My Cosmetic Adventures Away From LOTRO Pt. 2

For those of you that had been following Material Middle-earth last year in September, you may recall a similarly titled post. In that particular entry, I explored other games and their cosmetic systems while taking a break from LOTRO. Whereas I talked about RIFT, Neverwinter, and World of Warcraft last year, I'll be taking you through Guild Wars 2, The Elder Scrolls Online, and Star Trek Online this year. If you've never played any of these games or are merely curious how cosmetics and/or character customization are handled elsewhere, I encourage you to read this.

Please keep in mind this entry is image heavy, with pictures taken on maximum settings for each game. If you have a slower running computer, I'd suggest clicking on the post title that way this entry loads by itself. Especially while this is the featured content.

Don't worry...I'll be back to LOTRO outfits on Saturday. This is a once a year post.

Guild Wars 2

I started playing this when Update 13 was released for LOTRO. I turned my attention to Guild Wars 2, taking in the bright colors and diverse landscapes, immersing myself fully in a strange new world to avoid LOTRO's agonizing grind. It didn't take long to discover the cosmetic opportunities this game offered. (Is it sad I initially judge games on that criteria?) Guild Wars 2 offers a total of 403 dyes for customizing your outfits! And you know what's even better? Once you unlock a dye, it becomes account bound and has an UNLIMITED number of uses. Having this sheer number of colors allows you to have bold and bright, neutral, earthy, and even completely pastel outfits. If you direct your gaze to the picture below, you'll get see the range of colors offered.

The color customization panel found in the Hero (character) Menu.

Even though that on the left panel is showing the nearly completed set of common colors, there are still divisions for starter colors, uncommon colors, and rare colors. Looking at the equipment panel in the center, you'll also notice that anywhere from 1 to 4 areas can be dyed on each piece. As far as I know, very few skins have undyeable areas. By the way, you can change colors anytime, anywhere.

How do you collect dyes? It's actually simple. You can spend laurels, an in-game currency earned by completing your account-wide dailies, at vendors for unidentified dyes. You can purchase them from the Black Lion Trading Post (auction house, essentially) for copper, silver, and gold. You can earn them from level up rewards. You can also buy unidentified dyes from the Gem Store, which periodically appear there. Anything you have will automatically be added to your Hero Menu.

Simple Fashion - Hauberks

This is the latest in my Simple Fashion series and last installment under this theme, at least for a while. I've covered all the basic and purely cosmetic categories at this point--tunics, dresses, robes, and now hauberks--and will continue posting my usual outfits as we move into the autumn and winter seasons. I was hoping to make a Summer Series since I was unable to make one last year, but this theme required too much time. Simple as it seems (no pun intended), designing minimalist outfits takes just as much effort, if not more than my usual creations. Regardless, being able to provide multiple ideas in a single blog entry feels like a significant accomplishment to me!

I've also been heavily scaling back my time with gaming and blogging rounds. I don't know if I'm feeling burned out, bored, or reaching a point where games retain less and less interest with each passing week. Luckily, it won't be affecting my posting schedule, not for a while anyway. Next week starts my annual Harvestmath Series, which is dedicated to seasonal outfits for this time of year!

And without further ado, here are your ideas for three of the lesser used hauberks in LOTRO.

Shoulders: Ceremonial Shoulders of the Brazen Call (Turquoise, skirm camp cosmetics vendor, Heavy Moria Armor)
Body: Dwarf-make Hauberk (Turquoise, Thorin's Hall outfitter)
Hands: Stonefists (Umber, world drop)
Feet: Boots of Durin's Guard (Turquoise, Guardian class vendor in Twenty-first Hall)**

**Skin also available from the Guardian vendor for Medallions of Lothlorien at Echad Andestel. You can cross-class barter for these, unlike the vendor in Twenty-first Hall.

Advance Scout - Satella of Gladden

Despite having Dunland cosmetics for over nearly years, I didn't start exploring the outfitting possibilities until recent months. Since May 2014, I've been relentlessly using them in my creations. If only I had done that back in late 2011. Not going to lie here, but there are days where I feel cosmetically behind the times! Sure, I've used a piece here and there (or one pair of bracers shamelessly) but I ignored too many landscape rewards in of lieu hard-earned raiding gear from Dar Narbugud, Barad Guldur, and Orthanc. Funny how I've begun to appreciate the very pieces that have virtually fallen off the radar. All of my characters that I've actively played are well past Dunland, falling somewhere between the Westemnet and Western Gondor, which makes whatever I've collected from the Isengard expansion more valuable.

Elven Mettle - Faewynn of Gladden

When I make an outfit, I do my best to confine myself either to the lore of books or the lore of LOTRO (I do make the distinction) and avoid the films. I've never been a big fan of Jackson's interpretation and constant lore-breaking, but sometimes images, no matter how brief, get burned into my mind. Two images from The Two Towers during the Helm's Deep scenes became the inspiration for this elven battle outfit (the one here and then the other) reminiscent of the Mirkwood days.

Student Creates a LOTRO Fashion Based Study

Greetings everybody!

It's bright and early on a lovely Monday morning and I have a bit of news for the cosmetic community. During my internet rounds late Saturday evening (prior to me crawling into a warm bed) I stumbled upon an article from Casually Strolling Through MMOs. Aralath of the Imladris server, a PhD student from Iowa State, is studying dress, fashion, and characters both created and played by female gamers in LOTRO. If you're interested in participating, please direct your attention to the Studying Dress in LOTRO article at CSTM. You'll find all the information you need there.

I, unfortunately, will not be able to participate in this wonderful project. My life is too hectic between work and my responsibilities as a non-profit volunteer. This is why my blog posts are automated and written weeks in advance...I never know if I'll get to the computer on a specific day or time to make an entry. I'm usually working when the weekly outfit is posted on Saturdays!

Spread the word to your cosmetic-loving female friends and make this study a success!

~Nathrien <3