Thursday, February 4, 2010

Why am I here?

No, not why am I in Canada. Why am I in Middle Earth?

I played this game for a few weeks when it 1st came out, but eventually I gave it up. I simply did not have time and I prefer games with a much stronger - as in face to face – social dimension. Even more embarrassingly, I recently advised a mate to avoid playing WoW, specifically because it lacked the face to face social element. And now here I am back playing lotro.

I suppose there are a few reasons.

The last time I tried this I was using a 17” screen and 3yr old graphics card, not the 22” monitor or stonking great graphics card that I have now. Armed with these recent additions, the game is beautiful. Sure, it’s no holiday in New Zealand, but the game developers paid a lot of attention to the oscar-winning design work in the movies and I really enjoy exploring their incredibly huge game version of Middle Earth. And it really is huge. The game has a phenomenal amount of content and they add more on a regular basis. Mirkwood is the most recent, but I am especially looking forward to eventually galloping about in Rohan.

It’s also a relaxation for me. Some people read, watch TV, knit, whatever. I have been tentatively scouting the Trollshaws, looking for seams of Dwarf-iron I can mine. It’s very profitable, but risky because the Trollshaws are meant for higher level characters than mine. Even the local chipmunks could take my head off if I give them a chance. So in the afternoons, Lillian (fingers crossed) has a nap, Tom watches his favorite TV shows and I ponce about Middle Earth. Everybody gets to relax a little and then its time for everyone to get onboard the dinner/bath/bed slide. This is also why the face to face aspect isn’t important. Most of the time I am playing I actually don’t want to be social. I want to sit quietly and decompress.

Still, there must be dozens of things I could better spend my time on than culling wargs in the foothills of Weathertop. And so, I have come up with this. Before I login, I will do 10 push-ups. If, on any given day, I log on a 2nd time, I’ll do 20, and so on. That ought to keep my online time in check.

And if nothing else, playing lotro helps keep me off Facebook.

3 comments:

  1. Bwahahahaaaa! I love the pushup/login connection. Heh.

    Lately I've loaded a couple hessian sacks with about 20kg of gravel each, and tied 'em together at the neck. When I get spare moments, I sling the lot over my shoulders, and go trotting off up the hills.

    Wouldn't recommend it for anybody with spine issues, I guess - but it suits me! 'Course, I don't have the bandwidth to play anything interesting online...

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  2. I always thought the peddle electric notebook should be adopted so it is the only way to play WOW.

    And I linked Counterstrike to fitness - get killed, do exercise until resurrected.

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  3. So far so good. My character recently leveled, and the burning from a mere 10 push ups has gone away.

    For those who care - Jyggar of Rohan, Human male, lvl 32 hunter. Frequently seen rescuing pigs in the Shire or hanging around near the auction house in Bree.

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