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Currently not playing.....

...Lord of the Rings Online.

Last Tuesdays patch to LOTRO has borked the game for me. I have been unable to connect to the game since. At first I thought it was extended server downtime after the patch but then I realised that everyone else is up and running again. A very helpful support person on the LOTRO Europe forums is helping me work through the problem. I am amazed to find a customer support person who responds instantly to emails at 10PM at night! Under their direction I have done a complete re-install, I have played around with firewalls, antivirus, Microsoft.Net and my ADSL modem /router configuration but sadly nothing works so far.

Perhaps this is poetic justice for my rant about MMORPG timesinks. Despite my complaints in that post I really feel the need for a bout of multiplayer gaming and the heady excitement of Gladiatus doesn't quite cut it (notwithstanding my gratitude to those of you who responded to my request for challenges from real human players - thank you one and all.)

I even ventured back into Guild Wars for a bit. There has been changes to the game since I went away including the addition of hard mode PVE campaigns and a new expansion called Eye of the North. I have a lot of fondness for Guild Wars and I suspect that many people who played with early GW and dismissed it as mainly PVP might be surprised at just how much PVE content the game now has. I was happy to see I haven't been de-guilded despite my absence and a couple of people even welcomed me back. Combat in Guild Wars is fast and furious and you need to be on the ball to play well but unfortunately I couldn't work up the enthusiasm. After people had welcomed me back I felt a bit guilty sneaking out again but who knows - I may have a go at GWEN soon.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Are you considering any of the new MMORPGs that are due out? I am missing the guild/social side to WoW & would like to get back in that old comfortable saddle...I may try Conan next year when it's out...still no beta invite.
11:29 pm
mbp said…
Hi there DM

After enjoying a pleasant "game free" summer I am determined not to enslave myself to any game again. I will certainly look into the new games but I intend to be careful before jumping in. So far I haven't felt under pressure to level in Lotro as I did in WOW and I have had generally better experiences with casual PUGs in LOTRO which is why I am still considering it.

Like you I enjoy the social side of being in a guild but it really needs to be a commitment free guild.

By the way - when are you heading off to Bermuda? I am jealous.
7:26 am
Anonymous said…
...Sunday morning, hours are ticking down now!
7:48 am
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