Gambit7

Anyone in the beta already with any definitive 411 on if they like it or not? I'm considering pre-ordering, but I'm a bit on the fence and I dont feel like waiting until the 6th (partially because of inevitable lag and also I've gotta work). Suspense kills me.

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tau_neutrino

I like it, but I think I've burned out on MMORPGs for now; besides, I don't have time for one. LOTRO's world is gorgeous, gameplay is interesting enough, and the lore is great. Give it a shot

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Vulcan

rince, gref and I from here are playing it as well as many others on elendilmir. You can join us.

About the game, yeah i love it and it's tons of fun.

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Rincewind

I agree with Vulcan. It's a great game and the story elements of the quests are a breath of fresh air. Much more coherent than other major fantasy MMO's out there. I mean, look at the source material

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TheFatKidDeath

I'd consider playing. I've never got into an MMO. I'm waiting for Age of Conan but this may tide me over until that is released.

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Trooper

i just got another key so im thinking about giving it another shot this week. My only complaint WAS it was to much like wow, who knows might have changed.

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that sounds like a good idea trooper.
-Vulcan

Gambit7

Welp, after finishing the Intro questline on a fat Hobbit Minstrel (named Elvys) I must say I'm pretty satisfied.

Basically, LotRO uses the same game engine as DDO. Graphics, text, UI, etc. are largely the same. Behind the scenes, I wouldnt doubt if it also uses the d20 resolution mechanics. The main difference between the two is there are a HECK of a lot more textures in LotRO... fire and water are beautifully rendered even on a crappy system like mine, and given the vastness of middle earth obviously there are a lot of different things to see. As for hardware-wise, if you can play DDO, you can play LotRO. It doesnt take as much as you might think.

One good thing is Turbine did away with the excessive level-loading apparent in DDO and you can now spend some quality time just roaming around. In that respect, it's a lot like WoW.

And if you dont like cartoony WoW-type graphics and animations than you'll like LotRO as it's much closer to photorealistic, even movement-wise. Like I said, it's a lot like DDO.. which is a very "matter-of-fact" layout.

As for how the game feels? It feels like you're a part of the continuing saga of LotR. The questlines are very well written and make you feel a part of the story. There are many scripted events to really immerse you and make you feel "special". Granted, this game seems very mmo-light - as it's very easy to master on a basic level. As for any "advanced" use, we'll see how that goes in higher lvl fellowship instances. For now, it's very linear of course... but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The play looks to be very interesting as it's not your usual blend of classes. There are no real spellcasters; only minstrels and loremasters. So things happen more believably. Playing a Minstrel is a lot of fun I might add and the tiered combat system is a nice touch (you basically have to do a tier 1 attack to open up a tier 2 attack, etc.) The melee classes all have their special niche to fill and every class 'cept the loremasters have melee skills. Loremasters generally use their pets to kill.

You also dont need to grind mobs. Your toon is lvled (just like DDO) by doing quests. If you do all the quests you gain "recognition" which gives you special bonuses as well. There are "deeds" to all the different areas that benefit you to fulfill. This, to me, is a very subtle way to set players apart and reward them for influencing the game world via the storyline. Instead of doing a deed to get that uber sword... you may do a deed to get that extra +2 agility. Your character's title also is influenced by how well you do. As of now, I am "Elvys the Wary."

Anyways, I'm interested to see how the game pans out post-intro as far as economy, crafting, etc. So far that stuff doesnt really seem overly evident. Following the storyline will be interesting for some, but I can see for many it may get dull after a while. We shall see.

For an MMO besides WoW to play while we all wait for GnH, PotBS, and AoC to release; LotRO fits that role perfectly IMO. It's streamlined, smooth, and much less glitchy than I remember WoW being at release. It's easy to play and fall into, while potentially (we'll see) offering deeper strategy.

A Kinship (guild) is a MUST in this game as of course it's based on the fellowship. Certain things open up via grouping, but I have yet to get to this point yet.

All in all, it makes you feel like you're writing the story of the character you create without having to GRIND away at mobs or reputation, yada yada. Which is a welcomed touch.

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Tarenth

I think as a rule the start up of any MMO is always where they put the most emphasis and work into to try and catch players. Once you get past the initial part and transition into the meat and bones of the game you start to pick out things.

I mean look at the clothes you get from level 1-10. They're beautiful capes, vests, breaches, and feathered hats. Things that make you look original and distinctive from the NPCs. Then you start getting 'upgrades' through crafting and quests and they all share the same quality of 'dull and boring' that makes it seem like you're actually trading in that fancy feathered hat with intricate scroll work along the brim for a very dull and very brown skull cap. Oh course there is a very important reason why they made it 'dull and boring' and that's because you can dye your armor. Can't have interesting designs if you want to be able to color it all black afterall.

Lore wise the game is top notch bar none. World of Warcraft tells a story and tries to make you believe you're taking part. Vanguard expects you to have read the story and do your part as a minor insignifcant supporting character in the footnote of the larger chapter. LORTO takes you and throws you into the world before saying "Here begins the tales and adventures of Insertnamehere and friends" then runs your through the world like a forgetful grandfather trying to narrate a story. Forgetful grandfather because you move backwards just as much as forwards. No one ever dies either. Ever. They got around the pesky lore problem of death and resurrection by replacing health with 'morale'. You fight until you get discouraged by taking too much damage and then you retreat to a safe haven to recover your nerves. Minstrals can boost your morale, and thereby heal, but only a captain can bring a discouraged player back to the front without them having to retreat, and thus are the only rezers.

The crafting and trade system is, in a word, interesting. You can't choose individual trade skills based on what you want and what you want to do. Oh no, you get a profession with two trade skills that are linked and one that's generally off in left field. For example you'd get wood working and forestry (leather and wood gathering) then you'd get farming (vegatable and weed growing). You'd have Leather working and forestry with cooking. Its an interesting way to make sure no man (or woman) can do it alone. The craftables themselves are interlinked in that you need woodworking materials to do blacksmithing or leatherworking parts to make metal armor. However there is a flaw. Just as the armor is simple so is the crafting. Eventually if you want to progress you have to start grinding your trade skill until you advance and then master it. There is a very distinct problem with supply and demand. If you can pick one of only a few professions and everyone wants to grind to their mastery then you have a serious overflow of craftables and need for materials. Not to mention there is a very clear feeling of acomplishment missing from the crafting experience. You are given maybe 6 craftable recipes and can find a better version of each craftable on each tier (so a rowen bow and heavy rowen bow, or staff and heavy staff). You then have to make enough of them to finish the tier (tier 1 is 200 points at 3-5 points per item crafted) and then 2.5 timers the number of points to master (500 points of tier 1 again at 3-5 points per craftable).

That brings me to the next problem: MONEY. While I was beta testing I was CONSTANTLY short on cash. Working on trade skills took up so much cash that I had to farm to do my grinding and that's hardly fun. Even if I neglected my trade skills and just grinded my way through quests and countless mobs to make deeds I'd STILL run out of cash from repairs so I wouldn't be able to buy all the skills that are opened up to me. Luckily they do skimp on a few things like making ammo unlimited and giving you a full set of bags to hold your swag.

The music of the game ranges from boring to phenominal. Boring would be walking down the road and listening to the general ambience. If you're heard one 'green theme' in a game you've heard them all. Phenominal would be when dedicated players start to experiment and innovate with the instrument system in the game. What instrument system? Well each class can learn 2 instruments when they reach a certain level. These instruments are given to you by training the 'instrument use' skill. You can then buy an instrument from a bard NPC. By equiping the instrument you can then play a note using the number keys and go up a bar or down a bar with shift and control. What wasremarkable was when I ran into someone who actually wired an electronic keyboard to their computer and mapped the keys to match the music keys in game. Then they just sat next to the bard and played music with exceptional skill with the less clunky interface of an electronic keyboard. Hell, I walked into Bree and saw a quartet drawing a crowd as the 4 of them played together just for the fun of it with a clarinet, lute, horn, and harp. Even if you don't have the excessive hookups or practice with the number system just mashing keys can make noise sound like music.

My last, and biggest problem, is one I had with Vanguard as well. There really is no sense of transition or order to the game at all. You start off with the cinematic beginning and then you're dropped off at your 'starting town'. If you're lucky your starting town is relatively close to your major city (dwarves and halflings come to mind). If you're not so lucky then your starting town is across the world from your major city (elves with great sadness). Once your finish the quests and deeds in your starting area you're left adrift in the world without a clue where to go next. Taking dwarves and elves for example both start off at opposite ends of an area (Ered Luin if I recall correctly) and then work their way towards the middle with the general progression you'd expect or harder and more interesting quests. Then they meet and the elves and dwarves have no where else to go or anything to do except go into the starting area for the other race. You can't even get around quickly because transportation is expensive and nonsensical (takes 1s to go to another area and 20s to go halfway across the area you're in) and walking across the world and through 3 starting areas is both boring (although seeing the sights can be fun for a while) and tedious.

World of Warcraft solved that problem by putting a cheap quick transportation point in each area of interest and gave you quests that linked each area with the next in the progression. Vanguard left you adrift, but let you drift in style with a mount giving up to 250% movement speed at level 10 (with the right gear of course). The best LOTRO gives you is either the option of not getting new skills and taking a horse to somewhere that may or may not be close to where you want to go (some places have stables, others don't, and some have several due to lore reasons) or going out on foot that takes only slightly less time to reach your destination than it takes to read the passage in the book that emcompasses the same span of land.

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It was a confirmed casualty some time ago.

Vulcan

I experienced the complete opposite as you tarenth. I beta tested since august.

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Greflin

I also feel the complete oposite, to each his own I suppose. Been playing since Jan.

Satertek

I was a bit skeptical until I tried the monster play mode. Wow, its amazing. Not only does it make balancing the game for them much easier, its fun, and gives you access to some of the endgame content right from the get go.

Basically it lets you have a 2nd character, completely seperate from your main character and leveled to 50 (the max). You use this monster character to battle against other players using their main characters (which are NPCs in the beta as the level cap is 15) for control of 5 forts.

I've been playing this longer than the 'real' game, heh.


(I also love their Asheron's Call homages with the Wintersebb dragons and Frostfell talons monsters )

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Gambit7

Not to mention everything thing you do with this "alter ego" effects your main character. Which IMO is a really interesting twist. The stakes are actually quite higher than they appear.

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gunjunkie

I like it. I think they got the world pretty well, and the combat is interesting to me. It seems much less cookie-cutter than a lot of the other fantasy MMOs I've tired.. It'll make a nice second "casual" game to me after Eve.

As a note about the comments above on death. I'd much rather have them design a new metaphor for inconsequential defeat (being defeated, running out of morale and having to retreat) than have the game designers try to make me suspend disbelief that something bad just happened to me by making me run back to my corpse and pay some money to repair my stuff. If the game does not feature a big death penalty (and lets face it, most of them don't), why call it death at all?

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Fearfull Dave

I'm really digging my level 6 human champion. I like the quest based gameplay and the general game mechanics. Also, lore which is the most important part of a game for me is completely awesome. My only problem is i get this wierd frame rate issue, my frames are about 30-50 fps. But about every 100 or so frames it seems to skip a frame. Taking a game that runs beautifully and turns it into something that is almost an eyesore.

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Vulcan

grab me on elendilmir if you guys want to get together.

Toons are Vulcan, Sinon, Haephestus and Valandilor. If you stick around we must hook up.

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