About Merric

Merric

Welcome to A Casual Stroll to Mordor – a Blog and Podcast dedicated to Lord of the Rings Online from a casual gamer’s perspective.

Hi there, and welcome to the site.  My name is Merric (well, that’s not my real name, but I’m keeping that private for now) and I’m a blogger and podcaster focusing on The Lord of the Rings Online, and various subjects relating to the game.

Why a Podcast and Blog?

I’ve been interested in the digital formats of writing (blogging) and broadcasting (web/podcasting) for a while now.  In the past although I was a highly active gamer in MMO’s, I wasn’t that knowledgeable of a person outside of maybe a few niches in the games I played.  However, as I began to play World of Warcraft I began to become more and more interested in the mechanics of the game.  Although I would never have considered myself a theorycrafter, I would read as many posts by theorycrafters as possible; weighing what each one said against my own experiences in-game.  I would spend hours outside of game trying to find ways to enhance my gameplay, discover where to get better gear, and how to be the best player in my chosen role.

Ironically this was the same reason I had to leave Warcraft.  Upon the birth of my daughter, Baby Hobbit, in April of ‘09 I found that I no longer could dedicate the time to playing the game the way I did.  Therefore, the birth combined with some financial hardships experienced by myself and Goldenstar, we decided to end our time in World of Warcraft.  Fortunately we had the foresight to purchase lifetime memberships and decided to give LOTRO another shot.  And boy were we glad we did!  It was perfect for us!  We loved the gameplay, the story, and the community surrounding the game couldn’t be more fantastic; especially in comparison to Warcraft!

We also thought that this would be a great chance for us to start our own blog and podcast as well.  Since we were discovering the game once again, we thought that there had to be others like us out there who would like to hear someone going through their same experiences.  Although my wife was an experienced blogger and although we were avid fans of a myriad of podcasts, we had no idea how to get a podcast started.  So after investing some time in researching how some of our favorite podcasters produce their shows, designing our own setup, and then investing the money to make it all happen; viola, A Casual Stroll to Mordor was born.  And I have to say I’m glad that we did it, because we have met some great people and have had some great experiences; we can’t wait to see what comes next!

Gaming Experience

I’ve been playing games for quite a while; primarily since my parents purchased a Commodore 64 and with it several floppy disk and cartridge-based games.  As I was young at the time (in Elementary School) I focused on playing Dig-Dug, Donkey Kong, Load Runner, and Karateka.  But it wasn’t until I saw my older brother playing Ultima II that I knew I was missing out on bigger and better games.  With some help from my brother I was soon walking through the land with a party, battling trolls, giants and all sorts of different monsters.  Of course I didn’t really understand most of the gameplay, but again with his help I was able to have fun which was enough for me!

It was with that game that spawned a true computer gamer.  Eventually we moved on from the Commodore 64 to a 486 on which I played more Ultima games, Tie Fighter vs. X-Wing, and Doom.  Eventually it got to the point where the Nintendo I had begged my parents for went unused.  Later on in life my parents eventually purchased my own computer with a modem which allowed me to explore online communities such as BBS’s, AOL, and eventually MMO’s.  I remember reading about Ultima Online and how Origin Games was going to start a new kind of game where thousands of players could interact with one another.  I had played The Realm Online, but this promised to be completely mind-blowing!  Well, I couldn’t miss out on this… And it was Ultima!  So I signed up for the Beta, got an invite (I still have my beta disks) and the rest is history.

Since UO I’ve played (in no particular order) more MMO’s (some for hours, some for months, and other for years) including:  EverQuest, EverQuest 2, Dark Age of Camelot, Toontown, Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft, The Sims Online, Dungeon and Dragons Online, Asheron’s Call, Asheron’s Call 2, City of Heroes, Dungeon Runners, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lineage 2, a smattering of FPS, RTS, and RPG single-player games, and of course Lord of the Rings Online.  My love though is based in MMORPG’s mostly because of the game settings as well as the player interaction and communities that they provide.  Although that community can sometimes be a double-edged sword, I have found a true home in LOTRO.

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