I have made zero progress today. I blame the fishing.

Read the Lord of the Rings Online game diary after the jump.

When I say I've made zero progress, I only mean that in the sense of LOTRO's five tracks of advancement (character level, epic story quests, crafting, deeds, and reputation). I have, however, made progress towards getting a nicer dress. Right now I'm wearing some cheapy common long-sleeve dress. Which I sort of liked until I saw what my friend was wearing. We were coming back from a trip into Haudh Iarchith, each with a handful of coveted Cardolan-trinkets to improve our standing with the men of Bree. We've just come out of the hidden tunnel next to Ost Gorthad and he changes into a shimmering white gown with gold trim that both accentuates his figure and goes great with his halberd.

"That's quite fetching. Where did you get it?"

"Oh, do you like it? It's the summer festival dress."

Man, I could never have something that nice. I wish I was level 50.

"Do you have to be level 50 or something?" I ask.

"I'll show you."

He's also riding an appaloosa with a blanket with yellow sunflowers. My horse is as brown and uninteresting as a Quake 1 level.

"How did you get that horse?" I ask, riding after him.

"Summer festival. I'll show you. You have to fish."

I've already done a little fishing. My skill inched up slowly and I was getting minnows and goldfish that sell for a piece of copper each. Sometimes I'd get a rusty dagger, also worth a single piece of copper. When I got really lucky, I'd get a ball of gunk worth two copper. After all that, my fishing skill is 11.

"You have to fish in different places. The fishing vendors will tell you where to get the fish you need."

Fishing vendors?

"Celondim is where I had the best luck. For the horse, you need a token. You get it from the horse races. The Shire is the best place for racing. There's hardly ever anyone there, so it's easy to win."

I've seen occasional race winners announced in the chat channel, their names splashed in giant orange letters. The first time I saw it, I sent the winner a congratulations /tell. I'm that kind of guy. "ty," he responded, probably wondering if he knew me because why would a perfect stranger congratulate you for winning a horse race? My friend shows me the track, set up around a pond in the Shire. You talk to an attendant to register. The attendant directs you to take a saddle and horse, at which point the two-minute warning is announced. It's a single lap around the track, with a few inconveniently placed walls and logs in the way to encourage jumping.

"Just cut around them," my friend advises. "Don't try to jump. Also, stick the right as much as you can."

It's easy to win the race when no one else is racing. In fact, short of just riding away to try to steal the horse, I'm pretty sure it's impossible to lose. I get my token and I'm directed to cash it in at the fairgrounds north of Bree.

But now I'm in Celondim, pulling little fish out of the water, hoping to get enough Lullim to trade in for the festival tokens that will get me a dress. Or even if I could just land on Celebahl, I'd be well on my way. I tried learning a new dance emote from some stupid dwarf, but I immediately failed out for not following instructions. Who wants to learn dancing from a stinky dwarf anyway? But a summer dress and a horse blanket with yellow sunflowers? Level 50 can wait. But when I finally get there, it'll be in style.

(Click here for tomorrow's Lord of the Rings Online game diary.)
(Click here for yesterday's Lord of the Rings Online game diary.)