Houston, i think we have a problem!

musicmann

Been playing this game since the open beta started, and i must say, this is one the most boring and plain out dull games thats coming out to date. Graphically, it looks very nice, but thats where it all goes down hill, for me at least. This game makes alot of it's fellow genre games look like masterpieces.

There's nothing new  with this game, that hasn't been done over a thousand times before. The character customization is plain out dull and uninspiring. The combat animations are slow and not very good, and even though the world looks to be very big and spacious, it lacks the overall threatning enviroment of danger around every turn.

The creatures you encounter are not very canon to what the LOTR really is about, and just lacks any type of true feeling that was portraid in the movies. The game just doesn't feel like your playing in the LOTR world at all, and this game is more linear gameplay than even WOW.

Overall i just can't see this game holding alot of people for to long. This is not a rant, just my take on the game.

 

gpett

*Puts on flame retardant suit*



I agree with ya 100%, but watch out for the 100 posts below this post that will call us all kinds of names.

Mars505

Good Luck in your next game , hopefully you will find one that suites your needs. If you aren't using your beta anymore, maybe you can give to a forums user that wants to try the game. Bye

jerkson

I totally agree, I dont feel either it's like the movies or the books for that matter. If you ask me, Im pretty sure this will be the follower to MxO, wait and see

Enforcer71

Felt the same way so your not the only one Didnt take me long at all to realise it wasnt a game I would want to play for very long so of course I didnt.

I will give it to them that they at least released a very smooth running game though and that is a big plus after the last few games launched like they were still in beta 2 or 3.

brostyn

I was in closed beta, and I said this. A lot of players agreed, a lot didn't. IMO, people are letting the name of the title blind them. Unfortunately, it will be a lame game no matter how hard the fanbois try to disagree. They will jump ship just like they did from DDO, Vanguard, D&L, etc.

musicmann

Thxs for not flaming me on this. It truly wasn't a flame to the game, just my honest opinion.

Wraithmire

I myself really like LOTRO...but each their own...I know many people that like it

vash85

Thanks for your opinion.



Luckily for me, this game is going to hold my interest for a long time.  I went through FFXI, EQII, GW, and WoW. Glad I found something that I like.



I hope it goes the same for you.

Kemenlith

I am amazed to see that all the flamers seem to have left the LOTRO boards! People can have civilized arguments and disagreements!



I too started playing LOTRO and after awhile during the closed beta I decided it wasn't the game for me. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love the books, all of them if you get my drift, and in the beginning the game seemed like them. But after I got to Bree the normal MMO meeting ground feeling fell onto me, which is completely out of place in an LOTR based game. If LOTRO would have given me a new atmosphere to play under, I believe I would have stuck with it for a very, very, very long time.

Arioc

I have to agree somewhat. I've only played the game for a few hours today, got my character to level 10 but I think I've got a decent idea of the feel of the game. Clearly they looked heavily to Warcraft and based alot of their game elements on it. They also looked at their previous works, namely Asherons Call 2, and tried to take some of those concepts and improve on them in this title.

Pros:

1. Plentiful idle animations for NPC use (widdling, resting, fishing, etc..)
2. Well scripted instances to make the newbie experience interesting, lots of lore and name dropping. Brush with key characters.
3. Fast respawn for noobie experience
4. Variety of helms and detailed armor right off the bat.
5. Nice player made music system
6. Group based tallents that benefit the entire party.
7. Horse based taxi system.
8. Rendered cut-scenes with narratives using in-game engine.
9. Using a skill so many times rewards you with a skill bonus to that ability.

Cons:

1. No stats, advancment is only through item upgrades and leveling up to buy new skills. In some way the perks of reusing a skill function as advancment upgrades but these are long term goals through grinding if you make it an active goal.
2. Lack of definable facial features, everyone pretty much looks alike sans the armor. One face with subtle elements to change it make hair style the only really definable feature.
3. Most body textures conform to a bloby player body, no deffinition of hips or arms. Player looks like he's made of clay. This is where Turbine always drops the ball for me. Their player character always have too much detail in the textures implying depth but it's plastered to the body-suite of the base model. It gives the characters a strange poser look, and the lack of detail makes everyone look like mr generic elf male, or mr generic elf female.
4. Busy UI, so much fillitry and design in the UI that I can't tell icons from borders without looking hard. At first glance at the UI I had to take inventory to figure out where the buttons were, the UI is just a bit too busy, and while this might not be an issue later as I grow accustomed to it, I dislike the lack in consistancy in what icons represent tabs. Example being the deeds window using 8 unique icons up top colored for the areas in the game while the player character sheet uses tabs of another sort. Etc.
5. Collection quests galore, this might be a pro but I feel like giving me 1000 collection quests so early forces me to feel like I have too many goals too early and am overwhelmed. Most of these are just rewarded with titles while others abilities. I could not easily discern which was which. The deeds tab seems to function like a collection quest teasing you with a reward of +1 something if you do all the quests or find all the Points of Interest in a zone. I was overwhelmed with so many diverse goals. I needed more structure so early in the game.
6. No clear lead to the NPC you need to find. Thankfuly the zones are fairly small and boxed in nicely but being told to find a NPC with a fantasy name and given little to go on as to where heis had me running around alot looking for the ring icon on my map.
7. Ass-tastic terrain textures in the snow, which is a big portion of the game. I gotta say Tubine did a good job on the forest/fields but the snow was worse then the snow in AC2.
8. Title driven collection quests. I could care less if I'm Arioc the Just, Arioc the Flirty or Arioc the Whimsical I need to feel like my character is developing and a pallet of titles just dosn't interest me. Especilly since it's a fuff thing that dosn't give me much variety.
9. Delicate details in the enviornment and characters. I know not everyone likes WoW or Oblivions art style but things read well from a distance, while in this game I often felt things were busy, flat or too dull till I was right upon them. There was very little radial flora in some areas with a very flat looking grass texture, while others had it in abundence. Clearly the enviornment artists put alot of time into some areas and left others bland and untouched. Unfortunatly those bland and untouched ares were some I saw very early in the game and along the roads. For all the bells and whistles the terrain looked kinda low polygone with all the hard edges I saw. The terrain looked over-optomized (poly-wise), exposing alot of flat surfaces and such.

This is not to say the game is bad, simply that I am a jaded SOB who can't help but notice these things having played so many RPG's and MMO's and being a dev myself. THe typical user will probably never notice some of the art stuff I pointed out and be far more accepting. Overall I was a bit sad, half of me loved alot of the details like the npc emotes, they really made the world feel alive. But the other half of me hated all the fascade houses I couldn't walk into, the lack of interiors without it being a zone line. I wanna walk into a doorway, not zone into a 1 room house.

I feel this game is too "video-game"ey for me. More exposed game mechanics, more score-boards, more like a console game and less like an immursive world which is what I personaly crave from an MMO. Preferances vary greatly on this among us MMO players so I am in no way saying this game is bad, nor great. Just that is isn't my taste in what I want at this time. After playing WoW for so many years I'm looking for a more immursive world like Oblivion then a video game with a score-board.

-Arioc

JonMichael

Let me just say how much I appreciate the honest, non-trolling posts. 

To those of you who don't like the game, I hope one of the upcoming MMO's will suite your tastes better.

I've been in beta since January and can say I have actually found a game that's fnally immersive, beautiful and entertaining, along with great customer service and a company that actually listens to it's customers.  I think I'll be here a long time.

psyconius

Originally posted by JonMichael


Let me just say how much I appreciate the honest, non-trolling posts. 
To those of you who don't like the game, I hope one of the upcoming MMO's will suite your tastes better.
I've been in beta since January and can say I have actually found a game that's fnally immersive, beautiful and entertaining, along with great customer service and a company that actually listens to it's customers.  I think I'll be here a long time.

Yeah I have to agree mostly with your comments. It is very immersive and has me thinking back to my original time with DAoC. I just wish there were some more voiceovers =P



And yes, I am very proud of the forum for not being trolly so far in this thread. Good show all.. I certainly will check out AoC when it is around, and if they give me a cushy spot in beta and it is enjoyable they could certainly steal me away

Sinent

WEll I actually love the game but honestly no mmop since eq has kept me immersed  ithink once you have done it its over the rest are just varients .

folks who played wow as there first will always make wow comparisons that being said i do like the game alot and based on its own it is pretty fun.

at least i can play it without crashing every 5 minute unlike another game i spent hard earned cash to just shelf.

Mars505

Originally posted by Arioc



Delicate details in the enviornment and characters. I know not everyone likes WoW or Oblivions art style but things read well from a distance, while in this game I often felt things were busy, flat or too dull till I was right upon them. There was very little radial flora in some areas with a very flat looking grass texture, while others had it in abundence. Clearly the enviornment artists put alot of time into some areas and left others bland and untouched. Unfortunatly those bland and untouched ares were some I saw very early in the game and along the roads. For all the bells and whistles the terrain looked kinda low polygone with all the hard edges I saw. The terrain looked over-optomized (poly-wise), exposing alot of flat surfaces and such.

-Arioc

Here is the part that totally blew your post. You really blew your troll cover with this, for one this , every single hill is rounded off with the Frill. The frill when set on ultra high is pretty much the best looking frill / grass / flowers that i've seen. The atmospheric detail in certain areas are beyond anything done in any mmo to date. My example , Marshes. During the the dawn it is sometimes very clear where you can see all around you, and as the sun rises more and more the fog sets in and it slowly becomes very dense and you can barely see a few yards in front of you. Another example Bree Fields, very beautiful and opened grass area that makes wave motions over the entire landscape.



Yes, You are technically correct about the lower poly terrain, but  did you even consider what a higher ploy count would do to monster player when you have over 500 players on a battle field?  What is the Difference between the poly count from LotRO and Warhammer ? Warhammer looks from the screenshots to be even dated compared to what lotrO is doing.



I can honestly say from you last 9.  "point" is folly.



Good try though , you really had me going for a second until your last point, the I reread you other points and they seemed to all fall apart for me .



I will understand objective critiquing , but you are basically talking out your butt

Razperil

I'm a fan of Lord of the Rings myself. There's only one thing I will say and I will say this to everyone, STOP comparing every game out there to WoW! That being said, This is still in beta. The developers have a lot of ideas and they can do quite a bit with this game. I've played on and off since the first stress test. (Not the one they made public.) And from that time until now, the game has improved more than any other game I've beta tested. And you won't find flaming in the Fellowship area. Because it's a pretty solid, mature community. And I'm proud to be a part of it. Good luck in finding a game that suits your interest. With all the new ones coming, I'm sure you'll find one.

xAlrythx

It's definately not the most innovative game.

Very polished however.

Good luck finding your game. I am still in the process aswell.

airhead

What else you gonna play?   Vanguard??   ...LMAO...



Friday night... you go to the theatre... there's 4-5 flicks on. You pick one or go to the bar. You can either watch old reruns (wow,eq2), or get a ticket and some popcorn and check out what's showing (lotro, vanguard), or you can be a real wierdo and say something like "hey, let's wait till summer and watch spiderman3 !!"  (war,aoc).



There's pros and cons with this game like any of them. I wish it had wide open pvp and more skill-customization, but oh well. At least it generally runs and your characters don't just disappear, loose levels, or all your items sort of evaporate. And with this 10/mo option, hard not to play it for a while imo. I think it will do fine as far as subs go.... without doing anything really innovative.  Innovation is nice, as long as it works.... at least this mmo works...

Mars505

looks pretty grassy and plush to me:

JonMichael

Originally posted by Mars505

looks pretty grassy and plush to me:

Too beautiful.  Add in the birds, rabbits, deer.. and the dangers off in the distance, and I'm there!

You gotta remember.  Not everyone is going to like LOTRO, for legit reasons or just trolling.  I think the game has a great following so far and will have a very successful launch with a strong playerbase. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how Middle Earth evolves.

 

DarkGriever

i agree this game sux for me

Mars505

Originally posted by DarkGriever

i agree this game sux for me

This is a good post, simple and to the point. Good Luck to your next beta my friend.

Rollotamasi

The title of this thread should be "Houston, i think I have a problem". 

DarkGriever

Originally posted by Mars505

Originally posted by DarkGriever

i agree this game sux for me

This is a good post, simple and to the point. Good Luck to your next beta my friend. thx. i tried to like it but it seemed like im replaying a game i already played

Vodun

Originally posted by Kemenlith

I am amazed to see that all the flamers seem to have left the LOTRO boards! People can have civilized arguments and disagreements!



I too started playing LOTRO and after awhile during the closed beta I decided it wasn't the game for me. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love the books, all of them if you get my drift, and in the beginning the game seemed like them. But after I got to Bree the normal MMO meeting ground feeling fell onto me, which is completely out of place in an LOTR based game. If LOTRO would have given me a new atmosphere to play under, I believe I would have stuck with it for a very, very, very long time.

I am in agreement with Kemenlith, I too started playing in closed beta and was disappointed that they took the game design decision to just copy what has been done before. I voiced my opinion on the beta forums but was quickly jumped on for stating my opinion that this design was not going to work for this game.

My suggestion was to create a more action filled game where you would be involved in the exciting elements (read fun) of the LOTR world. Just because the world is in Middle Earth will attract many people but I don't think they will stay for long. It's just the same old grind for me, it is the same reason I don't like WOW. Not my kind of game, but I am sure many people will like it and I hope they enjoy it.

Mars505

Originally posted by Vodun

Originally posted by Kemenlith

I am amazed to see that all the flamers seem to have left the LOTRO boards! People can have civilized arguments and disagreements!



I too started playing LOTRO and after awhile during the closed beta I decided it wasn't the game for me. Don't get me wrong I absolutely love the books, all of them if you get my drift, and in the beginning the game seemed like them. But after I got to Bree the normal MMO meeting ground feeling fell onto me, which is completely out of place in an LOTR based game. If LOTRO would have given me a new atmosphere to play under, I believe I would have stuck with it for a very, very, very long time.

I am in agreement with Kemenlith, I too started playing in closed beta and was disappointed that they took the game design decision to just copy what has been done before. I voiced my opinion on the beta forums but was quickly jumped on for stating my opinion that this design was not going to work for this game.

My suggestion was to create a more action filled game where you would be involved in the exciting elements (read fun) to the LOTR world. Just because the world is in Middle Earth will attract many people but I don't think they will stay for long. It's just the same old grind for me, it is the same reason I don't like WOW. Not my kind of game, but I am sure many people will like it and I hope they enjoy it.

I'm interested in the ideas you posted on the  official forums, can you copy and paste them here or post a link ?