I seem to be the only one

Flyte27

I seem to be the only one who can't get into this game. 

 

First the classes are all melee oriented.  The lore master and Minstral both have some magical abilities, but really are more melee oriented with some debuffs/heals.  This game seems to lack the magical pizaze of most games of this genre.  I guess this should be expected in a Tolkien game though.

 

Second I see the interface is being compared to Warcraft a lot.  Warcrafts interface is a lot more solid looking.  LOTROs interface seems like a rough draft of a hotkey bar that isn't really there.  The icon animations are annoying and it's hard to tell when said ability is ready to use again.

 

The character models are ugly, stiff, and lack animation.  The world may be beautiful in it's own way, but the character models look really bad to me.  The way they look and move just feels awkward.  Warcraft doesn't have the best models, but they have more animations for the models then any other game I've played which gives them a feeling they are alive.

 

The minimap is cluttered with all kinds of icons.  It gives me a headache to look at it.

 

Overall it's an okay game, but I have no idea how it's getting such great reviews.  I'd rather play WoW which I have played many times over and plan to continue to do.  Hopefully you all continue to have fun though.  I know everyone has differnt likes and dislikes.  I am a LOTRO fan and wish I could enjoy the game as much as everyone else seems to be, but alas I cannot.

mk11232

fyi, the ui is completely customizable so if you don't like it you can change it.  There aren't very many ui interface sites in existence yet, but I'm sure there will be some neat mods soon.  I do agree that the ui can be changed and it will.  But I disagree about loremaster being melee orientated, i'm having a blast (literally blasting) with loremaster, me and my bear kickass!

dudemantg

/agree , i couldn't get into either, something just feels wrong about the characters and classes

Yeebo

I can shorten my post:  back to WoW for you then. Different strokes for different folks, it's all good.   I'll even grant you that the animation in WoW is better.  Actually I'd say WoW has some of the best model animations on the market.   Very smooth and believable, it's amazing what they pulled off with such low poly models.  I think you're slightly on crack about some of your other points, but in the interest of not being a dick  and starting a pointless debate I'll just leave at ..we'll have to agree to disagree :P 

StanlyManly

Originally posted by Flyte27


I seem to be the only one who can't get into this game. 

No, you aren't the only one.  Took me a mere 9 lvl's in open beta to come to the same conclusion.

Mars505

Find it funny that the anti-lotro supports have post counts of like 1-2 lololololol gg soe viral exploiters

Flyte27

Thanks for the tips.  I think this game isn't for me though I will try it a few more times before the trial is over.  I will try to custimize the interface and see if that helps, but I don't believe I can get into it.  I guess some games are for you are some aren't.

Razperil

Originally posted by Yeebo

I can shorten my post:  back to WoW for you then. Different strokes for different folks, it's all good.   I'll even grant you that the animation in WoW is better.  Actually I'd say WoW has some of the best model animations on the market.   Very smooth and believable, it's amazing what they pulled off with such low poly models.  I think you're slightly on crack about some of your other points, but in the interest of not being a dick  and starting a pointless debate I'll just leave at ..we'll have to agree to disagree :P 

WoW has some of the best animation models on the market? (laughs) Sorry, but that called for it. I take it you haven't played too many other games besides WoW? Some advice, check some other games out.. I can name quite a few games with better animations.

MortisRex

Originally posted by Mars505

Find it funny that the anti-lotro supports have post counts of like 1-2 lololololol gg soe viral exploiters

Yeah, good thing you're an old timer with a whole 2 months under your belt. Maybe, just maybe, not everyone is so enamored with their videogames that they need a 10 post a day average to feel validated?

Flyte27

I've played quite a few games. 

Ultima Online

Everquest

EQ2

Vanguard

City of Heros

Eve

Asheron's Call 2

SWG

Thats about all I can think of

Like I said the character models in some of these games are better, but the animations and amount of differnt animations is unparalelled.  Most of these games when you are standing still nothing happens.  There is a limited amount of emote animations and the running looks a lot like you have a stick up your butt "very stiff".  WoW looks much better in these respects then most games and the navigation around the world is very comfortable feeling.

Vrika

I've probably said this before, but I'm also one who wanted to like the game but just couldn't get into it. No reason to bash the game for it tough, no game can be good for everyone.


But the reason I wanted to make this post is to say that altough there is some amount of interface customization in Lotro, it's mostly just swapping textures. Don't except to ever to be able to make as radical changes to your UI as you are able to make in WoW.

ynzzz

I'm on your boat... Can't really get into it. That is why im rushing through the whole game as best as I can. If it wasn't for that maybe one day I'll be able to make Gandalf a sandwich or make him a ring that will Rule him all night long, I wouldn't be playing.



Still I don't see myself playing very long. About 30 already. Glad they gave us the quest after quest thing, cause I don't know how well I could handle grinding in this game. Beyond questing there's nothing really too exciting for me, nothing that would keep me.

Will be greatly surpise if turns around in the later levels, not counting on it though.



Just as I played through WoW half hearted, I will this... and I doubt I will have any great memories after cancelling. Just another mmo that didn't do it for me.

Yeebo

Originally posted by Razperil

Originally posted by Yeebo

I can shorten my post:  back to WoW for you then. Different strokes for different folks, it's all good.   I'll even grant you that the animation in WoW is better.  Actually I'd say WoW has some of the best model animations on the market.   Very smooth and believable, it's amazing what they pulled off with such low poly models.  I think you're slightly on crack about some of your other points, but in the interest of not being a dick  and starting a pointless debate I'll just leave at ..we'll have to agree to disagree :P 

WoW has some of the best animation models on the market? (laughs) Sorry, but that called for it. I take it you haven't played too many other games besides WoW? Some advice, check some other games out.. I can name quite a few games with better animations. Actually I've played most of the popular MMOs, and quite a few that aren't so popular.  In fact I've been playing them since EQ right before the launch of SoL (SoV was current at the time).  And yes, for the style of graphics that WoW uses (cartoony) I think the exagerated cartoonish animations are a very good fit. 



Of course rereading your post it seems that that you may have thought I meant "character models" rather than "animation."  In that case I can understand why you thought I was on crack.  In any case feel free to have a differnet opinion, but realize that it is only an opinion and try not to be a total dick any time you disagree with somone.  Really, it will make the world a better place....

Knightblast

It's true that WoW has better character animations, in my opinion, as well.  The animations in WoW are remarkably specific, detailed and accurate.  Clearly Blizzard put a ton of time and money into its animations, and yes, they are better than the character animations in LOTRO.



It's clear that LOTRO won't appeal to everyone.  Yes it is a very melee-oriented game.  Lore-masters are not terribly melee oriented, but there is no out and out DPS mage, no necromancer/mage-pet class, etc., because these don't exist in LOTR.  That's the disadvantage of having a pre-set setting with its own limitations -- you can't really mess with them too much (and lore-master is already messing with them somewhat) without getting howls from the purists (and not getting the approval of Tolkien Enterprises).  I was also perturbed by the lack of a true mage type class, because that is what I usually play in a fantasy setting, but I tried the various classes and found one (Champion) that I really liked, and it has been very fun --- very hack-n-slash-y but still fun.  But clearly the game won't appeal to everyone because of some of these limitations.

dand3

I can't imagine liking or disliking a game based on character animation.  I care much more about grinding, change of pace occupations like crafting and exploring, the community, and above all, whether it's fun.  It's fine, with many nice touches at lvl 15, but it really does open up quite a bit at higher levels. 

LotRO is fun for me.  Does what it does very well, very polished, many small touches for immersion, very good quests...  just fun. (Economy still being tweaked though.)

I'm not particularly surprised that almost all of the posts in this thread nitpick specific particulars; very few of them sound as if someone really played the game with an open mind.

Character animation... unbelievable, in more than one sense.

PS I play my hunter strictly as a ranged character, not really melee.

Conley

Originally posted by Flyte27


I seem to be the only one who can't get into this game. 
Nah any MMO no matter how popular has thousands of people who don't get into "it".
 
First the classes are all melee oriented.  The lore master and Minstral both have some magical abilities, but really are more melee oriented with some debuffs/heals.  This game seems to lack the magical pizaze of most games of this genre.  I guess this should be expected in a Tolkien game though.
 Yeah there is less magic and magical effects in this game. I don't find that to troubling though, in fact after spending two years in WoW i kind of dig a game thats a bit more "realistic", even if its just a little bit. As for being more melee oriented, i also like that. I hate the squishy holy priest that can't do anything but spend 2 hours to get a mob down when soloing.
Second I see the interface is being compared to Warcraft a lot.  Warcrafts interface is a lot more solid looking.  LOTROs interface seems like a rough draft of a hotkey bar that isn't really there.  The icon animations are annoying and it's hard to tell when said ability is ready to use again.
I have to agree that WoWs interface is easier to use, and especially when your using UI programs to improve it.
 
The character models are ugly, stiff, and lack animation.  The world may be beautiful in it's own way, but the character models look really bad to me.  The way they look and move just feels awkward.  Warcraft doesn't have the best models, but they have more animations for the models then any other game I've played which gives them a feeling they are alive.
Gotta agree here somewhat, the character animations could have been a lot better, its in my opinion the weakest spot in the graphics. 
The minimap is cluttered with all kinds of icons.  It gives me a headache to look at it.
 Here i definatly disagree. You can filter the minimap option, so you can toggle off displaying quests, npc's, waypoints, basically everything on the minimap and only turn on what your interested in. It's like using the metamap ui program for WoW but much better. I personally love it as it makes things easier.
Overall it's an okay game, but I have no idea how it's getting such great reviews.  I'd rather play WoW which I have played many times over and plan to continue to do.  Hopefully you all continue to have fun though.  I know everyone has differnt likes and dislikes.  I am a LOTRO fan and wish I could enjoy the game as much as everyone else seems to be, but alas I cannot.
 
I personally think LoTR is a great game. Is it better than WoW? Well the questing so far is really on par with WoW but i'd have to experience end-game raiding to really pass judgement on that. To me it doesn't matter if WoW is better, as i've played WoW for over two years and I'm really, really tired of WoW, of Azeroth, and even of outland after playing many months in the expansion. Make no mistake, WoW is a fantastic game and if your not bored of it then by all means don't leave that game. But me and a lot of other people have grown tired of playing the same game over two years, and to those people LoTR at this moment offers without a shadow of doubt the best alternative.
 

Meridion

Ok guys, WoW has the "better" combat animations. Thats true. BUT, LotRO has the finer models. I will not in any case that be doubted. No more goofy yellowish sparkling oversized weaponry, no more pauldrons of eternal skoliosis, no more green/yellow/blue bright chainmail. No more square faces, no more oversized limbs, no more oversized heads, beards, tighs, you name it... WoW is a manifest comic... Of all the games that offer serious character modelling, LotRO reigns supreme...



The smoothness of running and turning adds to this. You call it sluggish, I call it realistic. You dont stop dead if you intend to slow down a run and come to a halt or straferun all the time... Delayed movement adds very much to the realism of the game, you can see that when you run in a pack in LotRO, the party runs much more natural...



And the combat follows a totally different concept than the combat in WoW. WoW is all about fast pace. It's a "snap"-combat, like any FPS. Like "BAM you're dead" with a lot of running and posititonal effects (like Cleaves, AoEs,  random-aggroing bosses). While in LotRO combat is reacting just as promptly, the approach with 2-queue execution and level-skills (no level 3 skill without having cast a 1 and a 2 in advance) is a darn lot more tactical. It's a lot more Tolkien, where combat was never pictured (at least not until the movies) as ninja like run/snap/stun/nuke whirly. Combat in Middle-Earth has always been about infights (except for archers) and doing the right thing at the right time...

So the whole concept is not "badly done", it just has a different yet very fitting approach for a Tolkien based game. And tbh, if combat and classes were like WoW, I would not play the game... WoWs fine, in WoW...



Meridion

Tautology

Originally posted by Mars505

Find it funny that the anti-lotro supports have post counts of like 1-2 lololololol gg soe viral exploiters

Mars505, please do not take every critic so personally.  LOTRO is a "toy".  Nobody wants to take your "toy" away.

Also, I cannot see why you think every critic is stealth marketing.

nitefly

Flyte27: You are not alone.



I'm no longer playing World of Warcraft but enjoyed it.



When I started up Lord of the Rings: Online I couldn't help comparing it to World of Warcraft and finding that Lord of the Rings: Online lacked a lot of the elements that gave diversity in World of Warcraft.



In both games you have strict race choices leading to strict class choices. The choices are fewer in Lord of the Rings: Online and I have to say that the customization within the individual class is pretty much equal in both games (during your character advancement your various choices gives more or less the same range of customization).



In both games you have nice Quests. Difference is that in order to level up your character you're FORCED to grind quests in Lord of the Rings: Online. In World of Warcraft you could just as well grind mobs while practicing your gathering professions. Killing random mobs rewards nearly no experience in Lord of the Rings: Online.



Both games have an engrossing lore and background story. I prefer the background story that Tolkien created if I'm forced to choose but I think both have a lot of detail and are presented in the game in a very well done fashion.



Both games have a lowtech but very stable and functional graphics engine. None of them has any real bells and whistles, no physics to speak of and is basically comparable. The gloss is a bit more pronounced in Lord of the Rings: Online but the attention to detail in the various zones are only second to World of Warcraft. So I'll call that even on points.



Sound and especially the music is great in both games. I can't decide which I like the most to be honest.



Both games offer the player no possibilities for making changes to the game world. There are no building options available, there are no factions you can create and manage (or even influence properly). The game world is totally static and the players has to focus on individual introverted goals such as levelling up, gaining items and so on. World of Warcraft has apparently recognized this and added an extreme amount of equipment that offer visual confirmation that you have obtained so and so within the game world. PvP Ranks are also available as are Gladiator fights, special rewards for achievements within battle grounds etc. Lord of the Rings is extremely lacking in this department currently as you have no accomplishment factor in a community sense of the word. Even though Vanguard is flawed in many ways it offered player houses, cities, boats, complete control of your faction and similar world altering options. This is in my view the weakest part of Lord of the Rings along with the technically poor and uninspiring graphics.



I have not experienced the true end-game of Lord of the Rings: Online so I'll withhold any opinion on that.



Lord of the Rings: Online has basically meaningless PvP in my opinion. It is a strange hybrid form that in my view simply does not do anything to bring any fun to the game. It is not even something I enjoy doing when I wait for friends to come online, it simply feels like a waste of time.





Final note: This is my comment to the original poster stating that he/she is feeling that he/she is the only one in the world not getting into Lord of the Rings: Online and the reasons why Lord of the Rings: Online for me simply feels like World of Warcraft Lite.

Flyte27

I guess thats the problem for me.  The combat and classes don't interest me much.  The world doesn't feel very solid for some reason.  I find this in a lot of MMOs.   Perhaps it's just personal preference.  This game also seems to lack some of the fun abilities like water breathing, levitation, illusion spells, and things of that nature.  Anyway if you enjoy the game keep playing.  I just can't seem to get into it.

 

Also about the cartoony graphics of WoW I like cartoony graphics.  All the RPGs I played when I was a kid were cartoony like Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior for the nintendo systems.  I also like some realistic games like Everquest and Baldur's Gate.  My favorite Tolkien movie was probably the cartoon version of the Hobbit.  It was very cartoony, had great songs, and the depictions of all the differnt races and monsters were very well done IMO.  I do like the new LOTRO movies, but not as much as the cartoons.

Cabadrin

I like poeple saying LOTRO's UI is ripped off WoW ... WoW was taken from AC2 Much of the "WoW did it" fever comes from people only playing that game and only having it to compare to.

If you look at previous games, you see an evolution of UI's to what we currently have. You've got some seriously clunky ones from UO up to the modern models. There's no reason to change it if it works. The animation, IMO is much better than WoW's, but then I run in High or Ultra High so it could be much better because of that.

Yeebo

For the record, while i do think the animations in LotRO are a bit stiff compared to WoW, on the balance I'm digging LotRO a lot more.  Really, I'm having more fun than I have had in a MMO for years (last time I was digging one this hard was my DAoC days).   But rather than bumping this thread and/ or getting into a flame war by explaining why I think virtually every other point in his post is either flat out wrong, or based on a premise that to me indicates he simply doesn't "get" the game...i decided to grant him his one decent point and leave it at that. 



A lot of the "mindless time sink/ open PvP/ directionless sanbox design = fun and everything else is stupid" crowd that hangs out on this site won't get LotRO. That's OK by me, they don't have to get it.

ruegon

Yeah im having a hard time getting into this game too ! It just seems like there is nothing really new in this game. I want to like this game it looks nice, it has ok music , it plays solid ect.ect... But I just can't get into grinding on insects and animals. I even enjoyed VG more then this game. But i think if your going for WoW to this you will probably like it . I just can't go from GW to this. I've been playing GW sence it came out and was hope LOTRO would be a good replacement but i can't support that ....sorry !

 

Jumper2k

Well it's understandable... I tried it for the hell of it as im a LOTR fan but really nothing about it is special or new enough to be worth starting it up as a whole new MMO experience... Nothing to make it long time playable.

Exactly why i'm not playing anything now and waiting for AoC and WAR.

xAlrythx

I think people should actually partake in the PvP before commenting on it.

By this I mean the game has low customisation options for a reason. PvMP is not some small BG's where you strive to get more gear or get wiped out by pre-mades.

Jumper2k

"Monster Play" isn't worth counting as pvp... I only count PvP as player char vs other player char.