What are you working on?

[trias_e]

Holy shit I (almost) finally finished the shire....

Except now I need to kill some spiders for a deed and do the epic quest which I neglected.

Fuck.

[Yegolev]

Cheddar put Dwuli in RoME yesterday.  While I was hanging out, I did some fishing and was surprised that I caught a few trophy fish.  I remember not catching a damn thing when I first tried it in Bywater, but I had much more luck outside of Noglond for some reason.  I suppose I will mount one of each and the post the rest on the AH.

Had some fun doing the dwarf-line the correct way, too.  Knowing where to find all the things for the various hunting lodge quests was a real timesaver, and he is now halfway to 12.  Still not able to gather scholar ingredients with impunity, or regularity, and fighting for them with my other characters is soul-eroding.

Anyone want to do some Ered Luin quests? 

[Stormwaltz]

I'm trying to wrap up some shit in Angmar before (fiiiinally) moving my 50 Loremaster to Moria. I still have many, many incomplete "grind mobs" traits from all over the game. None of my virtues are above 6 or 7, and I only unlocked Strength of Morale and Proof Against All Ills in the last week. I've been knocking off low-hanging fruit since Yule-fest ended.

[Ard]

While I was hanging out, I did some fishing and was surprised that I caught a few trophy fish.  I remember not catching a damn thing when I first tried it in Bywater, but I had much more luck outside of Noglond for some reason.  I suppose I will mount one of each and the post the rest on the AH.

I caught two trophy minnows back to back while bored and waiting for my girlfriend in Evendim the other day!  You bet those are going up on my house walls next to my goldfish.

[Delmania]

I'm not in the Brnadywine kinship, as I play on Elemdir, but I am currently knocking off quests in the Shire.

[Soln]

I and my wife are on Elendilmir.  My main is a 36 Mins ("Pavo").  PM if you need something.

[Yegolev]

I did a few more things.  Notably, I'm still not really doing Scholar craft since it's damn hard to get the materials until you are able to wander around ruins with impunity.  Can't do this as a level 13(?) RK.

Also notably, Fallia is now a Proficient Expert (?) in Woodworking.  I cannot remember the stupid name for this level, since it's so stupid how crafting works, but I can now use Superior Workbenches.  Have not tried it yet.

Did a few North Downs quests, particularly the ones in that elf refuge south of Esteldin and a few more in that dwarf town north of Esteldin.  Later, my wife and I both did the next hunter quest in Ost Guruth, after which she went to bed and I ground a bit off of some of the Lone Lands slayer deeds.  120 wargs is a fuckton of wargs.  I'm not even halfway, unlike the crebain and spider slayer deeds.

[Soln]

My main is a Scholar which is tough to level, but the ability to make potions and scroll buffs is terrific.

Also, if you have the coin, roll and alt and take Cooking/Farming.  With cooking alone you can level it with money and the food buffs in LotRO are better and last longer that WoW.  And farming allows you to fund the cooking with resources.

[Stormwaltz]

Over the weekend I unlocked Valour 5 in Trollshaws, and did a lot of grind-grind-grind on other grey mob traits in the area. Then I got bored and, on my way up to Rivendell, detoured into Eregion for the first time. It's quite beautiful - they set up some awesome southward vistas, and I love the luminous white clouds in the eastern night sky. I also noted it's the first place I've seen framerate lag on my new machine, probably due to the density and diversity of frills and shubbery. My computer can run every other location in the game with all settings maxed.

Slaughtering greys in Angmar and Trollshaws had been profitable. So had mining and BreeBay'ing dwarf-iron (which, mysteriously, still sells for more than higher level ores). But Eregion is just sick with loot. With the exception of Dunlendings, every critter I killed dropped one or more trophies worth 2-3s a piece. Even after paying for equipment repairs, I ended the weekend with over 10g (up from ~6g on Friday).

[Yegolev]

Also, if you have the coin, roll and alt and take Cooking/Farming.

I'm about to do just that, and a jeweler as well since I need some things that I suspect jewelers make.  Between my wife and myself, we have the "stuff you dig out of the ground" part well in hand.  I think my farmer is going to be a hobbit burglar, but I don't know what to do with my jeweler.

[EWSpider]

Slaughtering greys in Angmar and Trollshaws had been profitable. So had mining and BreeBay'ing dwarf-iron (which, mysteriously, still sells for more than higher level ores). But Eregion is just sick with loot. With the exception of Dunlendings, every critter I killed dropped one or more trophies worth 2-3s a piece. Even after paying for equipment repairs, I ended the weekend with over 10g (up from ~6g on Friday).

Dwarf-iron is used in some T5 recipes in addition to the T4 recipes.  Also, I think there might be less landmass where Dwarf-iron is available and generally less population wandering that landmass.

[Cheddar]

I got a 3 day ban from AC, which is enough to break my love for it.  Was banned for macroing - for some reason the irony is making me grin.

I will probably reinstate this evening and get back into the AH!

[Bandit]

I am so glad I am back playing LOTRO. I have just started playing through the Eregion content with my Captain.  It has been mostly delicious solo content wandering from small quest hub to small quest hub and following down a storyline about hiding the tracks and traces of the fellowship. Lore nuggets like rescuing Bill the pony are excellent little touches as I am getting closer to the gates of Moria.

Solid game to say the least. This game is definitely about the journey, rather than the end game...which is a good thing. No reason to rush through it. If someone were asking me what North American MMO they should play, there are 3 easy choices - Eve, WoW, or LOTRO - depending on that person's taste.

Summary of LOTRO:

- Solid game-engine, very little hiccups - with some amazing vistas. Bree would be a rare exception.
- Fantastic Storyline and setting, albeit an IP. Sometimes the adherence to lore can be a bit strangling to flexible development (wild boar, feral tasker, ferious pig)
- More tactical combat, although a bit slow for some tastes.
- Excellent additions and mechanics that make it stand-out a bit in the crowd (Music system, housing and neighbourhood system, hobbies, etc).
- The development team seems pretty communicative.
- Classic DIKU - if not generic, which is simple enough for new gamers and just general Tolkien fans to grasp gameplay.
- Easily soloable with any of the classes - and enough group content to still provide an interesting experience.
- Not enough raid content for poopsock raiders - grindy for raid equipment.
- Leveling is seemless - it goes about as fast as you put into it, leaning towards too fast. Sometimes I would like to turn off the XP like EQ2 to do quests at the  appropriate level.
- Grind only comes in the form of deeds, which are pure evil for a completist like myself - has driven me away from the game on a few occasions.

I have only done limited PvP in LOTRO, so I can't really comment on it.

(all this post needs now is a fucking chart)

I don't know if it is because I have been playing WAR for the last few months, but I have been playing the shit out of this game in the last week and loving it. I am looking forward to checking out the 3-man instances, it's a very good design decision - more games should offer this. 

[Cheddar]

Main complaint from most people is that combat feels slow and underwater.  At higher levels though you realize things ARE a bit slower... because your decisions make a huge difference.


As stated in other threads loading your 4 favorite skills as 1-4 then randomly mashing them is pure lose.  This game is a LOT more strategic.  To the point that moving behind/to the side of an opponent DOES make a difference, as does taking the high point. 

[Bandit]

Finished up Vol 2 - Book 2 last night.  Volume 2 - Books 1 & 2 are solo.

Book 1 is a storyline about helping the dwarves enter the gates of Moria.  It introduces you to the concepts of Legendary weapons, as you need a special weapon to defeat the monster lurking in the water outside the gates.  Excellent Book!

Book 2 centres around establishing the dwarves within Moria, and finding a special forge. Quest reward was a nice pair of Heavy Boots with +5% out-of-combat runspeed.

The Mines or Moria are very impressive visually.  Although I think I like the outdoor zones more - as Moria is pretty dark zone.  So far there is a plethora of solo quests, so it seems you can pretty much solo to 60 without difficulty. I am leveling WAY to fast for my liking.

Next up: clearing up some deeds in the Eregion region, trying some of the 3-man instances in Eregion (Mirobel School and Library), and trying out some of the guild crafting (cook).

[Stormwaltz]

It introduces you to the concepts of Legendary weapons, as you need a special weapon to defeat the monster lurking in the water outside the gates.

I had to agree with Sanya. Being told to go from the Gates of Moria to Thorin's Halls (eastmost to westmost points of Eriador) to unlock the weapon... and then going right back to Eregion to find critters I can get XP from... was embarrassingly clumsy content design. Particularly given how tight the rest of Eregion and Moria have been.

Incidentally, I finally made it into Moria, only four months after buying the expansion.

It's very dark. Impressive. But dark.

And i am really, really creeped out by Gredbyg Spitters.

[Mrbloodworth]

I had to agree with Sanya. Being told to go from the Gates of Moria to Thorin's Halls (eastmost to westmost points of Eriador) to unlock the weapon... and then going right back to Eregion to find critters I can get XP from... was embarrassingly clumsy content design. Particularly given how tight the rest of Eregion and Moria have been.

Not that i have done it yet, but perhaps its where story trumped design (well, travel time that is), i mean, i gather, story wise there is a reason you are going to thorns hall.

[Tarami]

You can also go to Rivendell for the initial ident. Atleast if you're something other than a dwarf.

[Bandit]

There is a story as to why you have to go to Thorin's Hall (actually twice, or once to Thorins and once to Rivendelll).  I think though the same story could have been told without all the traveling, as there is a full band of dwarves outside of Moria. I guess it makes it a bit more epic - or time consuming.

[Stormwaltz]

I think a better idea would have been to send the player to the Mirobel Ring-Forges in Eregion. As a game writer, I'm all about story. Five years at BioWare has taught me that sometimes, gameplay has to come before story.

While grinding the weapon to 10 irks me, I understand the importance of teaching about reforging. What I might have done is give the player a Heritage Rune to take them halfway to 10. Those last few levels of whacking blue Angmarim were just irritating.

Hey, I can armchair design too! :P

[Mrbloodworth]

 

Perhaps you should write them a strongly worded letter forum post =)

[Soln]

Dear Sirs:
As a fellow IT professional I take the strongest possible exception to design decisions which infringe upon -- without cause or player community consultation -- the important lived game play aspects of your fine live title, "The Lord of the Rings Online".  The inability to see a door in a shade other than the expected dark green as prescribed by the Tolkien canon leaves many with a feeling of unease and incompleteness...

Or something like that.  You should see my stuff on Jedi unlocks in SWG!   

[Yegolev]

I had a quest in Ost Guruth which wanted me to do some work helping out Trestlebridge.  When I accepted the quest, it warped me directly to Trestlebridge.  That was pretty handy.

[Yegolev]

Aged Scraps of Text are a real pain in the ass to get.  I finally got Dwuli into Kheledul (sp?) and spotted one of the urns, but when I went to dig around in it I noticed that it required Journeyman Scholar skill!  Fuck me.  I never really noticed but I didn't think resource gathering was restricted by craft level.  I guess I will have to stump it back to that goblin fort up in the mountains and see if I can get anything up there, because buying Aged Scraps on the AH is a chump's game.

I also made some instruments for a guild minstrel.  This was neat because I have not crafted things for guildies in a long time.

Also I rolled a hobbit burglar with the intention of making him a jeweler alt.  I don't remember his name and he won't show up on my.lotro.com until I play him a bit.

[Mrbloodworth]

Aged Scraps of Text are a real pain in the ass to get.  I finally got Dwuli into Kheledul (sp?) and spotted one of the urns, but when I went to dig around in it I noticed that it required Journeyman Scholar skill!  Fuck me.  I never really noticed but I didn't think resource gathering was restricted by craft level.  I guess I will have to stump it back to that goblin fort up in the mountains and see if I can get anything up there, because buying Aged Scraps on the AH is a chump's game.

I also made some instruments for a guild minstrel.  This was neat because I have not crafted things for guildies in a long time.

Also I rolled a hobbit burglar with the intention of making him a jeweler alt.  I don't remember his name and he won't show up on my.lotro.com until I play him a bit.

There is (was?) a ton of gems and what not in the Kinhall, mostly from when i changed professions.

[Ard]

Aged Scraps of Text are a real pain in the ass to get.  I finally got Dwuli into Kheledul (sp?) and spotted one of the urns, but when I went to dig around in it I noticed that it required Journeyman Scholar skill!  Fuck me.  I never really noticed but I didn't think resource gathering was restricted by craft level.  I guess I will have to stump it back to that goblin fort up in the mountains and see if I can get anything up there, because buying Aged Scraps on the AH is a chump's game.

Resource gathering, outside of scholar, isn't tied to your crafting level, it's tied to your resource gathering skill level, which requires very little effort to level up (other than plants, which anyone can pick, and not just farmers).  Scholar is an odd fish, and a pain in the ass to level in general.  I finally got it to Master last week, and have all the dye patterns, and that's all I really wanted... to be able to make myself a pretty pretty princess in the colors of my choice 

[Yegolev]

There is (was?) a ton of gems and what not in the Kinhall, mostly from when i changed professions.

I saw some gems... where do I get the Something Sapphires for making the Awesome Crafted Bow?  I had thought that was from a jeweler since I don't recall ever seeing one in the wild.

[EWSpider]

There is (was?) a ton of gems and what not in the Kinhall, mostly from when i changed professions.

I saw some gems... where do I get the Something Sapphires for making the Awesome Crafted Bow?  I had thought that was from a jeweler since I don't recall ever seeing one in the wild.

Sounds like you might be talking about Sapphire Shards.  There's a different type of shard for each crafting level and they're only used by the Single-Use Recipes.  They drop from rare Signature mobs wandering around the world that typically range in difficulty from challenging to eat your fucking face off (if your roughly the same level as the mob).

You can search by Sapphire Shard on this site to find the droppers:
http://www.lotrolife.com/rare_crafting_component_list/

[Cheddar]

I could use a level 40 crited instrument - prefarably from a 1 use recipe.  I can get you whatever supplies this would require.

[Yegolev]

Sounds like you might be talking about Sapphire Shards.  There's a different type of shard for each crafting level and they're only used by the Single-Use Recipes.

You are correct, sir!  HEY-O!

They drop from rare Signature mobs wandering around the world that typically range in difficulty from challenging to eat your fucking face off (if your roughly the same level as the mob).

You can search by Sapphire Shard on this site to find the droppers:
http://www.lotrolife.com/rare_crafting_component_list/

Well fuck.

I could use a level 40 crited instrument - prefarably from a 1 use recipe.  I can get you whatever supplies this would require.

Not quite there yet, I'm just now able to make things from lebrethon but I don't have any of that.

[Mrbloodworth]

What type pf shards are you needing?

I know of a couple mob spots, and i am a hunter, so i could track then for you, and hop around to where they spawn to see if they are there. (most of them do have long respawn times)

[Cheddar]

Not quite there yet, I'm just now able to make things from lebrethon but I don't have any of that.

Then what good are you to me?   

[Yegolev]

Not quite there yet, I'm just now able to make things from lebrethon but I don't have any of that.

Then what good are you to me?   

I laugh at your jokes and don't report you to the authorities.

[Yegolev]

What type pf shards are you needing?

I know of a couple mob spots, and i am a hunter, so i could track then for you, and hop around to where they spawn to see if they are there. (most of them do have long respawn times)

Sapphire.  I am also a hunter, but I'm confident I won't just waltz into the Barrow Downs and find one of the mobs up AND get the shard on first kill.  Sounds more tedious than deeds.  If you happen to find one, I'll take it off your hands, how's that?

[Tarami]

I picked up LoTRO tonight after having had a break for a few months.

I noticed a quaint detail about Lone-lands after my absence. There's no wind. The trees don't sway, the grass barely bends. No wonder it looks so damn desolate. Thought it was a great touch. :)