co. a high-five for their efforts. It looks great!

edit: I forgot the link! Phail boat.

Good News for the Hobbit Movie

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:11:00 +0000

Check out this post over at Once Upon a Hobbit, then breathe a sigh of relief.

Shenanigans: The Road to Rivendell

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:15:00 +0000

This is a continuation of The Road to Tal Bruinen

To my credit, I did manage to make it all the way to the top of the pass, alone, on foot. The lynxes weren't so bad, because they didn't attack if I kept moving. But once I entered the territory of aggressive bears there was little I could do to avoid death. I spent a large part of a day trying to make it the last of my trip, and eventually conceded that I couldn't do it without help. I began to plead for anyone within the sound of my voice to help me get there. I thought perhaps someone would take pity and guide me. It seemed I was wrong.

The next day was the last day of my trial. I logged in and resolved to reach my goal. The most frustrating thing was that every time I died, I was burdened with dread, making my chances of success shrink with every failed attempt. To my dismay, the path was much longer than it looked. Switchbacks climbing a ridge don't cover much distance on a map. My hopes of getting to Rivendell began to dwindle as the day went on.

Suddenly, I heard a shout as an axe swung down and obliterated a bear that was following me up the pass. A dwarf fighter stood there over the corpse of the fallen animal. An elfess and a woman rode up behind him and dismounted, all of them looking at me.

"What in the world are you doing up here?" the dwarf asked me.

I explained my predicament and my aspiration to see Rivendell.

"Sure, we'll help you," the woman said. "That sounds like fun."

I couldn't believe my ears.

The three adventurers, I think, didn't know what they were getting themselves into. A half hour into the challenge, we had finally reached the middle of the pass, where things got even worse.

The stealthed wildcats could penetrate my protective circle, and effectively kill me in one or two swipes. I had to keep a watchful eye and as soon as I raised my weapons in defense my escorts sprung into action to draw the attacker's attention away from me. Even so, we exhausted each resurrection and revive available. It took another hour and three attempts to get from the top of the ridge to Rivendell.

But finally, there I stood, looking down on the Last Homely House, thanks to the dedication of three complete strangers.

That was a year ago, today.

Quick Shot: The Road to Tal Bruinen

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:14:00 +0000

Jem is working his way through the Trollshaws now, and I took the road seldom travelled. The view along this path is one of many breathtaking vistas in the game. It also holds a certain sentiment for me.

Last summer I played through the 10-day free trial. Towards the end of it, I had gotten my hunter (a different character on a different server) to level 17. I had seen the Shire and Bree, passed by Weathertop, and I was determined to see Rivendell before my account expired. (At that time, the trial was only a change of pace from WoW, which I was still very much involved in.)

Of course, if you're level 17 you can't just stroll into Rivendell. It took me most of a day to make it through the latter half of the Lonelands and across the Shaws to get to the Ford of Bruinen. Luckily, I learned very quickly that the Trollshaws are not safe at night. It was just like the Old Forest, with twice as many creepy things running around in the dark. In the Shaws, however, those creepy things were between twice and thrice my level.

I stood in the river for a time, taking a breath and waiting for dawn. Examining my map, and comparing it to completed ones, I realized that there was a travel path and a Milestone south of me. I had long ago learned the advantage of getting travel locations and checkpoints while exploring an area you really shouldn't be in, so I decided to go get it as it was my last stop before Rivendell.

I found I could not follow the road to Echad Candellath--it was overrun with aggressive bears and huge lizards. So I decided to follow it down the river, swimming far enough from shore that I didn't attract their attention. Then I discovered unusual swamp monsters on the other side, and had to make sure I didn't stray too far east. Keep in mind that at the time I hadn't seen either of these creatures before. Finally, I found a shallow inlet where the road veered west again, and made my way to shore.

Heading up the hill, I was surprised to find that the deer in this forest were aggressive! At least they didn't pursue if I kept moving. But since I didn't really know where I was going, there was a lot of jumping off banks and running into hillsides I couldn't climb. Finally I found the elf standing along the path that I now know is the landmark for the hidden camp.

After making my way over the crest of the hill and binding my map to the milestone, I took assessment of my situation. At least now, if I died and was forced back into Bree, I could use my map to return and not lose too much progress.

Little did I know it would be the furthest I could get on my own...

Continued in The Road to Rivendell

A Note for Fellow Google Bloggers

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:46:00 +0000

After a few complaints (mainly my own), I found a comment form system that so far looks fantastic.

IntenseDebate plugs right into your template and the installation is super easy and clever. You save a backup of your template, then upload it into their web app, and they do all the code changes for you. You just copy and paste the entire blog template back in and voila! It even includes a handy little Comment RSS button (Note: if you have a Wordpress account name, you can sign into their service with that.)

I wanted a change mostly because the Blogger comment system either requires a Google or OpenID account, or allows people to comment without even leaving a name. I hope Blogger changes this soon, as its about the last remaining bone I have to pick with them.

Raising the Shire

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:18:00 +0000

I'd like to point out what appears to be a fairly active and long-time LotRO blog that I hadn't heard about up until now. Raising the Shire follows the Middle Earth adventures of Tearose Underhill, among others. It's a nice little summary of what the adventurers have taken on, or occupied themselves with, over the course of the week. If you're like me, you'll enjoy this relaxing read about what others are doing in the game.

Quick Shot: What is this?

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 15:42:00 +0000

I found something strange.

Obviously, it must be associated with a quest, but I haven't yet figured out which one.

A training dummy isn't that odd. Or a scarecrow, whichever it may be. But it's in the middle of nowhere. I'm still investigating, but maybe someone knows what it's for.

Thanks

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 05:05:00 +0000

Thanks to A Casual Stroll to Mordor for the link love in their blog roll. No disrespect at all for the other podcasts, but I like Goldenstar and Merric's show the best of all I have found so far.

Where is LotRO's Score?

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 01:45:00 +0000

One of my favorite things about WoW was the music. My absolute favorite place in the entire game was Karazhan. And I love the music especially...

My favorite track from the game is the theme from Grizzly Hills. I have the collector's edition of Wrath, and I'm glad I do. Having the soundtrack made the entire thing worth it. This music is utterly captivating...

The best part is the way the music was tied into the game environment. I'm sure anyone who played Alliance can remember the first time they walked into the Valley of Heroes and heard the epic Stormwind theme play for the first time. The way that the music shifted as you moved through the world was amazing.

I'm sad to say that I have yet to even take notice of the music in LotRO. I don't understand why that is, exactly. I wouldn't say that the music in WoW was intrusive in any way, and it certainly isn't in LotRO either. But I can't think of a single track in the game, save for the login screen music.

Now, this might have been intentional. LotRO does have something special in the player music system. So perhaps the scoring was sedate on purpose so that it wouldn't overshadow the bards running around in the game. I don't think anyone needs further proof of this than events like Weatherstock or Ales and Tales.

For the record, my favorite songs I have found so far are Stones from the Ultima soundtracks...

... although I prefer it on the lute. El Rey del Mariachi from the movie Desperado is another favorite. (I couldn't find a good video.)

But I still want to know where the score is. I know that it certainly isn't in the combat music that pops up every time I fight something. I found that mechanic very annoying in Ultima Online when they did it, and I find it annoying here as well.

I miss being able to enjoy the game music while I play. It's not a matter of the game music being bad--it's just not present most of the time. I run around in near-silence most of the time, and I have the game music turned up. Typically in a game, if I want to listen to other things I have to turn the music off. But that's not the case in LotRO. Besides, I don't feel right flipping on my WinAmp and listening to Alice in Chains while I'm in Evendim.

Now, being only level 40, I haven't made it into any expansion lands yet. Perhaps there's something waiting for me there. I have seen clips of combat in other zones that triggers a different theme...

... but since combat usually lasts a grand total of 30 seconds, that hardly seems like much to look forward to.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? I want to be told that I've somehow completely missed the boat on this one, but I'm afraid to find out.

About Me

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:00:00 +0000

I put up an About page and a little blurb about me and my characters. I realized that there was no indication of who I was.

Free to Play

noreply@blogger.com (Fyurae) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:03:00 +0000

I feel like this topic has been beat to death. My intention was to avoid talking about it, since it's been more than covered.

However, over the last couple of weeks, I've heard a lot of podcasts and read a lot of blogs that haven't done their homework before they present the Free-to-Play model to their audience, and that absolutely outrages me. They're perpetuating false impressions and false information and that's irresponsible.

So, I'm going to weigh in on the future changes after all.

This is a big-picture look, not an outline of what each type of player gets access to. For that information, I suggest this post, or this post, or this post from A Casual Stroll to Mordor, or this thread from the official forums. First, let's define some terms as they apply to the situation.

Trial - A limited version of something as a test, usually at no cost, and usually with a time limit.
Content - Story progression, useful items, methods of character progression, and elements that add to the vibrancy of the game world.
Goodies - Things in the game that are not needed to progress in story or character development, but are fun or convenient.
Free-to-Play (F2P) - Anyone that has never purchased any game time or points.
Premium - Someone who at one time paid for the game but has allowed it to lapse, or someone who is paying for their content with points.
VIP - Someone who is paying for the game with money via a normal subscription.

Free-to-Play is an enhanced trial system.

That's it. LotRO will no longer have a 14-day trial. There's no need to. And with the restrictions that are in place for F2P accounts, it boils down to being a trial with no time limit. If you examine the restrictions for F2P and the restrictions on the current trial account system, they are almost the same. F2P simply does away with the time limit, and allows the player to wander wherever they wish. They are still limited in where they can quest, just like the current trial. They are restricted from using the auction house, mail, and other in-game systems.

Premium Accounts are an a la carte system.

Premium players either buy points or earn points to buy only the content they want. If they want goodies they will be able to buy them by sacrificing new content, because they have to use their points. A good example (and a fun game!) is League of Legends, which is a DOTA clone. You can buy currency with real money, or earn it by playing and winning.

VIP Accounts are normal players.

VIP players pay for their content with a regular subscription. This allows them to spend their points on goodies instead of having to spend them on opening up parts of the game.

One more thing to clear up:

Premium Classes
At this point, there aren't any new premium classes. What this is referring to are the classes of Runekeepr and Warden, which you can only access if you have bought Mines of Moria, or have unlocked them with points.

Something that really cheesed me off was seeing several LotRO fans and bloggers throw in the towel the afternoon that F2P was announced without another word. Looking for blogs this weekend, I came across one that simply said, "LotRO is going Free to Play. I quit." After hundreds of posts and a couple of years of apparent adoration for the game, the blogger essentially threw a tantrum.

At any rate, my feelings on F2P are mixed. One of the things I like to do most is make new characters and play around with them. At the same time, I'm too much of a completionist to give up the characters I've started to level up. More than anything, I want to explore new zones and new content. So I'll probably just continue to pay for game time as long as I can afford it, and play as a Premium account when I can't.

But, I think there are a lot of players for whom F2P is a great option. I can imagine a lot of people don't need to keep their account 'active' all the time, due to their limited play time, and could get just as much enjoyment and possibly even save money playing a la carte.