My personal points about LOTRO are simply a) the subjective felt lack of diversity in things to do
You nailed it right there. I do like LOTRO, but the content is SOOOOO repetative. I think I'm going to scream if Im told to kill another boar.
Im an old EQer, and I love a good dungeon crawl in diverse environments, but (at least up to about level 25), there simply are no dungeons to speak of. Oh sure, theres a few newbie dungeons which are really small, and the few others I've been in that look somewhat interesting, you are too busy following an NPC as he/she races through the instance that theres no time to explore.
One thing they really got right was the noobie-hook. When you first enter the game, and go through the newbie areas, you are left with a feeling of astonishment and filled with notions of great adventures to come. That quickly vanishes as you kill an endless stream of mundane creatures in the same set of old ruins.
I really want to like this game, and its not a bad game, but the desire to log in is starting to fade.
The "great adventures to come" are there, only problem is that you need a fellowship to go through them....
Not to mention the many many more adventures with the following many expansions
DB
Jackdog said no expensions. Only FREE updates. Let's wait and see.
It feels like they over-emphasized getting those important features in and didn't prioritize making them really great. Maybe they'll get around to it eventually. But do I want to cough up $15 bucks every month on the hopes that they'll eventually get around to it at the same time they are trying to crank out the other highly-demanded regions of Middle-earth? I don't like the odds. It's a great starter game for people that don't know there is better out there for the same money. Once people get their feet wet in MMO's and branch out into other great games, that will highlight what LotRO is lacking: originality, innovation, and the drive to make it great and not just good enough.
Actually I have some faith in Turbine after time in AC a few years back. Here's 10$/month saying it happens. We're 159 days out of launch according to my kinship logs. We've already gotten a content update in Evendim that's large than any dungeon instance EQ2 ever threw at me. I'm pretty confident that things will roll along for the next year at a solid pace of improvement and expansion. Having been a launch-day SWG vet I'm highly attuned to what you speak of, and pretty much agree with many of the points you've made on the areas where polish is necessary. I feel like the attitude and quality of developers in this game are met with a corp. attitude at Turbine that might just pull it all off. It's certainly not as bloated nor as marketing droid driven.
OH come on....people are acting like Turbine is as bad as SOE.
You don't need to have be a SWG vet to know what it's like to be burned by a developer and be leery of trusting their promises. Mythic promised Cleric fixes the entire 2 years I played. From what little I've read, it's been 18 months since I left and Clerics are still waiting.
But for Turbine specifically, they've already broken several promises to the community. They initially promised no PvP. Then they said it would be a minor minigame. Then the story was it would just been one zone. Then they swore they would never balance PvP by making changes to Freeps. Now they promise they'll only make changes to Freeps as long as those changes only appear while in PvP. They haven't even stuck to that since Beta 1.
Developers will say what it takes to lure a player in and then do whatever the hell they want. They're a business, that's what moves boxes off the shelves.
For me, it was the lack of customization in classes. I just didn't feel any real sense of accomplishment as I leveled up. I had a lot of fun with my Guardian until about level 32, then with my Loremaster until 30. The trait system is interesting, but it just didn't give me any real sense that I could diversify my class to my own playstyle. Something like the talent system in WoW or EQ2 or SWG would've helped tremendously, I think. There was just no real sense of accomplishment for me as I leveled up. I loved a lot of things about the game, though, and my Founders account remains and will remain active, but I'm not playing it at all anymore.
Agreed.
I've said it before, but LotRO would've been better off with NO classes, and should've used a skill system or something different. The classes are just too restricted by the lore.
I've said it before, but LotRO would've been better off with NO classes, and should've used a skill system or something different. The classes are just too restricted by the lore.
A good idea, I always liked ot evolve my charector in game, evensome appearance, than decide all upfront.. Sadly I wonder how many players would not be able to cope with such an open system ?
OH come on....people are acting like Turbine is as bad as SOE.
Given that a good amount of time in the uk the DDO severs were lagging and the game not supporting newer hardware and even the chat system going down frequently. Not to mention DDO is such a small pithy MMO compared to LOTRO ( and the whole thing felt like a beta test for LOTRO engine)
I suspectsa lot that SOE and turbine have a few annual meetings to swap ideas...
Keep in mind this game was released in March, and already has had 10 books/ publishes.
Next up housing is added.
So, it's not going to have the amount of content that a game that has been out for years has. Still, 10 books in roughly 6 months is alot of added stuff.
I can see where alot of people are coming from, control-wise, it is basic. It will only get better with time.
If your only reason for quitting was lack of content, give it a trial in say a year. I bet you'll be pleasently suprised (as long as Turbine doesn't SWG it :P )
I played Daoc from release. It grew in ever yway from its release for at least its first two years. It became a very good game. If you enjoyed group pvp there is NO game that ever has come close. LOTRO is a different beast. I do not expect great pvp that should be Mythic's new game. I do see though from the lore and pve side that this game will continue to get better and better. If group type warfare is your thing wait for Warhammer. If you just want an enjoyable pve game that is getting better and better play LOTRO now. The pvp was added in to please the die hard pvp people but even though I even though I am that I can play the game for what it is and never want to pvp. The fact is there are countless types of mmprpgs now and no game can be everything to everybody. You do not go to an Italian restaurant for Chineese or vice versa but both can be very good.
Don`t get me wrong LOTRO is a good game but it`s not for all mmo players.
PROS :
1. If you like exploration you`ll be marvelled at the beauty of middle earth.
2. if you are a casual player lotro is definitely your game.
3. one of the best community around...
CONS:
1.Any skillful player will reach end game very quickly because the game is too easy
2.At lvl 50 there's almost nothing to do...you can do Helegrod and Ettenmoors but will quickly lose interest in the game.
3.Raiding Bosses are too easy ...except Thorog and may be the Demi-Balrog thing in Barad Guluran.
4. Uninteresting classes..I would have like the classes to be open so that the player can choose which traits to choose thus specializing his character into a specific class.
5.Monster play feels like a dumbed down PvP
6.AH is a joke
I reached max level after a month with 4/5 hours gameplay...I`m seriously looking forward to close my account
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
crafting mastery/crit system is good,being able to name your creations
dye available for all armor pieces so you can choose how to look
no uber gear or sets that are 100% must have,you can pick and choose
clothing and armor isnt limited to certain stats,e.g cloth robes arent all simply power and fate,heavy stuff isnt all might and morale. nice diversity in the stats you can have.
cons
too much XP given from quests/not enough XP needed to reach level cap so its not hard to hit 50
elite mobs dont give a decent amount of extra xp over normals
very group centric from mid 30s onward,can be tough looking for specific groups,tonnes of elite mobs
traits system is currently no where near fleshed out enough,so there can be no or very few limited builds or specs for each class.The virtue traits dont incorporate things such as +healing % ,light damage or threat. Racial traits arent that great and everyone has almost the same equipped,and the melee racial abilities dont scale with traits/gear
Only 1 true healer,as stated above the traits system doesnt allow captains/loremasters to spec into a proper healing role,which again makes it tough for grouping and makes minstrels get whispered 4000 times a day.
a lot of fill in quests are very repetitive,some areas have you killing the same mobs you just killed elsewhere in the region.
instanced buildings,though the interiors look very good.
some craft professions arent fleshed out enough and have missed opportunities
not enough light armor robe designs
what it needs in my opinion:
more end game stuff that doesnt simply incorporate raiding. Lots of smaller 6 manable stuff as well as instanced solo encounters featuring NPC party members,similar to the class quests.
The crafting quests opened up properly as repeatable and different in each town/outpost,which give xp gains and reward with crafting ingredients and recipes.
reputation system allowing 50s to take on new additional,long quest chains to earn rep rather than the simple grindathon currently in game
pvp system balanced out properly,monsters able to progress more efficiently.
more input to the craft mastery and crafting in general. the addition of extra ingredients to improve crit chance could also coutn toward adding additional stats,such as adding a batwing to gain extra fate or instead using a warg paw to gain extra might.
traits system properly fleshed out to allow players more input to how their charatcer performs. (the option to spec your captain as a shield carrying,high resist regenning main healer, or a damage dealer with a 2 handed axe,loremaster as a pure nuker or pure debuffer,or even a master of beasts etc)
+healing traits,threat traits,better regen traits,traits that allow extra damage with weapon make and type etc etc
I do not disagree with some of its weaknesses mentioned above. It is a new game and as such end game content and some other things will improve. Monster play is dumbed down pvp but outside of Mythic there is very little solid pvp gaming. I do agree that games becomes more group friendly as you are hugher but gees it is an mmo. Do you want to solo the whole game? I look at it as a work in progress that should improve over the next year. That being said by then Warhammer might be out and I am sure i will be playing it, I do really like LOTRO but I do not see me being here for 5 years like DAOC. I do expect to leave with good memories unlike my year in WOW. That was also dumbed down pvp by the way.
I tried this game, for about 1-2 hours, I just couldn't't deal with the fact that there wasn't any customization. I prefer to build my character, so this wasn't my type of game.
I truly was disappointed in the final released product. Being in closed beta...we tried to have them fix so many problems..
1. Too much XP for quests, not enough for mobs
2. Crafting produced vendor junk...still does...only thing worth a darn is food and potions...better items from quests
3. Performance was still lacking for certain system configs...which happen to be quite common now
4. Boring game after level 30...
Hopefully the housing will be good...and PLEASE ADD FISHING...I mean...this world SCREAMS for fishing...as the water is beautiful in this game (except for waterfalls which look stupid)..and to sit and fish would be extra fun...in a boat for example...
No...this game needs about 6 more months to get it together...then we will see if they have fixed anything!
Comments
You nailed it right there. I do like LOTRO, but the content is SOOOOO repetative. I think I'm going to scream if Im told to kill another boar.
Im an old EQer, and I love a good dungeon crawl in diverse environments, but (at least up to about level 25), there simply are no dungeons to speak of. Oh sure, theres a few newbie dungeons which are really small, and the few others I've been in that look somewhat interesting, you are too busy following an NPC as he/she races through the instance that theres no time to explore.
One thing they really got right was the noobie-hook. When you first enter the game, and go through the newbie areas, you are left with a feeling of astonishment and filled with notions of great adventures to come. That quickly vanishes as you kill an endless stream of mundane creatures in the same set of old ruins.
I really want to like this game, and its not a bad game, but the desire to log in is starting to fade.
The "great adventures to come" are there, only problem is that you need a fellowship to go through them....
Not to mention the many many more adventures with the following many expansions
DB
Jackdog said no expensions. Only FREE updates. Let's wait and see.
eqnext.wikia.com
Actually I have some faith in Turbine after time in AC a few years back. Here's 10$/month saying it happens. We're 159 days out of launch according to my kinship logs. We've already gotten a content update in Evendim that's large than any dungeon instance EQ2 ever threw at me. I'm pretty confident that things will roll along for the next year at a solid pace of improvement and expansion. Having been a launch-day SWG vet I'm highly attuned to what you speak of, and pretty much agree with many of the points you've made on the areas where polish is necessary. I feel like the attitude and quality of developers in this game are met with a corp. attitude at Turbine that might just pull it all off. It's certainly not as bloated nor as marketing droid driven.
When did you last played EQ2?You should check it out again
eqnext.wikia.com
You don't need to have be a SWG vet to know what it's like to be burned by a developer and be leery of trusting their promises. Mythic promised Cleric fixes the entire 2 years I played. From what little I've read, it's been 18 months since I left and Clerics are still waiting.
But for Turbine specifically, they've already broken several promises to the community. They initially promised no PvP. Then they said it would be a minor minigame. Then the story was it would just been one zone. Then they swore they would never balance PvP by making changes to Freeps. Now they promise they'll only make changes to Freeps as long as those changes only appear while in PvP. They haven't even stuck to that since Beta 1.
Developers will say what it takes to lure a player in and then do whatever the hell they want. They're a business, that's what moves boxes off the shelves.
Previous played: SWG (pre-NGE), DAoC, CoH, Anarchy Online, DDO, Champions Online Beta, LOTRO, GW2, SWTOR
I've said it before, but LotRO would've been better off with NO classes, and should've used a skill system or something different. The classes are just too restricted by the lore.
I would have loved that kind of system.
Previous played: SWG (pre-NGE), DAoC, CoH, Anarchy Online, DDO, Champions Online Beta, LOTRO, GW2, SWTOR
A good idea, I always liked ot evolve my charector in game, evensome appearance, than decide all upfront.. Sadly I wonder how many players would not be able to cope with such an open system ?
Given that a good amount of time in the uk the DDO severs were lagging and the game not supporting newer hardware and even the chat system going down frequently. Not to mention DDO is such a small pithy MMO compared to LOTRO ( and the whole thing felt like a beta test for LOTRO engine)
I suspectsa lot that SOE and turbine have a few annual meetings to swap ideas...
Keep in mind this game was released in March, and already has had 10 books/ publishes.
Next up housing is added.
So, it's not going to have the amount of content that a game that has been out for years has. Still, 10 books in roughly 6 months is alot of added stuff.
I can see where alot of people are coming from, control-wise, it is basic. It will only get better with time.
If your only reason for quitting was lack of content, give it a trial in say a year. I bet you'll be pleasently suprised (as long as Turbine doesn't SWG it :P )
I played Daoc from release. It grew in ever yway from its release for at least its first two years. It became a very good game. If you enjoyed group pvp there is NO game that ever has come close. LOTRO is a different beast. I do not expect great pvp that should be Mythic's new game. I do see though from the lore and pve side that this game will continue to get better and better. If group type warfare is your thing wait for Warhammer. If you just want an enjoyable pve game that is getting better and better play LOTRO now. The pvp was added in to please the die hard pvp people but even though I even though I am that I can play the game for what it is and never want to pvp. The fact is there are countless types of mmprpgs now and no game can be everything to everybody. You do not go to an Italian restaurant for Chineese or vice versa but both can be very good.
Don`t get me wrong LOTRO is a good game but it`s not for all mmo players.
PROS :
1. If you like exploration you`ll be marvelled at the beauty of middle earth.
2. if you are a casual player lotro is definitely your game.
3. one of the best community around...
CONS:
1.Any skillful player will reach end game very quickly because the game is too easy
2.At lvl 50 there's almost nothing to do...you can do Helegrod and Ettenmoors but will quickly lose interest in the game.
3.Raiding Bosses are too easy ...except Thorog and may be the Demi-Balrog thing in Barad Guluran.
4. Uninteresting classes..I would have like the classes to be open so that the player can choose which traits to choose thus specializing his character into a specific class.
5.Monster play feels like a dumbed down PvP
6.AH is a joke
I reached max level after a month with 4/5 hours gameplay...I`m seriously looking forward to close my account
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
pros:
general gameplay is good and enjoyable
graphics are top notch
fellowship manouvres,traits system,destiny points system,hope
some interesting well designed quests and deeds
community is good
classes are pretty diverse
seamless environment
crafting mastery/crit system is good,being able to name your creations
dye available for all armor pieces so you can choose how to look
no uber gear or sets that are 100% must have,you can pick and choose
clothing and armor isnt limited to certain stats,e.g cloth robes arent all simply power and fate,heavy stuff isnt all might and morale. nice diversity in the stats you can have.
cons
too much XP given from quests/not enough XP needed to reach level cap so its not hard to hit 50
elite mobs dont give a decent amount of extra xp over normals
very group centric from mid 30s onward,can be tough looking for specific groups,tonnes of elite mobs
traits system is currently no where near fleshed out enough,so there can be no or very few limited builds or specs for each class.The virtue traits dont incorporate things such as +healing % ,light damage or threat. Racial traits arent that great and everyone has almost the same equipped,and the melee racial abilities dont scale with traits/gear
Only 1 true healer,as stated above the traits system doesnt allow captains/loremasters to spec into a proper healing role,which again makes it tough for grouping and makes minstrels get whispered 4000 times a day.
a lot of fill in quests are very repetitive,some areas have you killing the same mobs you just killed elsewhere in the region.
instanced buildings,though the interiors look very good.
some craft professions arent fleshed out enough and have missed opportunities
not enough light armor robe designs
what it needs in my opinion:
more end game stuff that doesnt simply incorporate raiding. Lots of smaller 6 manable stuff as well as instanced solo encounters featuring NPC party members,similar to the class quests.
The crafting quests opened up properly as repeatable and different in each town/outpost,which give xp gains and reward with crafting ingredients and recipes.
reputation system allowing 50s to take on new additional,long quest chains to earn rep rather than the simple grindathon currently in game
pvp system balanced out properly,monsters able to progress more efficiently.
more input to the craft mastery and crafting in general. the addition of extra ingredients to improve crit chance could also coutn toward adding additional stats,such as adding a batwing to gain extra fate or instead using a warg paw to gain extra might.
traits system properly fleshed out to allow players more input to how their charatcer performs. (the option to spec your captain as a shield carrying,high resist regenning main healer, or a damage dealer with a 2 handed axe,loremaster as a pure nuker or pure debuffer,or even a master of beasts etc)
+healing traits,threat traits,better regen traits,traits that allow extra damage with weapon make and type etc etc
I do not disagree with some of its weaknesses mentioned above. It is a new game and as such end game content and some other things will improve. Monster play is dumbed down pvp but outside of Mythic there is very little solid pvp gaming. I do agree that games becomes more group friendly as you are hugher but gees it is an mmo. Do you want to solo the whole game? I look at it as a work in progress that should improve over the next year. That being said by then Warhammer might be out and I am sure i will be playing it, I do really like LOTRO but I do not see me being here for 5 years like DAOC. I do expect to leave with good memories unlike my year in WOW. That was also dumbed down pvp by the way.
I tried this game, for about 1-2 hours, I just couldn't't deal with the fact that there wasn't any customization. I prefer to build my character, so this wasn't my type of game.
I truly was disappointed in the final released product. Being in closed beta...we tried to have them fix so many problems..
1. Too much XP for quests, not enough for mobs
2. Crafting produced vendor junk...still does...only thing worth a darn is food and potions...better items from quests
3. Performance was still lacking for certain system configs...which happen to be quite common now
4. Boring game after level 30...
Hopefully the housing will be good...and PLEASE ADD FISHING...I mean...this world SCREAMS for fishing...as the water is beautiful in this game (except for waterfalls which look stupid)..and to sit and fish would be extra fun...in a boat for example...
No...this game needs about 6 more months to get it together...then we will see if they have fixed anything!
Cheers!