Episode 27 Contest Time

Hey all-

In this episode we:

Cover the LOTRO news including:
The Welcome Back Weekend (http://www.lotro.com/news/377-welcomeback)
Argab the Featured Player (http://my.lotro.com/turbinecommunity/2010/05/28/featured-player-argab/ )
Tell the Community about Burglars (http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=334129 )
Irritated by Lore Lawyers (see the post below)
New LOTRO Podcast: The Green Dragon Inn (http://greendragoncast.wordpress.com/ )

We'll discuss what I've been doing in game, including my run through Fire & Ice (1.5.8)...click here for the pics (http://my.lotro.com/alberich/epic-story-line/ )

The Heart of the Show will focus on the Rift Skirmish and our Contest. Special thanks to Leesah of DDOCocktail Hour (http://ddococktailhour.com/ ) for donating the prize: A signed copy of the Shadows of Angmar Collectors Edition!

Rules for the Contest are as follows:
1) Write a back-story for your character
2) Make the back-story lore compliant and reasonable (you can't be the fifth wizard or Thorin's best friend)
3) Send your character's back-story to lotrocast@gmail.com by June 15, 2010

Keep in mind that length does not equal quality. If it's too long and I can't finish it....it won't win.

Winners will be announced on the June 22 episode!

Then we wrapup with listener feedback.

Hope you enjoy the show!
Alberos

Episode 27 - Delayed and Lore Lawyers Rant Feedback

Hey all

I apologize but Episode 27 is going to be delayed a few days. I have had a few work related issues that have kept me at the office late so I haven't been able to record. I expect that the Holiday weekend will get me back on track.

Thank you for your patience.


On the flip side...I did have a few minutes earlier in the week to rant and rave about "Lore Lawyers"....check out my blog here:

http://my.lotro.com/alberich/

I only mention the blog because it was later picked up on No Prisoners No Mercy in their first "Quack Like A Duck" issue. NPNM picked it up from Syp's Bio Break Quote of the Day. Check out both their links.

http://noprisonersnomercy.com/2010/05/if-it-quacks-like-a-duck/

http://biobreak.wordpress.com/

Alberos

Episode 26 - Carn Dum

Hey all-

The heart of this episode will focus on the Carn Dum instance. Below are some of the other links I mentioned during the show:

Elrond is the Red Skull
http://scifiwire.com/2010/05/its-official-hugo-weaving.php

Szarwyn is the Featured Player
http://my.lotro.com/turbinecommunity/2010/05/07/szarwyn/

MMO Land Size
http://www.mmorpg.com/newsroom.cfm/read/16920

Radiance/Gloom/Hope/Dread (special thanks to Ivaneus for the link)
http://lotro.mmorsel.com/2010/03/how-radiance-works-mirkwood-edition.html

Thanks also to Elahndria and Shipwreck for the lessons in Sindarin. I hope to butcher the beautiful elven language much less in the future.

Linnet's Lore where there are more details about the May 15th Bloggers Gathering
http://my.lotro.com/rannadylin/

Also check out Cobrette's back stories at
http://my.lotro.com/lddiaz/

Special Thanks to Lessah at the DDO Cocktail Hour for her donation of a autographed LOTRO Collector's Edition. Check out the DDO Cocktail Hour at:
http://www.ddococktailhour.com/

I hope you enjoy the episode. Leave some comments in reply to the show and don't forget to vote in our poll.

Alberos

Episode 25 Bugs Bunny Moves Into Bag End

Hey all-

In this episode we cover the following:

Saying Good-Bye to WoWCast
Corrections to last episode's Radiance Gear Discussion
Turbine News about the 3rd Anniversary

The Heart of the Show will take a look at Warner Brother's recent acquisition of Turbine and LOTRO (See the blog entry below for a link to the press release).

Give it a listen and then leave a reply to the show notes regarding what you think the acquisition will mean. Also place a vote in this episode's poll.

Thanks for listening,
Alberos

BIG NEWS: Warner Bros. acquires Middle Earth....

Warner Bros which already had the rights to the majority of the LOTR game rights, has acquired Turbine.

See the link to the press release below:

www.turbine.com/news/99-warner-bros-home-entertainment-group-acquires-turbine-inc.html

What do you think of the news?

Alberos

Episode 24 - Your Armor is Radiant

Hey all-

Episode 24 covers the following:

What I've Been Doing in Game
LOTRO Headlines including a look in to the Minstrel of the Gallery Blog found at

http://my.lotro.com/fionnuala

The Heart of the Show focuses on the Medallions of Moria, Lothlorien and Dol Guldur and the related radiance armor sets. Follow this link to a pretty useful entry on Radiance, Hope, Gloom and Dread.

http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Hope_and_Dread

Vote on our poll regarding what type a player you are.

Alberos

Episode 23 A Spring in Your Step

In this Episode the focus is on the Spring Festival. We'll discuss:

What I've Been Doing in Game
Headlines from LOTRO.com
The Spring Festival
LOTRO Machinama from Lunna the Burg

Check out Lunna's video at:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBfqiUkhtjM

Check out the poll and tell me how you enjoy LOTRO's Festivals

Also leave a response to this question in the show notes:

Have you ever done a quest that didn't 'fit' your character?

Alberos

LORECast #7: Gondor

Alberos wraps up his 3 part series on the Kingdom of Men. In this episode the focus is on Gondor.

What would you like to hear in the next LORECast segment? Leave a reply to the show notes with your suggestion.

Alberos

Episode 22 - The UHMMMMM Episode

Hey all,

This episode is full of a lot of good information and, unfortunately, a lot of "uhmms". As I was listening to this episode before posting it, I realized that early on in the episode I had a bad case of the "uhmmms" as I would search for info or try and get my thoughts ordered. I can't promise that I'll stop the "uhmmms" in the future, but I will work to make sure there aren't as many.

In this episode I cover:

What I did in game
News about the My.Lotro Lotteries
Lotro.com Articles on the Pool of Creeping Death and a QA Dev Diary
Revisiting Volume 3, Book 1
Answering Brady's Question on Getting Started in Lotro

So here is a question for the listeners.....how would you like to see the rest of Volume 3 rolled out? Do you want to see one book at a time, 2-3 books at a time, or all off the remaining books at once?

Leave your answer in the show notes.

I hope you enjoy the episode.
Alberos

Episode 21 - Alberos solos Volume 3 Book 1

In this episode Alberos takes on the soon to be released Volume 3 Book 1 - Oath of the Rangers. Alberos does a dive into the developer diaries which can be found at http://www.lotro.com/ . Topics include the soloability of Volume 1 (Shadows of Angmar), new changes to crafting, updates to skirmishes and new level 64 skills for all classes.

Alberos also announces his 'vacation' from WoW and the starting of his blog (Alberos's Journey).

Alberos's blog can be found at http://my.lotro.com/alberich.

LOREcast #6 - The Rise and Fall of Arnor

In this episode Alberos examines the rise and fall of he northern Kingdom of Arnor.

LORECast 005 - Numenor

In this episode Alberos starts a 3 part series on the kingdoms of Men. Episode 1 will focus on the ancient Kingdom of Numenor. Episode 2 will detail the Rise and Fall of Arnor. Episode 3 will tell the story of Gondor.

A Little LOL.

Just a little LOL for everyone while Alberos and I are on break. We should be back at it in another week or so. Until then, I tried my hand at making an 'LOLcat.' I think they're funny, but...

Yeah, I know. I'm late to the game. Didn't find out about these things until a month or so ago.

Siege of Mirkwood Screenshot Contest Winners!

Our Siege of Mirkwood Screenshot Contest is now ended! We had a variety of wonderful entries, which we will compile into a video for our YouTube channel sometime in the next week so everyone can see the imagination and thought our listeners put into their submissions. It really was hard for Alberos and I to narrow down the field. In the end, though, we could only have one winner per category.*

*You'll understand when you get a little further into the post.

The winners of our contest will each receive a free copy of Siege of Mirkwood and will get a chance to appear on one of our near future episodes of LOTROCast: The Lord of the Rings Online Podcast.

And the winners are:

Location Category

For the Location category, we asked entrants to give us a neat and unique perspective on a space in Middle-earth, be it a well-known landmark or a nice little nook to call your own. We received a wide range of submissions, from a wonderfully reflective look at the evil barely contained in Angmar to a great shot of a lonely, forgotten shipwreck in the Bay of Ice.

Our winner in this category, this wonderfully framed shot of Weathertop, comes to us from Donatello on the Firefoot server.

Here's what Donatello had to say about the image: "Weathertop (Amon Sul) as seen from the Lornspan. It is a reminder of those places that had use when they were first created by Men, but have fallen into disrepair and no longer have any practical value. It's a sad reminder of the glory days of the Men of the West."

Character Category

The character category was even tougher for us to narrow down. There were some great submissions in this category too, ranging from a great group photo of a kinship ready to charge together into battle to a wonderful shot of a sole warden in the North Downs just taking in the sunrise.

We actually ran into a bit of a quandary with this one. Our selected winner in this category stated that he was fine without the Siege of Mirkwood expansion, so instead of letting it go to waste we decided to have two winners.

Our 'Grand Prize' winner, who will receive both a guest appearance and a free copy of Siege of Mirkwood, is Fiorella from the Nimrodel server.

Here is what Fiorella had to say: "This picture is meaningful to me because it was my first big raid and I was chosen to be one of the main tanks. I will never forget being face to face with THIS!"

Our co-winner in this category is from Gawain who will appear on a future LOTROCast:

Again, we would like to thank everyone who submitted. When you see all the entries, you'll see just how tough it was to pick the winners! Look for the display video coming to YouTube in the next week or two. I hope everyone has a wonderful New Year! I'll be enjoying the first week on a quick trip to Washington DC, but I also look forward to seeing what 2010 has to offer in LOTRO.

What do you look forward to? Leave a comment or send an email to us about your 'New Year's Resolution' in LOTRO and we will read them on the next episode.