Looking at Isengard

A very warm welcome my friend!

Sit down and listen, I have some news of my old elven friend Nimreidhreth Taleth, who is currently far away from where he wrote last. He sent a letter with interesting news, and it seems that the world is stirring even more with heroic acts to be done:

  

   “I have set out to travel with some old friends towards the land Stilfred urges me to go, Rohan. With me the rangers that call themselves the Grey Company, men faithful to our elf-friend and future king of Gondor Aragron. They have felt the call to accompany the heir of Isildur to one of his greatest challenges. I have been chosen to travel with them to the south.

   We have travelled many days and found many dangers, but now we are at the borders of Dunland, ready to enter Saruman’s territory and to confront real evils before we reach Aragorn in Rohan.

Awaitng departure in a town in Enedwaith.

   These men are much better company to me than the dwarves. They are proud men, of an old lineage, ready to fight against anything that may stand in their way and of their leader.”

   He has been in far away lands now and awaits the voyage further south. I hope he will bring many materials worthy of praise on song when he comes back. What he did in Moria was already more than interesting!

   Want another cup of tea? No? Well then, if you have to move, then I will wish you luck in your endeavors and may the Valar protect you.

 Until then, fare well.

[Finally, the big announcement! The long promised Rise of Isengard expansion has finally a date set (27^th of September) and now comes the big wait for the new stuff that is to come out. A new crafting tier, three whole new zones to explore and a new huge raid (glee!) await us players in now a more certain future.

   At the same time Turbine gives us the chance to pre-order the game and already enjoy some stuff. Three packages are now out, for each price range one. Now comes the big question: which one to buy?

   I am right now in the decision of which to buy. I haven’t bought it mostly because of money issue, but also because I am not quite sure which of the three packages I should get. It is interesting what the most costly package will get you: three sets of cosmetics, three horses, the Path of the Fellowship questpack bundle, a title and 1000 Turbine points.

   But then again, is the whole hype worth those 50$? I mean, it’s nice to see so much stuff bundled together in one order, but that doesn’t mean that we should just blindly follow. For example, the title: I have on my character so many titles that I am not even sure I’ll get to use it at some point. Nimreidhreth is still called Warg-Hunter, a title you get in Lone Lands. I had never the need to change it. So, why should I need this Defender of the Isen title?

   The cosmetics themselves are pretty. Only thing that really bugged me was that they are not possible to dye. But I must say that I would like to have those, although, again, if you are not using the cosmetic system much, these sets are almost useless. Not to talk about the horses. Sorry to behave like Sauron, but if I want a horse of the fine lands of Rohan, I would love to have a dark one! I am not a big fan of the blonde horses, so pretty much that leaves me with a “meh”, since the blankets on the horse ain’t so cool. I still prefer my Angmarim Free People’s steed.

   Lastly there is the Path of the Fellowship bundle. It is a good bundle, but I think it is more thought for F2P players that for VIP. Let’s face it: if you have a lifetime subscription you’ll pretty much have those regions at hand forever, while being a monthly payer you’ll pretty much have it for free unless you think to downgrade in the future (or have to, that’s a possibility too). Mirkwood is also a nice touch, but most of the players already have it.

   I’d say that the offer pretty much appeals to some audience, but not to all. The good thing is that Turbine has given different option, so you don’t have to buy a package that contains stuff you might not need. I think that the heroic edition is more than enough for a casual player like me, while those fanatics of cosmetics or even those who play F2P might consider the legendary one. But I still am not sure if I want that legendary offer…

   All Hail!]