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Experienced Opinion: Do Not Play! Do Not Pay!
TEDMOLLY0
Member Posts: 33
I've played LOTRO Stress Test. I've played LOTRO Closed Beta. I have a level capped 50 character. I belong to the best Kinship on our server... one of only four Kinships in the LOTRO Universe that have killed the final boss in the hardest raid in game (Thorog). I have alts that have almost maxed all crafting skills.
The Editors Review are dead on correct that the game is awesome: The graphics rock, the quests are great, there's minimal lvl grinding, the bugs are few, PVP is a blast..... BUT I'M QUITTING THE GAME ALONG WITH MANY MANY OF THE GAMES TOP PLAYERS (and no you can't have my stuff). Many players have told me they are quitting or simply haven't logged on for weeks. Why? No end game content whatsover...period. In other words, after 4-8 weeks of joyous, fun, exciting gaming....the game is over. Endgame consists of the one Thorog Raid where the loot is few and rather pitiful with huge repair expenses. Bye Bye Lotro.
My advice: if you want to have some fun for a few months until something great comes out, then you'll love Lotro, but be prepared for a huge let down when you hit the lvl 50 cap, which you really can reach in 4-8 weeks no problem. I'll be checking in every year or so to see what content Turbine has added, but I don't have my hopes up.
The really sad part is that I'm so easy to please and could easily be amused until more content is added if they somehow allowed us to level other crafting skills on our main toon.....or to somehow allow the main to turn into different classes or level other skills. I don't know about you, but I really hate creating 5 different toons to enjoy all the aspects of crafting. My Motto: one God, one country, one personality, one toon.....not five with five different names. What MMORPGs devs never seem to understand is the simple principle that if there is a legal exploit to work around a game limitation (i.e. creating crafting alts to access the diffent skills), then you're going to end up with an annoyed and bored player. Annoyed + Bored + Subscriber= Nonsubscriber. 
The above opinions are mine and mine alone. Your mileage may vary, but if you end up with my mileage in Lotro you're going to be unhappy.
Dr. B
Comments
Where do I apply for my MMO expert credentials?
Stop whining and login so I can kill you!
Didn't claim to be an MMORPG expert, just a lotro expert.
Dr. B
I believe this is where all the fanbois pipe in and say "You bonehead....how dare you accomplish so much in such a short amount of time." "Didn't you know LOTRO is a casual game?"
I was out right about the time I figured LOTRO has the depth of a puddle. Great game......like you said......for a minute.
uhm you basically just described every single MMO thats out, and how they were at launch. You have to give the dev team a little time to develop some end game content.
*gasp* get this; even WoW was scarce on the end game content when it was released.
take a small break from the game, you need it.. and come back in a couple months time when there are some more end game content patches released.
Agreement with both previous posters, but I have yet to meet anyone who is casual in these type of MMO's. Everyone I see is either ingame everyday for several hours or hasn't been on in 2 months. I guess my real point....not clear in my OP, is that while I do appreciate the devs incredible devotion to quality instead of quantity, there is so much they could have done to keep us endgamers happily obessesed with simple variations of existing content ...until more/new endgame content comes along.
And speaking of quality, full credit goes to the devs for quality: I can't count the number of comments in closed beta about how polished the game was: it was basically ready for release in the middle of closed beta.
Dr. B
Dude the game is only 2 1/2 months old lol. Not to mention, it's a causal player game. If you have already done everything there is to do in the game then it's simply not for you.
Well he's not outright bashing, he's got some points and delivers without namecalling or being condescending. Everyone's entitled to an opinion... what I dont like is some ppl coming here stating their opinions as 'fact' and claiming everyone who does like LOTRO is a failure and just dont know they shouldnt be enjoying this game
That said, I dont give much for 'reviews' from anyone tbh, be it a magazine, fanboi, 'expert' or whatnot. Imo the _only_ way to know if you're gonna like a game is to try it. I dont even trust my friends or brothers when it comes to game 'reviews', even tho we have very much in common and I know them very well. Why would I take some random guys word for it when he says this game roxx / stinks. When you read a review you have no idea where this guy is coming from (is he a soloer, grouper, killer, achiever, grinder, carebear, socializer, griefer etc). Trials are your friend
It will be a year before we can truly judge how good a game Lotro is. It is a good game it just needs more content. But you can't be too harsh right now because they may have alot of future content in store but just haven't announced it yet.
The only thing I can say is that I got to level 50 in 4 weeks. I'm still enjoying the game, but I can see your point of view.
Right now I spend my time in the Moors or helping others with tough quests.
i dont think i am even gonna bother with this you claim to be a LOTRO expert cause you played all the beta's
Next time need to know something about LOTRO i will be sure to come to you lol.
It seems everyone you meet have similar lifestyles and/or preferences in IRL, so they can play that much.
And nice to meet you, I am a true casual - been playing since 14th April, my main toon just hit 39 yesterday.
If i was so lucky not needing to have a job for a living, I could *probably* play more than 2-10 hours a week, but I'd probably prefer other things, like travelling with my fiancee, visiting my parents and going to garden parties/beach parties with my friends.
I can only imagine playing 4+ hours per day if I had no job and no girlfriend/wife, not to mention kids - and ONLY in the wintertime...
And you know, what? WE are in majority - and developers know that. People are buying and will be buying true casual games, like LOTRO. We are - the masses..... not good news for people spending half their lives in virtual worlds, but this is how the cookie crumbles...
Edit: I perfectly understand your point, and if I were you (in terms of playing time), I'd probably be similar.
I am happy for my busy life
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
LOTRO was always targeted at the casual gamer, so I can't say I'm surprised. I quit playing once I hit 50, since there was nothing to do.
It seems everyone you meet have similar lifestyles and/or preferences in IRL, so they can play that much.
And nice to meet you, I am a true casual - been playing since 14th April, my main toon just hit 39 yesterday.
If i was so lucky not needing to have a job for a living, I could *probably* play more than 2-10 hours a week, but I'd probably prefer other things, like travelling with my fiancee, visiting my parents and going to garden parties/beach parties with my friends.
I can only imagine playing 4+ hours per day if I had no job and no girlfriend/wife, not to mention kids - and ONLY in the wintertime...
And you know, what? WE are in majority - and developers know that. People are buying and will be buying true casual games, like LOTRO. We are - the masses..... not good news for people spending half their lives in virtual worlds, but this is how the cookie crumbles...
Edit: I perfectly understand your point, and if I were you (in terms of playing time), I'd probably be similar.
I am happy for my busy life
DB
You are correct in that casual players are probably the majority, even in MMOs. But adding more depth and things to do to in a game is not a bad thing for casual players.
If you've got multiple level 50's already, then it's obvious that you play MMORPG's waaaaaay too much and are focused on power-gaming.
Might I suggest a game with a much longer treadmill. Like CoH/CoV? Or maybe get outside a bit more?
Anyway, LoTRO is a good game, and I can see that the end game seems somewhat lacking from a long-term/power-gaming perspective. Hopefully this will be addressed by future additions to the game. Thankfully, being a lifetime subscription holder I am in no rush to see these come. No content left? Cool, I'll play something else for a couple of months until a new zone gets released.
One fair criticism I have seen (and felt) about LoTRO is that while it seems like a quality game, it seems to lack something. I am not sure what that something is. Some kind of lack of spark, or urgency. Perhaps it's because there really isn't any PvP (monster play? Yeah, right) or factions to create competition.
Oh my gosh! An expert has spoken! He must know more about the game than I do...but wait, he quit while I'm still playing. Oh well, he's the expert so I guess I better cancel my subscription now even though I'm still having fun with it.
On a side note, it's probably good that you quit. Now you can find out what that great light in the sky is before the next MMO comes out.
You can't use the words Expert, Veteran, or anything else signifying superiority in you post if you would like the general population of MMORPG.com to take you seriously.
Even though the majority of your points are held to be true by many people, you do yourself a disservice by presenting them in such a manner.
I personnally think LOTRO is a great game, and would have done quite well four years ago. Now, it just doesn't have enough innovation or longevity to draw me in. Which saddens me, as a huge LOTR fan. I do wish the best to anyone currently playing, and hope the game is quite successful for years to come.
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
TBH the game has been around for what? a month? games are never, ever released with lots of high-end content, simply because it'd be a massive waste of time to program all of it if the game were to be a failure.
Now that they've established LOTRO and have a steady playerbase, they'll be working on the high-end content. Only those that have raced through the game to 50 (such as yourself) will be noticing the problem with lack of end game content. More casual players such as myself will reach 50 in a good few months, and once there we'll be greeted with all the content we could wish for.
I played stressed test , i played closed beta, i played pre post round about beta, I played beta before beta of beta, i also played in alpha, alpha 2 apha 3 the new challengers ohh wait wrong game sorry. Look as much as i belive in freedom of speach just quit if you don't like it don't support it that is why i don't play swg.
Well i think i said this months ago that after 45 theres really nothing to do in game other then help friends and chat so most everyone will be paying 15 bucks to chat online lol.....
After playing alpha and beta i had decided not to buy the game because there was no end game too it at all none but im not really going to knock ppl for wanting to play it or found out that im right about it being nothing but a good chat service but ill let you found out for yourselves...so gl on lotr...
Yet another opinion posted as fact.
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
uhm you basically just described every single MMO thats out, and how they were at launch. You have to give the dev team a little time to develop some end game content.
i dont really understand this. whould you by a book expecting the last few chapters in a few months? or buy a cd and wait for the last few songs to be released?? MMO disapointment is in no way a fault of the gamer. we pay hard earned cash for the game, and in most cases, more cash for the right to play said game. i shouldnt have to wait for end game content, it should be there at release.
I think what some are missing is that the OP doesn't seem to dislike the game. This guy was also a vet from Closed beta, which means he hasn't only been playing existing content for 2.5 months. He's been playing the game for AT LEAST 6 months judging from his comments. That's a long time for the content to hold up. Evendim rocks but I was long past it when it was released and I'm not much of an alt person. Have I been somewhat bored? Sure, I even went and picked up C&C3. Do I think I'm done with the game, or do I recommend quitting? Not at all. In fact, I think the OP is commiting a rather large disservice to someone thinking about playing the game today.
Here's why. Basically, we're at a point now where levels 1-40ish are filled out extremely well. There's a ton of stuff to do and you'll have NO problem staying busy for that time. Assuming you're not ultra-hardcore (like the folks who were at level cap in 2 weeks) you MIGHT be hitting the level cap come Book 10 (next content update) in August. This will have a 12 man raid (at least that's the rumor), a couple other new 6 man instances, some solo stuff, fill out some more 40-50 quests, substantially upgraded PvP including the ability to upgrade fortresses, use siege weapons and play as Trolls and Rangers. There's also new crafting recipes and cool new stuff like that.
So, let's say you hit 50 as Book 10 comes out. You'll have plenty of content then to keep you busy until Book 11. Book 11 is when we get housing, which sounds very cool indeed, and if you put the puzzle pieces together from a myriad of interviews and dev chats, there's a very good chance we'll see Mines of Moria at the same time. THAT wil be almost all level 50 stuff and should be a MASSIVE amount of content.
I doubt the OP is still checking this thread, but he should give some thought to what I'm saying here.
Ok guys, point taken. I'm editing the OP to change out the word "expert" to "experienced" since the word "expert" seems to irritate and annoy. And for those that are bashing me for my opinions...um...this is a forum, these are my opinions, thats what forums are for. Your opinions are welcome too as long as they're on topic. Please realize that I actually love Lotro, and the purpose of my post is to inform gamers, with my habits, of what to look forward to (or the absense thereof), and to motivate Turbine to fix game issues that I'm pretty sure they originally had no intention of fixing. These repairs are meant as a temporary bridge/replacement for more end-game content that we all know is coming. I think these repairs are critical because Turbine must keep the hard-core vets interested between content additions or we will be out here in force bashing the game (i.e SWGs community). While endgame content takes time, revamping existing content to keep us hampsters running on the endless-wheel is not difficult. The fact remains that Lotro is hemorrhaging top players at a dangerously high rate. This will damage the game and Turbine's financial ability to ad more content.
....and I have 2 lifetime founder subscriptions...my 12 year old son's is the other...and he's getting bored too...which is a good thing considering how much he was playing.
(post has been edited to include reply for following post)
Dr. B
Should check out my post above yours, I'm in a fairly similar situation. I think Book 10 will have lots of end-game stuff. It's silly to give up your founders pricing when it would only cost you $10 now to find out for sure, rather than deciding to come back in 6 months and going back to full price. At least if you have the founders pricing that is.