Weatherstock
June 12, 2010Thanks to a report from Massively, I found out about Weatherstock 2010, a player-run concert that takes place every year on the Landroval server in Lord of the Rings Online. It was a rainy Saturday evening and I wasn’t doing much else besides watching a replay of a FIFA World Cup match on TV, so I thought I would check this out. Being able to listen to player music is also one of my favorite features about LOTRO, so this was a good opportunity for me to watch a lot of different bands play.
Can the tall Men in the front please sit down? The little Hobbits in the back can't see!
The turnout at the summit of Weathertop where the concert took place was pretty impressive, though I really shouldn’t have been surprised as everyone knows that Landroval is a server full of awesomeness! Despite some lag which couldn’t be helped, it was the most well-organized player-run event I’ve ever attended. I turned down the audio for everything in the game except player music, and ended up keeping LOTRO running on my PC for the whole three hours to listen in while I did other things around the house.
Playing music from dusk 'til dawn.
My hat’s off (literally too, as that was supposed to help reduce the lag) to the organizers as well as to the bands who all did a really great job. Weatherstock was quite an experience!
MMO Gamer Chick 
Of the music i witnessed while playing, most or all was shockingly well done. but I can’t comment without at least saying one thing.
Damn bunch of hippies!@$@#
You would have enjoyed this then, methinks 🙂 I’ve only mostly seen individuals playing music in game, so seeing a whole band playing together was a real treat.
Nothing to do? Nothing to do?! There was crime in San Paro that needed quelshing!
Haha, the game was still downloading at the time.
Woooow, looks awesome 🙂
Yeah, it was! The sheer number of people I saw when I turned the corner and reached the summit of Weathertop made my jaw drop. I should have expected it though, my lag was increasing the closer I got to the top 😛
Though playing music was one of the things I didn’t get about LOTRO, it seems pretty cool now.
One day, I’ll want to look into the whole business of music playing myself.
that actually looks pretty fucking awesome.
Wow, I actually got YOU to say “awesome” about an MMO? 😛
The lag was something else, but with 200+ people in such a small area I’m impressed that we didn’t just bring the server down. I run LotRO with everything turned up as high as it will go and usually get between 40 and 60 FPS, but I was getting 4 at the concert.
Arg, I could have met up with you! I did see that you were online, but at the time you were afk and not up at the summit yet.
I missed finding you? Drat!
I was there and, after I turned the video to “low” as recommended I didn’t have a problem. There was a lot of great music, we had a lot of fun and the annoying jerks were shown the door quickly. Furthermore, I’d won the Lottery and had plenty of pipeweed and pints to share. Afterward the party spread to the Ivy Bush and Prancing Pony.
My main, Breto the hobbit Guardian can be seen above the elbow of the left-most minstrel in the second shot. Good thing you got that as Breto’s memory got a little fuzzy after the dawn fireworks in the Shire. Lot of black shots until he finally woke up in flowerbed in Lothlorien.
Ooh, I missed the after party? Noooooooo! Oh well, maybe it was for the best…because waking up in a flowerbed doesn’t sound like too much fun either 😛
And oh, I think I know which one you are! (haha, finding you was like playing Where’s Waldo”) 😀