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Short review from a more "sandbox" fan's perspective
different
Member Posts: 180
Let me start out by saying I started playing at the start of beta 2. I've got 2 characters to 15 with casual play and other to 9. I say casual play because
1. I didn't want to go through the whole game in beta and spoil the retail which I 100% intended to buy and
2. After a couple of days I wasn't hooked, there was little in game to make me want to log in every day, or even every week.
Here's my review/opinion and the reasons I probably won't be playing.
The good;
- IT'S MIDDLE EARTH. I dreamed of a good ME RPG for years
- GRAPHICS/ART is wonderful. I'm more into Vanguards style of graphics but there are things in this game that are jaw-dropping.
- THE QUESTS. Most are really in depth, give you some nice lore. (quests are also a big part of my downers in the game, strange but true)
- MONSTER PLAY. Only done it once so far but was great fun. Really original IMHO
- ATTENTION TO DETAIL.- smoking, the mobs like deer that run away as you approach, or bears that only attack when they feel threatened. The general natural atmosphere you get once you are out of the starting areas is great.
- the music system. Original, fun, beautiful.
The bad (IMHO);
- QUESTING. Yes they are full of lore, yes the epic storyline is well "epic" but IMHO there is [i]much[/i] too much focus on them. So far all I see people, myself included doing is running from one quest to another.
There is (until lvl 15) practically no proper grouping for the quests, and certainly NONE for general adventuring. In fact there IS NO general adventuring. The few times I've been a small group for a quest there has been no planning, no chatting and tbh little fun. Maybe I got bad luck with the group, who knows.
COMBAT. Once again I might be too low a level to appreciate it but so far, whether I've played guardian, minstrel, or burglar combat is nothing more than button mashing. I know how to play my classes but so far it's just press one button after another until I need to heal or in the case of guardian, until I win.
This IMHO probably has alot to do with the lack of grouping. Combat is generally more fun in a group but in the small and few groups I've been in it's been pretty boring too.
ADVENTURING. Outside of the quests there is none. Monsters give practically no XP so there is no motivation for a group of players to get together and investigate a dungeon/ruin/forest whatever. Grouping for quests is in itself OK, but when it's all you can do it's more fun in DDO.
ROLEPLAYING. At this point the only reason for me to play this game is it's roleplaying potential. Some good tools are in e.g. music, smoking, ale that gets you drunk. However, at this point the extremely linear gamplay take away alot if not all roleplayability. OK, some roleplayers are content to till fields all day and have an ale in the evening. That's absolutley 100% do-able right now. I'd like more adventuring potential besides the quests.
Overall I'd say it's a good MMO, it's polished, it's pretty, it's LOTR. I'm 100% sure it'll be a big hit. Unfortunately for me Turbine elected to make it linear instead of more sandbox. It's a personal taste thing so I'm not going to turn into a hater, maybe some day it'll change just enough to make me drop everything else and join the fun.
*not checked for spelling/missing words/grammar etc
1. I didn't want to go through the whole game in beta and spoil the retail which I 100% intended to buy and
2. After a couple of days I wasn't hooked, there was little in game to make me want to log in every day, or even every week.
Here's my review/opinion and the reasons I probably won't be playing.
The good;
- IT'S MIDDLE EARTH. I dreamed of a good ME RPG for years
- GRAPHICS/ART is wonderful. I'm more into Vanguards style of graphics but there are things in this game that are jaw-dropping.
- THE QUESTS. Most are really in depth, give you some nice lore. (quests are also a big part of my downers in the game, strange but true)
- MONSTER PLAY. Only done it once so far but was great fun. Really original IMHO
- ATTENTION TO DETAIL.- smoking, the mobs like deer that run away as you approach, or bears that only attack when they feel threatened. The general natural atmosphere you get once you are out of the starting areas is great.
- the music system. Original, fun, beautiful.
The bad (IMHO);
- QUESTING. Yes they are full of lore, yes the epic storyline is well "epic" but IMHO there is [i]much[/i] too much focus on them. So far all I see people, myself included doing is running from one quest to another.
There is (until lvl 15) practically no proper grouping for the quests, and certainly NONE for general adventuring. In fact there IS NO general adventuring. The few times I've been a small group for a quest there has been no planning, no chatting and tbh little fun. Maybe I got bad luck with the group, who knows.
COMBAT. Once again I might be too low a level to appreciate it but so far, whether I've played guardian, minstrel, or burglar combat is nothing more than button mashing. I know how to play my classes but so far it's just press one button after another until I need to heal or in the case of guardian, until I win.
This IMHO probably has alot to do with the lack of grouping. Combat is generally more fun in a group but in the small and few groups I've been in it's been pretty boring too.
ADVENTURING. Outside of the quests there is none. Monsters give practically no XP so there is no motivation for a group of players to get together and investigate a dungeon/ruin/forest whatever. Grouping for quests is in itself OK, but when it's all you can do it's more fun in DDO.
ROLEPLAYING. At this point the only reason for me to play this game is it's roleplaying potential. Some good tools are in e.g. music, smoking, ale that gets you drunk. However, at this point the extremely linear gamplay take away alot if not all roleplayability. OK, some roleplayers are content to till fields all day and have an ale in the evening. That's absolutley 100% do-able right now. I'd like more adventuring potential besides the quests.
Overall I'd say it's a good MMO, it's polished, it's pretty, it's LOTR. I'm 100% sure it'll be a big hit. Unfortunately for me Turbine elected to make it linear instead of more sandbox. It's a personal taste thing so I'm not going to turn into a hater, maybe some day it'll change just enough to make me drop everything else and join the fun.
*not checked for spelling/missing words/grammar etc
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Comments
Thank you sir, that was well said.
Throughout the beta I kept running into a repeated phrase..."It seems great, but it is just missing something." I have always thought that in order to be immersed one needed to be apart of a community AND a system that replicated a real world mechanic in an alternate reality. The only way this can be achieved is via the sandbox. EG Skill systems within professions but not locked to a profession, viable PLAYER BASED economies that are well monitored, and most importantly to me, consequences for actions. The sheer panic that could run down my spine after spending hours garnering loot in a dungeon and seeing those dreaded pk's pop up outa no where was well worth the monthly fee. Some thing lost or almost lost always has more value so the rewards from games such as these early mmo's were much better to me than any given, literally GIVEN, to me on current mmo's. If there is no true risk there is no true reward.
So in essence, I also enjoy the sandbox style quite a bit more and was really hoping for something as epic as the books and movies.
Sad in'it
lol
How is that "sandbox"? You can have a class based system and still have a sandbox world. You don't have to have player killers and still have it be a sandbox world. So what you are really saying is that in your mind, a sandbox world would include x & y knowing full well that one could also have a sandbox world that includes Z & Q.
It seems to me that a "sandbox" world has too many definitions since I've not seen one person who has proclaimed "X should be a sandbox world" agree one what a sandbox world is.
In my estimation, it is a world where there are many different things to do so that a player can kill mobs/quest/Craft/do mini games/PvP within the context of the world's pvp rulest (Factioin, FFA, arena etc doesn't have to be just one of them or even be all of them) explore, raid, decorate your house, etc.
Skill based system is another topic altogether. PK system is one type of pvp.
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
Go play Roma Victor then and see how financially profitable your idea of a sandbox is. It has just about everything you desire, well, except the extensive community....
As to the OP, a fair review. Speaking of adventuring, the thing about this quest based game is that people seem really compelled to let the game guide them. It doesn't have to, and you don' t have to let it guide you. I've gone adventuring to many areas without quests for that area, and done many of the things you've described. You investigate an area for the fun of it. These things can happen in LOTRO, but for some reason people get on the Quest railroad and never jump off.
_____________________________
Currently Playing: LOTRO; DDO
Played: AC2, AO, Auto Assault, CoX, DAoC, DDO, Earth&Beyond, EQ1, EQ2, EVE, Fallen Earth, Jumpgate, Roma Victor, Second Life, SWG, V:SoH, WoW, World War II Online.
Games I'm watching: Infinity: The Quest for Earth, Force of Arms.
Find the Truth: http://www.factcheck.org/