Project Altoholism: Thoughts on SoM

Posted on 08. Dec, 2009 by Merric in Project Altoholism

Looking to Mirkwood With Siege of Mirkwood, or rather with the Adventurer’s Pack that I purchased to receive Siege of Mirkwood (for free), came two extra character slots; bringing the total character slots on my account to nine.  So, as I said I would, the first thing I did was create two characters for the classes that I was creating:  an Elf Rune-keeper and a Race of Man Warden.  Now, it took me quite a while to determine just what these two would look like and what names they were to have (both are Sindarin names).  In fact, I spent so much time on this that Goldenstar probably thought I had gone ahead and started seeing Mirkwood without her; when in fact I was scouring the sites she had suggested for names and trying different combinations (most of which I encountered were already taken).

Finally after an hour or so, I had both characters created, named, and sitting on my desktop.  However, I spent no time logging them in and playing as I had other obligations.  At this time though I am leveling them to 20 which is my new priority for my alt leveling project.  Currently, they are both out of the starting areas and into the wild, but my focus will first be on the Rune-keeper and then on the Warden.  Why?  Well, the Rune-keeper is a nice change of pace from my Guardian and is just a lot of fun.  The Warden is great too and I look forward to learning all the gambits that I can.

My first thoughts on both of these classes are that they are an improvement over the design of previous classes.  Not that the other classes are bad, but the Warden and Rune-keeper definitely benefit from the experience the designers have had since the initial design and release of LOTRO.  I don’t see myself abandoning my current “main” or favoring them over any other characters, but there is a definite continuity to the way that these classes work that isn’t as prominent in the others.

I’m interested in hearing what others have done with their additional slots (if anything) or if they’ve made a new alt since launch.  Expansions are a normal time for people to “start over” and level up a new main or to try out alts and Siege of Mirkwood is no exception.  Have you created or returned to an alt?  What inspired you to do so?  How do you like it?  Will you be playing your new character for the foreseeable future?

Tags: , ,

8 Responses to “Project Altoholism: Thoughts on SoM”

  1. Delk

    08. Dec, 2009

    I started when SoM came out :) I always liked LOTRO but the combat really turned me off the few times I tried it; now, however, I’m really getting stuck in (level 20 after only 4 days of having an account XD.)

    Reply to this comment

  2. camenecium

    08. Dec, 2009

    I, um, seem to have, ahem, a few more characters now than I did a few days ago. Not sure how that happened. I’m not an altholic. Really. I can stop any time I want.

    Reply to this comment

  3. Merric

    08. Dec, 2009

    Delk: Welcome back to LOTRO! I think it’s a great time to come back with all the changes. I think you’ll enjoy the community as well as it’s really top-notch.

    Camenecium: I completely believe you!

    Reply to this comment

  4. Belamanth

    09. Dec, 2009

    I filled up the two last slots with a Dwarf Runekeeper and an Elf Champion, the last two missing classes in my collection. I chose the races to have an almopst even spread across the board: 3 Hobbits (burglar, warden, hunter), 2 Elves (loremaster, champion), 2 humans (guardian, captain) and 2 Dwarves (minstrel, runekeeper).

    I played the new chars, as always when I make a new char, through the intro (nice nostalgic memories right back to beta there…) and will play around with them when I need a break from the mid to high level game. Sadly, these will be the first that I will probably have to solo up, because my wife has no interest in the classes with which she could fill her new slots (warden, guardian), as she doesn’t like tanking.

    Reply to this comment

  5. Myself

    09. Dec, 2009

    Codemasters (the European publisher of Lotro) wants extra money for the character slots… so many of us didn´t buy them.

    Reply to this comment

  6. Merric

    09. Dec, 2009

    Bel: Awesome to hear how you’re going through the rest of the classes, but I’m sorry that you’ll have to possibly do it solo. Maybe your wife can roll another of a class that she enjoys, but of a different race?

    Myself: The downside of Turbine and Codemaster’s relationship seems to be that one always seems to have better deals than the other. Sorry to hear that they’re charging extra for the slots, but maybe in the future they’ll offer them up in a package deal that will make it seem more attractive.

    Reply to this comment

  7. Blue Kae

    09. Dec, 2009

    I’d been keeping my 7th slot open because I couldn’t decide if I wanted a Burglar, Lore-Master, or Champion. Now with the AP I don’t have to decide. I’ve already made my Man Lore-Master. I’m expecting to use Hobbit for the Burglar and Dwarf for the Champion. I’m not a huge fan of the Elven models in the game, although I did make my Rune Keeper an Elf, since Dwarves and lightning just don’t mix in my opinion.

    Reply to this comment

  8. Karl

    11. Jan, 2010

    I haven’t started any chars since SoM, but then I have a 2nd account so I wasn’t squeezed for char slots. One minor goal of mine is to at least see the level 15 class quest for every quest… so far I am missing the champ and RK.

    Reply to this comment

Leave a Reply