I just came back after 2 months of WoW and CoH. This is my favorite. I understand it "borrowed" from other games, but weathertop, The Green Dragon, and Angmar still beat Azeroth. WoW is a good game as well, but LotRO to me, is the best.
I am perfectly willing to stand corrected on the group-vs-solo thing, but if it's true that there's a lot more group content after level 20, there is a serious problem with the overall design here.
I for one play a lot of alts when I first try an MMOG -- I want to try several classes and tradeskills that interest me before settling on one that will be my main. For this reason, I'm simply not going to make it past level 20 in the first month. Ever. So if the grouping dynamic shifts dramatically at that point, then of course I'm going to have a mistaken impression of the game as a whole.
I can understand the first 10 levels being mostly solo. I would never expect that to change. But between 10 and 20, I'd say it's time to get people used to grouping, if that's the direction the rest of the game is going to take.
I was pretty close to 20 on a couple of my characters when I left, and none of them ever felt the need to look for fellowships, other than out of curiosity. In fact, the few times I did group at those levels, it seemed to detract siginificantly from my ability to finish the dozens of solo quests cluttering my journal.
My point is, if I don't see an accurate picture of the game within the first month, how can I be expected to make an informed decision about whether to stick with it?
What I dislike is the emphasis on questing. It is stupid to have so many linked quest that require a group to complete. If no one else is on the same part as you then you are out of luck. Don't confuse what I am saying for a bias for solo play over group play. I am quite the opposite. I only enjoy grouping games but I don't need stupid linear quest, I have an imagination.
EQ 1 had it right. Grouping but without quest emphasis. You could find a group easily because everyone needed one and there wasn't some stupid linear quest line that everyone had to complete to play the game. It was fun, social, and very addictive. Somewhere down the line the games have been dumb down and are very shallow as well.
I'm actually going to echo Perception's comment, if not the hidden meaning behind it... I'd really like to know what you think about it in a month, or when you get to level 30. That seems to be a big breaking point for people. Perhaps it's just that these people are more vocal than those of us who have stuck around, but there seems to be at least a decent number of folks that have problems at that level range. That means there's something to the game, at that point, that's causing trouble. I would greatly like to see what another person who really enjoys the game sees at this point. Keep us posted OP.
Agreed, level 30 seems to be the break point for many players, including myself. I was enjoying the game fairly well, but with my Guardian at level 30 and my Minstrel at 24 I suddenly lost the will to play. I attributed it to general fantasy game burnout since I moved to EVE and continue to play after 7 months. But I'd like to hear how the game plays for the OP after a month or two.
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
I'm actually going to echo Perception's comment, if not the hidden meaning behind it... I'd really like to know what you think about it in a month, or when you get to level 30. That seems to be a big breaking point for people. Perhaps it's just that these people are more vocal than those of us who have stuck around, but there seems to be at least a decent number of folks that have problems at that level range. That means there's something to the game, at that point, that's causing trouble. I would greatly like to see what another person who really enjoys the game sees at this point. Keep us posted OP.
Agreed, level 30 seems to be the break point for many players, including myself. I was enjoying the game fairly well, but with my Guardian at level 30 and my Minstrel at 24 I suddenly lost the will to play. I attributed it to general fantasy game burnout since I moved to EVE and continue to play after 7 months. But I'd like to hear how the game plays for the OP after a month or two.
Same for me. I also reached lvl 40 - and lost all will to play. Couldnt make myself to log for 1 minute even.
Same was for my guild mates , same was for many players i knew. So i left...
Fantasy burnout!
I went , played Tabula Rasa. Played Witcher , COD4 even WOW. My guildies went to EQ2, COH.
And than one day i returned - and I am again LOVING IT! I am so glad i came back.
Slowly my guildmates started returning. And suprisingly the population is on constant grow - i kid you not!
I agree that the ppl that play are most of the time very helpful. I had a L 50 ask me to spar when I was L18 LM. He won of coarse but then he gave me 100s and said it was just for fun. I thought that was really cool cuz it's hard to pull that kind of coin at a L18. LOL
The graphics are really cool. I find myself just exploring and looking around to see what I can see.
I like to fellowship but there are times that it's nice to just be and do what i want. For me the game gives me an outlet and a place to excape the hum drum of the real world.
I started playing at the end of Dec. this is my very first mmo and so therefore it will prob. allway's be my favorite but I think I would like to try War Hammer when it comes out too. I made 3 char. from the begining with diferent crafts so that I could be more independant in that area. I have 2 elf's one is a guardian and the other is a Lore Master my last char. is a humane Lore Master. I keep all of them at around the same level. For me having different Char. has added more excitement to the game. As you can see I am in love with the game and I don't think that will change anytime soon.
Comments
I just came back after 2 months of WoW and CoH. This is my favorite. I understand it "borrowed" from other games, but weathertop, The Green Dragon, and Angmar still beat Azeroth. WoW is a good game as well, but LotRO to me, is the best.
I am perfectly willing to stand corrected on the group-vs-solo thing, but if it's true that there's a lot more group content after level 20, there is a serious problem with the overall design here.
I for one play a lot of alts when I first try an MMOG -- I want to try several classes and tradeskills that interest me before settling on one that will be my main. For this reason, I'm simply not going to make it past level 20 in the first month. Ever. So if the grouping dynamic shifts dramatically at that point, then of course I'm going to have a mistaken impression of the game as a whole.
I can understand the first 10 levels being mostly solo. I would never expect that to change. But between 10 and 20, I'd say it's time to get people used to grouping, if that's the direction the rest of the game is going to take.
I was pretty close to 20 on a couple of my characters when I left, and none of them ever felt the need to look for fellowships, other than out of curiosity. In fact, the few times I did group at those levels, it seemed to detract siginificantly from my ability to finish the dozens of solo quests cluttering my journal.
My point is, if I don't see an accurate picture of the game within the first month, how can I be expected to make an informed decision about whether to stick with it?
What I dislike is the emphasis on questing. It is stupid to have so many linked quest that require a group to complete. If no one else is on the same part as you then you are out of luck. Don't confuse what I am saying for a bias for solo play over group play. I am quite the opposite. I only enjoy grouping games but I don't need stupid linear quest, I have an imagination.
EQ 1 had it right. Grouping but without quest emphasis. You could find a group easily because everyone needed one and there wasn't some stupid linear quest line that everyone had to complete to play the game. It was fun, social, and very addictive. Somewhere down the line the games have been dumb down and are very shallow as well.
Agreed, level 30 seems to be the break point for many players, including myself. I was enjoying the game fairly well, but with my Guardian at level 30 and my Minstrel at 24 I suddenly lost the will to play. I attributed it to general fantasy game burnout since I moved to EVE and continue to play after 7 months. But I'd like to hear how the game plays for the OP after a month or two.
"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
Agreed, level 30 seems to be the break point for many players, including myself. I was enjoying the game fairly well, but with my Guardian at level 30 and my Minstrel at 24 I suddenly lost the will to play. I attributed it to general fantasy game burnout since I moved to EVE and continue to play after 7 months. But I'd like to hear how the game plays for the OP after a month or two.
Same for me. I also reached lvl 40 - and lost all will to play. Couldnt make myself to log for 1 minute even.
Same was for my guild mates , same was for many players i knew. So i left...
Fantasy burnout!
I went , played Tabula Rasa. Played Witcher , COD4 even WOW. My guildies went to EQ2, COH.
And than one day i returned - and I am again LOVING IT! I am so glad i came back.
Slowly my guildmates started returning. And suprisingly the population is on constant grow - i kid you not!
LOTRO has bright future.
I never belived it. But now i do.
You will see
I think i want to give it a go played beta and was so so . I really like the new DF style dungeon idea and ah what the hell i ll go buy it now.
well im almost lv 41 now and plan to make alts. The main reason I choose to go on is that i love being in middle earth.
Strange that you would say that, because one of the biggest complaints I've heard is that there's too much emphasis on GROUPING.
Each coin has two sides. Each decison will dissatisfy either group. It is a big problem for the game developers to evaluate.
For me, I don't mind being solo. The graphics are my favorites.
The graphics are really cool. I find myself just exploring and looking around to see what I can see.
I like to fellowship but there are times that it's nice to just be and do what i want. For me the game gives me an outlet and a place to excape the hum drum of the real world.
I started playing at the end of Dec. this is my very first mmo and so therefore it will prob. allway's be my favorite but I think I would like to try War Hammer when it comes out too. I made 3 char. from the begining with diferent crafts so that I could be more independant in that area. I have 2 elf's one is a guardian and the other is a Lore Master my last char. is a humane Lore Master. I keep all of them at around the same level. For me having different Char. has added more excitement to the game. As you can see I am in love with the game and I don't think that will change anytime soon.