i like the sound of this. let’s schedule a zoom meeting so we can hammer out the details and move this forward ASAP
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I listened to the wrong song, I heard one that spurs quite an emotional response. Now I look like I’ve cried for days, even though I really feel fine.
A few days ago, I got an invite to a zoom meeting that just from the title didn’t seem to be one for me, so I double checked it with my boss, who checked it with their boss, and they said yep, it’s one for you.
So come meeting time I join and listen and say a single sentence and listen and 25 minutes into this 30 minute meeting my boss’ boss messages me separately and goes “oh this isn’t the meeting I thought it was, it isn’t for you”
Kicker: Despite the meeting not being for me, it could have definitely been an email. Nothing was accomplished.
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Speaking from my experience with the single LARP I’ve been to…
There was a moment where my character’s IC friend did something really stupid that she felt was a betrayal of her people’s trust. She launched into an angry tirade at him*, and I certainly felt both my character’s emotions (of betrayal, but also fear of her people’s retribution against him) and my own (of pity for fellow players whose event was spoiled by the stupid act).
So while the emotions were genuine, rationally I understood that they were strictly IC and mattered only in-universe, not out of game, and I had no problem with keeping them separate.
I have a different problem sometimes, when my brain doesn’t immediately switch contexts when I’m pulled out of RP, and I end up using my character’s vocabulary for a bit. For example, once when my WoW RP was interrupted, I automatically almost exclaimed “Goddess!” at something that happened OOC.
* It’s weird to speak in third person about a fictional character I emulated and spoke as with my real mouth, but that’s language for you.
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I can only speculate how much hell it would be for Levey to sit down with tech/financebros and actively partake in their meetings.
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my wife found a mug we have in the house that she never understood what it was before. it’s a doctor who mug that i got from the experience that used to be in cardiff of Eccleston with his first and last line
slowly but surely she is being indoctrinated
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Honestly, I can relate. The gameplay of LOTRO is so dated that I can’t bring myself to play it even for the setting (I find LOTRO Middle-earth much closer to how I myself imagine it than the Peter Jackson version) and for the story (which I hear is quite good).
And I see that they used genuine Sindarin for original character names and original terms, which already puts them miles above most Tolkien adaptations.
But gosh, the gameplay. If there was a thriving RP scene, I’d put up with it, but sadly, it has really shrunk by now.
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I’m sure it would be a fun game to explore as you level, but I never made it past Rivendell when I played it around launch time and now coming back I just can’t face the idea of having to deal with that atrocious combat as the primary thing I’m doing.
It’s just not for me.
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I was actually googling around a bit the other day about Lotro since I’ve been curious to revisit. It had a couple of big updates recently including a mini-expansion, and just very recently expanding into Umbar and Haradwaith with a proper full expansion. They’ve also released river-hobbits and a new class, Mariner.
Laurelin has apparantly really shrunk. Allegedly from late 2023, its still playable but it will take you a bit of time to get any actual content groups sorted. And roleplay is either flat out dead, or really active at very odd hours. Bree allegedly gets lively at around 3-4 AM.
Evernight on EU and Arkenstone US are apparently very populated and thriving and almost functioning as mega-servers. Most people recommend it if you want just gameplay.
For RP, the US server has apparently been getting more active as there’s allegedly been alot of drama over the years on Laurelin which has caused an exodus to the US one. The Drama itself seems to mainly be related to a couple of individuals declaring themselves the de-facto roleplay leaders and alot of server politics, and lore arguments between players.
The US server seems to be the place to try out roleplay based on this.
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That’s sad to hear.
Almost all my RP on Laurelin was Rivendell nights on Wednesdays, which were pretty active in 2015 when I discovered LOTRO, but apparently RP was shrinking even then. Now, from my experience, it’s almost dead.
Lore arguments? In Middle-earth RP? I’m shocked, shocked.
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logging in just to type ‘hey does the balrog have wings’ and running away like I threw a grenade into a toy factory
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Yeah it’s a shame 
As I said, apparently the US server is much healthier in the aspect of having more active and constant roleplay even at odd hours for people outside of the US timezones, but it’s sad to see a community and server like Laurelin decline.
Even more so when it’s allegedly mainly related to drama and infighting.
From my own experiences of just observing RP on the server or world chat, you had basically all forms of typical rp lore drama mixed with the typical Tolkien arguments/drama. So people who had very differating opinions on sometimes really fringe lore and taking waay to seriously, with people who didn’t really care and just enjoyed the setting at a more casual approach.
I’ve seen a fair share of sneers at “movie fans” or “fake fans”(who only read the trilogy and not the other works) in the world chat more than once.
It would cause a several hours long rant in world chat.
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be me. know next to nothing about lord of the rings lore outside of the movies and a reading of the books many years ago
play hobbit because then i can be ignorant both ic and ooc
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https://imgur.com/a/ytKHb0m
accidentally summarized the anxiety experience while playing persona 5
What?
WHAT?
By “the trilogy” did they mean LOTR, or LOTR + The Hobbit + The Silmarillion?
If you haven’t read other Tolkien works, you’re a “fake fan”? What?
I’m soured enough on the Tolkien fandom as it is, but if such things are the norm, it’ll be reason enough for me to avoid it like the plague.
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One thing Lotro does really well I feel is actually present the world and lore in a digestable way for people who want to roleplay or learn about it.
It doesn’t heavy-dump on you and the storyline you follow works to really present the world and the setting pretty naturally as you progress.
oh no you just mentioned persona 5
that’s my life ruined for the next few weeks while i remember how amazing that game was and now obsess over it all over again
all I know about Lord of the Rings I learned from playing the playstation 2 action movie tie-in game Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
didn’t really need anything else honestly, I think I got it
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A bit of both. I’ve seen rants at people who only read LOTR, I’ve seen arguments that reading Silmarillion is just “beginner” entry and should be the bare minimum to even engage in roleplay and discussion. I adore Tolkiens works and middle-earth but the fandom can be so toxic.
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a game this linear has no right to be this replayable
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