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Thoughts on current lack of trial.
fieru
Member Posts: 3
I played the Beta for LOTR:O and was appalled at the over-all look and feel of the game. Combat felts so lackluster and delayed - like it took forever to even register your keystroke. The world's geometry and textures were laughable (In all honesty, we did actually laugh a few times.) and as I stood on a cliff, copies of 'me' running by wasn't the only thing that was disturbing - the fact that I could see the familiar sight of what I call 'Cliff-Boxes' in the distance. Basically I knew exploring was pretty much out of the question. Im sick and tired of EQ-1 style boxes and those silly cliffs towering over your in all four directions. We need more space and freedom like we had in Anarchy Online oh-so-many years ago. Basically this game has a high-profile name and thats it.
Hence why I believe they don't offer a free trial, just 'buddy' keys. It retails for 80 dollars here before tax, plus the monthly fee. If people were allowed to trial it like 75+% of other 'commitment'-style MMO's then basically it wouldn't be the #1 game right now.
Now I realise I haven't played since Beta, there is no trial and with my current opinion cannot justify 100+ dollars right now to see if its changed any (I plopped down all my current money on a new paintball gun so I'm nearly broke, lol), but hey - if someone wants to waste a buddy key on my to try and change my mind I'm not past admitting my own mistakes. I never was a huge Tolkein fan but have almost always been a MMORPG fan, and as of right now I'm hugely disappointed with the games scale and immersion.
Comments
- - "What if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about?" - -
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
Can't see you liking this game if you are an old AC buff though..... better wait until AOC or WAR comes out.
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
The NDA was lifted well before closed beta ended; this unusual step was taken because the beta experience was so good that Turbine knew the word of mouth would be good. And it was. Copies of myself running past me in beta? Never did I see anything remotely like that. In beta, the client was remarkably robust. Since the graphics are great, and scale exceptionally well, I just don't buy them being laughable. Ever.
Combat delays? Every game I've seen has preparatory and cooldown periods associated with most "specials". Learning the timing helps immensely.
Depending on the game's success, a free trial offer may not be available for quite a while after launch. It's usually used as a marketing tool to keep the number of new subs up after the launch hoopla has died down. LotRO is still riding the wave of successful sales...
I've never seen the four walls issue. However, if anyone does, just type /stuck and Enter. Once in a while two or three walls, but this is balanced by the wide open plains in the Bree fields, or The Shire, or Northern Ered Luin, or in the North Downs... you have the idea by now. Not only wide open spaces, but spaces with STUFF in them. More than any other MMO I've played, this game rewards exploration. (Literally, with deeds/stat buffs for finding all the ruins in an area or all the farms, etc. )
Actually, to my cynical eye, the original post smells of viral marketing. New account, few (!) posts, a very vague set of charges leveled at LotRO, and what few facts are offered up in support are just wrong. I suppose now he'll go to his superior, and get some details so he can sound as if he did actually play the game.
Edit: and even more cynically, you're trying to pull a (some?) buddy key(s) out of circulation...
Here games cost 250 NIS , LOTRO sells for wopping 380 NIS
Still 99% of sucesfull MMOs are only trialed trough buddy key at beggining. LOTRO is extremely sucessful so no reason to change that.
And in my honest oppinion - LOTRO is well worth the price
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"I disagree entirely with your assessment. I have been thinking about buying the game since it came out but because there is no free trial I refuse to buy it. "
Same here. I've been burned too many times buying junk or simply things highly recommended yet not for me that no trial = no buy.
I miss DAoC
Oh please please please take my buddy key. I insist!
The trial, World Tour or what ever it was called, was only available for ppl living in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.
I'm curious about this game, but won't buy without having tried it. Did that with Vanguard and learned my lesson... Besides, I get an impression that you get quick and easy to lvl 50 and then it's game over...
Having said that, the game does have a lot to offer...yes it may be easy, but what game isn't?
It is one of the best looking games I have ever seen....
Give it a try, you might just fall in love...
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
The beta download client was running the low resolution textures..
IMHO the graphics in this game are great. Here are two shots I took ingame.
http://www.triponthis.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3302
http://www.triponthis.net/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=3289
Its a shame that you weren't able to do the World Tour, as people have said. However, if you're a fan of the MMORPG genre and/or a fan of Tolkein, you'll probably like this game, at least enough to get your 'money's worth.' Though it is a bit more expensive for you, apparently =/ The game has its good points and it has its bad points, and I think it boils down to more than anything a matter of taste.
The game is geared at the moment toward fellowship play. While there is a TON of solo content and its completely possible to solo to the level cap, the majority of quests with decent rewards will require a group. Large instances will, obviously, require a group. The epic storyline quest, for the most part, requires a group. My boyfriend and I actually managed to duo 99% of the game's content up until Angmar, but often we'd have to wait until we were much higher level than the quest and by then the rewards weren't so good.
The game is completely quest driven. This is good for creating an immersive storyline, but bad in the sense that 'killing mobs' doesn't really net you very good xp, even with enhanced (rested) xp. If you can't complete your quests, you can grind out your deeds, but at higher levels this requires killing 1000+ of one mob type, and most areas are pretty camped and alot of the deed mobs are not soloable (elites). So you're somewhat limited there, too.
If you're primarily a crafter I'd honestly tell you not to bother, the crafting system in this game is very simple; given enough 'money' you can hit grandmaster in a day, and its no more involving than gathering the ingredients and clicking the "Make" key. You can't customize anything about it.
Finally, if you play MMORPGs for Roleplay, Immersion, Making Friends, etc. I'd highly recommend this game. Its got a good environment, fairly accurate to the lore, and many 'social' aspects that are only being expanded (music, farming, etc.) However, if you're more of an 'achievement' type person, this game is a little bland. You can't customize your character at all other than their gear, and even that has certain class limitations. You can't customize your skills. At level 50, everyone of the same class is identical, more or less. Also, stat points don't really do a whole lot, so even the most hardcore min/maxer isn't going to see much of a performance difference from the average player. Because quest rewards are so often superior to equipment from any other source, people generally wear the same bunch of gear. This serves to keep the game balanced, however it does affect your sense of character identity.
Also as many people have said, the game is fairly easy. The insane people were hitting 50 within a week or two of launch. I've only recently hit 50, (and I have 4 alts between 20-30) and I play probably 15-20 hours a week. Turbine has great plans to expand the game, but if you're looking for something you're going to dedicate quite a bit of time to, I don't think that the content updates will be able to keep up with your progress. However, if you play more casually, this can keep you busy for quite some time.
The lack of a free trial is probably due to the enormous success of the game, and while I know I will be flamed for saying so, it has a lot in common with WoW. World elements, combat, et cetera. Easy to get in to, easy to level up, and sadly, a community that has many mature, helpful players but 90% of the people I've met are pretty horrible, at least on the two servers I've been on. Fortunately, all the global channels can be disabled
So, knowing what I know now, would I have still bought it? Yeah, but it was only 50$ for me, and having gotten a couple months' enjoyment out of it (I still play, though doing the same exact questline through lonelands/north downs, now for the FIFTH time, since the game is linear and has very little variety currently on where you can go - is getting old). Replay isn't so great. Other people have mentioned that there are different starting zones, but what they fail to mention is that you can complete all the starter zone quests in one day, possibly two. Then you're off to Bree to do the Bree quests. Then Lonelands & Northdowns. Then Trollshaws. Then Misty & Angmar. Point A, Point B, Point C. There's some overlap of course, but probably 80% of the quests are "go here, fetch this" and "go here, kill this." I admit that the storyline here is much better done than any anything else I've played, though.
So if you need something to play, or you are a hardcore LOTR fan, I'd say go for it.
But I doubt there will be a trial anytime soon.
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That's just people sat 'round in costumes drinking...