Cause this site is full of people who hate WoW, otherwise WoW woulda won.
QFT
That is the only reason LOTR won. A poll like the one on this site is based on a game's popularity and reputation and not on how good the game actually is.
Playing: EVE Online Favorite MMOs: WoW, SWG Pre-cu, Lineage 2, UO, EQ, EVE online Looking forward to: Archeage, Kingdom Under Fire 2 KUF2's Official Website - http://www.kufii.com/ENG/ -
Originally posted by gestalt11 I am pretty sure his numbers are wrong for LOTRO and while Xfire is ok for seeing population trends to some degree but it is simply not usuable for esitmating population.
As for whether or not it copied WoW. It did exactly what what WoW did to EQ1. It made a game that is mostly similar and then refined a number of features. For example the raiding and gear progression of LOTRO was purposely tuned so that loot whores don't mess with the fanbase which among other things has lead to a happier fanbase. Same thing with crafting, they made it less of a joke as far as product is concerned. They altered how travel works. The flight from Moonglade to the Tauren captial was retardedly long towards no purpose. Turbine never inflicts 10 minute rides on people they added fast travel. Yet they also enforce normal "immersive" rides for many things and an unlock mechanism to negate the teleport all over the place at will problem.
Secondly anyone who believes that LOTRO has not added a number of features that other games did not or still do not have are being willfully blind. Just the ability to create outfits is a huge thing that WoW has not had for years. Add in housing and various other things. Turbine's games look much better than the other DIKU MMOs and they are the only DIKU MMO that supports DX10 having done so well before AoC.
All of which make the player base happy. They don't satisfy loot whores but things like the look of your character are extremely important to a lot of people. Take it from me I don't care much so I make sure I pay attention to other people's reactions to it. Its a big thing .
LOTRO are has clearly done a better job than WoW. And as far as what they did to make their game they did eactly what Blizzard did. Anyone calling them a WoW clone and then ignoring EQ1 is a dumbass. Anyone ignoring the fairly large number of features they have that other similar games have either declined to do or done not as well is being willfully blind. Yeah EQ2 has housing, but LOTRO's is better. WoW does not have housing. etc etc.
While most of what you say is true, you are mostly incorrect. I know that statement sounds crazy, but follow me here.
First I think lotro is a fine game and I understand it won best game here. Nothing wrong with that and personally I understand why. Good launch, good support, etc etc.
However it is a clone game to a larger degree than most other games have been with their inspiration. Yes wow cloned eq, but when you play each of those two games you get a drastically different feel. While underneath they share similarities, they are very dissimilar in many aspects.
When you play lotro it only takes a few hours to get the feeling that you have already done everything the game has to offer if you have played wow. The gameplay is extremely similar. Sure there are a few new mechanics and systems sprinkled in the game, but for the majority of gameplay it is exactly like wows quest driven level system.
Now there isn't anything wrong with that. Like I said lotro is a fine game, but lets not overlook the roots of what it is based off of and how similar it plays. I personally think that is why this game isn't bigger than it is right now. It just failed to attract people who have already been there done that with this type of game.
Cause this site is full of people who hate WoW, otherwise WoW woulda won.
QFT
That is the only reason LOTR won. A poll like the one on this site is based on a game's popularity and reputation and not on how good the game actually is.
Can you please define what the difference is between a game's popularity/reputation and how good it actually is?
I am not being sarcastic, I am genuinely interested to see if you or anyone can do it. I don't think anyone can. Mainly because at least a potion of a game's quality is based upon what people like. You may be able to say a game fits some kind of model well, but fitting a model does not make it good. Its just makes it "correct".
I can define when a game is flawed to some extent. For example WAR has a certain logica flaws in its RVR and old EQ travel times were flawed when smoohsed into its content model. But that is nto the same thing.
Originally posted by gestalt11 I am pretty sure his numbers are wrong for LOTRO and while Xfire is ok for seeing population trends to some degree but it is simply not usuable for esitmating population.
As for whether or not it copied WoW. It did exactly what what WoW did to EQ1. It made a game that is mostly similar and then refined a number of features. For example the raiding and gear progression of LOTRO was purposely tuned so that loot whores don't mess with the fanbase which among other things has lead to a happier fanbase. Same thing with crafting, they made it less of a joke as far as product is concerned. They altered how travel works. The flight from Moonglade to the Tauren captial was retardedly long towards no purpose. Turbine never inflicts 10 minute rides on people they added fast travel. Yet they also enforce normal "immersive" rides for many things and an unlock mechanism to negate the teleport all over the place at will problem.
Secondly anyone who believes that LOTRO has not added a number of features that other games did not or still do not have are being willfully blind. Just the ability to create outfits is a huge thing that WoW has not had for years. Add in housing and various other things. Turbine's games look much better than the other DIKU MMOs and they are the only DIKU MMO that supports DX10 having done so well before AoC.
All of which make the player base happy. They don't satisfy loot whores but things like the look of your character are extremely important to a lot of people. Take it from me I don't care much so I make sure I pay attention to other people's reactions to it. Its a big thing .
LOTRO are has clearly done a better job than WoW. And as far as what they did to make their game they did eactly what Blizzard did. Anyone calling them a WoW clone and then ignoring EQ1 is a dumbass. Anyone ignoring the fairly large number of features they have that other similar games have either declined to do or done not as well is being willfully blind. Yeah EQ2 has housing, but LOTRO's is better. WoW does not have housing. etc etc.
While most of what you say is true, you are mostly incorrect. I know that statement sounds crazy, but follow me here.
First I think lotro is a fine game and I understand it won best game here. Nothing wrong with that and personally I understand why. Good launch, good support, etc etc.
However it is a clone game to a larger degree than most other games have been with their inspiration. Yes wow cloned eq, but when you play each of those two games you get a drastically different feel. While underneath they share similarities, they are very dissimilar in many aspects.
When you play lotro it only takes a few hours to get the feeling that you have already done everything the game has to offer if you have played wow. The gameplay is extremely similar. Sure there are a few new mechanics and systems sprinkled in the game, but for the majority of gameplay it is exactly like wows quest driven level system.
Now there isn't anything wrong with that. Like I said lotro is a fine game, but lets not overlook the roots of what it is based off of and how similar it plays. I personally think that is why this game isn't bigger than it is right now. It just failed to attract people who have already been there done that with this type of game.
That is certainly a valid point. But I think it is a point without a distinction because this is "all relative". Normally I detest the relativity argument. But in this particular case I think it is relevant and meaningful.
I personally have very little difference in feel of gameplay between all the DIKU MMOs (EQ, DAOC, LOTRO, WOW, WAR etc).
I am 100% certain (because i have seen them post it) that we can find people who will say it does feel substantially different.
You are between me and those other people. There is clearly a fairly broad spectrum. Perhaps its a bell curve or something and most people agree with you. I do not know. But there is clearly a spectrum.
If I want different gameplay from LOTRO I play DDO or CoX or Jumpgate, I certainly do not play WAR or EQ.
This is kind of a silly argument. While Wow is the king of MMO's it is most certainly not the best. Lotro runs better has better graphics and a better story line. One of the best kept secrets in the MMO genre.
Cause this site is full of people who hate WoW, otherwise WoW woulda won.
QFT
That is the only reason LOTR won. A poll like the one on this site is based on a game's popularity and reputation and not on how good the game actually is.
Can you please define what the difference is between a game's popularity/reputation and how good it actually is?
I am not being sarcastic, I am genuinely interested to see if you or anyone can do it. I don't think anyone can. Mainly because at least a potion of a game's quality is based upon what people like. You may be able to say a game fits some kind of model well, but fitting a model does not make it good. Its just makes it "correct".
I can define when a game is flawed to some extent. For example WAR has a certain logica flaws in its RVR and old EQ travel times were flawed when smoohsed into its content model. But that is nto the same thing.
well like i said on a site with a small community, a game's popularity and reputation differs from the world's mmorpg community. TBH there is no difference if we were talking about the world community. But for smaller ones, they can be biased and depending on how popular it is in that small community determines on wether or not the real "best mmorpg" wins.
for example lets say chocolate is the best tasteing and most popular candy in the world. But you go to a website with a small community and they vote for hard candy being the best tasteing candy in the world.
Playing: EVE Online Favorite MMOs: WoW, SWG Pre-cu, Lineage 2, UO, EQ, EVE online Looking forward to: Archeage, Kingdom Under Fire 2 KUF2's Official Website - http://www.kufii.com/ENG/ -
Some things can be well designed, enjoyable and popular and still not be the best in its class.
============================== Currently Playing: Lord of the Rings Online since original Open Beta, Atlantica Online Waiting On: Knights of the Old Republic, Aion Played: World of Warcraft (3 years), Ultima Online (2 years), EvE Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lineage, Perfect World
Originally posted by zspawn It's like the whole fuss oh WOTLK's phasing system as if is the new sliced bread.. Newsflash in 2007 LOTRO has phasing as early as when you started the game as a Man (Archet was a normal city -> after end of introduction it was burned down and stays that way throughout the game)
I was under the impression that the pre/post Archet were just separate instances. If I recall right, players at those two different stages in the story do not occupy the same physical game space, but rather seperate instances/zones of archet. There is also a loading screen. That is not phasing as far as I know it.
Phasing as a functional concept was much better than anything else released this year in terms of how it may impact future mmos. By that I mean a tool that game developers can use to create better mmos with.
This is kind of a silly argument. While Wow is the king of MMO's it is most certainly not the best. Lotro runs better has better graphics and a better story line. One of the best kept secrets in the MMO genre.
How is it a secret? I see Lotro game boxes right next to all the other mmo boxes at game stores. Even online retails tend to list other mmos in the "you might also enjoy" section when you do a game search.
LoTRO is a mediocre game at best....With it winning an award like this it speaks volumes as to where the genre is at now....It also shows that it is ripe for change and that change is badly needed (and dont say Darkfall)........2008 was not a very good year for MMOs and its up to us to quit putting up with games like AoC and WAR and demanding better games......It seems the interest is there as far as customers go (over a million beta apps in both AoC and WAR) but the companies are not deliviring...... LoTRO has some unique things but overall did not do enough to seperate itself from WoW.......It feels too much like WOW in the gameplay and the feel of the game.
LoTRO is a mediocre game at best....With it winning an award like this it speaks volumes as to where the genre is at now....It also shows that it is ripe for change and that change is badly needed (and dont say Darkfall)........2008 was not a very good year for MMOs and its up to us to quit putting up with games like AoC and WAR and demanding better games......It seems the interest is there as far as customers go (over a million beta apps in both AoC and WAR) but the companies are not deliviring...... LoTRO has some unique things but overall did not do enough to seperate itself from WoW.......It feels too much like WOW in the gameplay and the feel of the game.
Let's see ... LOTRO is the closest to WO in gameplay & feel, and not only it is the GOTY, it is a pretty good commercial success (although no where close to WOW).
Other games like Tabula Rasa, AOC & WAR flopped.
Who says WOW clones cannot be successful? It looks like the best thing next to wow is a wow clone (LOTRO).
All these other games fail because they are not WOW enough .. particularly in the solo-friendly polish dept.
So does that means that developers should do MORE wow clones than less?
LoTRO is a mediocre game at best....With it winning an award like this it speaks volumes as to where the genre is at now....It also shows that it is ripe for change and that change is badly needed (and dont say Darkfall)........2008 was not a very good year for MMOs and its up to us to quit putting up with games like AoC and WAR and demanding better games......It seems the interest is there as far as customers go (over a million beta apps in both AoC and WAR) but the companies are not deliviring...... LoTRO has some unique things but overall did not do enough to seperate itself from WoW.......It feels too much like WOW in the gameplay and the feel of the game.
Let's see ... LOTRO is the closest to WO in gameplay & feel, and not only it is the GOTY, it is a pretty good commercial success (although no where close to WOW).
Other games like Tabula Rasa, AOC & WAR flopped.
Who says WOW clones cannot be successful? It looks like the best thing next to wow is a wow clone (LOTRO).
All these other games fail because they are not WOW enough .. particularly in the solo-friendly polish dept.
So does that means that developers should do MORE wow clones than less?
Just for the record, I'm betting that WAR has more subs than LOTRO. Now it may be less than they hoped for, but I bet that's true for LOTRO too, especially considering the stature of the IP. Tabula Rasa, AOC and WAR all had problems because they were all released before they were really finished, no doubt because their publishers forced them to. Had these games had all the features promised before release, I bet they would be doing well. It's not a design issue at all.
And to the OP: LOTRO won with 13% of the vote, which means that 87% of the voters here prefer something else. Are you just suprised that we all have different personal tastes?
The reality is very few best sellers are declared best overall product. The best selling English book ever is A Tale of Two Cities with 200 million copies sold. Is it the best book ever? Titanic made nearly $2 billion. Is it the best movie ever? The top three games sold in 2008 were: #1 Wii Play (Wii) -- 5,280,000
#3 Wii Fit (Wii) -- 4,530,000 Were those the best games of 2008? The examples go on and on. Some things can be well designed, enjoyable and popular and still not be the best in its class.
There IS a difference with paid MMORPG's ...
A big difference: you have to PAY a MONTHLY subscription just to play it.
So "sales" are not even considered here.
People - about 5 million - in the US/and EU are paying EACH month to play it.
The rest is at 250K or far under...
That is the RATING system of paid MMORPG's, not some initial "sales ticket" of a 7 buck film you watch or a 6 buck book you read.
Think about that and than come back and see ... that on this WoW - hating site .... 600 people voted for LOTRO on a .... World Wide Web site.
A game without Flying over real 3D worlds (I am talking personal flying mounts here - not flight paths), you guys have NO idea what the difference is with creating such a FULL 3D world and a FAKE 3D world pasted with border mountains.
a game without changing worlds all over the place in its end game (phasing),
a game without real underwater worlds, a game without Siege systems, complete collapsable buildings, tanks, catapults with HUNDREDS of PvP players combat -
Good God, 600 people think it is still the best, altough it lacks all this. 600 people on the world internet. That should say enough already about the credibility and the real number of players this site has...
I think the fact that LotrO doesnt have flying mounts and underwater worlds is some of the reasons why I think its a better game
WoW on the other hand have no player housing, no guild housing, no outfit system, no conjunctions, no destiny points, no monster play, no session play, no epic quest line, no player music, no legendary items etc...
WoW and LotrO are 2 different games and some like one of them more than the other and on this site more readers voted for LotrO than WoW... is it that hard to understand?
And basicly all Blizzard does is making WoW more like LotrO so it seems like Turibne most be doing something right
If WoW = The Beatles and WAR = Led Zeppelin Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
I am puzzled that people can’t except such a fine game won. The majority of people here thought it the best MMO of 2008, swallow that bitter pill and try to get some sleep at night.
And yes it gives some hope that the old fashioned MMORPG model (LotR is a hybrid) may make a comeback.
Theres limited grouping, Most of the time theres no reason to group, all gear is craftable. It maybe have a good story but thats about it. It falls into the norm, how the hell did it win best game?
Because its just a wrongly labled popularity contest. It should be called 'Most popular game among MMORPG.com poll voters'
If a game is a 'dumbed down MMO' according to you, it doesnt mean its not entertaining for most players.
It is encouraging that games more truer to the testament of mmorpgs
still are flying the flag for the genre.
The meaning of the word MMORPG is much broader then the features that LOTRO offer. I dont see any need for the kind of restricting lable you use. Im glad that gamedevelopers tend to be less conservative (to bad the publishers dont agree).
Its like saying that car is red, so red is the colour of all cars.
I was gonna post on what Zorndorf said but if you check out his recent posts...Not worth it.
Just tell us Zorf, who are you trying to convince that Lotro sux ? Us or yourself ? :P
If people play it and like it apparently it doesn't suck for them now, does it ?
Stop bashing games and start playin them
I mean cmon "WOTLK gets the best reviews of an MMORPG ever: 9.3 average score" was your latest thread?
Give it a rest
People like you is what killing MMOs mostly, not the companies.
Perfect example of how people like you make WoW annoying to play.
That is one part where Lotro is much better than WoW - People quality (on average)
And you just proved it with your ridiculous threads
(But ofc there's people who are decent in WoW let's not generalise).
I strongly believe that a game is either good or bad but only as much as you enjoy it (which of us didn't enjoy some old school BAD console game and just saw a review of 5 out of 10 on most sites?)
Links provided to recent threads just to see what I'm talking about lol
LOTRO is just a bad WOW clone with no real PVP. There is no reason to play LOTRO over WOW. Unfortunately it was such a bad year in MMORPGS, it was the least terrible MMORPG released in 2008.
Unbelievable that some are still trying to push LOTRO over here. 600 votes (with alts) on this Wow hating site and they even begin to have pretention.
LOTRO has 200 K subs - at best - and everyone agreed upon relaese it was a dead duck compared to Wow while still being a very stiff animated Wow clone without PvP.
The SAME 11 underpopulated EU servers as of launch are a tribute to the very poor results after almost 2 years now. Oh full 5 of them are English - hardly populated.
-----
Comparing "housing" with the gigantic programming effort a real 3D world you can fly and land anywhere you want is already enough to show you don't have a clue what the difference is between a terribly animated copy cat product and seamless open worlds.
The best I thought was when you stated LotrO has "monsterplay". What a laugh.
Open world PvP with huge destructable fortresses and catapults will never see the day of light in Lotro, despite the books and film scenes.
I wonder even HOW they could call it LotR, because without any underwater scenes how in the world DID they find the Ring.
ROFL.
LOTRO could have flight and undersea components - IF IT MADE SENSE TO DO SO.
In Lord of the Rings "flying mounts" were rare and kept to the fell beasts of the Nazgul. And no Gandalf riding Gwaihir does not count.
And finding a ring in the water should justify vast underwater worlds? Please.
Just because one game has something doesn't mean every game should.
And that is one of the reasons why LOTRO is surviving so well. They are spending their development money wisely without adding unnecessary components that will end up buggy and ineffiently used. People respect the hard work Turbine has done with the game.
============================== Currently Playing: Lord of the Rings Online since original Open Beta, Atlantica Online Waiting On: Knights of the Old Republic, Aion Played: World of Warcraft (3 years), Ultima Online (2 years), EvE Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lineage, Perfect World
LOTRO is just a bad WOW clone with no real PVP. There is no reason to play LOTRO over WOW. Unfortunately it was such a bad year in MMORPGS, it was the least terrible MMORPG released in 2008.
Even if I believe Lotro and WoW are both good games regarding the "No reason to play LOTRO over WOW"
I can give you several:
a) Lore - more consistent than "killing all major characters"
b) Looks better and runs better than WoW right now
c) PVE is better regarding immersion and not just a raidfest
d) Crafting is better -> Thus economy is better (no daily quests ain't exactly considered economy sorry)
e) I don't have to pay gold just to get a rank up of a spell - Every 2 levels in LOTRO you get something "NEW"
f) The community is better and in general its more helpful + mature (this applies to other MMOs as well)
g) It has a music system and an outfit system. Also has a lot of titles for a lot of things, ability to have a surname.
h) Not as strict cookie cutter party forming (WoW isnt THAT strict nowadays either but still I find Lotro more flexible on this)
I think I gave you enough reasons.
Regarding PvP , for some of us it just doesn't matter. As it would be stupid to say there's no reason to play WoW over LOTRO cause it doesn't have a music system. If you care about that it matters but not in general appeal...
Even if I believe Lotro and WoW are both good games regarding the "No reason to play LOTRO over WOW"
I can give you several: a) Lore - more consistent than "killing all major characters" b) Looks better and runs better than WoW right now c) PVE is better regarding immersion and not just a raidfest d) Crafting is better -> Thus economy is better (no daily quests ain't exactly considered economy sorry) e) I don't have to pay gold just to get a rank up of a spell - Every 2 levels in LOTRO you get something "NEW" f) The community is better and in general its more helpful + mature (this applies to other MMOs as well) g) It has a music system and an outfit system. Also has a lot of titles for a lot of things, ability to have a surname. h) Not as strict cookie cutter party forming (WoW isnt THAT strict nowadays either but still I find Lotro more flexible on this)
I think I gave you enough reasons. Regarding PvP , for some of us it just doesn't matter. As it would be stupid to say there's no reason to play WoW over LOTRO cause it doesn't have a music system. If you care about that it matters but not in general appeal...
most people care about gameplay, not lore. But if all u care about is lore and playing a musical instrument, yea LOTRO is better. Because everything else in WOW is better.
Comments
QFT
That is the only reason LOTR won. A poll like the one on this site is based on a game's popularity and reputation and not on how good the game actually is.
Playing: EVE Online
Favorite MMOs: WoW, SWG Pre-cu, Lineage 2, UO, EQ, EVE online
Looking forward to: Archeage, Kingdom Under Fire 2
KUF2's Official Website - http://www.kufii.com/ENG/ -
While most of what you say is true, you are mostly incorrect. I know that statement sounds crazy, but follow me here.
First I think lotro is a fine game and I understand it won best game here. Nothing wrong with that and personally I understand why. Good launch, good support, etc etc.
However it is a clone game to a larger degree than most other games have been with their inspiration. Yes wow cloned eq, but when you play each of those two games you get a drastically different feel. While underneath they share similarities, they are very dissimilar in many aspects.
When you play lotro it only takes a few hours to get the feeling that you have already done everything the game has to offer if you have played wow. The gameplay is extremely similar. Sure there are a few new mechanics and systems sprinkled in the game, but for the majority of gameplay it is exactly like wows quest driven level system.
Now there isn't anything wrong with that. Like I said lotro is a fine game, but lets not overlook the roots of what it is based off of and how similar it plays. I personally think that is why this game isn't bigger than it is right now. It just failed to attract people who have already been there done that with this type of game.
QFT
That is the only reason LOTR won. A poll like the one on this site is based on a game's popularity and reputation and not on how good the game actually is.
Can you please define what the difference is between a game's popularity/reputation and how good it actually is?
I am not being sarcastic, I am genuinely interested to see if you or anyone can do it. I don't think anyone can. Mainly because at least a potion of a game's quality is based upon what people like. You may be able to say a game fits some kind of model well, but fitting a model does not make it good. Its just makes it "correct".
I can define when a game is flawed to some extent. For example WAR has a certain logica flaws in its RVR and old EQ travel times were flawed when smoohsed into its content model. But that is nto the same thing.
While most of what you say is true, you are mostly incorrect. I know that statement sounds crazy, but follow me here.
First I think lotro is a fine game and I understand it won best game here. Nothing wrong with that and personally I understand why. Good launch, good support, etc etc.
However it is a clone game to a larger degree than most other games have been with their inspiration. Yes wow cloned eq, but when you play each of those two games you get a drastically different feel. While underneath they share similarities, they are very dissimilar in many aspects.
When you play lotro it only takes a few hours to get the feeling that you have already done everything the game has to offer if you have played wow. The gameplay is extremely similar. Sure there are a few new mechanics and systems sprinkled in the game, but for the majority of gameplay it is exactly like wows quest driven level system.
Now there isn't anything wrong with that. Like I said lotro is a fine game, but lets not overlook the roots of what it is based off of and how similar it plays. I personally think that is why this game isn't bigger than it is right now. It just failed to attract people who have already been there done that with this type of game.
That is certainly a valid point. But I think it is a point without a distinction because this is "all relative". Normally I detest the relativity argument. But in this particular case I think it is relevant and meaningful.
I personally have very little difference in feel of gameplay between all the DIKU MMOs (EQ, DAOC, LOTRO, WOW, WAR etc).
I am 100% certain (because i have seen them post it) that we can find people who will say it does feel substantially different.
You are between me and those other people. There is clearly a fairly broad spectrum. Perhaps its a bell curve or something and most people agree with you. I do not know. But there is clearly a spectrum.
If I want different gameplay from LOTRO I play DDO or CoX or Jumpgate, I certainly do not play WAR or EQ.
This is kind of a silly argument. While Wow is the king of MMO's it is most certainly not the best. Lotro runs better has better graphics and a better story line. One of the best kept secrets in the MMO genre.
QFT
That is the only reason LOTR won. A poll like the one on this site is based on a game's popularity and reputation and not on how good the game actually is.
Can you please define what the difference is between a game's popularity/reputation and how good it actually is?
I am not being sarcastic, I am genuinely interested to see if you or anyone can do it. I don't think anyone can. Mainly because at least a potion of a game's quality is based upon what people like. You may be able to say a game fits some kind of model well, but fitting a model does not make it good. Its just makes it "correct".
I can define when a game is flawed to some extent. For example WAR has a certain logica flaws in its RVR and old EQ travel times were flawed when smoohsed into its content model. But that is nto the same thing.
well like i said on a site with a small community, a game's popularity and reputation differs from the world's mmorpg community. TBH there is no difference if we were talking about the world community. But for smaller ones, they can be biased and depending on how popular it is in that small community determines on wether or not the real "best mmorpg" wins.
for example lets say chocolate is the best tasteing and most popular candy in the world. But you go to a website with a small community and they vote for hard candy being the best tasteing candy in the world.
Playing: EVE Online
Favorite MMOs: WoW, SWG Pre-cu, Lineage 2, UO, EQ, EVE online
Looking forward to: Archeage, Kingdom Under Fire 2
KUF2's Official Website - http://www.kufii.com/ENG/ -
Simply put. LOTRO is one of the best games we are not playing (the other being EvE)
MMORPG Characters immortalized!
LLyncu: Star Wars Galaxies (Chimaera)
Xiode: Age of Conan (Mannanan)
The reality is very few best sellers are declared best overall product.
The best selling English book ever is A Tale of Two Cities with 200 million copies sold. Is it the best book ever?
Titanic made nearly $2 billion. Is it the best movie ever?
The top three games sold in 2008 were:
#1 Wii Play (Wii) -- 5,280,000
#2 Mario Kart Wii (Wii) -- 5,000,000
#3 Wii Fit (Wii) -- 4,530,000
Were those the best games of 2008?
The examples go on and on.
Some things can be well designed, enjoyable and popular and still not be the best in its class.
==============================
Currently Playing: Lord of the Rings Online since original Open Beta, Atlantica Online
Waiting On: Knights of the Old Republic, Aion
Played: World of Warcraft (3 years), Ultima Online (2 years), EvE Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lineage, Perfect World
Exactly
I was under the impression that the pre/post Archet were just separate instances. If I recall right, players at those two different stages in the story do not occupy the same physical game space, but rather seperate instances/zones of archet. There is also a loading screen. That is not phasing as far as I know it.
Phasing as a functional concept was much better than anything else released this year in terms of how it may impact future mmos. By that I mean a tool that game developers can use to create better mmos with.
How is it a secret? I see Lotro game boxes right next to all the other mmo boxes at game stores. Even online retails tend to list other mmos in the "you might also enjoy" section when you do a game search.
LoTRO is a mediocre game at best....With it winning an award like this it speaks volumes as to where the genre is at now....It also shows that it is ripe for change and that change is badly needed (and dont say Darkfall)........2008 was not a very good year for MMOs and its up to us to quit putting up with games like AoC and WAR and demanding better games......It seems the interest is there as far as customers go (over a million beta apps in both AoC and WAR) but the companies are not deliviring...... LoTRO has some unique things but overall did not do enough to seperate itself from WoW.......It feels too much like WOW in the gameplay and the feel of the game.
Let's see ... LOTRO is the closest to WO in gameplay & feel, and not only it is the GOTY, it is a pretty good commercial success (although no where close to WOW).
Other games like Tabula Rasa, AOC & WAR flopped.
Who says WOW clones cannot be successful? It looks like the best thing next to wow is a wow clone (LOTRO).
All these other games fail because they are not WOW enough .. particularly in the solo-friendly polish dept.
So does that means that developers should do MORE wow clones than less?
Let's see ... LOTRO is the closest to WO in gameplay & feel, and not only it is the GOTY, it is a pretty good commercial success (although no where close to WOW).
Other games like Tabula Rasa, AOC & WAR flopped.
Who says WOW clones cannot be successful? It looks like the best thing next to wow is a wow clone (LOTRO).
All these other games fail because they are not WOW enough .. particularly in the solo-friendly polish dept.
So does that means that developers should do MORE wow clones than less?
Just for the record, I'm betting that WAR has more subs than LOTRO. Now it may be less than they hoped for, but I bet that's true for LOTRO too, especially considering the stature of the IP. Tabula Rasa, AOC and WAR all had problems because they were all released before they were really finished, no doubt because their publishers forced them to. Had these games had all the features promised before release, I bet they would be doing well. It's not a design issue at all.
And to the OP: LOTRO won with 13% of the vote, which means that 87% of the voters here prefer something else. Are you just suprised that we all have different personal tastes?
There IS a difference with paid MMORPG's ...
A big difference: you have to PAY a MONTHLY subscription just to play it.
So "sales" are not even considered here.
People - about 5 million - in the US/and EU are paying EACH month to play it.
The rest is at 250K or far under...
That is the RATING system of paid MMORPG's, not some initial "sales ticket" of a 7 buck film you watch or a 6 buck book you read.
Think about that and than come back and see ... that on this WoW - hating site .... 600 people voted for LOTRO on a .... World Wide Web site.
A game without Flying over real 3D worlds (I am talking personal flying mounts here - not flight paths), you guys have NO idea what the difference is with creating such a FULL 3D world and a FAKE 3D world pasted with border mountains.
a game without changing worlds all over the place in its end game (phasing),
a game without real underwater worlds, a game without Siege systems, complete collapsable buildings, tanks, catapults with HUNDREDS of PvP players combat -
Good God, 600 people think it is still the best, altough it lacks all this. 600 people on the world internet. That should say enough already about the credibility and the real number of players this site has...
I think the fact that LotrO doesnt have flying mounts and underwater worlds is some of the reasons why I think its a better game
WoW on the other hand have no player housing, no guild housing, no outfit system, no conjunctions, no destiny points, no monster play, no session play, no epic quest line, no player music, no legendary items etc...
WoW and LotrO are 2 different games and some like one of them more than the other and on this site more readers voted for LotrO than WoW... is it that hard to understand?
And basicly all Blizzard does is making WoW more like LotrO so it seems like Turibne most be doing something right
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
It is encouraging that games more truer to the testament of mmorpgs
still are flying the flag for the genre.
I am puzzled that people can’t except such a fine game won. The majority of people here thought it the best MMO of 2008, swallow that bitter pill and try to get some sleep at night.
And yes it gives some hope that the old fashioned MMORPG model (LotR is a hybrid) may make a comeback.
Because its just a wrongly labled popularity contest. It should be called 'Most popular game among MMORPG.com poll voters'
If a game is a 'dumbed down MMO' according to you, it doesnt mean its not entertaining for most players.
The meaning of the word MMORPG is much broader then the features that LOTRO offer. I dont see any need for the kind of restricting lable you use. Im glad that gamedevelopers tend to be less conservative (to bad the publishers dont agree).
Its like saying that car is red, so red is the colour of all cars.
Edit: stupid english words!
I'll go with this one.
Every game on the ballot had equal opportunity, LotRO had more votes because the community took the time to vote.
Easy Peasy.
DarkFall FAQ - Read then Question with Boldness
I was gonna post on what Zorndorf said but if you check out his recent posts...Not worth it.
Just tell us Zorf, who are you trying to convince that Lotro sux ? Us or yourself ? :P
If people play it and like it apparently it doesn't suck for them now, does it ?
Stop bashing games and start playin them
I mean cmon "WOTLK gets the best reviews of an MMORPG ever: 9.3 average score" was your latest thread?
Give it a rest
People like you is what killing MMOs mostly, not the companies.
Perfect example of how people like you make WoW annoying to play.
That is one part where Lotro is much better than WoW - People quality (on average)
And you just proved it with your ridiculous threads
(But ofc there's people who are decent in WoW let's not generalise).
I strongly believe that a game is either good or bad but only as much as you enjoy it (which of us didn't enjoy some old school BAD console game and just saw a review of 5 out of 10 on most sites?)
Links provided to recent threads just to see what I'm talking about lol
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/214649
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/215051
LOTRO is just a bad WOW clone with no real PVP. There is no reason to play LOTRO over WOW. Unfortunately it was such a bad year in MMORPGS, it was the least terrible MMORPG released in 2008.
Unbelievable that some are still trying to push LOTRO over here. 600 votes (with alts) on this Wow hating site and they even begin to have pretention.
LOTRO has 200 K subs - at best - and everyone agreed upon relaese it was a dead duck compared to Wow while still being a very stiff animated Wow clone without PvP.
The SAME 11 underpopulated EU servers as of launch are a tribute to the very poor results after almost 2 years now. Oh full 5 of them are English - hardly populated.
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Comparing "housing" with the gigantic programming effort a real 3D world you can fly and land anywhere you want is already enough to show you don't have a clue what the difference is between a terribly animated copy cat product and seamless open worlds.
The best I thought was when you stated LotrO has "monsterplay". What a laugh.
Open world PvP with huge destructable fortresses and catapults will never see the day of light in Lotro, despite the books and film scenes.
I wonder even HOW they could call it LotR, because without any underwater scenes how in the world DID they find the Ring.
ROFL.
LOTRO could have flight and undersea components - IF IT MADE SENSE TO DO SO.
In Lord of the Rings "flying mounts" were rare and kept to the fell beasts of the Nazgul. And no Gandalf riding Gwaihir does not count.
And finding a ring in the water should justify vast underwater worlds? Please.
Just because one game has something doesn't mean every game should.
And that is one of the reasons why LOTRO is surviving so well. They are spending their development money wisely without adding unnecessary components that will end up buggy and ineffiently used. People respect the hard work Turbine has done with the game.
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Currently Playing: Lord of the Rings Online since original Open Beta, Atlantica Online
Waiting On: Knights of the Old Republic, Aion
Played: World of Warcraft (3 years), Ultima Online (2 years), EvE Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Lineage, Perfect World
Even if I believe Lotro and WoW are both good games regarding the "No reason to play LOTRO over WOW"
I can give you several:
a) Lore - more consistent than "killing all major characters"
b) Looks better and runs better than WoW right now
c) PVE is better regarding immersion and not just a raidfest
d) Crafting is better -> Thus economy is better (no daily quests ain't exactly considered economy sorry)
e) I don't have to pay gold just to get a rank up of a spell - Every 2 levels in LOTRO you get something "NEW"
f) The community is better and in general its more helpful + mature (this applies to other MMOs as well)
g) It has a music system and an outfit system. Also has a lot of titles for a lot of things, ability to have a surname.
h) Not as strict cookie cutter party forming (WoW isnt THAT strict nowadays either but still I find Lotro more flexible on this)
I think I gave you enough reasons.
Regarding PvP , for some of us it just doesn't matter. As it would be stupid to say there's no reason to play WoW over LOTRO cause it doesn't have a music system. If you care about that it matters but not in general appeal...
most people care about gameplay, not lore. But if all u care about is lore and playing a musical instrument, yea LOTRO is better. Because everything else in WOW is better.