Lord of the Rings Online

[Simplicity]

I'm surprised I'm the first to post this thread... But I gotta spread the love for this game. It kind of came out of nowhere for me, but right now it's a blast to play. They've pretty much taken a *lot* from the WoW model, added smart instancing over it to create a rather significant plot that follows along with the books. (Yes, there's plot. Yes, I can name characters in the plot. I'm not sure I can name any of the characters in WoW's plots... )

The graphics are very nice. There's a trait/title system which really appeals to me (find certain things, kill enough stuff, you get a "Title"). So, my character could be So-and-So, "the Wary" because he hasn't died until 5th level, or "Spider-Foe" because he's killed many spiders in questing. Other "deeds" (chains of quests) get you "virtues" that you can equip kind of like equipment to improve your stats. So, I've got +1 Charity because I've helped out the people of Bree, but I've got +1 Justice because I've killed tons of Brigands.

My character, Eosig is up to 13th level now (pretty much soloed the whole way)... Just starting to look at going into the Old Forest, but it's hard to go into some place that is talked about so fearfully on the OOC channel. People are like, "I hate that place!", "I can't get out!", "It turns you evil" and not to mention "The $@#! trees move!" Maybe I could kill some more stuff first...

 

[stonehill_troll]

Look further down there have been several threads.

The last beta patch pretty much killed it for me, as it will longer run on my desktop PC or laptop. Last time I checked on the beta boards, about a week ago or two, some people were still getting VPU graphic errors and Turbine had no remedy posted. Thus I did not buy the game.

Overall it was too much like WoW in graphics and quests, kill 3 tiger cubs or these bulls for x meat,... not very heroic or immersive quests IMO.

 

[Simplicity]

Look further down there have been several threads.

The last beta patch pretty much killed it for me, as it will longer run on my desktop PC or laptop. Last time I checked on the beta boards, about a week ago or two, some people were still getting VPU graphic errors and Turbine had no remedy posted. Thus I did not buy the game.

Overall it was too much like WoW in graphics and quests, kill 3 tiger cubs or these bulls for x meat,... not very heroic or immersive quests IMO.

I haven't run into any real technical problems on my side. And I'm running the sucker in Vista. But then again, reading that thread reminds me why I don't play betas. It's a beta. Of course it has technical problems... I certainly expected the first non-beta to have problems, and it hasn't for me.

As far as immersion goes... yes, there are kill X monsters quests. As long as you have countrysides with monsters in them, there will be kill X monsters quests. But there's also(very mild spoiler)

Spoiler

the disguise yourself as a brigand and break a ranger out of captivity

quest, the (slightly larger spoiler)

Spoiler

fight your way across the now bandit-filled countryside, back to your initial town, which now happens to be on fire

quest, and (okay more spoiler)

Spoiler

rescue a guy before the nazgul-infected ranger tracks him down and kills him... oh wait, there he is, and he brought a friend

quest.

 

[Banshee16]

I took part in the stress test, and it worked fine on my system....I registered for the beta test, downloaded the client, made a character, and then didn't find time to play...

Are there many changes from the betas? I remember thinking that it wasn't bad. It's at a special low price this week at Future Shop, so I figured on maybe picking it up. But I'm not sure what the monthly fee is. Is it the same as WoW, which was about $18 CDN? I'm also a little hesitant to register, given we're going into summer.....but it's intriguing, because if it has a plot, as you say, it might make it more fun than WoW, which had no plot.

I played as an elf in the stress test, but didn't get past lvl 5 before the stress test ended, so didn't make it out of the ruined city where elves start.

Banshee

 

[Dinkeldog]

I'm currently playing around with, oh, 4 different characters on Arkenstone to get a feel for the different "roles" and professions. It is a bit different from WoW, and we'll see if I can get somewhat established, then I might be able to talk a few friends to come over with me.

The breaking point for WoW for me was the Engineering "fix". I just don't have it in me to level up a new profession and I don't like playing with handicaps like 1 profession when my guildmates had two professions that were providing them with epic gear (took time and effort and teamwork) that they couldn't share with me because I was the profession the devs didn't want to support any more (they could have said something right at release of the expansion and it wouldn't've bothered me).

I had some connection issues--IE settings can prevent one from playing--for a few days, but back to leveling up. There are also significantly more group ("fellowship") quests than in WoW, particularly at the lower levels, and significant anti-WoW griping, but some day I'll decide to figure out the ignore system in chat (Bree-chat==Barrens-chat at bad times). Leveling is significantly slower, but some of the quests are more fun--like the pie-running chain in the Shire which I enjoyed.

 

[Shadowsmith]

I'm having a blast playing as well. On Arkenstone I have all five character slots full. Most likely I'll pay the $199 for the lifetime subscription.

Some of the quests are eh, but others are wonderful. Heck, I love just wandering around looking at stuff. I loved climbing to the top of Weathertop.

The combat system and the UI can both use some work, but for the most part the game works for me. I even enjoy crafting - I never thought that would happen.

Now keep in mind that my first MMO was City of Heroes, which I still play after three years. I tried EVE Online, but that simply wasn't for me. I also tried Star Wars Galaxies - that was, umm, not so good. I played DDO for a time, but they kept too much of D&D (rest shrines) while destroying multiclass characters with the enhancement system.

Anyway, if you're on Arkenstone and need some help, feel free to contact me. I have the following characters:
* Eitred - hobbit, minstrel, historian [Level 11]
* Gundo - hobbit, burglar, tinker [Level 12]
* Halthion - elf, hunter, woodsman [Level 12]
* Malrand - human, captain, prospector [Level 20]
* Merrik - human, guardian, armorer [Level 12]

 

[Simplicity]

The one thing that really bugs me about the game is the OOC channel. Does the Lord of the Rings brand draw obnoxious morons or something? This isn't Barrens chat. This is a whole new level of stupidity. Every time I log on there's either some guy having a political argument, or some guy spewing racist/sexist/homophobic crap. And the language filters in the game are awful. They censor the most random words (misogynist is censored for example... whaaa?). But let anything through that is plural. And quite a few things that are not plural.

I'd turn the channel off (easy enough to do) if it weren't for the fact that I *normally* like having an OOC channel. I seriously hope they fix the filter, and make it easier to report morons so they can move on.

 

[Dinkeldog]

Have you figured out how to ignore people? I also wish it were easier to respond to individuals easily in private tells.

 

[Simplicity]

Have you figured out how to ignore people? I also wish it were easier to respond to individuals easily in private tells.

/ignore <name>. Easy enough. If it weren't for the fact that you then have somebody else doing something stupid.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I played this a lot during the free beta they opened up just before release. Originally, I liked that it was very similar to WoW, as I could pick up things quickly and was able to do things very easily without being used to the classes.

Problem for me was that it was TOO similar. It played a little too much like WoW Middle Earth to me...and...well, I have 2 70s and a ton of other characters in WoW right now with a great guild. I just couldn't bring myself to buy LotRO, sadly. I wanted to like it but it just didn't bring enough to the table that felt new and different for me.

I do hope that this changes, because I really loved the Middle Earth aspect of things.