Learning LOTRO: Lesson Twenty-Six - Kinships

In this series, I talk about various aspects of The Lord of the Rings Online. This series is meant for newcomers, but may also help veteran players find more to love about the game.

If you're a new player or someone who hasn't played an MMORPG before, then I will do my best to introduce to you a very important aspect of them: Kinships. In most other MMORPGs, they are called "guilds," and allow players to form large groups within the community. Sometimes they are started by a group of pre-existing friends who want to play the game together long-term, and sometimes they're started by one or two people who then shape the group after a particular purpose and invite anyone who shares their interests.

Whatever the reason behind their creation, Kinships serve a critical role in Lord of the Rings Online. Not only do they act as the glue that holds players together within the community, they help organize like-minded players together so they can better achieve their goals within the game. Let's discuss!

Final Numbers for 2019

It's the end of another year, so I thought I'd make this an annual thing by sharing the numbers as we count down to midnight!

It's been another great year, and I'm looking forward to seeing how things progress into the new year! Here are the numbers for the last 365 days:

• snarkqueen went on YouTube to eat The World's Hottest Chocolate
• Vat19 shared that YouTube video, netting me nearly 1,000 views
• snarkqueen raised $1,260 for Children's National in D.C.
• That's $235 more than last year
• Gamer Reverie had 36 blog entries this year, including this one
• snarkqueen gave away 20+ games
• The Gamer Reverie blog found its way onto Patreon and Reddit
• As of December 18th, Extra Life as a whole had raised $14 million for the year!

Those are some great numbers! Despite those numbers, I have plans to reshape my gaming blog to better reflect why I write about games. Extra Life is why I started it, but it isn't the only reason why I continue to fill it with content. I hope to make Gamer Reverie into its own identity in the coming year, with its own voice and defined objectives. And reader rewards. Don't let me forget about those, would you?

Thank you to the donors, friends, supporters, fans, communities, families and random gamers who (un)knowingly helped make 2019 another great year. I wish you all the best in the coming year, and I hope you'll continue this journey with me as Gamer Reverie transitions into something new for the coming decade.

Screenshot Details: Aarawynn (Arkenstone) of Legacy of Narsilion, toasting gleefully alongside the Thirsty Patron and her Present-Bearing Pet Pony in Winterhome, Frostbluff. Lord of the Rings Online.