LOTRO: Back to Lothlorien

I’ve switched to my former main character who is in Lothlorien.  I think she’s been there for several years.  How could I be discouraged about my Loremaster not getting into Moria when this character has been languishing?

I feel like I’ve done quite a few quests, and I think I’m making progress at last.  I’m getting the hang of the map, which isn’t helpful to a World of Warcraft quester, as it doesn’t point you right where you want to go.  No, you have to peer at the map hopefully looking for vaguely colored blotches of color which in turn lead you to a general area.  The quest text itself, one might argue, gives you dizzying directions such as go west down the road to the first dark rock, sing to the rock and await further instructions.

While looking left and going right, I fell into the river and had to swim a very long way to find a shoreline.

Luckily I found my way to land and then to a bridge to resume my adventures.

I took a moment to meditate upon my impatience and the yellowness of it all.

Finally, I stopped for the evening before taking a quest from Legolas which suspiciously seemed as if it might be an instance, and last who knows how long.

I’ve noticed worldchat is full of groups for Box Runs.  I looked up what they were, and I can see how people looking for gear or loot might find them appealing, but I can’t see myself doing them anytime soon (since I’m eeek-many levels below cap).  What a slug dog. 

Lord of the Rings Online: Into Lothlorien

I haven’t played this game much since re-installing, in part because I couldn’t choose which character to play.  My 60 Hunter or 41 Loremaster? 

The Hunter is ever my favorite and she was in Moria, I must have wanted to back up and complete things there before going back out into the larger world, because she could have been much further along in the world.

I decided to begin again in Lothlorien, and truthfully, this area is what made me stop playing.  I liked almost nothing about it, and was so disappointed in how Lothlorien was presented.  Not close to what I imagined from the books.  I think I can play through now and I won’t be so invested and care so much.

I had a terrible time finding my way out of Moria.  My travel goat got stuck somewhere in the middle and I had to log out and in then find my way through all of the goblins and orcs on foot.  Embarrassing, really, since I once knew the area so well.

Once out, I took time to choose a spec.  I didn’t spend as much time as I probably should have looking at the three choices. I went with Bowmaster, spent most but not all my points just in case.
It’s one thing going into a game with a low level character and not knowing how things will go, but when you go back after quite a while with a higher level character and everything in the world has changed, it seems so much trickier.

Finding some NPCs just ahead, I took all of the quests, then set off to fight ever more orcs.  My Bowmaster spec and skill choices served me well, because I fought much better outside Moria with the new spec in place that I had in Moria trying to find a way out.

I’ve more orcs to kill, but I set my character down in the safety of a tree.