I haven't played since ROR came out, but I think Turbine did a good job of capturing the feel of ME. I loved the Shire and was in awe when I first entered Bree, seeing Rivendell, etc. What killed the game for me was the grindfest it has become IMO. I was going to go back after Helm's Deep came out, because I was interested in the skill tree changes, but when I saw was just use the same skill x number of times to unlock the points in the the skill tree, I just uninstalled it. I prefer the way EQ2 does it where you get AA points for gathering XP as you level.
After that, each new expansion except maybe Mirkwood made the game less LOTR and more "generic fantasy MMORPG". The last outrage was a random band of adventurers entering Orthanc, and surviving (and even besting!) Saruman in his own home.
What quest do you "best" saruman? I played through that bit and I don't remember battling him or even challenging him to a contest of "wits"?
It's an instance/raid.
Did you ever take part in this raid? Gandalf lived to tell about his run in with Saruman, why couldn't 12 bold adventurers? It's a video game that has done a great job with the lore, every game with a huge ip will stretch it a bit calling it an outrage especially if you never even made it there is ridiculous .
The same thing happened to the Star Trek ip and possibly Neverwinter and its world.
And the same thing is about to happen to The Elder Scrolls.
You guys are confusing this to be MMOs not living up to an IPs potential. The OP was discussing the LotR IP in videogames in general. Star Wars and Elder scrolls have been WELL represented, reaching much of their potential in the videogame universe.
Star Trek and LotR on the other hand, not so much...
After that, each new expansion except maybe Mirkwood made the game less LOTR and more "generic fantasy MMORPG". The last outrage was a random band of adventurers entering Orthanc, and surviving (and even besting!) Saruman in his own home.
What quest do you "best" saruman? I played through that bit and I don't remember battling him or even challenging him to a contest of "wits"?
It's an instance/raid.
Did you ever take part in this raid? Gandalf lived to tell about his run in with Saruman, why couldn't 12 bold adventurers? It's a video game that has done a great job with the lore, every game with a huge ip will stretch it a bit calling it an outrage especially if you never even made it there is ridiculous .
Gandalf is an Istari, kid. He survived against another Istari. Both Gandalf and Saruman would just snort and wave their little finger to defeat such 12 man random adventurer party. Remember, you're a random adventurer, you're not Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf or Eowyn.
And I've mostly likely been playing LOTRO for longer than you (I was in early beta), so stick ot facts, not assumptions.
Lol I asked you if you did take part In the raid not sure why your getting all defensive kid? Yeah early beta here also buddy so likely you haven't been playing longer than me stick to the facts.
Oh I understand your a random adventure but you've been with those you mentioned helping them throughout your journey.
Yes fighting him may be a stretch and lore breaking but to call it outrages and destroys the entire game, everything else that is part of the amazing lore is ridiculous. Plus if it was that big of an issue you could just skip it and then you never would have broken the lore.
Well, this game used to be an ambitious sandbox game called Middle Earth Online, that focused on simulating life in Middle Earth.
Then WoW got big, Turbine got scared, fired most of their devs, hired devs fresh out of college, and in 9 months fast tracked this game into LotRO, instanced quest grinding linear game with boring mechanics and atmosphere ruined by invisible walls, instances, and bad gameplay. The only good features in the games are relics from Middle Earth Online.
It's a shame what happened and I wish another company could get a shot with it. But so long as a publisher is behind it, we'll never get a good MMO in Middle Earth.
Middle Earth Online was the brainchild of Sierra OnLine NOT Turbine. Turbine? Seriously? They have never had an original idea in their handful of years of existence and you want to give them credit for Middle Earth Online? Egads! :P
Originally posted by Jean-Luc_PicardRemember, you're a random adventurer, you're not Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf or Eowyn.
And I've mostly likely been playing LOTRO for longer than you (I was in early beta), so stick ot facts, not assumptions.
Well, to be fair, it is a role playing game.
For instance, my character is an Elf Lord, the sone of a VAnyar and Noldor.
Of course there is no built in game mechanic that represents this but that's why I said I wasn't sure how I felt about it.
Also, I don't role play with others, just have my own "internal role play" when I solo.
Well there couldn't be a mechanic to allow you to be an Elf Lord as every Elf Lord is named in the Silmarillon and there aren't new ones being made lol.
Originally posted by Jean-Luc_PicardRemember, you're a random adventurer, you're not Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf or Eowyn.
And I've mostly likely been playing LOTRO for longer than you (I was in early beta), so stick ot facts, not assumptions.
Well, to be fair, it is a role playing game.
For instance, my character is an Elf Lord, the sone of a VAnyar and Noldor.
Of course there is no built in game mechanic that represents this but that's why I said I wasn't sure how I felt about it.
Also, I don't role play with others, just have my own "internal role play" when I solo.
Well there couldn't be a mechanic to allow you to be an Elf Lord as every Elf Lord is named in the Silmarillon and there aren't new ones being made lol.
And that's where the role play comes in! No worries, it's my own little story and I don't inflict it on others.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Originally posted by Jean-Luc_PicardRemember, you're a random adventurer, you're not Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf or Eowyn.
And I've mostly likely been playing LOTRO for longer than you (I was in early beta), so stick ot facts, not assumptions.
Well, to be fair, it is a role playing game.
For instance, my character is an Elf Lord, the sone of a VAnyar and Noldor.
Of course there is no built in game mechanic that represents this but that's why I said I wasn't sure how I felt about it.
Also, I don't role play with others, just have my own "internal role play" when I solo.
Well there couldn't be a mechanic to allow you to be an Elf Lord as every Elf Lord is named in the Silmarillon and there aren't new ones being made lol.
And that's where the role play comes in! No worries, it's my own little story and I don't inflict it on others.
Which is why it's totally irrelevant when it comes to the lore of the game.
I mean, I could imagine myself being the Lich King in WoW... doing so won't make it happen.
Point made - a bunch of "nobodies" owning Saruman in in own home is silly.
It may be silly but there were always raids forming for it and people enjoyed it, isn't that the point to playing video games having fun? It's not to nit pick a few aspects that don't follow the IP to a T especially when the rest of the game is heavy lore focused.
Do not hit me, but I actually liked the LotR action game for X-box, based on the movie. Where you ran with a group of lookalikes to the movie, through the whole story in a corridor of monsters. It was shallow, it was extremly narrow and without any freedom, but it did convey some of the movie feeling. It was real fun for a month! But yes, to have such a complete work, so succesful and with such a great following, and not be able to make a more than ordinary game.... it is kinda sad.
"This is not a game to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force"
And that's where the role play comes in! No worries, it's my own little story and I don't inflict it on others.
Which is why it's totally irrelevant when it comes to the lore of the game.
I mean, I could imagine myself being the Lich King in WoW... doing so won't make it happen.
Point made - a bunch of "nobodies" owning Saruman in in own home is silly.
It's not irrelevant to the people playing and if you want to play as the lich king and make some story that makes sense then more power to you. And if you have fellow players who support that then even better.
As I said, i'm not sure how I feel about it. But if players can find their own meaning to the encounter, anything from creating role playing reasons to "oh heck it's fun" then it really is a non-issue.
And as someone said, you can just skip it if you find it unsettling. I get that different lore breaks are going to affect people in different ways, that makes sense.
But my character is super important so I would have no problem going up against Saruman if need be. Even if my importance is only in my mind. What matters to me is my experience. At least to the extent that I'm not inflicting myself on others.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
This game is no longer LOTR, no longer Tolkien. It's a cash shop driven money sucker trying to empty as many wallets as possible before finally closing down.
Can say the same thing about SWTOR, STO, that Marvel MMO even SWG with the TCG etc
Even the console games are being plagued with cash shops, like most of EAs games like Dead Space 3 and the latest Forza so if there is another LOTR MMO being made, it will be probably even worse as the cash shop will be written into the game from the ground up.
They are not milking peoples wallets until closure they are milking peoples wallets because it works, and when it stops working ALL games, not just LOTRO will stop using cash shops / microtransactions, and then maybe Turbine will change the game from cash shop to whatever thing works next, if they can apply it to LOTRO
LOTRO's combat is very dated. But what makes it great is the stories it tells. It's all about the adventure. If you want great combat then play a newer game. If you want a deep story then play LOTRO.
Lord of the Rings is just a problematic IP for an mmo.
I've love it to be more specific to various lore points but unless one mixes in some of the story elements and characters the world can feel a little watered down.
Someone can correct me on this but I thought that middle earth online took place "after" the whole lord of the rings confrontation? If that's so then that becomes more problematic because the elves are leaving/have left middle earth, I believe the dwarves go further underground and it then becomes the age of man.
If one really wants to be specific to the lore then we shouldn't be having hobbits and humans in lothlorien or elves running around the shire.
Quite frankly I would be happier with major towns and cities in the books to be instanced where only a person's party is privy to the space.
Having elves running around Bree doesn't feel right.
I suppose, with this IP, one needs to come up with reasons that it all sort of makes sense. Whether that's one's own story, putting on blinders to lightning flying all around (rune keepers) or just turning a blind eye to the parts that don't really resonate.
I think that's one of the reasons I think lotro should be more like the original guild wars. at least to my tastes.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Totaly agree OP, altough i never played LotRO i played 70% of all the major mmo's that came out and closed to doors in the past 15 years or so.
It seems as if developers spend to much time looking at other mmo's instead of making their own mmo unique and add vast patches with contend that delivers.
I seriously consider to just give up hope to play a mmo like UO / DaoC / Eve / WoW. These were milestones but bad decisions made most of these mmo's not worth playing anymore.
Not to mention the potantial of some of the mmo's could have had when designed a littlebit diffrent.
The reason Elves run around Bree is because it is a MMO - No MMO makes sense of any IP
In SWTOR every class can play Bounty Hunter
In SWG Jedi were everywhere in a time frame where there were few Jedi
In STO every one is a captain
I agree with this, I assume your talking about the BH event in Swtor. But if you take lotro overall they have done a pretty good job with the lore. You do feel like your in middle earth as you explore the world. Yes there are lore breaking things but by no means do they out weigh lore focused things.
The reason Elves run around Bree is because it is a MMO - No MMO makes sense of any IP
In SWTOR every class can play Bounty Hunter
In SWG Jedi were everywhere in a time frame where there were few Jedi
In STO every one is a captain
well they "could'. However, that would just pare down the playerbase.
I mean, you "could' have a lord of the rings game where players could only enter the areas where their races would be. It's not impossible. Whether or not players like that is another thing.
mmo's tend not to make "sense" of the IP's because they want to cater to a larger group of players who probably want to experience the game in a way that resonates with them.
So sure, there are Star Trek players who would have been very happy to have a ship where there was only one captain, someone played the engineer, someone played the medic, etc.
I could easily see it being done and I can easily imagine players wanting to play it. I could also imagine a lot of disgruntled players who all wanted to be kirk.
I don't think the reason it because it's an mmo but that to get the larger group of players, mmo's tend to compress timelines, make certain things accessible, etc.
But there is nothing stopping an online game from adopting strict rules about the world it's made in other than money.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
How did LOTRO have so much potential? lol it was the most obvious WoW clone ever. In a way this game paved the way for all the other WoW clones we see today. This game deserves no praise of mine; in fact, the exact opposite.
Originally posted by fantasyfreak112 How did LOTRO have so much potential? lol it was the most obvious WoW clone ever. In a way this game paved the way for all the other WoW clones we see today. This game deserves no praise of mine; in fact, the exact opposite.
hmmmm, some of that could come from closed beta or at least early in the game's life.
Remember, the old forest was extremely difficult to navigate and was very dangerous, there are areas around Bree that are there "just because".
North east Bree area is the one that comes to mind. You can actually go there and feel like you are exploring middle earth just to explore.
For earlier players, beta testers (of which I was one) the game felt different. Oh sure it had some of the same mechanics as WoW but it felt a bit different. As time went by things focused more and it became more of what it is today.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Originally posted by ingphorlas shadows of angmar at launch was good then it slowly devolved into utter crap ... i have a lifetime sub but i wont ever install lotro again
And here you are over six years later still posting on a "crap" game??
Originally posted by fantasyfreak112 How did LOTRO have so much potential? lol it was the most obvious WoW clone ever. In a way this game paved the way for all the other WoW clones we see today. This game deserves no praise of mine; in fact, the exact opposite.
hmmmm, some of that could come from closed beta or at least early in the game's life.
Remember, the old forest was extremely difficult to navigate and was very dangerous, there are areas around Bree that are there "just because".
North east Bree area is the one that comes to mind. You can actually go there and feel like you are exploring middle earth just to explore.
For earlier players, beta testers (of which I was one) the game felt different. Oh sure it had some of the same mechanics as WoW but it felt a bit different. As time went by things focused more and it became more of what it is today.
It doesn't really matter if it wasn't like WoW in beta. I played it at release and a few random times thereafter and it is the most obvious WoW clone ever, short of Rift. 1 or 2 different features doesn't change this.
Comments
And the same thing is about to happen to The Elder Scrolls.
Bringer of Eternal Darkness and Despair, but also a Nutritious way to start your Morning.
Games Played: Too Many
Did you ever take part in this raid? Gandalf lived to tell about his run in with Saruman, why couldn't 12 bold adventurers? It's a video game that has done a great job with the lore, every game with a huge ip will stretch it a bit calling it an outrage especially if you never even made it there is ridiculous .
You guys are confusing this to be MMOs not living up to an IPs potential. The OP was discussing the LotR IP in videogames in general. Star Wars and Elder scrolls have been WELL represented, reaching much of their potential in the videogame universe.
Star Trek and LotR on the other hand, not so much...
Well, to be fair, it is a role playing game.
For instance, my character is an Elf Lord, the sone of a VAnyar and Noldor.
Of course there is no built in game mechanic that represents this but that's why I said I wasn't sure how I felt about it.
Also, I don't role play with others, just have my own "internal role play" when I solo.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Lol I asked you if you did take part In the raid not sure why your getting all defensive kid? Yeah early beta here also buddy so likely you haven't been playing longer than me stick to the facts.
Oh I understand your a random adventure but you've been with those you mentioned helping them throughout your journey.
Yes fighting him may be a stretch and lore breaking but to call it outrages and destroys the entire game, everything else that is part of the amazing lore is ridiculous. Plus if it was that big of an issue you could just skip it and then you never would have broken the lore.
Middle Earth Online was the brainchild of Sierra OnLine NOT Turbine. Turbine? Seriously? They have never had an original idea in their handful of years of existence and you want to give them credit for Middle Earth Online? Egads! :P
massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/21/the-game-archaeologist-and-the-what-ifs-middle-earth-online/
http://www.speedtest.net/result/7300033012
Well there couldn't be a mechanic to allow you to be an Elf Lord as every Elf Lord is named in the Silmarillon and there aren't new ones being made lol.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/7300033012
Every MMORPG that has been based off a popular pre-existing IP has been a shadow of what it was based on.
None of them have lived up to the potential of the "mother" IP. They all end up being shallow and derivative.
Linear treadmills that twist and break the lore so much that by the 3rd or 4th Expansion they hardly even resemble the Original IP
They were supposed to bring these IPs to life. To be Living Virtual Worlds.
But they are just Static Multi-player Games
Bringer of Eternal Darkness and Despair, but also a Nutritious way to start your Morning.
Games Played: Too Many
And that's where the role play comes in! No worries, it's my own little story and I don't inflict it on others.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
It may be silly but there were always raids forming for it and people enjoyed it, isn't that the point to playing video games having fun? It's not to nit pick a few aspects that don't follow the IP to a T especially when the rest of the game is heavy lore focused."This is not a game to be tossed aside lightly.
It should be thrown with great force"
It's not irrelevant to the people playing and if you want to play as the lich king and make some story that makes sense then more power to you. And if you have fellow players who support that then even better.
As I said, i'm not sure how I feel about it. But if players can find their own meaning to the encounter, anything from creating role playing reasons to "oh heck it's fun" then it really is a non-issue.
And as someone said, you can just skip it if you find it unsettling. I get that different lore breaks are going to affect people in different ways, that makes sense.
But my character is super important so I would have no problem going up against Saruman if need be. Even if my importance is only in my mind. What matters to me is my experience. At least to the extent that I'm not inflicting myself on others.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Can say the same thing about SWTOR, STO, that Marvel MMO even SWG with the TCG etc
Even the console games are being plagued with cash shops, like most of EAs games like Dead Space 3 and the latest Forza so if there is another LOTR MMO being made, it will be probably even worse as the cash shop will be written into the game from the ground up.
They are not milking peoples wallets until closure they are milking peoples wallets because it works, and when it stops working ALL games, not just LOTRO will stop using cash shops / microtransactions, and then maybe Turbine will change the game from cash shop to whatever thing works next, if they can apply it to LOTRO
Star Trek Online - Best Free MMORPG of 2012
Lord of the Rings is just a problematic IP for an mmo.
I've love it to be more specific to various lore points but unless one mixes in some of the story elements and characters the world can feel a little watered down.
Someone can correct me on this but I thought that middle earth online took place "after" the whole lord of the rings confrontation? If that's so then that becomes more problematic because the elves are leaving/have left middle earth, I believe the dwarves go further underground and it then becomes the age of man.
If one really wants to be specific to the lore then we shouldn't be having hobbits and humans in lothlorien or elves running around the shire.
Quite frankly I would be happier with major towns and cities in the books to be instanced where only a person's party is privy to the space.
Having elves running around Bree doesn't feel right.
I suppose, with this IP, one needs to come up with reasons that it all sort of makes sense. Whether that's one's own story, putting on blinders to lightning flying all around (rune keepers) or just turning a blind eye to the parts that don't really resonate.
I think that's one of the reasons I think lotro should be more like the original guild wars. at least to my tastes.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Totaly agree OP, altough i never played LotRO i played 70% of all the major mmo's that came out and closed to doors in the past 15 years or so.
It seems as if developers spend to much time looking at other mmo's instead of making their own mmo unique and add vast patches with contend that delivers.
I seriously consider to just give up hope to play a mmo like UO / DaoC / Eve / WoW.
These were milestones but bad decisions made most of these mmo's not worth playing anymore.
Not to mention the potantial of some of the mmo's could have had when designed a littlebit diffrent.
The reason Elves run around Bree is because it is a MMO - No MMO makes sense of any IP
In SWTOR every class can play Bounty Hunter
In SWG Jedi were everywhere in a time frame where there were few Jedi
In STO every one is a captain
Star Trek Online - Best Free MMORPG of 2012
I agree with this, I assume your talking about the BH event in Swtor. But if you take lotro overall they have done a pretty good job with the lore. You do feel like your in middle earth as you explore the world. Yes there are lore breaking things but by no means do they out weigh lore focused things.well they "could'. However, that would just pare down the playerbase.
I mean, you "could' have a lord of the rings game where players could only enter the areas where their races would be. It's not impossible. Whether or not players like that is another thing.
mmo's tend not to make "sense" of the IP's because they want to cater to a larger group of players who probably want to experience the game in a way that resonates with them.
So sure, there are Star Trek players who would have been very happy to have a ship where there was only one captain, someone played the engineer, someone played the medic, etc.
I could easily see it being done and I can easily imagine players wanting to play it. I could also imagine a lot of disgruntled players who all wanted to be kirk.
I don't think the reason it because it's an mmo but that to get the larger group of players, mmo's tend to compress timelines, make certain things accessible, etc.
But there is nothing stopping an online game from adopting strict rules about the world it's made in other than money.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
hmmmm, some of that could come from closed beta or at least early in the game's life.
Remember, the old forest was extremely difficult to navigate and was very dangerous, there are areas around Bree that are there "just because".
North east Bree area is the one that comes to mind. You can actually go there and feel like you are exploring middle earth just to explore.
For earlier players, beta testers (of which I was one) the game felt different. Oh sure it had some of the same mechanics as WoW but it felt a bit different. As time went by things focused more and it became more of what it is today.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
And here you are over six years later still posting on a "crap" game??It doesn't really matter if it wasn't like WoW in beta. I played it at release and a few random times thereafter and it is the most obvious WoW clone ever, short of Rift. 1 or 2 different features doesn't change this.