The Decorator’s Letter – 2020
The Decorator’s Letter – 2020

The Decorator’s Letter – 2020

The Decorator’s Letter – 2020

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2019 is coming to an end. Let’s review what we did this year on D&Co du Milieu.


My dear decorator friends,

I hope you all had a great Christmas!
Like every year during this period, I’ll endeavor now to take stock of the year that is ending and catalogue some goals that I have set for the one that will soon begin.

It is also the time to present numbers, give thanks, and make great resolutions.

So let’s get on with the last post of 2019 on D&Co du Milieu!

I wish an excellent end of the year to all.

D&Co du Milieu in 2019

Some figures (as of 26/12)

You might as well skip this if this sort of thing doesn't interest you;). I'm not going to detail everything here, but we'll at least document the new records set by the site this year.

♦ Visits
It was a record year all around for D&Co.

  • New record for visits in one year
    More than 171,000 visits to the site in 2019 (compared to 87,000 in 2018) - more than double last year's total.
  • New record for visits in one month
    December is not quite over, but it is already a historic month for the site. It has so far received more than 24,000 visits (the old record of 18,000 visits was held by July of this same year).
  • New record for one-day visits
    More than 2,200 visits on December 13 of this year.

These records were preponderantly set by users of the English version of the site, which has lived its first full calendar year. The French version performed at the same level it did last year, and I thank you for your loyalty!
Thank you also to all those who share my links or who think of referring people to D&Co du Milieu whom have questions about housing.

♦ The Decorators Community
I also wanted to take advantage of this end of the year to thank to all those who helped me,

The D&Co team: I think here strongly of Rhuangar and Haflith, on the English side, for having often given me help with translating my articles into the language of Shakespeare.
Thank you also to all those who helped me to fill the database on the site by using the "Submit a Decoration" page.

Finally, I wanted to thank the people who made donations to me via Patreon or via PayPal; I told myself that I owe you a little transparency.
This year, I therefore collected €44 in donations thanks to your generosity. I thank you from the bottom of my heart!
To these donations, add €71 collected thanks to the 2 advertising banners on the site. Since I do not particularly expect this site to be profitable, I take this opportunity to remind you that you can easily use an ad blocker (which I actually do) if you do not want to see them.
So, I collected €115 thanks to your visits and your generous donations throughout this year 2019. Last year, this amount would have almost covered my annual costs (+/- €140), but this year I decided to double the servers for faster navigation and this amount therefore covers about 50% of costs now. Thank you!
Your €115 should thus be considered to be fully reinvested in the site, for example, in order to pay for rental of the servers and to fund rewards for contests (expansions, VIP packs, LOTRO points).

Thanks again to everyone!

The Database in 2019

242 decorations were added this year to the site! I don't know about you, but I find that number huge. Most of these additional decorations were released this year.

We therefore today have 1249 decorations posted on the site (I'm almost missing only some Hobnanigans decorations now).

It was a great year for decorators which introduced many new decorations to collect (and included a revival of decoration crafting!).
Regarding the database, we will also retain this year a redesign of the decoration sheets which added a lot of information about how to obtain the items they exhibit, their prices, and even whether or not they are bound to an owner's account.

This job is not yet finished (65% done).


D&Co du Milieu in 2020

The Database

I have a list of things I would like to finish (or start) in mind for this year. Here it is:

  • Finish redesigning the presentation sheets by adding information, clarifying prices, and standardizing screenshots (35% remaining).
  • Start redesigning the sheets which concern surfaces (wall & floor) with additions of different colors.
  • Again and again improve sorting, labeling, and categorization of decorations to make your research easier.

As usual, if you have ideas for me, I'm interested to hear them!

The Website

The first half of 2020 will be mainly dedicated to the database, but the site should afterwards be entitled to some updates.

I am currently testing the next one (v5.2). It includes many improvements to the search page as well as a slight graphical overhaul of the main menu. Everything should see the light of day in January, according to my schedule.

I have many other ideas in mind for the next major site update (v6), but I have barely started working on it so I will tell you about it in due course (certainly by the end of the first half of 2020).

Contests

As usual, I will publish in early January the provisional calendar for the year with projections for contest dates.
You will quickly notice that 2 new competitions will appear...

As for the rest, Housing Week will as always be present and occur in two editions. The X-Creator Contest will also be held during the first quarter.
Regarding the « Demeure de l'Étrange », just know that there is a good chance that it will move to Landroval to host the next edition.

2020, Year of Housing?

Finally, let's talk a bit about the game without which this site would not exist!
The year 2020 should be rich for housing on LotRO.

For those who do not venture there, be aware that by searching the game's database you could find special carry-all bags for housing items. No info yet is available about when or whether they will become available, but having access to bags which can store 50 decorations will be a huge step forward for collectors like me!

2020 is also the year of the long-awaited housing neighborhood in Rohan! Its update is scheduled to take place during the first half of the year (see this interview). We will soon have a new place to put our suitcases in Middle-earth - that fact foreshadows many articles and other like things. Expect moreover that in a while I will again annoy the devs to learn more about it.


It only remains for me to thank you for your loyalty and your commitment, and to wish you an excellent end of 2019!
See you in 2020 for new adventures!

~Yao
D&Co du Milieu



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Explorer of unexplored places and collector of decorations, Yao offers you a whole range of items brought from the four corners of Middle Earth. If you like what I do, or I’ve helped you in some way please consider buying me a coffee.



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