Whether you’re new to LOTRO or have been playing for years, you’ve probably made some rookie mistakes. The Warriors certainly have!
ALICE
My first fail moment has been during the intro quests with my Elf Hunter. I was at the Refuge of Edhelion and I had no idea that I had to follow the quests as guidelines, so I thought to take a look around and I fell in water. There was an abandoned elvish house surrounded by water and I fell there, just where there were only high rocks. I was freaking out jumping here and there trying to get out from water without results, when fortunately I found the right rock and I got out from water! Few days later I died for the first time because of the wolves of Ered Luin.
Another fail moment happened when I was playing with my Hobbit. I had to find someone in an abandoned hobbit hole, I can’t remember very well, but the point is that I have been attacked by mice and I died! It has been a little bit awkward.
ARWEN
The most embarrassing story is that I have way too many embarrassing stories! Being a LOTRO newbie on a netbook, with all its lag issues, is bound to dredge up some face-to-palm moments, I can assure you. I would constantly be falling off cliffs, seen running from five hungry bears chasing me all at once, walking into walls and getting stuck, not to mention my lack of understanding on what I was actually supposed to do for certain quests. One of the most memorable, though, would have to me the Watcher in the Water quest, right before your character gets to move on to Moria.
A friend told me the quest was super easy – so easy, a two year old could do it. I think they forgot who they were talking to, because that’s exactly what happened. Somehow, beyond all odds, I died. It was so bad, the game glitched on me and I was able to run around the area “dead”. No other in game characters were around, it was just me.
Despite my humiliation of being able to die when it shouldn’t even be possible, I came across one of the best in-game landscapes I’d seen. Playing LOTRO, night and day happen so often, you can grow desensitized to the change. But there in that glitched game, was the biggest rising moon I’d ever seen! Luckily I was able to snap off a few screenshots right before the game finally realized something was amiss, and logged me out.
BRITTA
Most of my “fail” moments have involved me either misjudging my steps (“Oh, I can survive this jump!” Nope. “You have been incapacitated by misadventure.”), dying because of an NPC (I’m looking at you, Frár!), or becoming distracted by something else. The best “fail” moment I can recall is my first time in Isengard: I was questing in the Savage Dens with a friend, and there was a little corner inhabited by baby wargs. I wanted to take a screenshot, so I got a bit closer – not realising their mother was right in the centre – and aggroed the entire group. We made a dash for the exit, but if I remember correctly, I’m quite sure they killed me. I did a similar thing in the Fall of Moria instance; when the Balrog first appeared, I took my time leaving, as I wanted to take a screenshot. By the time I started to move, it was too late; I was dead.
MARIA
First I want to say is that whenever you meet a character that cannot run straight lines or is incapable of jumping properly, the chances are that you’ve encountered one of mine. For some reason it took me an embarrassingly long time to learn how to manoeuvre around corners or to walk a straight line. Jumping is still an issue, though. I have to admit that I also, like the others, tend to get distracted by the scenery and end up dying because I fell off a cliff or ran straight into an area full of enemies.
My biggest fail moment occurred when my hobbit hunter was just out of the intro. After exploring the Shire, I decided to take a look around in Middle-earth and went to see Ered Luin. Eventually, I happened to explore the Silver Deep Mines. As I was wandering around I run, not really paying attention where I’m going, I somehow managed to get stuck behind a staircase by not realising that half of the staircase was missing. Naturally I fell down and got stuck. Now this isn’t the embarrassing part, yet. Since I was fairly new to LOTRO I had no idea what to do and began to panic. Nothing worked and after what felt like an eternity I ended up asking people on the internet for help (many kind people came to my aid) and Alice was one of the first to suggest to try and jump and therefore squeeze myself through the ruins. Up to that point, I didn’t even knew that I could make my character jump. I felt incredibly stupid for not know this. Thankfully it worked. By the time I got my hobbit free, I forgot what planned to do and decided to take a look around. Long story short, less than a minute after I’ve managed to get my hobbit free I managed to get her stuck again. Behind the same staircase. The second time, however, it didn’t took me that long to free her…
MYLA
I have had my fair share of fail moments in LOTRO, but two in particular stand out. A while ago when I was playing as my elf hunter, I decided to ride to Ered Luin from Michel Delving just because I wanted to see if I would get lost or not. I was actually doing fine and enjoying my ride, seeing new sights, feeling like I was really in Middle-earth, but then I got to the bridge going into Ered Luin. Also I should add that the sun was setting and it was so BEAUTIFUL! I got so distracted by the scenery that I didn’t notice I was going towards the edge of the bridge. I ended up falling and dying because the pretty sun distracted me.
My other fail moment happened not too long ago. I was questing around in Forochel and saw this really cool mammoth, what I didn’t realize was that a Gauradan was riding it. So I stood there staring at the mammoth, looking at all the really nice details when all of a sudden it charged at me. I know I wasn’t really put in harm’s way myself, but let me tell you, my heart felt like it dropped, I got so scared. Good thing my hobbit guardian is a fast runner! She managed to escape the Gauradan ridden mammoth just in time, though she does still wish she got to get a better look. She’ll just have to return later on when she’s at a high enough level to not get attacked.
We’d love to hear about your LOTRO mishaps and “fail” moments – feel free to leave a comment below!
