First off, I'd like to mention that all I've done is the 14-day trial, so I'm in no way an expert on LOTRO. I may not have played enough to be fully immersed in the game, but I felt like sharing my thoughts nonetheless.
As the title states, I don't think this game should have such a high rating. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against it (I've been a Tolkien fan ever since I learned to read, and felt that the game perfectly complemented the books and movies); however, I don't think LOTRO is anything special. I could spend all day listing the similarities it has with WoW, but that would get boring, and most of you probably noticed them anyway. Mostly, though, I just thought LOTRO quickly got boring. The graphics are great; they're what drew me in initially. But for anyone who has ever played WoW, or any of its seemingly infinite clones, everything about this game will seem very redundant. In my 14 days of playing, I found absolutely nothing new or innovative. There was definitely nothing worth another $15 a month. So, does anyone out there agree with me? Feel free to share your thoughts.
No, I don't agree with you at all, I can also already tell you that I'm sure you did not play enough lotro to say something about it. I also started with a 14 day trail, and I enjoyed my time in LOTRO so I bought the box and subscribed for a while. The last time I logged in was a few weeks before the expansion (MOM) came out, I went back to WOW for WOTLK, but I plan to resubscribe for LOTRO in the next few weeks. Like I already said, I don't agree with you, LOTRO and WOW are totally different games (and I've played wow for 3 years and a few months lotro so I know where I'm talking about). LOTRO looks different, play's different, at some points I found that lotro was even better than wow, the quests for example (however, after playing wotlk.. ^^ I really had a great time with questing in northrend, lotro and wow are now equal for me when it comes to quests). It's quite hard to explain . The community for example is the most friendly I've ever seen in an mmo. I also think lotro deserves the rating it got on this forum, annyway You should really play lotro for a while to see what i mean.
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Alright Mr. one post. Lotro is as far from a WoW clone as you could get. Combat system is different, classes are different, endgame is small group focused, Lotro has near no pvp system. Graphics are totally different style. Crafting in Lotro is more complex, Lotro has a housing system. Anyone who thinks Lotro is a wow clone is a clueless newb.
That's incredible.
Let me start out by saying I've only played LOTRO for a few days, and I've played WoW for over a year.
1. "combat system is different" Really? The only difference is that the pretty little squares on your toolbar look different. The combat system could not be any more similar.
2. "Classes are different" I'm pretty sure that if LOTRO came out with the same exact classes, Blizzard would have grounds for a lawsuit. You can make a tank, mage, rouge, healer-DPS guy, hunter, it's all the same
3. "Graphics are totally different style" This is true. WoW is slightly cartoon-ish, while LOTRO attempts realism. I don't count this as a significant difference though.
As far as housing, pvp and endgame, I have not gotten to those parts of the game yet.
Even so, nearly every aspect being identical to WoW definitely makes it a WoW clone. Sorry.
What a sad sad post.. hmm 10 posts.. could be a troll right? No one is this stupid right? a lawsuit if they had the same classes that have existed in countless earlier MMOs and RPGs? That IS incredible! Maybe you're just being heavily sarcastic..
Let's take a look at Turbines game that was around before WoW shall we?
AC2
Hmm aside from their aa and textures being low the UI looks familiar... now Turbines next game LOTRO
How dare they use their own UI in their next game whose engine is only a highly upgraded version of their previous game!
Sorry, don't need to go all the way back to EQ to solve this dispute - so many posts, not a single one mentioning AC2.
I always have to be the one to point this out, why can't some of you figure this out on your own?
"First off, I'd like to mention that all I've done is the 14-day trial, so I'm in no way an expert on LOTRO. I may not have played enough to be fully immersed in the game, but I felt like sharing my thoughts nonetheless."
OK..Stop right there.
The minant you have said that, all you are looking for is a FIGHT.
"As the title states, I don't think this game should have such a high rating. (So you don't think?) Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against it (So what are you realy saying?)(I've been a Tolkien fan ever since I learned to read, (And how long has that been?)and felt that the game perfectly complemented the books and movies); however, I don't think LOTRO is anything special."
So you are looking for something SPECIAL?
"I could spend all day listing the similarities it has with WoW (LETS SEE, its a computer game, you play it online, its a mmorpg(ops sorry), it has gody Armor (ops sorry not this game), it has addons (ops sorry not this game) , but that would get boring (anyone borned yet?), and most of you probably noticed them anyway(O I've been looking, for about two years now....."
Just to let everyone know..I've readed JRR Tolkens work (all the books)over three times in my life (age 46). Played WOW for 4+ years. This Game is what I've been looking for. NO ADDONS. NO THOTBOT. NO ONE TO TELL THE NEWBES WHAT/ WHERE TO GO TO LVL/GOLD/MY LVLING WEBSITE SPAM....AND ALL THAT OTHER #^%$@#%^^%$#.
"Mostly, though, I just thought LOTRO quickly got boring."(Is it the game or you?)
"The graphics are great; (YES there are)they're what drew me in initially. But for anyone who has ever played WoW(Yes I'm listening?), or any of its seemingly infinite clones, everything about this game will seem very redundant. In my 14 days of playing, I found absolutely nothing new or innovative. There was definitely nothing worth another $15 a month."
OK good luck to you ....BYE
PS...Please take your freinds, family with you.
..its a guideline, not a rule, as players we must remember: Its a Game.
A lot people forget Asheron Call was the first real mmorpg. Everquest was more of a quest game, Asheron's Call was a lot about the pvp and the depth of character costumization, and we can transalations in that in LotrO character costumizations with a more slimmed down approach that won't scare people away from the game. Traits system , armor sets and weapon all have attributes that effect you character. I've never played WoW but I never heard of any other game really hone in a system to define your role in a fellowship. People say everyione has the same traits, again false, everyone finds the traits that works best for them and the play style. Most people will rank up the Virtue traits, that is just 1/4 of the trait system, mising and matching class traits and race as well as Legendardy give a more dynamic range to each class. IF I'm correct Asherons Call used a points sytem, and in a sense LotrO uses one but in a way that wont scare new players, and I think you will some form of points system in all of Turbines games, cause it would seem that it a trade mark. With the ability to refine a system , this will make a console mmo even more commercail friendly , and something a wider audience can enjoy.
Asheron's Call does use (still running and approaching 10th anniversary later this year) a point system. At certain levels you get additional skill points. Depending on the skill depends on how many points it costs, this allows for a lot of different character builds.
Asheron's Call was one of the initial big 3, as much as I love AC I wouldn't call it the first MMO though. However AC2 did set the standard for modern MMOs, that same system you see used in WoW, LotRO and everything else people like to call a WoW clone. But yet since most of those people started with WoW they do not realize they are actually all AC2 clones.
For some reason people who love LOTRO hate WoW. No clue why. They are almost the exact same game. I think they just want to seem different, and its cool to hate WoW. Nevermind the fact its almost the exact same game.
Just not true i'm afraid. I've maxed out characters in WoW and LOTRO and enjoyed playing both. I got bored of the cartoony graphics in WoW and i still play LOTRO, but i don't hate WoW. I might give it a go again some day. As for the silly argument about WoW clones etc... they are all clones of EQ, the original first person 3D mmorpg and then DAoC which upped the anti with decent crafting, RVR and questing. WoW wasn't original when it came out so who cares if mmorpgs borrow from other mmorpgs? I don't. If something works use it. In fact LOTRO gameplay more closely resembles original DAoC thesedays than WoW.
It is very much like wow. Wow is much ilke everquest, they are both everquest clones.
Ppl have got to stop assuming wow is somehow the origin.
I'm just trying to think what WoW did have that was original apart from in game post. Quests, mining, crafting, hotbar skills, minimap, banks, PVP zones, races, classes, level based system, RVR PVP... all been done before.
Anyone think of anything else that was original besides post boxes?
It is very much like wow. Wow is much ilke everquest, they are both everquest clones.
Ppl have got to stop assuming wow is somehow the origin.
I'm just trying to think what WoW did have that was original apart from in game post. Quests, mining, crafting, hotbar skills, minimap, banks, PVP zones, races, classes, level based system, RVR PVP... all been done before.
Anyone think of anything else that was original besides post boxes?
The one thing that does come to mind is the little exclamation marks over the heads of quest givers. It may have also been the first MMO to let you track quest objectives on the side of the screen. Minor innovations, but thay have been copied by nearly every subsequent MMO. Similar systems have even been patched in to a lot of older MMOs (e.g., DAoC, EQ, EQ II). The druid and shamen were fairly unique class designs for the time. I can't think of any previous MMOs let you drop items on the ground that grant support abilities in a radius (Shamen) or shape change to fill different class roles on the fly (Druid). The rest of the classes were all pretty standard stuff I'd say.
And yeah, apart from that I can't really think of much that hadn't ben done by AC II or EQ. By and large WoW was Blizzard doing what it always does. Borrowing the best ideas from games in an existing genre and putting them in a product that's accessible enough to go mainstream. Even Diablo was arguably nothing but a gussied up roguelike.
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
The game has its own feel to it and thats what really sets it apart. You feel like your in middle earth interacting with the characters we all know and love.
LOTRO is a good game. I thoroughly enjoy the quests and the world is very beautiful (and open). AoC is similarly (if not more) beautiful, but more confined. Unfortunately, both the animations of the characters and their gear lack the polish of the environment surrounding them.
What I mean is that they did some great things with the DirectX 10 client, as far as the environment is concerned. For me the DirectX 9 client was bland and ... well, lets forget about it. Thing is, the improvement on the environment did not translate into improvement on the characters. Turbine needs to spend some extra time and improve the sharpness of the characters (in my opinion).
Perhaps not for others, but for me, the way female avatars run is an immersion breaker. I won't even talk about sidestepping. So yes, the animation is an issue in this game.
Think that is the divide, of mmo players, some want character detail, others won't a detailed world. Think the people who want a detailed world are more incline to be the detail of there character, if you are following what I'm saying. People who want a detailed character tend to seperate or alignate themselves from the role play.
what a weird conclusion.
/baffled
what he is talking about is character models and animation which falls behind the lovely landscape in length. Look at the screeny from Druz where on the left side Tierny the Wary is running... nobody runs like that unless he is performing ballet or something.
It is a matter of things not matching together, on the one hand you have one of the best world graphics and on the other hand one of the lousiest character animation. It is like putting bycicle tires on a ferrari and then saying with those you feel more united with the car while those demanding good tires can not drive so well.
And now analysing the WHY - behind the quality drift within one product:
Screenshots sell a game, Animation can hardly be seen on screenshots, so a smart company invests more into what can be seen on screenshots rather than what can not be seen. The same counts for the thin and linear content and the shallow brained skill system. Show a none MMO'er some screenshots of LOTRO and he will most likely say, wow lovely.Show him some u-tube videos and if you are lucky he finds the overlayed music good.
I have started LoTRO several times, but every time was turned down by the horrible, not realistic, immersion breaking animation of characters.
I realize how many strengths this game has (community, content, lore) and the actual subscription offer is very attractive, but I simply cannot get over the animations and overall combat experience. Really can't. Tried many times.
I have started LoTRO several times, but every time was turned down by the horrible, not realistic, immersion breaking animation of characters. I realize how many strengths this game has (community, content, lore) and the actual subscription offer is very attractive, but I simply cannot get over the animations and overall combat experience. Really can't. Tried many times.
Animation quility is directly proportional to your system specs. LOTRO is one of the few that animates the faces, and has a unique animation for almost ever skill in game. But, they use a form of LOD on the animations too, removing frames.
---------- "Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
LOTRO is a good game. I thoroughly enjoy the quests and the world is very beautiful (and open). AoC is similarly (if not more) beautiful, but more confined. Unfortunately, both the animations of the characters and their gear lack the polish of the environment surrounding them.
Eh?
---------- "Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
Comments
It is pretty funny noone has replied to this comment.....
Thread won, OP owned. End of story.
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
No, I don't agree with you at all, I can also already tell you that I'm sure you did not play enough lotro to say something about it. I also started with a 14 day trail, and I enjoyed my time in LOTRO so I bought the box and subscribed for a while. The last time I logged in was a few weeks before the expansion (MOM) came out, I went back to WOW for WOTLK, but I plan to resubscribe for LOTRO in the next few weeks. Like I already said, I don't agree with you, LOTRO and WOW are totally different games (and I've played wow for 3 years and a few months lotro so I know where I'm talking about). LOTRO looks different, play's different, at some points I found that lotro was even better than wow, the quests for example (however, after playing wotlk.. ^^ I really had a great time with questing in northrend, lotro and wow are now equal for me when it comes to quests). It's quite hard to explain
. The community for example is the most friendly I've ever seen in an mmo. I also think lotro deserves the rating it got on this forum, annyway You should really play lotro for a while to see what i mean.
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waiting for ... nothing..
That's incredible.
Let me start out by saying I've only played LOTRO for a few days, and I've played WoW for over a year.
1. "combat system is different" Really? The only difference is that the pretty little squares on your toolbar look different. The combat system could not be any more similar.
2. "Classes are different" I'm pretty sure that if LOTRO came out with the same exact classes, Blizzard would have grounds for a lawsuit. You can make a tank, mage, rouge, healer-DPS guy, hunter, it's all the same
3. "Graphics are totally different style" This is true. WoW is slightly cartoon-ish, while LOTRO attempts realism. I don't count this as a significant difference though.
As far as housing, pvp and endgame, I have not gotten to those parts of the game yet.
Even so, nearly every aspect being identical to WoW definitely makes it a WoW clone. Sorry.
What a sad sad post.. hmm 10 posts.. could be a troll right? No one is this stupid right? a lawsuit if they had the same classes that have existed in countless earlier MMOs and RPGs? That IS incredible! Maybe you're just being heavily sarcastic..
Let's take a look at Turbines game that was around before WoW shall we?
AC2
Hmm aside from their aa and textures being low the UI looks familiar... now Turbines next game LOTRO
How dare they use their own UI in their next game whose engine is only a highly upgraded version of their previous game!
Sorry, don't need to go all the way back to EQ to solve this dispute - so many posts, not a single one mentioning AC2.
I always have to be the one to point this out, why can't some of you figure this out on your own?
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
"First off, I'd like to mention that all I've done is the 14-day trial, so I'm in no way an expert on LOTRO. I may not have played enough to be fully immersed in the game, but I felt like sharing my thoughts nonetheless."
OK..Stop right there.
The minant you have said that, all you are looking for is a FIGHT.
"As the title states, I don't think this game should have such a high rating. (So you don't think?) Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against it (So what are you realy saying?)(I've been a Tolkien fan ever since I learned to read, (And how long has that been?)and felt that the game perfectly complemented the books and movies); however, I don't think LOTRO is anything special."
So you are looking for something SPECIAL?
"I could spend all day listing the similarities it has with WoW (LETS SEE, its a computer game, you play it online, its a mmorpg(ops sorry), it has gody Armor (ops sorry not this game), it has addons (ops sorry not this game) , but that would get boring (anyone borned yet?), and most of you probably noticed them anyway(O I've been looking, for about two years now....."
Just to let everyone know..I've readed JRR Tolkens work (all the books)over three times in my life (age 46). Played WOW for 4+ years. This Game is what I've been looking for. NO ADDONS. NO THOTBOT. NO ONE TO TELL THE NEWBES WHAT/ WHERE TO GO TO LVL/GOLD/MY LVLING WEBSITE SPAM....AND ALL THAT OTHER #^%$@#%^^%$#.
"Mostly, though, I just thought LOTRO quickly got boring."(Is it the game or you?)
"The graphics are great; (YES there are)they're what drew me in initially. But for anyone who has ever played WoW(Yes I'm listening?), or any of its seemingly infinite clones, everything about this game will seem very redundant. In my 14 days of playing, I found absolutely nothing new or innovative. There was definitely nothing worth another $15 a month."
OK good luck to you ....BYE
PS...Please take your freinds, family with you.
..its a guideline, not a rule, as players we must remember: Its a Game.
Asheron's Call does use (still running and approaching 10th anniversary later this year) a point system. At certain levels you get additional skill points. Depending on the skill depends on how many points it costs, this allows for a lot of different character builds.
Asheron's Call was one of the initial big 3, as much as I love AC I wouldn't call it the first MMO though. However AC2 did set the standard for modern MMOs, that same system you see used in WoW, LotRO and everything else people like to call a WoW clone. But yet since most of those people started with WoW they do not realize they are actually all AC2 clones.
It is very much like wow.
Wow is much ilke everquest, they are both everquest clones.
Ppl have got to stop assuming wow is somehow the origin.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
Just not true i'm afraid. I've maxed out characters in WoW and LOTRO and enjoyed playing both. I got bored of the cartoony graphics in WoW and i still play LOTRO, but i don't hate WoW. I might give it a go again some day. As for the silly argument about WoW clones etc... they are all clones of EQ, the original first person 3D mmorpg and then DAoC which upped the anti with decent crafting, RVR and questing. WoW wasn't original when it came out so who cares if mmorpgs borrow from other mmorpgs? I don't. If something works use it. In fact LOTRO gameplay more closely resembles original DAoC thesedays than WoW.
I'm just trying to think what WoW did have that was original apart from in game post. Quests, mining, crafting, hotbar skills, minimap, banks, PVP zones, races, classes, level based system, RVR PVP... all been done before.
Anyone think of anything else that was original besides post boxes?
I'm just trying to think what WoW did have that was original apart from in game post. Quests, mining, crafting, hotbar skills, minimap, banks, PVP zones, races, classes, level based system, RVR PVP... all been done before.
Anyone think of anything else that was original besides post boxes?
The one thing that does come to mind is the little exclamation marks over the heads of quest givers. It may have also been the first MMO to let you track quest objectives on the side of the screen. Minor innovations, but thay have been copied by nearly every subsequent MMO. Similar systems have even been patched in to a lot of older MMOs (e.g., DAoC, EQ, EQ II). The druid and shamen were fairly unique class designs for the time. I can't think of any previous MMOs let you drop items on the ground that grant support abilities in a radius (Shamen) or shape change to fill different class roles on the fly (Druid). The rest of the classes were all pretty standard stuff I'd say.
And yeah, apart from that I can't really think of much that hadn't ben done by AC II or EQ. By and large WoW was Blizzard doing what it always does. Borrowing the best ideas from games in an existing genre and putting them in a product that's accessible enough to go mainstream. Even Diablo was arguably nothing but a gussied up roguelike.
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
The title of this thread shows that the OPer is clueless about mmos and their history.
As if WoW was the first fantasy mmo ever created. /rolleyes
That's all I have to say.
The game has its own feel to it and thats what really sets it apart. You feel like your in middle earth interacting with the characters we all know and love.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
LOTRO is a good game. I thoroughly enjoy the quests and the world is very beautiful (and open). AoC is similarly (if not more) beautiful, but more confined. Unfortunately, both the animations of the characters and their gear lack the polish of the environment surrounding them.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
You misunderstood me.
What I mean is that they did some great things with the DirectX 10 client, as far as the environment is concerned. For me the DirectX 9 client was bland and ... well, lets forget about it. Thing is, the improvement on the environment did not translate into improvement on the characters. Turbine needs to spend some extra time and improve the sharpness of the characters (in my opinion).
Perhaps not for others, but for me, the way female avatars run is an immersion breaker. I won't even talk about sidestepping. So yes, the animation is an issue in this game.
It has great PvE and good lore from what I hear.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
what a weird conclusion.
/baffled
what he is talking about is character models and animation which falls behind the lovely landscape in length. Look at the screeny from Druz where on the left side Tierny the Wary is running... nobody runs like that unless he is performing ballet or something.
It is a matter of things not matching together, on the one hand you have one of the best world graphics and on the other hand one of the lousiest character animation. It is like putting bycicle tires on a ferrari and then saying with those you feel more united with the car while those demanding good tires can not drive so well.
And now analysing the WHY - behind the quality drift within one product:
Screenshots sell a game, Animation can hardly be seen on screenshots, so a smart company invests more into what can be seen on screenshots rather than what can not be seen. The same counts for the thin and linear content and the shallow brained skill system. Show a none MMO'er some screenshots of LOTRO and he will most likely say, wow lovely.Show him some u-tube videos and if you are lucky he finds the overlayed music good.
I have started LoTRO several times, but every time was turned down by the horrible, not realistic, immersion breaking animation of characters.
I realize how many strengths this game has (community, content, lore) and the actual subscription offer is very attractive, but I simply cannot get over the animations and overall combat experience. Really can't. Tried many times.
Animation quility is directly proportional to your system specs. LOTRO is one of the few that animates the faces, and has a unique animation for almost ever skill in game. But, they use a form of LOD on the animations too, removing frames.
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
Eh?
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
'cause its solid, it has good graphics and its well organized. It isn't a wow clone: wow clones are only myths in my opinion.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)