When I came to log into LotRO, though, it was down for a scheduled update. Isn't it always the way? As it happened, only a few minutes earlier I'd read a news item on MassivelyOP about the latest update to Chimeraland and it sounded intriguing so I thought I might as well go take a look at that while I waited.
There were a couple of things in the update I was curious to see, particularly the Nine-tailed Fox. My character is a fox already but she only has the one tail. I'd be up for eight more.
The "Child Beasts" sounded interesting, too, if more than a little creepy. I thought I might go have a look for some of those, always assuming I could figure out what and where they were, never a given in Chimeraland..
In the event, neither of those headline items took up much of my time after I'd patched and logged in. What did was something I'd barely noticed in the announcement, buried as it was in the small print; the merger of another pair of servers, one of which appears to be mine.
At least, I'm assuming that's the reason I found myself standing on the doorstep of a large and impressive castle when I finally got into the game. Last I remember, I logged out in my house several weeks ago, having taken the trouble to register my presence prior to the last merger round. This time I'd been unaware further contractions were planned so it looks like my claim on the plot has been gazumped by someone who actually plays the game.
Fair enough. I really can't complain. Use it or lose it, as the saying goes. And I have to admit the structure now standing where my half-built shack used to be is a lot more impressive.
Not only that but the whole area seems to have undergone some sort of gentrification as a result of the merger. Where mine used to be one of the few homes in the area and even one of the more developed, now there are towers and mansions in all directions. I guess whichever server was merged into Moonbeam Bay had a lot more going on around the waterfall. I always thought it was an underappreciated locale.
It certainly suited me, anyway. I had no desire to move. I'm sure there are hundreds of scenic spots where I could relocate but damn it, why should I? I found this place and I plan on keeping it.
So, I just set up across the way from the castle, where a handy rocky outcrop made for a nice central feature. All my furniture and building materials had been neatly stored for me. I pulled out my Spirit Stone, plonked it down to claim the new plot, then started laying down foundations and putting up walls.
I kept on until I hit my housing point limit which, since I'd made it to Housing Level Eight or so when last I played, gave me a decent square-footage. I even remembered to leave some space around the Spirit Stone this time, so for once I won't have to try to get to it from the other side of a wall or by hanging off a staircase.
I had to cut down a couple of trees that were growing in inconvenient places but in half an hour or so I had a considerably better house than the one I'd lost. The view's the same only considerably improved by the elegant castle that stands where my old place used to be, although I can't imagine the castle's owner is going to be thinking the same when they come home and look out from the battlements at the jerry-built fixer-upper that's appeared overnight, right outside their walls.
Whether I'll find the time to do any of that fixing is another question. I'd like to but I suspect it won't happen. Even if I do return to Chimeraland for anything ressembling an extended run, I'm in two minds whether to carry on with the Steam version or go back to my higher level character on the Singaporean server. The Asian servers have had somemmergers, too. I wonder which is likely to be around the longer?
As for the Nine Tailed Fox, I couldn't figure out where it was in the shop, let alone what I needed to do to get one. I didn't have time to go looking for child beasts, either. Maybe next time.
If there is one.
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