Tuesday, 25 August 2015

200 Subscribers! Thank you, all!

Arise! Arise! Subscribers of Hannihr! We have reached a new milestone of 200 subs!


I shall be posting a new video soon thanking you all for your ongoing support and suggestions on how to improve my channel. I never thought I would see more than 10 people subscribe, let alone the number we have today!

This is because being on YouTube came about by accident - I had started playing World of Warcraft with my house mate at University. I wanted to document my first instance of "Stonecore" - when I had reached L84. I thought "hey, why not upload this to YouTube to I can get some memory back on my PC?" and so, my channel was born.

This is my first ever YouTube video (I cannot apologise enough for the awful music, hey, it's a learning curve. Right?) :


Since that video, I have been focused almost entirely on LOTRO. I made videos on my old Inspiron laptop from Dell. A laptop designed for word processing... and that's about it. It, amazingly, took me through 4 years of low resolution LOTRO, WoW and SWTOR playing, followed by the odd video editing.

Here's my first ever LOTRO vid. Yes, it's short and very basic... but it was my first stepping stone to things to come!


I decided to use my "powers" for good, and made my first "How to... on LOTRO" video. This was a huge learning curve for me. I realised, after uploading, that the voice was too loud and the content rather dull. However, I was very pleased that I made it simple enough to understand and quick to the point.


After a few instance videos (GB runs, for example) and an introduction to each video, I decided on creating a beautiful, artistic piece that gave viewers more than the "this is how you do this" video genre. I was making art, and have been enjoying so ever since


I loved that video. It was, again, very simplistic but stretched my horizons for what I could do. It was low resolution, but showed much potential for what was to come. I started to branch out after this video, and thought about other topics. I went beyond and created a series on gaming addiction. The two videos looked in psychological theories as to how addiction begins, and how to get out of it.

After getting my gaming PC in December 2014, I made my first ever high resolution video with decent graphics and a bit of silliness.


I ended up buying a HD webcam, and made my first video that featured me AND gaming. This was a major milestone for me, and got great feedback. Thank you subs for encouraging me :)


With HD features, I made a video purely for its aesthetics. I wanted beautiful music, coupled with beautiful imagery.


I bought a Green Screen which allowed me to make my future videos smoother when combining myself and my gameplay, which also was welcomed fantastically. It still needs some improvement, but for now it will do :)


I then made a completely unedited, one-take video. It was just after it was announced which LOTRO servers would be closing. This video hit (at the last count) just under 2,000 views. My most popular video to date - it taught me that acknowledging current events. It felt raw, having no humour, editing or gameplay. It was just me and the camera.


My most recent videos have kept an eye on recent events on LOTRO. We have the Dwarrowdelf server closing video, which had fantastic reception, and the Evernight "welcoming new players" event. Both were a joy to record and edit, and I am so glad as many people turned up as they did.

To my subscribers, I thank you for each comment, message and "like" that has helped me progress. I do this for you all, and cannot show my gratitude enough. Keep your eyes peeled. Here's to the next 200!


Saturday, 15 August 2015

An Interview with... Myself!

Hey there Hannihr, thanks for meeting with me today to talk about yourself!
Cheers... you know this is going to look weird, right? Just me, talking to myself about... myself...



Oh shh you! I am sure the thousands of readers who hit this Newspaper are very interested in what you have to say!
Unlikely. All I ever talk about is LOTRO, YouTube and this little blog here.

Don't be such a cave troll! Now then, let's get this interview started. Firstly, how did you get into Lord of the Rings Online?
Exactly! Always with LOTRO. Well, it started back in early 2012. My partner had moved to start her first year of University and she ended up befriending her course mates who played this game. After a while, she rolled a character and invited me to roll one too, and thus Hannihr was created. We played together as a fellowship of four.

I really got into the game, and made a kinship. I levelled pretty quickly (the first and only time I have ever levelled quickly!) and became a full time player. Our kinship grew and with that the more I had a reason to log in every day.

So what have you been doing in real life for the past 5 years while on LOTRO?
Well I was just finishing high school when I started playing the game, then three years after that I was doing my Psychology degree. Now I have graduated, I took up a career in law and have (within the past 2 months) set up my own graphic design business. Not to mention my YouTube... okay, I will try and cut down the YouTube advertisements...

I guess on a day-to-day basis I spend an obsessive amount of time learning new skills. For years at school I was awful at learning music and foreign languages, but excelled in English language, literature, and art. Now I am taking the time to learn French and Mandarin, as well as the Saxophone and electric guitar. I absolutely love learning. Keeps me busy!


Hey, that's a lot! 
I guess, but I'm just compensating for my years of slacking in the French classroom. "Où est le bibliotecque?" was my most accomplished sentence for about 5 years of study.

What is a bibliotecque?
No idea.

Right! Now then, what are your major life and LOTRO goals?
That's one Balrog of a question. Um... My major life goals would have to be to be accomplished as much as I can. I want to play a thousand instruments, speak every language and lift 300kg above my head. Okay, so that will never happen, but I really want to see where my limits are. I then want to travel the world and see what's been going on. I need a holiday.

In LOTRO my goals are pretty short and sweet: explore and have fun. I meet new players every day and love getting to know them. It's one of the major reasons I wanted to be an admin of the Evernight Facebook group and started this newspaper in the first place. I speak to about 50+ players when I'm logged in and I absolutely love it.

50+ players! That's quite a lot, how do you manage to keep track of everyone?
You just had to ask that, didn't you? Well, I guess I now have to admit one of my biggest LOTRO secrets: I have one of the worst memories of anyone I know, and therefore have to record each conversation "worth remembering" or I forget who everyone is and what they had spoken to me about before. It can be mundane (we spoke about a raid) or more meaningful (our philosophical world views).

The thing is, everyone has alts and the friends list is finite. I cannot keep track of everyone, so I thank my PC for being able to keep it all for me.

Bless your pixellated cotton socks, Hannihr. I wonder if you could answer this one for me: why do you stay on LOTRO? There are millions of other games and many other platforms to choose. Why LOTRO?
Simple, really. It's my first MMORPG and it was the game that kept my partner and myself in contact with each other when we were apart. I've fallen in love with the game and subsequently Tolkien's work. It is a beautiful place and I wouldn't trade it for the (real) world.

N'awwh.
Shut up you.

Wednesday, 12 August 2015

It just had to be done!


Player Highlight: Raebidus

Every now and then I take a moment to think about the many players who make this wonderful game wonderful. We have one of the best communities within any MMORPG. Even better, we have players who inspire us to better ourselves on our very own server.

This post is dedicated to Raebidus. An Evernight veteran and kin leader of Evernight's Legends. Raebidus is also the owner of Raebidus' Roving Thoughts which addresses all sorts of ideas for Lord of the Rings Online. Click on the link to take a look!


Monday, 10 August 2015

The Evernight Facebook Group reaches 1,000 members!


Created by one of our admins, Gastón Nogueira, this banner now proudly stands at the header of the group page. Only last month we were at 900 members. Due to the servers closing and many players transferring to Evernight, we are now officially the largest LOTRO server facebook group! I remember just last year when we had fewer than 300 members. We have grown tremendously over the past year to see a lively group filled with adventurous, creative and wonderful players!

But it hasn't always been rainbows in the Shire and a warm Gondforian summer breeze. The Evernight Facebook Group has seen trolls try and enter the group... from selling fake Raybans to littering the group with "adult content". Thankfully, we were able to deal with it quickly and efficiently. Although we did have to apply restrictions to the group. For just over a month, no one could post anything without permission from an admin.

Thankfully, that seemed to deter the trolls and eventually we changed it to the old way of "anyone can join, anyone can post" and it has worked wonderfully ever since!


So, on behalf of the admins I say thank you to everyone who has joined our group and made it what it is today /bow.


Farewell Dwarrowdelf: A Video Dedication


On 9th August 2015 at 9pm (+00GMT) the Dwarrowdelf server came together to say their last goodbyes. As Dwarrowdelf is named after the Dwarven city Moria, it was decided we'd meet at Thorin's Gate, so all players could gather together for a screenshot while honouring the Dwarven roots.


Afterwards, we travelled across Ered Luin and the Shire to the Green Dragon, where we had a party.


Even though my main characters are on Evernight, I thought it would be a good idea to record events for closing servers if a video has not been arranged. We had well over 150 people turn up for the event, which is fantastic.

To stay in touch with Dwarrowdelf members on other servers that are staying open, type: /joinchannel Dwarrowdelf to communicate with your old server buddies.

Wednesday, 5 August 2015

Welcoming Evernight Transfers Competition!

This week we are welcoming thousands of new players to Evernight due to the 19 servers shutting down. As the only English speaking non-role play server, there will be an abundance of transfer players looking for a home. So, what better way to welcome them than to hold a competition for them in their honour!

The Competition

To enter, you have to be originally from a server now shutting down and transferred over to Evernight. Players who are already on Evernight who have not transferred here cannot enter.

So, let's get down to business...

Evernight is named after a dark, shadow-filled region in the Great Sea that appears in one of Bilbo's songs called "Song of Eärendil":

Through Evernight he back was borne
on black and roaring waves that ran
o'er leagues unlit and foundered shores
that drowned before the Days began,
until he heard on strands of pearl
where ends the world the music long,
where ever-foaming billows roll
the yellow gold and jewels wan.


The competition is simple: take a screenshot of your newly transferred character next to Bilbo Baggins doing a /kneel emote towards him, then upload the screenshot to the thread on the Evernight Facebook Group.

Bilbo Baggins can be found in the Last Homely House in Rivendell.
The winner will:

- Have their character interviewed and featured on The Evernight Report
- Receive 100 gold coins
- Receive a cosmetic prize of their choosing

The winner will be picked at random and will be announced on Wednesday 12th August 2015! Good luck!


Monday, 3 August 2015

Server Reactions: How closing servers are taking the news.

Today it was announced which servers would be closed down and which would remain. Thankfully Evernight is safe from the cut, and we will continue to be a wonderful server with some fantastic players.



Let us also take a moment to think about the thousands of players on those 19 servers that are closing down.

For players of Elendilmir, Estel, Riddermark, Gilrain, Firefoot, Eldar, Nimrodel, Anduin, Windfola, Morthond, Imladris, Maiar, Darrowdelf, Vanyar, Silverlode, Withywindle, Vilya, Snowbourn and Meneldor, we /salute you.

Riddermark:

Firefoot:

Eldar are considering Evernight as their transfer server:

Nimrodel:

Dwarrowdelf:

Silverlode:

Withywindle are looking into coming to Evernight and Laurelin:

And are wanting a get together before the end.

Remember, Evernight is a wonderful server because it has wonderful people. Treat these new transfers with respect and kindness. I am sure they would have done the same to us if Evernight had closed.

The remaining 10 world will have thousands of new players joining them. This will be an exciting process and a wonderful time to start recruiting for kins, and welcoming these players to our server.

For now, take a deep breath and be thankful we're still altogether.