Your right Xiaoki, I must say that in hind sight my post does look somewhat trollish, I did not start out that way but your right. your response was the most level headed of all, and it got to me. Like I say, it was a hard decision, and may someday come back to LOTRO, cause it looks soooo nice. So thanks Xiaoki
Yes, he's right. Also, you might consider, that the so called "fanboys", that you don't name but imply, never said that grouping does work, anywhere, everywhere. Quite the opposite, actually. I, for one have explained why getting a PUG is damn hard when you're a 51 hunter in Angmar
I also had problems, especially around books 12-14 in vol1.... the last quests were always hard to find a group for. Mind you, that was before the instance replay incentives introduced with Book 15.
Finding PUG's is easy, if both the circumstances and the approach are right. You have to be on a populated server (not really a problem anymore), in a class that's not hopelessy overpopulated, in a region that's not the least populated (Angmar, Forochel, Evendim?), and, of course, you need to be civil and patient.
Grouping does not come granted, but it you approach it the right way, it is very easy. You just have to know what the right way is We're always here to help in that.
And I almost forgot: good kinships are the best in resolving all FS questing problems. Mine does, anyway.
Finally, about vocality: you're pretty wrong here. Check any studies dealing with the effect of good and bad experience on information spreading. Bad news/bad opinions are 10 times more vocal and spread 10 times as much as good experience and news. That's a fact - people love to complain a LOT more than express their satisfaction in the wide public. This is the true reason why forums are always hotbeds for arguments and flaming - frustration. Positive opinions will be underrepresented in any media or forum (be it electronic or any type), anytime, anywhere. Fact.
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
I've been playing LOTRO since the stress tests. I've never had a problem grouping on Landroval. At any level really, but I'm a soloist most of the times, and generally haven't needed to group. On those few occasions when a kinship quest isn't soloable, never had a problem getting some help. Though, of all games, why would you be concerned about grouping in this one? I've soloed to 60, easily.
Come on man...we all know the ones having issues are not playing Brandywine, Landroval, or Elendilmir, and the best quests in this game tend to be the ones you group for so that would be why it is a concern to them.
Yeah if they were playing on Landroval and they had this complaint then I would agree but...seriously...
If some of you want to continue to think they're being crybabies or must just be jerks in game then fantastic. All the more power to you. Why you would deny this when it comes up over and over again to me seems rather silly but then again if I would have been more fortunate in my first server selection or was lucky enough to have met the right group of people when I began playing maybe I would be the same way.
I didn't though and it's a shame to me that a game this good suffers from this and leads some to have a bad take on the game when it''s a completely fixable issue and under the right circumstances or with the right population levels they would actually really have a blast playing this game.
Hopefully, they'll be like me and after some time come back and research which servers are the ones to play on. Seems some are because like I said the kin I'm in has quite a few returning players that left for the same reason as me and are now back having a good time.
Dont be so sure, i was on Landroval and finding pugs for Angmar around level 50 is impossible. This is a moot point for me as ive quit the game. But i will say what i saw in Kins (was in three altogether) was that they were divided up in groups for 4 or 5 and played with each other and no one else. I actually watched in kin chat when they told a lower player to try LFF channel. I went and helped him myself although i was no where near where he was. So even on the higher pop servers there is a problem with finding pugs in some areas.
Originally posted by grandpagamer Dont be so sure, i was on Landroval and finding pugs for Angmar around level 50 is impossible. This is a moot point for me as ive quit the game. But i will say what i saw in Kins (was in three altogether) was that they were divided up in groups for 4 or 5 and played with each other and no one else. I actually watched in kin chat when they told a lower player to try LFF channel. I went and helped him myself although i was no where near where he was. So even on the higher pop servers there is a problem with finding pugs in some areas.
Looks lkike you had some crap luck or just need to investigate the kins you join a bit better.
Ours is a small 50 -75 member kinship, we very picky about our recruits and do not do open recruiting at all, on one of the less populated servers . We do a CD/Uru run once a week or so for our members and anyone in the area else who needs those runs. Hope this helps.
Or this could be just the start of the latest troll ayttack, ie - is hte latestr attack now - all the kinships in LoTRO are screwed up LOL?
Originally posted by grandpagamer Dont be so sure, i was on Landroval and finding pugs for Angmar around level 50 is impossible. This is a moot point for me as ive quit the game. But i will say what i saw in Kins (was in three altogether) was that they were divided up in groups for 4 or 5 and played with each other and no one else. I actually watched in kin chat when they told a lower player to try LFF channel. I went and helped him myself although i was no where near where he was. So even on the higher pop servers there is a problem with finding pugs in some areas.
Looks lkike you had some crap luck or just need to investigate the kins you join a bit better.
Ours is a small 50 -75 member kinship, we very picky about our recruits and do not do open recruiting at all, on one of the less populated servers . We do a CD/Uru run once a week or so for our members and anyone in the area else who needs those runs. Hope this helps.
Or this could be just the start of the latest troll ayttack, ie - is hte latestr attack now - all the kinships in LoTRO are screwed up LOL?
you guys are getting real desperate
No its not a troll attack. Ive defended LOTRO and had a lot of fun with it but waiting around to group is not how i want to spend my game time. As said, ive cancelled sub and uninstalled so it matters not to me but seeing people say how easy it is to group at all levels i thought i would throw in my experience. Take it for what its worth.
Originally posted by Jackdog Originally posted by grandpagamer Dont be so sure, i was on Landroval and finding pugs for Angmar around level 50 is impossible. This is a moot point for me as ive quit the game. But i will say what i saw in Kins (was in three altogether) was that they were divided up in groups for 4 or 5 and played with each other and no one else. I actually watched in kin chat when they told a lower player to try LFF channel. I went and helped him myself although i was no where near where he was. So even on the higher pop servers there is a problem with finding pugs in some areas.
Looks lkike you had some crap luck or just need to investigate the kins you join a bit better. Ours is a small 50 -75 member kinship, we very picky about our recruits and do not do open recruiting at all, on one of the less populated servers . We do a CD/Uru run once a week or so for our members and anyone in the area else who needs those runs. Hope this helps. Or this could be just the start of the latest troll ayttack, ie - is hte latestr attack now - all the kinships in LoTRO are screwed up LOL? you guys are getting real desperate
Just because your kin seems to have it together doesn't mean all kins are hunky dory. Some are run much better than others. It's the same thing in any game that has kins/guilds. He probably did have crap luck with kins. I know I did. I did manage to find a really, really good kin for a while, but most left for AoC when it came out, so I was screwed again.
I'm still not sure why you're insistent on labeling anyone who isn't praising the game a troll. The game DOES have issues. Talking about the issues doesn't make someone a troll. I don't see anyone getting desperate. And constantly labeling anyone whose opinion differs from yours a troll is as bad as being the troll.
Current: None Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
Originally posted by grandpagamer No its not a troll attack. Ive defended LOTRO and had a lot of fun with it but waiting around to group is not how i want to spend my game time. As said, ive cancelled sub and uninstalled so it matters not to me but seeing people say how easy it is to group at all levels i thought i would throw in my experience. Take it for what its worth.
yeah yeah yeah no one in LoTRO ever groups , and all the kinships all a bunch of A Holes etc etc.
I guess that is why the game is the # 2 western fantasy MMO on XFire and the web site traffic is higher than it was this time last year.
Just because your kin seems to have it together doesn't mean all kins are hunky dory. Some are run much better than others. It's the same thing in any game that has kins/guilds. He probably did have crap luck with kins. I know I did. I did manage to find a really, really good kin for a while, but most left for AoC when it came out, so I was screwed again. I'm still not sure why you're insistent on labeling anyone who isn't praising the game a troll. The game DOES have issues. Talking about the issues doesn't make someone a troll. I don't see anyone getting desperate. And constantly labeling anyone whose opinion differs from yours a troll is as bad as being the troll.
Wel considering 9 of 10 people who bought AoC canceled within the first month all your old kin should be back now. Quite franklu I learned a long time ago not to join a kin till Iplayed withthem for at least a week.
yesterday I saw people posting here about a documented bug on the test server and spinining it like it was on release you think they might be trolling?
I like LOTRO, am a casual gamer and have been playing since closed beta... i don't think LOTRO grouping is broken, in fact, I think it is like many other MMO's I have played over the years... sometimes you just are not gonna get a group when you want one.
That being said, I seldom have problems getting grps at any level... good kinship helps, but there is soo much content in the game that when I do find myself lacking a grp and not enough kinmates on I do something else. I personaly have seldom found any one quest so pressing that I need to get it done now!! I think some folks get frustrated when they want to do some of the higher end spec content and expect to send out LLF tell and immedately jump in a group.
Originally posted by Jackdog Originally posted by Nizur Just because your kin seems to have it together doesn't mean all kins are hunky dory. Some are run much better than others. It's the same thing in any game that has kins/guilds. He probably did have crap luck with kins. I know I did. I did manage to find a really, really good kin for a while, but most left for AoC when it came out, so I was screwed again. I'm still not sure why you're insistent on labeling anyone who isn't praising the game a troll. The game DOES have issues. Talking about the issues doesn't make someone a troll. I don't see anyone getting desperate. And constantly labeling anyone whose opinion differs from yours a troll is as bad as being the troll.
Wel considering 9 of 10 people who bough AoC canceled within the first month all your old kin should be back now. Quite franklu I learned a long time ago not to join a kin till Iplayed withthem for at least a week. yesterday I saw people posting here about a documented bug on the test server and spinining it like it was on release you think they might be trolling?
I bought AoC and cancelled within the first month. My old kinmates however did not. Are you suggesting that I didn't have a good kin because they left for AoC? We played together for months, levelled from mid-20s to 50 together. We were all on RL first name basis. We had each other's freaking phone numbers! It was a very tight-knit kin. One of the best I've ever been a part of in any game.
I have no idea about the other posters. If it smells like a troll, it most likely is. However, your perception of a troll obviously differs from mine. You and I both love LotRO, our opinions just differ on certain parts of it. All I'm saying is don't always label anyone who disagrees with you on various parts of LotRO as a troll. They're most likely someone who just disagrees with you or had a different experience than you, like myself.
When either side of an issue immediately starts labeling the other as a troll/fanboi, any semblance of a discussion/debate has gone out the window most likely never to be recovered. All it turns into is an elementary school spitfest.
Current: None Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
My research on LOTRO here on mmorpg is that I'm seeing the SAME FANS fending off all the one time posters one by one over and over again, for basically the same problem's that this game has.
...I know this is just one small portion of your post....but if you research any game..you're likely to find the same fans of that game , defending against one time..(or more likely..many times under many names)... posters...who are more interested in bashing other's likes...than actually expressing any genuine opinion. I think you'll like VG crafting and Diplomacy...but it had far too many buggy aspects than LOTRO...imo. Lotro has decent crafting..but if it had VG crafting and diplomacy..it would be near perfect ..again just my opinion.
Originally posted by grandpagamer No its not a troll attack. Ive defended LOTRO and had a lot of fun with it but waiting around to group is not how i want to spend my game time. As said, ive cancelled sub and uninstalled so it matters not to me but seeing people say how easy it is to group at all levels i thought i would throw in my experience. Take it for what its worth.
yeah yeah yeah no one in LoTRO ever groups , and all the kinships all a bunch of A Holes etc etc.
I guess that is why the game is the # 2 western fantasy MMO on XFire and the web site traffic is higher than it was this time last year.
lol yep your right, you win. eveyone who doesnt say LOTRO is without flaw is a troll. Or was it the fact i cancelled that has your panties in a bunch?
Originally posted by grandpagamer No its not a troll attack. Ive defended LOTRO and had a lot of fun with it but waiting around to group is not how i want to spend my game time. As said, ive cancelled sub and uninstalled so it matters not to me but seeing people say how easy it is to group at all levels i thought i would throw in my experience. Take it for what its worth.
yeah yeah yeah no one in LoTRO ever groups , and all the kinships all a bunch of A Holes etc etc.
I guess that is why the game is the # 2 western fantasy MMO on XFire and the web site traffic is higher than it was this time last year.
lol yep your right, you win. eveyone who doesnt say LOTRO is without flaw is a troll.
Lotro has flaws and Turbine makes mistakes. But you see when there is a flaw in LoTRO the Devs fix it in a fairly expediant manner. When Turbine makes a mistake they admit it. Contrast that with companies liek Funcom and SOE andgames like Vangaurd and AoC. A good example was this last weekend when Funcom screwed up royally wiith their one year anniversary event.
But I suppose that is why on XFire games like WAR and LoTRO stay on top and games like AoC and Vanguard and EQII are way down in the basement looking up doing server merges and going to micro transactions in order to pay the electric bills. Did you knwo that if you look at Quantcast and Alexa the LoTRO site gets more hits now than it did a year ago? Amazing isn't it.
Originally posted by grandpagamer No its not a troll attack. Ive defended LOTRO and had a lot of fun with it but waiting around to group is not how i want to spend my game time. As said, ive cancelled sub and uninstalled so it matters not to me but seeing people say how easy it is to group at all levels i thought i would throw in my experience. Take it for what its worth.
yeah yeah yeah no one in LoTRO ever groups , and all the kinships all a bunch of A Holes etc etc.
I guess that is why the game is the # 2 western fantasy MMO on XFire and the web site traffic is higher than it was this time last year.
lol yep your right, you win. eveyone who doesnt say LOTRO is without flaw is a troll.
Lotro has flaws and Turbine makes mistakes. But you see when there is a flaw in LoTRO the Devs fix it in a fairly expediant manner. When Turbine makes a mistake they admit it. Contrast that with companies liek Funcom and SOE andgames like Vangaurd and AoC. A good example was this last weekend when Funcom screwed up royally wiith their one year anniversary event.
But I suppose that is why on XFire games like WAR and LoTRO stay on top and games like AoC and Vanguard and EQII are way down in the basement looking up doing server merges and going to micro transactions in order to pay the electric bills. Did you knwo that if you look at Quantcast and Alexa the LoTRO site gets more hits now than it did a year ago? Amazing isn't it.
More people play WOW than play LOTRO and i dont need a survey to tell me that but that doesnt mean i will find WOW a better game. And for the record i dont do xfire so i guess my sub wont be missed.
Lotro is a top notch triple AAA mmorpg. Vanguard I have played and its an ok game but it doesn't hold a candle to lotro, which I might be dropping shortly due to playing more TF2 than anything else.
One thing that would keep me away from any SOE game is their treatment of players and I mean fiddling and opening dormant accounts, tagging free realms so they can bump numbers, smedley's love of adding RMT to already P2P games and their general lack of support to players for their games.
Ive got alot of time for Turbine though.
I also agree with alot of Mr Bloodworths comments.
Final note: you can't even compare the 2 its like comparing the US allstar Baseball team with Iraq's Baseball team, neither are in the same league.
I imported it (SOE geniously don't sell their games here) and had high hopes about it being the epitome of what I wanted from an MMO. I, too, was excited at the prospect of an ever-improving game and thought that I could easily deal with the population issues until they get better. The bugs were apparently mostly fixed and I could expect some form of polish present in most play-worthy titles. I was also going to have a blast with crafting that meant something, awesome player housing, group quests and the like.
However, almost none of that materialised. I have to say that Vanguard is one of the buggiest pieces of software I've ever used. If this is the improved version, my goodness I'd hate to think what playing the launch version must have been like! The world is huge and it is beautiful, as well as the soundtrack, but the amount of resources it demands for what it delivers it quite astounding - and not in a good way! Look at a game such as Guild Wars for example. It's able to run on PC's dating back years, yet the graphics are still amazing. The client is quick and snappy, meaning it takes around 30 seconds at most starting up the game and logging in. I don't think the programmers programmed Vanguard with efficiency in mind.
A drawback of having such a huge world is that even a healthy population for most MMO's can make Vanguard seem underpopulated. But the fact that on top of the huge world it's population numbers are far less than the average healthy MMO, means that seeing someone in-game is an event. The world felt baron and lifeless, which really was a shame. That problem further extends to quench any hopes of group questing, because...well...you need a group to quest.
The crafting was about all I was impressed with.
All in all, Vanguard still has so much potential to be an amazing game. The developers are just not getting it right. They need to sort out simple things such as the character log in screen (the first time I logged in and created a character resulted in me having to log out to see said character and play it), the high demand it places on PC's, the laggy servers (the last time I played I rage-quit due to extreme unplayable lag) and the general polish. The utter lack of polish is what disappointed me the most. I bought it expecting a well-rounded game and instead of an unplayable game that left me with a sour taste in my mouth. I still have a sweet spot for the game due to my preconceived notions of what to expect, but the disappointment quickly overshadows that.
I think the only hope for Vanguard is quite honestly to build it from the ground up using a viable game engine and polishing it until it shines. Unfortunately, the chances of that happening are about zero.
I never have any issues at all with Vanguard. Not even hitching anymore. The game has come a long way since it was launched and it shows. Not trying to seem like a crazy fan boy or anything but I know it had alot of issues at launch and a year out even. (I was in beta) But to say the game is broken and runs like crap just isnt true. If you dont like the game thats cool but at least be honest.
My friend is playing the VG trial and tells me the same, that the game is running well and he is enjoying it. You will not hear many good things about any SOE game on these boards but for whatever its worth im glad you have found something you enjoy.
I recently made an MMO call myself. I decided to quit LOTRO after realizing it's the worst MMO I've ever played in over 10 years.
I'm just an occasional lurker here but I had to log on and ask, what makes it the worst?
Not trying to argue with you, I'm just curious.
Because it is by far the most boring MMO that I have ever played. I listened to the good word of mouth from LOTRO players and realized they were exaggerating to a point where I honestly have no idea which game they were talking about. I will NEVER make that mistake again.
The biggest disappointment is that the story is no better than any other MMO. Another exaggeration was the community. Upon starting the game, I was treated with chat as bad as any WoW trade or barrens chat. Upon leaving the starting zones, it's about the same community experience most other MMOs provide while leveling up. At 60, the only noticeable difference I've noticed is that they're polite. Joining the player formed global channel makes it like WoW trade chat 24/7. However, there are also an unbelievable number of terrible players. I've had to become kinship exclusive for doing anything at 60. I unfortunately also happen to have Vista 32, which doesn't get along very well with the game. It's unfortunate that they've never addressed this while most recently Dawn of War 2 was released with Vista 32 issues and all patching was put on hold to get the fix out immediately.
I hate the feel of the combat compared to other MMOs. I also seem to not like my captain very much, but I will never level another character again as leveling was excruciatingly bad. That leaves me in a bad position from the start. It doesn't help that the classes aren't very interesting to me. The quests are also as basic as possible from level 1-60. 1-50 is acceptable because of the time when the game came out, but there's no excuse to have made zero improvements in quest variety in Moria.
I also feel no connection what so ever with the game world even though I have read the books and watched the movies. It's simply generic fantasy to me. The virtue grinding system is terribly implemented as well. All MMOs reward you for grinding. You either hit the next level, obtain gear or obtain items. With virtues, you spend hours and hours grinding on mobs likely a lower level than you of which there aren't nearly enough of for 1/10th of a reward that is hardly worth grinding for to begin with.
All this said and I still somewhat ENJOYED SoA. It was when I reached MoM that I realized how much I absolutely detested this game. The quests had no improvements, the environments were bland and convoluted with the exception of a few areas, travelling anywhere with the ridiculous verticality and same looking passages of the place with two mobs every 5 feet was an absolute nightmare. Almost every single quest came from the same people to kill the same enemy for entirely uninteresting reasons. I stayed at 4 bars from 60 for two weeks because I cringed at logging on and finishing quests. After I hit 60, I started running 6 mans with the kin. They all seem to be simple beginner dungeons. I did the turtle raid and the first thing I said on vent was, "Is this a joke?" How could that possible be one of two raids? I haven't done the watcher as I didn't finish my radiance set before I stopped logging on. A lot of the people in my kin are having computer problems, so I can either log on, imagine doing a group with a god awful pug or grinding virtues. Neither sound worthwhile and I cringe at thinking of doing virtues.
PvP was terrible, but I obviously won't be holding that against the game. It's disappointing, but I expected it.
The positives? The graphics are some of the best in the genre. While I dislike the architecture of many places, I can see how a LOTR fan would feel at home. This game probably has the absolute best social aspects since Ultima Online. (At least from the games I've played) The only problem is that I have no interest in the social features of MMOs anymore. (Houses, music, events, costumes, etc) Session play was fun. The music that was lifted from the fantastic LOTR: War of the RIng RTS was remixed very well. Most of LOTRO's original music isn't too great, however.
The posts about LoTRO tend to fall into a few small issues:
1. Quests
Some people love quests and love LoTRO because of its quests
Some people hate quests and hate LoTRO because of its quests.
2. Grouping
Some players like to be able to solo some or all of the time.
Some players love grouping and believe that because MMO's are online and multiplayer that grouping must be forced.
Some players are unable to find groups for lower level content. This is a fair criticism of LoTRO and almost every other MMO. As the game world increases in size and the game ages, the population becomes thinly spread in the lower level areas and the bulk of the population is at or near maximum level. EQ2, City of Heroes and Sword of the New World have implemented different solutions to address this issue. EQ is trying another solution on one server where you can start at level 50 with 50 AA's.
The above groups are neither right or wrong. They just have different likes and dislikes. Some people are in the grey area between the above views.
A lot of people that have left LoTRO have done so because they have become tired of the game and are looking for a change. The view that everyone will play the same game indefinitely without becoming bored is an unrealistic expectation and ignores what is actually happening.
What one person sees as a problem, another sees as LoTRO's greatest strength.
Since you dislike chain quests, the most obvious solution would be to remove all chain quests. However, this would ruin the game for many of those that are currently enjoying the game. If the game were to cater better for your preferences, any solution would need to be done in a way that did not reduce the fun for those with different preferences. Some of the chain quests can be soloed except for one part that requires a group, and this is frustrating when you cannot find a group for that one small part of the chain. There should be a better way of implementing chain quests so that people do not get stuck on one part because they cannot find a group, while at the same time ensuring there is plenty of group content in the game.
I started playing LotRO a few months back and find it to be the best game for me. I LOVE the quests and the Epic storyline is amazing. I've never had a problem finding a fellowship. Even if I didn't get a response from the LFF channel, my kinship is always there to help. There are still some bugs. My pet tends to loose me from time to time and the anti-exploit can be a headache in certain areas (it is getting better I noticed). The price of LotRO right now is great too. $9.99 for a monthly sub on a AAA MMORPG is incredible.
I tried Vanguard before purchasing LotRO. I didn't find the same excitement as I did in LotRO. It was a bit laggy, too and I had just bought a new computer. There was also some problems opening doors. It was odd. I didn't see too many others playing either and after reading some forums found that the population is still not great for grouping. The lag, the population, and the bugs I encountered was enough for me to make my decision.
I hope you enjoy your choice as I'm enjoying mine....Good luck to you...
The posts about LoTRO tend to fall into a few small issues: 1. Quests
Some people love quests and love LoTRO because of its quests Some people hate quests and hate LoTRO because of its quests.
2. Grouping
Some players like to be able to solo some or all of the time. Some players love grouping and believe that because MMO's are online and multiplayer that grouping must be forced. Some players are unable to find groups for lower level content. This is a fair criticism of LoTRO and almost every other MMO. As the game world increases in size and the game ages, the population becomes thinly spread in the lower level areas and the bulk of the population is at or near maximum level. EQ2, City of Heroes and Sword of the New World have implemented different solutions to address this issue. EQ is trying another solution on one server where you can start at level 50 with 50 AA's.
The above groups are neither right or wrong. They just have different likes and dislikes. Some people are in the grey area between the above views. A lot of people that have left LoTRO have done so because they have become tired of the game and are looking for a change. The view that everyone will play the same game indefinitely without becoming bored is an unrealistic expectation and ignores what is actually happening. What one person sees as a problem, another sees as LoTRO's greatest strength. Since you dislike chain quests, the most obvious solution would be to remove all chain quests. However, this would ruin the game for many of those that are currently enjoying the game. If the game were to cater better for your preferences, any solution would need to be done in a way that did not reduce the fun for those with different preferences. Some of the chain quests can be soloed except for one part that requires a group, and this is frustrating when you cannot find a group for that one small part of the chain. There should be a better way of implementing chain quests so that people do not get stuck on one part because they cannot find a group, while at the same time ensuring there is plenty of group content in the game.
Finally, someone with a sense of mind. Kudos to you sir! Clear and excellent point!
What a sharp contrast to the childish ranting above your post "worst game ever" - yeah, and he played it to the endgame. People love to whine and state their own experiences as the general, universal truth. I, for one, can't stand that
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
Finally, someone with a sense of mind. Kudos to you sir! Clear and excellent point!
What a sharp contrast to the childish ranting above your post "worst game ever" - yeah, and he played it to the endgame. People love to whine and state their own experiences as the general, universal truth. I, for one, can't stand that DB
Is it really fair to attempt to demonize my post because you didn't like it? That's essentially what you're doing as you don't really have anything worthwhile to criticize about it. You can brown nose LOTRO without wasting your time with me.
I fail to see anything about my post as childish. He asked me why I believed this was the worst MMO i've ever played and I gave him the reasoning. You of course in the beginning labeled it as trolling in your probable 24/7 prowling of likely all LOTRO forums. I was being completely honest and then you go on to make the worst claim of all. You assume I passed anything off in my first hand account as fact. If I recall correctly, I remember my very first post here was that I said it was the worst MMO "I've played." I'm aware that the game has many fans, so why exactly would I even attempt to talk for everyone? My entire account was very, very subjective. How exactly do I present my negative view on the games story as a universal truth? How about the original music? Those are as subjective as they get and most people aren't dumb enough to believe anyone would pass their opinion on entirely subjective areas like those as fact. If it'll make things easier for you, you're welcome to visualize "in my opinion" at the end of every single sentence in the post.
As for loving to whine: I don't love to whine, but I do have to get things off of my chest when I'm frustrated.
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Yes, he's right. Also, you might consider, that the so called "fanboys", that you don't name but imply, never said that grouping does work, anywhere, everywhere. Quite the opposite, actually. I, for one have explained why getting a PUG is damn hard when you're a 51 hunter in Angmar
I also had problems, especially around books 12-14 in vol1.... the last quests were always hard to find a group for. Mind you, that was before the instance replay incentives introduced with Book 15.
Finding PUG's is easy, if both the circumstances and the approach are right. You have to be on a populated server (not really a problem anymore), in a class that's not hopelessy overpopulated, in a region that's not the least populated (Angmar, Forochel, Evendim?), and, of course, you need to be civil and patient.
Grouping does not come granted, but it you approach it the right way, it is very easy. You just have to know what the right way is
We're always here to help in that.
And I almost forgot: good kinships are the best in resolving all FS questing problems. Mine does, anyway.
Finally, about vocality: you're pretty wrong here. Check any studies dealing with the effect of good and bad experience on information spreading. Bad news/bad opinions are 10 times more vocal and spread 10 times as much as good experience and news. That's a fact - people love to complain a LOT more than express their satisfaction in the wide public. This is the true reason why forums are always hotbeds for arguments and flaming - frustration. Positive opinions will be underrepresented in any media or forum (be it electronic or any type), anytime, anywhere. Fact.
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
Come on man...we all know the ones having issues are not playing Brandywine, Landroval, or Elendilmir, and the best quests in this game tend to be the ones you group for so that would be why it is a concern to them.
Yeah if they were playing on Landroval and they had this complaint then I would agree but...seriously...
If some of you want to continue to think they're being crybabies or must just be jerks in game then fantastic. All the more power to you. Why you would deny this when it comes up over and over again to me seems rather silly but then again if I would have been more fortunate in my first server selection or was lucky enough to have met the right group of people when I began playing maybe I would be the same way.
I didn't though and it's a shame to me that a game this good suffers from this and leads some to have a bad take on the game when it''s a completely fixable issue and under the right circumstances or with the right population levels they would actually really have a blast playing this game.
Hopefully, they'll be like me and after some time come back and research which servers are the ones to play on. Seems some are because like I said the kin I'm in has quite a few returning players that left for the same reason as me and are now back having a good time.
Dont be so sure, i was on Landroval and finding pugs for Angmar around level 50 is impossible. This is a moot point for me as ive quit the game. But i will say what i saw in Kins (was in three altogether) was that they were divided up in groups for 4 or 5 and played with each other and no one else. I actually watched in kin chat when they told a lower player to try LFF channel. I went and helped him myself although i was no where near where he was. So even on the higher pop servers there is a problem with finding pugs in some areas.
Looks lkike you had some crap luck or just need to investigate the kins you join a bit better.
Ours is a small 50 -75 member kinship, we very picky about our recruits and do not do open recruiting at all, on one of the less populated servers . We do a CD/Uru run once a week or so for our members and anyone in the area else who needs those runs. Hope this helps.
Or this could be just the start of the latest troll ayttack, ie - is hte latestr attack now - all the kinships in LoTRO are screwed up LOL?
you guys are getting real desperate
I miss DAoC
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I enjoy the classes in lotro...they are all self-sufficient yet they need eachother and they all mend together well
it also does feel like ME to me
Looks lkike you had some crap luck or just need to investigate the kins you join a bit better.
Ours is a small 50 -75 member kinship, we very picky about our recruits and do not do open recruiting at all, on one of the less populated servers . We do a CD/Uru run once a week or so for our members and anyone in the area else who needs those runs. Hope this helps.
Or this could be just the start of the latest troll ayttack, ie - is hte latestr attack now - all the kinships in LoTRO are screwed up LOL?
you guys are getting real desperate
No its not a troll attack. Ive defended LOTRO and had a lot of fun with it but waiting around to group is not how i want to spend my game time. As said, ive cancelled sub and uninstalled so it matters not to me but seeing people say how easy it is to group at all levels i thought i would throw in my experience. Take it for what its worth.
Looks lkike you had some crap luck or just need to investigate the kins you join a bit better.
Ours is a small 50 -75 member kinship, we very picky about our recruits and do not do open recruiting at all, on one of the less populated servers . We do a CD/Uru run once a week or so for our members and anyone in the area else who needs those runs. Hope this helps.
Or this could be just the start of the latest troll ayttack, ie - is hte latestr attack now - all the kinships in LoTRO are screwed up LOL?
you guys are getting real desperate
Just because your kin seems to have it together doesn't mean all kins are hunky dory. Some are run much better than others. It's the same thing in any game that has kins/guilds. He probably did have crap luck with kins. I know I did. I did manage to find a really, really good kin for a while, but most left for AoC when it came out, so I was screwed again.
I'm still not sure why you're insistent on labeling anyone who isn't praising the game a troll. The game DOES have issues. Talking about the issues doesn't make someone a troll. I don't see anyone getting desperate. And constantly labeling anyone whose opinion differs from yours a troll is as bad as being the troll.
Current: None
Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR
Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu
Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
yeah yeah yeah no one in LoTRO ever groups , and all the kinships all a bunch of A Holes etc etc.
I guess that is why the game is the # 2 western fantasy MMO on XFire and the web site traffic is higher than it was this time last year.
I miss DAoC
Wel considering 9 of 10 people who bought AoC canceled within the first month all your old kin should be back now. Quite franklu I learned a long time ago not to join a kin till Iplayed withthem for at least a week.
yesterday I saw people posting here about a documented bug on the test server and spinining it like it was on release you think they might be trolling?
I miss DAoC
I like LOTRO, am a casual gamer and have been playing since closed beta... i don't think LOTRO grouping is broken, in fact, I think it is like many other MMO's I have played over the years... sometimes you just are not gonna get a group when you want one.
That being said, I seldom have problems getting grps at any level... good kinship helps, but there is soo much content in the game that when I do find myself lacking a grp and not enough kinmates on I do something else. I personaly have seldom found any one quest so pressing that I need to get it done now!! I think some folks get frustrated when they want to do some of the higher end spec content and expect to send out LLF tell and immedately jump in a group.
Wel considering 9 of 10 people who bough AoC canceled within the first month all your old kin should be back now. Quite franklu I learned a long time ago not to join a kin till Iplayed withthem for at least a week.
yesterday I saw people posting here about a documented bug on the test server and spinining it like it was on release you think they might be trolling?
I bought AoC and cancelled within the first month. My old kinmates however did not. Are you suggesting that I didn't have a good kin because they left for AoC? We played together for months, levelled from mid-20s to 50 together. We were all on RL first name basis. We had each other's freaking phone numbers! It was a very tight-knit kin. One of the best I've ever been a part of in any game.
I have no idea about the other posters. If it smells like a troll, it most likely is. However, your perception of a troll obviously differs from mine. You and I both love LotRO, our opinions just differ on certain parts of it. All I'm saying is don't always label anyone who disagrees with you on various parts of LotRO as a troll. They're most likely someone who just disagrees with you or had a different experience than you, like myself.
When either side of an issue immediately starts labeling the other as a troll/fanboi, any semblance of a discussion/debate has gone out the window most likely never to be recovered. All it turns into is an elementary school spitfest.
Current: None
Played: WoW, CoX, SWG, LotRO, EVE, AoC, VG, CO, Ryzom, DF, WAR
Tried: Lineage2, Dofus, EQ2, CoS, FE, UO, Wurm, Wakfu
Future: The Repopulation, ArcheAge, Black Desert, EQN
...I know this is just one small portion of your post....but if you research any game..you're likely to find the same fans of that game , defending against one time..(or more likely..many times under many names)... posters...who are more interested in bashing other's likes...than actually expressing any genuine opinion. I think you'll like VG crafting and Diplomacy...but it had far too many buggy aspects than LOTRO...imo. Lotro has decent crafting..but if it had VG crafting and diplomacy..it would be near perfect ..again just my opinion.
yeah yeah yeah no one in LoTRO ever groups , and all the kinships all a bunch of A Holes etc etc.
I guess that is why the game is the # 2 western fantasy MMO on XFire and the web site traffic is higher than it was this time last year.
lol yep your right, you win. eveyone who doesnt say LOTRO is without flaw is a troll. Or was it the fact i cancelled that has your panties in a bunch?
yeah yeah yeah no one in LoTRO ever groups , and all the kinships all a bunch of A Holes etc etc.
I guess that is why the game is the # 2 western fantasy MMO on XFire and the web site traffic is higher than it was this time last year.
lol yep your right, you win. eveyone who doesnt say LOTRO is without flaw is a troll.
Lotro has flaws and Turbine makes mistakes. But you see when there is a flaw in LoTRO the Devs fix it in a fairly expediant manner. When Turbine makes a mistake they admit it. Contrast that with companies liek Funcom and SOE andgames like Vangaurd and AoC. A good example was this last weekend when Funcom screwed up royally wiith their one year anniversary event.
But I suppose that is why on XFire games like WAR and LoTRO stay on top and games like AoC and Vanguard and EQII are way down in the basement looking up doing server merges and going to micro transactions in order to pay the electric bills. Did you knwo that if you look at Quantcast and Alexa the LoTRO site gets more hits now than it did a year ago? Amazing isn't it.
I miss DAoC
yeah yeah yeah no one in LoTRO ever groups , and all the kinships all a bunch of A Holes etc etc.
I guess that is why the game is the # 2 western fantasy MMO on XFire and the web site traffic is higher than it was this time last year.
lol yep your right, you win. eveyone who doesnt say LOTRO is without flaw is a troll.
Lotro has flaws and Turbine makes mistakes. But you see when there is a flaw in LoTRO the Devs fix it in a fairly expediant manner. When Turbine makes a mistake they admit it. Contrast that with companies liek Funcom and SOE andgames like Vangaurd and AoC. A good example was this last weekend when Funcom screwed up royally wiith their one year anniversary event.
But I suppose that is why on XFire games like WAR and LoTRO stay on top and games like AoC and Vanguard and EQII are way down in the basement looking up doing server merges and going to micro transactions in order to pay the electric bills. Did you knwo that if you look at Quantcast and Alexa the LoTRO site gets more hits now than it did a year ago? Amazing isn't it.
More people play WOW than play LOTRO and i dont need a survey to tell me that but that doesnt mean i will find WOW a better game. And for the record i dont do xfire so i guess my sub wont be missed.
Cricky,
Lotro is a top notch triple AAA mmorpg. Vanguard I have played and its an ok game but it doesn't hold a candle to lotro, which I might be dropping shortly due to playing more TF2 than anything else.
One thing that would keep me away from any SOE game is their treatment of players and I mean fiddling and opening dormant accounts, tagging free realms so they can bump numbers, smedley's love of adding RMT to already P2P games and their general lack of support to players for their games.
Ive got alot of time for Turbine though.
I also agree with alot of Mr Bloodworths comments.
Final note: you can't even compare the 2 its like comparing the US allstar Baseball team with Iraq's Baseball team, neither are in the same league.
Good luck with Vanguard.
I imported it (SOE geniously don't sell their games here) and had high hopes about it being the epitome of what I wanted from an MMO. I, too, was excited at the prospect of an ever-improving game and thought that I could easily deal with the population issues until they get better. The bugs were apparently mostly fixed and I could expect some form of polish present in most play-worthy titles. I was also going to have a blast with crafting that meant something, awesome player housing, group quests and the like.
However, almost none of that materialised. I have to say that Vanguard is one of the buggiest pieces of software I've ever used. If this is the improved version, my goodness I'd hate to think what playing the launch version must have been like! The world is huge and it is beautiful, as well as the soundtrack, but the amount of resources it demands for what it delivers it quite astounding - and not in a good way! Look at a game such as Guild Wars for example. It's able to run on PC's dating back years, yet the graphics are still amazing. The client is quick and snappy, meaning it takes around 30 seconds at most starting up the game and logging in. I don't think the programmers programmed Vanguard with efficiency in mind.
A drawback of having such a huge world is that even a healthy population for most MMO's can make Vanguard seem underpopulated. But the fact that on top of the huge world it's population numbers are far less than the average healthy MMO, means that seeing someone in-game is an event. The world felt baron and lifeless, which really was a shame. That problem further extends to quench any hopes of group questing, because...well...you need a group to quest.
The crafting was about all I was impressed with.
All in all, Vanguard still has so much potential to be an amazing game. The developers are just not getting it right. They need to sort out simple things such as the character log in screen (the first time I logged in and created a character resulted in me having to log out to see said character and play it), the high demand it places on PC's, the laggy servers (the last time I played I rage-quit due to extreme unplayable lag) and the general polish. The utter lack of polish is what disappointed me the most. I bought it expecting a well-rounded game and instead of an unplayable game that left me with a sour taste in my mouth. I still have a sweet spot for the game due to my preconceived notions of what to expect, but the disappointment quickly overshadows that.
I think the only hope for Vanguard is quite honestly to build it from the ground up using a viable game engine and polishing it until it shines. Unfortunately, the chances of that happening are about zero.
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
My friend is playing the VG trial and tells me the same, that the game is running well and he is enjoying it. You will not hear many good things about any SOE game on these boards but for whatever its worth im glad you have found something you enjoy.
I'm just an occasional lurker here but I had to log on and ask, what makes it the worst?
Not trying to argue with you, I'm just curious.
Because it is by far the most boring MMO that I have ever played. I listened to the good word of mouth from LOTRO players and realized they were exaggerating to a point where I honestly have no idea which game they were talking about. I will NEVER make that mistake again.
The biggest disappointment is that the story is no better than any other MMO. Another exaggeration was the community. Upon starting the game, I was treated with chat as bad as any WoW trade or barrens chat. Upon leaving the starting zones, it's about the same community experience most other MMOs provide while leveling up. At 60, the only noticeable difference I've noticed is that they're polite. Joining the player formed global channel makes it like WoW trade chat 24/7. However, there are also an unbelievable number of terrible players. I've had to become kinship exclusive for doing anything at 60. I unfortunately also happen to have Vista 32, which doesn't get along very well with the game. It's unfortunate that they've never addressed this while most recently Dawn of War 2 was released with Vista 32 issues and all patching was put on hold to get the fix out immediately.
I hate the feel of the combat compared to other MMOs. I also seem to not like my captain very much, but I will never level another character again as leveling was excruciatingly bad. That leaves me in a bad position from the start. It doesn't help that the classes aren't very interesting to me. The quests are also as basic as possible from level 1-60. 1-50 is acceptable because of the time when the game came out, but there's no excuse to have made zero improvements in quest variety in Moria.
I also feel no connection what so ever with the game world even though I have read the books and watched the movies. It's simply generic fantasy to me. The virtue grinding system is terribly implemented as well. All MMOs reward you for grinding. You either hit the next level, obtain gear or obtain items. With virtues, you spend hours and hours grinding on mobs likely a lower level than you of which there aren't nearly enough of for 1/10th of a reward that is hardly worth grinding for to begin with.
All this said and I still somewhat ENJOYED SoA. It was when I reached MoM that I realized how much I absolutely detested this game. The quests had no improvements, the environments were bland and convoluted with the exception of a few areas, travelling anywhere with the ridiculous verticality and same looking passages of the place with two mobs every 5 feet was an absolute nightmare. Almost every single quest came from the same people to kill the same enemy for entirely uninteresting reasons. I stayed at 4 bars from 60 for two weeks because I cringed at logging on and finishing quests. After I hit 60, I started running 6 mans with the kin. They all seem to be simple beginner dungeons. I did the turtle raid and the first thing I said on vent was, "Is this a joke?" How could that possible be one of two raids? I haven't done the watcher as I didn't finish my radiance set before I stopped logging on. A lot of the people in my kin are having computer problems, so I can either log on, imagine doing a group with a god awful pug or grinding virtues. Neither sound worthwhile and I cringe at thinking of doing virtues.
PvP was terrible, but I obviously won't be holding that against the game. It's disappointing, but I expected it.
The positives? The graphics are some of the best in the genre. While I dislike the architecture of many places, I can see how a LOTR fan would feel at home. This game probably has the absolute best social aspects since Ultima Online. (At least from the games I've played) The only problem is that I have no interest in the social features of MMOs anymore. (Houses, music, events, costumes, etc) Session play was fun. The music that was lifted from the fantastic LOTR: War of the RIng RTS was remixed very well. Most of LOTRO's original music isn't too great, however.
The posts about LoTRO tend to fall into a few small issues:
1. Quests
2. Grouping
The above groups are neither right or wrong. They just have different likes and dislikes. Some people are in the grey area between the above views.
A lot of people that have left LoTRO have done so because they have become tired of the game and are looking for a change. The view that everyone will play the same game indefinitely without becoming bored is an unrealistic expectation and ignores what is actually happening.
What one person sees as a problem, another sees as LoTRO's greatest strength.
Since you dislike chain quests, the most obvious solution would be to remove all chain quests. However, this would ruin the game for many of those that are currently enjoying the game. If the game were to cater better for your preferences, any solution would need to be done in a way that did not reduce the fun for those with different preferences. Some of the chain quests can be soloed except for one part that requires a group, and this is frustrating when you cannot find a group for that one small part of the chain. There should be a better way of implementing chain quests so that people do not get stuck on one part because they cannot find a group, while at the same time ensuring there is plenty of group content in the game.
I started playing LotRO a few months back and find it to be the best game for me. I LOVE the quests and the Epic storyline is amazing. I've never had a problem finding a fellowship. Even if I didn't get a response from the LFF channel, my kinship is always there to help. There are still some bugs. My pet tends to loose me from time to time and the anti-exploit can be a headache in certain areas (it is getting better I noticed). The price of LotRO right now is great too. $9.99 for a monthly sub on a AAA MMORPG is incredible.
I tried Vanguard before purchasing LotRO. I didn't find the same excitement as I did in LotRO. It was a bit laggy, too and I had just bought a new computer. There was also some problems opening doors. It was odd. I didn't see too many others playing either and after reading some forums found that the population is still not great for grouping. The lag, the population, and the bugs I encountered was enough for me to make my decision.
I hope you enjoy your choice as I'm enjoying mine....Good luck to you...
Finally, someone with a sense of mind. Kudos to you sir! Clear and excellent point!
What a sharp contrast to the childish ranting above your post "worst game ever" - yeah, and he played it to the endgame. People love to whine and state their own experiences as the general, universal truth. I, for one, can't stand that
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
Is it really fair to attempt to demonize my post because you didn't like it? That's essentially what you're doing as you don't really have anything worthwhile to criticize about it. You can brown nose LOTRO without wasting your time with me.
I fail to see anything about my post as childish. He asked me why I believed this was the worst MMO i've ever played and I gave him the reasoning. You of course in the beginning labeled it as trolling in your probable 24/7 prowling of likely all LOTRO forums. I was being completely honest and then you go on to make the worst claim of all. You assume I passed anything off in my first hand account as fact. If I recall correctly, I remember my very first post here was that I said it was the worst MMO "I've played." I'm aware that the game has many fans, so why exactly would I even attempt to talk for everyone? My entire account was very, very subjective. How exactly do I present my negative view on the games story as a universal truth? How about the original music? Those are as subjective as they get and most people aren't dumb enough to believe anyone would pass their opinion on entirely subjective areas like those as fact. If it'll make things easier for you, you're welcome to visualize "in my opinion" at the end of every single sentence in the post.
As for loving to whine: I don't love to whine, but I do have to get things off of my chest when I'm frustrated.