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Game was in deep poo-doo from the start
bortiis
Member Posts: 16
I played WoW, and when I got into this, I thought "this is the WoW-killer!"
How wrong I was! LOLZ. I went back to WoW and that game was still dying and so I bailed on that crap too.
LOTRO shot itself in the balls from the beginning, here is why:
1) LOTR franchise is huge due to Peter Jackson movies. Instead of finally being able to be in a 3D interactive LOTR world to "play out your dreams" from watching the movies, or more importantly, from having read the books you are treated to the sobering reality:
-No Gondor
-No Rohan
-No Mordor!
Instead, you can either be a hobbit, an elf in some elf-land you never friggin' heard (Edhelion? wtf) of which happens to be right next door to the Shire (lol), or a Human from the village of Bree (not a city stop calling it that, read the books).
Samwise Gangee always wanted to see the elves....according to LOTRO all he had to do is walk few miles to Edhelion! WTF. Bullsh**t.
"Visit the White City! Climb the infamous stairs of Cirith Ungol! Behold the Black Gates! Fight on the walls of Helms Deep! Explores the mysteries of Moria!" ----all very familiar, tantalizing stuff...you want to do these things?
NOT IN THIS F'ING GAME! Sorry, none of these places have even been rendered, in many areas, you just run into a invisible wall with randomly-generated terrain behind it.
The Developers have admitted that they made up alot of the areas and towns in the game to "fill" the world.
Why the hell do that? Why not just create the known stuff ppl want to go to or be a part of. They spend alot of re-writing LOTR lore instead of actually rendering the ACTUAL, extremely detailed, beloved lore in the game itself. The LOTR lore is ***TABOO*** but this game is not based on J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, it's based on "Turbine's Lord of the Rings".
Instead, we are told "Oh, well that will all probably come out in the expansion" which translates to "we are greedy and dont have any sense on how to make a good mmorpg that lasts long and this is the only way we know how, to try and keep you in, cuz everything else sucks."
They have meddled with the highly respected, deeply appreciated LOTR and it's revered lore. This is why there are alot less people in the game than were expected.
Think Trestlebridge was an interesting place with a good backstory? NOT IN THE BOOK, they made the s**t up! lolz.
The game engine is clunky, it doesn't have a smooth feel regardless of settings but plenty has been said on the forums about the graphics engine already lol. some of the classes are utterly useless. the game is solo-friendly for just the first few levels, then its grind grind grind. the game actually championed itself for not doing things like WoW but then started making changes to make it more like WoW.
Bottom line, this game is "Bullsh**t". There isn't a better word to describe it. It "sucks", "blows", "bites", nah it's just plain "Bulls**t."
In fact, there should be an episode of "Penn & Teller's Bulls**t" dedicated just to this game.
Comments
all those places will be in the game just not at launch they have already added on about 20% more area from launch and soon we will be able to go across the misties into rohan gondor mordor. and that elf place you never heard of must have been mentioned about 100 times if you would have read the books peter jackson did not create middle earth he directed the movies.
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Hate to bust your balls, OP, but Pen & Teller hate Lord of the Rings, so they'd probably laugh at you QQ'ing anyway.
And besides, the game is wicked fun.
And for future referrence, any time you start a criticism with LOLZ! as an entire sentence, you throw out any credibility.
In response to the rest of what you said, I will just repost what I said about that:
"Oh, well that will all probably come out in the expansion" which translates to "we are greedy and dont have any sense on how to make a good mmorpg that lasts long and this is the only way we know how, to try and keep you in, cuz everything else sucks."
"Just not at launch" -
lol exactly and this is the game isn't as big as it was expected to be, Turbine really butchered it.
Imagine WoW :
"The Horde will be playable in the expansion sometime in the future"
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the op is out of there mind, i bet if they did make lotro like the books and people had to go frikking miles like in the books you would complain about everything being to far away, as do a lot of people say of vanguard, its too big (which i enjoy btw)
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playing eq2 and two worlds
there is nothing wrong with stuff being far away, you know, there are these animals call "horses".
I think you all know it , and so saying it to you clearly will be the last thing I say here and then I'll just say "WORD", so here it goes:
LOTRO was flawed from the start. It will suffer its demise before any of the "Gondor/Mordor/Rohan/etc." content is ever released. Proof is that the release of this content is still up in the air even today, it's just "expected". Your expectations will be realized as delusional when you see the game fall like a rock, just like AC2, before the stuff people really want to do/play as in the game comes out. People will have moved on to other, better stuff by that time if by chance it even comes. You know. You gnash your teeth about it. Word. To your mother.
Thank god you don't work for this website or any other game review site OP. It's not that we don't care about your opinion of the game either. Everyone's opinion matters. It is the way that you presented that opinion, and without weighing the negatives and the positives of the game - you just seemed to go ranting on how messed up it was.
So here's my review of LotRO:
Storyline - This game has arguably one of the best lores in any MMO i've ever seen. The quests are rich and meaningful, the characters are full of life, and the world seems to fit in every place. --- 4.5/5.0
Graphics - If you have a machine that is capable of DX10, this game looks absolutely amazing. It's graphics compare to no other MMO on the market as far as I'm concerned. If you don't have the system to play this game at maximum specs it should be a motivation to build one. It's a totally different gaming experience on max graphics. --- 5.0/5.0
Gameplay - The game play was sort of addicting, I've played as a champion my whole time in LotRO and never had a problem having fun with it. As far as end-game content is concerned though, it is a bit lacking. Once I hit 50 I was on a quest to farm gear like mad. I ended up getting into the most prestigious raiding kinship on the server, and getting all my gear. Then I went to PvP (or PvMP as turbine calls it) and was happy for the first week or so, until I realized there was no real incentive to PvP. It was boring as well after that, and while I did manage to achieve rank 6 on my champion, it felt more of a job then an actual entertainment issue. I would compare PvP on LotRO (Brandywine Server) to the Civil War where people stood in lines and shot each other, and nothing more. Gankfests included. --- 3.5/5.0
Community - Believe it or not this MMO's community is quite welcoming. There are people almost always asking others if they need help on OOC. The forums on lotro.com's website is bustling with players adding information about their builds, quests, and player run events. The few problems that I did experience with players in this game was handled very well by the GM's and other turbine staff members, in a timely manner. --- 4.0/5.0
Controls - Nothing much different here than from WoW. The same 1,2,3,4 - skill bar system. Conjuctions add some change, but as far as camera angles...movement...and skill use it's crisp and clean. --- 4.0/5.0
Sound - Although nothing out of this world, the sound quality of LotRO can definately be determined as of the professional sort. The music scores are extremely well done, and the sound effects can add much depth to the gameplay. The only downfall I see to this is that some of the Ettenmoors(PvP Zone) music can get a bit annoying at times. LotRO also offers Voice-enabled chat which comes in extremely handy, and works relatively well - it gets the job done. --- 4.0/5.0
Overall - This game hits it's marks and revitalizes Turbine's reputation in the MMO industry. While some things might of not been too well thought out at launch, and end-game content is still lacking (mostly due in part to it being in it's infancy), this game is still an enjoyable experience. Tolkien fan or not.
______________________
Founder of Blind Gnome Entertainment
www.blindgnome.com
Turbine has stated that new areas WILL come and the work on these areas has already been started. These will come in most likely bought expansion packs.
It's safe to assume that any MMO developer wouldn't want to include the entirety of Tolkien's world from the very start. Turbine hit the nail on the head by working on sections and has since perfected them. New areas will come, and when they do you can expect them to be as beautiful as the rest of the game content.
______________________
Founder of Blind Gnome Entertainment
www.blindgnome.com
in a nutshell, i think I speak for everyone here when i say tot he OP. if you don't like the game?? dont pay for it and play it! you said your piece, now move on. thats right, the door is that way, its open ready for you to leave and have fun no one will stop you. <waves good bye>
3.4ghz Phenom II X4 965, 8GB PC12800 DDR3 GSKILL, EVGA 560GTX 2GB OC, 640GB HD SATA II, BFG 1000WATT PSU. MSI NF980-G65 TRI-SLI MOBO.
How far into the game did the OP play? Does he have a max level character? Has he seen everything the game has to offer? Was EQ released as is how about UO, or WoW, or DAOC, CoH, Guild Wars, or did they add content on over the years? Hmm.. I'll leave it at that.
I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say. I thought it was safe to assume that since no other MMO has successfully tried making all NPC's in games living things that try and PvP with you and the what not that it would be overlooked. I simply meant that the character NPC's in the game seemed to have depth, a since of personality for the most part. Some very detailed in story.So characters standing around...calling "Woe is me..." is your idea of characters "full of life"? All the Hobbits standing by their doors...just standing there...are full of life? Better check you other games first...
Addendum : Note-Landscapes only: The models look weird and run weird, animations are less than satisfactory and quite stiff//..and some computer systems still exhibit hitching issues in various locations...
The models look great, most mobs look rather splendid in cases. Shadow and lighting effects as well as smooth rendering blends in great. It is extremely important that you do not try to play this game on the minimum requirements if at all possible. Glitching will occur, and the graphics will look very, very bad. Other then that, I play on Maximum graphics and never have glitch problems at all.
The game does also get boring around level 30 for a lot of players, and some end up leaving...Also...issues with the UI as it does not scale well for larger displays. Turbines solution was to implement a system that enlarges the current graphics, which makes them look pixellated, and messy.
Turbine has been working on this to fill in some of the middle levels with quests, instances, and new skills for the classes. As far as the UI goes, I run a Sceptre 22' monitor @ 1680 x 1050 and the game still looks absolutely amazing, so I'm not sure the problem your having here. Again, running a poor system with this game will not render good graphics, and will often glitch.
But, then there is support...outsourced, and full of canned answers to any technical question...and if the question could not be answered, your computer was blamed, as it could never be an issue on their end..
I was not talking about their Technical Support, only the community that has formed around this game. As far as the Technical Support is concerned. My account was stolen back in December, made a 5 minute phone call, and my account was back in my hands. As far as any other Technical incidents I have none. Their in-game help is great, though often taking close to an hour to get an answer from a GM sometimes can cause problems.
Nothing to say...actually...the 1-0 buttons worked, it has WASD...awesome
No Response.
Totally hit or miss...some area's...great music...voice overs were stupid, and then some areas sound would all but disappear, and Great Barrows still has sections that cause delay of effects...like it was falling behind...
Voice overs were stupid? please explain. I thought the music scores were great. Personal opinion of course. Great Barrows and Old Forest seem to be the buggiest parts of the game, always have been. They have made many changes to fix this, but so far none have passed as being satisfactory.
Reputation? They did need a fix...as that reputation consisted of DDO and AC2...and we ALL know well those games did or are doing (dismal)
Luckily...LOTRO is a better game than their other titles...so, that is something for Turbine...
But, I just wanted to make sure that people are able to see all of the varying points of the game, and how different people feel...reason I think the OP does at least have his right to say his mind,,,
It seems like most of your problems ended up being technical problems and you were given bad support. Although we all wish that our games were bug free, no game is. I would seriously look at your build (not hating, just saying) and make sure the settings are appropriate for the game. This includes out of game settings.
Good luck finding your next game OP..I did, and I am quite pleased ...ok..PLEASED BEYOND BELIEF!
Later
______________________
Founder of Blind Gnome Entertainment
www.blindgnome.com
During release, it was the 2nd largest thread on the forums, and even the Dev's blew it off...
This is one of several reason I do not have confidence in Turbine...
Iit was also not my build, but many different builds, different users, different parts...and this is sad especially when EQ2 and Vanguard run better than LOTRO did...there is an issue. I can throw a list of games with no issues....except LOTRO...
But, it has been noted older hardware runs the game better...so a lot of people perceive the game as quite stable...
But, so many other issues exists as well...with a crappy UI, boring gameplay...and more..I just wanted to make sure that it is understood...not everyone had a great experience, and just like the OP...we feel the game will not live that long..
But, I am glad you enjoy it...and good luck down the road
Later
Im runnning brand new hardware, vista and all.
You're talking from beta experience is what it seems, which yes. The game was buggy and lacked many things.
If you haven't tried it recently you should give it another shot, it has come leaps and bounds.
______________________
Founder of Blind Gnome Entertainment
www.blindgnome.com
I was dissapointed with the general lack of features and general WoW style gameplay.
If I wanted to play WoW, I would play WoW, and not its clones.
For the most part every MMORPG is a clone of each other, or a clone of the original NwN (gold box), UO, EQ. I don't know that any MMORPG has yet to catch my eye as genre redefining. They all are created from the same general mold.
Fetch this for me, kill that for me, collect item X, and advancing the storyline is just more of the same.. fetch this from the boss for me, kill the boss for me, collect bosses armor/weapon/accessory, and now that you've done that you get to move on to the next zone and advance the story.....