Whimsical Autumn

I apologize for the unexpectedly lengthy absence. Unfortunately, there's only so much I can control between two jobs. I'm often exhausted when I get home. I seldom have the time or energy for gaming, let alone LOTRO. Despite that, my desire to continue making new outfits is still going strong. I'm on vacation in the upcoming weeks and I plan to upload as much as I can for scheduled content.

If you've been lucky and are on the LOTRO Official Discord server, you may have noticed I'm periodically dropping screenshots of new outfits either in progress or completed.

That being said, I have two announcements to make. 

Returning to the aforementioned completed outfits, I'm currently playing a new character fully kitted with eight new appearances. This is a Hunter I created to explore the recent major class changes. This alt's outfits share a common aspect. Masks. I'm challenging myself to including one in each outfit. I'm not a fan of covering faces, as I put time and care into customizing them during the creation process. For a fresh perspective and some unique clothing combinations, I'm stepping outside my comfort zone.

The second is a change in post format. After subtle hints, not so subtle hints, and outright goading between various Discords and email messages, I'm giving fewer, but larger pictures a try. I don't know if this change will be permanent, as it leaves me with larger areas of blank space surrounding the images. And I can't alter the main body parameters without adversely altering the 200+ previous outfit entries, as it's an all or none situation. If I can fine tune this change, I'll be keeping it.

With Thanksgiving around the corner and Autumn approaching it's end, I'm sharing this alt's whimsical outfit first. A seasonal symphony of bright oranges, golds, and browns. An appearance so bold and so bright that any character wearing it forsakes a desire for stealth and instead begs to be seen. I often stop other players in their tracks on Peregrin while questing, watching them make loops around me. And I'll admit that the longer I travel across Middle-earth, the more this outfit grows on me.

Head: Fire-fox Mask (Sunset orange, Farmer's Faire barter reward)

Shoulders: Shoulder-guards of Illumination (Umber, Anniversary Festival barter reward)

Back: Cloak of the Autumn Sage (Sunset orange, Fall Festival barter reward)

Chest: Tunic of the Leaf-turner (Sunset orange, Fall Festival barter reward)

Hands: Dunland Caretaker's Patched Bracers (Sunset orange, Dunland landscape quest reward)*

Feet: Boots of the Perfect Curl (Sunset orange, Spring Festival barter reward)

Bow: Keria-laulu (Lossoth reputation recipe for Woodworkers)

*Many Dunland quest rewards share appearances. To see where these skins can be earned, check out the LOTRO Stylist's guide.

Brief Blog Update

 Greetings everybody!

I apologize for the lack of posts here lately. I haven't stopped blogging. In fact, I've had little time for LOTRO. I've been working multiple jobs, a sign of financially supporting a family in this precarious US economy. Keeping a roof over our heads comes first and foremost, which I hope you understand.

As such, I generally have two specific times that I don't work. Sunday afternoons and Wednesdays. Not the most convenient windows for gaming, I assure you. Sundays have gone towards leveling for my kinship's upcoming progression raid, The Anvil of Winterstith. Wednesdays are LOTRO's weekly maintenance day. And, as of late, those maintenance days have become extended maintenance days (ugh), where either all servers or specific servers are down into the late afternoon or early evening. When that happens, I can't play. As a result, I've neither had time to craft new outfits nor time to screenshot ones I have yet to share here.

I'll be back eventually. Hopefully, sooner than later.

~Nath

Crimson Sands

Recently, I rolled a fresh Warden. With the smoother performance of the 64-bit servers and a noticeable reduction in skill lag, this class is once again, at least to me, viable to play. There is an upcoming Rift of Nûrz Ghâshu raid on June 1st for Perwethien's birthday celebration and I'll be bringing a red line Warden to the event! This event will be run on the Peregrin server on-level with a group of level 50 players. At the time of writing this, there are some spots still open. The group is looking for a second  tank and three DPS. Hopefully we'll get it filled by then!

Simple Fashion - Robes, Pt. 2

When I was blogging prior to 2021, I was obsessed with filling every outfit slot. If something was missing, I felt naked or that an outfit felt incomplete despite it looking fully functional. Sometimes I had an actual theme for my character's appearance, but most of the time I shoehorned circlets (still obsessed to this day) and cloaks when they weren't actually necessary. Since my return, I've been leaning towards simpler outfits. This would be the third "Simple Fashion" entry in four months, as opposed to six entries between 2012 and 2021.

The downside to this particular posting category is that I burn through outfits at a rapid pace. Personally, as much as I've love making these, I've never felt the need to give each one their own blog entry with lengthy exposition or pictures from multiple angles. These outfits these have always been intended as quick ideas to inspire the community. 

Anyway, after ten and a half years, enjoy the second set of "Simple Fashion" robes!

Head: Fine Elven Circlet (Default, Anniversary Festival barter reward)

Shoulders: Disused Mantle of the Dunland Soothsayer (White, reward from the quest Mean, Old Big Bloodtusk)*

Chest: Robe of Leisure (Dark mossy green, LOTRO Store)

Feet: Westemnet Campaign Shoes of Fate (Dark mossy green, crafted from the Westemnet Campaign Shoes tailor recipe)

Ocean's Whisper

I apologize for the delay between blog entries. It took approximately three weeks in March to transfer from Gladden to Peregrin. And I've also been incredibly busy outside of LOTRO, including but no limited to, picking up a second job. I hope nobody thought I stepped down from blogging again. I haven't run out of outfits I'd like to share yet!

This week's elven outfit is inspired by a few things. The first being the shoreline. While Packing up my island kinhouse, I would often find myself staring, peacefully, at both the ocean horizon and the mainland. Second, the yearning to return to Valinor the elves experience, which I often equate to a beckoning whisper carried on the wind that only they can hear. Lastly, I had been skimming through the Tolkien Companion at the time, reading about Mithlond, Círdan, the Teleri, and the grey ships.

In the end, I find myself with what could be called an elven mariner's outfit. Wouldn't quite consider this my take on one of the Teleri. Just an ocean-inspired ensemble.