The Road goes ever on and on…

If I have been conspicuous in my absence, it is because I have a new gaming machine. Not just any gaming machine, but an actual, honest-to-god computer running Windows. Of course, I can’t just get any machine when I have to use it as my day-to-day workstation, but an iMac can handle almost anything I throw at it these days. Naturally, it’s not just the fact that I have a new toy that’s kept me from writing.

Instead, I’ve been bitten by the MMO bug. Originally, I endured several weeks of being told by P of all the fun she was having. For a while, I escaped into Arkham Asylum, but eventually got sick of being ignored for several hours a night in  favour of people she had never met in real life. I threw a tantrum, which seemed to work for a few days but we went back to the same routine.

That’s when I resolved to get the iMac and see what Lord of the Rings Online is really like. Turns out, it’s a lot of fun. The world is vast, and perhaps more populated than Tolkien’s books ever hinted at. Still, I think it captures the essence of the setting very well. I’ve often wondered while playing, how much material is gleaned from official sources, how much from third parties (like ICE’s out of print Middle Earth Roleplaying game supplements), and how much is original content.

Being an old game (three years now), it’s not particularly taxing on the hardware, and the iMac hardware handles it nicely. In terms of gameplay, it scratches that Diablo-shaped itch between my shoulder blades. I had played a brief trial of WoW, which LOTRO obviously borrows heavily from, but character progression is not entirely about XP and levels. There are many other ways to enhance your character’s effectiveness through Deeds of exploration, slaying, and quest completion. The setting is also much more attractive to me that the world of World of Warcraft (see what I did there?)

Part of why I play is the story. While the events of the book are pretty much immutable, the player’s character acts in support of it. It sets you up for raids to clear up places like the Barrow Downs (Tom Bombadil stole a kill of mine there >.<) and Angmar (home of the Witch-King, the captain of the Nazgul). You will also be apparently asked to clear up behind the Fellowship of the Ring and make sure they aren’t detected on their trip between Rivendell and Moria.

I have to admit that joining the game as a newbie is a intimidating if you’ve never MMO’d before. That being said, the player base is very friendly and open to helping out. LOTRO goes free to play on 10 September. The installation is pretty big (I’d recommend downloading overnight), but come on in and play. I’m on the Elendilmir server and am happy to help any of you get started. Just e-mail me for my character name.