Above describes EXACTLY how I feel. When it first came out I was feeling like I had finally come home. I now know I'll never play again.....took me about 2 months. The strange thing is, I can't quite put my finger on why. I simply don't have anything bad to say about the experience or Turbine. If the game sucked, it would be easy. I'd say this game sucks and it was a waste of my money. For whatever reason I just have no desire to play it............strange.......
So you played the game for 2 months but you now feel as if it sucks and a waste of money? How many single player games have you payed 50 bucks for, played a single month and thought were great games? Wierd.
Hmmm.......perhaps I didn't word that correctly. Nope, I did.
I simply don't have anything bad to say about the experience or Turbine. If the game sucked, it would be easy. I'd say this game sucks and it was a waste of my money. For whatever reason I just have no desire to play it
but I will put it in again, in a different color. Perhaps that will help.
Above describes EXACTLY how I feel. When it first came out I was feeling like I had finally come home. I now know I'll never play again.....took me about 2 months. The strange thing is, I can't quite put my finger on why. I simply don't have anything bad to say about the experience or Turbine. If the game sucked, it would be easy. I'd say this game sucks and it was a waste of my money. For whatever reason I just have no desire to play it............strange.......
So you played the game for 2 months but you now feel as if it sucks and a waste of money? How many single player games have you payed 50 bucks for, played a single month and thought were great games? Wierd.
Hmmm.......perhaps I didn't word that correctly. Nope, I did.
I simply don't have anything bad to say about the experience or Turbine. If the game sucked, it would be easy. I'd say this game sucks and it was a waste of my money. For whatever reason I just have no desire to play it
but I will put it in again, in a different color. Perhaps that will help.
if you look at my previous post ainshent you will see that I had already discovered that I had mis read it. But thanks for pointing that out
Above describes EXACTLY how I feel. When it first came out I was feeling like I had finally come home. I now know I'll never play again.....took me about 2 months. The strange thing is, I can't quite put my finger on why. I simply don't have anything bad to say about the experience or Turbine. If the game sucked, it would be easy. I'd say this game sucks and it was a waste of my money. For whatever reason I just have no desire to play it............strange.......
So you played the game for 2 months but you now feel as if it sucks and a waste of money? How many single player games have you payed 50 bucks for, played a single month and thought were great games? Wierd.
jackdog ur missing the point of an mmo i believe. An mmo is supposed to have way more things to do and have a life that spans across many years. Single player games dont hvae additional content given out (besides expansions or small patches) and are made to be finished and completed. An mmo is supposed to be a whole virtual world where there is supposed to be an abundance of things to do, and since they are getting monthly fees, they should be able to put way more effort than they are doing now.
After a reread of the original post I quoted I did misi read his post. I will use the excuse ythe wife was bugging me as I read it
However I think you are missing the big point. No MMO or single player game can provide content for more than a few months of play. The only reason to keep playing after a few weeks or months is the social interaction. If you are not enjoying that aspect you will find yourself dissapointed no matter what MMO you play.
Jackdog, if u played ffxi, ud know that a near endless amount of things to do is very doable, you just need creativity. FFXI has so many things to do, its near impossible to complete it all.
Above describes EXACTLY how I feel. When it first came out I was feeling like I had finally come home. I now know I'll never play again.....took me about 2 months. The strange thing is, I can't quite put my finger on why. I simply don't have anything bad to say about the experience or Turbine. If the game sucked, it would be easy. I'd say this game sucks and it was a waste of my money. For whatever reason I just have no desire to play it............strange.......
So you played the game for 2 months but you now feel as if it sucks and a waste of money? How many single player games have you payed 50 bucks for, played a single month and thought were great games? Wierd.
Hmmm.......perhaps I didn't word that correctly. Nope, I did.
I simply don't have anything bad to say about the experience or Turbine. If the game sucked, it would be easy. I'd say this game sucks and it was a waste of my money. For whatever reason I just have no desire to play it
but I will put it in again, in a different color. Perhaps that will help.
if you look at my previous post ainshent you will see that I had already discovered that I had mis read it. But thanks for rubbing it in, u r uber
LOL.....oh. My bad. I missed your previous post. But, THANK YOU, for rubbing in my rubbing it in....you are much more uberer than I my friend.
I feel the same once I hit 35 or so & solo activities ran out & was forced to group I lost intrest ..Evendim did nothing to improve the game , & making most solo taged quest non soloable sucked ..
Spot on I quit Lotro for the same reasons i got as far as L41 then decided i had had enough of waiting arouind for days at a time for just 1 decent group and i was a kin leader at that point , i loved this game up until it became clear it was turning more into an annoyance than a fun to play game.
I've played the game for about 3 weeks before I lost interest, somehow it was a bit too limited compared to what I expect of an mmorpg. However afer a few weeks I started playing again and it still is entertaining, but I'm only playing in the weekend.
Somehow it can't hold my attention that long to make me want to play it every day, but I still think it's a nice game.
My girlfriend has been plaing Lotro as well since beta (we have a lifetime sub) and she's still excited with the game, so since we both played several mmorpg's for years I guess it all comes down to opinions.
For my two cents, I'm am (currently anyway) enjoying the lack of "OMG.MUST.PLAY.LOTRO" addictiveness. After two years of WoW hardcore-ish, raiding, etc. it's nice to have an MMORPG I can login, do a quest or few (or craft a bit) then leave without dwelling on it. It's satisfying enough to NOT live in the game 15 hrs per day then wonder where the hell the time went. Same feeling I get with (not an MMO) Guild Wars. I'm in absolutely no hurry at all to reach 50 right now. I play a few times a week, and that's fine.
It's also giving me time to try out other MMOs I've been curious about but never had the time with WoW sucking my life away. And the best part -- I get to enjoy life more now that I'm not spending every waking moment raiding or grinding for the next raid/repair bill. When winter rolls around, we'll see if I have a 50 yet and how the raids in LOTRO have been implemented (dungeons too). I'd like something with more fun, more adventure, more meaning than anything WoW ever had (not hard to do...) but not sucking up 4-6 hours to do it.
Some good posts. Jackdog, I agree that a good guild is important to having lasting appeal, but I play MMOs to play, so guild or no, if the gameplay has lost its luster, it doesn't change for me that I'm just not inspired anymore.
It may be that the gameplay elements are to streamlined. Questing, crafting and leveling up are all kind of on rails. Leveling up, I would just right click all the skills available, then read them as I set up my hotbar. It doesn't matter what the skills are really, because you don't need to choose. The game ssigns them, you just take them.
Similar with quests, run into an area you've been pointed to, get a boat-load of quests, once some or all are complete, your sent to the next town or post to do it again.
Crafting is pretty pointless IMO, drops from quests are always much better, plus the whole way they set it up so you have to depend on someone else to complete items is annoying to me. I had alts to act as mules, or to mail materials to my main crafter, but even thats restricted by the crazy-high mail costs.
I'd like to see dungeons starting at level 10-15 meant for a full group, think Task Forces in CoH(even though Positrons was torture). That set up gives you a group for hours at a time to enjoy. In LOTRO, you get a group, it disintegrates as soon as the 10 minute quest is over, then you look for another group.
Now, these things are similar to many MMOs, but it feels much more pre-determined I guess in LOTRO.
Jackdog, if u played ffxi, ud know that a near endless amount of things to do is very doable, you just need creativity. FFXI has so many things to do, its near impossible to complete it all.
FFXI also has a grind slope the size of Everest and we all know how well grindy games go over so well with the western player base. I thought endless repetition was what people are complaining about but if that is all you want try one of the free Korean games. You can gind foozes then hairy foozles then hairy foozles with bad attitudes till you are foozled out An endless grind does not make the game fun.
By the way Die, a good suggestion for the lower level full group dungeons, you need to post that over on the official site and maybe it will capture the a Devs attention. It's a catch 22 when designing one of these games. People want solo play, myself included, yet we become bored if we do socialize enough. Once again I am glad I am a techie not a game designer. I also agree that the crafting still needs a lot of tweaks and fleshing out. One day I hope it will be something of a combination of EQII and SWG (original). MvP still is pretty lame also, there is a ton of room for improvement there.
LOTRO is a great game. Great in that the graphics are top notch, cutomer support is A+, engine is stable, lag-free, and polished up the wahzoo. Thats what I can't put my finger on about this game. I loved it immensly on release and for about 3-4 weeks, then suddenly I just don't feel like it anymore. I've gone through a lot of MMOs, but never had such a sudden change of heart before. I just don't understand it TBH, I was stoked on this game, sneaking forums at work all day, looking forward to getting home to log in. One day..I just thought "meh". Let me clarify, LOTRO is an extremely well-made game, I can't even name a fault to it, (except it may be too familiar from past experiences). But it just doesn't "grab" me long term, y'know? Even when Turbine offered two free weeks to stay on, I turned it down. Not out of any malice at all either, I just don't wanna play anymore. What the heck is it missing from this game? Thoughts?
This was discussed in depth during the betatest. Most people, a majority of the betatesters that were in the game for more than a month, felt the exact same thing. It was free, but still did not have enough pull after a month or two to drag you into the game. At the same time, noone could put the finger on it, everyone agreed it was a quality product without many flaws it just.. did not have that "hook". Also, no one could really point out exactly what was missing either to get that "hook" it was just...a general very hazy feeling.
In the end, a lot of these people did not buy the game, not because they did not like it, cause most did, just because they knew the burnout would appear again and they would not even know why. Its a little ghost in the machine there...
I guess you have found the same thing. Dont fret too much about it. There is no real answer to be found, all theories tried were easilly dispelled when you compared it to other games. Its a good, solid product that in the end have a hard time keeping the flame burning.
I've noticed a few of these type threads coming up not only on this site but on a few others as well. Until recently I would have dismissed them and not really paid any attention to them. But in the past week or so I've had the same feelings about LOTRO. I've played this game since closed Beta right up to launch and have a monthly Founders membership (I didn't have $200 at the time or I would have bought the lifetime membership). I still love this game, the setting and the community but I can understand better why some have become tired of it. I can't speak for anyone else but I can give you my take on the whole situation. 1) The first factor that had lead to this situation is the fact that I think the novelty of the game has worn off some. It's been out for a few months now and the "gee-whiz" effect has gone. It's now taken it's place with the multiple fantasy games that are already out there 2) I also think there may be a serious burn-out going on here. I know that since the beta I usually log on before going to work and after I come home from work. Like any game that is new and you really, really like it kind of takes over you life. I remember spending....no losing hours apond our while playing SWG. I know alot of you out there know what I mean! 3) Summertime. The weather has gotten nice, people are going on vacation and are looking to do more in the real world. I tend to believe that during the winter months people spend more time at home and thus game more in the winter than the summer months. 4) The biggest contributor to play apathy in my experience with LOTRO is hitting the mid-20's in level. To me there was a fundemental change in this game at those levels. In the early levels I felt like I was actually a part of the Lord of the Rings adventure. I encounter Aragorn and Gandalf and had some connection with the major plot of LOTR. I felt I was making a small contribution in the grand scheme. When I started questing in the Lone Land and the North Downs I started feeling like I no longer made a difference and was just grouping and grinding. I generally like to solo but I don't mind grouping some times but a great majority of the quest in both of these areas are tailored for grouping. IMO there should be more solo content and a better connect with the events of the story that this game is based on. I'll conclude by saying that these are my impressions of what problems Turbine needs to recognize and address. I can understand if other do not agree with either my interpretations or feel that a differnt aproach needs to be made. I look forward to hearing other opinions and suggestions. P.S. forgive the typos I missed. My typing is terrible!!
Very good post Keltic, sums up my thoughts as well.
LOTRO is a great game. Great in that the graphics are top notch, cutomer support is A+, engine is stable, lag-free, and polished up the wahzoo. Thats what I can't put my finger on about this game. I loved it immensly on release and for about 3-4 weeks, then suddenly I just don't feel like it anymore. I've gone through a lot of MMOs, but never had such a sudden change of heart before. I just don't understand it TBH, I was stoked on this game, sneaking forums at work all day, looking forward to getting home to log in. One day..I just thought "meh". Let me clarify, LOTRO is an extremely well-made game, I can't even name a fault to it, (except it may be too familiar from past experiences). But it just doesn't "grab" me long term, y'know? Even when Turbine offered two free weeks to stay on, I turned it down. Not out of any malice at all either, I just don't wanna play anymore. What the heck is it missing from this game? Thoughts?
LOTRO is a great game. Great in that the graphics are top notch, cutomer support is A+, engine is stable, lag-free, and polished up the wahzoo. Thats what I can't put my finger on about this game. I loved it immensly on release and for about 3-4 weeks, then suddenly I just don't feel like it anymore. I've gone through a lot of MMOs, but never had such a sudden change of heart before. I just don't understand it TBH, I was stoked on this game, sneaking forums at work all day, looking forward to getting home to log in. One day..I just thought "meh". Let me clarify, LOTRO is an extremely well-made game, I can't even name a fault to it, (except it may be too familiar from past experiences). But it just doesn't "grab" me long term, y'know? Even when Turbine offered two free weeks to stay on, I turned it down. Not out of any malice at all either, I just don't wanna play anymore. What the heck is it missing from this game? Thoughts?
Try this . Find the best single player game you can find. play it daily for 4 to 6 hour or whatever your play schedule is . See how many months straight you can play it. People burn out, pain and simple. The only reason I still have fun playing LoTRO night after night is because I enjoy my guild and the social interaction, the same reason I played DAOC for 2 years and UO for 4 years. I find I play grouped almost all the time now, and not to gain exp or coin. Last night 80% of the time the mobs were gray to me I was just helping people with quests I did 10 levels ago.
Anyway good luck to you, just next MMO you play find a good guild and take it easier on the leveling. In particular if it is a new game like LoTRO which is still heavy into the content adding phase.
You know, there is truth to what you say however, LOTRO is a super casual game. There is just not enough to it, the world is small, there is not alot of depth to the game at all. I recall eq2 and the climb in levels took a long time, then there was an endgame in place that took quite a bit of work, many guilds never finished it until the level cap was raised 1 year later.
There is no challenge whatsoever in LOTRO, its very bland i think that is what the problem is. A good guild helps, however i think alot of ppl are looking for something they can really dig their teeth into.
Quick question: Is LOTRO more group oriented or solo based?
I love social interaction and I'm looking for a game that almost makes you group in order to progress...like Final Fantasy 11 did
You can solo to the mid-20s or so in my experience, then you are forced to group, unless its one of the ever-present kill boars/wargs/crows quests. The game is fantastic to RP in, and the graphics took my beath away in several places.
Problem is, the way quests are set up, shared and chained, its difficult to find other players who happen to be on the quest you are on at the time. In CoH, for example, you join a grp and you see the quest your team is on in the nav window, doesn't matter if you did it already or not, it was easy. Of course, all quests are instanced in that game.
You'll find LOTRO simply cake if you are coming from FFXI, you grind in this game, but they cleverly disguise it as quests, so it works well. But by the time you hit 24 or so, the disguise is gone. Again, coming from FFXI, its going to be easy to advance alone if you wish, but with all MMOs, grping is what makes/breaks the fun.
You know, there is truth to what you say however, LOTRO is a super casual game. There is just not enough to it, the world is small, there is not alot of depth to the game at all. I recall eq2 and the climb in levels took a long time, then there was an endgame in place that took quite a bit of work, many guilds never finished it until the level cap was raised 1 year later. There is no challenge whatsoever in LOTRO, its very bland i think that is what the problem is. A good guild helps, however i think alot of ppl are looking for something they can really dig their teeth into. -Allegria
Can you really consider any MMORPG chalenging? If so more power to you. If I want a challaege I will play online chess. Some MMORPGs are more time consuming/frustrating than others ( Vanguard for example) but none are much of a challenge either mentaly or physicly unless you consider devoting time and clicking buttons a challenge.
As far as the size I just rode from Bree which is more or less the center to Rivendale and I was kind of wishing I had paid the 45 silver for a insta ride. The world is quite big enough and every inch is packed with quests and mobs.
It's as deep as any other MMORPG, deeper than most I have played really, which would consist of most western MMO's, I don't care for the eastern foozle grinds. The game is as good as any and actually better than most in it's genre allegria. It's the genre I think is in trouble if WoW, LoTRO, and EQII are the best of the best. I don't forsee a whole lot of difference in AoC and WAR either although I will probably try one or both.
I agree for the most part with Jack, "challenge" is subjective, but no, no MMO is challenging in the sense that its hard. Some think a challenge is fighting over mobs, camping, dying on the way to quests, long travel and massive death penalties. Those things are just exactly what I avoid. I want to have fun, not be disheartened and frustrated trying to complete simple tasks.
The world is big to me, especially with the slow horses, and bloody long runs to the next post to tag the stable NPC. I heard the world was small before I started, but that wasn't my impression at all. Plus, think of what they are going to add in the future! Mordor, anyone?
Here's where I disagree, LOTRO is anything but deep in my opinion. Its shallow quest grind, not unlike DDO (surprise!). There really isn't much to do other than find groups to tackle the same quest as you. I had the same issues with CoH at release though, and NCSoft addressed it somewhat, not much, but issue 9 has helped.
Here's where I disagree, LOTRO is anything but deep in my opinion. Its shallow quest grind, not unlike DDO (surprise!). There really isn't much to do other than find groups to tackle the same quest as you. I had the same issues with CoH at release though, and NCSoft addressed it somewhat, not much, but issue 9 has helped.
A serious question here, what features do you think make CoH deeper than LoTRO. I played and enjoyed CoH for the free month, but at release it seemed as if I hit a brick wall of leveling around lvl 15. Also no crafting at all, one instance was pretty much the same as the next and a lot of other features or lack there of turned me off to the game. It was a blast for the 1st fifteen lkevels though, I just kept making one archetype after the other then deleting them at 15. Maybe it changed or I missed something.
Here's where I disagree, LOTRO is anything but deep in my opinion. Its shallow quest grind, not unlike DDO (surprise!). There really isn't much to do other than find groups to tackle the same quest as you. I had the same issues with CoH at release though, and NCSoft addressed it somewhat, not much, but issue 9 has helped.
A serious question here, what features do you think make CoH deeper than LoTRO. I played and enjoyed CoH for the free month, but at release it seemed as if I hit a brick wall of leveling around lvl 15. Also no crafting at all, one instance was pretty much the same as the next and a lot of other features or lack there of turned me off to the game. It was a blast for the 1st fifteen lkevels though, I just kept making one archetype after the other then deleting them at 15. Maybe it changed or I missed something.
Well, as I said, they addressed it "somewhat". CoH has been, and I suspect will always be, mostly a quest grind as well. Difference is:
1. All non-kill X quests are instanced, making for easy to find doors, clear direction and more cohesion(sp?) in a team.
2. Issue 9 has introduced the AH and crafting of salvage, you can make various things, some great, some usless from what I saw.
3. Epic Pwers at 41 I think it is, small way to differenciate.
4. Big one to me, when you level, you need to make choices on what to take next. You are presented with X number of skills in LOTRO that you can buy. If you have the silver, you get them all. No decision, no thought as to charactor build now or in future. A side effect is that everyone your level in your class has the same powers. i don't need to ask that other Capt if he has his heal, of course he does, as do I.
I suppose its not that much deeper in retrospect, but if you played way back at release in '04, they have more thasn doubled the game zones, added PvP, so much I can't describe it all.
But then, after more than 2 years, I quit that to, much for the same reason, I wanted a game with a more sandbox structure.
Here's where I disagree, LOTRO is anything but deep in my opinion. Its shallow quest grind, not unlike DDO (surprise!). There really isn't much to do other than find groups to tackle the same quest as you. I had the same issues with CoH at release though, and NCSoft addressed it somewhat, not much, but issue 9 has helped.
A serious question here, what features do you think make CoH deeper than LoTRO. I played and enjoyed CoH for the free month, but at release it seemed as if I hit a brick wall of leveling around lvl 15. Also no crafting at all, one instance was pretty much the same as the next and a lot of other features or lack there of turned me off to the game. It was a blast for the 1st fifteen lkevels though, I just kept making one archetype after the other then deleting them at 15. Maybe it changed or I missed something.
Well, as I said, they addressed it "somewhat". CoH has been, and I suspect will always be, mostly a quest grind as well. Difference is:
1. All non-kill X quests are instanced, making for easy to find doors, clear direction and more cohesion(sp?) in a team.
2. Issue 9 has introduced the AH and crafting of salvage, you can make various things, some great, some usless from what I saw.
3. Epic Pwers at 41 I think it is, small way to differenciate.
4. Big one to me, when you level, you need to make choices on what to take next. You are presented with X number of skills in LOTRO that you can buy. If you have the silver, you get them all. No decision, no thought as to charactor build now or in future. A side effect is that everyone your level in your class has the same powers. i don't need to ask that other Capt if he has his heal, of course he does, as do I.
I suppose its not that much deeper in retrospect, but if you played way back at release in '04, they have more thasn doubled the game zones, added PvP, so much I can't describe it all.
But then, after more than 2 years, I quit that to, much for the same reason, I wanted a game with a more sandbox structure.
CoH reminded me of DAoC in it's character speccing. Nice in theory but most people min/maxxed and there were a couple of reccomended builds for each class that pretty much everyone followed. The big problem was Mythic applied the nerf bat pretty frequently and your uber build could be a mighty warrior one day then post patch could not swat a fly.
As a 40 minstrel I am still playing with deeds and gear to get a good balance. I overdid the fate and will which was great for groups since I never ran out of power even in the hairiest instance with a good group but I needed to add some vitality for soloing as my morale is not all that so I am sacrificing a few points of power in exchange .
I agree completely with what the op said; I was loving this game for about the first 3 or 4 weeks and then one day I just didnt want to play anymore. I dont really know what happened, I just quit playing and havent logged in since; so now my 39 champ is just sitting around in the prancing pony gettin drunk every night
CoH reminded me of DAoC in it's character speccing. Nice in theory but most people min/maxxed and there were a couple of reccomended builds for each class that pretty much everyone followed. The big problem was Mythic applied the nerf bat pretty frequently and your uber build could be a mighty warrior one day then post patch could not swat a fly.
Ha! In CoH this was called the Enhancment Diversification nerf.
I felt the same when i canceled and went back to eq2. Here are the reasons i got bored and left.
1. Crafting, it started off fun and interesting, but after awhile always having to have another player help you get stuff you need for your profs just sucked. But beyond that, the "rare" recipes, while being "good" items are plagued by the overpricing of the rare item, the low chance to "Crit". But beyond that, i grew tired of how crafting worked. I have to farm massive mats to get to the tier, but before i can even make anything decent, i have to master it. And unless you farm the mats by the time you get to the level and master it you'll be high enough you can just buy the item from someone else for cheaper then all the mats you had to pay to get to the master. I just found it too much work, for too little reward. Let alone the items were jumbled with different stats that really make you wonder sometimes.
2. Items in general, i found items in lotro to be complete garbage, there are good items here and there, but at times it seems to me like they just simply don't know what they are doing when adding in item stats on the different armor types. Let alone there are quest rewards which are flat out useless and were put into the game for a reason, it's just horrible.
3. Grouping. I found grouping in this game to be CRAP, and once the game "matures" and there aren't a ton of new players you'll see a lot of quests just get abandoned because nobody will do them. There is just simply no reason to group beyond quests. And if someone else has the quest they may or may not group with you, and if they don't they won't. Can't find a tank? can't find a healer? Well too bad so sad, you can't do this quest. I've had to ask for a group for over a hour before, for one of the most common quests in lone lands, and it only got worse from then on. And if great barrows is a sign of things to come, then there simply is just no reason to do instances, except if you wanted a massive repair bill and some crap rewards, after taking ages to get people who are willing to do it, and are appropriately leveled, good luck getting groups for a instance in non-prime time, at least in wow i could get people willing to do a instance without much work. And in eq2 i can get even more groups, because going to a dungeon is the purpose of the journey itself, no quests you have to do and run around doing, just killing, beating names, and exp exp exp.
4. Gathering, this has to be one of the poorest gathering systems in a game. Scholars have a harder time then others getting their mats, mining is okay at first, but you eventually have to spend all your cash on coal just to make stuff that won't sell very well if at all on the ah.
5. The economy is just horrible. Things are extremely overpriced or extremely underpriced. Nobody has any clue what items are worth, and it just messes it up.
6. The skill system... I found this to be the part that really turned me off the game... It's so easy to level early on, and you get all your main skills early on. by the time your level 25 you will have 90% of your "routine" done, and then just get flavor/buff spells later on, And there is no variation at all to the fights or skills, it's literally the exact same button presses in the exact same order, every single time. I grew extremely bored of hitting the same skills over and over... At least in wow or eq2 i have enough options and abilities that it never feels like i'm hitting 1 2 3 2....3....2.....3.....2....2...3 Yet that's how it seemed to me.
7. horrible mob pathing... this is just the worst pathing i have ever seen... ever, mobs can't handle going down cliffs, they get stuck on the other side of a CRACK IN THE FLOOR, they occasionally forget how to get to you and end up standing someone looking at you like wth how do i get there, even with stairs next to them sometimes.
8. Aggro issues... aggro in this game is just rediculous, there are quite a few places Where while traveling across a path mobs from other paths will aggro you, archers sometimes aggro you in places where it's impossible to reach them and if you move out of their L.O.S they bug out(lone lands is a big example of this)
9. Account cancellation... Scam tactics, that's all it really is. They should be ashamed of their scam attempts. Having to call them? Having to have a email correspondance with them. It's all just a deterrance to try to make it as inconvenient as they can, to make you just say screw it it's not worth it. Or try to persuade you not to cancel.... and their phone line isn't even toll free! another scam alert! Really this is 2007, not 1995, if you can't handle one click canceling then you should just quit the online business.. But what was i expecting from turbine?
At the risk of being redundant, I am in complete agreement with the OP. I have a lvl 25 Captain, stuck in LoneLands, after a month I just feel "Blah" about the game. Don't know what it is either. I havnt logged in in a week. At first I thought it was the "Bee-knees", but soon got sick of it. I do like the Captain character, however they really should have put a mage type class in the game. Several of my friends online are obsessed with the pure Wizard and Necromancer type of MMO class, so LOTRO did nothing for them. I also didn't like the fact that we couldnt be an "Evil" character. I would have loved to play a SK or a dark healer type fighting the goodie-goodies! But in LOTRO your a goody-2-shoes whether you like it or not.
Unlike others I didnt mind the interdependencies of the crafting system and some of the crafted armour was pretty decent ( a nice change from most other MMO's) as were the quest items. I had a decent crafted set made that lasted me several levels.
Aside from that the game lost it's luster quick. Someone summed it up when they stated there was nothing new about the game. Later this year there will be several new games that show alot of promise and creativity (AOC and Tabula Rasa to name two) for us seasoned MMO players. hopefully we will get a little more of that elusive tug from them.
Till then II'm back to playing the only (IMO) Innovative MMO out there: EVE Online.
Comments
So you played the game for 2 months but you now feel as if it sucks and a waste of money? How many single player games have you payed 50 bucks for, played a single month and thought were great games? Wierd.
Hmmm.......perhaps I didn't word that correctly. Nope, I did.I simply don't have anything bad to say about the experience or Turbine. If the game sucked, it would be easy. I'd say this game sucks and it was a waste of my money. For whatever reason I just have no desire to play it
but I will put it in again, in a different color. Perhaps that will help.
So you played the game for 2 months but you now feel as if it sucks and a waste of money? How many single player games have you payed 50 bucks for, played a single month and thought were great games? Wierd.
Hmmm.......perhaps I didn't word that correctly. Nope, I did.I simply don't have anything bad to say about the experience or Turbine. If the game sucked, it would be easy. I'd say this game sucks and it was a waste of my money. For whatever reason I just have no desire to play it
but I will put it in again, in a different color. Perhaps that will help.
if you look at my previous post ainshent you will see that I had already discovered that I had mis read it. But thanks for pointing that out
I miss DAoC
So you played the game for 2 months but you now feel as if it sucks and a waste of money? How many single player games have you payed 50 bucks for, played a single month and thought were great games? Wierd.
jackdog ur missing the point of an mmo i believe. An mmo is supposed to have way more things to do and have a life that spans across many years. Single player games dont hvae additional content given out (besides expansions or small patches) and are made to be finished and completed. An mmo is supposed to be a whole virtual world where there is supposed to be an abundance of things to do, and since they are getting monthly fees, they should be able to put way more effort than they are doing now.
After a reread of the original post I quoted I did misi read his post. I will use the excuse ythe wife was bugging me as I read it
However I think you are missing the big point. No MMO or single player game can provide content for more than a few months of play. The only reason to keep playing after a few weeks or months is the social interaction. If you are not enjoying that aspect you will find yourself dissapointed no matter what MMO you play.
Jackdog, if u played ffxi, ud know that a near endless amount of things to do is very doable, you just need creativity. FFXI has so many things to do, its near impossible to complete it all.
So you played the game for 2 months but you now feel as if it sucks and a waste of money? How many single player games have you payed 50 bucks for, played a single month and thought were great games? Wierd.
Hmmm.......perhaps I didn't word that correctly. Nope, I did.I simply don't have anything bad to say about the experience or Turbine. If the game sucked, it would be easy. I'd say this game sucks and it was a waste of my money. For whatever reason I just have no desire to play it
but I will put it in again, in a different color. Perhaps that will help.
if you look at my previous post ainshent you will see that I had already discovered that I had mis read it. But thanks for rubbing it in, u r uber
LOL.....oh. My bad. I missed your previous post. But, THANK YOU, for rubbing in my rubbing it in....you are much more uberer than I my friend.
I've played the game for about 3 weeks before I lost interest, somehow it was a bit too limited compared to what I expect of an mmorpg. However afer a few weeks I started playing again and it still is entertaining, but I'm only playing in the weekend.
Somehow it can't hold my attention that long to make me want to play it every day, but I still think it's a nice game.
My girlfriend has been plaing Lotro as well since beta (we have a lifetime sub) and she's still excited with the game, so since we both played several mmorpg's for years I guess it all comes down to opinions.
For my two cents, I'm am (currently anyway) enjoying the lack of "OMG.MUST.PLAY.LOTRO" addictiveness. After two years of WoW hardcore-ish, raiding, etc. it's nice to have an MMORPG I can login, do a quest or few (or craft a bit) then leave without dwelling on it. It's satisfying enough to NOT live in the game 15 hrs per day then wonder where the hell the time went. Same feeling I get with (not an MMO) Guild Wars. I'm in absolutely no hurry at all to reach 50 right now. I play a few times a week, and that's fine.
It's also giving me time to try out other MMOs I've been curious about but never had the time with WoW sucking my life away. And the best part -- I get to enjoy life more now that I'm not spending every waking moment raiding or grinding for the next raid/repair bill. When winter rolls around, we'll see if I have a 50 yet and how the raids in LOTRO have been implemented (dungeons too). I'd like something with more fun, more adventure, more meaning than anything WoW ever had (not hard to do...) but not sucking up 4-6 hours to do it.
Some good posts. Jackdog, I agree that a good guild is important to having lasting appeal, but I play MMOs to play, so guild or no, if the gameplay has lost its luster, it doesn't change for me that I'm just not inspired anymore.
It may be that the gameplay elements are to streamlined. Questing, crafting and leveling up are all kind of on rails. Leveling up, I would just right click all the skills available, then read them as I set up my hotbar. It doesn't matter what the skills are really, because you don't need to choose. The game ssigns them, you just take them.
Similar with quests, run into an area you've been pointed to, get a boat-load of quests, once some or all are complete, your sent to the next town or post to do it again.
Crafting is pretty pointless IMO, drops from quests are always much better, plus the whole way they set it up so you have to depend on someone else to complete items is annoying to me. I had alts to act as mules, or to mail materials to my main crafter, but even thats restricted by the crazy-high mail costs.
I'd like to see dungeons starting at level 10-15 meant for a full group, think Task Forces in CoH(even though Positrons was torture). That set up gives you a group for hours at a time to enjoy. In LOTRO, you get a group, it disintegrates as soon as the 10 minute quest is over, then you look for another group.
Now, these things are similar to many MMOs, but it feels much more pre-determined I guess in LOTRO.
FFXI also has a grind slope the size of Everest and we all know how well grindy games go over so well with the western player base. I thought endless repetition was what people are complaining about but if that is all you want try one of the free Korean games. You can gind foozes then hairy foozles then hairy foozles with bad attitudes till you are foozled out An endless grind does not make the game fun.
By the way Die, a good suggestion for the lower level full group dungeons, you need to post that over on the official site and maybe it will capture the a Devs attention. It's a catch 22 when designing one of these games. People want solo play, myself included, yet we become bored if we do socialize enough. Once again I am glad I am a techie not a game designer. I also agree that the crafting still needs a lot of tweaks and fleshing out. One day I hope it will be something of a combination of EQII and SWG (original). MvP still is pretty lame also, there is a ton of room for improvement there.
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I miss DAoC
This was discussed in depth during the betatest. Most people, a majority of the betatesters that were in the game for more than a month, felt the exact same thing. It was free, but still did not have enough pull after a month or two to drag you into the game. At the same time, noone could put the finger on it, everyone agreed it was a quality product without many flaws it just.. did not have that "hook". Also, no one could really point out exactly what was missing either to get that "hook" it was just...a general very hazy feeling.
In the end, a lot of these people did not buy the game, not because they did not like it, cause most did, just because they knew the burnout would appear again and they would not even know why. Its a little ghost in the machine there...
I guess you have found the same thing. Dont fret too much about it. There is no real answer to be found, all theories tried were easilly dispelled when you compared it to other games. Its a good, solid product that in the end have a hard time keeping the flame burning.
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Anatomy of a Fanboi
This is you.
nevermind, I can't prove it because the beta forums were wiped so it never happened
I miss DAoC
well summed up!
Just not enough there-there.
-Allegria
Anyway good luck to you, just next MMO you play find a good guild and take it easier on the leveling. In particular if it is a new game like LoTRO which is still heavy into the content adding phase.
You know, there is truth to what you say however, LOTRO is a super casual game. There is just not enough to it, the world is small, there is not alot of depth to the game at all. I recall eq2 and the climb in levels took a long time, then there was an endgame in place that took quite a bit of work, many guilds never finished it until the level cap was raised 1 year later.
There is no challenge whatsoever in LOTRO, its very bland i think that is what the problem is. A good guild helps, however i think alot of ppl are looking for something they can really dig their teeth into.
-Allegria
Quick question: Is LOTRO more group oriented or solo based?
I love social interaction and I'm looking for a game that almost makes you group in order to progress...like Final Fantasy 11 did
Problem is, the way quests are set up, shared and chained, its difficult to find other players who happen to be on the quest you are on at the time. In CoH, for example, you join a grp and you see the quest your team is on in the nav window, doesn't matter if you did it already or not, it was easy. Of course, all quests are instanced in that game.
You'll find LOTRO simply cake if you are coming from FFXI, you grind in this game, but they cleverly disguise it as quests, so it works well. But by the time you hit 24 or so, the disguise is gone. Again, coming from FFXI, its going to be easy to advance alone if you wish, but with all MMOs, grping is what makes/breaks the fun.
I would deffinately recommend the game though.
Can you really consider any MMORPG chalenging? If so more power to you. If I want a challaege I will play online chess. Some MMORPGs are more time consuming/frustrating than others ( Vanguard for example) but none are much of a challenge either mentaly or physicly unless you consider devoting time and clicking buttons a challenge.
As far as the size I just rode from Bree which is more or less the center to Rivendale and I was kind of wishing I had paid the 45 silver for a insta ride. The world is quite big enough and every inch is packed with quests and mobs.
It's as deep as any other MMORPG, deeper than most I have played really, which would consist of most western MMO's, I don't care for the eastern foozle grinds. The game is as good as any and actually better than most in it's genre allegria. It's the genre I think is in trouble if WoW, LoTRO, and EQII are the best of the best. I don't forsee a whole lot of difference in AoC and WAR either although I will probably try one or both.
I miss DAoC
I agree for the most part with Jack, "challenge" is subjective, but no, no MMO is challenging in the sense that its hard. Some think a challenge is fighting over mobs, camping, dying on the way to quests, long travel and massive death penalties. Those things are just exactly what I avoid. I want to have fun, not be disheartened and frustrated trying to complete simple tasks.
The world is big to me, especially with the slow horses, and bloody long runs to the next post to tag the stable NPC. I heard the world was small before I started, but that wasn't my impression at all. Plus, think of what they are going to add in the future! Mordor, anyone?
Here's where I disagree, LOTRO is anything but deep in my opinion. Its shallow quest grind, not unlike DDO (surprise!). There really isn't much to do other than find groups to tackle the same quest as you. I had the same issues with CoH at release though, and NCSoft addressed it somewhat, not much, but issue 9 has helped.
A serious question here, what features do you think make CoH deeper than LoTRO. I played and enjoyed CoH for the free month, but at release it seemed as if I hit a brick wall of leveling around lvl 15. Also no crafting at all, one instance was pretty much the same as the next and a lot of other features or lack there of turned me off to the game. It was a blast for the 1st fifteen lkevels though, I just kept making one archetype after the other then deleting them at 15. Maybe it changed or I missed something.
I miss DAoC
A serious question here, what features do you think make CoH deeper than LoTRO. I played and enjoyed CoH for the free month, but at release it seemed as if I hit a brick wall of leveling around lvl 15. Also no crafting at all, one instance was pretty much the same as the next and a lot of other features or lack there of turned me off to the game. It was a blast for the 1st fifteen lkevels though, I just kept making one archetype after the other then deleting them at 15. Maybe it changed or I missed something.
Well, as I said, they addressed it "somewhat". CoH has been, and I suspect will always be, mostly a quest grind as well. Difference is:
1. All non-kill X quests are instanced, making for easy to find doors, clear direction and more cohesion(sp?) in a team.
2. Issue 9 has introduced the AH and crafting of salvage, you can make various things, some great, some usless from what I saw.
3. Epic Pwers at 41 I think it is, small way to differenciate.
4. Big one to me, when you level, you need to make choices on what to take next. You are presented with X number of skills in LOTRO that you can buy. If you have the silver, you get them all. No decision, no thought as to charactor build now or in future. A side effect is that everyone your level in your class has the same powers. i don't need to ask that other Capt if he has his heal, of course he does, as do I.
I suppose its not that much deeper in retrospect, but if you played way back at release in '04, they have more thasn doubled the game zones, added PvP, so much I can't describe it all.
But then, after more than 2 years, I quit that to, much for the same reason, I wanted a game with a more sandbox structure.
A serious question here, what features do you think make CoH deeper than LoTRO. I played and enjoyed CoH for the free month, but at release it seemed as if I hit a brick wall of leveling around lvl 15. Also no crafting at all, one instance was pretty much the same as the next and a lot of other features or lack there of turned me off to the game. It was a blast for the 1st fifteen lkevels though, I just kept making one archetype after the other then deleting them at 15. Maybe it changed or I missed something.
Well, as I said, they addressed it "somewhat". CoH has been, and I suspect will always be, mostly a quest grind as well. Difference is:
1. All non-kill X quests are instanced, making for easy to find doors, clear direction and more cohesion(sp?) in a team.
2. Issue 9 has introduced the AH and crafting of salvage, you can make various things, some great, some usless from what I saw.
3. Epic Pwers at 41 I think it is, small way to differenciate.
4. Big one to me, when you level, you need to make choices on what to take next. You are presented with X number of skills in LOTRO that you can buy. If you have the silver, you get them all. No decision, no thought as to charactor build now or in future. A side effect is that everyone your level in your class has the same powers. i don't need to ask that other Capt if he has his heal, of course he does, as do I.
I suppose its not that much deeper in retrospect, but if you played way back at release in '04, they have more thasn doubled the game zones, added PvP, so much I can't describe it all.
But then, after more than 2 years, I quit that to, much for the same reason, I wanted a game with a more sandbox structure.
CoH reminded me of DAoC in it's character speccing. Nice in theory but most people min/maxxed and there were a couple of reccomended builds for each class that pretty much everyone followed. The big problem was Mythic applied the nerf bat pretty frequently and your uber build could be a mighty warrior one day then post patch could not swat a fly.As a 40 minstrel I am still playing with deeds and gear to get a good balance. I overdid the fate and will which was great for groups since I never ran out of power even in the hairiest instance with a good group but I needed to add some vitality for soloing as my morale is not all that so I am sacrificing a few points of power in exchange .
I miss DAoC
I agree completely with what the op said; I was loving this game for about the first 3 or 4 weeks and then one day I just didnt want to play anymore. I dont really know what happened, I just quit playing and havent logged in since; so now my 39 champ is just sitting around in the prancing pony gettin drunk every night
Ha! In CoH this was called the Enhancment Diversification nerf.
I felt the same when i canceled and went back to eq2. Here are the reasons i got bored and left.
1. Crafting, it started off fun and interesting, but after awhile always having to have another player help you get stuff you need for your profs just sucked. But beyond that, the "rare" recipes, while being "good" items are plagued by the overpricing of the rare item, the low chance to "Crit". But beyond that, i grew tired of how crafting worked. I have to farm massive mats to get to the tier, but before i can even make anything decent, i have to master it. And unless you farm the mats by the time you get to the level and master it you'll be high enough you can just buy the item from someone else for cheaper then all the mats you had to pay to get to the master. I just found it too much work, for too little reward. Let alone the items were jumbled with different stats that really make you wonder sometimes.
2. Items in general, i found items in lotro to be complete garbage, there are good items here and there, but at times it seems to me like they just simply don't know what they are doing when adding in item stats on the different armor types. Let alone there are quest rewards which are flat out useless and were put into the game for a reason, it's just horrible.
3. Grouping. I found grouping in this game to be CRAP, and once the game "matures" and there aren't a ton of new players you'll see a lot of quests just get abandoned because nobody will do them. There is just simply no reason to group beyond quests. And if someone else has the quest they may or may not group with you, and if they don't they won't. Can't find a tank? can't find a healer? Well too bad so sad, you can't do this quest. I've had to ask for a group for over a hour before, for one of the most common quests in lone lands, and it only got worse from then on. And if great barrows is a sign of things to come, then there simply is just no reason to do instances, except if you wanted a massive repair bill and some crap rewards, after taking ages to get people who are willing to do it, and are appropriately leveled, good luck getting groups for a instance in non-prime time, at least in wow i could get people willing to do a instance without much work. And in eq2 i can get even more groups, because going to a dungeon is the purpose of the journey itself, no quests you have to do and run around doing, just killing, beating names, and exp exp exp.
4. Gathering, this has to be one of the poorest gathering systems in a game. Scholars have a harder time then others getting their mats, mining is okay at first, but you eventually have to spend all your cash on coal just to make stuff that won't sell very well if at all on the ah.
5. The economy is just horrible. Things are extremely overpriced or extremely underpriced. Nobody has any clue what items are worth, and it just messes it up.
6. The skill system... I found this to be the part that really turned me off the game... It's so easy to level early on, and you get all your main skills early on. by the time your level 25 you will have 90% of your "routine" done, and then just get flavor/buff spells later on, And there is no variation at all to the fights or skills, it's literally the exact same button presses in the exact same order, every single time. I grew extremely bored of hitting the same skills over and over... At least in wow or eq2 i have enough options and abilities that it never feels like i'm hitting 1 2 3 2....3....2.....3.....2....2...3 Yet that's how it seemed to me.
7. horrible mob pathing... this is just the worst pathing i have ever seen... ever, mobs can't handle going down cliffs, they get stuck on the other side of a CRACK IN THE FLOOR, they occasionally forget how to get to you and end up standing someone looking at you like wth how do i get there, even with stairs next to them sometimes.
8. Aggro issues... aggro in this game is just rediculous, there are quite a few places Where while traveling across a path mobs from other paths will aggro you, archers sometimes aggro you in places where it's impossible to reach them and if you move out of their L.O.S they bug out(lone lands is a big example of this)
9. Account cancellation... Scam tactics, that's all it really is. They should be ashamed of their scam attempts. Having to call them? Having to have a email correspondance with them. It's all just a deterrance to try to make it as inconvenient as they can, to make you just say screw it it's not worth it. Or try to persuade you not to cancel.... and their phone line isn't even toll free! another scam alert! Really this is 2007, not 1995, if you can't handle one click canceling then you should just quit the online business.. But what was i expecting from turbine?
At the risk of being redundant, I am in complete agreement with the OP. I have a lvl 25 Captain, stuck in LoneLands, after a month I just feel "Blah" about the game. Don't know what it is either. I havnt logged in in a week. At first I thought it was the "Bee-knees", but soon got sick of it. I do like the Captain character, however they really should have put a mage type class in the game. Several of my friends online are obsessed with the pure Wizard and Necromancer type of MMO class, so LOTRO did nothing for them. I also didn't like the fact that we couldnt be an "Evil" character. I would have loved to play a SK or a dark healer type fighting the goodie-goodies! But in LOTRO your a goody-2-shoes whether you like it or not.
Unlike others I didnt mind the interdependencies of the crafting system and some of the crafted armour was pretty decent ( a nice change from most other MMO's) as were the quest items. I had a decent crafted set made that lasted me several levels.
Aside from that the game lost it's luster quick. Someone summed it up when they stated there was nothing new about the game. Later this year there will be several new games that show alot of promise and creativity (AOC and Tabula Rasa to name two) for us seasoned MMO players. hopefully we will get a little more of that elusive tug from them.
Till then II'm back to playing the only (IMO) Innovative MMO out there: EVE Online.
Current Games: WOW, EVE Online