Meeting New Game Friends

I am making friends FAST in Lord of the Rings Online:

Admittedly, my new friend has anger issues, but who doesn't?
(I had range-pulled a trash mob -- one of DOZENS available -- while my new burglar friend was still setting up his stealth and opening moves.)
From the …

Where?

... in World of Warcraft:

... in Middle Earth:

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

The Harassed Becomes The Harasser

Remember that one hunter in my World of Warcraft guild, she's the sister of one of our (former) druids, and they both left the guild AND THE SERVER after another guildmate was ALLEGEDLY harassing the hunter sister? (Here's the links, lazy: Part I and Part II) Recall …

Carnival of Gamers #24

AFK Gamer is fashionably late again ... the Carnival of Gamers (#24) was published last week at Conservathink.
And I am glad we don't discuss politics or religion in polite company.
The Carnival of Gamers is a nomadic monthly showcase of articles by gamers, for gamers …

Gigantor Patch 2.1

Well, I could make fun of posters on the World of Warcraft forums, but since threads aren't dated anymore, (is this just me? I'm allowing all scripts for the Blizzard domains. Am I in some sort of Caverns of Time black hole where time has no meaning?), assigning a …

Shade of Aran Chant

If your guild is struggling with World of Warcraft's Shade of Aran encounter, consider using this YTMND page as a training device: Shade of Aran Chant. Sing it with me!, cuz I know it's stuck in your head now: I will not move when Flame Wreath is cast or the raid …

NYT and the LOTRO

A fairly flattering review of Lord of the Rings Online by the New York Times' Seth Schiesel, level 26 lore-master. Kudos to Seth for sticking with lore-master AND for logging out of the game long enough to complete his assignment.

[[ This is a content summary only. …

Worst Player Name of the Week

This week's Worst Player Name from Lord of the Rings Online: Leetgolas. (Elf hunter, of course.)
I'm not a stickler for role-playey character names -- I know it's tough to come up with suitable names for a small nation of virtual people, especially when some JACKASS …

Where?

… in the World of Warcraft:

YAY! Another reputation we need!
… in Middle Earth:

or, for those that think the art in Lord of the Rings Online is ugly and subpar, too subtle perhaps?, I've manipulated the shot to a Warcraft art style:

Land of the Leetgolas …

Seeing Double

There's a mini-patch today in Lord of the Rings Online, which is good, cuz there was some NPC mischief going on -- witness Athal_01 and Athal_02.
Or this unnerving sight, a gathering of deer outside the walls of Ost Guruth. If there was a deer faction in LOTRO, I'd be …

Map of Online Communities

(click for original, full-sized map of the online world)
Please note that Second Life has been banished to its own island, although all gamers are rather geographically isolated from the Bay of Angst. Thank God.
(via the wonderfully reblog-worthy Kottke)

[[ This is a …

Cool Tools for Us Fools

Some cool tools to enhance your gaming life:
Antiarc's WoW Armory Tools - My World of Warcraft guild is absolutely nuts for the sig generator, and more recently, we're using the site's Heroic Key Listing generator to apply peer pressure to the slothful among us. FCS, …

Popular Craftsmen

In Lord of the Rings Online, out in the woods near Bree, lives Old Man Bauman. He had a farm. (It's a long story.)
Now he spends his days whittling.

Day after day, he's whittling these ... devices. Thought me, demand must be really high.
Then, I gained a few …

Where?

Where in World of Warcraft:

Easy. You get no hints.
Where in Middle Earth:

OMG noob, the Barrow Downs is NOT in this zone.

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Stop Staring

I'm ok, you're ok, they're maybe not so ok.
I enjoy snooping around other Warcraft guilds' recruiting forums for entertainment purposes. On the one hand, long and involved guild applications are hilarious, cuz they're so damn stupid. On the other, the answers given …

The Shy, Lonely and Vulnerable Dr. C

Meanwhile, back in World of Warcraft ...
So, I think we can all agree that I'm guilded with a bunch of nitwits. The following is further evidence.
Few weeks back, one of the guildmates /tells me in game that I might want to check out the security on our guild message …

Elrond as Afterlife Theorist

As a World of Warcraft vacationer in Lord of the Rings Online, I got to thinking about the differences in the two worlds, especially with their use of humor. Seen here, one example of the subdued humor of LOTRO.
And by "subdued", I mean there's not a whole lot of it. …

Nerd Rage

Back to our regularly scheduled World of Warcraft programming …
This WoW poster and I agree on this: the WoW forums are the ideal place to seek legal advice.
Puddle, level 12 trolling alt of the Shattered Halls realm, wrote in "Acct hacked and im gonna sue":
Does …

Karazhan Could Be Worse. It Could Be Raining.

Shoju, level 70 warrior of the Dalaran World of Warcraft realm, is having some issues with Karazhan and his smaller raid guild. (Oh how I envy him his guild's smaller size!) Anyways, he outlined the problem in this thread, "Trash should not be a pacing mechanism":
Our …

Blizzard to Alchemists: Retrain as Tailors

Blizzard giveth and taketh away. The details of the upcoming World of Warcraft profession changes are available, but there's not a lot of giveth, plenty of taketh: "Profession Notes for 2.13. As you read through these at work, try not to groan alot or plead "God no. …