Don't Sleep On The Lord of the Rings Online Just Yet - MMORPG.com

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Don't Sleep On The Lord of the Rings Online Just Yet - MMORPG.com

Much of the talk surrounding The Lord of the Rings the past two weeks has to do with the announcement that Amazon Game Studios will be working on the upcoming Middle-earth based MMO that was announced. For many this is exciting - finally a way to explore Middle-earth in a modern game. Because let’s face it: The Lord of the Rings Online is old. Having just celebrated its 12th birthday, Standing Stone Games’ epic MMORPG feels like its winding now as it makes way for a new contender on the scene.

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Tykam123

LOTRO has always been the one MMO I have wished I could get in to. I love basic questing in games, lore, and unique classes. You would think this would be right up my alley, however something always seems a bit...."off" when I play. I think it might be the combat I don't truly enjoy. I'm ok with longer GCDs like on Rift or FFXIV, however it isn't just that. Something seems to actually lag a bit when playing. Lag isn't an issue I have on other games either. I wish they could make the combat smoother is all. WoW and FFXIV always feel spot on, I wish this was the same.

Scot

I can tell you now that if this new GaaS is actually a MMO it won't be half as good as Lotro. Sure the graphics will be better and those oh so important animations ((not having a dig at that other thread )) but the gameplay and lore will be a poor second. And don't forget the community, one of the best if not the best in MMO land.

But I don't even think it will be a MMO just MMOish, so it won't be competition for Lotro. They called it a MMOG I think, that shows how much RPG you are going to get.

DrunkWolf

isnt amazon also doing a Lotr tv series? I wonder which one will come out first.

Galadourn

I have fond memories of LOTRO. Never made it to max level, I stopped playing somewhere around level 75-80, but it was a very honest MMO proposal in its time and still has some pretty amazing vistas.

immoralthang

Wouldn’t this new game serve as direct competition for New World since it’s also developed by Amazon and is a “sanboxish” MMO?

Renfail

Something many folks may be misunderstanding is that as per the original press release in late 2018 (http://www.athlongames.com/athlon-games-partners-with-middle-earth-enterprises): Athlon Games is working with a partner developer to create an online game set in the world of Middle-earth™ at a time long before the events of The Lord of the Rings, exploring lands, people and creatures never seen before by fans of the Tolkien universe.

In other words, it’s not set during the Third Age like LOTRO is. Completely different time period without the heroes and characters that most know and love.

Amazon and associated studios only have the rights to content set beyond the scope of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Which is why they are setting their show and associated productions in the Second Age.

The Second Age covers roughly 3,400 years, during which time the Ring of Power was created. The Second Age ended with the defeat of Sauron’s army.

The end of the Third Age, after the heroes of the Lord of the Rings destroyed the Ring and headed off to the Undying Lands, is 3,000+ (3021 if I’m not mistaken) years from the end of the Second Age.

In other words, the new show AND associated productions are going to be set between 3000 and 6000 years PRIOR to Third Age content.

There have been multiple press releases on this over the past year or so.

The new game will not impact SSG's LOTRO in any way, shape, or form, as the new game will not be touching any content related to Lord of the Rings.

Sovrath

Scot said:

I can tell you now that if this new GaaS is actually a MMO it won't be half as good as Lotro. Sure the graphics will be better and those oh so important animations ((not having a dig at that other thread )) but the gameplay and lore will be a poor second. And don't forget the community, one of the best if not the best in MMO land.



But I don't even think it will be a MMO just MMOish, so it won't be competition for Lotro. They called it a MMOG I think, that shows how much RPG you are going to get.

Even though Lord of the Rings Online looks old and the animations are rather crap, I think it will be one of the few mmorpg's that I will remain subbed to. I enjoy it more than other games.

We'll have to see how the new Lord of the Rings mmo will be. I agree, it will be mmo'ish.

AriesTiger

The community is "good" because it's 99% carebears and roleplayers. They insta ban any negative talk. I lasted a week before 3 chat bans which resulted in perm ban. Lol. I wasn't even talking bad as a single curse word.

I just said things like "oh comeon LOTRO isn't the best game out there."

3 reports of trolling and you're permabanned.

Don't mind they are my real thoughts and these degenerates just knee-jerked to reporting as trolling.

Those people aren't worth a hill of beans.

Sovrath

Arterius said:

When I started playing video games again 6 years ago now I began to play MMO's like I always wanted to as a kid. Even though I am not a huge fan of LotR I decided to give it a whirl. Am I glad I did. It was easily the best MMO I have played since. The only reason why I didn't stick with it was because of how many expansions their had been. I think at the time I would have spent $ 150 on all the expansions and I didn't see a set where you could buy an ultimate edition.

Doing the math now it seems like I would spend $215. I will keep my eyes open for a ultimate edition. If I could get my hands on every expansion for $100 I would dive back in for sure.

I still don't see how that is expensive given how many hours one could put in the game.

Utinni

Great game aside from the cash shop icon on literally every element of the UI. Every panel, tab, bag, item, character sheet, guild tab.... you name it and its got a cash shop icon on it. It's annoying to have basic things like inventory space locked behind cash shop (even while subbed, none of this changes) but its more annoying to have the shop be so intrusive.

Sovrath

Utinni said:

Great game aside from the cash shop icon on literally every element of the UI. Every panel, tab, bag, item, character sheet, guild tab.... you name it and its got a cash shop icon on it. It's annoying to have basic things like inventory space locked behind cash shop (even while subbed, none of this changes) but its more annoying to have the shop be so intrusive.

You can buy inventory space with in game money.

It is intrusive to have that little icon everywhere. 

gunklacker

there to much content blocked behind pay walls. Way to confusing, i bought content i couldn't even use because being to low level.

Po_gg

Great article

Favourite spot: there's an overlook area near Tuckborough, love the view from there. I believe my very first post here many years ago was a screenshot, taken from that spot (for an mmorpg.com giveaway )

How I feel about the interpretation: it's really good. There was an online course a few years ago (english lit. and Tolkien), one of the assignments was a comparative analysis on Weathertop, book, movie and in-game presentation. The game follows the book by the letter, almost entirely - much more faithfully than the movie...

Arterius, the first four expansions in a bundle are fairly often on sale, usually for about $20 but once or twice a year it's for $10.

Utinni, there are custom UIs to hide most of those store buttons from you if you find them annoying.

TheDarkrayne

Torval said:

I've been playing for 12 years and I still resub sometimes, usually Halloween to Christmas and around Anniversary. For me, late game has become a mess of monetization directly tied into character/LI progression. The other issue I have is that all the people I knew don't play anymore on either Crick or Legendary. Finally, the client is a pain in the ass to get running. I would really like if they shored up the client issues, not just 64-bit memory.

I had issues using the client from their website too. When I install through Steam there's no issues at all... which is weird.

Halibrand

I'm still playing LotRO, and enjoying it. When Classic comes out, I'll split my time between the two, and be quite content for a long time.

Utinni

Sovrath said:

Utinni said:

Great game aside from the cash shop icon on literally every element of the UI. Every panel, tab, bag, item, character sheet, guild tab.... you name it and its got a cash shop icon on it. It's annoying to have basic things like inventory space locked behind cash shop (even while subbed, none of this changes) but its more annoying to have the shop be so intrusive.

You can buy inventory space with in game money.

It is intrusive to have that little icon everywhere. 

I only played on the progression server and definitely couldn't buy inventory space with in game money. Good to know the regular servers can though. I had a great time playing the game so I didn't have an issue spending $50 for a few months of convenience. Mostly lost interest because the early expansions have zero endgame content to do.

Sovrath

TheDarkrayne said:

Torval said:

I've been playing for 12 years and I still resub sometimes, usually Halloween to Christmas and around Anniversary. For me, late game has become a mess of monetization directly tied into character/LI progression. The other issue I have is that all the people I knew don't play anymore on either Crick or Legendary. Finally, the client is a pain in the ass to get running. I would really like if they shored up the client issues, not just 64-bit memory.

I had issues using the client from their website too. When I install through Steam there's no issues at all... which is weird.

Myself as well. Had issues with their client but the Steam version fixed it.

Sovrath

Utinni said:

Sovrath said:

Utinni said:

Great game aside from the cash shop icon on literally every element of the UI. Every panel, tab, bag, item, character sheet, guild tab.... you name it and its got a cash shop icon on it. It's annoying to have basic things like inventory space locked behind cash shop (even while subbed, none of this changes) but its more annoying to have the shop be so intrusive.

You can buy inventory space with in game money.

It is intrusive to have that little icon everywhere. 

I only played on the progression server and definitely couldn't buy inventory space with in game money. Good to know the regular servers can though. I had a great time playing the game so I didn't have an issue spending $50 for a few months of convenience. Mostly lost interest because the early expansions have zero endgame content to do.

Actually you can buy inventory space on the progression servers!

You also see that little gold icon but if you search around you can buy inventory space with your in game gold. I did.

Hariken

Utinni said:

Great game aside from the cash shop icon on literally every element of the UI. Every panel, tab, bag, item, character sheet, guild tab.... you name it and its got a cash shop icon on it. It's annoying to have basic things like inventory space locked behind cash shop (even while subbed, none of this changes) but its more annoying to have the shop be so intrusive.

Don't forget about them selling those quest packs too.

Sovrath

Hariken said:

Utinni said:

Great game aside from the cash shop icon on literally every element of the UI. Every panel, tab, bag, item, character sheet, guild tab.... you name it and its got a cash shop icon on it. It's annoying to have basic things like inventory space locked behind cash shop (even while subbed, none of this changes) but its more annoying to have the shop be so intrusive.

Don't forget about them selling those quest packs too.

All people have to do is pay the sub and they get all the quests. 

The older expansion are only 20.00 so one could feasibly pay for them over time.

This game isn't that expensive.

Sovrath

Arterius said:

Sovrath said:

Hariken said:

Utinni said:

Great game aside from the cash shop icon on literally every element of the UI. Every panel, tab, bag, item, character sheet, guild tab.... you name it and its got a cash shop icon on it. It's annoying to have basic things like inventory space locked behind cash shop (even while subbed, none of this changes) but its more annoying to have the shop be so intrusive.

Don't forget about them selling those quest packs too.

All people have to do is pay the sub and they get all the quests. 

The older expansion are only 20.00 so one could feasibly pay for them over time.

This game isn't that expensive.

If the game didn't have a cash shop that would be fine but as someone said before they punch you in the face with that. I remember a quest I did which was just how to access the store. Thats crazy. For all that they could give some of the expansions for free or offer some kind of deal for the set because it is pretty expensive. 

yeah, I know that quest. 

I still don't think it's expensive but from where I sit, anything you spend your time doing should be worth paying for. This being an old game doesn't mean the content is any lesser. 

I'm still willing to pay full price for a movie from the 30's seen in the theater and I'm always willing to pay full price for a game provided I think that game is good.

But then again, it's more than possible that I spend more money than the average person for various experiences, whether it's theater of some sort of a great restaurant. I guess most people do not spend the extra money to get mezzanine tickets in the center because they are better let alone go out every weekend to do things.

Belgaraath

Though its been a few years since I played it, this game, WOW, and ESO are the games that kept me the longest. Though the community in ESO isn't bad, the community in LOTRO is the best. The graphics, though dated, appealed to me because of the openness and detail of the world. I never had an issue like others with animations. My bigger issues were just how buggy it was within the first year or two, but most of that got ironed out over time. I would only play this game again if I was going to introduce the genre to someone else, which I might do :-).

Can't wait for the next LOTRO game.

Sovrath

OG_Zorvan said:

Arterius said:

Sovrath said:

Arterius said:

When I started playing video games again 6 years ago now I began to play MMO's like I always wanted to as a kid. Even though I am not a huge fan of LotR I decided to give it a whirl. Am I glad I did. It was easily the best MMO I have played since. The only reason why I didn't stick with it was because of how many expansions their had been. I think at the time I would have spent $ 150 on all the expansions and I didn't see a set where you could buy an ultimate edition.



Doing the math now it seems like I would spend $215. I will keep my eyes open for a ultimate edition. If I could get my hands on every expansion for $100 I would dive back in for sure.

I still don't see how that is expensive given how many hours one could put in the game.

I mean it's pretty expensive for a MMO this old.They could a few of those expansions together by now. To be fair LotR wouldn't be the only game I play either. For $215 I could buy almost 4 brand new games. I just compare LotR to WoW, Final Fantasy 14, or ESO who let you buy the new expansion and you get the previous expansions for free as well.

I know its F2P and they need to make money somehow but their is also a cash shop and a VIP system.

That has always been an issue, they not only nickle and dime cosmetics, they nickle and dime content as well. Hell, they still want release-level prices for years old expansions. And since Daybreak stopped giving previous expansions when you buy the latest with their games, they sure won't let SSG do it.

I "think" we paid more for those expansions at Launch.

Sovrath

Torval said:

Arterius said:

Sovrath said:

Arterius said:

Sovrath said:

Hariken said:

Utinni said:

Great game aside from the cash shop icon on literally every element of the UI. Every panel, tab, bag, item, character sheet, guild tab.... you name it and its got a cash shop icon on it. It's annoying to have basic things like inventory space locked behind cash shop (even while subbed, none of this changes) but its more annoying to have the shop be so intrusive.

Don't forget about them selling those quest packs too.

All people have to do is pay the sub and they get all the quests. 

The older expansion are only 20.00 so one could feasibly pay for them over time.

This game isn't that expensive.

If the game didn't have a cash shop that would be fine but as someone said before they punch you in the face with that. I remember a quest I did which was just how to access the store. Thats crazy. For all that they could give some of the expansions for free or offer some kind of deal for the set because it is pretty expensive. 

yeah, I know that quest. 

I still don't think it's expensive but from where I sit, anything you spend your time doing should be worth paying for. This being an old game doesn't mean the content is any lesser. 

I'm still willing to pay full price for a movie from the 30's seen in the theater and I'm always willing to pay full price for a game provided I think that game is good.

But then again, it's more than possible that I spend more money than the average person for various experiences, whether it's theater of some sort of a great restaurant. I guess most people do not spend the extra money to get mezzanine tickets in the center because they are better let alone go out every weekend to do things.

I guess it depends. I am huge movie and theater buff. So I spend lots of money going to movies or to the theater. I go see, just about, every movie released the weekend it comes out. I also go see old movies when they replay like Gone with the Wind or The Shining. I guess it comes down to that I give myself a more limited budget when it comes to games.

I would like to see some sane balance between no monies and the endless milking that MMO studios love. The cost for the ala carte (F2P) is too low. The cost for the "full meal deal" is way too high. It's why I've come to hate whale driven gaming models and have returned to playing mostly single and limited multiplayer games. The social benefits of MMOs have all but evaporated.

While I have no issues with 14.99 per month ( I mean, it's what I can pay for lunch at work) I always thought a "pay as you go" system would work.

Scot

Renfail said:

Something many folks may be misunderstanding is that as per the original press release in late 2018 (http://www.athlongames.com/athlon-games-partners-with-middle-earth-enterprises): Athlon Games is working with a partner developer to create an online game set in the world of Middle-earth™ at a time long before the events of The Lord of the Rings, exploring lands, people and creatures never seen before by fans of the Tolkien universe.

In other words, it’s not set during the Third Age like LOTRO is. Completely different time period without the heroes and characters that most know and love.

Amazon and associated studios only have the rights to content set beyond the scope of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. Which is why they are setting their show and associated productions in the Second Age.

The Second Age covers roughly 3,400 years, during which time the Ring of Power was created. The Second Age ended with the defeat of Sauron’s army.

The end of the Third Age, after the heroes of the Lord of the Rings destroyed the Ring and headed off to the Undying Lands, is 3,000+ (3021 if I’m not mistaken) years from the end of the Second Age.

In other words, the new show AND associated productions are going to be set between 3000 and 6000 years PRIOR to Third Age content.

There have been multiple press releases on this over the past year or so.

The new game will not impact SSG's LOTRO in any way, shape, or form, as the new game will not be touching any content related to Lord of the Rings.

So are we talking the rise of the Witch King here (for players who are now confused he first came to prominence about 1500 years before the events in LotR), with Arthedain and Cardolan? That is a great and obvious choice from the third age anyway. But you are saying second age which puts a whole different spin on things, more Elves and Dwarves less Men.

I think people here are more concerned with how a new game would effect the Lotro play base, not on how close the story is. I don't think the playerbase will be that effected at all mind you.


P.S I belatedly realised you have changed your picture, did not realise you were a Tolkien fan. Hopefully you stick with that one, impossible to keep track of peeps otherwise.