Goodbye, Gilrain

 Saying our goodbyes

As I am writing, server transfers for my server in Lord of the Rings Online, Gilrain, have opened up. While I'm waiting for the sign of our kinship leader that Asylum has successfully transferred to the Laurelin server, I figured now would be a good time to dig deep into my screenshot archive, coming up with crappy pictures and fond memories of the time behind us.

While server merges in other games did never affected me on an emotional level, it is different for LOTRO. With the playerbase originally being very opposed to merges, all servers since the game's launch in 2007 are still operating. Gilrain was always one of the smaller servers with a tight community that I - and many with me - have become fond of. I don't think anyone disagrees with the server consolidation now since many servers near-deserted, but it will be the end of an era nevertheless.

As Lord of the Rings Online was the first MMO I was involved with, some memories are deeply entwined with the discovery of my love for gaming and my growth as a player. I've selected 10 events for you that represent the most memorable moments of my gaming life on Gilrain, more or less in chronological order. I'm going all out in nostalgia mode, with Instagram-ready ancient screenshots and all, so you've been warned! 

Nora in Oxpring

We had no idea what he would look like. While we were safely sitting in the car, the rain poured on the gravel of the small parking place. Every now and then, a car would stop and an Englishman, or lady, would scurry for cover in the inviting dry and warm local inn.

We started theorizing.

"He organizes a folk festival, right? So surely he has a beard!" 

"And long hair? No, he doesn't strike me as the hippie type."

It was easy enough for him. All he had to do was look for the one Dutch car with four tourists in it.

The quest for a home: the Lund edition - part 2

Last week I wrote about my epic quest for a home in Lund, Sweden. The objective: to find a place to rent for five months; challenge mode: to find a place where Conrad can live as well. Handicaps due to the difficulty setting are "student city with huge housing shortage" and "chronic illness". Thus far I managed to acquire spot number 1 on the university's housing waiting list during a lottery and had a look at a cellar apartment in Stångby, a small town north of Lund, with positive hosts.

If I don't find a place within 14 days I'll have to get drunk and let Patrick the Policeman pick me up from the streets for a free stay at the police station. Hey, don't say I'm dramatizing things, this is serious business!

And now for the conclusion...

Six times purple

It's already that day of the month... the sixth! Surely you know what I'm talking about (if not, you can quickly read up here and pretend nothing happened); this month's issue is all about purple.

The quest for a home: the Lund edition - part 1

Huh, Lund? What game is that? Surprise: it's not a game (although we can pretend it is), but a real town in the physical land of Sweden (gasp). I moved there some weeks ago to study archaeology for a semester. As some people have asked what I've been up to, I thought it might be fun to report on this blog every now and then. I briefly considered making a separate blog for my Sweden adventures, but that's a lot of work and I'm pretty sure one would suffer over the other.

So if you only want to read about gaming on this blog, move on to the next post. If you're curious at my "real life exploration" adventures in Sweden, though, do read further! I apologize in advance for any obscure gaming references I might make that are probably lost on the non-gamers.