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Polished but a WoW clone, no challenge at all
Samuraisword
Member Posts: 2,111
The good:
It's very polished. Nice graphics that don't force you to buy a top of the line system. UI is well designed. Both 1st and 3rd person viewing are available.
Finally a game will be released that isn't still in beta. I am so tired of hearing defenders of incomplete games say " All games are to be expected buggy at release and receive class balancing nerfs". That is such bullshit. Stop supporting games that are released unfinished and developers will get the message and be forced to polish their products prior to charging for them.
The bad:
Very much a WoW clone, but not as good as WoW. Bad for gamers that want a challenge, good for casual gamers looking for a chat vehicle. There is no significant death penalty which means skilled and unskilled players will be equal. Leveling will be fast and many will be bored quickly. Basically it's the same ole fantasy game with the same ole fantasy races.
The world is tiny. Considering how long this game has been in production, this is surprising. Perhaps this is by design to sell expansions.
Questgivers have stupid icons over their heads which ruins immersion. It doesn't matter if the individual can turn them off. It promotes laziness and needs to be removed completely. Quests themselves are way too easy, as everything is spelled out and they require no problemsolving whatsoever. If you fail a quest you can repeat it until you succeed even if the reality is that you shouldn't be able to because a key NPC had died during the previous attempt. This is unrealisitc and pampers gamers. It would be nice to find another MMOG with quests like EQ1 that add to immersion and require engaging NPCs and applying world and lore knowledge to solve quests.
Most quality items are bind on pickup. Even quest reward items which you can only perform and receive once will bind on pickup. This kind of unrealistic design ruins immersion and doesn't promote a healthy trade economy. If this is Turbine's way of controlling farming, it won't work. Farmers will still sell whatever coin and items are available for trade. Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Tradeskilling offered nothing of value that wasn't eclipsed by vendor or drop/quest items which were easier to come by.
Overall I would rate the game a 7 out of 10. Something most people will enjoy for a few months like WoW, but certainly not a long term home for veterans who want to immerse themselves and be challenged. The lifetime purchase plan is a bad deal. Read between the lines. Is Turbine offering that option because they are secure in the knowledge their game will hold players for 1-2 years, or are they offering that plan because they know LOTRO is a game that players will tire of in a couple of months.
