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Great game but it just doesnt appeal to me
admriker4
Member Posts: 1,070
I have really tried to love LOTR but something is missing from the game.
I cant put my finger on it either.
The game has fantastic graphics and great attention to detail. The first time I saw a flock of birds fly over me I thought wow thats something I dont recall ever seeing in an MMO. The water is simply awesome to look at. Its the perfect blend of detail and fantasy effects. In my opinion, LOTR has the absolute best graphics of any MMO period.
There are fun quests. I enjoyed those silly pie delivery quests.
The game is clean and bug-free. I dont really recall any bugs or issues.
Growing crops and cooking is a nice diversion.
Yet even after I list all those wonderful qualities, I cant bring myself to enjoy this game.
I dont know if its the classes (i find them rather unappealing). Maybe its the strong linear design. I also find the combat and its animations rather uninspiring.
Each time I subscribe to LOTR I find myself completely disinterested in playing. It feels like work with all the quests. I cant just go out and explore the game and progress unless Im constantly doing quests. And I dont get any feeling of accomplishment because once I complete a quest, there are 5 more quests to follow it. And some of those quests lead to other areas with still more quests. Its too much.
Dont take this as critical because I respect what Turbine has accomplished here. I was previously critical of LOTR back in beta but turbine really turned it around and launched a decent product. And they pump out a lot of free content apparently (i havent personally experienced it). I just wish the game would click for me. I have been without an enjoyable MMO home since the NGE revamp for Star Wars Galaxies.
I played from launch for 1 month. I re-subscribed 2 more times since then for 1 month each. Ive played several classes but I always get bored around lvl 25.
Comments
Same here...I feel like I try soo hard to like Lotro but about level 25, the game just gets deadly boring and I unsub....then i go back a few months later bored and try out a different class and same thing but like you, I can't seem to pinpoint what I don't like about it. There is just something missing.
Ditto. I think part of it is the linier feel to the zones. Maybe the tiny detail on the characters makes them unremarkable and unnoticable. Every building is a fascade with no interior. I don't know if it's art per say, but the lack of energy in the animations also lends itself to the rather bland feeling I get also. Wish i could enjoy it, so many people are, but it just lacks some sort of visceral quality.
Maybe it's the small shapes and busy textures, or lack of radial flora in some areas. Maybe it's the lack of large details on the characters to make one pop from the other.
Arioc Murkwood
Environment Artist
Sad but true.
I remember I and a few other people complaining about the lackluster music during the beta. Perhaps that could be it.
All mmos are missing that "something" we're looking for. We wouldnt keep on buying the next batch if they did. Get it?
See you in the dream..
The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
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Not all buildings are simple artwork. The big house in RV, for instance, is full of famous NPCs to interact with. Actually, one thing I have issue with Bree is, every building is an instance. I hate the accidental zoning in if I run too close to a door that was suddenly opened.
As for the quests, I am not really upset by them. There are many of them, too many, so I only finish those I like to, and move on. Some of the big quests are really challenging, fornost, misty mountains (the 3 named giants) ... Yeah and the pie deliveries and many odd quests, they are fun when played for the first time.
Maybe, its the lack of a bad side, maybe I am just the bad boy looking for a chance to play an ogre. I still miss my EQ ogre.
Wow, that's pretty much in a nutshell exactly how I feel about LOTRO. I was very enthusiastic when I started playing at launch, but none of my characters really grew on me, I just found them unappealing and boring. The champion was the only class I enjoyed somewhat, but at that time at least, it seemed like we were in abundance and not very sought after when groups were forming. At level 32, the game became a second job and so I quit.
When I recently saw new screenshots, read about new content and the MoM expansion, my enthusiasm returned. Now my new champion is level 14, and I'm starting to grow tired of the game again. I don't understand it. I like everything about the game (except maybe for animations, armor appearance and classes) so much better than WoW and EQ2, but I just can't seem to stick to it. Except for the 3 areas I already mentioned, I just can't put a finger on it. Graphics, landscapes, atmosphere, sound, quests, housing... it's all really cool.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
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Excellent post and sums up quite what I feel at the moment. Maybe I'll just have a longer break from LOTRO and check back in fall.
I think this is in a nutshell why you do not like LotRO. Progression in LotRO is bound to doing quests and if you like to progress your character at a good rate you have to go questing. There's no way around it. Of course you can safely ignore most of the quests and just do your own thing and go exploring the very well done landscape but that style of play also means that you will progress at a rather slow pace.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
I was amazed when reading this Thread! I thought something was wrong with ME! I bought LOTRO 6 weeks ago. I played a total of 40 characters (all classes and races) but none of them got any higher than level 18. I got bored from one moment to the other with nothing to explain it but a bored feeling in my gut.
So I left the game after 1 month when the payment was over. I searched the site for new MMO's to play and tried like 20. But NONE of them could compare to LOTRO. Especially graphic wise. Don't get me wrong I'm not a graphic wh.re but the game just raised the bar on MMO's for me. So at this moment I'm redownloading the patches and getting myself ready to play LOTRO again. But I have no idea for how long. Might be an hour or I might get to the higher levels this time.
I do believe the huge amount of Quests add to the bored feeling. It's just too much to do. Normally this would be a good thing but it creates chaos in the game. You have no idea what to do next and it's more planning than just playing freely. I hope someone will post in this thread that can pinpoint what exactly is wrong and makes us all feel bored and eventually quit.
Even as you come to the end at one point. You face the wall. You are level 50. Few options are to do instances and raids but in my time certain istance was bugged and if u want to do it had to spent like 10-12 hours. Raiding was ok. I've quited WoW with 2.0 patch then tried Lotro ( in beta with minstrel and burglar to 50) and played hunter to 50. Still missed one thing what to do after. Was hard to find groups and i was like only level 50 in the guild. Try to PvP, was fun but i disliked zerg or from the freeps or from the monsters. Other way was to level an alts which i went for. But still that wasn't it...
So returned again to WoW and started to learn new contest from expansion. Came to the end where gear can not be upgraded anymore from PvP. Was temped to try Lotro again but instead i went to DDO trial with 3-4 friends. Later we upgraded trials but figured this game isn't either for me. Free 30 days expires tommorow on 20th march. Not sure what i will play but i've tried plenty...
http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/3495/signiture5uq2.gif
Take the Magic: The Gathering ''What Color Are You?'' Quiz.
Maybe trying to have one character as the primary which to play to late twenties, early thirties before branching out - as in that level, with big instances like Garth Agarwen etc. the trait system and class dynamics start finally to show their fun side. And of course, getting to know your class, strengths, weaknesses, both in group situation and in solo. That means several wakeups in stone circles, but can be in the end more satisfying than the undying title.
Although the game is now more solo friendly as it was in the start, I'd still say that grouping and socializing is another aspect that gives LotRO a longer appeal. It can depend on server, but in general, PuG's in LotRO seems to be quite high quality ones, community is in general mature (despite of actual player age).
These days I've found that just doing other stuff not directly related in advancing helps, digging lower level ore for jewelry set for a kinmate, pootling around places I didn't check out more thoroughly when I was younger, helping kinmates with their quests and stuff, filling a bit of deed here and there. I think I did at some point with my main go to pure grindmode for couple of levels when I had lots of doubled exp to burn. And of course, then there's RP side of the game.
I haven't yet seen any raid content, nor finished the epic questline, but ambling along at more leisurely pace, even if I spend a good while of time ingame weekly. had one longer pause at one point, but it was mainly due gaming tiredness in general, wasn't even able to get interested in Bioshock during that period...
But of course, as gamers our needs and aims - and playstyles differ, which makes the wide variety of games available a good thing.
Playing: AC2
Played: UO, DaoC, Horizons, Ryzom, WAR, LotRO, Eve, VG...
i hear ya same here, I got most of my armor from PVP in woW not all but couldnt stand doing BG all the time it became to gear dependent of a game to me no true depth. Lotro as fun and engaging the questlines are the game overall was a bland experience i started getting bored around my mid 30's i canceled as as a lvl 35 hunter which is my favorite class in the game.got sme very decent gear now.got some sick agility on my hunter and good fate and morale so i can pound out dmg, and crits lol anyways I used to play DDO myself and I too found the game not my style it was very heavily instanced though i did like the D&D class traits and lines afterall I am a D&D fan but the game just wasnt good in enough in my view to be worth a continous $15 a month. Im playing Eq2 now but im sure Ill get bored of that as well lol. i have a lvl 75 kerra paladin and a second account with a lvl 30 gnome wizard. SO far all has been good, though im sure Ill get bored. Im kinda waiting for AOC which has been a major MMO on my radar lately. Warhammer Im bypassing completely, bleh. not my cup of tea to say the least.
not to mention in LOTRO its at times I found it very hard to find a group for a major book quest I had to do. barely had anyone on in my guild or on the servers in general. not sure what the population of melendor was but it was at times hard to find a decent group. which was another reason I left. why pay for a game if you cant finish quests that require a group when there is no one on lol. ya know. kinda defeats the point.i agree with alot of people sentinments as the combat and animations are kind of mmmmeh....
3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.
Hmmm, reading all these posts makes it seem somewhat obvious that the problem isn't entirely the game but it's you guys. But that's not saying that's a bad thing.
1, Can't be bad
2, Too much to do and can't decide what to do
3, Feel that I must complete it all
4, Can't explore because it slows progression.
Seems to me that what is going on here is that you are wired to be goal oriented, you are used to grinding or at least games that use a heavier grind mechanic to level and perhaps a game where you need to make your own goals.
Part of this could be just how you "are" and part of this can be that you have been trained to a different type of gaming style.
I know that it took a little while to get used to for myself as my main game is Lineage 2. Hard Grind. Just grind. No reason to do the few quests as they are horrible.
But I noticed in LOTRO that if I allow myself some level of self immersion, truly put myself in Middle earth and then pick out the quests that I want to do or even make goals for myself, it becomes very enjoyable. I did the Tomb of Elendil Quest on Sunday night. 4 hrs. I had to repari many times and ran out of money. So, when I logged back in I knew that I had to make money. Went to the misty mountains north of rivendell and started killing lynxs because there is a hide component that I can sell for quite a bit (can't remember the name as I'm not a bits and pieces type of person). In doing that I realized I had some bear quests so felt that I should finish that. Eventually, I ended up at a camp over in the West and took a quest where I had to go to Goblin Town.
So essentially, I started with a small goal and allowed the time to parse itself out very organically. I find that if I adopt small goals and allow myself whatever time that is needed to accomplish those goals, I end up getting a better gameplay experience. It is not gameplay that focuses on being a completist or one that allows for option anxiety (of which I never get option anxiety, even in real life). Also, I allow for the fact that I am good and have "good goals". I'm not a role player (though I've done my fair share of acting) but allowing myself to have a bit of immersion also helps.
So essentially, you guys are just not wired for this type of game play experience. You either have to shift your paradigm for game play or of course just find a game that you can relate to.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
My answers as of why this game is not for me are:
- It does not encourage teamplay, its more a single player game than a multiplayer game.
- it is too simple, nothing that demands me to think, crafting is too easy no challenge. Most quests are too simple too. It feels like you playing a game designed for 8 year old kids.
- the story is mostly instanced because they want every middle earth tourist to get the same story told. This makes the story not authentic to me. (I feel like pushed through a middle earth museum and looking at cartoon artefacts)
- while not a big pvp fan it is disappointing what a side game Turbine created.
Altogether i would have enjoyed a more epic game much more, where the community has a role and doesnt follow the patches like sheep and paying and paying and paying.
With more epic i mean that the community should play a role in how fast and which route the ring takes. I even would have gone as far as being able to loose the damn ring and let middle earth fall into darkness if the community fails. Yes thats against tolkiens lore, but hey - its a game right? In Soccer world championship 2006 its not only with italy that you can win.
Anyway, i fully agree with your post and it took me a good while before i understood why lotro was no fun for me. I only hope that we wont see lotro clones soon. Its time for more complex games and more involving games again.
Analyser
Hmmm, I can't really agree with you here. At least not as you state it.
First off, it is a team based game. Though I can solo and solo quite a bit, for the quests that require greater forces, a group is important. Not only that, but there are the conjunctions where the group can pick a variety choices which will have some effect on what happens. I know that many people only pick red for damage, but there are so many more effects you can get with different combinations.
Heck, as I indicated, I was in a group that stuck together and worked together for 4+ hours just do finish a quest.
I like crafting the way it is because I hate crafting. So in this case simple is better, especially when you don't want to spend hours upon hours collecting thousands of mats.
And yes, the story is instanced because you are made to be a "special" part of the world. There are greater storytelling tools available when you can make use of instances. Otherwise you have people waiting in line to do their thing and nothing contributes to an amusment park experience than having a line of people waiting for their chance for the ride.
And since it is the story of "The Lord of the Rings" the dev's have decided that you and your party will play "another" part in the world's epic struggle.
So I have no problem with not allowing you to lose the ring. Sounds to me though that you are one of the Sandbox players who desire more freedom and and less walls. I really don't think this story would benefit from that as you then just scrap the entire story and are left with essentially the pieces of a story to remake as the players see fit. As a writer I think I would hate such an abuse of my material. It's bad enough that in making this a mmorpg that there are some very "game like' elements.
But it is very clear that you require a far more open gamplay environment.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Outstanding Post.!
i played for a month and thought the game was great!. The thing that tuned me off was the constant neverending chain quests. I wish there were more "one and out" quests.
The one that ticked me off the most was the quest in brandy hall that kept making you go back and forth to the old forest like 5 times to kill different monsters! LOL
Played : WOW, LOTRO, COH/COV, EQ2, SWG, and WAR.
Playing EVE Online and AOC.
Wtg for SW:TOR and WOD
I do not believe the quantity mattered as much as the quality. The group based quests were much better, but during my play time, groups got more difficult to find as you progressed. And solo wise, if you DID want to solo, you would be stuck doing some pretty repetitive things...and do not get me wrong...I know most MMO's have this...but, I felt I got more variety in those games as well with so many side things to do.
I also had many an issue with the UI, bad animations, small class selection, most environments starting to look the same..no matter how gorgeous they were, the browns and greys just made for a depressing gameplay session.
I have tried to return many times like you guys have...even about 2 weeks ago...but, just could not find the gumption to go on when I entered an empty starting area, quiet main chat, and massive stuttering due to texture loads...
Ah well..new games coming which will hopefully try to do something new...
Later
Aye I agree fully, and the combat is a bit slower so that was a bit of a downer too...
___________________
Give me a good skill based sandbox game, and i'll give you a cookie!
Hmmm, I can't really agree with you here. At least not as you state it.
First off, it is a team based game. Though I can solo and solo quite a bit, for the quests that require greater forces, a group is important. Not only that, but there are the conjunctions where the group can pick a variety choices which will have some effect on what happens. I know that many people only pick red for damage, but there are so many more effects you can get with different combinations.
Heck, as I indicated, I was in a group that stuck together and worked together for 4+ hours just do finish a quest.
I like crafting the way it is because I hate crafting. So in this case simple is better, especially when you don't want to spend hours upon hours collecting thousands of mats.
And yes, the story is instanced because you are made to be a "special" part of the world. There are greater storytelling tools available when you can make use of instances. Otherwise you have people waiting in line to do their thing and nothing contributes to an amusment park experience than having a line of people waiting for their chance for the ride.
And since it is the story of "The Lord of the Rings" the dev's have decided that you and your party will play "another" part in the world's epic struggle.
So I have no problem with not allowing you to lose the ring. Sounds to me though that you are one of the Sandbox players who desire more freedom and and less walls. I really don't think this story would benefit from that as you then just scrap the entire story and are left with essentially the pieces of a story to remake as the players see fit. As a writer I think I would hate such an abuse of my material. It's bad enough that in making this a mmorpg that there are some very "game like' elements.
But it is very clear that you require a far more open gamplay environment.
No problem if you disagree - however Lotro is not a teamplay game. Sure there are a few things encouraging teaming up but thats nothing compared to games like WoW or Everquest, where 60-80 people team up and spend an evening to make one person happy.
To keep the story untouchable is fine for me but making it instanced the way it is, this story doesnt feel authentic, i am not feeling like being part of something that is actually happening in middle earth. This feeling gets stronger when you do the same "epic" quest (??) with your alt.
I can see why they decided to do it this way - still for me it feels not authentic. I would rather have massive epic events run by GM's and if i miss them - well i can listen to the bards sing the tales about it but damn its my problem if i miss them.
As it is, LOTRO is a chain of trivial quests at whichs end you unlock the next few seconds of a cartoon movie.
You are right with one thing tho, yes i need a more open gameplay - a little sandbox gaming yes - thats more my sort of game. Being forced to play exactly like some devs prepared the game feels unfun. The first MMO's (UO and EQ had more exploits possible at start, yes - but they also allowed players to unfold their own playstyle - in Lotro everyone is a carbon copy of the class template. /shrug
but yes - its a damn nice game still and maybe in 2 years or 3 when its more complex and has more game depths ill give it a try again
Analyser
Just because she looks like a supermodel does not mean she has any kind of substance. Just let it be and blame it on fate or chemistry. It did not click ;-)
Many interesting and honest posts in this thread.
I started playing during the open beta and kept right on going until I leveled my Loremaster to 50. I was an officer in a large active guild and generally had a great time. Then last summer I started to loose interest and left the game for about 6 months.
For me it was the "end game" that did it. I just don't enjoy the scheduled time commitment that is necessary for raiding or large 6-man instances (Uru, CD, etc.) nor the repetition required to pursue the uber loot rewards. I actually despise the fact that your level 45-50 class quests require several trips to CD and Uru to get that final Legendary trait-- a trait that although nice to have is not really essential.
When I came back in January, I deliberately stayed away from my original server and my old guild which is now heavily into raiding. I'm having fun leveling other classes and characters doing a lot of soloing playing only when the mood strikes me. This pace and play style suits me and fits in with my RL much better. I feel no pressure to be anywhere in game at any given time.
That works for me but I realize MMOs are just different things to different people. I'm not anti social and enjoy helping others but the social side of the MMO is not all that important to me. Neither is crafting - at least not the limited and linear crafting that pretty well all current MMOs provide.
To those of you who have mentioned hitting a wall around level 25... I hear you. All I can offer you from my experience is that the 20-30 range is best enjoyed by switching back and forth between the LLs and NDs--working them both west to east. If you want to finish a zone before moving on, the LLs can be frustrating once the solo quests dry up.
Those of you who feel overwhelmed by the quests... pick and choose: there's no shame in not doing them all
Go off on your own or with a buddy and just kill same-level mobs... 10 - 15 of those and you get the same XP as most quests.
And finally... some servers are more populated than others. If you play at odd hours and want to do PUGs, look to Landroval... if you want to feel like you're the only person on the server, head for Gladden.
If none of that works for you, move on and play something else... I don't like bass-thumping rap music, but I know most of the world does. So far I've resisted the urge to force myself to take Rap Appreciation 101 at the local community college... classic rock works for me
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
For some of the more experienced MMO gamers out there Lotro is nothing but fake. Amazing graphics put over a shallow gameplay. The fun element is the chit chat with friends during the playtime. Everything else is just boring. Shame they did it with Lord of the rings - brilliant licens = wasted.
curio