LOTRO: Project Gold pays up!

Mere hours after I had posted my last update on Project Gold I logged in to find out that Rolcko had sold several big ticket items in the AH and pulled in nearly two gold pieces! That combined with Hocko & Nimlarn selling off the task items they’d collected for tasks that were no longer available meant that I had just over 3gp towards my 5gp total in the space of 8 hours – pretty good going!

Being an impatient soul, I decided to go ahead and buy Rolcko’s vault expansion a couple of gp early. As it turned out I made those two pieces a few hours later with a couple more big sales (and another this morning – I’m on fire!).

I’m going to wind down Project Gold for a bit and concentrate on getting Ranhold through the Epic Story and my other guys leveling up their crafting, grinding guild rep and starting skirmishing to gather crafting items. I’m not ditching my AH addiction, far from it, it’s just I need to carry on playing the main game as well

 

LOTRO: Project Gold – Update!

Project Gold, after a shaky start, has finally paid off! As of this morning, and a couple of days later than my target, I tripped past 10gp! True it took me selling off 100 barrow iron ore & 100 onions my characters had collected and grown, but my plan of buying cheap bargains from the AH and then selling them off again did pay off, just not as much as I had hoped*. Still, I had a blast doing it and I’m not going to stop – my next target is a total of 15gp just so Rolcko can upgrade his vault to cope with the demands his farming and cooking place on it. Anyway, here’s some graphs showing my guys money levels going up and down over the week – the biggest changes are, of course, with Rolcko as he is the main bank and AH guy

* Although it’s worth pointing out that most of the cheap stuff I bought were single use recipes that will pay back in spades when my guys get to high enough levels (and have the right materials) to make the items and list them in the AH. Some plans are slow burners

 

LOTRO: Project Gold – Update!

As I laid out yesterday, I’ve set myself a task of reaching a total Team Burro wealth of 10 gold pieces by this weekend in a small mini-game I’ve called Project Gold. Well last night, being the first night of the project, was a bit of a near disaster. I’d forgotten that we had guests round and that pushed the whole evening out. Add on top of that the family decision to settle down and watch a movie then nearly the whole night was LOTRO free, which was a shame not only from the point of view that my newly-found capitalist hunger needed feeding, but also from the fact my kin mate Enthallion had invited me to level with him which would have been damn good fun. Sigh. Still I *did* get a brief window in which to send Rolcko to the Auction House and boy oh boy did it pay off this morning!

A while back (a month?) Ranhold gained the first rung of entrance ladder to the Scholar’s Guild in Rivendell and this granted him some special new recipes, amongst which where dye recipes that craft five pots at once instead of the usual one or a crit success three, not to mention some elaborate hues, Lake Evendim Blue instead of the usual Navy Blue for instance. So it was with eager hands he began to craft some for sale which, unfortunately and for whatever reason, did not sell. Sadly they have been languishing in his inventory ever since, seemingly unloved and unwanted… awwww.

Well Rolcko decided to take a punt and re-list them and blimey! they flew out! I awoke this morning to find Team Burro was over 1gp richer! True it doesn’t appear so on my spoddy spreadsheet but that is because Rolcko then put Phase Two of Project Gold into operation and he scoured the listings for anything under-priced he could snap up and make a profit on. Hell’s Teeth some people are giving stuff away – single use recipes for 20sp when they are worth ten times that and produce an item worth at least five times that! Needless to say Rolcko, the greedy little bugger, went on a feeding frenzy and blew the night’s profits safe in the knowledge that Team Burro will be able to sell the results for at least 5 if not 10 gold over the next few days. He better be right or I’ll be sending him to the Lone Lands where the orcs can use his knackers for earrings!

Still, if he is right and can bring home the bacon he’ll be able to pay for everyone to have all the storage they need! Happy days

 

LOTRO: All that glisters…

I’ve said before how much I love the fact that LOTRO isn’t just kill kill kill run run run (although to be fair there is a lot of that, but that is rather the nature of the beast). From fishing to crafting and exploring to selling LOTRO is full of fun side-diversions to stop you burning out . My current love affair is an entirely out-of-character (for me) embracing of my capitalist side as I have fallen in love with selling stuff in the Auction House and raking in the silver and gold pieces used in the game as currency.

I don’t know when it started, I mean I have always listed things in the AH, things I found in the barrows or on dead brigands and orcs that I had no use for, things like crafting recipes or materials that Ranhold, as a Historian, could not use. Some sold, some did not but I listed all for a small value above the price that I could have sold them to a vendor. I now know this was a Very Big Mistake. No wonder the stuff I listed was snapped up! no wonder the stuff I listed failed to make me rich! In my defence this was my first few weeks in my first ever MMO and learning to stay alive in fights took precedence over learning to use the AH. But I wised up – I think it was around the time I was clearing out storage space and decided (in another ill-informed noob move) to use up all my stored Scholar ‘single use’ recipes and sell the resulting crafting crit bonus items in the AH – I decided, as I had never sold one before, to do something I had not done until this point – take the frigging time to see what other people were selling them for! Sounds obvious, but then I’m dumb. And lazy. Never a good combo. So I checked and was amazed to see them going for 1 to 2 gold pieces! I played it sharp and placed mine just under most others and lo and behold by the next day I had sold one for 1g 500s! Over the next week or two I sold most of the rest and found I was now hooked on selling stuff!

The AH (gawd bless ‘er) has funded several storage expansions for all my characters, bought both my houses and even allowed me to recover from my one and only AH disaster when I acidentally bought a stack of metal for what I thought was a bargain of 500sp but was in fact 2 gold and 500 silver! I just didn’t see the 2g and hit BUY – there is no confirmation box, it just does it there and then. Ouch.

Currently, now that I have five characters, the AH is being managed by Rolcko. Everyone dumps saleable items (found or made) into the shared storage and he lists them in the AH in Michel Delving and this system is working well. I’ve even started a new side project, a game within a game just for me. Project Gold *cue dramatic music and run some old footage of Goldfinger* is about getting Team Burro up to 10gp by this weekend. Beyond that I’d like to hit 15gp by the weekend after and then keep going up – Rolkco needs more storage and can buy two more upgrades in game which will cost me 10gp and that gold don’t grow on trees you know! Hell, I’ve even set up a spoddy google spreadsheet to track everyone’s fortunes – you can see it here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ArlNfXytGT8hdGlMUWNLc1ZDczA1QnhDVENkVTg5TUE&hl=en_US

But just selling is not enough. It depends on my five characters continually seeking out new items or materials with which to craft new items and they do have day jobs you know, they do have the whole of Middle Earth save! So I’ve decided that I’m going into to the speculation business – not as in speculating on the price of goods (i.e gambling with other people’s money to make you and a few others rich whilst the rest of the human population can sod off and die), no I mean speculating as in “you have to speculate to accumulate”. I’m going to scour the AH for items being sold off cheap (it happens – there are always people like me just clearing out inventory and selling to clear) which I shall buy and re-list at a higher but still competitive price. Oh yes, I’m finally becoming one of the shopkeepers my country-folk are so often compared to! Just one with swords! I shall update you all *cough* on Project Gold’s progress in future posts. In the meatime, could I interst to in this bow over here? No? Well what about his pile of iron ore, hmm?

 

LOTRO: A Crafty Old Week Indeed…

It’s been a busy week in LOTRO since my last update as I’ve managed to wangle quite a lot of time online & in-world and consequentially I’ve moved some of my characters along quite a bit, most notably my new Hobbit Guardian Rolcko. Still, something had to give and all the activity with the new guy and (almost) everyone’s crafting has seen poor Ranhold once more sidelined in the wonderful surroundings of Rivendell. Let me rundown what the lads have been doing:

Ranhold – Man, Champion, Historian, Expert Weaponsmith & Master Scholar. Level 40

He briefly got out of Rivendell in an attempt to restart the Epic Story. Elrond sent him out of the valley and back towards the Lone Lands to speak to his son but the journey turned into a long meandering exploration of the hills and valleys between the The Last Homely House and the ruined fortress where the Elves are leading a fight back against the rising effects of Angmar’s corruption. The Trollshaws are without doubt a beautiful! Full of lush trees, rolling hills and sweeping switchback paths zig-zagging their way up the sides of dizzyingly high mountains, they really show the game at its amazing best. Mind you, the wildlife is very bloody wild indeed with drakes, wyrms & giants lying in wait for the unwary traveller (*cough*thatwouldbeme*cough*) and there is at least one valley just west of Rivendell that I hightailed it out of PDQ after two hard and close fights with some tough critters. Be warned.

Still, all that killing did get him up to 40 at long last and a speedy trip back to his trainer in Rivendell gave him the most amusing Boast skill which essentially highjacks the gestures of those around to make them cheer you. Oh how I wished I had that in RL On top of that he finally made it up to the next level of Kindred with the Scholar’s guild which leaves only two more levels to go to become Kindred but which will take many, many weeks (around 3 months I calculate…) to achieve. Sigh.

Gorfrik – Dwarf, Hunter, Armourer, Expert Metalsmith & Expert Tailor. Level 23

Good old Gorfrik, cast adrift in the very bloody dangerous Kingsfell region of the North Downs and told to gather ore, shut up and stop moaning about orcs, spiders and wargs five to nine levels higher than him, has been doing just that. And what a great job he’s made of it, even having time to stop and craft some items that have earnt Team Burro about a gold piece in one day – this in a time when the new guy was spending everyone’s gold like it was going out of fashion! Say what you want about Gorfrik, but that guy just delivers – he kills fast and hard, he makes stuff that brings in the gold, clothes everybody in decent armour, he ensures everyone has the latest, greatest crafting tools and he still manages to level like a levelling machine! True he is still using the +25% XP boost and that coupled with the fact he’s been killing much higher level critters means he dinged up the furthest this week. Well, second furthest after Rolcko, but seeing as Rol went zero to fourteen in the Shire, the comparison is hardly fair. Gorfrik hit 20 and therefore could start his Skirmishes – more crafting shards ahead, I predict

Nimlarn – Elf, Minstrel, Woodsman & Journeyman Woodworker. Level 20

Nimlarn was looking like he’d be the poor cousin to this family for a while, but then at the last minute a hasty trip to the Northern Barrow Downs pushed him over 20 as well (although he has yet to clear the skirmishing tutorial – maybe tonight…). My big plans for him are to send him out to Far Chetwood to complete the three bear hunting quests there that grant a blue shard each time – Gorfrik got three, Ran got three so if the Elf can get his three too I should be in the market for making some special armour and weapons soon – maybe even a crited instrument for old Nim himself

Hocko – Hobbit, Burglar, Tinkerer & Master Jeweller. Level 14 and a three quarters

The true poor cousin this week, young Hocko really didn’t get to do much I’m afraid, although through Gorfrik’s ore gathering prowess both he and Gor got to level up their prospecting skills, but that’s hardly the most exciting news is it? Well it was for poor Hocko. Maybe next week will seem him journeying to Far Chetwood too – it would be a great place to level him up a bit after all.

Rolcko – Hobbit, Guardian, Yeoma, Expert Farmer & Expert Cook. Level 14

Rolcko, Ahhh Rolcko, from wither did ye come? Why, from the mind of a madman that’s wither! An elder uncle of Hocko’s, Rolcko is back from fighting “down south” and looking to retire in the Shire where he can become a gentleman farmer and noted cook of Some Repute (Michel Delving is his base as it has the AH, a vault, crafting suppliers and a superior over facility as well as the Cooking Guild HQ – it’s also a two minute ride away from the superior farmland in Hobbiton). Rol went from zero to ten-ish in one session and then ten to fourteen a little slower, mainly because I have been concentrating on his farming and cooking. It took two days of bitty on-off-line time, but I managed to get him up to Master Farmer level (mainly by just growing and preparing flowers as they gave off a fair few leaves & petals that Ranhold needs for various dyes and the like) and now I’m starting him on his cooking. It’s funny really but I’ve never really used food in the game, but now I want to make one of my characters a top notch cook I’m beginning to realise just how vital food is! I’ve begun to cook food that will help all my guys in fights and with diseases, but what I really need to do is study what foods my lads really need and just go for them as both cooking and farming without a plan fills up precious inventory space in no time.

Apart from that he’s also been the go-to Auction House guy and has been co-ordinating my attempts to make as much gold and silver as I can. Mixed results so far, but my newly created LOTRO finance tracker spreadsheet (what? Don’t look at me like that! You’ll want one too!) shows that after the initial drop in GP & SP caused by equipping Rolcko things are on the up again and I currently have a combined wealth of just over 7GP. I’m hoping to double that in a week or so, but that may be a little ambitious, no?

So there you have it folks – there are five of me now, technically enough to start my own Kinship up

 

Farewell again, Adric…

Bloody internet with it’s bloody ghosts going and upsetting us all again.

Periodically, usually about once a month, I check on Adric’s site. Today the click came back with the host’s page rather than his. This made me very sad and rather angry.

*raises a glass to Cousin Adric again*

 

LOTRO: Oh Dear God… What Have I Done?

Only ruddy well made a new character, that’s what! Say hello to Rolcko Harfoot, uncle of one Hocko Harfoot and retired Yeoman Guardian to the Horse Lords of Rohirrim and now gentleman farmer & aspiring chef in Michel Delving.

[Picture to be added once I upload it to flickr which I should have done last night but forgot. Dope.]

Here it is:

This guys is going to be less of an adventurer and more of a bank & Auction House organiser as well as a supreme farmer & cook to provide everyone with top flight nosh, not to mention selling said nosh in the AH for gold of course I managed to get him through the Battle for Archet intro and to Michel Delving to clear his crafting tutorials in one evening (I was knackered at the end of it, mind) and as it stands now he is level 9 and looking forward to blasting his farming & cooking professions up to artisan in one mad session (and joining the Cooking Guild, of course). After than I don’t think he’ll see much action outside of a few RP trips I have plans for him such as clearing out wolves and tackling the Dourhands which would fit his character. The idea is that as a young man he went a-wandering and ended up fighting with the horse-lords before retiring and heading home. Now he is back home his quiet retirement is constantly disturbed by stories of the strange, un-Hobbity happenings through the Shire and he finds himself putting down his ladle & hoe and once more taking up his sword and shield. I’m sure there will be several recountings of his tales in this very blog, Hobbit fans

 

LOTRO: A Much Needed Update…

The past three or four weeks have seen a dramatic slowing of Ranhold’s progress both in terms of levelling up and completing quests, yet at the same time all three of my alts (Gorfrik, Hocko & Nimlarn) have seen rapid advancement in their levelling & questing (although not along the main storyline – I’m leaving that to Ranhold) as well as huge leaps in their crafting development.

What has led to this shift in focus and activity I will, for the purposes of this post, imagine I hear you wonder? Why my first great season of crafting, that’s what!

Ever since I put my Circle of Crafting plan into play I have come to realise just how many materials I will need to collect, prepare and make just to get these guys up to a point where they can make Ranhold, their Boss I guess, gear he can actually use. As it stands now they still can’t, but they are getting closer and they are making stuff they can use and sell for mucho silver at the AH.

Let me give you a rundown of what the boys* have been up to:

Ranhold – Man, Champion, Historian. Level 39 and a half

Removing his +25% XP bost was the best thing to happen to old Ran as he was rushing through the levels far too quickly for my liking (I know you can get from 0 to 65 in under a month if you really go for it, but that style of gameplay is not for me). The slow down has allowed me to focus on exploring and completing class quests while the bad guys are still a challenge to me (again my play style is not to be a super-powered killing machine many levels above everything in my path – I like a challenge). What this in turn showed is that my gear could do with an upgrade which in turn led to the whole Circle of Crafting being set up and most of my time then being spent with the other guys. But that’s not to say Ranhold has been idle, oh no! He’s spending a lot of time in Rivendell grinding out reputation items for the Scholar’s Guild as well as starting his first tentative steps towards hunting out the missing pages of three books that will grant him his first legendary skills. Oh, and there is a little matter of helping Aragorn re-forge a wee sword called Narsil, but I’m sure you’re not interested in that are you?

Gorfrik – Dwarf, Hunter, Armourer. Level 21 and a half

Poor old Gorfrik has had a rough old time of it lately, although as he’s zoomed up several levels I don’t think he’s complaining too much. Unlike Ran, but like Hocko & Nimlarn, I’m keeping the +25% XP booster as this will help him level up quicker and therefore be more able to enter higher level areas to gather materials for crafting – which is exactly what I’ve been doing with him A few days in the Shire gathering copper and tin, several in Bree-Land & Far Chetwood gathering barrow-iron & silver and a couple spent dodging purple-level critters in Kingsfell gathering rich-iron & gold. Without Gorfrik strutting his stuff and braving what Hocko, my other ore-gathering prospector, was too far low-level to attempt then neither Hocko nor Ranhold (not to mention Gorfrik!) would have been able to advance their crafting at all. Gorfrik is a little bobby dazzler, but don’t tell him I told you that

One last thing about levelling him up, aside from getting another character ready to skirmish, is that hunters have some fearsome powerful skills at 20+. When he was 16 and heading into Far Chetwood for the first time I had to dodge bears and wolves as fighting them would both take long and be a bit of a bind, but now he can one-shot them and is moving through his class deeds quite nicely.

Hocko – Hobbit, Burglar, Tinkerer. Level 14 and a three quarters

Hocko’s been a busy lad collecting copper & tin ores throughout the Shire, killing foul slugs and laying into an endless supply of wolves. Although he’s the lowest level character he’s been steaming ahead in the crafting stakes making decent jewellery for himself, Nim & Gor as well as managing to be invited to join the Jeweller’s Guild over in Esteldin (his first trip there was a hairy ride, let me tell you!). I’m having to hold off grinding rep with them as I simply don’t have enough gold yet given how hard it can be to collect and how much I need to make new jewellery and weapons for Ran. Still, the pressure is off him now so I might start cooking with him and see what sells at the AH

It’s worth pointing out that this is my last chance for an Undying title as Hocko has not been defeated yet. Nor has he been led over a cliff or waterfall by the plonker in charge of his movements.

Nimlarn – Elf, Minstrel, Woodsman. Level 17 and a smidge

Nimlarn has been a little less busy but has nonetheless managed to race ahead to level 17 and produce enough leather for Gorfrik to equip everyone (bar Ranhold) with decent gear as well as make Gorfrik several very cool bows. Of all my characters I’m still enjoying playing Nimlarn most of all – the whole aspect of fighting with music is brilliant! I think it’s the animations that show the bad guys reeling from invisible punches that grabs me:-D

So that’s where I am – gathering, crafting and grinding class & reputation deeds like crazy, but after nearly a month I think it’s about time to get Ranhold back in the swing of things and send him off to Evendim and start fighting for Annuminas!

*Funny, I still can’t bring myself to play a female character. I don’t really know why – I think it’s purely down to identification & reason. I have no problems playing female characters in others games such as Portal or Mirror’s Edge, but they are both the default avatars of the game rather than a choice on my part. Given that choice, and without a plot-driven reason to do otherwise, I would rather play a man so that I can more easily inhabit that role. El burro es el hombre!