I’ve been playing Lord of the Rings Online, or LOTRO, as it named by its fan, for over four years now, and Turbine is pretty good at fixing things for the better, especially since they gave Codemasters the boot for causing an exodus of many of its players two years ago when they made it free to play. This year, Clisair and I used some tax refund money to purchase VIP status, and it has been worth every penny.

When the Mines of Moria expansion was offered, we snatched it right up, and went to exploring with our duo team of an elven hunter and human lore-master right away. The place was very dark, very dangerous, and we were far to low in levels to even consider being in there, but being the curious cats we are, we just needed to know what was in there. The place was massive, and it was filled with so much more than the movies or the books can show you. My lore-master even accidentally traveled down the well that Pippin ran into that alerted the orcs to the Fellowship’s presence. How lucky she was that it led to the Waterworks, Moria main plumbing facility. The water landing was great, but getting past those things that lived in the water, not so much.  Read more... (516 words, 71 images, estimated 2:04 mins reading time)

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We met with Princess Sophie in Awakening: Moonfell Wood. Now we find the princess in a new place, just as lovely, but just as mysterious. A castle run by friendly goblins and fairies, but still no humans. The Fairy Queen has new adventures for Sophie, and lots more puzzles for her to solve. Awakening : The Dreamless Castle is not as dark as its prequel, but the zigzagging from room to room to get items to solve little problems along the way, like finding secret locks and passages into places she cannot access by normal means. I do not think this is the last we will see of the princess in the casual games circuit. Her fairy companion, Mira, is still with her, and you might find yourself asking for her guidance a few times here and there when she can offer it. Those hint timers in these hidden object/logic puzzle games can sometimes be a nuisance, but they keep the challenge going. Sometimes you might even click the obvious place to place an item, but it still might not work. There is that downside to this game.  Read more... (228 words, 31 images, estimated 55 secs reading time)