Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Time for another Wow thread
thabor
Member Posts: 6
Maybe I should refrain from starting a thread with that title...I have tried to read through the other threads that compare WoW and LoTR but the ones I read do not have any substance. They are full of trolls writing nonsense...nonsense on stilts.
I've been playing MMO's for a loong time. I started out playing DIKU, CircleMUD and the likes before I moved on to Diablo then EQ1. I really haven't picked up a graphical MMO since EQ1 but have beta tested a few including Vangaard. I used to play Guild Wars (GW) but I quit before the recent GW:EN expansion was released. GW is too far removed from the origins of MMORPG for me.
I'm looking for a MMO that only requires 5-15 hours a week. I want to have fun without grinding and speeding to the max level and high areas. I don't mind grouping (or fellowing) but there needs to be PvE solo content for when I only have 1 hour to play.
I recently subscribed to the LoTR and WoW trial memberships and I am looking for someone to share their honest and objective comparison of the two games. Are there any mature and insightful opinions out there?
Comments
Hello
I think they are both easy games to pick up, and offer different gaming experiences. try the 14 day on both ang judge for yourself. If you really use the 14 day trial time wisely you should be able to experience alot in both the games and make a descion for yourself. FYI I play both now jsut for soem change.
Bliss
Both games would suit your needs quite well, just a matter of what sort of perks you want....like housing (LotRO) or Larger land masses (WOW) etc.......
One big difference, PVP is more extensive in WOW (not to my liking) whereas in LoTRO it definitely is a side game.....
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"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
Mature and insightful? One person will give a detailed description about why or why not a game is good. Someone will come along and call this person an immature moron. There is enough reviews for this game that we don't need to get into anymore of these arguments. Its obvious some people are extremely passionate about this game, and others are not. I'm willing to bet there are matureinsightful people on both sides. Finding them is the difficult part.
I played WoW for several years and have a life-time sub to LotRO.
Try them both and judge for yourself. Its your free-time.
"Don't corpse-camp that idea. Its never gonna rez"
Bladezz (The Guild)
I've only played LOTRO, so I can objectively say that it will support your gaming style.
From what I've heard about WoW, it too will support your gaming style as well.
Level cap will however greatly change the game experience, and at that point you will probably move onto another game. LOTRO's level cap gives you PvP experience in a closed battleground and raiding. At least, these are the only fully flushed out (and even then still a work in progress) level cap activities. Both of these might not lend themselves well to your play style.
I suggest you try out both games and choose which one you happen to like better.
Check out my LOTRO Blog: www.middleearthadventurer.blogspot.com
Very mature question. I've played both LOTRO and WoW. Bottom line is that I couldn't stand WoW. Superficially, the two games seem the same, but the execution is so much more different.
WoW quests (much like Vanguard quests) read like newspaper copy -- bare facts to get you where you're going. LOTRO quests read like short little stories with real character and characters. For me this difference was enough to make LOTRO quests more immersive and entertaining.
In addition, LOTRO quests give somewhat obscure directions to quest objectives in the text, whereas WoW spells out the quest objective locations and gives you a quest objective waypoint. With LOTRO, this approach involves you in the world, makes you pay attention to the landscape and geography. WoW's approach is just TOO dumb down for me.
The UI is similar across both games, but that is because WoW copied Turbine's AC2 UI, and that is the UI Turbine has implemented in LOTRO.
LOTRO now has housing. LOTRO has, after six months, over 2600 quests. I believe WoW has about 4000 quests after 3 years! LOTRO adds content at a rate that I feel is a suberb value for the dollar spent on monthly subscription.
LOTRO is very solo-friendly. You can level your character through 45+ without grouping if you prefer. I could reach level 50 in beta, but haven't yet reached that level during live (only at 27level on my main). I must admit I never reached max level in WoW. I got too bored with it way before that. But I believe it is solo-friendly as well.
Which leads me to your last point. You can easily progress on 5 hours a week. LOTRO is casual friendly. As I said, I'm only 27th level from launch in May. When I log on, I always feel as though I'm doing something interesting, fun, and progressing. As for WoW, it too is casual friendly from what I know. Only at raid level does it become not so casual. From what I've seen with LOTRO Raid design, the devs are attempting to make them more casual friendly with several 'rest' spots so you can break up a long Raid story into managable chunks of time.
As a closing note, I reactivated my EQ1 account this past weekend for nostalgia. After about two hours of puttsing around, I realized how BORING the game really is, and how far MMOs have come. As I've said to many people, LOTRO to me has all the good things I remember from EQ1, without all the pain in the ass of EQ1. Not that this reference helps you, but perhaps it does.
_____________________________
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/
I played both games from their release dates... played each for about 6 months... so here goes:
1. Graphics. LOTRO > WOW. Lotro is more realistic. great performance for the detail. WoW is 3 years old, so slightly outdated, and some don't like the more cartoony look. Personally, I liked WoW graphics because they were consistent throughout, i.e. the level of character detail matched the world detail. But have to say lotro > wow because it's just newer.
2. Character Customization. WOW > LOTRO. Both games give you skills per level. WoW has the talent trees which result in at least two different generally accepted builds per class; builds that actually affect your gameplay. Lotro has some traits, but their effect on your character is very minimal. Also in lotro, your item choices, which alter your stats, have little to do with your performance; i.e. your decisions mean next to nothing.
3. World Size and Art Direction. WOW > LOTRO. lotro is probably around 60% the size of wow, maybe less. Architecture and area tile variation is less in lotro than wow.
4. Class Variability. WOW > LOTRO. lotro really kind of weak as far as the variation of the classes. A couple of dps classes, a tank, a healer, and some cc. WoW had some really different gameplay mechanics from their 9 classes, especially when you threw in the talent-trees.
5. PvP. WoW > LOTRO. I played WoW before battlegrounds, world pvp was great as long as it didn't get too crowded. Battegrounds are ok I guess, not as good as it was before them. Even then, it's better than lotro. Lotro has a single instance where you play against instantly maxed monsters for rep to get items that are meaningless.
6. Crafting. Both suck. eq2 had some interesting crafting when it first came out, but they dumbed it down as well. Maybe a slight edge to lotro here because crafted items are the best in the game... it's just that it takes weeks of work, and it's like 0.0001% better than some dropped item, so meaningless really.
7. Quest XP. LOTRO > WOW. lotro skewed the game to where you get more xp for quests than just killing stuff. This makes everyone focus on doing the quests, so it makes grouping easier, because you max xp per unit time by grouping in lotro. In WoW, it's probably opposite. You max xp/hour by soloing.
8. Endgame Content. Both suck. WoW turned into a 4+ hour per raid game. Well, maybe they are coming off that stance a little. Lotro has only 1 or 2 high end instances. They are coming out with content every 2 months though. But they have less than WoW did early on imo.
10. Housing. lotro > wow. VERY SLIGHT lead though. WoW has zero housing. LOTRO has crappy housing. In lotro you have 'hooks' where you place certain types of furniture. Technologically, It felt like something from the last decade. They would have been better to not even have tried it than to turn that crap out. eq2, a three-year-old game, had better housing. You could place items anywhere, make your own, lots of items from quests for your house, and it was there at release.
11. Fluff factor. lotro > wow. lotro has more fluff. More emotes. You can play an instrument. You can play a chicken and do chicken quests. etc etc. Some people like that sort of thing... it did nothing for me. WoW just had some modern dance moves.
12. Change the world. Both suck. Nothing you do alters the world. neither game is a sandbox. You will enter the world, level, do stuff, increase to be the most powerful on the server, then cancel, and there will be nothing in the world to indicate that you even existed. Everything you do will be meaningless. The worlds are static and unchanging, unless the gods create a new trail somewhere.
Oh, and to the point of casual play... both are VERY EASY games. You can do something in both, at least while leveling a character, in 20 minutes plus.
I personally think they are both good games. You will be thoroughly entertained at least until you hit the level cap in both games. Really, which you prefer is going to come down to which "personalty" or "feel" you prefer more than anything, imo. Firing up WoW made me want to stab myself in the face after playing LoTRO for a few weeks, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go back now. However, that is mainly my personal perferences at work.
There are some differences in terms of mechanics, but too many for me to be willing to get into it in a single post. The first randoms things that come to mind:
LoTRO: generally looks better, better writing, better crafting (much better...it's deeper and much more useful), more side activites (housing, play an instrument, ect.)
WoW: better game engine (much more stable client, better animations, not as much of a resource hog), more and more varied classes, combat more responsive, more content generally, more PvP options
I don't want to write this, and you don't want to read it. But now it's too late for both of us.
Lotro is your game. It is extremely casual friendly. There is a lot of solo content to play. If you dont want or cant group often, then you only need a few fellows to finish the books. You dont need to do them, but you will miss the "Lord of the Rings" story. If you choose the right crafting you are able to equip yourself and trade for what you need. Lotro is not much depending on items.
WoW is more about "catching the dragon" as someone else said in another post.
In a few words you have to go 70 and raid for gear cause that's the purpose in the game.
It doesn't elaborate on questing, roleplaying.
When you ain't 70 your purpose is to level up to "get to the good stuff".
When you do you have to raid to get "all the purple stuff".
If you're into that it's the best game there is.
But you said you need casual gaming so I'd vote for LOTRO or EQ2 or VG.
If you want just PvP you can also consider Fury which is pure PvP and no grind at all ( you can even play 10 minutes a day and still progress/have fun).
What I did when I was in this situation I got Fury + LOTRO. Casual PvP + Casual story/quest driven gameplay.
WoW is a good game if you haven't played it but if u're a casual expect to be bored when you reach 70.
Since both games offer free trials, and both give you enough time to get a feel for what the game is like; you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you didn't fully utilize each of them.
I think you'd be wise to download and try out the EQ2 trial as well. It's a bit different than LoTRo and WoW, as it's a bit more of a sandbox game; but you might decide you like that style better than either LoTRo or WoW.
The hardest part of your decision will be to try out each trial fully before you commit to a single game. It will be easy to get caught up in the newness of each game as you are trying it out and think "This game is great! I don't even need to try out the other ones." Like I said, it will be hard to do... but I'd suggest trying out all 3 games (LoTRo, WoW, EQ2) devoting your entire gaming time to just one game until it's trial period runs out, then move to the next game.
After you are done with the last game then you should be able to make an informed decision on which game you think will fit your play-style the best. You may even want to keep a journal on each game as you play to keep track of pros and cons of each as you play.
Good Luck and I hope you find a MMO that you like.
Both games are nearly identical in execution and quality. They are solo friendly with grouping options and later will focus on raiding. WoW has a more developed game for characters at the max level and it isn't just a raid game despite what most think. LOTRO has a very nice system of adding content at a nice pace, but WoW does also. Edge to LOTRO though.
I would only hazzard to guess that there is more grouping in the lower levels in LOTRO, but I can't say for sure. I dropped LOTRO a ways back due to time restraints.
The real difference in my opinion is that WoW is very high fantasy compared to LOTRO being more Low Fantasy. Weapons and armor are more realistic in LOTRO and NPCs tend to be more along the lines of wolves, bandits, goblins. Lotro does a nice job of telling a whole world story and how it is effecting each little area. WoW has a multitude of storylines going on that often center around specific areas. Lond distance runner versus sprinter is how I would really compare it.
The only real choice that will affect your gameplay in either game is what class/profession you choose. One that solos well, one that is sought for groups or a balance of each. You seem to want to be able to do both depending on your time.
Either game will be good for you to be honest.
LotRO and WoW are very similar but part ways in the details. They are both easy to play, easy to walk away from and pickup again. However I prefer LotRO for several reasons. The first is story. WoW pretends to have story but always sacrifices it for ease of play or game mechanics. LotRO is story story story and more story. The second point is that in WoW, all of the cool content is in raids which as a father of 4 I don't have time for that. In LotRO you can do a lot of cool things on your own. I prefer the setting in LotRO as Blizzard sacrificed too much background logic for game balance. Another thing is that Turbine is releasing a lot of free content at a much faster pace then Blizzard is. Turbine also plans on releasing the rest of Middleearth through expansions so although LotRO's world size may be smaller now, in the end it will be bigger without having to make up odd ideas for adding land mass or opening up other dimensions. They have also promised that with Rohan will come meaningful mounted combat. I love the casual pace of LotRO and feel it's less pressuring than WoW's because as I level I unlock more story lines instead of just new abilites. This will let me enjoy the game for years to come while I got bored with WoW after 3 months.
Lotro definitely!
Anything but WoW!
Even though WoW looks casual friendly and does that even more so after the add-on added all those new options (new instances, pvp and reputation) the problem you run into with WoW is that you actually MUST use all those new options. You NEED the equipment to stay "up to date" because if you don't you will soon run totally out of things to do. The only thing you do in WoW is find ways to improve your equipment.
To do that you must gain reputation, go instances and then heroic instances and afterwards raids or arena pvp.
If you want a game like Diablo online then WoW is for you but there is a difference between WoW and Diablo and that is that in Diablo you can set your own pace. You play when you like but everytime you do play you do it to advance your character. In WoW you have to adapt your playtimes to raid- or arenaschedules.
In Lotro the advancement of the character is less obligatory. You can reach level 50 sometime and can enter the endgame instances with the equipment you got on your way to level 50. In WoW you need to stay up to date to be a viable option for a raid or heroic instance.
In Lotro you will also find more things to do besides hunting for equipment, like doing deeds to get traits (like talents in WoW), do Roleplaying (which is nearly non-existant in WoW), do crafting (which produces some sellable and usable products).
The only drawback is that you can't do real pvp like in WoW but then if that's what you like you would probably be better off waiting for Warhammer Online anyway
Hey! another man from the MUD generation, welcome.
I think youll like LOTRO. PvP is reall the only lacking part. Everything else is top notch
Torrential
Torrential: DAOC (Pendragon)
Awned: World of Warcraft (Lothar)
Torren: Warhammer Online (Praag)
Thank you to everyone who posted. The posts are informative. I only have one day left on my LoTR trial and I am very impressed. MMOs have come a long way since the text based MUDs and even EQ1.
This game feels much more like a MMORPG than Guild Wars. In GW I had to change my attributes at every outpost so I could use the 8 skills in my skill bar. You cannot change those 8 skills once you leave an outpost. Anywho....
I don't care who stole what game idea from whom or if LoTR is even original. It is a very fun game. I don't feel any pressure to level and the combat isn't too complicated. I don't know how that changes in higher levels. I'm a little nervous that the devs may run out of content if they stick strictly to the books. Also, I have heard a lot of complaints that there isn't much to do at level 50.
Also, there was too much quest information for my taste; however, I didn't need to read the entire quest log to know how to complete it. I think the devs got it right here because you get the best of both worlds: good lore if you read it and at the same time you don't need it to finish the quests. I loved the amount of quests. I felt like there was always something to do.
I'm not a big fan of Tolkein's trilogy. I got lost in the black forest as there is too much detail for me. I reread The Hobbit over the summer and I love Middle Earth. I'm very pleased with the game. Turbine deserves a pat on the back for the first 10 levels.
Some Pros:
I got the feeling pretty much any race could do well at any class
Skills are easy to use and are not overwhelming to newbies
Fun quests and great combat scheme
Another positive thing about LOTRO is that you won't have hordes of idiots spamming you with duel requests every 10 feet
There a couple things right off the bat. If your looking for a older, more casual player base, that would be LoTRO. If you looking for younger, fast paced leveling and progression go with WoW.
If your more into Item based raiding, this is WoW. LoTRO more for story of the game and fluff factor.
It really depends on your playstyle and what floats your boat. Both games are pretty polished and have good support from their developers.