Oh Captain, My Captain

I think I've found a cure to my blues in LotRO, and the name of the drug is "Captain". I leveled Forhelm, my Man Captain (the race of Man is the only one with the option of being a Captain, which kind of sucks...) to about 9 last night, and I must say that even without having access to my nifty slave squire yet, I'm rather enjoying playing as him.

There are a lot of things about the Captain that remind me of WoW's Paladin but without the, you know... boredom. For one, he has many different kinds of buffs, which oddly enough can often only be used after defeated an enemy or scoring a critical strike, including the 1st heal available to the class, which is only usable after you or the group have slain a mob. It's a great skill for keeping the momentum of a good fellowship going, that's for sure, so long as I don't waste all my Power during the fights on by using my other attacks as well. I'm not quite sure the Captain can serve as a main healer in tougher situations yet, as I don't have any other heals available to me at level 9, but I've heard they can do pretty well, even if they're no Minstrel.

Another cool aspect of the Captain I've sort of fallen in love with is the ability they have to pull mobs right from level one. Sure the way they do it is cheesey (they "shout" at the mob, causing damage and drawing their aggression), and it sounds god awful, but damned if it doesn't work and make you feel badass.

And lastly, they're really pretty decent combatants too. They can hit hard with their 2 handed weapons (when you can find a decent one), and they have enough skills that solo-ing isn't a chore like it always felt with my Paladin in WoW. Now, admittedly, like in WoW things could change as you near the upper levels, but so far I'm really enjoying the Captain. Almost to the point where I'm considering making him my main because at least the world needs a Captain... which can't be said for Champions I'm afraid.

On a last note, be sure to stop by the Vault tonight or tomorrow (most likely the latter) to read my new editorial. It'll be on the topic of difficulty in videogames and whether they're getting easier, or we're just getting "better" than when we were kids. The idea was brought on by Super Paper Mario and just how much of a breeze it's been thus far. I remember throwing controllers at my screen during the NES days, and pounding my keyboard in fits of rage during Ultima VII and Bard's Tale on my PC... but now I rarely feel challenged with a game. Those that do challenge me, make me so frustrated I often opt not to play them... what gives? This is what I try to come up with an answer for in the article. Hope you'll all read it and comment on it when it goes up.