Casual Stroll to Mordor

This week’s poll was suggested by Vraeden. He wants to know “How do you pick names for your crafted or legendary items?”.

Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there!

The horde of goblins and orcs seemed endless. The company had been raised to fight off a small band of marauders. What they didn’t know was that the enemy numbered six times six dozen. The nine men fought bravely, and died bravely. All but one.

Has LOTRO become a grind for you? How do you alleviate the feeling that you’re only logging on to run daily quests? Plus, a gratuitous picture of my future ex-wife.

Do you have a question for Vraeden? Come bask in the wisdom of an elf who has seen the passing of centuries, the fall of empires and the glory of ages long past.

Do you like pie? You play LOTRO; of course you like pie! Well today is National Pi(e) Day, so celebrate it with CSTM!

A quick comparison of five different mice for gaming use.

I hate people who beg for gold. I think there should be a special /punchagoldbeggerintheface emote that will reach out from the computer monitor to smack them. Here’s a quick guide to making money in an MMO.

If you’re even a minor Tolkien fan, unless you’ve been living under a rock without access to the interweb, you probably know that Peter Jackson is producing and directing not one, but two, movies based on The Hobbit.

Ever since its announcement in October 2008, Star Wars: The Old Republic has been the 500 pound gorilla in the MMO room. I don’t think it’s going to usurp the title as King of the MMO Hill away from The Game Which Shall Not Be Named, but I personally think that it has kept game developers and marketers up late at night for the last three years.

Today is a not-quite-as-well-known—but no less important—holiday . . . that’s right, December 5 is the annual Day of the Ninja!

Where other classes got some minor upgrades with the release of ROI, the core mechanics of the way minstrels operated were fundamentally changed. After getting my minstrel to the new level cap and having the opportunity to run solo and in groups, I’d like to make a couple of comments on how I feel that the changes have affected minstrel gameplay.

Joining a kinship/guild is often the main way that people plug into the social aspects of an MMO. I’d like to offer some thoughts on picking the kinship that is right for you, and I’ll talk a little bit about what it takes to be a good kinmate.

Ninety-three years ago, the fighting came to a halt between the Allies and Germany at Compiègne, France and the day became known as Armistice Day. This has nothing to do with LOTRO, MMOs, Tolkein, computers, or anything that you might normally stop by CSTM for, but Goldenstar and Merric have graciously given me a forum to speak my mind and I’m going to use it.

Why do male MMO players create female characters?