I was disappointed to see faction mounts on the list, but then, I won’t be one of those willing to pay for it. You can see the entire list here.

What do you think of the items for sale?

–Wolfen

The Blackwold Hideout is located at the northeast corner of the Staddle pond. The door to the hideout is next to the falls that pour into the pond.

I enter the hideout and I am transported into an instance. The Blackwold”s guarding the gate were expecting me and they let me pass. I roam around the cavern for awhile until I come across the leader of the Blackwold’s. A man named Skunkwood.

I eventually find the cell in which Amdir is imprisoned. Amdir appears to be in a very bad way. He has been attempting to fight off the evil influence infecting his body but things are not going very well. He even scares the Blackwold guards stationed there to keep an eye on him.

I try to speak with Amdir but he is too far gone. He bursts open the door of his cage, knocks down his guards, and runs down the tunnel. This is when I noticed another prisoner in the cell.

A woman named Oakheart asks me to escort her out of the cave so that she can be free. The problem with helping her is that she walks very slowly. As we make our way through the cave, we see that all the Blackwold’s have been knocked unconscious. They re-awaken as we approach and I have to defend the woman from the attackers. Towards the end, I must defeat Skunkwood and his wolf guards. I took screenshots of all this but somehow they never saved to my hard drive. I don’t know why.

As I make my way towards the cave exit, I encounter Toradan facing off with Amdir. Toradan tries to help him but Amdir has transformed into something evil. He attacks and kills Toradan and then runs out of the cave.

I return to Constable Underhill and tell him what happened. I am rewarded with a tunic that is a huge upgrade for me. 74 more armor rating to be exact. Underhill then tasks me with finding the ranger mustering cave in hopes of finding more help.

This Blackwold instance was a fun experience. It advanced the main storyline and gave me several things to do in the cave. I never came close to dying, but I did enjoy my time.

–Wolfen

This was one of the challenges we set out to tackle with the Skirmish system. We were able to construct spaces that are available to as many players as possible and succeeded in knocking down many of the barriers that limit the impact, accessibility and audience for the content we produce. Now, we’ve looked at the Skirmish technology and started tinkering with applying it in other places to spread those benefits.

You can read the entire Developer’s Diary by clicking here.

–Wolfen

The same Blackwold that dropped the chain also had a receipt on him that I returned to Constable Sageford. This receipt seemed to implicate a local towns-person with the Blackwolds.

To be certain, I was sent to obtain another strongbox from the Blackwold stronghold.  Sure enough, the second strongbox showed that the local locksmith had created the box. I go talk to the locksmith and he tells me that he was forced against his will by a Blackwold named Applewood to make the boxes. The constable sent me to the northern area of the Chetwood to kill Applewood and retrieve the master key. After finding and killing Applewood in the Blackwold stronghold, I was rewarded with decent bracelet.

The next quest string I  embarked on was started with one named Cutleaf’s Good Intentions. I am to infiltrate the ranks of the Blackwolds by talking to Ellie Cutleaf, who seems to be a double agent. Before I could do that, however, she wanted me to go kill a den mother wolf before it can begin breeding more wolves for the Blackwolds. The den mother was located in a stall next to a house up on a hill in the northeast portion of the Chetwood. My reward for killing her was an axe, which finally gave me a second weapon to use with my dual wield skill. This greatly increased my melee damage.

Ellie then sends me to a man named Leecher Cartwell to get some poison to be used in finishing off the rest of the wolves. Leecher didn’t have any of the poison ready, so he sent me out in search of the necessary ingredients required to make it. All the ingredients were not far away. The berries were found in a valley filled with bears. The beehives were behind a house just south of Leecher’s house. The roots can be found near the wolf den located just inside the Chetwood. By the way, Leecher’s house can be a pain to find if you have never looked for it before. Here is a view from his porch. The big building on the right is the Combe and Wattle Inn.

Poison in hand, Ellie sends me to the Blackwold Headquarters to poison the meat that the wolves eat. I am also to kill the leader of this band of Blackwolds. His name is Jagger Jack. The headquarters, which I have visited several times before while on other quests, is located in northeast Chetwood. I entered the stronghold and worked my way deeper into it. I found the dead sheep that I was to poison while on the way to Jagger’s camp. With that done, I went in search of Jagger Jack.

Jagger is located just to the north of the dead sheep. He is guarded by several Blackwolds that have wolf pets at their command. I worked my way through those and found Jagger Jack in the middle of an evil looking camp in the valley below. He is well guarded but I did not have any trouble it taking him or his cronies down. I ran back to Ellie and completed the quest. This resulted in a huge upgrade to my boots. 30 more armor to be exact. Not a bad end to my evening.

–Wolfen

I bought the Lifetime subscription when the game first launched, so the game going free-to-play does not affect me or my characters very much. I still get access to all parts of the game and no restrictions to gear or quests. Those who are paying a monthly fee also get similar access to the game.

The people playing the game for free have quite a few restrictions to deal with, such as less bag space, lower gold cap, no rest experience, and only one character slot per server. The free player can get these features if they purchase them via the Turbine Store.

I believe this change will help bring more players to the game. Free is free, after all. I really hope that this change to the game will bring in many new players so that the world becomes more alive. As I play the game now, I certainly notice that the newbie area populations are very low. To be fair, most MMO’s of LOTRO’s age have fewer low-level players, but the areas sure are quiet right now.

Big changes ahead, to be sure. Is this a desperate grab for a game that is barely hanging on? Or is it a shrewd move to bring in more revenue (Lifetime members like me earn them no money at all)?

If nothing else, I want to see more people playing the game. It would be fantastic to see all the zones filled with as many players as there were during the initial launch. That would be a great thing indeed.

The official press release is here. The informative FAQ and a great deal more information can be found here.

–Wolfen

The first quest I embarked upon was called Message to Taylor Green. Taylor can be found in the lumberyard located to the east of Combe. Several more quests are available at the lumberyard and I grabbed them all.

Taylor gives me the Den of Wolves quests, which required me to go into the nearby forest and kill 8 wolves. The wolves were nearby and I quickly dispatched the required number of beasts. Also at the lumberyard is a guy named Posco Burro. He wanted me to go find his uncle who had gone to have a word or two with the evil Blackwolds located in the Chetwood forest. I found his uncle along a forest road and he then sent me on a quest to find his missing handkerchief. Other quests that sent me into the Chetwood were Morning the Dead, which had me looking for a stolen fishing pole, Reconnecting Ties to find a missing boy, Beneath the Hanging tree to find some buried treasure, and a few others to boot.

I completed these quests fairly quickly. I would imagine that was because I had done them before, even though it had been a long time since I had last played. Almost all of the quests required me to go into various Blackwood encampments throughout the forest, kill everyone I found, and loot the required item.  The fishing pole was at one camp and the Blackwold lock-box (for the quest Unpaid Debts) at another.

The Beneath the Hanging Tree quest sent me over to the river to dig for treasure buried there. Turns out all the trees had been cut down and only the stumps remained, which made it impossible to know which tree the Hanging Tree was. So I was sent to someone who has a ledger that would lead me the exact spot, but the guy has lost it and I must retrieve it.

I found the ledger inside a Blackwold Lock-box that was located in a heavily guarded camp. The camp with the lock-box had about 5 Blackwolds in it and there was also a level 8 elite named Captain Dogwood. He roams around the general area and walks right through the camp every now and then. I suggest picking him off before you tackle the camp so that things go smoothly. He didn’t give me any trouble. The ledger gave me the location of the Hanging tree’s stump and I quickly dug up the treasure and returned it to its owner.

Reconnecting Ties had me looking for the missing boy named Covell Woodwright. It seems as though he ran off to join with the Blackwoods and has no intention of returning to his mother. He attacked me when I spoke to him and then ran off into the Blackwold camp before I could kill him (the quest is scripted that way). His mother didn’t like the news.

With the above quests and several more besides, I was able to get quite a bit accomplished and had some fun. Several of the quest rewards resulted in nice armor upgrades and I also reached level 12 by the time I stopped for the night. I was disappointed, once again, to find that all the battles posed no challenge. I never came close to dying. I hope the trend does not continue.

–Wolfen

I decided to begin with a new character, so my human started life in the town of Archet. I ran every quest that was available to me in that area and I did not notice any new quests at all. It is true that my memory could be a bit hazy due to my long absence from the game, but I noticed nothing different in the quests or the rewards. That was a disappointment to me, but starting areas rarely get big overhauls.

I did notice that the experience gained from killing NPC’s and from quests has been increased. I sailed through to level 10 with the greatest of ease. This is good for old-timers like myself who have gone through these areas before and just want to get through them as quickly as possible. I have no complaints with experience gained so far.

Even though I had done the quests several times in the past, I still found them to be interesting and enjoyable. There are a few of the “kill 10 foozle’s” quests, but overall, the stories pull you in and set the mood. I particularly enjoyed the spider-themed quest line that lead me into the tunnels beneath a farm to kill a spider queen.

The biggest change that I noticed is in how the difficulty of the quests has been lowered. I breezed through all the quests without even the remote chance of dying. This also includes the spider queen battle that was certainly more difficult back  during the launch days. Turbine, in my opinion, has completely removed the fear of dying from the first 10 levels of the game. I think this is a bad idea, as I find the accomplishment of surviving most exhilarating. A dose of fear makes things fun, and I was never in fear of dying.

Going forward, I am interested in seeing if this trend continues. Does the leveling speed continue apace? Will I be able to continue my solo career (none of my friends play the game anymore) and find meaningful advancement? Will I have to find someone who needs the exact same portion of the quest I do in order to get things done? Time will tell.

–Wolfen

Once you complete the starter instance, which takes place in a small town named Archet, you are placed in the “real” game world. Archet is not the same town you started in. It was terribly burned during the invasion, and as you would expect, the world has greatly changed around you.

Archet after the burn

The first few quests I picked up were: Burying the Dead, A Threat from Spiders, Disease Among the Boars, and a quest started after I had previously killed the Marsh-Fly Queen. The quests are pretty straight forward. I had to find the bodies of three men and bury them, kill 10 diseased boars, and kill some spiders over at Quigley’s farm.

The spider quest led  me to finding the famous dwarf Bali just before he died. It ended with me killing a big spider named Iornaith in the spider infested tunnels beneath Quigley’s farm. These quests netted me around 90 copper per quest, better shoulderpads, and a better helm to wear.

Burying the Dead

Finishing these quests earned me level 10 and some nice new skills to go along with it:

Spider Caves

Bali the Dwarf is dead

The next couple of quests sent me to the town of Combe, one of which was  to find a ranger named Toradan, who wants me to help find the missing ranger Amdir. With these quests, my stay at the little town of Archet it at an end.

The first few quests are of your standard newbie type. I was sent out to kill diseased boars and a few spiders outside the Archet gates. I was whacking spiders around the Sprigley farm when I discovered their cellar. This is where my memory fails me because I can’t remember if this was in the game during the initial launch. I can only assume that it was.

When I entered the cellar I discovered underground caves full of spiders. I roamed around a bit and eventually came across an elite spider named Iornaith. The room this big spider called home was full of baby spiders but they did not attack me. I engaged Iornaith in battle and was easily victorious.

As it turns out, all of that was wasted time. I made it back to town only to be given a quest that would take me back to the caverns. I was tasked with finding a missing dwarf named Bali, and I found him near a cave entrance that turned out to be the rear entrance to the Sprigley cellar. Bali barely escaped the spiders with his life. His companions were not so lucky. He sent me into the cavern to find his dead companions and retrieve some journal entries from them. The bodies were wrapped in cocoons and were found in various sections of the cave. Once that was done, another quest sent me to kill Iornath, so I went back and slayed the big spider again.

Things have been easy so far. My character has not come close to dying, which is either good or bad, depending on how you look at it.   The Guardian class has been fun so far.

The introductory instance is exactly the same as before. I did not notice any changes to it whatsoever.  It is still a good way to get started with the game, but where are the changes?

Once out of the starter instance, I arrived in the town of Arhet again. The first few quests are exactly the same as before.  The first difference I noted was when I went to train at the Guardian trainer. I was given a new combat skill and I was told to go over to a training dummy nearby and try it out. This short quest wanted me to take a swipe at the training dummy and then return to my trainer with news of my success.  It was easy enough to accomplish. The training dummies are lined up against a nearby wall, so I ran over, targeted one, and used my new skill on it.

Something else I noticed that I did not remember being there are the marsh flies located around the small lake near the hunter’s cabin. I also found a quest NPC behind the cabin that hired me to go out and slay a few of them.  The reward was some colored dye.  I also found an elite Marsh Fly Queen, and I was surprised that no quests had me run over and take her out. I took her down anyway but it dropped useless loot.

The experience points I gained were maybe a  little higher than before, but not by a huge margin. Everything else seemed to be unchanged.  We’ll see how it goes once I leave the starter instance.

I have a level 37 Champion on the Windfola server, but I decided to start fresh, so I rolled up a human Guardian that I named Strongg.  I wanted to try out a class in the game that I had not played yet and Guardian was one of them.  Humans start in the Archet area, so my game introduction had me escaping from a cell and then helping a Ranger named Amdir to rescue some kidnapped hobbits.

Once the introduction is complete, I found myself in the town of Archet, eager to find some quests and get to work.  I didn’t have far to go.  Amdir was wounded in the battle, so I had to help him with defense of the town.  The first few are you typical newbie quests that have you go out and kill wolves and boars so that the town’s sheep are kept safe.  Once those are done, I was sent to a hunter’s lodge where some things needed to be done.  Seeing this lodge brought pangs of nostalgia to my heart because the lodge reminded me of my beloved Everquest’s Surefall Glade and the lodge that can be found there.

One of the farmers outside of Archet had a boar problem that he wanted me to help him with.  A boar named Old Bloodtusk needed to be killed.  I remembered this boar from the time that LOTRO first went live.  There was a line of people waiting to kill this boar and each time he appeared it was a general free-for-all contest.  This time, however, there was not another player in sight and he was waiting for me when I arrived.

After running several other quests, none of which were very challenging, I came to the last quest in the “game introduction” line.  Brigands were attacking Archet and I had to help Amdir defend it.  The town was in flames when I arrived and it was filled with battle.  I worked my way through the town, finally arriving at the final showdown, which culminated in a fight with Eogan, a servant of Angmar who was responsible for all the problems in the area.  I dispatched him with ease and ended the quest line.