LOTRO's Dulgabeth teaser: one trailer to save it all

Remember that truly awful Mordor trailer? You know, the one that made Lord of the Rings Online the laughingstock of the MMO scape and that everybody, including Standing Stone Games, is trying really hard to forget about? (Right, I'm not helping, eh? Sorry about that.) Back then I wrote that the only thing SSG could do to fix it would be to make a better one. Turns out they have! Scroll down and watch LOTRO's latest trailer with me.

Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos and Lugia: calculating legendary bird catch rates in Pokémon Go

Last week Pokemon Go's legendary birds (Articuno, Moltres, Zapdos and Lugia) departed to make room for generation 2's legendary dogs Entei, Raikou and Suicune. The past weeks, I've been passionately hunting down these birds with other pokémon enthusiasts in my town - and with success. I now own all legendary birds; of most I even have multiple copies. During this period, I've kept track of the raids I attended and the times I managed to actually catch them. All so I can now calculate how I did. Have I been lucky with catching them, or unlucky? Let's take a look.

LOTRO's first character update: humans & Elves

Lord of the Rings Online's recent Mordor expansion didn't just add a good chunk of depressing landscape architecture to the virtual world, it also introduced something for all residents: a character overhaul. Okay - correction - it only adds something for players that own Elven and human characters; hobbits and dwarves will follow in the future. Being a ten year old game, LOTRO could really use an update of its avatars - or so many players seem to think. It is telling that I spent my first couple of hours after launch fiddling around with my characters' new looks rather than venture into Mordor.

Pokémon Go day trip to the Amstelveen Safari Zone

Last weekend was the last opportunity to visit one of Europe's so called Pokémon Go Safari Zones. For three weekends in a row, in various shopping centres that partnered with Niantic, kangaskhan (normally only available in Australia) could be found. In addition, an increased spawn rate of the unknown letters forming E-U-R-O-P-E was in effect in these areas. You didn't have to pay anything in order to participate in the event; you just had to be there and look for those pokémon.

I do love catching myself some cool pokémon. And while I don't usually travel beyond my municipality for pokémon and shopping isn't exactly my greatest hobby, it seemed silly to let the opportunity go. Especially so when I found out that the closest Safari Zone, in Stadshart Amstelveen (the Netherlands), was less than an hour drive away.

I was prepared to spend some time on my own, maybe drop by the Cobra Museum (modern art) if I got bored of the shopping centre, but then I found out my brother and his girlfriend wanted to go as well. So past Saturday, all three of us got in the car early to catch us some pokémon.

Drawing diary: May

If I keep up this pace, I'll be catching up on my drawing diaries forever! I really should try to get them out more quickly. What's putting it off is that the scanning is a lot of work. But I enjoy sharing my drawings and adventures with you guys, so that's no excuse. Here is my entry for May!

I spent plenty of hours painting in May, especially when I was in Sweden with my family for two weeks. However, the month started out on a sad note.

LOTRO's Mordor trailer: a reaction

It's expansion time in Lord of the Rings Online, so get ready for some dark and depressing images on Ravalation. Sauron has done a great job of branding his homeland such that nobody ever wants to visit (SSG arguably even helped a bit with their widely discussed pre-order prices), yet many players chose to (wo)man up and venture through the Black Gate this past Wednesday. I was among them. Since I haven't played enough to write a review yet, let's discuss something else: the Mordor trailer.

Fashion Friday: Sunflower-picking hobbit

With all the exciting news in Lord of the Rings Online and Star Wars: the Old Republic (Scavenger hunt, Manaan stronghold, Mordor pre-order deals etc), I didn't find the time to write about this year's Summer Festival in LOTRO. Content-wise, my 2016 Summer Festival review still holds true: it's the same festival with the broad varied offer of cute quests. Of course there are some new cosmetics, though; my sunflower-picking hobbit will show you in this LOTRO fashion post.