#LOTRO Forums

[rohirric-hunter]

I also really like that the ultimate reward on the reward track is often some kind of hard to get or limited time or old VIP-exclusive item. Limited time access items are one of the biggest banes of online gaming in my opinion. This is a good way to keep these items accessible while also preventing them from feeling cheap.

#lotro #also bonus: the devs dont have to design some whole new item every single time #of course its good for them to have new items as well sometimes! #but im very happy that players who missed out on these things before still have a shot at them! #and not just because the last reward track had an item i wanted #some people over on the forums are complaining about it but theyre just annoying gamers #maybe i should make a post on the forums congratulating the devs on their good decision #just so they know there are people out there who like it too

[captainderyn]

I love lotro but I also hate it more than anything because I was trying to get directX 10 or 11 to work and now my game won’t load in anything but a 1024 aspect ratio and can’t recognize direct 3d whatever the hell despite them all being installed *pain*

#captainderyn rambles #lotro #scouring the forums for fixes but it’s killing me

[sweetearthandnorthernsky]

Halbarad? and if not Halbarad, Calenglad?

calenglad!

halbarad!

#ask game reply tag #the beast is kinda a joke #bc in the lotro forums there's a calenglad.jpg that's just titled. #beast #and it's the funniest thing #i'm love both of them <3

[loremastering]

having a boomer moment but does anyone one know why my camera speed in lotro slows down when i have anything selected and how to fix it???

#lotro #ive googled everything i could about this but alas #ill try the forums too

[tutterypuff]

Do you play MMOs? Do you want FREE ART? do you want FREE ART of your WOW, SWTOR, or LOTRO character? You're in luck! Because I, puffball, am laundering clout here on Tumblr once again. I tried to be on twitter and couldn't stand getting my eyebrows blasted off by foul takes every five minutes (and now it's some other website? weird.), and though mastodon is my home, my art doesn't get much interaction (because I post it on my extremely insular self-hosted instance that sees no traffic and doesn't allow new users). so I'm here on Tumblr back on my old tricks, opening requests like it's 2011 Deviantart and I'm going on the free art forums in exchange for followers.

send an ask or reply here and god willing I will draw your little guy

#world of warcraft #swtor #lord of the rings online #requests open #world of warcraft oc #free art #I'm just bored drawing my own four ocs #none of them are like “this is a pretty character design” type of OCs and I'm too lazy to make one that's just pretty #or just weird looking #I need zest #someone give me zest to draw #and like #art buddies #it was so fun here in 2014 on like #swtor and wow tumblr when we would all draw each other's characters and have little comics of them interacting #and we would all get super hype about OC shipping like it was the olympics

[captain-grammar]

LOTRO has been down for almost 24 hours.

While mass outages like this are extremely rare (I think the last huge outage was a few years ago; game worlds were offline for a day, maybe two, but there were ongoing issues with the world chat and store for about a week afterwards) there have been ongoing issues with the game for some time. Niggles, small login issues that were rectified fairly swiftly, patch fixes here and there in addition weekly maintenance... But with the changes they're making and the expansions in-game, I wonder what work is being done in terms of "infrastructure" and server stability, and whether we can expect to see more of this in the future? I hope not.

Of course, this happening over a holiday weekend is awful, and I fully credit those working on fixing the issue who are potentially away from their loved ones when they may much prefer to be spending time with them. Having to deal with less-than-savory social media and forum posts from people who may have wanted to spend a little down time in-game can't be helping. But I've also been seeing posts from newer players who have been seeing these changes and updates and errors happening frequently, confused wondering if this is the norm and losing faith...

I don't know whether more transparency is needed or not. It's a sucky situation all over.

#LOTRO #lord of the rings online #mmorpg

[queen-scribbles]

Forums posts about the LOTRO issue I'm having say to delete and reinstall but the download page keeps taking too long to load.

#queen rambles #i just wanna finish aelin through the taste of spring again

[athelascross]

Collect Your Commemorative Shirt

I've been stalking the forums on and off every couple of hours or so and someone just posted this shirt, so when the LOTRO servers come back up collect your commemorative shirt

(made by user Ethedis Silverleaf on the LOTRO Forum)

Press here to go to their post directly

#lotro #lord of the rings online #mmorpg #the downtime is killing me #i just got back into wanting to play the game and its down #im fine i promise

[kemendin]

Was just idly updating my SWTOR forum profile and I kind of forgot how long ago I joined this game:

That was TWO DAYS after it was originally announced. Wow.

I have vague memories of participating in beta (I think??) and playing right when it came out, because these were my late high school years when I was deeeeep in the Star Wars obsessed hole. And then I got distracted by other things (mainly LOTRO), and my Star Wars phase went into hibernation for quite a while - never gone, never will be, but it was snoozing. I think I popped back in the game once or twice, but it didn't stick.

When I delved back into SWTOR nearly a couple years ago now (wow time flies), I still had my same old account, same old characters (most of whom needed renames, naturally, since their original monikers had been reclaimed). In that respect, the character who's now known as Khel is actually one of my oldest OCs. I didn't remember ANYTHING about the story, or who he was, or how I'd been playing him, except a) he was a light side Sith, and b) he decided to have a crush on the Imperial officer who'd joined him. Vanirr, too, is a holdover from my earlier Star Wars phase, though again, I remembered little except that he was a knowledge-oriented Zabrak with a saberstaff.

But I'm glad they stuck around, I'm glad they got fresh life alongside a still-growing roster of newer OCs: some, like Caspian and Darius, who were brought over from other games; others, like Maahes and Emryn, who have inspiration from previous OCs but have now grown into their own unique personas; and some, like Deska and Shod'al, who have their very recent origins in this game.

The point being, really, it's been a blast being obsessed with SWTOR, writing fanfic again after so many years of not, spamming screenshots, even being inspired towards some art here and there. A part of me will always be found in the galaxy far, far away, and right now, I love how it's at the forefront.

#swtor #kem rambles #welp that was a longer reminiscence than i intended but hey NOSTALGIA #i tend to say kemendin is my oldest oc just because he was the first i really developed and roleplayed and all #but my handle isn't kemendin for swtor because kem didn't EXIST yet #and that's just wild to me lol

[sniperct]

the people in my lotro forums thread about the character changes are about as awful as expected

gaming forums in general are filled with some of the most racist, sexist, queerphobic people but the lotro forums somehow manage to take a step above all of that the SECOND they get so much of a whiff of their narrow-minded preconceptions of middle-earth being challenge

I have seen so many threads locked over the years, mine, wherein I was giving actual feedback on the execution of some things (skin colors lacking reflection/being overall too ashen, primarily), but it might still end up being locked

I swear most of the time I’m on that forum I’m basically dealing with a bunch of babies with narrow conceptions of what is and is not canon or lore-breaking, so I don’t tend to stick around for very long

[rohirric-hunter]

So the new wild theory about the Rift of Nûrz Ghashu doesn't actually hold up under closer inspection, and actually ended up raising more questions yet again, BUT I still think it was a good theory so I'm going to share it anyway (Gundabad spoilers):

The Rift of Nûrz Ghashu IS Thafar-gathol.

Not literally Thafar-gathol, obviously. Clearly the story about a Zhélruka city in the Grey Mountains was, as Durin thought, the vision of a confused Dwarf who was shown a vision of Biriz-zahar as Mótsog wished it to be. Thafar-gathol, in all its mythologized glory, never existed... but that doesn't mean there wasn't a city.

As a matter of fact, there was almost certainly a city. According to Gandalf, the lone Zhélruka survivor who bore the tale of Thafar-gathol to the rest of the world appeared centuries after his party went missing on its way to Gundabad. There was not a large party of Zhélruka wandering through the Grey Mountains for centuries, not without someone knowing about them. Gundabad and its surrounding holdings were still occupied by Longbeards at the time, after all. Surely they would have been aware of nomads in their territory for that long.

No, the Zhélruka went somewhere, and were living somewhere, for those centuries. Thafar-gathol might not exist, but there was a city.

And the Rift of Nûrz Ghashu boasts a ruined city quite close to Gundabad -- deep beneath the ground as the Dwarves like it, and secret. No one knows anything about it.

The history of the Rift, of course, is as always confused and difficult to piece together. Glathlírel reports that Thaurlach fled the Breaking of Thangorodrim to the land that would eventually become Angmar. She pursued him, but he managed to hide from her for years, until "the Dark Power rose again and Thaurlach awoke from his secret slumber." This seems to reference when Sauron began to reveal himself 500 years into the Second Age -- which means there's a 500 year timeframe where Thaurlach was hiding somewhere in Angmar and Glathlírel hunted him in vain. We know from the behavior of Askâdurs that Balrogs in hiding sleep in caves deep beneath the ground. So it seems likely that perhaps Thaurlach destroyed the city in the Rift when he awoke, much as Askâdurs brought down Khazad-dûm when he awoke. HOWEVER, he was not defeated and imprisoned for another 500 years -- Eimyr says that the Blue Wizards helped Glathlírel imprison him, and they arrived in Middle-earth about 1000 years into the Second Age and then soon after went to the east and never returned.

But this leaves 500 years between the Sinking of Beleriand and the awakening of Thaurlach when Angmar-to-be was a place of relative peace, and tired newcomers looking for a home could potentially begin some great delving in the mountainous north -- perhaps an easier prospect than turning back and finding their way back through the unfriendly roads that lead to Câr Bronach, especially if there was already something there to work off of.

And when Thaurlach did awaken, and the city was destroyed by a rampaging Balrog? Well, then perhaps a vision of Biriz-zahar being wrecked by a different Balrog would only resonate even more with the lone survivor, and he would feel even more as if that city was his, confusing the two stories. This also matches what the legend itself says about the fall of Thafar-gathol:

For in the dimness of the deep A shadowed shape did stir from sleep. He woke the worm-kin well past number, Avowing to avenge his slumber.

What could that possibly be except for a Balrog?

The theory doesn't hold up entirely. Asmólf says that the city in the Rift was originally built on the surface but "fell into the earth" during the "Great Destruction." Great Destruction almost certainly refers to the Sinking of Beleriand, implying that it was built before then, but the city doesn't look like it's fallen a great distance to me... or at the very least it's been cleaned up well.

And then of course there's the architecture found in said city. There are statues of Dwarves, but they are not central, standing next to statues of Elves and apparently Men. If the Zhélruka did live here they did not build the place, or not alone, at any rate. However, there is one interesting statue on the walkup to the final boss fight:

It's difficult to see in this screenshot, but the furthest-to-the-right statue is wearing a helmet that rises symmetrically to a point -- a helm style distinctive to Zhélruka armour:

(I would have gladly committed murder for the opportunity to get up close and personal with that statue while I could fly. Without a second thought.)

As far as I can find, this is the only use of this statue in the game. However, the other Dwarf statues do not share this particular distinctiveness, and while not all Zhélruka wear that particular helmet, that same statue asset is used regularly in known Longbeard ruins.

We don't know what Zhélruka architecture looks like -- the closest we probably see is Vóin's secret room in Khîl's house, but it would be silly to assume that room was not inspired at all by other architectural influences as well. (Like, you know, Mordor.) It is, however, very unlikely that it is, by complete coincidence, so very similar to Arnorian architecture that, for instance, game devs could just copy-paste the same assets for them. (Clearly most of the city, or at least most of the parts you are able to explore, were built by either the Númenóreans or whatever Elven society they inherited their city-building skills from, as pre-Númenor humans did not really build large cities.) It seems unlikely that the Zhélruka lived even in the ruins of the city without making it a bit more theirs... but perhaps they were guests?

Regardless, that's the theory. I don't think it holds up enough to properly headcanon it -- at best it's something the devs might have had in mind way back in 2008 when the Rift was first released, but the Zhélruka were first mentioned in 2018, and a lot changes in ten years, so who even knows for sure.

#lotro #lotro theory #gundabad spoilers #part of me wonders if i posted this on the forums #if one of the devs would step in with an actual explanation #probably not #theyve managed to avoid explaining the rift for 15 years they definitely arent going to start now

[gay-in-middle-earth]

LOTRO

Howdy! My name is Oso and welcome to my new LOTRO blog! I'm a gay Latino, who, if you take the people at the forum seriously, is destroying Tolkien's legacy by existing <3 So I've been playing LOTRO on and off, mostly having fun making new characters and outfitting them, but this last update really brought me back with motivation so make new OCs. I can't play MMOS like I used too (darn full time jobs!) But here are some of my new characters!

Name: Rioberto (Rio for short) Pronouns: He/Him Rio's a Guardian, my idea for him was a simple country boy defender of sorts!

Name: Radimir Pronouns: He/Him/They Radimir is actually my OC from FFXIV who's been bouncing around with me as I travel to different places. LOTRO version of Radimir is a Minstrel raised by Hobbits! Keeping up with Radimir having two moms in every universe, he has two Hobbit moms and is happily living in the Shire. Lore breaking? Yeah probably, but I love the Shire.

Name: Saphiro Pronouns: She/her So! Everyone has a Ranger and Saphiro is mine! I also never played a Hunter before and have been having a lot of fun with the class. excited to get her Ranger outfit, if I find anything that fits!

#LOTRO #LOTR OCs #Lord of the rings Online #I am sick with the Rona and it's almost midnight so i'll add more of my characters later. #TBH at this point I'm waiting for the other Races to get Updated #I want to play as a dark skinned elf #And Hobbits can't get that dark skinned either #Dwarves ARE still my fav but I'm enjoying the Man updates a lot

[southfarthing]

I'm downloading lotro to give it a whirl. Any advice on what character classes & areas are good for first time players?

HECK YESSSSSS

I'd definitely give it a google!!! there's some really good resources on the lotro wiki and advice on the lotro forum! off the top of my head, guardian and hunter and champion are pretty easy I think and good for solo adventuring 🥰

i highly advise doing the shire once you've finished the intro of the epic quest!! it's just very cute and laid back 🥹 then disabling your xp and doing ered luin and bree-land! (bree-land levels you up a bit more than the others because it also has the old forest and the barrow downs etc. and personally i prefer zooming through ered luin at a slightly higher level.) each of these three areas has its own epic prologue, and they all lead to the same place in the epic storyline, so you can do one or all of them - it doesn't matter 🥰

you can also search for lotro area maps by level! it'll show you which areas you should do depending on your level ☺️

#once you've finished bree then it's time to hit the lonelands! the quests themselves will guide you around to new areas though dw #have fun!!!!!!!🥰 #it's mad to me that people are asking my help for lotro i feel like i just started playing yesterday ghvhghfdg #lotro #madrielite #replies

[loremastering]

64bit issue

i posted this to the lotro forums but might as well ask here too

I saw that the 32bit is retiring soon so I switched to 64bit. The game has become unplayable now. I move at 1fps. Things I've tried to do to solve the problem: - Update my drivers - Disable my antivirus - Lower my graphics

I’ve also restarted my PC and uninstalled then reinstalled LOTRO. I looked at my performance from the task manager and everything suggested that it should be working properly, albeit memory was a bit high. Does anyone know what could be causing this issue? I will switch back to 32bit for now but I'm worried LOTRO will become unplayable for me after it retires. Newer games like ESO work fine so I'm not sure why LOTRO is throwing a fit. (it's possible that just getting a better gaming pc might help. i'm using one i bought new a year ago and it was cheap as far as new pcs go)

#lotro #i hope that if it is memory affecting it a chip will help but idk

[emyn-arnens]

OOH OOH OOH! lotro ask game!!! 2, 4, 9, 20, 35, 42? <3

Thanks for the ask!! <3

2. Do you have a favorite Epic quest?

I love, love, love the session play quests. My favorite tho has to be the ever-iconic Boromir POV session play during vol 3 book 7. I’m sure he does canonically know everyone’s names in the fellowship, but the names he gives them in the game are too hilarious.

4. Do you have a favorite side quest?

I really love the lore-based side quests in Lothlorien that talk about the tale of Amroth and Nimrodel, as well as the ones where you explore or reflect in different areas. The slower pace and encouragement to take in the scenery were a breath of fresh air after spending so much time hacking at things in Moria.

I also love the side quests in Rohan that mention how Eowyn has inspired other girls and women, and the relationships that she has with the various female thanes and reeves. LOTRO has always been pretty good about its depiction of women imo, but it seemed like around Rohan it really started stepping into portraying relationships between women, which I appreciated.

9. Do you have any favorite character(s)?

Corudan, my beloved. **spoilers if you haven’t reached Helm’s Deep** I still can’t believe I just waved goodbye to him and sent him on his way at Helm’s Deep without realizing I wouldn’t see him again. ;-; The devs better pick up his storyline again and let us know what happened to him—and he’d better be alive—or I’ll riot.

And since we’re fresh off the Harvest Festival, I love Ivy Redsmith. She’s such a good friend ;-;

20. Do you spend a lot of time on cosmetics- outfits, weapons, housing, pets? Do you have any favorites?

I’ve spent WAY too much time on cosmetic outfits. I spent most of my time collecting cosmetics/cool armor and creating outfits when I first started playing, and it’s the reason why I’m perpetually running out of inventory, vault, and housing space because I have too many beloved pieces I’m not willing to part with. (On the upside tho, my new alts never have to run around in their janky beginner armor for very long because I always have something from the stash that I can share with them lol.) Most of my screenshots of the outfits I made were on my old computer so I don’t have access to them (rip), but I modeled a lot of the ones I made after the outfits I saw on blogs like Cosmetic LOTRO, Starry Mantle, Material Middle-earth, and Wandering Around Arda.

As for favorite pieces, some of my favorites include the Tunic and Trousers of the Autumn Traveller (Harvest Festival), the bee wings (Harvest Festival), the Swan Cloak and Cloak of the Dove (store items), Gwir-palvais (Isengard instance), all of the Dunland quest reward armor (that was when I really did my inventory in lol), and the High Elf starter armor.

35. Are there any quotes you like?

Rodwen and her group of failing adventurers (in Parth Galen/the East Wall in East Rohan) have a lot of choice dialogue, with my favorite being, “We lost Cuilinn not long after leaving Cair Andros; he was a minstrel, and did not understand the need for silence at a crucial moment.”

And I love every sassy comment Corudan makes about third wheeling with Horn and Nona. :D

42. Are there any fun easter eggs you’ve found that you enjoy?

According to the devs it’s not an official easter egg (and wasn’t a connection on their radar at all), but I read on the forums that the Ivy Redsmith/Halson Cleary story line coincidentally mirrors Connie Willis’ short story, “A Letter from the Clearys.” I've never read the story, but I thought that was cool, even if it was unintentional.

My favorite official easter egg is the hidden deed for climbing to the highest point of the Hollin Ridge, which bestows the “Ridge-racer” title upon completion. My main bore the title proudly for a long time. :D

[lotro asks]

#this was so fun! thanks for sending these! #lotro #asks

[lotrolulz]

On the subject of the servers being down / fucked up for over a week at this point... Found this gem on the forums last Friday (7/17). It is kind of perfect.  Pay special attention to that bit that says, “Rumor has it that a lot of other characters are also staging a massive protest.” Mycaptaintotallymightbeoneofthem. More info coming.  Check out the thread, there’s even more now! https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?681584-A-confession-It-s-my-fault-but-not-really-my-fault

#LOTRO #LOTRO Game #LOTRO MMORPG #Lord of the Rings Online #The Lord of the Rings Online #Landroval #LOTRO Landroval #LOTRO Landroval Server #Landroval Server #LOTRO Forums