What’s next?

I feel I have neglected the posting and should remedy that now.  Gaming has been either all or nothing, still grinding away in Lord of the Rings Online and I really don’t see myself quitting anytime soon.  The game still has quite a bit of fun left for me, also I have made some good friends in Middle Earth so that makes the time that much better.  My long lost original burglar from open beta, Sean McLovin, is now level 40.  I was kind of disappointed when I visited the trainer at level 40 and there was no special skill waiting for me to train, but then again I know in the future, book 13 from the rumors, they plan on releasing all the cool new skills and stuff, so until then I will save my coin and keep on keeping on. 

With so many other fellow bloggers moving onto new and exciting gaming frontiers I have to admit I am compelled to dabble a bit.  But, with the lack of spare time I just don’t have enough motivation to decide which game to try out.  Tobold has gone back to good old reliable WoW, DM Osbon is playing Tabula Rasa, there are many others out there, too many to mention really, but I have said before the Wrath of the Lich King does hold some interest for me, so I don’t want to rule out anything at this point in time.  Maybe I should set some type of goals to reach, but then again, gaming to me isn’t about achievements, well, to a degree that is true, but games are all about having fun, as long as the fun factor is there I suppose I will go where the current takes me along my journeys.

I do see myself taking more breaks from LotRO, the burnout factor between playing my captain to level 50 and now my second character to reach level 40 has taken a toll on my fascination with Middle Earth.  I mean, they keep adding the grind, such as reputation, raids, etc…but I am not really nor have I been that excited about all that stuff.

The decision is mine to make, but I do like to share here with you all, perhaps to gain some insight into others thoughts or likes and dislikes.  Maybe I am growing tired of being lost in the grind.  I know that might sound strange to some of you, but really, being lost isn’t all it is cracked up to be, although it really is just a phrase I made up when I created this blog, but really the grind does bring with it so much more than just gaining experience and levels.  It gives me some kind of release from the real world, an avenue for escape into a digital world where I am in control and I do what I feel like, without pressure from anyone or anything.  The grand illusion of something better, in search of power and glory?  Perhaps, but that search takes me down paths I would never see in this world, comparing  time spent over in Iraq to time spent battling the worst enemies in Middle Earth really is ridiculous, but in a way they are similar.  You set aside your fears, worries and trust in the fellows standing next to you and move forward without any regrets, in the end the payoff is always worth it one way or another.

So, what is next?  I don’t know, I find myself in a similar place as DM Osbon a few months back when he decided to go back and start from scratch with World of Warcraft.  Maybe I should go buy an XBox 360, that probably is blasphemy to some of you hardcore PC gamers, myself included, but then again I could keep in touch with my son, who has been happily playing Halo 3, from what I have seen that looks like a pretty awesome game.  I know the hype has been all around.  But, then I come back to my senses and remember I am saving up for my next PC purchase, which right now I estimate to run me around $1500 if I leave out a few accessories.  By the time I get to actually spending the money the next big technology will be out and what I have put together today will be obsolete, always seems to be the case.  I don’t know what is next, but I will let you know when I find out.

Should I stay or should I go?

I was having issues coming up with anything worthwhile to talk about today, so I spent most of the time here browsing the net catching up on my favorite blogs and other stuff, I came across this gem of a flowchart which makes it easy for those of us who are married to decide whether it is time to stop playing the game or go spend some quality time with the significant other…I chuckled..you can check it out here -BBspot – Should I Stop Playing this Game?
In LotRO news Rekkr is level 46 and I have found out that if I thought getting to the mid 40’s was a grind, I hadn’t seen anything yet…I was glad to actually see a handful of solo quests in Angmar, I thought they had all gone away and all I had left was fellowship quests, but I was mistaken, and I am glad. I am grinding on just about everything you can think of these days, reputation, pages for legendary traits, ore for crafting, xp for leveling, the list goes on and on…is this how games are doomed to be? There must be something better, I guess I have too high of expectations, oh well. Reason number one why I have 4 alternate characters to occupy my time for those sad drawn out periods of killing the same creatures over and over and over…

Floss is level 31 and made the run to Rivendell yesterday to turn in the last chapter of book 3, the trek across the Trollshaws seemed easier than before, possibly cause I have done it what 3 times now?

Sean is broadening his pipe-weed farming skills by learning every recipe known to hobbit or man, you never know when the party you are at might need some special smoke to keep it alive…

I am feeling a bit blah today, my sleep schedule hasn’t been right lately, and the pill I take to help me fall asleep doesn’t let me get up very easy…oh well, life goes on, and then there’s always Sam Adams…

LotRO Log – 25 Jun 07

I decided to try my luck at the chicken game, after waiting half an hour for it to start it bugged the first time the bird went out of bounds…so I gave up on it for now. I went over and learned the dance of men, then went to the shire, I completed the scavenger hunt and lo and behold the rewards include the recipes for the some pipeweed seeds. I was pretty happy to see that, then I met up with a kinmate and we found the dwarves party hole, which is in the basement of all places…crazy dwarves…we did the dance and I started the scavenger hunt, this one was a bit of a challenge just because if you are not familiar with Thorin’s Hall you have to run around and get acquainted. But once I read the notes given to me it was easy to figure out. And, yes, more seeds, after that I went and completed the elf dance and the scavenger hunt for that was very easy, just follow the path around in a circle picking up the items along the way…

With the last big patch addressing the farming problems and at least making it worthwhile I do plan on working on my skills with Sean who is currently at the skill of Artisan Farmer. With time I would like to find a lot more recipes for various vegetables and pipeweeds, I have no idea what any of these items sell for on the Auction Hall.

Our kinship is slowly growing everyday and we reached lifespan 3…good stuff.

So I decided to start my 5th and final alternate character…that will have to be seen, well there are no more spots on my server so…heh

Anyway, I made a dwarf hunter because I do really like the dwarves…I can relate to them in a strange sort of way… I named him Tryggr, pronounced like trigger…still have a few ideas for a surname being tossed around in my head, I teamed up with a loremaster in the starting area of Thorin’s Hall and we ended up sticking together all the way to level 9. I invited him to our kinship as well, a welcome addition to our kinship of currently 17 members.

I do like playing a hunter class, some of you will recall my adventures with Giznad in WoW just a few months ago, and I do like playing a class that doesn’t have a pet. I mean companions are cool, but then if you want to make a jump over a hill or whatnot it isn’t easy making sure your pet follows and if it doesn’t will it pull a mob of 10 right to you?

In any case I had a good weekend of gaming, I did endulge in some farming, they lowered the cost on everything, and in return lowered the price vendors pay for your products, overall though it is manageable to train my skills now without it being a money sink.

I logged on my level 41 loremaster, Abellio for a bit on Saturday and did a few quests with my friend Dagfinnr who is now level 49. I guess I am at the boredom stage at that level just because all of the quests besides the ones I picked up in Evendim are fellowship types and unless I want to grind on mobs it just requires a lot of time and effort I don’t really feel like devoting.

The altism is something I have to live with, and it is fine with me.

Let the blood flow

I have to admit I am a bit frustrated with the lack of boars I am finding in the lone lands, so I am taking my frustrations out on whatever else I can. This warg had no chance. The crows in the lone lands are extremely annoying, they die very quickly, give little xp and waste my time…

But, let me remember there are good times and bad times in all things. So, I know tomorrow will be better, here piggy, piggy, piggy!

LotRO Log 11 May 2007

Been spending the usual amount of time in Middle Earth this week. I reached level 18 last night with Abellio and assigned some new traits I acquired by finishing some quests in the Old Forest.

I do enjoy playing a lore master, plus side is I have a few very hard hitting “spells” if you will, along with a blinding flash skill that stun’s an opponent making it easier to handle crowds. The ability to draw power out of monster’s is cool too and the ability to transfer power into health is handy after a hard fight.

The bad aspects are that I only can use a staff as a weapon, limiting options but then opening up opportunities on the Auction House since only other lore masters are competing for them. Also, my bear doesn’t follow very well at all. He easily get’s lost or confused with these question marks spinning around his head like he is mentally challenged or something. It get’s very annoying everytime I walk through a doorway and he get’s stuck there…at least the power requirement to call him back is small, but still…The other thing is that I can only wear light armor, I know this is because I get my own personal tank, but maybe making it a deed or something would be nice, at least getting the chance to wear medium armor would be cool.

I was talking to my friend Dagfinnr and game and told him this was my last character I was starting since now I have my original character, Sean the man burglar lvl 17, Floss the hobbit minstrel lvl 20, and Abellio the elf loremaster lvl 18. I was having the feeling of deja vu completing some of the same quests especially in Bree and Buckland 3 times now, making it not quite as fun and more like the endless grind feeling of WoW.

I am not sure if this is very well known, but there is an option to spend your destiny points on perks. The perks are temporary, and a lot of people save them for Monster play. Since I am not concerned with Monster play at this time, so I found the first perk which is available at level 10 called Accelerated Experience, you can use it 5 times and costs 250 destiny points. It grants you enhanced XP, temporarily increasing the experience you gain for defeating enemies. Nice to know and use if you run out of enhanced XP.

My friend and I are considering starting up a kinship. One with limited rules and minimal requirements. I am trying to come up with an original and catchy title. I am taking suggestions, trying to stick with one or two words possibly. More to follow.