Grind. Grind, grind, grind, grind, then grind. And also grind.

[the_gneech]

Well, as my schedule has opened up a bit, I finally went back and played some more Lord of the Rings Online this week. In an effort to find something a little more interesting than killing the same spiders in the Old Forest for 22 XP apiece because I wasn't high enough level to survive any of my current quests, I decided to just get on the King's Road and see if I get make it to Rivendell.

Short answer, no. I can get over the Last Bridge and a ways into the Trollshaws, and I suppose if I really booked it and got lucky, I might make it to Rivendell before being taken down by a level 40 giant mosquito -- but I didn't feel like pushing my luck.

(Level 40 mosquitoes. Oy. Like I said before, even good MMOs suck.)

However, my journey east did enable me to find another settlement, Ost Guruth, that had a bunch of new quests for me to take on, including meeting Radagast the Brown (always neat when a book character has a cameo -- so far I've met a Black Rider, Aragorn, Gandalf, Elladan, Elrohir, and Dwalin in the game, and Elrond, Thorin, Gimli, and Gloin in flashbacks). Since quests are where the real XP are, this enabled Galadhalion to gain a level (from 22 to 23) -- still not enough to beat my older quests tho, which is irritating. One in particular, called "The Broken Alliance" is a 16th level "fellowship quest," which means I'm supposed to be able to take it on with four or more other players at 16th. But I haven't been able to succeed it solo yet at 22nd or 23rd, and when I teamed up with another 21st level character and tried it, the two of us together also couldn't beat it.

The dumb thing about that is, we walk through everything except the big boss fight at the end stifling yawns -- we're so much higher level than the "mook" encounters that they don't even bother to turn aggro when they see us. But then at the end, we go down in about three rounds. 'tis nuts.

Anyway, I finished all of the quests I could easily finish. Now all that's left are mindless grinder quests, of the "kill 12 spiders, fetch 6 warg teeth" variety. When this is what I've got facing me, my enthusiasm for the game flags quickly. Truth to be told, killing 12 3rd-level spiders and reporting back to the NPC, and killing 12 24th-level spiders and reporting back to the NPC, are just not that different.

Actually, I could see this game being more fun if I had a friend along with me regularly to play it. But the idea of the both of us shelling out the money necessary for that makes me wince. It's not that much fun. If I couldn't find a regular tabletop gaming group, it would make a passable substitute. But only then.

-The Gneech

Comments

[goodluckfox.livejournal.com]

May as well be playing Trickster Online. At least it's free.

[hossblacksilver.livejournal.com]

My main lament with WoW, I have a number of friends on there with me and I never catch them online.

[sirfox.livejournal.com]

Take a while, have a look around for some more folks you could level with. There have to be a few decent folks around your level to do those silly "grind" quests with. Personally, i find a kind of zen in them, but i'm strange like that. A slight inclination towards OCD may also help.

[jamesbarrett.livejournal.com]

While I may being playing an MMO, just hearing the stuff you say makes me go 'what?" And having played so much DDO now, just hearing the term "lvl 40" anything, let alone a mosquito, makes my brain itch. But yeah, having folks to play with makes a big difference. I have a few friends myself (though half of them wouldn't know it was me as I no longer play the character they met me as). it's my guild that makes the real difference.

of course, I could be more vocal with them and give them more of an idea as to who I am, but we have fun, when we're together. -Frisk "slogging his way through levels 10-14"

[kelloggs2066.livejournal.com]

Okay, maybe my D&D experience is old and long since out of date, but wasn't Lucifer the Devil a level 9 monster?

What the heck would a level 40 mosquito be? One with a black hole in it's mouth?

[grifter-t-wolf.livejournal.com]

*poke, poke, poke* WoW, WoW, WoW (inserts subliminal messaging as well as liminal) WOWWOWOWWOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOOWOWOWOWOWOOWOWOWOWOOWOWOW!

[kamau-d-lyon.livejournal.com]

Actually, I could see this game being more fun if I had a friend along with me regularly to play it. But the idea of the both of us shelling out the money necessary for that makes me wince. It's not that much fun. If I couldn't find a regular tabletop gaming group, it would make a passable substitute.

Part of the reason I got on WoW was that I didn't have a regular gaming group and it seemed a good alternative. Still the way my schedule has gone lately it's been months since I've gotten on. I'm going to have a whole lot of relearning to do once I can log on again. If it were not for knowing how I can get backlogged I might offer to get on with you but seeing Smrgol is still waiting for me to get back in WoW it certainly wouldn't be fair to any of us.

Gad! Did that make any sense at all?

[katayamma.livejournal.com]

You can make the run to Rivendell as long as you DO NOT STOP MOVING and try to keep your distance around some mobs. You can also find a high level hunter (in your guild?) and see if they'll give you a port. =^_^=

Cheers