LotRO: Moving Forward In Stealth Mode

I never jumped on the doom and gloom bandwagon following Kate Paiz’ 2014 overview earlier this year, which proclaimed no new Lord of the Rings Online expansion.

Kate said they wanted to focus on old systems and add game regions. The first thing I see on re-install is a “Happy Cloud” service replacing Pando Media Booster, which looks like an improvement.

At least it’s getting the download stats right instead of those goofy negative numbers.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the evil underdog faction, so I’m finding more sympathy for Turbine and LotRO now. (Haha.) Since I quit LotRO quite a while ago, I’ve done 3-monthers back in WoW and Rift. I played through Cataclysm and got into Pandaria. I started a second account and boxed Rift almost to 60.

I’ve played several newer shinier games: Secret World, Elder Scrolls, Neverwinter, GW2, and FFXIV: ARR, and other single-player games. I might jump into Elder Scrolls at any time, although I’m taking a class this summer.

I like where LotRO is going. The recent updates through 13 brought Ents, Isengard, Fangorn Forest, adjustable and expandable inventory bags, and cosmetic pets. Update 14 is bringing, among other things:

1. A new official global chat channel, long needed.
2. A new and mysterious customizing item system.
3. A new class, the Beorning.
4. Three new areas including Paths of the Dead and Belfalas. (July/August)

Source: LotRO Players. The Dead Marshes and Pelargir updates are supposedly coming later in the year.

I’ve always wanted to see the sea in LotRO, and Belfalas supposedly has a bay. The devs agree that Belfalas is the most beautiful zone they’ve seen so far in the game. So, we’ll also see, or at least the people at level cap will see.

I don’t know if I’ll start a Beorning.

I’ve been mostly pain free for the last week. This weekend I re-arranged to make a standing computer station in my new apartment since sitting tends to aggravate my issues.

This was inspired by a blog post last year on Biobreak. I still have the chair if I get tired–just move the monitors and keyboard down to the desk.

I’ve also got a new sidebar comic strip on the way (second to last in the story arc). Until then, happy gaming.