My List for Obama

A lot of people seem to be coming up with lists for the President Elect (until tomorrow) about what they think he should focus on or do upon the assumption of the mantle of the President of the United States of America.

I read a couple (in print, so no links) this weekend that sounded remarkably like whiny posts you might see on the Blizzard or SOE official forums.

With the door open like that in front of me, I decided to make my own list of priorities for the new president.

Things I want answers to:

• What became of Brenden Mecleary?  Has he gone to another, another here?
• What became of Massively Online Gamer hosts Gary and Ryan and what did Todd do with the bodies?
• What happened to the EQ2-Daily podcast and is Cyanbane still brewing beer?
• Who the hell are Red Eagle Games/Red Eagle Entertainment and what makes them think they can actually make any games based on the Wheel of Time series, much less an MMO?

In addition, I’d like to see full Warren Commission-like investigations into the closures of Tabula Rasa and Auto Assault, the ongoing development of Hero’s Journey, and who was really behind the NGE.

With the answers to those questions, I think we can all rest easy.

Or did I miss something important?

Twenty-Two in Trestlebridge

I managed to get to 21 in the Lone Lands between the Foresaken Inn and Ost Guruth on Saturday afternoon, running down most of the remaining quests that were at or below my level.  I still have to find that orc messenger on the quest chain that leads to Retaking Weathertop, but otherwise I am at the point where the quests suddenly jump up a few levels.

That meant it was time to move to the North Downs, to travel to Trestlebridge.

I hate those first few quests out of Trestlebridge.  This will be my fourth time through them and, though they are marked as solo quests, they can be tough to crack by yourself at level.  Several of them require picking up items that are located in Orc camps with three or four orcs about, plus the usual crows around the periphery and a patrolling orc or two.

With care, patience, and a bit of luck, you can keep the fights down to battling two level 20-22 enemies.  But don’t loiter between battles.  The respawn rate is quick enough that taking a long breather can send your plans down the drain.

Still, it was better to face those quests than to try to go after some of the level 23-25 quests that awaited around Ost Guruth.  Plus, at 21 I got to upgrade some of my armor.  Gaff had gotten a critical event when making a chest piece for me, so I had something extra nice to put on.

It is nice to get something that good from crafting in a game.

I took advantage of the quest from Ost Guruth that sends you straight to Trestlebridge, and headed out.

Luck seemed to be with me.  Or, rather, my timing was correct.  Rather than running around at off-peak hours I was playing on Saturday night.  And even LOTRO gets pretty active on a Saturday night.

There seemed to be quite a few people working on the same set of quests, including one full group from the guild Sons of Durin who was cutting a swathe through the orc camps that let all us solo players follow behind and collect the needed pieces.

That was enough to get Tistann over the hump in the North Downs.  After that the quests tend to become more manageable for a while.

Before the night was over Tistann hit 22 and even got a new cloak from one of the quests.

Who is that cloaked stranger?

It isn’t the best cloak in the game, but at least it hides my goofy helmet.