f13.net

It looks like LotRO is turning 2! Just got this e-mail from them about a 'Welcome Back Week'. This is roughly what they're doing...

(http://info.turbine.com/list_images/lotro/welcome/apr09/content_button.jpg)

You can find the full details here (http://www.lotro.com/news/377-welcomeback/?utm_source=EDM_Apr09&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=WELCOME_BACK&referral=119907).

If I could get a Moria/Original key for $10 and pay $10 a month, I'd start playing. It's fun being strapped!

Halfway there, it's down to $20.  I'm too lazy to go dig to see if someone else has it cheaper.

http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Mines-Moria-Pc/dp/B001FS7FE0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1240448024&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Mines-Moria-Pc/dp/B001FS7FE0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1240448024&sr=8-1)

The moria key comes with a free month as well, even if you add it to an established account. 

Yep, makeing it 15 at 30! and Moria comes with the original game too.

Wonder what the 9.99 is....... 3 month plan?

Also, they just launched in Russia, and Korea.

I'm assuming they're offering the 9.99 per month Founder's pricing.  They did the samething when Moria was released.

For anyone who wants to join on Elendilmir (2nd most populated host) ping me for food and hugs (Pavo or Prido).

The $9.99 is on a 3 month plan at time of subscription.

Whatever, do I get the 25% XP boost as well?  Otherwise I'll just carry on as normal, trying to figure out where the fuck Rivendell is. :awesome_for_real:

If they gave an xp and a running speed boost, I'd come back.  TOO MUCH RUNNING!

Get a horse. I also feel i did more running in Wow.

I run even when I DO have a horse. Different strokes. I just like running in LotRO. It makes me calm. :-)

My main is lv33 and I cannot wait to get to lv35 and get my horse... and I'm a hunter.  I'd love a week of +25% XP so I could shoot up hundreds of red bears and wolves in the Trollshaws even harder.

I do remember running all over god-damn creation in WoW, it's not like LotRO has a lock on the travel time problem.

Lotro does a better job at placing unclimbable mountains between you and anywhere you want to actually go though. WoW can only dream of making travel as annoying as that.

Play a warden, comes with 25% run speed buff. :grin:

Not sure what you mean by this, because the only time i can't go up something, is because its logical.

I like LotRO more than WoW.  So don't confuse me with a WoW fanboi. 

I just remember that level 1-20 was "fetch me this and come back"  or "kill this and come back" only to be sent to the same location or one equidistant in the opposite direction. 

Maybe that's why I never seem to make it longer than a month in either game. 

Of course it's logical. It would be supremely illogical to be able to climb the unclimbable mountains between the Ford of Bruinen and Rivendell. It doesn't make it any more fun though trying to figure out how to get there the first time. Getting back to Esteldin from the east side of the zone is just as bad.  If you miss the easy to miss little ramp up through the unclimbable mountains you're out of luck.

Ah well, at least they put map coordinates on the overview and I don't have to use that awful little macro to find out where I am anymore.

Ah, i agree, the ford is quite confusing and i go the wrong way even still. The back door to Esteldin i have down now, i know where that is. I can see how this could be frustrating, but for quite a while i didn't even know it had a back door! Things like this though, and like the back door to the barrow downs fill my itch for exploration, and knowledge of the world and its landmarks. That, i do enjoy. There are tons of back doors, shortcuts, and lesser taken paths to every where it seems. I enjoy finding them.

Are you in guild and playing with us?

EDIT: looks like you were talking about the front door of Estilden, lol.

How many doors are there to Esteldin? I know of two. The one on the west side that you first find when you go there for the first time isn't a problem.  Then when you get a few levels higher you want to go east from there and you follow the path past the tailor guild and down the hill. Getting out isn't a problem but finding the path back up the hill was horribly annoying until I finally wrote down the coordinates for it.

I can see how explorer types would like it. For non-explorers Lotro just has annoying and tedious travel. God, I think I'd rather see the Elves go extinct than swim across that goddamned lake by Tinnudir ever again.  :grin:

oh, you were talking about the back door, the way to the east. I can give you a tip, its right next to the Rez circle, and there is a small lake with Eath-kin right in front of it.

I think me and Rattran were talking abut this last night, the recent patch does make some of this a little better, as far as getting hub to hub. It also, does get better with a horse. But for me, it is a part that makes the game feel like a world for me. Don't take that to mean i love me some non-interactive horse rides ( i am usually reading quests then or mucking in my bags). But, i do like that i feel more ...humm...grounded in the world? It feels more worldly because i have to plan my trips i guess, or the routes i am going to take.

I don't know. Different strokes i am sure. But, to be clear, it is something they are aware of, and have been taking steps to soften, things such as the new horse routs and swift travel, not to mention the re-order of some of the lower level quests.

Just last night i took a horse from Ost gurth (SP, lone lands hub), to Rivendale. You didn't used to be able to do that, that was a 3 part trip before.

They should really add boats to Evendom.

True enough I have to admit. LotRO does a couple of things that you need to fully accept to enjoy it. Exploring and sloggy combat are two of them. Especially the sloggy combat is VERY subjective I've found. Some people prefer it, some don't even notice and some can't stand it. It's a strange beast, that.

I found that backdoor last month, after two years of playing. I was like "Whoho, not more dying running through Barrow Downs!" Then I was ganked by the mobs at the entrance. :oh_i_see:

LOL. You would be surprised how many do not know its there. It puts you right by the "bone man" stuff, and its a quick way for me to get to my farming spot for the trees, its also a hop skip and a jump away from the great barrows.

Wait, there's a back door to the Barrow Downs? I only know of the 2 entrances up north. And the East side ledge drop to get back to Bree faster.

And I'm an explorer type, and yeah the swim across the lake in Evendim was really nifty the first time I had to do it. Not so much the other dozen times. The discoverable horse routes are a neat idea, but they need more, and more 'swift' ones at a higher price. Eregion seems to have done it right, with swift horse access being a perk of finishing the quests there. The 'must be this tall to ride' bit for places like Rivendell sucks too. I successfully ran my level 20 ass there, let me ride a horse there whenever I want.

 :awesome_for_real:

Should I also mention that there is a back door to Fornost, Nan Wathren (North downs) that takes you right to the quest chain end mobs, 2 ways to get to Evendom, 6 ways to get into the old forest.......

I'm currently doing quests in the Misty Mountains.  Getting to the quest hub on the east side of the zone was just so horrendous that I actually took my hearthstone off Bree for the first time since level 10.

I don't know how non-burglars get by. If I couldn't sneak past elites I'd never get anywhere.

I feel you on that one. I am new to that zone.

They really need to redo Misty Mountains the way they did Angmar and the Trollshaws.  That zone is such a vile collection of pain I was glad when we finally gave up on doing quests there.  Angmar and everything past it are so much better.  The only redeeming part is Goblin-town, and it's such a pain in the ass to get there, it's almost not worth it.

Hah, yup I'm just starting on the Goblin town stuff. Thank god the little dwarf camp has a milestone because there is absolutely no way I'm ever walking/riding that route ever again.

Did Angmar used to be as bad as that? The only reason I'm not still there is that the quests I have left are all a level or two too hard for me right now.

We piss and moan about the damn fellowship quests breaking the narrative pacing and raping our assholes, then ragequit and come back fifteen levels later. :oh_i_see:

If anyone wants to know about the Barrow Downs back door,

It's been a long time, but I'm pretty sure it used to cover a larger level range (40-50), was virtually unitemized, and was badly set up for questing.  They basically redid the whole quest structure for Angmar a bit after release, and it's quest rewards are literally awesome for its level.  It was one of the zones that wasn't quite ready for prime time when the game launched. 

The Misty Mountains however, is still badly set up, and I don't think I ever used any of the quest rewards I got out there.  It all ended up as vendor fodder.  There are just too damn many aggro mobs in that zone for me to enjoy it.

edit, because this doesn't deserve it's own post:  oh yes, and most of the mobs in the early part of the stage, which you have pass through to get anywhere, can dismount you in one hit.  That's the thing that angered me the most, I can't believe I forgot it.  It forces you to fight through bottlenecks to get anywhere.

Some of the quest rewards in Aughaire are absolutely amazing - the set pieces especially. You're right. I've done higher level (and much much harder quests) in the Misty Mountains and the rewards are all garbage.

The new bits (eastern, High Pass) of MM are decent in my opinion. As mentioned, Forochel is awesome for the rewards though.

I walked to Forochel, then wandered into Eregion and never went back. Eregion/Moria preliminaries took me from 45-59 just on questing. And I still have some stuff to finish up there. So I can save Forochel for the next toon. Misty Mountains I'll skip from now on until Groin the dwarf gets a stable installed.

And son of a bitch on the Barrow Downs backdoor, I've killed those wights, never realized it connected.

I am pretty sure there is a way to get from BD into Weaver's Den too, but I suspect it's via a hideous barrow that I don't want to put my hairy feet into.

Seems like you cheap-asses can buy the full game for $9.99 at the Turbine Store during the Two Year Anniversary week thingy.

Massively article. (http://www.massively.com/2009/04/24/lotro-two-year-anniversary-book-8-details-announced/#continued)

Shit, that's the Mines of Moria edition for $10. Full game, full expansion and 30 days free time, plus if you do the 3-month sub, you get it for $10/month. If you have even the vaguest inkling of playing this game, it's worth the $10 this weekend.

I've considered starting an alt, but I'm not sure if I could take the travel times without the Hunter run speed buff and teleports. If the Warden has a built-in speed buff, that may be the one to try.

The warden is built for solo.

Yeah, i also think that turbine just made people an offer they cant refuse. Compound this with Russia, and Korea launch, and china hot on it heels.... Sleeper?

(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9uZT4Lt5cTQ/SJWv5StLYkI/AAAAAAAAAh4/tPmzsf7GP-8/s400/I%2Bam%2Bgoing%2Bto%2Bmake%2Byou%2Ban%2Boffer%2Byou%2Bcannot%2Brefuse.jpg)


Technically, i think they just paid you 5$ to play their game.

I hope they have those damn queues fixed. :oh_i_see:

Recent GOOC transcript:

guy1: I hear the queues are so big because it's the Welcome Back weekend thing
guy2: Hope they follow it with GTFO Mondays

 :awesome_for_real:

The Warden does have a run buff and it's a really fun class. If you're looking to alt or restart I'd say Warden is a great choice. Awesome solo'er too.

(http://www.davidwenzel.com/images/hobbit1/UnexpectedParty.jpg)

I hate mounts in games. I have one with my wizard in EQ2, but I always chug SoW potions instead and keep wearing my crappy ol' Jboots. I run about 1% shy of the mount speed (because I'm not in a high level guild  :oh_i_see: ) I get on the stupid warg and he blocks my view and makes harvesting a pita because the distances are all scwewy.

Anyway, got one of those emails, was tempted. Still enjoying EQ2, though. No need to jump into the neighbors lawn and look for verdancy.

Ok, I just got the digital download for $9.99... It didn't add 30days onto my inactive account. I still had to pay $14 to re-enable it.

The new class is nifty... The lightening bolts look awesome.
The XP curve is really easy now (at least for lower levels) I was at level 10 in an hour or so.
I logged in my level 26 guardian and he had enough XP from the curve change to level to 28 immediately. In fact, he's about half way though 28.

Brandywine?

No, not sure what server I'm on... but thats not it.

Fifteen minute que time on Sunday, and then the client didn't launch. restarted, and it worked straight away. after waiting another fifteen minutes  :awesome_for_real:

Got a warden up to 17 in a day, and that was with a lot of running around that I'd never done before.

You're using Vista? It always does that on Vista...

First run-though of an area takes much longer because you don't know what quests take you to the same area.  Second time is faster, assuming you don't forget, plus you can cherry-pick and you presumably know where the satchels and whatnot are.

Yeah you need to click on the screen just after it goes full screen to give the game full focus, or run in windowed mode. At least, that is what I figured out.

lol... what I figured out was to uninstall vista.

Its the areo bullshit.

Aero has no effect on it because it is off. And other than this one tiny issue, Vista has been super solid for me.

This. If the LotRO process appears in the taskbar before it has switched to the black fullscreen, quickly click it to give it focus and it won't crash.

Good info. Thanks kindly on that.

It would be better if they fixed it though. :-P

heh, I have been dealing with the restarts in Vista for months now...and just figured out the click-through screen last weekend.  Should have brought it up earlier, but thought it was just me for sure - I figured if it was a widespread problem they would have fixed it  :oh_i_see:  The restart was especially annoying during the two-week Brandywine queues and going through the queue twice.

I'm in and playing on that $10 for game+1 month, $30 for 3 month deal. $40 for 4 months? Yeah, why not?

I have a Rune-Keeper that hit 16 and I've just started a Warden last night. The RK seemed like easy mode and I think it'll likely get nerfed. Unless the newbie experience is just universally easy. There doesn't seem to be that many Wardens in the guild on Brandywine, so I think I'm going to concentrate on the Warden in the meantime.


Nijasan and Bitbittle on B-wine.


To fix the double restart in vista thing, you want to edit the ini that is in your documents under the lotro directory. There's a line near the top that says something like FakeFullScreen=False - change that to true. That is if you're running windowed.

Note to Turbine people - BORDERLESS WINDOWED MODE IS A MUST! Even Warhammer has it. Those of us with 2 or 3 monitors don't like to have to alt tab to move out of the game.

edit: wow I didn't know Wardens had a run buff. Bonus!

I will be on tonight for invites, as Grimst.

Except that the RK was buffed when Book 8 came out, in DPS anyway.  There's a tradeoff in that it takes one or two more attunements to cast the heavier DD, but overall I'm doing more damage and faster.  Turbine has been speeding up the level gains in general, rather than make advancement harder.  Also, things get tougher later.