I've played it off and on since it came out and still haven't gotten a character to max level. The atmosphere is enjoyable.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Lotro was a good game and MMO until Moria (included) but now it can be renamed Lord of the Cash Shop Online. Sad but maybe some decent company takes the IP over someday and makes a good Middle Earth MMO?
Once we got past the shock of how bad it was at launch compared to how epic it should have been it was an OK game. But still its based on The Lord of the Rings, it should have been a license to print money.
Turbiene half assed it and then compounded that with what they did with Moria and everything they did after that.
it does have some pretty sawesome features but it simply doesnt go in depth enough with most of what it has.
Housing is half assed, PvP is half assed, crafting is half assed, Epic battles are half assed. Mounted combat poorly done, legendary items very poorly done.
Deeds, skirmishes, music system, cosmetics, mounts all pretty good. festivals OK but they nee to switch them up a little nothing new in them for years.
As far as the free to play model. Best in the business. They let you earn points in the game for doing deeds, some are very simple to accomplish and can be done on multiple characters. You also get to keep stuff even after a sub has lapsed.
I had two lifetime subs and they have paid for everything since Moria. In fact in 8 years I have spent less than 500 bucks cash in that game counting the two lifetime subs two original boxes and every expansion since. And I still have about 30K turbine points left between the two accounts. So I dont anticipate ever having to pay any money ever out of pocket for anything.
But I mostly go in now once a week to spin the wheel and farm a few points and do a few quests. Maybe try and finish a deed or something.
Because as epic and full of stuff as it is once you have done t a few times it does get boring.
I liked all about Lotro but just awful animations and total absence of laws of physics. Was too much to handle for me. Repaired this I would gladly play.
Funny, that is the best thing about Lotro, you can't level a new character to max level in a few weeks. So it is definitely not a game for the "I want it now" crowd.
It is really ludicrous for anyone to mention the term "pay-to-win" about this game because there is no such thing.
No such thing as pay-to-win? That's rubbish, and if you really know this game, you also know this. Since it's a long time since I played, I don't remember the terms, but you can buy upgrades like... was it trait slots or somthing like that it was called? Don't remember, but it's certianly advancing your toon. And have you forgotten about the books, or whatever, you can buy? The ones that increases int, str, etc with x points?
If that's not pay-to-win, feel free to clarify, because (imo) there are not many games out there with such an obvious pay-to-win shop as this game has. Unless they've changed that recently, of course.
Agree with Ozmodan, even with the constantly increasing xp-giving rate it still takes a couple months to reach the cap, and that's a good thing.
Also agree with the second part - though maybe it's only my view that p2w is n/a in a pve-heavy game... But even if forget that, your examples are way off... or not, if you are with the "hardcore p2w" group, the "sub is the ultimate p2w since if you don't pay the sub, you can't play"
Trait slots are part of the f2p model... subscribers have them, after the sub is gone they keep them forever - alongside many other things, like the gold cap, swift travel, etc. If subbing for 1 month, and with it unlocking most of the restrictions (except the quests ofc) forever is pay-to-win in your eyes, well... to each their own
Stat tomes were in the game before the f2p switch, so it's a bit odd to put it on the p2w bracket... not to mention with the stat changes the significance of those diminished a lot. Maybe not for the endgame treadmill grinders, but those are just a tiny fraction anyways. Not to mention 2.0, odd to call something p2w which can be purchased from the AH for cheap
Pay for convenience, well, that's a whole different issue. But convenience =/= win (at least to me... seriously, what can you "win" in a pve roleplay-focused game? lol)
Wide open world- I HATE how some other game worlds funnel you from one zone to another through some miniscule path. I love "real-world" game worlds like LoTRO's where you can enter zones from anywhere in their perimeter. I am not a cattle that needs to be herded in a line to the next area.
Actually most Lotro regions are connected to each other through narrow path or two.
Some early regions were diffrent and more open, but they are/were exception rather than rule.
Sure Lotro is not as bad with zoning/funneling as some other mmorpg's which are worse, but still Lotro is funneled a lot.
So I don't know why you wrote this.
Originally posted by Maurgrim Why whine about cash shop?, just go with the sub and be done with it.
I was subscriber and I left Lotro because of cash shop.
Another game by Turbine is Dungeon and Dragons Online. Before the free to play model, I enjoyed many, MANY hours playing and it also had a lot of roleplaying possibilities.
Seems free to play models don't always work out for the best though, unfortunately
Wide open world- I HATE how some other game worlds funnel you from one zone to another through some miniscule path. I love "real-world" game worlds like LoTRO's where you can enter zones from anywhere in their perimeter. I am not a cattle that needs to be herded in a line to the next area.
Actually most Lotro regions are connected to each other through narrow path or two.
Some early regions were diffrent and more open, but they are/were exception rather than rule.
Sure Lotro is not as bad with zoning/funneling as some other mmorpg's which are worse, but still Lotro is funneled a lot.
So I don't know why you wrote this.
Originally posted by Maurgrim Why whine about cash shop?, just go with the sub and be done with it.
I was subscriber and I left Lotro because of cash shop.
Subscription does not fix Cash Shop issue.
I have to disagree. If you call tunneling within the areas, then every MMO ever invented has more tunneling.
As to the cash shop, I have less than $50 in the game and have basically everything. Easiest cash shop in the business to avoid.
I played LotRO for about a year and a half. Had experienced a lot of "altitis" (very interesting classes). I loved the music, atmosphere/ambiance and festivals. Many quests were entertaining and I enjoyed the skirmish system....then I cam to Moria and ended up leaving the game. It was not enjoyable and players I knew really didn't want to assist me through (they disliked it too). I know there has been changes to Moria since I left and I have often toyed with idea of returning, because there was a lot to enjoy, but it is not a game I want to solo through . The initial guild I joined helped with gear, but was not so available for quests or big storyline events. I had some family play, but they ended leaving before I could level cap. Yeah, I know, find peeps or a new guild, but I haven't generated that much interest to do so.
There is a P2W-ish feel in the cash shop when you can by spec/trait/virtue increases and purchase heal pots that are better than crafted ones. This probably makes not much of a difference to a primarily PvE MMO, other than raid groups that demand such things from each other.
As beautiful as this game is, I am truly dumbfounded how Turbine has done virtually nothing with improving housing. It primarily uses the old stale hook system that was seen in Asheron's Call well over 10+ years ago! A serious housing overhaul just might rekindle some interest with veteran players.
I'll always think fondly of Lotro, in the same way I do of UO and Lineage2.
An immersive game that promoted the social aspects of gaming (party voice chat, plenty of excellent raids and rp opportunities) and wasn't afraid to try new things (e.g. mounted combat).
Wandering through Moria for the first time was truly epic.
Thank you Turbine
Playing: Darkfall New Dawn (and planning to play Fallout 76) Favourite games have included: UO, Lineage2, Darkfall, Lotro, Baldur's Gate, SSX, FF7 and yes the original Wizardry on an Apple IIe
I loved Lotro but the combat button smashing started to actually hurt my fingers after every major combat, even bought a macro capable keyboard and mouse, just too much button smashing ...
"What are some of your favorite things about LOTRO?" I'd list those three as well: Festivals / player events and music system, world, story / writing. Plus the community, and -though I'm not an avid clothing fan- the cosmetic system. Also the warden's gambit system. Cool instas, nice group mechanics.
Mostly the whole game I guess... except the LI grind, and the trait tree introduction instead of the good ol' system.
"LOTRO even has fun non-combat skills that add to its roleplaying as a category, such as the Burglar’s Practical Joke, which makes everyone around them sneeze, or the Minstrel’s Irresistible Melody, which makes everybody dance." Actually there are so many new ones Turbine had to add a "disable involuntarily emotes" checkbox under the settings because those were heavily over-used Love the one which summons a huge fire-dragon and sets the target aflame - cosmetically, no damage and stuff, just looking cool.
I love LoTRO. That was the best $199 I ever spent in my life:)
That "$199 Lifetime" option gave me the freedom to come and go as I chose. I've tried many other new and shiny games over the last 8 years but they only hold my interest for 1-2 months. LoTRO never bores me. I miss it when I'm away visiting the latest new thing.
These are the things that I love about LoTRO:
World graphics and audio- that 8 year old game world is more beautiful that any game I have ever played. I just recently bought noise-cancelling headphones so I could drown out my husband's voice. I was amazed because the sounds in that game are a symphony - insect sounds, wind blowing, leaves rustling. The depth of sounds blew my mind. They put constellations in the night sky.
Classes- none are boring, impotent or redundant
Community- people answer questions when you ask. People help when you need it. World chat has interesting, intelligent debates about Game of Thrones, sci-fi books and other nerdy stuff.
Elegance- everything is high class in that game. There will never be any skanky armor or undulating, pole-dancing emotes.
Wide open world- I HATE how some other game worlds funnel you from one zone to another through some miniscule path. I love "real-world" game worlds like LoTRO's where you can enter zones from anywhere in their perimeter. I am not a cattle that needs to be herded in a line to the next area.
Maps- exceptionally well done and explicit in LoTRO.
Fun Clothing and 6 Outfit selections to choose from to show
2007 $199 Lifetimer Option- thank you Turbine:) I love you:)
There are things I don't love about the game ( war steeds, legendary items, no "skinny" option for hobbits, weird elven face options) but those are so outweighed by the other 95% of the game that I do truly love. I'll be playing that game till they close all the servers.
Yeah, I can't tell you how many times I've kicked myself for not shelling out that $199, especially after I paid way more than that in monthly fees before f2p.
Originally posted by bambocheur Nice Som! I'd also add the lvl 1-50 journey. It's quite easy to knock down this game given where Turbine's management have decided to put their development dollars but the game does have some finer points worth discussing. That said, in my experience, since the ROI expansion, monetization has driven development to a level that led me away from the game.
That's a great point! It wasn't like that when the game launched (40-50 was SPARSE) but now that's probably some of the best content out there.
Comments
I take time off from time to time to play other games but inevitably I find my way back to LOTRO.
For me the community and events on Landroval are probably the number one reason I keep coming back.
Del Cabon
A US Army ('Just Cause') Vet and MMORPG Native formerly of Trinsic, Norath and Dereth. Currently playing LOTRO.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
Once we got past the shock of how bad it was at launch compared to how epic it should have been it was an OK game. But still its based on The Lord of the Rings, it should have been a license to print money.
Turbiene half assed it and then compounded that with what they did with Moria and everything they did after that.
it does have some pretty sawesome features but it simply doesnt go in depth enough with most of what it has.
Housing is half assed, PvP is half assed, crafting is half assed, Epic battles are half assed. Mounted combat poorly done, legendary items very poorly done.
Deeds, skirmishes, music system, cosmetics, mounts all pretty good. festivals OK but they nee to switch them up a little nothing new in them for years.
As far as the free to play model. Best in the business. They let you earn points in the game for doing deeds, some are very simple to accomplish and can be done on multiple characters. You also get to keep stuff even after a sub has lapsed.
I had two lifetime subs and they have paid for everything since Moria. In fact in 8 years I have spent less than 500 bucks cash in that game counting the two lifetime subs two original boxes and every expansion since. And I still have about 30K turbine points left between the two accounts. So I dont anticipate ever having to pay any money ever out of pocket for anything.
But I mostly go in now once a week to spin the wheel and farm a few points and do a few quests. Maybe try and finish a deed or something.
Because as epic and full of stuff as it is once you have done t a few times it does get boring.
I liked all about Lotro but just awful animations and total absence of laws of physics. Was too much to handle for me. Repaired this I would gladly play.
Agree with Ozmodan, even with the constantly increasing xp-giving rate it still takes a couple months to reach the cap, and that's a good thing.
Also agree with the second part - though maybe it's only my view that p2w is n/a in a pve-heavy game... But even if forget that, your examples are way off... or not, if you are with the "hardcore p2w" group, the "sub is the ultimate p2w since if you don't pay the sub, you can't play"
Trait slots are part of the f2p model... subscribers have them, after the sub is gone they keep them forever - alongside many other things, like the gold cap, swift travel, etc. If subbing for 1 month, and with it unlocking most of the restrictions (except the quests ofc) forever is pay-to-win in your eyes, well... to each their own
Stat tomes were in the game before the f2p switch, so it's a bit odd to put it on the p2w bracket... not to mention with the stat changes the significance of those diminished a lot. Maybe not for the endgame treadmill grinders, but those are just a tiny fraction anyways. Not to mention 2.0, odd to call something p2w which can be purchased from the AH for cheap
Pay for convenience, well, that's a whole different issue. But convenience =/= win (at least to me... seriously, what can you "win" in a pve roleplay-focused game? lol)
Actually most Lotro regions are connected to each other through narrow path or two.
Some early regions were diffrent and more open, but they are/were exception rather than rule.
Sure Lotro is not as bad with zoning/funneling as some other mmorpg's which are worse, but still Lotro is funneled a lot.
So I don't know why you wrote this.
I was subscriber and I left Lotro because of cash shop.
Subscription does not fix Cash Shop issue.
Explain please.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
Another game by Turbine is Dungeon and Dragons Online. Before the free to play model, I enjoyed many, MANY hours playing and it also had a lot of roleplaying possibilities.
Seems free to play models don't always work out for the best though, unfortunately
No game more immersive than LOTRO
I have to disagree. If you call tunneling within the areas, then every MMO ever invented has more tunneling.
As to the cash shop, I have less than $50 in the game and have basically everything. Easiest cash shop in the business to avoid.
I played LotRO for about a year and a half. Had experienced a lot of "altitis" (very interesting classes). I loved the music, atmosphere/ambiance and festivals. Many quests were entertaining and I enjoyed the skirmish system....then I cam to Moria and ended up leaving the game. It was not enjoyable and players I knew really didn't want to assist me through (they disliked it too). I know there has been changes to Moria since I left and I have often toyed with idea of returning, because there was a lot to enjoy, but it is not a game I want to solo through . The initial guild I joined helped with gear, but was not so available for quests or big storyline events. I had some family play, but they ended leaving before I could level cap. Yeah, I know, find peeps or a new guild, but I haven't generated that much interest to do so.
There is a P2W-ish feel in the cash shop when you can by spec/trait/virtue increases and purchase heal pots that are better than crafted ones. This probably makes not much of a difference to a primarily PvE MMO, other than raid groups that demand such things from each other.
As beautiful as this game is, I am truly dumbfounded how Turbine has done virtually nothing with improving housing. It primarily uses the old stale hook system that was seen in Asheron's Call well over 10+ years ago! A serious housing overhaul just might rekindle some interest with veteran players.
I'll always think fondly of Lotro, in the same way I do of UO and Lineage2.
An immersive game that promoted the social aspects of gaming (party voice chat, plenty of excellent raids and rp opportunities) and wasn't afraid to try new things (e.g. mounted combat).
Wandering through Moria for the first time was truly epic.
Thank you Turbine
Playing: Darkfall New Dawn (and planning to play Fallout 76)
Favourite games have included: UO, Lineage2, Darkfall, Lotro, Baldur's Gate, SSX, FF7 and yes the original Wizardry on an Apple IIe
1. Classes especially the warden.
2. Zones are beautiful, my personal favorite is the shire.
3. The music system, and player ran event's like weathertop.
Still one of my big favourites...
However didnt like the epic battle content much on my Warden...
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Awesome!
Yeah, I can't tell you how many times I've kicked myself for not shelling out that $199, especially after I paid way more than that in monthly fees before f2p.
That's a great point! It wasn't like that when the game launched (40-50 was SPARSE) but now that's probably some of the best content out there.
Here it is
https://youtu.be/wXpe4_i9Nc0