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ok... I dont get it.... why is this game so highly rated?
Vesavius
Member RarePosts: 7,908
Ok, first off, before all the sensitive types jump in screaming 'troll! troll!', this is just a POV, not an attempt to flame. Just because someone sees something differently and wants to discuss it dosent mean they are trolling ok?
Right...
All I really wanna know is why is this game so highly rated?
The environment graphics are just ok... pretty standard for these days, and nowhere near as pretty as EQ2 or VG. The character models are really downright crude, though I admit not as fugly as VG's efforts... TBH, even Guild Wars and CoX are better overall graphically, to be *really* honest even DDO is actually better looking taken as a whole. EQ2's soga character models make LotR look like amateur time, which is amazing consiering that game's age now. I know graphics dont make a game, but lets be honest, they are frickin important... Otherwise we would all still be playing 'Lords of Midnight', right?
So, if it's not the graphics, which are 'ok' at best, what is it?
The game play is just cookie cutter fantasy MMO. If you wanna play this style of game, why not, again, play EQ2, which has such a depth of content and activities it makes LotR look pretty vacuous and soley relying on the thin veil of a well known IP for it's substance. Nothing new here, just the standard blah blah blah of EQ lite. The lack of classes, races, and starting locations, bland quests (fetch 10 of this, kill 10 of that... meh), and hand holding directionals that guide you throughgout make this a shallow experience at best. Why do you LotR OL fans rate this game more highly then EQ2? At least VG reached for the stars, even if it did fail, to create something epic and great. LotR OL dosent even want to seem to get out of bed...
So, if it's not the game play, which is bland and formulaic at best, what is it?
I am genuinely interested why people rate this game so highly, 'cause to be honest, I just don't see it... Is it just shiny new game syndrome?? Is it the recognised IP?? Is it follow the leader??
I compare it a lot to EQ2 here mainly because that's the game it is closest to in so many ways, without being as good in any of them... Seriously, if a LotR OL fan can help me out with what makes this game rank above EQ2, I would be very interested in reading your opinions.
btw, I was in the game for approx 40 mins before I saw my first 'Frodoesque' named hobbit... it made me shudder.... Just to think of all those Legolis, Gandelf, Grimli, Fredo, or whatever just waiting for me makes me wanna cry...
Comments
As for your name concerns, I don't play with name plates turned on for that very reason. And people with really unoriginal names I refuse to group with. Toiletduck is a funny name, Legooolas is just stupid.
The landscape... Are you playing at max settings with High Res textures? To me, the landscapes in LotRO blow any other MMO out of the water. Perhaps it's where you're starting, but I can't think of a bad starter area. Perhaps the Dwarves have it the worst, but go into Thorin's Hall if you want to see something pretty.
Character models... Well, I'll agree there. The armor will make up for it as the game progresses as the higher end armor looks pretty damn sweet. But I won't argue your point here.
Gameplay... nothing terribly new, although the way the queing system works I really like. Once you get the hang of it, and your repotoire of skills grows, you will start to see why it's a good thing. I've got my timing down so well on my minstrel I never look at my action bars. Everything is hotkeyed by default too, making life even easier. (At least 4 action bars worth, so 48 skills...) Combine that with a solid 5 or 6 button mouse and a combination of Alt/Shift/Ctrl and mouse buttons and it really opens up your hotkey options.
Quests and instances are superior to anything else on the market hands down. Dialogue for quests is also very well written, something important to Middle Earth and all of Tolkein's works in general. The focus on story-driven gameplay and quests really shine through. The quest instances are top notch (Retake Weathertop is probably my favorite). The 6 man instances, starting with the Great Barrows, are second to none. The very first instance in LotRO is harder and superior to any 5 man in WoW at any level. And Great Barrows is the worst LotRO instance. Makes you think...
In all honesty though, I think in our day and age of MMOs the top reason for it's placement, and the reason it deserves to be there, is how stable and solid the game is. I know it's sad that this has become a fact in our genre, but every MMO I have played (even WoW) was FULL of bugs for the first 3-6 months. LotRO is so stable they can actually put out a content patch within 1.5 months of release. Every other developer is still trying to finish the game in that time span.
Overall, the game is just plain fun. The grind, which exists in all MMOs, is so well hidden with meaningful rewards for almost anything you could want to do that it makes it seem like the grind doesn't exist. Everyone has their own opinion and to you perhaps the game doesn't deserve it's average. But to the majority of people who play it it deserves higher. And there are A LOT of people playing. Does that make us right and you wrong? Well, from my perspective it does, but from yours it doesn't. That's the great thing about free speach and opinions.
At least thats just my opinion.
-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!-!
I have a Youtube channel for video games! http://www.youtube.com/user/Vendayn
But to answer your question here, comparing Lotr to Eq2 is kinda off... I see Lotr more as an WoW clone personally. The reason that this game has drawn in people is solely on the the name. Those fanatics of the books and movies now have an opportunity to play a part of the storyline. But not everyone of the fans have been taken in to this game. Many feel that it could have gone a different and better route instead of being a designed as a "clone".
As for the ranking on this website, It too has been discussed on these forums and the consensus being that there has been some manipulations going on. Meaning fanbois ranking it all 10's and ranking the other games 1's. Also there are less votes as compared to the other top games and that also effects the rankings.
The only true way lately to know how a game fairs is by suggesting that people read the forums and play the trials. Unfortunately you
can't believe everything you read, however if you read enough you will be able to figure out who is being honest and who is just being a fanboi.
Ok just read the posts above...
"The grind, which exists in all mmos, is so well hidden with meaningful rewards for almost anything you could want to do that it makes it seem like the grind does'nt exist..."
Ok please let me know what game your playing? Lotr is a grindfest. Many have stated in other threads that it is such a grindfest that it makes you feel like its a chore. How can it be fun going back to the same npc 5-10times to which all your doing is killing and collecting? I very much disagree with what you had said. So again please let us know what game it is your playing??
"Game can run on many computers, Perfect release(compared to vanguard), heck even Lotr Closed beta was better than Vanguard at release. Lotr is great for casual play...."
Ok first of all the game at beta required a minimum of 1 gig ram to run and even with that the game still lagged on balanced settings. I even bought a new system so that I could give Lotr a fair shot.! So unless at release they somehow lowered the requirements to play the game, anyone without 1gig ram and a med to high end system will not fully enjoy this game. Comparing ANYTHING to Vanguard is not really fair its too easy to do with a game that was already known to be a flop. Try comparing the Lotr release to WoW or EQ2 instead or any other mmorp that had a decent release. As for casual play.. sure if you can always have 4+ friends sitting there waiting at home to play with you. This game is not solo friendly, Casual play to me means that I can go around the land soloing within my time frame.
hehe just reread my post...
Comes across a little confrontational eh? I apologise for that, I have just finished work and am tired and I think that came out :P
With that in mind, I thank you guys that have responded doing so in a decent manner.
A wise person once wrote:
There are three types of people in the world. Those who make things happen. Those who watch things happen. And those who wonder what happened.
I am happy to admit that, in this case at least, I am the guy who is wondering what happened....
While I am wondering though, do you mind if I play a game or two of Geomtrey Wars?
I would assume most 1 to 2 year computer with decent graphics/sound cards and standard commercial Mobos should be sufficient to play these games.
But why have graphics options if they are going to slow you down in the first place?
We are creatures that loves choices, though, so I suppose we'll always take what choice we think best suits us...
sighs...
All I want is the truth
Just gimme some truth
John Lennon
Those people who wrote the "reviews" are shills. If you don't believe me, take some time to actually read these "reviews", and you will be appalled. The lack of professionalism and outright favoritism is immediately apparent. Don't forget to pay special attention to where these "reviewers" state they were given special tours of the developers headquarters and privileged information about the game.
Equal opportunity troll.
I think it gets a good rating because it had a nice launch, the game engine is solid and polished, the scenery is at worst adequate but at best, in some spots, is really nice. Questplay is typical, but there are some new quests with cut-scenes and whatnot that are very nice. The deed & trait system has kept me doing things I normally wouldn't bother doing, and I think this is helping to keep people addicted.
In short, it is "new and different" (but not really) with a solid game engine. It is much more fun that starting yet another EQ2 character (I had several) or another WoW character (I had several), because it is "new". I don't want to do the Barrens again or Ashenvale forest or whatever. Everything in other games I have already done, so having a new game to play with, to start over from scratch, and to explore a new world with, is fun for many people like me. It's not earth-shattering just fresh.
MMORPGs are virtual skinner boxes.
http://www.nickyee.com/eqt/skinner.html
i agree this game is a bit over-hyped, but I'm playing and enjoying it. It think the main reason I'm liking it (enough) is that it's something new, and I was tired of everything else I was playing. Still, the unresponsive combat and clumsy character modeling irks me. What is good? Many people are seriously stoked about this game, and it's fun for me to group with people that are really into it and enjoying themselves - helps me feed off of their enthusiasm and I've experienced some great community interaction. I hear people say related things about WoW, like "I play because my friends play, but I don't really love the game itself." Kind of weird for me, because usually I will only play games that get me truly excited. I'm just kind of "in between passions" right now, and LOTRO is there to comfort me (while I wait for AoC/WAR.)
"The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand."
- Lewis Thomas
Why is it so highly ranked?
1. First of all consider the rank is based on an average of all the inderviduall ranks.
2. Its a new game so indervidual reviews will have more of an affect.
3. There are not that many new games out there right now just this and Vanguard.
Currently LotrO is the only MMO I'm playing, I'm not in love with it, but it is the best product out there, at least for now while the "new factor" lasts. I'm hoping to move to Huxley or Age of Conan upon their release, I just hope the devs of both of those titles deliver a product that is of similar or better quality than LotrO. The only thing I really miss in LotrO is PvP, but oh well, one can't have everything he desires.
Now, I'll add in a poll to help you get some sort of idea on the main reason behind LotrO's popularity.
I don't get it either but something felt rather fishy with the rating.
First of all it was given a solid up the upper 8s and then all the other games below suddenly were given LOWER ratings and the SAME ratings as all the other runner ups. I don't recall the exact number but it was like this.
LOTRO : 8.5
GUILD WARS: 7.2
EVER QUEST 7.2
EVE ONLINE 7.2
DAOC 7.2
COV 7.2
COH 7.2
And this happened conveniently the SAME day that all the advertising space was filled with LOTRO ads. I smell jury rigging. Still.. i don't see why the ratings for all the other games went DOWN, they are still BELOW what they were once LOTRO was put on.
I played the game and I agree with the original poster's topic, i was not impressed and strongly felt that it did not merrit the rating it had gotten.
I am in the advertising business myself, and giving sites extra cash to change ratings on purpose to boost the advertisement power is not unheard of.
Probably the most relevant reason for the high ranking - it's new(!)
That said, there's a lot of things that make LotRO good:
It's not the best thing since sliced bread I agree, there's nothing really new or groundbreaking about it, but it's refreshing with a game that isn't FUBAR at launch like most other new titles.
Knowledge is Power!
_________________________________
JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA
Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO
Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth
Lets look at he rest of the game on the list
Guild Wars- the idea of a built in group never appealed to me so I never tried the game
EQII - loved the game, played it from beta until last October when I got my LoTRO invite. However I was pretty burned out on it, and just found LoTRO better all the way around
Eve Online _ I wrote a post on their beta forums many years ago called in space no one can hear you snore. Did a 2 week trial last summer and while somewhat better the game still has to be the boringest game I ever played.
Dark Ages of Camalot- Another grand game I played from release till SWG beta. tried it again last spring and as the old saying goes " you can never go home". It was nice but that was then this is now.
City of Villians- never liked City of Heroes so I never tried it
City of Heroes- played the free 30. Was fun for about three weeks and then turned into a grind fest. It had some nice ideas but overall the game play is too shallow and the repetiveness was too much to hold my attention.
Now none of those are bad games, obviously some people like some of them that I do not. That is the beauty of the whole situation. Everyone can find a game that suits them. Heck, some people are still paying for Vanguard and think it is fun just the way it is. takes all kinds I guess.
I miss DAoC
http://consumerist.com/consumer/evil/did-nvidia-hire-online-actors-to-promote-their-products-152874.php
And yea, I did pay for this game and I do play it, however even I don't see any logical explanation of its current "user ratings" score on this site (as well as user reviews on many other sites) except the one that is being talked about in the link I just posted
Edit: Ok, it's obvious that it was not obvious who this was directed at. My apologies to anyone that was being reasonable and thought I was attacking them.
/rant on
/sarcasm on
Yeah, it's utterly impossible that any of us actually like the game. Actually, you found me out. I've been maintaining this account for years just so that I would appear to have some sort of "street cred" when i post about why I think LotRO is the best thing since waffles after it comes out. Posting on other boards that I was afraid this game would bite because Turbine (of "how the fuck do you screw up a cannot miss IP,,,,,DDO!!! That's how!" fame...and "Lets screw the last four fans of AC II out of as much money as possible before we shut down the servers" fame) was developing LotRO was all part of my incredibly clever multi-year plan.
/sarcasm off
Are you guys out of your damn minds? The only new accounts/ potential shills I see on this board are the apes bitching that the game isn't "hard enough", or "sandbox enough", or "it doesn't totally redefine MMOs and my subjective impression of what it means to be a human" or whatever. Half of them have items their posts that indicate quite clearly that they can't have played the game for more than an hour (at most). Really stupid factual errors. "The game has no crafting"... "there is only one kind of quest" .."the game is totally instanced"...."you can't customize your characters at all, every Loremaster is exactly the same." I mean what the hell? If you're going to be a shill, or a troll, or whatever at least do enough research that someone might actually believe you know what you're talking about.
I have managed to pretty much stop responding to this crap, but insinuating that anyone that claims to like the game is a shill is beyond assinine. Different people like different things. Just because you don't like liver and onions does not mean that my Grandmother (who loves it) is a corporate shill for the Beef Liver Farmers of America.
We know you don't like the game. Lots of other people do. Get the hell over it.
/rant off
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
I have played, and by the sound of it probably several more months than you have:
1) Yes, there is crafting but it resembles something the devs threw in at the last Friday meeting before beta started ("Oh damn guys, we forgot crafting! Anyone have any ideas? Hey, pass me that chocolate donut"). I particularly like the unrealistic nodes popping up in the oddest spots (I half expected to find one in the Prancing Pony next to Barliman Butterbur).
2) There are actually two kind of quests -- kill quests and kill-quests where you have to return several times to the NPC quest-giver for orders on killing more things.
3) You can customize your characters; unfortunately, everyone decided to make their Elf look exactly like mine.
4) And no, it's not every loremaster that's the same -- it's every guardian that's the same. Sheesh, n00bs!
Morthoron the Moriquendi