May Update

Good news! I got a new computer and now LOTRO is better than ever. On my laptop I was getting 10-30 fps, on my new PC I'm now getting over 100 fps! The graphics look amazing and animations are so smooth. I'm still using Linux Mint - I think I'm truly converted now and can't imagine going back to Windows - and now have a SSD and a 2TB HDD (lots of room for screenshots!), and a nVidia GTX 1070 8GB graphics card.

I've been pretty busy trying to complete all the scavenger hunt quests. They've been a lot of fun but they do take a while. I'm still updating my LOTRO's 10th Anniversary article as more quests become available, with tips on where to go and pictures of the rewards as I get them.

The view from Wellinghall (Year 5 Tales: Merry)

I really like the Fishing Creel backpack (Year 5 reward)

With levelling a champion to 20 and writing about the experience, I've been enjoying the class so much I'm now working on levelling one of my champs to 50 so she can get some legendaries and head into Moria. I've also been really enjoying my free-to-play (F2P) hunter and I have been inspired by a kin member who has a F2P character who is almost level 105 and is farming Moria deeds on an alt to get enough LOTRO points for the next quest pack. It's encouraging to be reminded that you can get to max level for free if you really want to.

My goal for the rest of this month is to keep up with the scavenger hunts, finish my scenic tour of Mirkwood and get my champ to 50. Hopefully I can also level a guardian to 20 for my Introducing X Class series. Which reminds me, I still need to install TitanBar and CombatAnalysis plugins on the new computer.

Bye for now. Have fun in Middle Earth!