Category: Gaming

I have to admit, reaching level 40 was a little bit of a let down. I purchased one new skill and then set off for the skirmish vendors who sold me a handful of gear upgrades (my cheapest method of obtaining new gear) – and that was it. I had been looking forward to something more, I have no idea what it was but I didn’t feel satisfied. This weekend was spent avoiding NaNoWriMo and taking care of some real life things instead of delving too much in game. I did work on my crafting for a good portion of yesterday evening and I’ve finally almost mastered expert (T3). Then it’s on to artisan. Each tier you master requires more points to master the next one, I think I’m up to 720 so far and I’m not looking forward to the amount of supplies artisan is going to require. Thankfully crafting (and harvesting) is not difficult per say – and I had a nice relaxing time of it.

I’m also really enjoying the Misty Mountains which is where I’m questing now. I have a thing for snow capped zones (it’s already so close to Christmas, I’m so excited) so the zone itself appeals to me on very basic levels. What didn’t appeal to me was the group of players who decided to rush past me on their mounts to kill ahead of me including the mob I was after. Ah well, when situations like that occur I typically just think that they must need it a lot more then I do (because I wouldn’t be as rude as that) and I let them have it. I don’t mind waiting for it to respawn.

I’m looking forward to delving into more content, and maybe even eventually reaching Moria and beyond. We’ll just have to see how it goes!

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

One sure way of telling whether or not I’m REALLY enjoying a game is that eventually I (more than likely) end up starting a second account. In WoW I have two accounts (granted only one is currently active, but that’s besides the point). I have two in EQ2, I’ve got two Wizard101 accounts, and two EQ1 accounts. As of last night, I have two LotRO accounts. Turbine really didn’t leave me much choice though when it comes right down to it (let me explain).

See, a little while ago direct2drive had a sale on the VIP starter pack. It included a 30 day VIP subscription and 1,000 turbine points, for $10. The VIP subscription had to be used towards a new account, but they sent the code for the turbine points and account separately. So I applied the points to my main account and then completely forgot about the VIP subscription. Until last night. One of the ‘clinchers’ for me in starting a new account is whether or not I can realistically play two accounts at once. There are two ways for me to do this 1. be able to box both accounts on my pc (which is quite nice and able to handle most games, but graphic-wise LotRO is not “most games”) or 2. be able to play an account on my laptop (which is not top of the line but it is a duel core with 4 gigs of ram). If I can do one of those (or perhaps both) my decision on whether or not to start a second account becomes a lot easier.

Turbine helped me along as Syp pointed out – they have a low-rez client of the game available for those players who may be gaming on an older machine (or a laptop). I spent last night downloading the client and installing, and while it’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen it does run amazingly well on my laptop.

Then there’s the fact that LotRO is a freemium game. Even when the 30 days of VIP runs out on that second account, chances are I’ll have saved up turbine points (as well as the 500 you gain from being a VIP for the month) to pick up a few quest packs and other odds and ends that I may want. Even if I simply use the account for storage like Arkenor suggested it makes having a second account worth it (at least to me).

Do I really NEED a second account? No, I don’t. I’m quite content with the four characters I have at the moment and as of last night my main (Minstrel) managed to inch her way to level 39. I do enjoy boxing though (it’s a matter of constantly multi tasking, which is something I enjoy) and since I technically already owned the VIP subscription, I may as well make use of it.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!