Yule Festival 2014 Cosmetic Rewards and Steed

I was going to wait until the start of the Yule Festival to post this year's new cosmetic rewards, but as pictures are popping up all over the LOTRO forums and Twitter, I'll post them now. Please bear in mind that these screenshots are from Bullroarer as well as the currency costs listed below. Once this festival goes live, I can confirm the token costs.

I do have a bit of good news regarding these new barter additions. Unlike most cosmetics from the past two years' festivals, the cosmetics are neither overdone in terms of design and nor are they the same reskinned robe we've been seeing since the Summer Festival of 2013. It's about time, I say! On top of it, the new robe includes two different skins--a knee-length one for females and an ankle-length one for males. It's based on another unique cosmetic recently posted here. Even though it is reskinned, I'm overjoyed a different model was used! Even the steed caparison has a unique skin!

The Yule Festival runs from December 16, 2014 to January 15, 2015 this winter season.

As usual, to the left of each individual cosmetic is a version dyed evendim blue to demonstrate dye application.

Robe of Winter Winds - 35 Festival Tokens (female appearance)

Harvestmath Festival 2014 - Cosmetic Rewards and Steed

The Harvestmath Festival, which has started a day early, will be running until November 2, 2014. I'm pleased to say, despite the reskinned robe and "tablecloth" steed, these patterns are fantastic! For the first time since the 2013 Yule Festival I can say I want these new rewards. But I still hope that someday we'll return to dresses and tunics. Honestly, these would have made wonderful patterns for them.

To the right of each cosmetic is a dyed version to give you an idea of what areas apply the color change. Also, if you are new to LOTRO this year and are wondering what was added for rewards in previous years, follow these links to the 2013 Harvestmath Festival and the 2012 Harvestmath Festival.

Also, I have an event to advertise at the bottom of this post. After you're done looking at the cosmetics, take a look at the information provided and learn about one of Crickhollow's annual events!

Robe of the Autumn Sun (24 Fall Festival Tokens)

Farmers Faire 2014 - Steed and Cosmetics

This year, the 2014 Farmers Faire runs from September 1 to September 16. Once again, we have another unremarkable and reskinned robe and cloak in addition to another blanketed steed. It continues to irk me seeing a lack of creativity in Turbine's art department, especially when there is a year-long period between the appropriate seasonal festivals (from summer to summer or spring to spring, for example) to conceptualize and implement original game art. We've been seeing the same robe skin for well over a year now, and I frankly question if we'll ever move out of this cycle and break the cosmetic curse plaguing the LOTRO festivals. I understand that game progression towards Mordor is paramount, but it doesn't mean the aspects intended to provide players a temporary reprieve shouldn't be given the same care and consideration.

Despite my disappointment, what's done is done. Perhaps Turbine should let the players design new festival cosmetics from this time forward. I've even gone and made a suggestion on the LOTRO forums to bring back the old designing contests. If you are dismayed with the direction of festival rewards, I implore you, make your voice heard on the forums. Offer suggestions or constructive criticism. The only way we're going to make any headway is by coming together as a group.

Anyway, beneath this small wall of angsty text are pictures of the new rewards. To the right of each individual cosmetic is a version dyed black to demonstrate where colors change with dye application. Beneath each picture is the name and barter cost of the respective piece.

Robe of Bounty - 35 Farmers Faire Tokens

Summer Festival 2014 - New Cosmetics and Steed

The Summer Festival has gone live one day early, much to my surprise! This means this festival will run from July 21 to August 8, 2014. Unfortunately, we're all getting the usual cosmetics. Old-style robes and blanket steeds with new skins. I think you all know by now how disappointed this makes me. However, I'll still collect the robe and cloaks.

If you are new to LOTRO or to this blog, you can find pics of the 2012 Summer Festival rewards here. I was away last year and unable to take pictures of 2013's new rewards. If you're interested in seeing those, visit Cosmetic LOTRO.

To the right of each cosmetic is a dyed version. I chose crimson this time to make patterns more distinguishable.

Robe of the Wedmath Celebration (20 Summer Festival Tokens)

Spring Festival 2014 Cosmetics and Steed

When I sat down today, I was surprised to see this year's Spring Festival active. Unlike with Hobnanigans or the 2014 Anniversary Festival, this was simply dropped on us without hint of a date. However, if you had been watching the recent TTHTI (Take The Hobbits To Isengard) livestreams, Sapience had made a vague comment that this would arrive sometime at the end of May. Honestly, a date would have been nice to have prior to this preview of the cosmetic rewards. Oh well : )

But, while we're on the subject, the 2014 Spring Festival runs from today, May 20th, to June 3rd. I wasn't around last year for this event, so if you're interested in seeing the cosmetics from 2013 and 2012, please drop by Cosmetic LOTRO and say thank you to Hymne.

In the pictures below, you'll find I've dyed each piece red through the dressing room panel to demonstrate how they'll dye. Beneath each picture, you'll find the name and token cost for each cosmetic. Sadly, we've got another reskinned robe and "tablecloth" steed.

Trellis-weave Robe (18 Spring Leaves)

Hobnanigans Cosmetic Rewards

For the past six or so years, the community has been crying for Hobnanigans to make a return. Officially, today marks the first live re-release of the game! It will be running this week from May 9 to May 11, even though it's active at this very moment. I've been having a very enjoyable time, indulging in half a dozen games thus far. It's certainly an event nobody should miss, despite the bugs that pop up occasionally. I'm sure as time goes by, the kinks will be ironed out.

According to jwbarry, from the LOTRO Forums, "The intent is that this gets run once every month or so. Some of the prices are set to be earned in a single weekend, some are set to take a longer season to acquire." It's not the first half of that statement that worries me...it's the latter.

The barter costs are so high that it's absolutely discouraging to get anything other than recipes and single use items. Recipes and other single use items range from 10 to 25 Hobnanigans Tokens. Housing decorations range from 60 to 300 tokens. Pets cost anywhere from 150 to 1200 tokens. Cosmetic items range from 150 to 600 tokens. There is something VERY IMPORTANT to note here. Some items require special tokens, which you trade up for with your normal tokens. These special ones require anywhere from 150 to 1200 Hobnanigans Tokens each, driving prices sky high. Liking that pet with that teal name? Collect 600 tokens for it, in addition to the special token requiring another 1800 tokens. Yup...essentially 2400 tokens for a single item. But, let it be said there's a chance the winning team will get one of those special tokens. However, I haven't seen anything other than the White Chicken Token (valued at 150 Hob Tokens) drop.

The way the game works, from what I've learned, is that you'll earn tokens no matter what. Everybody gets five tokens for participating in each 10 minute match, and then additional tokens if you win. Winning a game will net you ten additional tokens. It is going to take a long time to earn the cosmetic rewards and cosmetic pets, so I'm hoping that winning will provide a generous reward.

Below are the cosmetics offered and the required currency totals. Keep in mind that not all pieces are dyeable.  However, anything that is dyeable will feature a violet version to the far right. I won't be featuring the pets here, as I only post clothing and implements. : )

Blue Chicken Cloak and Red Chicken Cloak (300 Hobanigans Tokens each)

2014 Anniversary Festival Rewards & Steed

Beautifully themed pattern this year...except that we have another robe. I'm feeling a little let down again regarding festival cosmetics, as all we saw last year were robes, robes, robes, and, you guessed it, robes. I was hoping that we'd be seeing new dresses and tunics this year, as those are far easier to accommodate cosmetically in our outfits. What's done is done, and there no sense in me getting all huffy and puffy over these. I'm already well on my way to collecting these pieces of gear!

...and can we talk about the beauty of the latest tablecloth steed?

Beneath each picture is the name of the piece and it's respective token cost. The far right screenshot in each cosmetic set is dyed red to reveal the dyeable potions.

Reveller's Robe of the Odogil (10 Anniversary Tokens)

Winter Series - Steel-clad Santa

It began with a simple shout-out in GLFF meant to relieve a bit of boredom waiting for this year's festivities to start. I jokingly dared someone to cosmetically challenge me for the holiday season. I seriously wasn't expecting to hear anything. Then BAM! A single tell rolled in from an anonymous player--"Make a Santa that rides to war in Rohan!" My initial reaction? Forehead met palm with a loud smack. Good grief. I kinda dug myself a hole and I had to find a way to climb out of it. It took about three days, but here we are...a chainmail-wearing, pauldron-toting, backpack-slinging interpretation of St. Nick that can still deliver gifts to children scattered across the open plains of Rohan. Isengard and Mordor beware!

Yule Festival 2013 Cosmetics

This must be indeed the "Year of the Robes" for LOTRO. We haven't seen a new dress since this year's Spring Festival. Once again, we're seeing a reskinned robe model from the early days of LOTRO. It's a simple winter-themed set this year. Nothing extravagant, at least not in comparison to the stunning job done last year for the Yule Festival.

Unfortunately, I do not have time to catalogue three years of items for my blog, especially for our new players. Perhaps I will be able to that after Christmas, when the holiday chaos has settled down. For now, I can only post the 2013 additions. However, Cosmetic LOTRO has pictures of the cosmetics available from previous years. Please stop by and say thank you to Hymne for providing these screenshots:

Yule Festival Cosmetics 2012
Yule Festival Cosmetics 2011
Yule Festival Cosmetics 2011 (Mid-festival additions)

These new robes are simple and unassuming with a pretty snowflake motif. They are, by default, dyed an interestingly muted shade of teal...at least that's how it looks to me. The images on the far right of each set show how the pieces dye, and I've used purple because the undyeable portions are so dark.

Wintertide Robe (35 Festival Tokens)

Harvestmath Series - Lord of the Autumn Nights

Until this year, I never had any particular use or interest in the Autumn Nights gear. No matter what I used or what I combined with anything out of the set, I simply could not get those pieces to jive. I was determined this year, and there was a single piece that made such an outfit possible--the crafted light armor Wildermore shoulders. I snagged that guild recipe recently and have been combining it with as many other cosmetics as possible! And I never realized the array of Autumn colors in the leaf pattern of the cloak until I dyed it black.

Harvestmath Festival 2013 Cosmetics and Steed

Today at 10 AM EST, the 2013 Harvestmath Festival began. It will continue to run through November 4th. I was logged into LOTRO about 10 minutes after the festival started to grab some screenshots of the new cosmetics. As much as I love the designs, we have another rehashed skin of the old robe. I'm not going to lie, I was looking to something a little more innovative this festival. Anyway, I'm working my way towards getting all of these! Below each screenshot is the name and cost of each new piece.

And for your comprehensive convenience, here's a link to the rest of the obtainable cosmetics from previous years.

Spooky Robe of the Bat (24 Fall Tokens)

Elven Blossom - Nathrien of Gladden

It was by chance that I had found the Lissuin cosmetic pieces on the AH this month. Normally, I would have spent a portion of my time gathering tokens during the Spring Festival this year, but it was nearly impossible at the time. You see, my PC hadn't been repaired yet and my laptop could barely handle LOTRO. I had to cash in half of my Badges of Taste from previous festivals to grab the war-steed pieces, as those are bound on acquire and can't be purchased elsewhere. The rest of the new cosmetics would have to wait, and with some patience, I hoped to find them on the AH...and I did. For thirty gold, I purchased the Lissuin Robe, Lissuin Dress, and the Lissuin Cloak. The hooded version of the cloak still eludes me.

Up to Speed

It's certainly been a while since I was last here! Now that my computer is back in working order, I can resume working on my blog from time to time. However, I'm still somewhat on break from LOTRO and biding my time until Helm's Deep. I've been fooling around on Rift, Neverwinter, and World of Warcraft (someone got me a 30 day game card last year and I never used it until now) in the meantime. I do have to say that of all the games that I've ever played, LOTRO by far has the superior cosmetic system between the versatility of designs and the assortment of color from which to choose! I took a couple of screenies from my brief adventures today...hope you enjoy them!

I hope to be back in full force soon! : )

Spring Lissuin War-steed set & matching Lissuin ensemble - this outfit is in progress!

An old, but favorite outfift that's been slightly modified. From the "Grace of the Golden Wood" post :)

Come Celebrate in Style!

***Public Service Announcement: In Lieu of the 3rd Shire Riddle Race on Gladden this Sunday, and their addition of a fashion show, my event has been rescheduled to the following Sunday, April 28th to avoid event conflicts!***

Finally, the Anniversary Festival has gone live! I don't have too much to report about the festival itself, since it's almost exactly the same as last year. The two differences are this--you can't use the raid exploit to farm envelopes any longer, but the envelopes have a very slim chance of containing the Reveller's Gilded War-steed cosmetics. One person on Gladden obtained them this morning and posted them on GLFF. Basically, if you've seen the Reveller's Gilded Steed, you'll have a very good idea of what the war-steed appearance will be.  For a wonderful overview of the barterable cosmetics, please check out Hymne's 5th Anniversary Cosmetics entry at Cosmetic LOTRO.

Now for the meat and potatoes of this particular post!

On Sunday, April 28, at 3 PM EST, Rangers of the West and myself will be hosting a server-wide Festival Ride and Fashion Show! This is a two part event, starting at the Methel-stage in the Shire. From there, we'll be riding in unison to the Bree-land Festival Grounds. If you do come early and attend the ride, feel free to bring fireworks, mingle with us, and celebrate! Once we reach the Festival Grounds, we'll let everyone get settled in and begin the Fashion Contest!

There are two categories, non-mounted and mounted, each of which will have prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. All non-mounted players have to do is create and wear an outfit that best defines the spirit of the festival! Mounted players are encouraged to create an outfit that compliments their steed of choice, whether it be a war-steed, meta-steed, or another standard mount.

The prizes will be issued as follows:

1st Place Mounted Category: 50g, Riddermark Crystal of Remembrance, Tarnished Crest of Rohan,  3 choices of dyes
1st Place Non-mounted Category: 50g, Symbol of the Elder King (level 65), 3 Mithril Flakes, 1 Small Star-lit crystal, 3 choices of dye
2nd Place, both categories: 25g, 5 Fused Profound Relics, 2 choices of dye
3rd Place, both categories: 10g, 5 Fused Aged Relics, 1 choice of dye

**Each dye prize is a stack of 3. If you win multiple dye packages, please choose different colors...supplies are limited.**
**Prizes have also been graciously donated by Serious Business, Rangers of the West, and Turning of the Tide**

The criteria by which I will be judging is as follows:

1) The originality of the outfit
2) The integration of pieces used
3) The blending of colors
4) Overall impression

Did you know that the 24th will be the 1 year anniversary of Material Middle-Earth? I can't believe it's already been a whole year! I remember opening this cosmetic blog with a contest for the Forgotten Darkness kinship. Who would have thought I'd be helping to host server events?

--

Also, Lilyrose and her kinship, Rangers of the West, are planning a series of events that take place at various locations during the festival. As of right now, we have a horse race scheduled for Saturday, April 27th at 12 PM EST that will include a course taking playersfrom the Forsaken Inn to the finish line at Weathertop. If all goes well, we're also planning a Fireworks Extravaganza for the final night of the festival!

Harvestmath Festival 2012

Talk about out of the blue, the Harvestmath Festival started today!I love festivals with new clothing, but there was no advance notice, no warning for this one...except for a random mailing around 9 AM this morning announcing its start. I was honestly expecting a break between festival-like events, after all the Treasure Hunt and International Talk Like A Pirate Week only ended this morning at 3 AM EST. Anyway, many of the goodies have returned from previous years, plus some new additions for clothing, cloaks, hats, and handheld items. I'll have the cost and name of each fantastic item listed below for your convenience from left to right for each picture set. Enjoy!

Also, if you are interested in seeing how some of these dye, check out Hymne's latest post on Cosmetic LOTRO!

Clothing and Cloaks 

Lithe Festival 2012

The Summer Festival is BACK! I wasn't around last year for this festival, so all these cosmetics are new to me. However, I've done some poking around to see what's actually new. Basically, it's all the green pieces in the following pictures. To start collect these fabulous pieces, use the festival horse at the Michel Delving stable and then talk to the race master, Dodder Twofoot. Unfortunately, the festival tickets are bound on acquire again, which means no stacking all of them on one toon. It sure made it easier to collect the needed tokens for the Farmer's Faire...anyway, enjoy these cosmetics!

From left to right, we have the following:

1) Summerdays Tunic and Trousers (18 tokens)

2) Summerdays Dress (18 tokens)

3) Summerdays Hooded Cloak (15 tokens)

4) Summerdays Cloak (15 tokens)

If you love several shades of green, then you'll have to don these during your adventures across Middle-Earth! I can't believe how beautiful the tunic and dress look. The designers did a wonderful job keeping the pieces steamlined and ever so subtly detailed. Even the cloaks look wonderful :) If you dye these pieces, only the white portions will change. And I must say almost all the colors work with these pieces! Personally, I love what burgundy and rust do to these.

Farmers Faire 2012

As some of you have noticed logging in today, you received a new invitation notice. Guess what that means? It's festival time!!! That's right, LOTRO is having its first, and hopefully annual, Farmers Faire. Get yourself ready to eat, drink, and be merry like a Hobbit! Pies and produce gallore, running errands all over the Shire...and all for some nifty looking cosmetics! To make it easier to sort out the new goodies, I'll be breaking this down by category for you:

Headwear:

Like the Harvest Festival every passing autumn, the Farmers Faire features a selection of masks. This time around, we've got some wonderful animal themed pieces. Also, this festival is featuring a new hat and circlet for you...and I must say that I thought the Simbelmyne Circlet from the Spring Festival was bright and colorful! I may have just found a new favorite cosmetic piece <3

1) Farmer's Fancy Wide-brimmed Hat (45 Tokens)

2) Chicken Mask (55 Tokens)

3) Donkey Mask (55 Tokens)

4) Duckling Mask (55 Tokens)

5) Pig Mask (55 Tokens)

6) Sheep Mask (55 Tokens)

7) Circlet of Fresh Picked Flowers (35 Tokens)

Springtime Balladeer - Nathrien of Gladden

It's been a while since I've posted here. Life has gotten hectic the past month...between looking for a new job and spending time with family, I haven't had much time to spend on LOTRO with cosmetics. Luckily, the start of the Spring Festival coincided with the revival of my cosmetic ventures. It's not very often you see floral designs in a game like this. Usually, I see players running around Middle-Earth in armor, leathers, and various arrangements of end game gear. When I saw the new festival cosmetics, I could only imagine how perfect my mini, Nathrien, would look displaying them.