Friday, July 24, 2020

A Month of MMORPGs: Lord of the Rings Online


In this special month-long series, I talk about various MMORPGs I have played over the years and the things I enjoyed best about them. This series celebrates how social media and social games bring people together, no matter the distance.




Dear LOTRO Family; 
Yes, you. If you have anything at all to do with The Lord of the Rings Online, then this is for you. Yes, even the developers -- maybe even especially.
It's been a tough week for us all, hasn't it? We were enjoying a fantastic Midsummer Festival, groups were making progress on the Remmorchant raid, new players were venturing into the game for the first time because of the developers' generosity, and everything was great. (Well, we can all nitpick about something, but with an MMO that's been around for over a decade it's impossible to have everything be perfect.)
Then the Dale-men's Cram hit the fan. 
Servers were down, unstable, back up, down again -- it was a game of musical chairs that felt reminiscent of someone trying to sit in other people's laps and having to dash to another chair, only that chair was never open. We've been here before, though -- those of us who have played the game long enough. We know these things happen, and that there's a dedicated team of people who love and live this game as much as we players do. 
For those of you who have been patient and supportive, I applaud you. You know that SSG will take good care of us once everything is stable again (they've already extended the Midsummer Festival, and have noted they will address subscriptions and a thank-you gift). We know the withdrawal feeling is rough, but it will pass. And you probably already know everything I'm about to write in this entry -- or wrote in a referenced entry. I encourage you to like, follow, share, retweet, comment... anything at all if this entry resonates with you in some capacity! 
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve" -- but I hope we may continue on as friends as I continue my blogging journey with Learning LOTRO, and with next week's debut of "LLVL," a LOTRO-based fanfic I have been working on for some months now. (Be gentle. It has a slow start.)

Always Returning to LOTRO,
snarkqueen



What is Lord of the Rings Online?/Why I Started Playing

This is my blog, and I'm going to cheat. I already wrote an entire blog entry about this when I started my Learning LOTRO series back in February. I had big plans for the series even though I was doubtful of the readership I would get. I'm very thankful for all of the retweets from @lotro and @lotrofamily!


Why I Continue to Play

Where else can I be an amazingly agile and fierce high elf from the first age who is Known across Middle-earth and welcomed by (almost) everyone? Or a fire-loving lore-master from the Bree-lands? Or a hobbit named Aumai Goodness? Only in LOTRO, folks.

But seriously, for me the allure of the game is all in the story and the setting. Those two elements actually compelled me to go back and re-read Tolkien's works and find new appreciation for them. While I still think his writing style is as dry as stale toast, I now have a better grasp of the depth of the lore and the environments he crafted. I get to live in that world every time I log into the game. It's one of the best forms of escapism for a lover of fantasy.

LOTRO was my first MMO and I expect I will be playing it for as long as it's around. It will be a sad day when I have to bid farewell to it. Even when I branch out and try new games, I always return to LOTRO.

Social Media


There are real people behind the social media accounts, in case you were wondering. They're super nice. They have even started listing Learning LOTRO in the weekly Beacon without me pestering them or flailing wildly in their general direction. You couldn't find a better community, either. Start tweeting your questions on Twitter with the hashtag #lotrofamily and watch the responses flood in. If you want to know all the ways you can keep tabs on the game and events, this is a good list to start with -- but there are a LOT of other resources you can Google.

Website: https://lotro.com/en
News: https://lotro.com/en/game/articles
Wiki: https://lotro-wiki.com
Forums: https://lotro.com/en/forums/forums.php
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LOTRO
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lotro
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEpCbSpgRYY2t2pIN4v0nKg
Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lotrostream



Have you played LOTRO? Leave some comments here or on Twitter about how @lotro has brought you together with other players, and be sure to tell them that #GamerReverieBlog sent you!



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