Gaming - Part 1

Thought I'd change things up a little bit and share a little bit about the online games I play.  Today, I'll cover the game I play probably 70% of my game time: Lord of the Rings Online.

This game lets you play in a virtual Middle-earth.  You can create a man, dwarf, elf, or hobbit, and can follow (generally) the path the Fellowship took.  You can visit the Shire, Weathertop, Moria, Isengard...all different iconic places from the books.

I have two main characters I play - a Dwarf Guardian, who you can think of as a "fighter" - he has an axe and a shield, and can stand there and get beat upon pretty good.  He doesn't do a lot of damage to his enemies in single blows, but eventually he can wear them down (more than they wear him down) and  Human Hunter, who you can probably imagine Legolas - he fights with a bow more than a sword, he can run pretty fast, but if he gets into a swordfight with an enemy, he won't last very long.  Thankfully, he can do damage pretty quickly, so usually his enemies fall before they get to him.  Sometimes he gets surprised, and then I have to decide whether to stick it out or run away (no, his name is not Robin!).


I have other characters, but they're mostly "mules" - created specifically for the purpose of holding all the 'stuff' I find along the way, as well as being crafters, rather than adventurers.  There's all different kinds of crafting in the game, but each character can only do so much, so you need to either trade with others, or do what I do, and make a bunch of characters that together can do everything.

I spend a lot of time in this game questing, following the Rangers and others to help either prepare for the Fellowship's coming, or cover up their tracks.  This fall, we're getting an expansion - the Riders of Rohan, where we'll be able to visit part of Rohan (the lands of Rohan are huge, and won't be released in the game all at once.

I also spend a lot of time crafting, either actually making things like food or potions, or practicing to get my skills to the next level.

In addition, I spend a lot of time playing with or just chatting with one of my oldest gaming friends - we're in the same 'guild' (they're called 'kinships' in this game), so we get to talk just about every day!

Some of the scenery in the game is incredible, and I always take time from fighting, questing, crafting, whatever, just to look around and soak it all in :)