This episode of CStM we chat a bit more about the goodies we’ve been doing with the Yule Festival and the hunt for the elven snow globe. Goldenstar rants a bit about repair costs and skirmishes. Not to fear, although she is very upset and swears she won’t skirmish again she has done some even since the recording.
At the end of the episode we chat about gift exchanges and Goldenstar’s curse associated with these. You ever gotten some horrible gifts in an exchange you would like to share feel free to comment!
Town Crier:
- Siege of Mirkwood named best expansion for 2009 from Ten Ton Hammer
- Bullroarer Testing Open
- Merric & Goldenstar as LOTRO Featured Players
- Guide to Dol Guldur by Brushfire
- Missy’s Tailoring Guide
Raise Your Glass:
Letters:
Fengald writes
Have been running skirmishes and have had a blast. Champ and a herbalist, makes a fantastic combo.
And thank you to those who have left us kind reviews in iTunes or on the Zune Marketplace!
- Valdaglerion
- Tubasarebehind
Musical Credits:
- “Banshee” by Fathom
- “Let us Sing Together” by The Lonely Mountain Band
- “Harp Lullabye” performed by Harperella
Contact Us:
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December 27, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Great show guys. I’m anxiously awaiting your return in 2010!
Re: Skirmishes. I’ve run a LOT of skirmishes. A LOT. I’ve leveled up both an Herbalist (eww) to 62 and after getting disgusted by his performance 300 skirmishes too late, an Archer (yay!) to 63 in all skills. In the switch, I noticed a HUGE difference in difficulty upon starting over. When you target your soldier, they do indeed match your level, but only in combat percentages I assume. Even though my Archer claimed to be 65, all of his skills, morale, and power were that of a level 30 NPC. Now that’s a gimped situation. This may be the issue you’re having, Goldenstar.
Sadly I am also done with Skirmishes, at least for now. Not because I’ve lost a ton of money on them (I’ve made probably 10 gold overall if I had to estimate) but because after doing them enough to get two soldiers to this point, I have pretty much nothing to show for it. Sure I have leveled up two soldiers to use at my beck and call, but the only thing I can use them for is… well, more Skirmishes.
Perhaps when the role of soldiers increases in future expansions or updates, I’ll revisit this, but right now I’ve done far more Skirmishing than I care to admit and despite random events (which don’t really vary to any meaningful degree), the situation has become a the grind to end all grinds for me.
Sorry for the negative ramblings, I just wanted to pass on what I suspect your issue was.
Happy New Year!
Jimwise
December 27, 2009 at 6:48 pm
The funny thing about the skirmishes is that they become more difficult as the size of them gets bigger. Once you know what to expect, the solo ones are a walk in the park, but the 6- and 12-man skirmishes can be excruciatingly painful and expensive (especially Gondamon and Thievery & Mischief).
I like the potential of the skirmish system, but think it could use a little tweaking and balancing. It seems that the soldier system is what the legendary item system should have been, and it could be a boon in revamping some of the earlier epic content.
I’ve been pretty happy with my minstrel/warrior combo. I’m traited warrior-skald and can burn through things pretty quickly solo.
December 28, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Aw man, Goldenstar, I feel really bad that we didn’t visit your house during the house tour.
I was so focused on making sure we visited the homes of everyone who was present that I forgot about yours and the others that were open. Phooey. 
I’m going to make sure I pay yours a visit.
BTW, the winterberry ales were from me (made by my Guardian Yeoman, Belleflower) and the treats were crafted by Telebrethil.
Also I feel your pain on the white elephant situations…we do something like that every year at my Grandma’s, and some years I’ve gotten total crap. And yeah, watching people open your gift and look disappointed or even just “meh” is no fun! Heh.
December 28, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Goldenstar, post your house address. There’s no reason why kinmates can’t stop by anyway.
My $0.02 for skirmishes, they are partially a side activity and partially an experiment. If you only have 20 minutes to play you can login and do a skirmish or if you’re waiting for a kinship activity and have thirty or forty minutes to kill. I’ve not completed the latest book, but I’ve heard that there are no fellowship quests, just skirmishes. I think going forward they’re planning to use skirmishes more heavily as a way of having quest instances that scale from solo to full fellowship. By allowing players to run skirmishes both as part of the latest Book and adhoc, they get more data for future design.
December 28, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Phebe do not feel bad at all. I totally blame Merric. I know how stressful leading an in game event. I suppose it’s a tinsy bit my fault for going to bed and not reminding Merric.
My address is 1 Brookbank Street, Brightdown in the Shire.
Blue – I did do some successful skirmishes and they are pretty good for me as a lot of times I do not have a lot of time. But I agree that as they are now they are just side distractions.
December 29, 2009 at 2:11 pm
I’ll have to head to the Shire tonight and checkout the house, so don’t be too surprised if you see Brynulf sitting by the fireplace smoking a pipe.