Hey, it's been a while. Myndariel got bored in Gundabad at level 140 so I took a break from the game. Recently there has been lots of discussion about the new 64-bit servers and 18th anniversary which piqued my interest and here I am, back in the game again.
First off, I decided to transfer Calengwen, my level 26 high elf hunter from Evernight [EU] to Meriadoc [EU-RP]. I chose her because I already had a hobbit hunter on Evernight (Robinya). I wanted to see what the server was like, if performance or community is better, etc. So far I don't see any difference with performance and the community is nice, but the community on Evernight was nice too.
I was looking into the Corsairs of Umbar expansion options on LOTRO-Wiki and I saw they mentioned a redeemable coupon code "THANKYOU2025" that was still valid. It included some mithril coins, lockbox keys and a pick-a-mount box among other things. I used the code for Calengwen and got her a new mount - the Pale Golden Summer Horse matches her outfit pretty nicely.
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Calengwen and her Pale Golden Summer Steed |
I am rather disappointed with my experience purchasing the Corsairs of Umbar expansion. I wanted to buy it with LOTRO points, but after buying about AUD$60 worth of LOTRO points (4400 with the bonus points deal currently available), I realised that would only get me the Corsairs of Umbar quest pack and didn't include the Mariner class or any other bonus items. So I went to the website and purchased the Standard version of the expansion, which cost roughly AUD$60 as well. I got the Mariner class, an extra character slot and a title. But I didn't get a Valar upgrade so I could boost a character (i.e. Calengwen) to take part in the Corsairs of Umbar content. I checked the price of the Valar upgrade to boost to level 140: 5022 LOTRO points on special! I've just spent AUD$120 on the game and it's still not enough to try out the latest expansion. Ouch! That is so expensive and I'm very sad. Maybe I should go back to playing Elder Scrolls Online - much cheaper and it also has a lot of content and lore.
I did check out the 18th anniversary rewards with Myndariel, but I wasn't really interested in the "Baker's Delight" costume or mount. So I'll skip the rest of the event. I hear Midsummer's Festival is being updated this year with a new zone? Maybe I'll check that out.
Do I want to try the Mariner class or unlock River Hobbits with the LOTRO points I got? Not now. I was excited to get back into the game, try a new server and send a character I haven't played much to visit Umbar for the first time, but now my enthusiasm is gone and I just want to log out.