Update 18 Blogs – Day 2: Wide Open Spaces

While the Pukel-men stuff was fun, I was more than ready to continue on with the adventures and to advance more into the stories that it had to tell. Upon leaving the tribesmen, I made my way to the northern part of Far Anorien where I eventually ran into the Rohirrim who were set up in a temporary camp in a very long stretch of land. So close, yet so far away from Pelennor.

There was one point where I was wondering where is Theoden? Where is Eomer? Or any of the important characters that we’ve come to know over the course of many years and many quests. Suddenly I started bumping into familiar faces through sheer quest chains, I found Horn and Gleowine, which I must admit was a bit surprised to see. One of the most pleasant surprises to see was Merry, the hobbit, and his companion, Dernhelm, which filled me with such joy.

Many of the quests you get make you go back and forth between the Beacon Hills and Taur Druadan, which has been kinda messy to keep up with and Far Anorien being basically an abandoned area with wide open spaces between settlements. Be prepared for a lot of travelling.

Curiously some of the beacons in this final stretch were not lit and yet the Rohirrim are already on their way to Gondor; a bit confusing honestly, but I do like the design of these beacons, much more than the ones you’ve seen in Gondor. More important, the design and location of these beacons make more sense than in the movie. Sure, it was cool to see these lights suddenly burst out on the mountain tops but the logistics of having to climb up to those beacons and lighting them when they seem to be on impossible terrain always bothered me. Here in LOTRO, we are met with stairs… The Endless Stair has nothing on these beacons!

Thankfully there are not many quests that require you to go up and down these beacons, for it would become extremely frustrating after a while.

In my adventures, I unfortunately encountered a bugged quest, called the Perilous Parley. Many other people have encountered problems with this quest, and I’m sure the devs are away of the problem. Until it’s fixed, the best thing you can do is write a ticket and a GM will help you.

One of the biggest things I was looking forward to was how this new region would connect Rohan with Gondor in a more streamlined manner. No longer would we have to go through the Paths of the Dead to get to Minas Tirith, now we have a “nice” stretch of land that can lead us there. This region also connects the Falls of Rauros, the place where the Fellowship broke apart and took their separate ways.

I realize I haven’t spoken much about the epic quest line, as I’ve been doing mainly side quests to not only level up a bit, but also get a full idea of all the new things we were given. Lag issues persist, but I suspect that after a week or so it’ll calm down.