LOTRO rides to Rohan

They revamped monster play with the new expansion but I haven't looked into the details. Here's a dev diary outlining the changes.

You don't lose everything if you go from VIP to premium, so that's something, at least. From the link HalibutBarn posted up-thread: "All characters logged in while VIP keep the unlocks for bags, traits, gold cap and swift travel".

Turbine lets you pay to permanently unlock most stuff so if you don't want to subscribe there are only a few things you'll miss out on completely (like rest XP). I wonder what the cost of getting all the 'good' unlocks is vs. something like GW2's $60 box cost that covers everything until an expansion hits?

I have done a terrible thing.

After receiving some sample dyes as a quest reward I decided to craft some dandy new armor for my man captain Nedwith. I then used a 'rust' dye on the new armor. For some reason I thought it would come out sort of reddish. But no, it's pretty much orange. My man captain turned into a Creamsicle:



I used a navy dye to partially correct the fashion horror I had created.



Look at that stoic face as he tries to pretend he does not resemble a Middle Earth clown.

In other news, he is now in Combe, has picked up the few available quests and is ready to join up with Halibut's hunter. Hopefully his wardrobe will not get more embarrassing moving forward.

You can preview before you dye. Just so you know.

There is no adventure in previewing your dye (plus I forgot you could preview dyes).

Also, all of my alts are enjoyable. There is something really clicking this time for me with the game. Maybe I'm just in the right frame of mind for the lovely pastoral scenery it has throughout the low levels.

The low levels are the best in LOTRO. I love visiting the Shire, Bree, and even the dwarven/elven starter zone has it's own charm. It falls apart for me after Weathertop mountain to be honest. I think you've seen the nicest of the game by then (except for Rivendel, which is gorgeous) and I've never managed to level a character past level 45 or so because of that.
Now when I feel the urge to play again I reroll, play until the Lone Lands and take a break again. It's a shame since I have a lifelong membership thing, but somehow I never managed to push past those levels. Moria plays a big part in this as well, being stuck in those mines for so long doesn't sound like fun at all.

I'm in the mid-40s with my main and hitting places like Angmar and Forochel, which are getting kinda samey (ye olde generic grimdark blasted landscape and frozen wasteland, respectively). Misty Mountains has some interesting elevation changes and winding paths though, and it looks like Eregion keeps some of the pastoral feel, at least (haven't seen much of it yet).

Angmar is hands down the worst zone in the game. Forochel isn't bad...but it's not my favorite, either. If you can do Trollshaws, and then most of the Misty Mountain quests, I would...and then do a bit of the Forochel. You'll actually power past that into Eregion pretty quickly.

I'm having fun with my war-horse in Rohan, which is surprisingly fun for MMO-style mounted combat. It runs much faster than an ordinary horse, too, which is handy, because Rohan is huge.

My war-horse, let me show you it:

I'd agree that the early levels with those iconic places of Middle Earth are really amazing. Bree, the Shire, Weathertop, the Barrow Downs. All great places. Even going north to Evendim is another great area. The 40's are a tough spot - You've got Angmar, Forchel, Trollshaws and Misty Mountians, which are all ok but not great, especially compared to the previous levels.

Mirriam I'd see if you can stick it out until Moria on one of your characters. The first time through it's simply amazing. I completely enjoyed it's environments (well most of them) and it's a huge place to explore and makes Moria the place of Dwarven wonder to behold. Really great atmosphere, just needs a bit more fast travel spots please.

I'm up to 72 I think on my RK going through the last expansion (Isengard) right now before seeing if I'll make the jump to Rohan. Good quest chains and flow for quests so far (probably halfway through maybe?!) in this region. Looking forward to heading down to Isengard, but sad it'll be difficult to find anyone to play any of the instances for it as the majority of players will be on to Rohan. Curse me being late to the party!

I'll try and move my Loremaster through it the next time I get the urge to play, that always has been my favorite class. :)

That screenshot really makes me want to reinstall the game and buy Rohan. My minstrel and champ both made it to 75 last year, my RK to 72 I think, so the temptation to level my minstrel up to 85 is pretty tempting.

True you can, but, maybe it's just my machine and monitor, but the preview window never really does justice to the finished product. I've carefully reviewed numerous dye jobs only to be disappointed in the result when seeing it in-game.

But yes, the scenery! That more than anything hooked me into the game from the start. All the intro areas are gorgeous, especially the Shire. As for the other zones, understand that, like art, the beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My favorite zones after the early game were Misty Mountains and Khazad-dum (Moria), which I have seen many list as their least favorites.

But then, my main *is* a dwarf.

I already paid for a box and around 3-4 months of sub time to LotRO a few years ago.

For me, the latter is already a better deal.

I really enjoyed running around the Lotro countryside as well, I had about 4 characters running so I had a complete crafting circle available :-) (I like crafting)

I petered out about mines of moria though, and as usual permanently stuck in lowbie mode (around umm level 29ish I think is highest character). I made big money in the auction house selling scholar stuff though.

I'm kind of tempted to pop back in for a look, but I suspect my characters and their quest logs are so mussed up that restarting with new might be a better idea. Im pretty sure Im also on a really poorly populated server (Nilwen?)

A year of VIP is currently on sale for $100, and if you don't want to go that far, a bunch of quest packs are also on sale for 20% off (doesn't look like the main expansion ones are included, but the post-free areas like North Downs, Evendim, and Lone-lands are).

I decided to make some characters and give it a shot as well, in case anyone is tempted by my alluring presence.

I wish I could move my characters to a different server. Nimrodel (where the old Qt3 kin is based) is pretty empty as far as population goes, making the auction house empty at times and expensive when it does have what you want, and outside of current endgame content or the starter areas (say level 1 to 30ish) it can feel empty in the wilderness when you're questing!

You can, for $24.95.

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?361270-Paid-(Premium)-Services-Status-Sticky

Yeah, nixon66, that's where my characters are located as well, so I've rolled up new ones on Landroval for this new kinship. I miss Thornwise, but I don't miss him 25 dollars worth.

25 bucks for a server transfer is absurd.

Well hey, I have discovered I have a character on Landroval, with the unlikely name of Miracinonyx (what was I thinking?), a level 41 Hunter. An invite to the BF kinship would be most appreciated.

I have literally no idea. You made me voluntary something something.

I have also discovered that my Landroval character is inexplicably not grandfathered in like all my other characters and now has gold in the overflow bag, in spite of me not logging it in in a year or so and it getting the 1,2,3 and 4 year gift bags. I have sent off a service request, so we'll see what's up with that.

Thanks in advance for the invite!

I'll check and see if I can get back into it.

Begging your indulgence: Kogorim, a dwarf minstrel, at your service:

I'm a lifetimer for LoTRO but lost interest a while back. The formation of a Broken Forum kinship may serve to reinvigorate that.

My main is on Nimrodel, in the Qt3 kinship, and its entirely possible the dearth of players on that server prompted my waning interest. After reading here about the BF kin forming, I figured I would transfer my main over to Landroval using accumulated TP (I have about 15K). But before doing so, and before asking for a kin invite, I logged in to Landroval and found, to my surprise... Kogorim!

Poor guy. I have no recollection of ever creating him. But now I realize that he was my first main on LoTRO back in '06 or '07. I got him to lvl 21 while a member of Eyes of the Watcher, the (apparently still active) kinship of the Octopus Overlords gaming forum. I abandoned Kogorim and that kin to join in the Qt3 kinship, and then completely forgot about him.

So when I logged in today to Landroval, there he sat. Patiently waiting for my return, with nary a word of complaint. And all that inactivity earned him 5 turbine points! (insert dancing banana emoticon).

Is there a way to see all the alts you've created on all servers, and when? I'm curious.

Can you be in two kinships at once? If not, Kogorim will depart Eyes of the Watcher, and pledge his undying allegiance to

The Company of the Broken Forge!

That is one magnificent dwarf right thurr. <3
Also loved the little tale thing t'was accompanied with.

I know nothing about gift bags, but I've discovered that my old Landroval character is inexplicably stuck at the top of level 21, and will not advance beyond that.

I sent in a ticket:

Weird.

Thanks, will do.

When I logged on today, my old Landroval kin had a couple of guys on. One of them told me that kin was pretty dead and he was looking for another that had no initiation fees (!). So I hope you don't mind, but I mentioned this new kin. If he's interested, can I pass your main's name on?

Hm, I wonder if you can pay for transfers with Turbine bux, I have a lot of them lying around from lifetime-ness. If I ever get over my oh-god-more-legendary-weapon-grind ennui I might play again.

Yes, you can: http://support.turbine.com/link/portal/24001/24001/Article/24/LOTRO-World-Character-Transfer-FAQs

It's 2,995 Turbine points.

...that is a number is what that is. Lord almighty.

That's a helluva lot of 5pt deed completions.

My poor Kogorim. He's maxed at level 21 and unable to move to 22. Turbine customer support says they can't help, its a bug, and they closed the ticket. Now I have to file a bug report. Thanks Turbine.

This is what I get for leaving him sitting, alone and unwanted, on the Landroval server for six years. He stood in one place so long, he got infected with a bug.

I paid for a transfer from Nimrodel to Landroval with Turbine points on Dec. 31st. Still waiting. FYI.

If have a lifetime sub, you've surely banked enough points to be able to buy a shared stash, which is incredibly useful. So, you could buy a shared stash, put Kogorim's stuff in it, send Kogorim into the West (read: delete him), then recreate his great-great-great-grandson. The game has changed a lot, and now that you get XP for crafting, you can reasonably get to level 17 in, I'd estimate, one evening's solid playing. Then you can get his stuff out of the stash, if you care.