unexpected pleasures in LOTRO.

eccoton · April 2007

I have played many, many, many MMOs in the nearly decade I have been playing and following them. LOTRO was the big suprise. At first when I entered the beta I was a bit disappointed. It was early in the beta and many of the problems and ton's of lag kept me from really enjoying the game. I wanted the game to play like the movies which it did not. I wanted it to be the sandbox i miss from pre-nge SWG which it is not. However the draw of LOTR kept me logging in a couple times a week to see if thing improved. Much to my suprise with every patch things got noticebly better. So I kept checking every few days to see if that trend continued and it did. I never saw a game improve so much in such a short period of time. Then one big patch changed everything for me. One day I logged in and all the horrible lag and poor framerate were gone (like magic)! I maxed out the graphic and bang the game just came to life. I could not believe how great the game looked and alive the world felt. I found myself logging in everyday.

I decided to change the way I looked at the game at this point. I realized the game was not going to be like the movies which at first disappointed me. I started to read all the quests fully (I was a victim of the WoW no need to read quest syndrome) and enjoy the story and lore in game. LOTRO started to come alive for me this was very unexpected. While testing game in beta I was still playing WoW, SWG and EQ2 all 3 I have played for years. Slowly I started to log into those games less and less. I had to do the next quest in LOTRO to read the story. Unexpectedly I found myself at Walden Book's buying the Tolkien trilogy and The Hobbit. The more I read the books the more I love the game.

One thing I never like was crafting in MMOs. I decided to give it a try in LOTRO and I was totally suprised I actually liked it and found it fun. This was totally unexpected. The game is not setup for grinding mobs either. You get your main exp. from doing quests but dispite this I found myself enjoying just hunting and exploring with no objective in mind. Yes, the world is that beautiful I just loved hunting and walking in it looking at all the enviromental detail. LOTRO is full and alive not vast and empty (Vanguard). Again totally unexpected. To enjoy an enviroment so much that I did not care if I go uber gear or ton's of exp this was a new experience. Then I started the story quest and they were fantastic! I have only got to chapter 11 quest so far but they are great. When I ran into the ring wrathes I was actually scared (this has not happened in a game for me in a longtime).

The biggest thing that was unexpected was one day I logged into Eq2, WoW, and SWG (all on the same day) and closed my accounts! I find LOTRO so alive the other 3 games felt flat to me. Now I exchange $45 a month for $10 a month (9.99 pre-order founder subscription price) nice a $35 a month savings. Because of this move and the way LOTRO is designed, I do not feel I have to be online for 8 hours a day. So I saved money and time by dedicating myself to LOTRO only. This was totally unexpected! Turbine has sold me on this one. I stopped looking at LOTRO for what I hoped it would be and started accepting it for what Turbine intended it to be and I found I loved it. Pre-NGE SWG still holds a strong place in my heart but LOTRO has filled a niche that I have been looking for since SWG died for me. LOTRO is one of the best MMOs I have ever played and I can not wait til the game goes live and brings in many new players. Give LOTRO a chance. Play it for what it is not what you want it to be. Get involved in the community and the storyline. Get past the years of the grind mentality you have been exposed to. Take time to enjoy the beauty of LOTRO (the art direction is fantastic). Do these things and you may find yourself saying"I really love this game, and that was totally unexpected!"

Kayless · April 2007

What he said ^^

Great post!

eccoton · April 2007

Originally posted by Kayless

What he said ^^
Great post!

There seems to be such mixed emotions about LOTRO that it is nice to see someone agrees. I truely believe if people give it more then a couple hours and get out of the starting area they will love this game. They will also find it is not the WoW clone many say it is.

Max_Torps · April 2007

Fantastic post!

I wish I actually had experience of the beta but alas, no. However many reports are coming up with nice positive stuff and the screenshots look absolutely amazing. As a fan of Tolkien I'm greatly looking forward to this game. Pre-order has been done and to hell with it, I'm going for the lifetime subscription.

derf26 · April 2007

Interesting!

After the amount of bad press/flaming this game got I was thinking it was another Vanguard, but from what I hear it might not be. I'll probably try this game out now, thanks

eccoton · April 2007

Originally posted by derf26

Interesting!

After the amount of bad press/flaming this game got I was thinking it was another Vanguard, but from what I hear it might not be. I'll probably try this game out now, thanks

There has been plenty of negative posts about LOTRO but most are unwarranted and untrue. LOTRO is not for everyone but it is a true work of art ( I am a college art professor). As an older gamers with years of experience and a fan of mmorpg.com I try to tell my expereinces honestly and with the hope of educating people to the games I write about. I try to look deeper into the experience then only the mechanics of a game since for me a great mmorpg is more then that. They are small worlds with communities and how fast you level or what uber gear you can get are only small parts of the experience. Players often over look the whole experience and LOTRO delivers a well balanced convincing experience. I feel like I am in the world of Middle Earth. The player community has been great and it has been a joy to share this experience with others. I tend to solo a lot in MMOs mostly because of the community but so far in LOTRO I find I group a lot more and it is great. LOTRO is sure no Vanguard ( a game I really tried to like). LOTRO is a well made very polished game. It will hit the ground running and will only get better with age. I can be a sceptic but Turbine has turned me into a believer. They make convert you too.

eccoton · April 2007

Originally posted by Max_Torps

Fantastic post!

I wish I actually had experience of the beta but alas, no. However many reports are coming up with nice positive stuff and the screenshots look absolutely amazing. As a fan of Tolkien I'm greatly looking forward to this game. Pre-order has been done and to hell with it, I'm going for the lifetime subscription.

Max_Torps, welcome to middle earth! If you are looking for a kinship checkout http://knightstemplarlotro.guildportal.com or start a character on Gladden server and look for Ecco in game. I forcast you will be very happy with your life-time subscription.

xAlrythx · April 2007

Great post eccoton!

I wish more people would just think outside the box, when they look at lotro.

I find it hard to believe people are being truthful when they claim things like bad animations etc. all they would had to do was kill one bear outside of the starting area to see that not only the player animations are wonderful but that Turbine didn't skimp on the NPC animations either. Watching a bear die or even a hog has never looked so good.

RK-Mara · April 2007

Great post! Well written and it would be nice to see more of these

Orphes · April 2007

Originally posted by derf26

Interesting!

After the amount of bad press/flaming this game got I was thinking it was another Vanguard, but from what I hear it might not be. I'll probably try this game out now, thanks

Uhm have ther been bad press about LOTR, so you make it to be another Vanguard.

Can you point that bad press/flaming out for me to read?

Midaveg · April 2007

Have to agree this post full heartedly. Played a 3 hours beta and asking for me. Tried all race and so far, i still prefer dwarf. Combat wise, i love it! But the quest system is almost like Guildwars.

irocz350 · April 2007

Most of the people talking bad about the game most likely haven't got past the tutorial town, I have just gotten out of that with both of my characters and I was doing a little exploring and found an area with bears and fought a few... the details are beautiful and i'm just running the recommended medium graphics for my new PC. Creatures do things when they move around too, like roll around on the ground, sit down and yawn, etc. So much detail really immerses me into this game. Those who say the world is too small as well should quit complaining because I doubt they spent all this time developing the game to give us just Eriador, while it is a big area.... I'm sure they'll be realeasing other areas when the game comes out.. they probably have them all done but they want to open up new areas as they progress the chapters.

Kemenlith · April 2007

Originally posted by Orphes

Originally posted by derf26

Interesting!

After the amount of bad press/flaming this game got I was thinking it was another Vanguard, but from what I hear it might not be. I'll probably try this game out now, thanks

Uhm have ther been bad press about LOTR, so you make it to be another Vanguard.

Can you point that bad press/flaming out for me to read? Oh boy, if you go back and read some of the old threads here for LOTRO I think you'll be satisfied with your search for flamers. It was horrible.

eccoton · April 2007

Originally posted by Orphes

Originally posted by derf26

Interesting!

After the amount of bad press/flaming this game got I was thinking it was another Vanguard, but from what I hear it might not be. I'll probably try this game out now, thanks

Uhm have ther been bad press about LOTR, so you make it to be another Vanguard.

Can you point that bad press/flaming out for me to read?

There has not been much bad press (if you take that literally). The press that I have read based on preview has been mostly positive. However the forums have not been so kind. Just read posts and even some of the silly reviews on this site. One reviewer here said they would not play because there is no mouse movement (hello, you press both mouse buttons to run) only WSAD. Some have even written how bad the game looks. There has been a lot more negative post and reviews here then I expected based on my experience with the game. Unfortunately some people believe this junk and will miss out on a great game. LOTRO is not perfect but it is so fun and well made you do not mind the few flaws.

psyconius · April 2007

Good post. This game is very good at sucking people in who give it the chance

dand3 · April 2007

Originally posted by eccoton

Originally posted by derf26

Interesting!

After the amount of bad press/flaming this game got I was thinking it was another Vanguard, but from what I hear it might not be. I'll probably try this game out now, thanks

There has been plenty of negative posts about LOTRO but most are unwarranted and untrue. LOTRO is not for everyone but it is a true work of art ( I am a college art professor). As an older gamers with years of experience and a fan of mmorpg.com I try to tell my expereinces honestly and with the hope of educating people to the games I write about. I try to look deeper into the experience then only the mechanics of a game since for me a great mmorpg is more then that. They are small worlds with communities and how fast you level or what uber gear you can get are only small parts of the experience. Players often over look the whole experience and LOTRO delivers a well balanced convincing experience. I feel like I am in the world of Middle Earth. The player community has been great and it has been a joy to share this experience with others. I tend to solo a lot in MMOs mostly because of the community but so far in LOTRO I find I group a lot more and it is great. LOTRO is sure no Vanguard ( a game I really tried to like). LOTRO is a well made very polished game. It will hit the ground running and will only get better with age. I can be a sceptic but Turbine has turned me into a believer. They make convert you too. Somehow a good game is greater than the sum of its parts. It's like chefs; they pretty much start with the same ingredients, but then... Fun is very hard; LotRO is more fun than any game I've played. And it defies my analysis. Excellent, consistent art--- well that's part, a smooth engine is part, the great canon that they didn't mess up is a big part, the inside humor with the "Bird and Baby" pub and humorous nosy and hungry hobbits are parts, the new use of instances for quests and the epic quest lines are big parts, but still... even with all that, there's more in the final result than the sum of all those part.

whitedelight · April 2007

Not getting ganked is always nice.

Cereth · April 2007

I've been playing the free beta for a few days now, and I have to say that I am enjoying it so far. I have my hopes for this game hedged a little bit however and I'm really hoping there is some depth to the game that I haven't scratched the surface of yet. I am amazed at how well the game runs and I haven't encountered a single issue yet. I'm seriously considering upgrading my video card to take full advantage of the graphics. I am probably going to be buying this game.

Cerion · April 2007

A fine review. I too went through a similar process of revisioning my expectations.

eccoton · April 2007

Originally posted by Cerion

A fine review. I too went through a similar process of revisioning my expectations.

Many reacted to the game based on expectation they had for game not what Turbine presented. Others from the early closed beta that left may find they like the game much more now. Turbine has delivered on it's promises and fixes thing in a timely manner. I predict LOTRO will be a huge success for Turbine.

DeadJester · April 2007

Supermanox post on this game is way better and way more honest . I cant stand players over hypeing a game this is just my opinion

Development · April 2007

Originally posted by DeadJester

Supermanox post on this game is way better and way more honest . I cant stand players over hypeing a game this is just my opinion

The OP is clearly sharing his experience's in all Honesty, you call that Over-hyping?

DeadJester · April 2007

OK how great can his post be if he still played SWG -NGE. come on what ever all im saying is that supermanox gave a way better post for this game cant stand fanbois everything thing ive heard about crafting in this game is its pointlessso dont say I tryed crafting and its so fun when all the quest items are way better and this game is all questing like I said just sounds like hype i my opinion.

eccoton · April 2007

Originally posted by DeadJester

OK how great can his post be if he still played SWG -NGE. come on what ever all im saying is that supermanox gave a way better post for this game cant stand fanbois everything thing ive heard about crafting in this game is its pointlessso dont say I tryed crafting and its so fun when all the quest items are way better and this game is all questing like I said just sounds like hype i my opinion.

Sorry deadjester your post make no sense. First I am not a fanboi. I am 47 years old and have been in mmos for 10 years now and played most of them. I have never hyped any game here at mmorpg. I have supported many and rejected many read more of my posts and you will see this (you probably have not read any other ones). Did you even read where I said SWG died for me? (did you even read my entire OP?) I left SWG after nge and came back when I got station pass so it was free so why not try it? What does my playing swg have to do with anything I say about any other game? Did I say SWG was great no I did not. I also did not tell you how mad I was with the changes and left the day nge came out and SOE new price increase for station pass. (no since this was a post about LOTRO).

I said I do not craft in mmos much and I found the crafting in LOTRO fun. I did not say it was great or the best? No, I said I was having fun. I did not say the items were the best. I said I was having fun with the act of crafting (and collecting items needed to craft). I did not compare it to any other crafting system since crafting was not my thing. I have crafted better bows then the ones I have found so far. That is my expereince and the truth. Also Turbine has said the best items will eventually be player crafted. I do not know if that is true but they have said that.

There is nothing in my post that is hyping the game. I was just trying to tell my experience with LOTRO. Hopefully in a truthful interesting way based on my experiences not yours. So liking a game means I am hyping it and a fanboi? You also insinuate I am lieing (I must work for Turbine since I like their games heard that to before). You simply come accross as a flaming troll. You may not be but that is the impression I get.

You do not like LOTRO and that is fine but do not come here and attack me for telling my story. I have no agenda. I just like mmorpg.com and like to contribute my experiences in an honest way. I am sure others (supermanox as you have pointed out, and I think he did write a good review based on his experiences) have made better post about the games based on their experiences. They may be better writers then I am. I am an artist not a writer so excuse me for not making the best post about LOTRO. My grammar is not always the best. I make lots of errors, but damn man you could at least try, Nice sentence (post). I will try to make a way better post in the future.

Howdy, Stranger!

unexpected pleasures in LOTRO.

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Quick Links

unexpected pleasures in LOTRO.

Comments