it sounds like people are starting to really see the potential of our camaro and are getting impatient for one that can fly or have a conversation with us about geo-politcal issues while we fly around...
Nice metaphor if a little extreme. I got to say that without saying some SciFi : HAL 2000, MMO RPG is possible, the biggest factor in making new original features doesnt feel to be technology. Rather it is economics. I think 90% of game developers opt for the easy option in creating MMO by copying exactly what exists on the market right now. Particularly WoW. Heck they probably use more or less the same design patterns for producing it. I've also think that most MMO players lap up marketing and have specific wants and will attack anything outside a particular box. ( Yet inversely if it catches on will praise it). So I think some of the problem is the consumer / company relationship.
I think its right say that the smaller companies may be our saviour perhaps by taking a more distorted and cross pollinated approach. Smaller companies lack the mass marketing campaigns that larger companies shove down our throats and maybe ( perhaps ) have to compete with new original features in their product.
If you played WoW, you played LOTRO, since it's just WoW with crappy voice acting. And crappy raiding. And crappy gear. And repetitive, crappy quests. And no variety in classes or races. And no customization. And the worst UI ever made. And lots of drama kiddies instead of l33T KIDZ.
I guess it's really not a WoW clone. It's a half assed attempt at a WoW clone. Just stay away.
+1
don't waste your time and your money in lotro
Worst mmo played with. (with DDO !!! ) Few classes, few dungeons, no real PVP, only eriador, no housing, no boats, nothing. and now with Book 10 ; a pure farming game. Most of houses are closed...
Far from Tolkien's spirit and world.
Forget the movies, you won't see Minas Tirith or Helm
Forget the books: most of things have been created by turbine ("bad dwarves"- allies of goblins , dwarves and elves living in same places, etc)
Nothing is magic, nothing is interesting.
NPC looks like statues, etc...
Wait for Warhammer ONline or Age of Conan
Or for EQ2 new addon
Or take DAOC, SWG, Eve Online or Ultima Online or something else, COH etc etc...
If you played WoW, you played LOTRO, since it's just WoW with crappy voice acting. And crappy raiding. And crappy gear. And repetitive, crappy quests. And no variety in classes or races. And no customization. And the worst UI ever made. And lots of drama kiddies instead of l33T KIDZ.
I guess it's really not a WoW clone. It's a half assed attempt at a WoW clone. Just stay away.
+1
don't waste your time and your money in lotro
Worst mmo played with. (with DDO !!! ) Few classes, few dungeons, no real PVP, only eriador, no housing, no boats, nothing. and now with Book 10 ; a pure farming game. Most of houses are closed...
Far from Tolkien's spirit and world.
Forget the movies, you won't see Minas Tirith or Helm
Forget the books: most of things have been created by turbine ("bad dwarves"- allies of goblins , dwarves and elves living in same places, etc)
You realize your comments, and those of the person you "+1"'d could be said of any MMORPG after only being around for about 4 months, right?
Do you think EQ2 had anywhere near the content it has now when it first launched? Having played it from launch, I can tell you absolutely not - and what was there was alot more difficult to get to; many areas having to have quests completed to gain access. Do you think DAoC had anywhere near the content it has now at launch? Eve Online? Do you think Warhammer will have content in place equivalent to what EQ2 or DAoC have now? You think Age of Conan will? If so, prepare to be very disappointed.
As for the specifics you mentioned as missing... You said it yourself.. Right now, only Eriador is there, and they are still expanding on that region. Housing is being introduced in Book 11, as are huge caverns/dungeons that exist beneath the Ettenmoors and will eventually be found to connect to other large underground areas (speculation is that it will eventually connect with Mines of Moria). There's been mention of the Balrog being introduced.
To put a twist on how you frame it... Considering it's "only Eriador" in the game right now, the first of several large regions to be introduced over time, I'd say there's a hell of a lot to do in the game already. Now, that's not to be confused with what you, or others *want* to do. Even if you don't want to do something, it's still there for others who do.
For example...
You might not like PvMP. Others have stated likewise. However, it's there and available nonetheless. Personally, I find it to be a nice diversion and an interesting twist on PvP. Many others enjoy it as well, as evidenced by the constant chatter in the chat log of people joining or seeking groups, people reporting where "Freeps" are; others looking to get in on the action, etc. It's certainly not a barren wasteland out there in the Ettenmoors.
You might not like Session (Chicken) Play. However, it's available, nonetheless. I tried it out and thought it was quite fun; a unique and whimsical twist in a normally rather cliche'd genre that can tend to take itself too seriously (along with many of its players). Consider some of the typically humorous skills you get, like this one:
Possum Impersonation: "Middle-Earth is a dangerous place. Sometimes it is good to be dead."
I suppose it requires something of a sense-of-humor to enjoy, which of course excludes some people outright. I for one have a lot of fun with it. I saw plenty of others running around in chicken form as well, so I'm obviously not the only one.
Not into crafting? That's fine. It's still there for those who are.
Music System not your thing? That's okay... It is for others.
Don't like "grinding traits"? Plenty of others do.
Can't find anything to do that interests you? Seems to me it's just not the game for you.
But then again.. nothing is for everyone.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
To tell you the truth, this game didn't hook me. I've been playing the trial and for some reason right from when it shows the cinema it gets boring. I liked the movies and stuff, but I really didn't get hooked to this.
To tell you the truth, this game didn't hook me. I've been playing the trial and for some reason right from when it shows the cinema it gets boring. I liked the movies and stuff, but I really didn't get hooked to this.
It plays the first cinema after the starting instance. You didn't even make it to level 2 ? Didn't give the game a fair chance by any measure....
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
To tell you the truth, this game didn't hook me. I've been playing the trial and for some reason right from when it shows the cinema it gets boring. I liked the movies and stuff, but I really didn't get hooked to this.
It plays the first cinema after the starting instance. You didn't even make it to level 2 ? Didn't give the game a fair chance by any measure....
DB
Yeah I was wondering what cinematic he was referring to. If it's the one after the very first instance/quest you do, then that's really not a good indication of the game as a whole. I did that in Beta and ended up wandering around thinking, "this is really bad..." and had blown the game off completely.
Later, after seeing the praise it was getting in retail, I kept wondering, "did I miss something?" and decided to try it again. I got past that whole intro sequence, got out of the "newbie zone" (still not crazy about it, but I've survived far worse) and found the "real game" to be a much different experience... to me anyway.
I'm not saying you would too, Raid. I'm just suggesting that I don't think that whole intro sequence really does the full game justice. Maybe Turbine should eventually look to re-do the intro portion a bit.. Kinda like what SOE did for the newbie isle in EQ2. I think they did a good job of it in that game.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Comments
I think its right say that the smaller companies may be our saviour perhaps by taking a more distorted and cross pollinated approach. Smaller companies lack the mass marketing campaigns that larger companies shove down our throats and maybe ( perhaps ) have to compete with new original features in their product.
+1
) Few classes, few dungeons, no real PVP, only eriador, no housing, no boats, nothing. and now with Book 10 ; a pure farming game. Most of houses are closed...
don't waste your time and your money in lotro
Worst mmo played with. (with DDO !!!
Far from Tolkien's spirit and world.
Forget the movies, you won't see Minas Tirith or Helm
Forget the books: most of things have been created by turbine
("bad dwarves"- allies of goblins 
, dwarves and elves living in same places, etc)
Nothing is magic, nothing is interesting.
NPC looks like statues, etc...
Wait for Warhammer ONline or Age of Conan
Or for EQ2 new addon
Or take DAOC, SWG, Eve Online or Ultima Online or something else, COH etc etc...
+1
) Few classes, few dungeons, no real PVP, only eriador, no housing, no boats, nothing. and now with Book 10 ; a pure farming game. Most of houses are closed...
don't waste your time and your money in lotro
Worst mmo played with. (with DDO !!!
Far from Tolkien's spirit and world.
Forget the movies, you won't see Minas Tirith or Helm
Forget the books: most of things have been created by turbine
("bad dwarves"- allies of goblins 
, dwarves and elves living in same places, etc)
You realize your comments, and those of the person you "+1"'d could be said of any MMORPG after only being around for about 4 months, right?
Do you think EQ2 had anywhere near the content it has now when it first launched? Having played it from launch, I can tell you absolutely not - and what was there was alot more difficult to get to; many areas having to have quests completed to gain access. Do you think DAoC had anywhere near the content it has now at launch? Eve Online? Do you think Warhammer will have content in place equivalent to what EQ2 or DAoC have now? You think Age of Conan will? If so, prepare to be very disappointed.
As for the specifics you mentioned as missing... You said it yourself.. Right now, only Eriador is there, and they are still expanding on that region. Housing is being introduced in Book 11, as are huge caverns/dungeons that exist beneath the Ettenmoors and will eventually be found to connect to other large underground areas (speculation is that it will eventually connect with Mines of Moria). There's been mention of the Balrog being introduced.
To put a twist on how you frame it... Considering it's "only Eriador" in the game right now, the first of several large regions to be introduced over time, I'd say there's a hell of a lot to do in the game already. Now, that's not to be confused with what you, or others *want* to do. Even if you don't want to do something, it's still there for others who do.
For example...
You might not like PvMP. Others have stated likewise. However, it's there and available nonetheless. Personally, I find it to be a nice diversion and an interesting twist on PvP. Many others enjoy it as well, as evidenced by the constant chatter in the chat log of people joining or seeking groups, people reporting where "Freeps" are; others looking to get in on the action, etc. It's certainly not a barren wasteland out there in the Ettenmoors.
You might not like Session (Chicken) Play. However, it's available, nonetheless. I tried it out and thought it was quite fun; a unique and whimsical twist in a normally rather cliche'd genre that can tend to take itself too seriously (along with many of its players). Consider some of the typically humorous skills you get, like this one:
Possum Impersonation: "Middle-Earth is a dangerous place. Sometimes it is good to be dead."
I suppose it requires something of a sense-of-humor to enjoy, which of course excludes some people outright. I for one have a lot of fun with it. I saw plenty of others running around in chicken form as well, so I'm obviously not the only one.
Not into crafting? That's fine. It's still there for those who are.
Music System not your thing? That's okay... It is for others.
Don't like "grinding traits"? Plenty of others do.
Can't find anything to do that interests you? Seems to me it's just not the game for you.
But then again.. nothing is for everyone.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
To tell you the truth, this game didn't hook me. I've been playing the trial and for some reason right from when it shows the cinema it gets boring. I liked the movies and stuff, but I really didn't get hooked to this.
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
It plays the first cinema after the starting instance. You didn't even make it to level 2 ? Didn't give the game a fair chance by any measure....DB
Yeah I was wondering what cinematic he was referring to. If it's the one after the very first instance/quest you do, then that's really not a good indication of the game as a whole. I did that in Beta and ended up wandering around thinking, "this is really bad..." and had blown the game off completely.
Later, after seeing the praise it was getting in retail, I kept wondering, "did I miss something?" and decided to try it again. I got past that whole intro sequence, got out of the "newbie zone" (still not crazy about it, but I've survived far worse) and found the "real game" to be a much different experience... to me anyway.
I'm not saying you would too, Raid. I'm just suggesting that I don't think that whole intro sequence really does the full game justice. Maybe Turbine should eventually look to re-do the intro portion a bit.. Kinda like what SOE did for the newbie isle in EQ2. I think they did a good job of it in that game.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
In two words....NOTHING NEW.