Another "I'm considering coming back" thread.

Skatty2007

I haven't played Lotro in a good year and a half and I'm considering it giving it another go.  I have a couple of inquiries that I haven't been able to find in these forums yet.  Apologies if I did not search hard enough and questions here have been re-hashed to death.

1) A year and a half can be a long time for changes to come to a triple A MMO.  Is it possible to sum up the good and bad changes that have happened in this game since in the last 18 months, or is this an unreasonable request?

2) How much does not having Mines of Moria limit you in experiencing the game?  If I wanted to give it another try but didn't rush out and get the MoM expansion, would I be limiting my re-experience (and essentialy an evaluation) right off the bat?  Or could I still get a good enough picture of the game to get a grasp on the gameplay and how the game plays out?

3) Its been such a long time for me I'd almost be experiencing it for the first time as most of what I used to know about the game has largely been forgotten about.  However I still do have a few memories about gameplay, but I'm not sure how valid they are after such a time frame.  Does it play pretty much the same way as it did back in its earlier days (for better or for worse).  Again, my memories may be not valid after this time, but I remember it is a guided quest-a-thon, with side diversions that don't really affect much of anything other than having fun (which is a good thing) to keep the grinding to a reasonable level.

(Please don't read the term "quest-a-thon" as a positive or negative as its not my intention to judge lotro on this.  Its just a term I used to say I remember this game being primarily revolved around questing 90% of the time.  This can be good or bad depending on many many factors both internal and external to the core game.)

4) Compared to other MMOs that are similar to Lotro, how easy or hard is it to level?  Easier, the same, or more of a challenge to level up than others?  What is the max level now-a-days?

5) I've read other threads on population, ease of finding groups, and other questions.  I'd be interested in a high population server as I remember this game reaching its peak enjoyment when grouping with players.  And I'd like the highest probablility to group with people.  I hear Brandywine is a high pop server and my fit what I am looking for well if I decide to give this game anothr try.  But would there be any negatives on such a high population server that I should be aware of?

6) I'm a dungeon crawler whore.  I love a good dungeon crawl.  How good are the dungeons in this game?   Note:  I considered The Haunted Forest a dungeon, so keep that in mind as to how the dungeons may pertain to me.

7) If I do give this another try and it really grabs me, how do kinships treat noobs, cause that's pretty much what I'd be - a noob.   Is it easy, hard, or somewhere in the middle to find a kinship?  Would not joining a Kinship severly hurt the gameplay experience?  How much of a factor would a kinship play in "getting the most out of the game?"  A lot?  A little?

8) Is voice chat used a lot in this game?  Way back in the dark ages when I played it, it was sparsely used from my own personal experiences.  Has this changed much?

Thanks in advance for your attention!

grandpagamer

Unless you want to roll a rune priest or warden i dont think you would need the MOM xpac to enjoy the game. Some of the dungeons have been reworked to where 3 man groups can do some of them. 

Edit :  As for kinships they are pretty easy to get into but like many games that have been around awhile its a bit top heavy. Having said that there are  players of all levels at least on Landroval server, the thing is that the game is very solo friendly so while folks are nice, one of the best communities ive found, they do tend to do their own thing quite a bit of the time.

Einherjar_LC

Originally posted by Skatty2007


I haven't played Lotro in a good year and a half and I'm considering it giving it another go.  I have a couple of inquiries that I haven't been able to find in these forums yet.  Apologies if I did not search hard enough and questions here have been re-hashed to death.
1) A year and a half can be a long time for changes to come to a triple A MMO.  Is it possible to sum up the good and bad changes that have happened in this game since in the last 18 months, or is this an unreasonable request?
Honestly, it's pretty tough to list everything but I'll try to give a quick rundown.  IMO, it's still the same basic game as when you have left.  Mostly tweaks to classes and a revamp of the lower level areas to make them more smooth.  MoM introduced legendary items(weapons for all intents and purposes even though there are some non-weapon items).  The system was a bit grindy but they are working to smooth it out.  MoM also introduced a somewhat of an endgame series of quests...that wasn't so popular with a lot of the playerbase but again, Turbine is working dilligently to make it paletteable to both casuals and hardcore players.
2) How much does not having Mines of Moria limit you in experiencing the game?  If I wanted to give it another try but didn't rush out and get the MoM expansion, would I be limiting my re-experience (and essentialy an evaluation) right off the bat?  Or could I still get a good enough picture of the game to get a grasp on the gameplay and how the game plays out?
If you're starting out from scratch, not at all unless you want to play a Rune Keeper(RK) or a Warden.  If you have a higher level character(45+) then you will miss out on legendary items, the Mines, and Lothlorien which is where you would do most of your leveling past L50.  Current level cap is 60, where as it was 50 before MoM.
3) Its been such a long time for me I'd almost be experiencing it for the first time as most of what I used to know about the game has largely been forgotten about.  However I still do have a few memories about gameplay, but I'm not sure how valid they are after such a time frame.  Does it play pretty much the same way as it did back in its earlier days (for better or for worse).  Again, my memories may be not valid after this time, but I remember it is a guided quest-a-thon, with side diversions that don't really affect much of anything other than having fun (which is a good thing) to keep the grinding to a reasonable level.
XP is most generously provided through questing.  There are massive amounts of random quest hubs/towns/camps throughout the game.  In addition there are the Epic quests which are comprised of books.  Each book has rough 7-11 chapters and tells a very significant part of the story arc we are taking place in within the LOTR story.  In addition to questing you have your deeds and traits which you can do to give yourself additional skills and stat bonuses.  Crafting,  hobbies(which only consists of fishing at the moment), housing, seasonal festivals with many fun events, chicken play, freeze tag....well you get the idea, there's plenty of side diversions but they are mostly for fun and some give out neat/fun to have titles.
(Please don't read the term "quest-a-thon" as a positive or negative as its not my intention to judge lotro on this.  Its just a term I used to say I remember this game being primarily revolved around questing 90% of the time.  This can be good or bad depending on many many factors both internal and external to the core game.)
4) Compared to other MMOs that are similar to Lotro, how easy or hard is it to level?  Easier, the same, or more of a challenge to level up than others?  What is the max level now-a-days?
Compared to other MMO's, newer MMO's, it's about the same IMO.  But to be honest, in LOTRO leveling is what you make it.  You can level to max in a few weeks(quickest I heard was 2 weeks), or you can take forever(I know people that have played since launch that still do not have a max level character....which brings me to your next question).  Max level is currently 60 with the MoM expansion.  It was 50 previously.
5) I've read other threads on population, ease of finding groups, and other questions.  I'd be interested in a high population server as I remember this game reaching its peak enjoyment when grouping with players.  And I'd like the highest probablility to group with people.  I hear Brandywine is a high pop server and my fit what I am looking for well if I decide to give this game anothr try.  But would there be any negatives on such a high population server that I should be aware of?
Brandywine, Elenmidir(sp?), and Landroval(unofficial RP server) are the highest populated servers.  While they are highly populated you will find a steady population on all servers.  As good as this community is, I cannot think of any reason that would be a drawback to a highly populated server other than the usual things that come with high pop servers...many names taken, queue's, more competition for crafting resources to name a few of the usuals.
6) I'm a dungeon crawler whore.  I love a good dungeon crawl.  How good are the dungeons in this game?   Note:  I considered The Haunted Forest a dungeon, so keep that in mind as to how the dungeons may pertain to me.
There are a good handful in this game but to be honest, many of them house quests or are group areas so that's something to keep in mind if you want to solo dungeon craw.  Higher up in level there are more open access ones(Goblintown comes to mind as well as the fortress areas of Angmar) and MoM would be paradise to you it sounds like. 
7) If I do give this another try and it really grabs me, how do kinships treat noobs, cause that's pretty much what I'd be - a noob.   Is it easy, hard, or somewhere in the middle to find a kinship?  Would not joining a Kinship severly hurt the gameplay experience?  How much of a factor would a kinship play in "getting the most out of the game?"  A lot?  A little?
Most kinships are more than accepting of new players in my experience.  Most love the game and are eager to share what a wonderful game it is to new players.  Finding kinships is easy, finding the right fit may take some trial and error.  While not joining a kinship won't hurt you in anyway, as a new player it will be easy to fill groups through a kinship than trying to PUG them.  To me a kinship will absolutely help you get more out of the game and help enable you to experience everything the game offers.
8) Is voice chat used a lot in this game?  Way back in the dark ages when I played it, it was sparsely used from my own personal experiences.  Has this changed much?
From my experience it is more widely used now, at least 50/50 those that do and those that don't.  If you get into endgame raiding, I would recommend it as it makes raid communication easier.
Thanks in advance for your attention!
Hope I covered everything well enough for you.

 

Cophros7

Just a quick addition to the great response posted for the general knowledge of good reasons to go play LOTRO....... never in all of my not so inconsideranble mmo exp, have i been presented with a more helpful and respectful community of players than on lotro ........ i am completely serious and im sure others will agree, while i realize there are def exceptions to every rule, in this case lotro truly stunned me. Honestly, i just dont have the time to dedicate to such a solid and well put together game. I think your money will be well spent going back to lotro and heres a lil other info u may find interesting, if u look carefully, u may still be able to pick up the collectors chest at a bestbuy for 10 bucks which includes the whole updated game !! nioce!! ok , im out , ~ p3ace ~

trancejeremy

1) I haven't played that long, but I dunno.  Nothing dramatic in the year I've played, some nerfs, a few new areas, icons changed a couple times (ugh).  Biggest change was Moria, obviously, impacted the end game (not as interesting at 60 as it formerly was at 50). Crafting was also sort of broken by Moria (more rendered moot, by lame crafted items), but this was mostly addressed in a recent patch. (And only relevant if you were 50-60, so I've never seen any changes myself, just read about them)

2) Not a bit, unless you want to play a Rune Keeper or Warden.  Nothing in Moria except Moria basically (they did recently add a little post Moria area)

3) The same?

4) Hard, I would say. I've never played a game where I leveled slower, and I've played some Korean grinders. 300 hours into it and I'm only 44 (max level is 60, 50 without Moria)

5) The only negative is when they have a free returning weekend (for people without active subs). Then, you have to wait in line to get online. Even happens on my server (the 3rd biggest), even though in game, it just seems to take it from a sparsely populated MMORPG to a normally populated one

6) Great Barrows (20s) is sort of fun. I only got to do it once though (hard finding a group) and unfortunately, it had a bunch of people doing alts, so it was more like being on a guided tour, rather than really playing. (But when the only other option is not doing it, better than nothing). 

Haven't been in a dungeon since. I guess they might exist, but I dunno.

7)  I've played over a year, never found a kinship that would take me. Never see anyone recruiting in game, and when I tried a post on the official boards, only got one reply from roleplaying kinship, which I said I wasn't interested in. (Then again, I'm playing on Landroval, the unofficial roleplaying server, so maybe they don't like non-role-players)

8) Beats me, never grouped enough for it to matter.

Honestly, I have to agree with the guy who said "Don't".  It's just not a very good game. If it weren't for the Middle Earth license, no one would play it at alll, IMHO.  Buying a lifetime sub was one of the biggest mistakes of my life (well, last couple years).

Vaedur

Can i have your lifetime sub?

dand3

I left before Mines, at level 44 hunter. I came back three or four weeks ago.  Some of the changes I noticed:

• Leveling is faster, and the xp/leveling curve has changed.  I was immediately "promoted" to 46 after my first kill, to put me into the correct level for my xp.
• Some areas are easier.  Misty Mountains, Trollshaws, and Angmar all seemed easier.  Angmar was cleaned up quite a bit, not so unpleasant.  Evendim was improved and expanded a bit. Now has boat rides.
• My armor  got better; I was depressed about DPS/Squishy/Glass Cannon quality of hunters; now I'm reasonably sturdy.
• The houses and decorations were new to me, and are well done.
• The irritation of being constantly unhorsed when you tried to travel cross-country is much reduced.  Apparently it was a MAJOR player irritant.
• The graphics are still gorgeous.
• A lot of quests have been added.   A whole new series (I think) in the Trollshaws, that was pretty good. The new quests were added to make leveling less reliant on group instances, and to provide more soloing opportunities.
• New areas added were Forochel, 45-55? frozen north, Eregion at the entrance to Moria, (47-52?) which I like a lot, the Mines of Moria of course, which I've just started, and Lothlorien after the mines, which I have not reached yet.
• Legendary weapons.  You get a good weapon (after completing a quest line), with random qualities, which then levels with you.  Others will become available as drops.  Major game subsystem.
• New armor and such of course.
• The new classes were mentioned above.
• I think the quest objective arrow in the minimap is new, although I may have forgotten it.

That's all that comes to mind offhand; it's enough to change the "feel" of the game, and the grind is less obtrusive now.  In all, for me, it's just more "comfortable".

Einherjar_LC

Originally posted by trancejeremy


1) I haven't played that long, but I dunno.  Nothing dramatic in the year I've played, some nerfs, a few new areas, icons changed a couple times (ugh).  Biggest change was Moria, obviously, impacted the end game (not as interesting at 60 as it formerly was at 50). Crafting was also sort of broken by Moria (more rendered moot, by lame crafted items), but this was mostly addressed in a recent patch. (And only relevant if you were 50-60, so I've never seen any changes myself, just read about them)
2) Not a bit, unless you want to play a Rune Keeper or Warden.  Nothing in Moria except Moria basically (they did recently add a little post Moria area)
3) The same?
4) Hard, I would say. I've never played a game where I leveled slower, and I've played some Korean grinders. 300 hours into it and I'm only 44 (max level is 60, 50 without Moria)
5) The only negative is when they have a free returning weekend (for people without active subs). Then, you have to wait in line to get online. Even happens on my server (the 3rd biggest), even though in game, it just seems to take it from a sparsely populated MMORPG to a normally populated one
6) Great Barrows (20s) is sort of fun. I only got to do it once though (hard finding a group) and unfortunately, it had a bunch of people doing alts, so it was more like being on a guided tour, rather than really playing. (But when the only other option is not doing it, better than nothing). 
Haven't been in a dungeon since. I guess they might exist, but I dunno.
7)  I've played over a year, never found a kinship that would take me. Never see anyone recruiting in game, and when I tried a post on the official boards, only got one reply from roleplaying kinship, which I said I wasn't interested in. (Then again, I'm playing on Landroval, the unofficial roleplaying server, so maybe they don't like non-role-players)
8) Beats me, never grouped enough for it to matter.
Honestly, I have to agree with the guy who said "Don't".  It's just not a very good game. If it weren't for the Middle Earth license, no one would play it at alll, IMHO.  Buying a lifetime sub was one of the biggest mistakes of my life (well, last couple years).

 

 

Green part by me...

To refute the "no one would play it at all" I add:

2nd most subs for a MMO in the North America market behind WoW.  Add to that that a dev recently announced that subscription are increasing across all markets.  These were official statements from Turbine.

 

Honestly Trance, you've done nothing but complain about this game since you started playing and yet you've been here for a year.

If I disliked a game as much as you make out about LOTRO, I wouldn't be here anymore regardless of the lifetime membership.

 

 

I have no idea how you can comment about the state of endgame at 50, and now at 60 when you're only L44.

 

Secondly, you really need to see if you have chat turned off.  There are kinship announcements on a constant basis.  You say no one will group with you and no one will talk to you and no one will invite you to their kin yet you are the only one having these experiences on Landroval which is without a doubt the most social community I have been involved with in the 11+ years I have played MMO's.

 

Sorry but maybe it's you?

areb

Originally posted by trancejeremy


4) Hard, I would say. I've never played a game where I leveled slower, and I've played some Korean grinders. 300 hours into it and I'm only 44 (max level is 60, 50 without Moria)

 

I'm not sure what's up with that but my 3rd toon that I leveled is about 45 and I believe he has about 75-100hrs played.  Keep in mind that's with no crafting, and my 3rd time through so I know where everything is...

ericbelser

First off, let me say - give it a try! There is a free trial (without buying Mines of Moria) and the time allowed is more than enough to experience the game.

Most of the low-level areas have gotten tweaked since launch to be "better" in many ways. They are actively, if slowly, revamping older areas as they go as well - Lonelands is next.

To me, compared to any MMO I have played, levelling is fast and painless.

There aren't a lot of "dungeons" but there are some fun large ruins and such to do. (Although by low-40s, Goblin Town and Sarnur are both HUGE dungeons and very very cool.)

The community is great and there are many lower level kins recruiting. You do have to have some patience to find groups for some of the quests, but it's doable especially prime time weekends.

I'd definately say you don't *need* Moria to start getting back in, but if you stay you will want it.

ariccaron

I just came back to LoTRO on the free trial after almost a year and a 1/2. Turbine has done a lot of work. it does seem to be a bit more solo-friendly.

Skatty2007

Thanks for the great feedback everyone!  I'll give it a whirl.

 

DonnieBrasco

Originally posted by Einherjar_LC

Originally posted by trancejeremy


1) I haven't played that long, but I dunno.  Nothing dramatic in the year I've played, some nerfs, a few new areas, icons changed a couple times (ugh).  Biggest change was Moria, obviously, impacted the end game (not as interesting at 60 as it formerly was at 50). Crafting was also sort of broken by Moria (more rendered moot, by lame crafted items), but this was mostly addressed in a recent patch. (And only relevant if you were 50-60, so I've never seen any changes myself, just read about them)
2) Not a bit, unless you want to play a Rune Keeper or Warden.  Nothing in Moria except Moria basically (they did recently add a little post Moria area)
3) The same?
4) Hard, I would say. I've never played a game where I leveled slower, and I've played some Korean grinders. 300 hours into it and I'm only 44 (max level is 60, 50 without Moria)
5) The only negative is when they have a free returning weekend (for people without active subs). Then, you have to wait in line to get online. Even happens on my server (the 3rd biggest), even though in game, it just seems to take it from a sparsely populated MMORPG to a normally populated one
6) Great Barrows (20s) is sort of fun. I only got to do it once though (hard finding a group) and unfortunately, it had a bunch of people doing alts, so it was more like being on a guided tour, rather than really playing. (But when the only other option is not doing it, better than nothing). 
Haven't been in a dungeon since. I guess they might exist, but I dunno.
7)  I've played over a year, never found a kinship that would take me. Never see anyone recruiting in game, and when I tried a post on the official boards, only got one reply from roleplaying kinship, which I said I wasn't interested in. (Then again, I'm playing on Landroval, the unofficial roleplaying server, so maybe they don't like non-role-players)
8) Beats me, never grouped enough for it to matter.
Honestly, I have to agree with the guy who said "Don't".  It's just not a very good game. If it weren't for the Middle Earth license, no one would play it at alll, IMHO.  Buying a lifetime sub was one of the biggest mistakes of my life (well, last couple years).

 

 

Green part by me...

To refute the "no one would play it at all" I add:

2nd most subs for a MMO in the North America market behind WoW.  Add to that that a dev recently announced that subscription are increasing across all markets.  These were official statements from Turbine.

 

Honestly Trance, you've done nothing but complain about this game since you started playing and yet you've been here for a year.

If I disliked a game as much as you make out about LOTRO, I wouldn't be here anymore regardless of the lifetime membership.

 

 

I have no idea how you can comment about the state of endgame at 50, and now at 60 when you're only L44.

 

Secondly, you really need to see if you have chat turned off.  There are kinship announcements on a constant basis.  You say no one will group with you and no one will talk to you and no one will invite you to their kin yet you are the only one having these experiences on Landroval which is without a doubt the most social community I have been involved with in the 11+ years I have played MMO's.

 

Sorry but maybe it's you?

You know what?

He's complaining about nobody even talking to him or helping him, and when someone is considering (re-)joining the game, he tries to deter them, instead of grasping the chance of having someone he can help, thus even play with.

How does this not prove trolling?

DB