Red Painted Skeleton Horse and other painted horses

Supergirl and Red Painted Skeleton Horse prepare to fly to Draigoch.

"You have acquired the Red Painted Skeleton Horse skill."

If you follow this blog, you will know that I have been seeking the Red Painted Skeleton Horse for a long time. 

• It was one of only 8 horses I previously was not riding in the Gallery... All the Steeds

• I had it on my "Achievable" list, but was losing hope after searching for nearly a year... October-2012: my-84-of-93-steeds

• The ability to buy it from the lotro store was one of my Top 11 things I would change when I rule Middle Earth... top-11-things-i-would-change-when-i-rule-Middle-Earth!

Red Painted Skeleton Horse sniffs at the camera during photo-shoot

The Search: And, finally on the 87th lootbox I opened searching for it, it happened. The Red Painted Skeleton Horse had come to me! 

No, I didn't open all the 87 lootboxes at once. I periodically buy a few here and there from the AH over the past year, hoping for this horse. Yes, it was easy to remember how many lootboxes because this horse was the only reason I was acquiring lootboxes. :) Patience. Determination. Perseverance. 

I got the Red Painted Skeleton Horse on June 24, 2013. The lootbox text says that this horse has a chance to drop from any of the lootboxes. Mine came from a level 50 lootbox. 

I *WAS* wearing my Erebrandir's Horseshoe, which now contradicts what I said last week about not getting anything good while wearing it. It may have absolutely no bearing, but now I am even more superstitious about wearing it. (u11-hobbit-presents-30-day-review).

I tended to buy level 50 lootboxes lately because when they didn't give me a horse, they might give something useful to my team of lildanas who are all around level 50, plus the AH price for them tends to be ≈ 4g versus the Riddermark lootboxes that were listed ≈ 40g. (lildanas @ crafting-to-mordor-part-2).

I cheer at finally bringing home the Red Painted Skeleton Horse.

Redemption of the Lost: After acquiring 100 other steeds, the search for this one became something of the "Parable of the Lost Sheep" (wiki: Parable_of_the_Lost_Sheep) where "a shepherd leaves his flock of 99 sheep in order to find the one sheep who is lost."

Comparison to other Skeleton Horses: The Red Painted Skeleton Horse is identical in look to its siblings, the Skeleton Painted Horse (white) and the Green Painted Skeleton Horse. The White one is a very rare drop from the Haunted Barrow during Fall festival. The Green one was sold in the lotro store only.

The Green one and the Red one are both +68% speed and the White one is +62% speed.

White...

Painted Skeleton Horse - a good complement to the Red and Green.

Green...

Green Painted Skeleton Horse - a good complement to the Red and White.

Red... 

Red Painted Skeleton Horse - a good complement to the White and Green.

U11: Wildemore Relics

Supergirl sprints across the Wildemore on the Steed of Rhun

While continuing to review some of the changes that came with Update 11, it was brought to my attention that there is a new set of LI Relics! If this addition was mentioned in the Update notes, I and many others overlooked it. 

So I don't have to recap the world of relics, I will pick up with a continuation from Part 1, Update-10: t9-and-eastemnet-relics, which explains how relics are named, how to get shards to make relics, gives a list all the T9 and Eastemnet relics and costs, and shows math behind why one would choose a Morale-based set of relics versus a Mastery-based set of relics.

New Wildemore Relics: So, in this "part 2", let's start with a picture of all the Wildemore relics that were added.

Each of these relics costs 3 specific T9 relics + 7488 shards. In that regard, it costs the same number of T9 relics to meld as the Eastemnet relics but the shard cost is more expensive (eastemnet relics were only 4992 shards). Granted, shards are very easy to obtain with a just a little planning (see rohan-shard-queen-master-of-relics). 

The Eastemnet relics: To keep you from having to flip back and forth to see the Eastemnet relics, here is the same layout again.

Observation #1: The Eastemnet set also had True Relics. They cost more than either Eastemnet or Wildemore but depending on your build, they might have more impact.

Observation #2: The gain from Eastemnet to Wildemore relics is very small. 

• As always, for the percentage bonuses on the relic, those will always be the same regardless of the tier (for example, -2.5% attack duration is the same on Unique level 55 all the way through Wildemore relic).
• The numerical bonus increase is similar to the increases between the various tier relics, which is just a gradual increment going up.

Barallas and Tithenolf perform the Y.M.C.A dance in Balewood.

Math from Part 1 - revisited for fun, 

Max Morale: True Setting of the North, Eastemnet Gem of Hope, and True Rune of the Dark Wood. The only upgrade would be the Gem of Hope. Exchanging the Eastemnet for the Wildemore, morale would go up by +33. The cost would be 3 more T9 relics + 7488 shards.

Max Mastery: True setting of the Three Hunters, True Gem of the Rising Moon, and Eastemnet Rune of Power. The Rune of Power would likewise be exchanged to gain +41 mastery and +2 fate (≈ 0.13% more damage and 0.01% more crit chance). Also, same cost of three T9 relics + 7488 shards.

A Cursed Oath-Breaker asks me whether Wildemore relics are worth the cost for an upgrade.

What would I choose?
I chose the True Setting of the North, Eastemnet Gem of Hope, and True Rune of the Dark Wood. (danania-85: RK Directory) though a number of the relics are fine choices. I don't want to spend the relics to get the Wildemore Gem of Hope now, but only because I already have my Eastemnet Gems of Hope. 

In Part 1, I listed a good "Mixed set" that I would have considered, and if I did it again, I might have chosen True setting of the north, True Gem of the Rising Moon, and Wildemore Rune of Power.

For Settings, the "Endings" and both "True" relics are fine choices for RKs. Keep in mind that "+7.5% devastate magnitude" really means (all other things constant) your Devastate damage is now your base multiplied by 2.075, versus a normal 2.0. It sounds cooler as "+7.5% devastate magnitude" and can add up with big hits. Optimize your choices.

For Gems, the "Charity", "Hope", and both "True" relics are fine choices for RK.

For Runes, the "Power", "Wisdom", and both "True" relics are fine choices. Something I would never recommend is to get the T1 - T9 rune relics. None of those are worthy of a RK so this one is one area you would want to find good upgraded relics.

I am monarch of all I survey, desolate though it may be. ~ Supergirl watches over Scylfig.

U11: Travel Skills, Return to...

Nindorn the Ent enjoys a walk with Supergirl through Balewood forest

Last week, Update 11.1 was released... forums.lotro.com: Update-11.1-Release-Notes.

The update was mostly bug fixes. However, a new change that I had overlooked was... 

• "New travel skills have been added to the People of Wildermore Barter NPCs to quickly take players to Forlaw."

"Thanks to your friendship with the People of Wildemore, you're able to quickly return to Forlaw in Wildemore."

People of Wildemore barter guy in Forlaw offers a good deal on travel skills

Yay! I do like travel skills. As the Update note indicates, you can now get Muster/Guide/Return to Forlaw from the barter guy in Forlaw. The cost is 50 tokens for hunters and wardens and 100 tokens for everyone else to get the "Return" skill. Either way, it is a good deal if you are travelling in Wildemore.

I looked at my travel skills list and made a table for those looking to gain more travel skills. Note that each Return skill uses a Travel Ration and each has a 1 hour independent cooldown. With this set of skills, it is easy enough to fly around Middle Earth. The stable masters fill in the gaps to get to remote places, but the Return skills put you near the action.

Here are my Travel skills and how to get them for yourself (not counting milestones and home ports).

Return to…	Region	Reputation?	Barter Location / Cost
Forlaw	Wildemore	People of Wildemore	Forlaw 100 Silver Tokens of Wildemore
Snowbourn	Rohan	Men of the Sutcrofts	Snowbourn 250 silver tokens of riddermark
Stangard	Great River	Riders of Stangard	Stangard 20 silver tokens of Anduin & 20 gold tokens of Anduin
Galtrev	Dunland	Men of Dunland	Galtrev 176s
Enedwaith (Lhanuch)	Enedwaith	Algraig	Lhanuch, Hall of Making 20 silver tokens of the wild & 20 gold tokens of the wild
Mirkwood	Mirkwood	Malledhrim	Thangulhad 20 Malledhrim Gold stars
Ost Guruth	Lonelands	Eglain	Auto-granted upon reaching kindred
Rivendell*	Trollshaws	Elven Trait	Auto-granted Must be slotted as racial skill
Lalia’s Market (Bree)	Bree-town	None	Lalia’s Market 3 mithril coins
Bree	Bree	Men of Bree	Bree Hunting Lodge 100 Barrow-treasures
Thorin’s Gate	Ered Luin	Thorin’s Hall	Thorin’s Hall, Blue Stone Garrison 100 Dourhand Crests
Precise Map to Glan Vraig*	Ettenmoors	Rank 4	Glan Vraig Rank 4 plus some silver

Return to Bree is available to races that are not Man. Race of Men cannot barter for this return; their return is a Racial skill.

Return to Thorin's Gate is available to races that are not Dwarf. Similar to Bree, dwarves cannot barter for this return; theirs is a Racial skill.

Interestingly, I cannot fly to the Shire as easily. I have to fly to Thorin's or Bree and ride the quick horse to Michel Delving. Shire travel is for hobbits only apparently.

Of course, we elves are snobbish and cannot let just anyone Travel to Rivendell so quickly. Return to Rivendell is the Elven racial travel skill.

Gleowine's Map - This map is the clickable one near Gleowine to go into Wildemore epic session quests. It has no bearing on this article. I thought it looked really cool; do you recognize it? :D

I have not bought one of these, but I am told that there are Return Skills to Bree, Thorin's Hall, Rivendell, and Michel Delving sold in the lotro store for 295 TP. That might come in handy if you need your racial trait for something other than a travel skill... or of course, to fly directly to the Shire or Rivendell. 

* The Precise Map to Glan Vraig in the Ettenmoors is NOT actually a Return skill. It does not consume a travel ration, its cooldown to use is 30 minutes versus the hour for Return skills, AND it is an actual reusable map that you carry in your inventory. It would be much better if it did not have to be a carried in inventory item, but there it is. If you are very new to the Ettenmoors, there is also a Tattered map to Glan Vraig, usable once per day, but requiring only Rank 1. 

Cyneberg the Etten (2-headed troll) - this glitch was supposedly fixed in Update 11.1

A Casual Stroll to Mordor ends (in Rohan)

"This can't be happening" ~ Nurzum expresses shock at the end of CSTM

Where to begin? What to say?

I have mentioned before that CSTM was a fundamental part of how I learned to play lotro (beautiful-blogger-award). It was one of the few sites I knew that was related to lotro when I started playing and through the site, I found more blogs and informational sites over time. CSTM is still my go-to site for news and links (I may have to learn how to use the "forum" now *shudders*).

Goldenstar writes, "It is with a heavy heart that we have to announce the end of A Casual Stroll to Mordor." Read the rest of the farewell here... CSTM: cstm-to-end-with-episode-200.

The amount of news and articles that Goldenstar and Merric covered every week was very amazing, and they did it in their spare time, for the love of lotro and the lotro community. /bow to all their spectacular work. "Thank you" just doesn't seem to express it well enough sometimes when someone makes an impact like that.

I hold out optimism that someday, they might be back to blog/news reporting, mebbe just doing much less. However, "There is an end to everything, to good things as well." ~Chaucer 1374

Frithwyn weeps at the end of an era

U11: Hobbit Presents 30-day Review

Supergirl versus Karkas in Wildemore

Update 11 showed the introduction of daily Hobbit Presents to lotro. They were first released on May 13 so I have now waited my self-imposed 30 days to critique the system.

To recap, the Hobbit Presents come in two forms: Silver Present once per day and Gold Present once per week. You can also purchase more hobbit presents… 2 mithril coins for the Silver and 8 mithril coins for the Gold.

Its introductory reception was a mixed bag by players. Some of the major thoughts expounded in other forums included

• Annoyance at the small square in the corner of the screen saying you have a present,
• Concern that the instant access to potential good loot would be game-breaking,
• Irate about the nature of its “slot machine” feel was akin to gambling and that it should be illegal for its exposure to children playing the game,
• Indifference  because it was either cheesy, unclassy, or unnecessary to attract players,
• Joy at getting “free stuff”.

Since it was released, I tracked my daily presents in a spreadsheet (yay spreadsheets!). Tomeoric and Arcadio contributed for a bit but got bored tracking scroll-this, potion-that, pile of coins.

Here are my consolidated 30 Hobbit Presents for 30-days:

17.1	Gold
50	Mithril Coins
6	Combat Run Speed Boosts
6	Scrolls of Max Morale and Power (90 minutes)
3	+5% Attack Damage (1 hour)
2	Scroll of Finesse
2	Rejuvenation Potion
1	Fused T5 Relic
3	Fused T3 Relic
6	+10% ooc Run Speed Boost (90 minutes)
1	Simple Rally Horn
1	Landscape Soldier Tolken
1	Exhanced XP Supply
5	Dale-men's Crams (food)
3	Universal Power potions
1	Mathom Shoes (Teal, lvl 80)
1	Mathom Hunter's Mitts (Teal, lvl 80)

Assessment of my loot: You can see that the gold started to add up a bit after 30 days of collecting copper scraps and silver scraps. Of course, my big win was the “50 mithril coins”.

Next most impressive was a few scrolls (combat run, morale boost, attack damage, finesse) that I will eventually use in the Moors.

Then, there were a few relics (of which I have an alt-tonne-load), some lower-level goodies like the Rally Horn, a Landscape Soldier Token (I’ve never used one but I might since I have it for free so I can take pictures of my Herbalist in various places), then more lower-level stuff.

The teal Shoes and the Mitts are both for level 80 which I don’t need, and of course, “Universal Power Potions” are zero value since it has been a very long time since I’ve even thought about needing even a normal power potion.

Tomeoric posed a good question about the effect adding that much gold to the AH market might have on inflation. It is a valid point but it feels like inflation has been on the rise for a while. With little to pull money out of a market, general wealth accumulates and inflation occurs. Such is life.

Supergirl flies over Forochel

Best loot I have seen? I reviewed Tomeoric and Arcadio’s data as well. I probably got the best of the lot with the 50 mithril coins; Tomeoric got a Universal Toolkit and a Relic Removal Scroll and Arcadio got a level 80 gold chest piece and a Tome of Vitality VIII (which might sell well if it weren’t bound to account). I asked around and the best hobbit presents I could find that anyone received, other than the ones mentioned here, include a Compendium of Might Tomes (all ten Tomes for might), a +100% Crit Craft Chance Scroll, and 200 mithril coins from a gold box.

Of all of this loot, in the past, I have bought a Universal Toolkit (Crafting-toward-mordor-with-universal-toolkit),Relic Removal Scrolls, and some stat tomes when they first released. I can also see why one would buy the crit chance scroll for something you really wanted to crit. Long ago, I also bought 2 rally horns (both used at very different times but both in the Misty Mountains).

Supergirl flies over Trollshaws

Erebrandir’s Horseshoe: I did not try to statistically assess in only one month whether the horseshoe has any bearing. The best loot I got was with no horseshoe, which is likely just a coincidence. The continued “running joke” about it might do something in certain occasions is annoying. The horseshoe has been around for years, so it would be great if Turbine just put it out there what exactly it does and move on.

My reality is that I have rarely gotten particularly good loot while wearing it and I still remain skeptical that it actually does anything, regardless of what Sapience says. Sorry Sapience, you are more than welcome to elaborate or prove it, all I have is my own empirical evidence. hehe :D forums.lotro.com: Erebrandir-s-Horseshoe-What-is-it-good-for

Silver versus Gold Presents: It is assumed that the Gold Presents are better than the Silver Presents. Gold is better, right? It costs more mithril coins to get… it only awards once per week versus the silver at once per day… so it must be seven times as good, yes? ...or at least four times as good since it costs quadruple the cost?

Care to guess which of the above loot in my table was from Gold boxes? During my 30-days, I got five Gold Presents. Those included 1.8g, T5 Relic, T3 Relic, Scroll of Finesse, Enhanced XP Supply. That is underwhelming and not at all obvious that it uses a different loot table than the silver presents.

Supergirl descends onto Wildemore

What is my take on the Hobbit Presents? They don’t bother me at all. In fact, I like them for the quick and amusing items that they are.

In all, nothing I got or saw was game-changing. Mostly, it just felt like some loot I would get for killing a couple of enemies. As expected the grab-bag feel of the hobbit presents is hit-or-miss… could be good or could be no value. I don’t see enough benefit to me to warrant spending mithril coins buying more presents but I am thankful for the daily ones.

Log on, click a button, get some loot trinket, say “Thank you for the present” (even though it might be as useful as getting wool mittens in a Texas summer), and move on about my merry way!

Supergirl rides Warsteed of Rhun to explore an Ice formation in Wildemore

Crafting to Mordor, part 2: Words of Wisdom and Rest XP

DanaArodel is head high in fields of grain

I get questions periodically asking how the lildanas (lil-danas) are progressing in their craft-adventure toward Mordor?

All nine of them are full time crafters. Originally, five of them adventured to level 25 to get better tools. The four quadruplets were storage/AH-sales/greeter hobbits and were level 6. Well, to suggest that the first five “adventured” is overstating it… primarily, they just went to festival and got XP. Danaszar actually went to Yule Festival right out of the intro years ago and “ate” her way to level 18 by visiting the food quest many times. 

If they do nothing else, all nine crafters try to make crafted relics each week. The crafted relics net lots of shards and have an AH sale value higher than the materials it took to make them (rohan-shard-queen-master-of-relics).

Update 9 in December-2012 changed the crafter world when crafting started giving XP.

We last left the lildanas in January, 2013… crafting-toward-mordor-with-universal-toolkit

Update 10 release notes in March-2013 (notes-on-update-10-release-notes) said that "craft XP values were adjusted down" but we are happy to report that appears to be an error in the notes. I have found no difference in crafting XP per recipe versus pre-U10.

How have they progressed doing nothing but part-time crafting and occasional festivalling?

	Craft	Current Level, June-2013	Was, Yule-2012
Danadelion	Metalsmith/Prospector (Champion)	51	25
Danadalyn	Armorsmith/Prospector (Minstrel)	51	25
Danaish	Jeweller/Prospector (Burglar)	51	25
Danaszar	Woodworker/Forester (Hunter)	51	25
DanaClaus	Scholar/Farmer (Guardian)	51	25
DanaArodel	Cook/Farmer (Warden)	47	6
DanaBoffin	Cook/Farmer (Warden)	47	6
DanaHorn	Cook/Farmer (Warden)	47	6
DanaOnar	Cook/Farmer (Warden)	47	6

They had planned to go get Legendary Items around level 50… which is probably next on the list. It is mildly disconcerting since they carry flowers and pretzels instead of weapons and none of them have virtues, or skills, or gear. Of course, since they are a craft team, once they set themselves to do it, they can make their own gear. I am advising that they do try to get some class skills before trying to kick in the Door of Durin.

By the way, Danaish the Jeweller sees that cooking may be in her future, though we haven’t started that yet and she was able to level just fine with gems that were lying around.

Danaszar whittles wood while dexterously twirling a festival fire stick

Word of Wisdom from the Farm: We were told that the most crops that can be planted and harvested before they spoil is 5. That is not true; don’t be fooled. The amount of time it takes from “ready for harvest” to “spoiled” is 2 minutes. With a Universal Toolkit (crafting-toward-mordor-with-universal-toolkit), it takes 10 seconds to plant and 5 seconds to gather. In the 2 minutes allotted, a farmer could plant 12 crops at a time, then harvest all 12 with no spoiling. (In case they get distracted chatting, the lildana farmers tend to work with batches of 10.)

Ok, but Dana, I don’t want to buy a Universal Toolkit, or have tools crafted for me, or think I can win a Toolkit in the Hobbit Presents. How many can I plant? A basic farming tool should be able to handle 9 (same spoilage time of 2 minutes applies, but now you craft slower.)

Word of Wisdom from the Farm, #2: “DELETE, U” is your friend. After planting a batch of crops, hit DELETE to select the closest selectable thing to you (in this case, a crop). Then, hit the U key to pick it up. Of course, the Delete key is always helpful to remember if you are trying to find something like spring flowers, nails, mushrooms, doors, etc. It is a very, very useful key.

Word of Wisdom from the Farm #3: Those upper tier recipes come in a standard version as default and a “Hearty Crop” version if you look in the multi-output of the recipe. Always choose the Hearty Crop version. For nearly the same price for the seeds, the Hearty Crop version yields significantly more crops. For a long time the farmer team had been using the default crop recipe. Of course, most everyone else in the world might already know the difference. I was excited about my revelation and pointed it out to another Farmer who just shook his head and mumbled something about “silly noob farmer”. In case it was new to you, now you know there is a difference!

DanaClaus plants and harvests a dozen Apple trees at a time; move over Paul Bunyan

Word of Wisdom from the Smiths: Tier 9 crafter Processing is a great way to level. The four crafts that use Processing are the two Smiths, the Woodworker, and the Tailor. Processing involves turning 2 units (ingot, plank, leather) into 4 shavings which in turn can be turned back into 1 unit. Obviously, there is a decay function associated with this activity (easy to calculate, yay math… anyone want to take a shot at the formula? Bonus points for including the 25% crit in the formula going from shavings back to unit) and soon you will have no materials left. 

The short answer… a stack of ore, wood, or hides will net about 50k XP (using rest XP) so it is still the most efficient way to level a full-time crafter (well, one that isn’t a farmer/cook anyway).

Danadalyn processes ingots in Thorin's Hall

Towynia of Landroval: In crafting part 1, Towynia of Landroval made an appearance. She started at level 1 at the beginning of the year as a farmer and was working as a Cook in the Prancing Pony. She is now level 68 and counting. That is pretty good for a full-time cook who has other obligations. Towynia never did learn to ride a horse; we were suggesting she might want to learn to ride one as Warsteeds are all the rage these days. Give her a /cheer and /tell if you see her around.

Towynia’s Words of Cooking Experience: We asked Towynia what food gives good Experience and is profitable to make. Some food materials actually cost more than the finished product. According to her spreadsheet (we like spreadsheets), one of the best options is “Bowl of Water” under Supreme Cook. It is 1 Mint Leaf + 1 bottle of water = 1 bowl of water. It gives good experience and has a positive economic margin. Now that is a good win! Do you have other things that you prefer that are also a good XP and sale win?

Towynia of Landroval cooking in Bree

Rest XP and Crafting: With Update 11, Rest XP was changed for VIPs. It seemed benign. Before U11, characters got 20% rest XP per day, up to five days worth to make a full level of blue bar. Post U11, characters got what is claimed as 30% rest XP per day, resetting each day during the night.

Regardless of which version, the bigger change was what activities counted toward rest XP and how much those activities contributed.

Here is a crafter’s perspective on Rest XP:

• Before U11, rest XP reduced by 80% of the total XP given. If a craft recipe gave 100 XP, rest XP reduced by 80.
• After U11, rest XP reduced by 100% of the XP given.
• The short answer = for the same number of materials, unless you log in every day, you will run out of rest XP faster post U11, and a lot of the reason has to do with that consumption part (80% versus 100%).

For fun, here is a math proof (~for non-maths, skip the paragraph in pink):

• At level 49, XP needed to increase to next level = 188,088.
• Pre-U11 rest XP for 1 day, 20% = 37,617
• If using a recipe that rewards 100 XP per use (80% subtracted from rest XP), after 471 uses, rest XP is depleted… (471 x 100 x 0.8). You have used 100 uses of mats, you are +47,100 XP.

• Post-U11 rest XP for 1 day, 30% = 56,426
• Same exercise as before, 100 XP per use, +47,100 XP and rest XP is still visible though less than 10k.

• You can see that this balance changes at day 2 and beyond, where Pre-U11 rest XP at 40% and so on while post-U11 stays the same. BTW, if day 1 shows advantage post-U11, and day 2 through 5 shows advantage pre-U11, the breakpoint can be calculated at 24% for pre-U11, i.e. 1 day and 10 hours. (The difference is the consumption.) /math_off

Therefore, if you don’t log on EVERY day and are able to consume your blue bar when you are on (easier to do for an actual adventurer than a full-time crafter), then you will have less effective rest XP available to you.

I read the arguments for why Turbine sees this as a “benefit” to VIPs. However, since I don’t play every day, visiting alts mebbe once a week, this new rest XP plan is a detriment, not a benefit. This change isn't any sort of major game-changer, so I will survive. lol!

DanaArodel learns new recipes, good thing that stein has a lid

On the Bright side of Rest XP debate! 

• (1) At level 50, for a full-time crafter, 30% of a level is still a ton of materials. Yes, I can burn through the blue bar, whereas I rarely could before U11. (That would have a more profound impact at lower levels.)
• (2) With nine crafters, I can always move on to another crafter and burn through that blue bar and another and another… (Mebbe, this new plan will push more people into becomes altaholics.)
• (3) Destiny points still exist. We get 200 destiny points per level and a rest XP boost costs 250 destiny points. Between my alts and the DP that used to be awarded in the Moors, I have more DP that can ever be spent.

All that said… I understand why people are miffed about the change. Some of it has to do with quest XP receiving rest XP bonus, a silly argument since they are really just leveling faster than before. Others point out one of the things I mentioned: 20% daily but accruing over several days trumps 30% daily but capping at 30%. And, of course, my key observation above is that XP is simply consumed faster (the 80% versus 100% pink paragraph).

I feel badly for the Turbine employee that tried to help but botched his understand of how pre-U11 rest XP worked versus post-U11 rest XP... http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?512456-Rested-XP-Nerf/page3.

I personally could not argue with a straight face that the post U11 gain/spend rest XP system is more beneficial to much of anyone since you would literally have to log in every day and spend more than 20% of a level every day to come out ahead. As usual, the lildanas will optimize around the change. Heck, it wasn't that long ago that crafting gave no XP for leveling so we feel like we are playing with house money! 

Enjoy the ride and the lildanas will continue crafting toward Mordor!  

Rolliepollie the Cook and DanaBoffin the Cook in synchromized cooking