A little catch up

     In the month(!) Since I've posted here, Tirasiel has reached level 38, Sadrondir has been promoted to an officer in his Kinship, tons of things have happened in WoW and finally today I got that Archeage Beta Invite I've been hoping for!
     I really can't wait to try it out Thursday, though I'm a teeny bit afraid I may have hyped myself up for it a bit too much and be disappointed as a result. Only time will tell, though. And I have to wait until Thursday for that time to start. I anticipate hours on the character creation screen and as many screenshots as it will let me take, some of which are bound to find their way here.

MMO Housing

     This wasn't a feature I thought I'd be super into. WoW doesn't have it and I'd never thought about it being necessary. But then I tried a few other things that did and...I really like housing. In my head all of my characters have a home anyhow, a place they go to rest after a long day's journey, to lick their wounds and sleep. I never realized how excited I could get about having something like that in game. Then I tried Rift.
     They give you a free dimension pretty early on. It's not much, just a shrine on a hill, but it's mine. Daethrys has picked up a few things in his journeys beyond what he was given to fill it and they've all found a home there. A few more things I bought for it because I wanted him to have a home that looked like one. It isn't much, someday I want to make an alt and try the Dreamweaving profession and maybe make something bigger. But for now:

      The whole thing pretty much. It's really not big or impressive. You can't see the gravestone he added off to one side, or the weird makeshift hammock bed under the tree that he got from some quest mobs, but it's an overview.

     Standing in the doorway. It's cozy enough for a hunter who just wants a place to keep the rain off for a while.

     A closer view of the interior. It's amazing to me what you can actually do in terms of customizing. I haven't done a whole lot here, but everything can be moved and rotated and scaled and left where you like it. The two planks in the past of goodies he got with the dimension became shelving. I bought a bed, some flowers, an inkwell, a journal and scaled down a vase to fit on the shelves and suddenly it looks like somebody lives there. It's not spectacular, but it could be.
   
     Lord of the Rings Online has housing too, though it's a bit more annoying needing to pay an upkeep on it. You don't get to really own it, just rent. Still as soon as Sadrondir had the coin he had to have one in the Elven neighborhoods.

     It's lovely on the outside, especially at night with all the windows lit. And rather small on the inside. The customization isn't nearly as impressive or freeform as Rift. There are set slots and certain types of things that can fit in them, and you can rotated them, but other than that, they are as they are. Still his house has music... and a story. When I had first got it I didn't have much gold so I was sparing with it. He bought the music and a piece or two of furniture. I had picked up a wall coloring somewhere and there was a painting in his leveling box.

     Furnished mostly with quest things and with a changed floor it looked a bit like this downstairs.

     And this upstairs. Cozy enough but not really very attractive. Still it was a work in progress. Well then one evening at the Prancing Pony I met an elf looking for a Kinship. Mine was kind enough to invite him but while they were busy in an instance I ran around with him. He bought a house... and then we ended up traipsing all over so he could buy lots of furniture and then spent an hour furnishing the place. He asked for my opinion a lot. Joking comments were almost made about everybody assuming Minstrels were good interior decorators, but I bit my tongue.
    And then he gave me -all- of his leftover and extra furniture along with some pieces he'd picked up deliberately for me.

     The downstairs now looks like this from one angle, much cozier and more attractive.

     The upstairs has a bed and pictures now. It looks like a place he can get some rest after a long day in the Barrow Downs.

     From the bed, the door leading downstairs. I've since used up every last interior slot. Nothing more can be placed in his house and though things could be changed some... it's done. And I wish there was a bit more I could do with it. Still it's got pretty green walls and a nice tile floor and down stairs there's a bookcase.

     What more could a simple Minstrel really want when he can't afford a bigger house? I did change the music and add a bit more in the yard. But it's done. And though it might not be Rift's Dimensions... it's a whole lot better than nothing. I'm anxiously waiting on time to get Tirasiel his last two or three necessary levels so I can see what housing is like in Aion.

Little Moments of Delight

     Just a minipost of screenshot spam of little things that delighted me in my various games. Saving the thinking post for later.

Aion: 

     I LOVE this hairstyle. Love it. It looks like something I'd design myself and it makes me happy. Also... Tirasiel got an earring as a quest reward. I noticed on the character screen that he's now wearing one! I've never seen this in any other game. It makes me grin.

     I have no idea what this guy is. His name is Mantigar and he makes you kill stuff that is beneath him. That I do know and am amused by.

     Neat ruins in the background, but mostly the Karnif, what a nifty looking critter. I like it. Tirasiel on the other hand killed loads of them.

Rift: 

 

     I love this house. Daethrys couldn't go there because there were loads of Guardians around it who didn't like him, but it was fun to look at from afar.

      Rifts look really cool. This one's all creepy and tentacle-y and Daethrys looks like he's checking to make sure Friend is coming to help out.

     I love weather effects in game. Rift's are beautiful. The color of the air, the sounds that go with them, but best of all, my kirin's scales sparkle like their wet and Daethrys too looks just a bit wet and uncomfortable. I should feel bad for keeping him out in the rain to take screenshots.

Lord of the Rings Online:

     Night sky. I love it and a new mount. Horse of the Jester which Sadrondir has christened Laughter. I love horses, and for all its other minor graphical flaws Lord of the Rings Online has some of the most beautiful ones I have ever seen.

Mostly Eye Candy

     

     Last night a friend and I popped onto Rift for a little bit of a change of pace after very frustrating LFRs in WoW. Daethrys was able to buy her a horse and we went off and shut down a rift before curiosity got the better of Daethrys and he went off to do a quest he'd been given with part of the Unicornalia event that's going on. (Oh how I covet those unicorns! Sadly I know I'll never manage it this year.)
     The beauty of Rift continually surprises me. Every time I log in I find something beautiful to screenshot and things that capture my imagination. Daethrys spent the day in the Highlands today (unexpectedly) working on a quest that I think ties in with the latest content. It's very good xp anyhow and the zone is just gorgeous. I wish I'd taken more screenshots than I did and think I'll have to revisit it even if it's for no other purpose than to screenshot everything.

Loved the look of this lovely but slightly forbidding bit of forest... all full of very cranky fae.

On a rise overlooking the house from the first picture.

     I wish I'd taken shots of the storm that was going when I arrived or the high rope bridges he crossed for the quest, but the zone was busy with holiday stuff today. Maybe next time.

     I spent a little time in LOTRO today too. Sadrondir has acquired all the holiday mounts he can get without me putting out some real money so you'd think I would be done. But he decided he wanted some prettier clothes than his crafted gear so he earned the leaves for that today and learned a couple of dances while he was at it.

     The new clothes suit my image of him a bit better, though he's sort of surprised me by turning out a bit different than I thought he'd be as a character, still, pretty clothes suit  him. (And I still love this harp.)

     The alts did a bit too. Curongalad finished the tutorial and took up making armor (and promptly made himself a new set. Mistelir worked the leather Sadrondir had sent him and then sent it off to Curongalad along with a club he made for him and Curongalad promptly made him a new set of clothes. They'll only be doing minimal questing and processing what they can of what Sadrondir sends them for the moment. 

     And then before I logged Sadrondir insisted on the circlet to go with his outfit.

     He wears flower wreath far better than I expected and this shot, taken in the split second when the Milestone action is finished but he hasn't vanished yet shows off the new tunic and circlet really well. And some of the other things that LOTRO did surprisingly well. The characters may be less attractive than some but the animations for some things are spot on. And he's a lovely springtime minstrel. Now I just have to talk Curongalad out of needing a fancy horse for himself...

More LOTRO

     Playing a little more LOTRO this week. After my post last week I discovered that if I went into the graphics options and optimized the settings the game got much prettier. I feel very silly for not having considered this earlier. And though the character models still aren't as impressive as Aion or Rift's... well with views like the one above I can't say it's not a gorgeous game.
     I've had a busy week. Broke down and decided I wanted alts and wanted to use the Auction House so I dropped a bit of cash for the Samwise Gamgee Starter Pack that gives all the alts riding and a horse and upgrades the account to premium to get rid of currency limits and suchlike. It also gave me a third slot on each server which was promptly filled but there will be a post on that later. The first thing I did after that was level Mistelir (the original hunter. I've decided he's Sadrondir's little brother) the rest of the way through the tutorial and decide on a profession for him.

     And one of the people in my Kinship gave me some gold and a quick tour of housing and festival grounds. (How are people so wonderfully kind in this game? It's not that there aren't nice people in other games but I've never had quite so much welcome and affection in any other game.) The Spring festival hit the next day and my Rift plans went out the window as Sadrondir ran around hastily saving up holiday currency for horses. Because what else would one spend it on, really? Though now he's picked out an outfit he wants too. More leaf gathering tomorrow.
     He has been able to acquire the two holiday horses that take leaves to get and the one that requires flowers (and hasn't been screenshotted yet.) And then finally I gave in yesterday and let him buy a house! 6 Haven Way, Celeth Gelais.

     Here he is one of the new horses in front of the house. It's got a few decorations inside but I'll want to do more as I can. It's not quite as customizable as I'd hoped, not quite like Rift's Dimensions are, but I can put in music and that was the first thing I did. :D

     And on the second spring horse, galloping off to pick flowers to buy the third. And since he's decided on an outfit for sure it looks like I'll be playing the festival at least one more day before it's done. He wants to learn dances too after all.
     But horse and houses aside one of the most exciting things that happened was when today in the hedge maze I saw Danania ! I'd just added her blog to my blog roll and then I saw her. I waved in passing and she was nice enough to whisper and chat with me and then wave again as we passed each other in the process of getting lost. She was nice, of course. I haven't run into anybody in game yet who wasn't.

Minstrels and Horses

     There's been a lot more Lord of the Rings Online in the last several days than I anticipated. It's not a very high graphic game compared to some it's true but the next time I logged in again it was to find that I had been sent more goodies from my kind and helpful Kinship. I've never played in something so friendly! Sadrondir has been entirely outfitted with crafted armor and a nice sword, and had his bags stuffed with food by the bunch of kind people who invited him to join them. Because of that kindness I at first felt slightly obligated to log in a bit more often, but then... well something happened.

     I started to get rather attached to this silly face. I started to get really interested in the storylines he was questing through. And I started noticing that though the character graphics might not be the best there are so many little things that were done very right.

Working on his Jewelry Making. And that really is exactly what it looks like he's doing.

      He saved up the points from doing deeds to buy himself the riding skill and then finally went off to Bree on his free starter horse to buy himself a horse he can keep. He named it. (Because you can do that!) And now that he's reached level 15 he's saving up to buy himself a house. I went and looked into the elven neighborhood because of course that's the sort of house it will have to be. They're lovely, but he'll have a lot of questing to do to earn the gold to have and upkeep one.
     In Bree he went to the Prancing Pony and picked up a few more quests but even better... a harp.

     This makes me very happy, and is what I had in mind for Sadrondir from the beginning. I have a feeling this one will stay on the list for a while. And I think part of the reason for that is the story and lore. I love things where I can really immerse myself into the Lore and even more than WoW LOTRO has that. Of course, stories I can get into leads to wanting more stories of my own and several elfy alts have already sprung up in my head, though for now I'm trying to resist the urge to do much else with them.

Thoughts on Lord of the Rings Online

 

       I'm on a bit of an MMO exploring binge. Just poking into things here and there as stuff slows down in my main game. This one was an interesting choice for me, one that was largely inspired by people in my blog list. A few years ago when it was newly free to play I had downloaded Lord of the Rings Online and decided to give it a shot. I made an elf hunter (but of course) and did approximately the first five quests of the tutorial before I uninstalled it. I apparently hadn't been impressed though I can't draw to mind now all of the reasons why.
     But I'd seen blog posts of people who loved it and for the longest time the scraps of paper with that first elf's carefully researched name on them hung around my desk taunting me. Until finally a few evenings ago I decided 'what the heck, I've got the drive space' and re installed. There was no indication of what server I'd played on before. I couldn't remember. Then I looked through the list and went 'Arkenstone, that looks like something I'd have picked.' Sure enough, my hunter was still there. But I didn't want to revisit him without having done the tutorial. I didn't remember how to play. So I made a Minstrel to take as far as the hunter had gone before switching back, if I didn't just give up on it at that point.
     Only that isn't what happened. Sadrondir got through as far as Mistelir had... and then just a bit further. This isn't so bad, either they'd changed it or I've grown more adaptable. The characters of course aren't nearly as pretty or customizable as those in Rift or Aion, sadly. But the world is Middle Earth and it's surprisingly lovely. Sadrondir kept going, I kept telling myself I should switch back to Mistelir, but the truth is almost every game has a hunter archetype and that is often what I play but it isn't often that I get to play a well done bard. Sadrondir made his way all the way out of the tutorial last night. And then ran into a lovely person in the first town in Ered Luin who stopped and invited him into her kinship.
    I didn't know what a kinship was. She told me and invited me and spent at least half an hour offering me helpful advice and tips on how to play, where to find things, crafting. Ever so warm and polite and helpful. The other person online chimed up to welcome me... and then just before I logged off I found a mailbox and found that in his silence he'd also made a bunch of food and mailed it to me to help out. I'm a little bit floored.
     My guild in Rift is also really nice if predominantly the other faction. But these were the only two people I'd met in the whole game so far and they stopped and did a bunch to help me out. Is it any surprise that this morning Sadrondir logged on to do more quests to try and earn himself enough store points for riding? And I'm told there are houses. Elf houses, that you can decorate! And Minstrels can actually stop and play their instruments, using number keys a bit like a piano!

And the game is pretty even if the characters aren't as fancy. I'm not sure how far I'll get, but for now it's on the list... and I can't help wondering what it was that I didn't like the last time.