Is LOTRO immersive? How's the storyline, quest dialogue, etc?

anakinsella

***A quick rant / blogish prologue first, you can skip down below the **** if you just want to answer my questions***

FIrst off, I'm a long time MMORPG gamer, and gamer in general. Pushing on 23, I'm even starting to feel old in the gaming scene (i can see all you older gamers scoffing at me right now for calling 22 old haha) - so that being so, I've started to appreciate games, MMORPGS specifically, in a different way. As my free time becomes more and more precious, I long to experience MORE out of my games and really have a way to escape. Yet, I've fallen fictim to the GRIND of MMOs, and forgot that MMORPGS are in fact ROLE PLAYING GAMES and not just gear/level-cap grindfests.

Having recently get totally burnt out on WoW (again), I've realized it's probably because I'm just playing the game in a way that would cause most sane people to resent it. Like most, I have questhelper (the addon), so a usual gaming session for me was logging on, clicking on npcs with ? or ! above them, instant-quest-text so I am not bothered by any hint of STORYLINE, and mindlessly following where Questhelper tells me to go, so i can make a bar move on the bottom of my screen. When a game is making you feel like you have to do something you don't want to do, or when you're just doing something because you feel like you have to, even though you acknowledge that it's no fun - you shouldn't be doing that! Before I decided to take a break from WoW, I tested this theory out with a Death Knight: I let myself get immersed in the plot and storyline by reading every single quest dialogue, reading the random quest items you get like books or scrolls that may have lore/storyline hidden away on them, and I didn't force myself to rush through the content. I had a blast! But alas, turns out I just hated the class.

So I realized, half of my problem is that I'm not treating my MMOs like RPGs. I'm not playing them like I would a single player RPG. So giving WAR another shot, I've tried reading the quests, diving into the lore and storyline, and it's actually helped me appreciate the game from a brand new view. Despite the technicle problems, general glitchiness, and rather boring story/quests - I still appreciated the game in a  new way (beta tested it for a long time, so I knew what to expect from a game mechanic standpoint) and it has made me eager to see what there is to offer out there for me in MMORPG storylines!

*******************************

Which leads to my question - how is the story/plot in LOTRO? I've dabbled in LOTRO around release a year ago - I loved the graphics and the combat actually felt pretty tight, but I was also in the mindset of GRIND GRIND GRIN, GET GET GET, so I know there is a whole other side of the game that I'm sure I missed - and seeing as how the story is what they really stress in LOTRO (duh, it's freaking LOTR) I really think I did a diservice to the game by just brisking through the levels and playing it in that grindy manner. So how is the story, how are the quests (is the dialogue actually worth reading or is it subpar like Warhammer.....boooring)

 

 

That said - if any of you have a buddy/trial key to spare, yours truly would LOVE to give this game another shot. If you need my email just message me or ask for it and I'll message you. If you read my spiel, thanks haha.

blindside044

How are the storylines, eh? Easily the most interesting, entertaining, immersive, engaging storylines/plots I have ever experienced in any MMO. I would not enjoy this game as much as I do had the quest storylines not been as brilliant (95% of the time). And no, I am not overexaggerating. 

rozenblade1

In all honesty, the storylines are great.  If you are at all a fan of the books, this is a great game to RP.  I play FFXI, WAR, and AoC,  but not one of them has storylines half as good as LotRO.

GaryM

Immersive? That's exactly why I'm playing! Your mileage may vary, but that's the single biggest reason I play Lotro, and also the same reason I recently quit WoW. The Lotro environments are the best I've ever played in, and the storylines are first rate. WoW on the other hand has gone so far over the top with its pseudo sci-fi / fantasy theme, which tries to be everything from every genre, that nothing seems 'special' in it any more. I don't get any sense of wonder or discovery like I did the first year I played that game. WoW is out of ideas, it just marches on from the sheer force of its massive inertia and huge player base. With Moria, Lotro feels like it's really hitting its stride, and the prospects of getting Rohan, Gondor, Mordor and beyond are very exciting, IMO.

Analyser

To me this middle earth never was immersive, as it limits me far too much - the quests are linear with no options choices or sidewalks. I only felt like a spectator, never like an actor in this story.

At the end it was just another grind.

Fuhyo

Originally posted by anakinsella
Which leads to my question - how is the story/plot in LOTRO? I've dabbled in LOTRO around release a year ago - I loved the graphics and the combat actually felt pretty tight, but I was also in the mindset of GRIND GRIND GRIN, GET GET GET, so I know there is a whole other side of the game that I'm sure I missed - and seeing as how the story is what they really stress in LOTRO (duh, it's freaking LOTR) I really think I did a diservice to the game by just brisking through the levels and playing it in that grindy manner. So how is the story, how are the quests (is the dialogue actually worth reading or is it subpar like Warhammer.....boooring)
 That said - if any of you have a buddy/trial key to spare, yours truly would LOVE to give this game another shot. If you need my email just message me or ask for it and I'll message you. If you read my spiel, thanks haha.

 

LoTRO without a doubt is probably the best PvE MMORPG. 

If you still haven't received a buddy key, send me a PM and I'll set you up with one.

Fuhyo

jposavatz

Just to confirm what everybody else here has already said, quite simply yes, LotRO is incredibly immersive with a fantastic storyline.  There's both an "epic" arc of quests (same for every class unfortunately, but effectively it makes you a character in the broader saga of the books) as well as unrelated quests which are still very true to the overall lore.

I've played lots (and lots) of MMO's, and LotRO is the only one that has ever given me such a feeling of inclusion in the background story. 

You do, however, need to resist the temptation to simply click "accept" on the quest, run off and complete it, and then turn it in.  You'll only experience the immersion if you take the time to read the quest notes of course.  It's easy to fall into the trap - there are so MANY quests, and in my experience questing is the only reasonable way to level up, that sometimes I find myself click-click-click'ing my way through quests rather than taking the time to stop and smell the roses!

busdriver

It's not Middle-Earth. It's one giant zoo where every mob is circeling around in its cage, waiting for someone to come kill it for fur/whateva over and over again. It's a place full of fedex-quests, full of magic swords/whateva (magic is supposed to be a rarity in M-E, as far as I remember). Economy is a joke, materials you need to craft some object are often more expensive than the final product (everyone has craft-alts, no use trying to sell anything in auctionhouse. Other than raw mats, that is). Exploring is futile, the whole world is boxed, wonder outside your own little box (your level range) and there are mobs, only a few levels above yours, that you can't even damage. And even if you do manage to kill something higher than you, the loot you get has a level requirement above yours, so you don't really get rewarded for your heroic deed. Sure you can always RP, but since LOTRO offers very little outside quests/grind, it becomes repetitive.

Actual epic questlines are not so bad, graphics are nice, scenery is very nice and there are some places that have certain level of M-E in them, like the Barrow Downs, but mostly it's just another themeparkride.

With this IP particularly, they could have done so much more...

anakinsella

thanks for the replies, confirms what I thought - looks like I'll have to give it an honest effort if I can find a buddy key

 

PM'd you Fuhyo

rturja

Funny thing, actually for me LotRO has had the most non handholding game experience outside pure sandboxes. Interestingly enough with the quests and other things added giving player several options over a pure sandbox play.

Exploring... Lots of it if you are inclined to do so. The world isn't ending 5 meters out of main roads, neither there is much of artificial barriers - If you can see it, you probably can visit it, just like in VG (of course missing flying mounts and such).

Crafting isn't meaningless as not everyone has multiple top tier crafter alts and the products are good - even in the very crafter friendly Vanguard, raid loot trumps everything. In LotRO crafted things are the best until high level and then are still in some cases better than loot from raids. Materials are of course more expensive if you buy them and don't gather them by yourself, but then it is as any other economy out there.

Quite interesting twist to regular MMO-schema is that animals do not carry around swords or pieces of armor, something that annoys me in VG for example. "Magical" gear is definitely less abundant than in UO, VG etc.

But "whateva" rocks your boat. I thank Turbine doing what they did and actually ignoring one minor bunch of whiners when developing LotRO.

Unknown

Definately immersive. It is, as one poster replied linear; and one of the most restrictive I've played. Yes, as a second poster replied, you get te urge to explore and go the wrong way there is a mob ready willing and more than able to eat you for elevenses.

Now, you can think of the game as described above and in other replies if that is the way you choose to, that's fine. But, you can also look at the linearness (is that a word?) and the fact that you are being "force" to follow a specific progression into new lands from a story line viewpoint.

As you start out you are just beginning your journey, Fordo hasn't left the shire yet but you are starting to encounter the forces of evil. As the fellowship begins it's journey you move into another area aka leveling. And, just as the fellowship took months to travel through ME you will, in game time if not in R/L also. Just like Frodo was in no-way prepared to meet his foes near the end of his journey without the months of travel and encounters he had to gain knowledge and experience; your character too needs to grow in experience and knowledge. That, at least for me, is the way I look at the very tight restriction in being able to move through ME and the tight itegration of the stroy line.

If I understand correctly some people have leveled their toon to the max without following the storyline but it was pretty much a grind fest, but they like that style of play. Some have leveled by only doing the storyline, (still grinding involved what mmo doesn't have a grind?)  And some do a little of both.

Now is it immersive, a good game for role playing? Well, if you're like me and totally inept at RP and I can RP in LotRO, then anyone can! It's the ultimate RP game if you are into RP. If you're not it's still a great game but it may not be as fulfilling.

My only real complaint about the game as a system is the crafitng. I don't like it compared to others, but some swear by and that's cool to.

Welcome to ME, hope you enjoy your stay. Please remember littering is strictly prohibited in ME, unless it is the dead bodies of Sauron's minions.

rozenblade1

Originally posted by busdriver


It's not Middle-Earth. It's one giant zoo where every mob is circeling around in its cage, waiting for someone to come kill it for fur/whateva over and over again. It's a place full of fedex-quests, full of magic swords/whateva (magic is supposed to be a rarity in M-E, as far as I remember). Economy is a joke, materials you need to craft some object are often more expensive than the final product (everyone has craft-alts, no use trying to sell anything in auctionhouse. Other than raw mats, that is). Exploring is futile, the whole world is boxed, wonder outside your own little box (your level range) and there are mobs, only a few levels above yours, that you can't even damage. And even if you do manage to kill something higher than you, the loot you get has a level requirement above yours, so you don't really get rewarded for your heroic deed. Sure you can always RP, but since LOTRO offers very little outside quests/grind, it becomes repetitive.
Actual epic questlines are not so bad, graphics are nice, scenery is very nice and there are some places that have certain level of M-E in them, like the Barrow Downs, but mostly it's just another themeparkride.
With this IP particularly, they could have done so much more...

If you at all a fan of the books, you would have enjoyed LotRO, but "whateva" (pssshhh).  Maybe you were getting killed by mobs because your Lvl was too low to begin with, or "whateva"

 

anakinsella

The weird thing is I never was a the type to RP in MMORPGs. I've played on an RP server in WoW before, but so few stuck to character (a lot just seemed oblivous to the RP rules) and I always felt like an ameteur when I tried cause there are so many good RP / fan-fic writers out there.

edit: is it true that Moria includes the original game too? Like I don't have to buy both?

Andraxx

Originally posted by anakinsella


The weird thing is I never was a the type to RP in MMORPGs. I've played on an RP server in WoW before, but so few stuck to character (a lot just seemed oblivous to the RP rules) and I always felt like an ameteur when I tried cause there are so many good RP / fan-fic writers out there.
edit: is it true that Moria includes the original game too? Like I don't have to buy both?

MInes of Moria retail box includes the original game "Shadows of Angmar" as well as the new Moria content. You do not have to find the original game.

 

pencilrick

Originally posted by rozenblade1

Originally posted by busdriver


It's not Middle-Earth. It's one giant zoo where every mob is circeling around in its cage, waiting for someone to come kill it for fur/whateva over and over again. It's a place full of fedex-quests, full of magic swords/whateva (magic is supposed to be a rarity in M-E, as far as I remember). Economy is a joke, materials you need to craft some object are often more expensive than the final product (everyone has craft-alts, no use trying to sell anything in auctionhouse. Other than raw mats, that is). Exploring is futile, the whole world is boxed, wonder outside your own little box (your level range) and there are mobs, only a few levels above yours, that you can't even damage. And even if you do manage to kill something higher than you, the loot you get has a level requirement above yours, so you don't really get rewarded for your heroic deed. Sure you can always RP, but since LOTRO offers very little outside quests/grind, it becomes repetitive.
Actual epic questlines are not so bad, graphics are nice, scenery is very nice and there are some places that have certain level of M-E in them, like the Barrow Downs, but mostly it's just another themeparkride.
With this IP particularly, they could have done so much more...

If you at all a fan of the books, you would have enjoyed LotRO, but "whateva" (pssshhh).  Maybe you were getting killed by mobs because your Lvl was too low to begin with, or "whateva"

 

I see busdriver's points.

I was a fan of the books, and I and most fans I knew back in the day loved Middle Earth, not the Lord of the Rings storyline.  Sure, the story was great, but the lure was to be able to dive into and explore Middle Earth, the lure was not to be an actor following some preset storyline.

I cannot imagine why anyone would prefer an MMO to be a linear storyline when it could be an open free-range world.

 

anakinsella

Originally posted by Andraxx

Originally posted by anakinsella


The weird thing is I never was a the type to RP in MMORPGs. I've played on an RP server in WoW before, but so few stuck to character (a lot just seemed oblivous to the RP rules) and I always felt like an ameteur when I tried cause there are so many good RP / fan-fic writers out there.
edit: is it true that Moria includes the original game too? Like I don't have to buy both?

MInes of Moria retail box includes the original game "Shadows of Angmar" as well as the new Moria content. You do not have to find the original game.

 

Love it.

With every MMO doing this it seems now, it's pretty obnoxious how Blizz gets away with making you fork out for every expansion as well as vanilla WoW.

 

Lathwin

You have many options open to you in LotRO.  I'm def not a hardcore MMOer by any means so forgive my nubness, but I am a lover of RPGs.  I don't regret getting LotRO for one second.  It has been a blast to play for the last month and is totally addictive to the casual gamer side.  Hardcore folks will probably not get into it as much, but a relaxed casual feel that you can have fun at your own pace is just what I was looking for.  I played WoW for over a year and could never really get into the intensity of the grinding feel.  What new gear can I grind out now....yada yada yada.  I am by no means dogging WoW.  It is a fun game that I enjoyed playing.  I just got tired of the "I'm not getting anywhere" feeling.  I haven't gotten that feeling from LotRO.  Add in the usefulness of their crafting system and I am gold.  Give it a try and I think you will be hooked just like me and my friends.

nitefly

Lord of the Rings: Online is a functioning and very easy game. It has a strictly linear storyline where you are send on a route through the game following sidequests or the overall epic quest. The last one will be the same for all your Characters so replay will be guaranteed if you create more than one character.

It is however not a long journey because a lot of effort has gone into removing the majesty of Middle Earth from the game and instead making it narrow and very shallow. If there weren't captions informing you this was The Shire, or this is Rivendell you would never have guessed. The game world is a simple theatre with static mobs (angry boars/bears/mega bugs/spiders as all other MMOs) strewn all over the place to minimize questing time and make exploration difficult unless you have out-levelled the zone.

Crafting is comparable to World of Warcraft (or Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, or Age of Conan and similar), both are equally uninspired and at the end, just dull farming of materials, choose recipe, click to produce. Repeat until tired.

Character customization is nearly non-existant. If you like Talents from World of Warcraft or Achivements from EverQuest2 you will think you're in a 15 year old game, the customization is that shallow.

There is no RP content, houses are available, but since the world is so small, there is no possibility of really interacting with it, so RP is normally confined to instanced off non-immersed housing zones making the RP a fetischistic endeavour requiring a members card to participate in. "Public" RP is therefore mostly something that happens in Inns but tales around the campfire is often trivialised (as in all static world games) by the fact that everybody has done the same things. In Lord of the Rings: Online this is just enforced more by the presence of only one path through the main story content.

Combat is slow and un-involving compared to for instance City of Heroes, World of Warcraft or EverQuest2. At first this seems weird since they have lots of seemingly interesting moves and a Fellowship Combo system (a watered down version of Heroic Opportunities from EverQuest2) but animations are slow, many moves or class characteristics force a rigid un-moving combat execution which leads to a sense of doing the same thing over and over regardless of opponent.

There are nice things in Lord of the Rings: Online with the music system (your character can learn to play an instrument you as the player can then play) and naming rules that are actually enforced being something that you will miss if you later on go to other games.

Lord of the Rings: Online is not immersive in the sense that you are caught up in the story or are impressed with the creativity of the designers. It is comparable to the Sword & Sorcery books where you are given a few choices and corresponding page numbers to turn to depending on your choice. In Lord of the Rings: Online the choice though, is always "Do next step of Epic quest now or do a sidequest first?"

bodypass

Lord of the Ring books were epic.

The films were epic (even after a few years).

The game alas is not. It was published behind Wow/EQ2 and was an evolution of a MMORPG of 5 years old.

It is NOT because you can see a cut out paper figure of a book character that the in game lore is any good. it begins with the very bad character animations and ends with a rather dull copy of EQ2 and Wow (up and to the latest "invention" of ... fishing).

The game has beautiful views, but this is ... no game play. As of launch the game was badly received and even its new expansion doesn't sell. The same half filled servers as 20 months ago says enough.

The most boring thing is that the two factions can not be played by the players. Only the good guys show up which makes for NO alternate playing styles (Monster gaming is a farce).

It also lacks the now  famous Wow 5 month cycles to keep up with PVE, professions, PvP (non existent in the world) and the AH is lacking because of this.

----

If the Lord of the Ring name wasn't on the box, the game would have long sllipped into oblivion. The fact that it coudn't even beat EVE (only sold on the web) or the apalling War with THIS tremendous epic Lore speaks for tiself.

I NEVER get the impression of running around in Middle Earth. These developpers not only killed this lore btw, but also the fabulous Dungeons and Dragons Lore.

Two of my favorite worlds killed by the same publisher in an EPIC way. Very sad. It was a real disaster when it launched as gameplay was concerned. Little did we know there was even far worse to follow. It is playable as an MMORPG, but only because we now played AoCrap and Borehammer.

In no way it can be compared with Wow though. End game is far to shallow for that. And since WotLK even the leveling is way off now in LOTRO.

6.5/10 after playing it for 2 x 2 months.

 

 

Teiraa

Originally posted by Andraxx

Originally posted by anakinsella


The weird thing is I never was a the type to RP in MMORPGs. I've played on an RP server in WoW before, but so few stuck to character (a lot just seemed oblivous to the RP rules) and I always felt like an ameteur when I tried cause there are so many good RP / fan-fic writers out there.
edit: is it true that Moria includes the original game too? Like I don't have to buy both?

MInes of Moria retail box includes the original game "Shadows of Angmar" as well as the new Moria content. You do not have to find the original game.

 

 

Only true for the US version.

The EU version comes in 2 variants: MoM alone and "MoM Compendium", which includes the base game.

Sovrath

Originally posted by pencilrick

Originally posted by rozenblade1

Originally posted by busdriver


It's not Middle-Earth. It's one giant zoo where every mob is circeling around in its cage, waiting for someone to come kill it for fur/whateva over and over again. It's a place full of fedex-quests, full of magic swords/whateva (magic is supposed to be a rarity in M-E, as far as I remember). Economy is a joke, materials you need to craft some object are often more expensive than the final product (everyone has craft-alts, no use trying to sell anything in auctionhouse. Other than raw mats, that is). Exploring is futile, the whole world is boxed, wonder outside your own little box (your level range) and there are mobs, only a few levels above yours, that you can't even damage. And even if you do manage to kill something higher than you, the loot you get has a level requirement above yours, so you don't really get rewarded for your heroic deed. Sure you can always RP, but since LOTRO offers very little outside quests/grind, it becomes repetitive.
Actual epic questlines are not so bad, graphics are nice, scenery is very nice and there are some places that have certain level of M-E in them, like the Barrow Downs, but mostly it's just another themeparkride.
With this IP particularly, they could have done so much more...

If you at all a fan of the books, you would have enjoyed LotRO, but "whateva" (pssshhh).  Maybe you were getting killed by mobs because your Lvl was too low to begin with, or "whateva"

 

I see busdriver's points.

I was a fan of the books, and I and most fans I knew back in the day loved Middle Earth, not the Lord of the Rings storyline.  Sure, the story was great, but the lure was to be able to dive into and explore Middle Earth, the lure was not to be an actor following some preset storyline.

I cannot imagine why anyone would prefer an MMO to be a linear storyline when it could be an open free-range world.

 

 

Well, it sort of is an open free range world. I just don't think players know how to play this way.

I constantly hear "they dev's put us on train tracks and there is a linnear storyline", etc.

Well, don't play the linnear storyline. Because it requires a lot of grouping and sometimes longer hours, I've not gone beyond book 8. I've only done whatever quests I've come across, exploring (which leads to grinding mobs) and working on traits, which I find relaxing.

Even though I wish all areas were open to all players with or without corresponding quests (I've run across caves or dungeons where you needed to be on a particular quest in order to enter) one can go any place that they want. You don't even have to do the main storyline if you don't want.

Theocritus

Originally posted by Analyser


To me this middle earth never was immersive, as it limits me far too much - the quests are linear with no options choices or sidewalks. I only felt like a spectator, never like an actor in this story.
At the end it was just another grind.

 

      This is kinda how I felt....The first time I did one of the books I enjoyed it but the quests get boring very quikckly....I came to LoTRO after I quit WoW and really it jsut felt like a continuation of the same game but with different lore.......I was never thrilled with any of my characters and all the running in the game drove me crazy after awhile..... My highest character got to 38 before  I couldnt stand logging in anymore and left with over 3 months of unplayed time left on my sub........By the time I finished LoTRO I never wanted to see another quest again....it is just too quest driven and there is zero incentive to go find a camp in this game..... If you are a huge fan of the books/movies then you may really enjoy and have a game for a long time but beware alot of people burn out on this game fairly quickly........Not only myself but many of my friends left also.

Sovrath

Originally posted by Theocritus

Originally posted by Analyser


To me this middle earth never was immersive, as it limits me far too much - the quests are linear with no options choices or sidewalks. I only felt like a spectator, never like an actor in this story.
At the end it was just another grind.

 

      This is kinda how I felt....The first time I did one of the books I enjoyed it but the quests get boring very quikckly....I came to LoTRO after I quit WoW and really it jsut felt like a continuation of the same game but with different lore.......I was never thrilled with any of my characters and all the running in the game drove me crazy after awhile..... My highest character got to 38 before  I couldnt stand logging in anymore and left with over 3 months of unplayed time left on my sub........By the time I finished LoTRO I never wanted to see another quest again....it is just too quest driven and there is zero incentive to go find a camp in this game..... If you are a huge fan of the books/movies then you may really enjoy and have a game for a long time but beware alot of people burn out on this game fairly quickly........Not only myself but many of my friends left also.

 

I think that's because people play the game in a way that is just incongrous to the playstyle of the game.

I remember when the game went live and I saw so many people just grinding levels on mobs. I was surprised.

I saw so many people rush through to the top and then blink and realize there was nothing there. It's as if players have attributed previous mmo game playstyles to LOTRO.

Sure, you could grind to the top but what are you going to do? How many times are you going to do the few raids that are in the game. And Monster Play doesn't appeal to people who want hardcore pvp and it doesn't appeal to people who don't want to pvp.

This game really is about the journey.

There are many different ways to quest up and I suppose you could just grind up if you want. But if you can't immerse yourself in the smaller stories or make up stories on your own then players will be at a loss.

I can't tell you how many times I've enjoyed just going into goblin town solo and seeing how far I could get. Now I have Moria to do that with.

I think if a players is to play LOTRO they need to understand the strengths and weaknesses and they need to know why they are playing.

pencilrick

A journey in a linear world is just a single patth, pretty much, and gets older with each repetition.

A journey in an open world feels more immersive and worthwhile, and can be repeated a few times while still retaining freshness just by taking a few steps in a different direction.

While "the journey" is the core of immersiveness in MMO's, a linear journey is an illusion.

anakinsella

I have no problem with linear questlines in an MMO - from someone who grew up on MMOs that just expected you to go out and kill beasts for hours and hours, I'll take any storyline, so long as it's good.

I don't expect LOTRO to be a sandbox game. I just want the writing to be good and be immersive, something WoW lacks. You get immersed in the grind of WoW and every little thing you feel like you have to rush to finish, but I never actually felt immersed in the story, nor cared about what was going on.

 

Well I was lucky enough to snag a free trial, and I think my fiancee is getting me Mines of Moria for Xmas After reading about the expansion stuff, I'm pretty excited. Warden sounds like a blast.

Arndur

Originally posted by bodypass


Lord of the Ring books were epic.
The films were epic (even after a few years).
The game alas is not. It was published behind Wow/EQ2 and was an evolution of a MMORPG of 5 years old.
It is NOT because you can see a cut out paper figure of a book character that the in game lore is any good. it begins with the very bad character animations and ends with a rather dull copy of EQ2 and Wow (up and to the latest "invention" of ... fishing).
The game has beautiful views, but this is ... no game play. As of launch the game was badly received and even its new expansion doesn't sell. The same half filled servers as 20 months ago says enough.
The most boring thing is that the two factions can not be played by the players. Only the good guys show up which makes for NO alternate playing styles (Monster gaming is a farce).
It also lacks the now  famous Wow 5 month cycles to keep up with PVE, professions, PvP (non existent in the world) and the AH is lacking because of this.
----
If the Lord of the Ring name wasn't on the box, the game would have long sllipped into oblivion. The fact that it coudn't even beat EVE (only sold on the web) or the apalling War with THIS tremendous epic Lore speaks for tiself.
I NEVER get the impression of running around in Middle Earth. These developpers not only killed this lore btw, but also the fabulous Dungeons and Dragons Lore.
Two of my favorite worlds killed by the same publisher in an EPIC way. Very sad. It was a real disaster when it launched as gameplay was concerned. Little did we know there was even far worse to follow. It is playable as an MMORPG, but only because we now played AoCrap and Borehammer.
In no way it can be compared with Wow though. End game is far to shallow for that. And since WotLK even the leveling is way off now in LOTRO.
6.5/10 after playing it for 2 x 2 months.
 
 

 

Well most of the servers are going up pop wise with the x-pac. I feel very much part of the lore. LOTRO lore is very strict. They couldn't just let us wander to do what ever we wanted because they would have to lock us out of stuff that would mess with lore. We couldn't go with the fellowship. We couldn't go to places that they had already gotten rid of things for, and they wipe out a lot of the evil stuff with the start of the 4th age. So why could we be orcs and such when they all lose in the end. That would be killing lore. "O look I play for the losing side, Im cool" Also when I finaly got ot Tom's house I loved every second of that chain in book 1.

I get the impresion that I am in Middle Earth. I recongize the places from the books and love being a part of that. The animations are not so bad and the grahpics are amazing. I think the people wh opost the most negative reviews will never be pleased they will find something wrong with every game becuase their "perfect game" would most likely fit a very small group of peoples wishes compared to what is done.