LOTRO is a pile of junk

SLI2000

First time I played this game. Downloaded the free trial. What a load of crap.  It reminds me of some first generation generic MMO..  no wonder it's only 9.95 month..   and the graphics look about 4 years old even on ultra high settings with DX10 enabled..

I don't foresee Turbine getting any big franchises to build on anymore... or releasing another MMOG anytime soon.

massakre

Graphics aren't THAT bad, everything is good about LOTRO except for the combat, it's too slow and clunky for me to watch and it outweighs all the positives the game has to offer.

SLI2000

The graphics are bad in the snow lands..The texture work is horrid there. So are the tree models..  Not to mention the engine runs like a pile of shit.  Everytime a LOD pops in , it stalls for a split second.  It's that POS AC2 engine of theirs.  Why they constantly build games on it is beyond me when theres so many better options.

Xenduli

How come you only pay 9.95 a month?

Copeland

It's a turbine game what were you really expecting?

ianubisi

Thanks for sharing your opinion.

I disagree.

Anzie

the graphic ain't that bad, I guess that you're blind? but everything else does suck.

kikinchaz

Your loss for having bad taste.

 

The graphics are beautiful, finally being able to see Tolkien's universe come to life is stunning. Ive sat there and stared at the environments for ages. The graphics are no doubt some of the best on the MMO market, what are you expecting - Crysis!?

 

The combat I agree could be abit better however it simply takes a bit of getting used to. I just subbed for 3 months due to the Holiday Pricing discount and i'm loving it, the last time i played was at launch. The game runs like a charm on my average rig with everything on fully high (7800GTX 256mb, 2 gigs RAM, 3.2 Pentium D). At first the combat felt abit sluggish as you've said, however give it a few hours and you become completely immersed and you just begin to enjoy the combat.

 

The game plays alot like WoW in many ways. Its interface is also extremely similar along with even the keyboard shortcuts being the same. No matter what any anti-wow troll's say, WoW is a superb piece of design. Its brought millions of gamers into the MMO genre and made the genre so popular. I'm personally bored by WoW but thats because ive played on and off for about 2 years. I'm looking forward to spending more time in the LOTRO Universe and believe the game has a huge future ahead of it.

nakuma

well let me say str8 off SLI2000 seems like a total troll seeking attention. I would respected his viewpoint had he backed up his blatant rheotoric with facts based on his experiences detailing why he feels why the game is not good in his opinion (emphasis on his opinion). but no all he does is yelp like a rabid troll seeking the soothing sound of ignorance.

Graphics? horrible? are you colorblind? maybe you have no sense of art, or color theory, or design ability or artistic cognitive thinking or extrapolation. i cant speak of DX10 features because frankly despite having a 8800 I dont have VISTA and wont continue to use it because the pro's right now dont outweigh the cons as far as im concerned. still not comfortable with switching. but thats neither here or there.

the game is very storytelling oriented, yeah it has the typical MMO quest elements kill this killthat, but it does in a very well done way in which  the game has main baseline quests with stories that are worth reading and the epic-prologue quests based on the books. I think they are done well.

combat animation can probably be improved but its not horrible, overall its good and inventive anythng more as far as subtle different animation cycles added to combat would only improve it more so. but even still its pretty good. character models yeah they lack a certain quality compared to the environment but its not a deal breaker they are still rather good. sound is good, as well as music for the instances, and other various areas which detail or play based on where your at.

interface? like wow? not really. Im sorry I dont really see it unless you purposefully go out and compare various "traits" and design which you can perhaps maybe detail that they look like wow UI. but its very subtle and not at all entirely like WOW, at most its a very subtle hint. afterall imitation is the best form of flattery.

as far as the hotkeys please thats just nitpicking I know alot of other games that has similar or the same hotkeys for backpack, or inventory, or character panel, or friend panel etc. THe same can be said about WOW basing its game off others, taking elements from multiple games and slapping them together (albiet wonderfully done) the good thing about wow is its accessible, that is the main forefront reason it has alot of players, 2 its simple, easy to get into, and yes its very fun.

i should know i played til lvl 70, made about 3 other characters, but the game gets static at the end game. lot of rep grinding, lot of PVP (though i cant knock BG i kinda love it) but ther isnt alot of content to play around with at lvl 70, between rep grinding,going into Arena and BG, going into 25 man raids fighting gruul for the 15th time, kaz, for that next piece of uber loot for your class hoping you have enough DKP for lol there is nothing else much to do. it gets frustrating and boring at times lol. i think every game suffers from end game sickeness lol, so i wont disclude any other game just to keep it fair.

overall i think LOTRO has done a fantastic game, it had a super launch, was stable, polished, more than i can say for other games. the $9.95 is the monthly special based on 3 month sub, so its not all the time (or correct me if im wrong) its $14.95 otherwise. i think the game looks good, is very stable, tells good story based quest lines which I must say I am a quest junkie i love a good chain quest the way LOTRO does it. the interface is done nicely, its minimal without the silly need for a Modded UI.(WoW) monsterplay is fun, inventive and a good release from the other part of the main game to play around with ever so often.

i think this fascination certain people in this forum have with knocking this game borders on insane,and down right rude, and biased, and with no facts to base their arguement. I am all for a clever debate on the state of a game, but only if its mature, intelligent and well thought out. otherwise you look like nothing more than a baseless troll with no sense of what you truly want or like. after the job of a troll is to hate everything with unflinching consistency. without them, I guess these forums would be a lot less interesting.

massakre

I just hate how the community complains about the lack of subscribers =]

kikinchaz

I agree totally Nakuma The game is fantastic. Annoyingly i dont have the time to play tonight as i'll be getting an early night with tomorrow being Xmas. I popped on to wish my kinship all the best only to find myself having to seriously resist the urge to stay on.

 

I can see myself in the future just sitting there chilling with a group of ingame friends chatting away as the environments, as Nakuma said, are absolutely stunning. The art design is fantastic and does the LOTR Universe & the films complete justice, and more! I personally picked the Evernight server here in the EU and have been impressed so far. I've joined a fantastic kinship full of individual mature and easy to get along with characters - The Jesters of Middle Earth.

 

If anyone is on the fence about getting the game dont let the OP sway your view. With the awesome 3 month offer pricing nows the best time ever to subscribe!

freekstyle

This is basically his complaint in my eyes:

I downloaded the trial game! The graphics sucked! No doubt there's a good chance it's my PC that can't run it, but the graphics suck. Oh yeah... and I kind of tried the gameplay for about two minutes BUT THE GRAPHICS SUCK. SUCKKKKKKK.

Go back to WoW.

erickdefores

I cant figure what what this fella does not like about the graphics. My comp is 4 year old Alienware that has never been upgraded. Thus I had to turn the Graphic settings down a bit, and I am still amazed at what is on my screen. I just spent the last few months doing free trials looking for an interesting game that also plays well. I have found it in LOTR online.

Happy Holidays folks and see you in the Fields of Mordor at the final fight!!

Payter
Gaurdian from Breeland

Derrico

I have an 8800,  and the game looks great; idk where you got that from. Besides that I didn't really enjoy the game, im all PvP.

Turbine produced AC and AC2, AC was the best game I have ever played, probly ever will. But I think they struck out on DDO and LOTRO. I loved AC2 as well

 

LONG LIVE DARKTIDE

openedge1

Everyone knows me here now...as I am an avid anti-fanboi for LOTRO...but, your comment on graphics was the most bass - ackward statement I have seen for this game

The only thing this game has is Graphics...The landscapes are beautiful...the characters are dull, and the animations are lifeless...but the game does NOT look cheap...

It just does not play well..

So, I agree with everyone here...you got it all wrong bud..

Cheers

Larsa

Well, to be honest, there's one thing bad with the LotRO graphics: the dwarf starter area.

Anyone starting LotRO for the first time and only playing dwarf for two or three levels could get the idea that the complete game is lacking good graphics.

Coman

I personly dislike LoTRO...but even I can not deny that the gfx especialy with DX10 are just awsome and one of the best out there at this moment.

Arnir

Originally posted by Larsa


Well, to be honest, there's one thing bad with the LotRO graphics: the dwarf starter area.
Anyone starting LotRO for the first time and only playing dwarf for two or three levels could get the idea that the complete game is lacking good graphics.

 

True. In my opinion, graphics in LotRO are breathtaking with some exceptions... For me, southern Ered Luin (Falathorn, Celondim, al the way to that dwarven refuge of G******** <-- can't remember the name ) and further --> Shire, Rivendell, Evendim etc. are just unbelieviable.

But yeah, I guess we have different tast for what is good and what is not. So, I respect your complains about graphic... But don't bash over gameplay if you haven't played this game at least 'till lvl 30 or so.

Lydon

Chances are the troll has one of those built-in Intel graphics chip things that don't support shaders

GreenHell

I dont think LOTRO looks bad at all. Yes there are some areas that really need to be worked on but over all I think the graphics are decent.

I played until 20 I think and the game really never gabbed me. The whole time I was playing I couldnt help but thinking "why dont I just play WoW?" Im not saying its a clone but the game play is very similar and at this point WoW just has more to offer. Its not a bash on LOTRO just simply what was going through my head the whole time I played it. Maybe Ill check back with the game in a year or so and see how its doing. Right now though I just feel it doesnt offer enough to keep me interested.

 

Dethnoble

There is only one MMORPG, in 'motion', that has better graphics than LoTRO and that is Vanguard.  Unfortunately, there isn't many rigs that can play Vanguard in full motion so overall you have to give LoTRO the nod in the graphics department.   

IMHO, it seems like Turbine spent all their budget on graphics with little going towards actual gameplay technology and thus you have a shallow game where all the features feel tacked on.  I agree with you SLI on most things except for the graphics.  ATM, LoTRO has the best graphics out there for MMORPG since just about any system can get good graphics out of it.

Darth_Pete

"The beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

Did I get it spelled right? For me LOTRO views look pretty good and the water looks very good, but the character models look like they are made out of plastic and the animations are very poor. Combat bores you to death in long run (even if you are high damage class).

It ran on my computer smoothly untill Book11? I think when somekind of nvidia bug came along. The game stutters and you can see it when you are running forward in Evendim on the Tinnudir island. Like it stops every 2 seconds for 0.1 seconds. Yeah Im not very good at explaining it in English but nothing could fix that. Tried new drivers and even re-installed once.

Kayless

Originally posted by Arnir


 
True. In my opinion, graphics in LotRO are breathtaking with some exceptions...

Aye, we'll give him that one...

But the rest in the OP is rubbish. You can tailor the settings to match your (crap) PC and it will run smoothly.

With everything turned up it one of the best looking MMO's out there.

Having recently gone through an MMO itch the past month and trying them all out again, yes even Vanguard and DAoC, I can quite happily report that it is refreshing to play and stands head and shoulders over 99% of the others around...

trev9999

The engine used in LOTRO was first utilized in AC2, which was a while back when a lot of PCs could not handle the graphics aiding in the death of that title. They then went on to practice with the engine in D&DO then perfecting the code for their smash hit LOTRO, which isn't a huge blockbuster after comparing subs, but did have an impressive launch due to it being a  polished title at beta. Not a DX10 game simply because of the age of the engine.

raamoz

seriously, if you care that much about graphics then you shouldn't even play MMO's. at least not the ones currently released. and imo, LOTRO has pretty nice graphics considering it a MMO.

BuzWeaver

Like WoW its an amusing and fun game, not nearly the depth I like, however I liked it for the short period I played it. The game has to stay within the Tolkien lore so it has a bit of a constrained feel, you'll not see any new race, new abilities for that race or a new continent from which this race would come from.