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Roleplaying in LOTRO
ArielBianca
Member Posts: 5
Hello -
I'm looking to get back into gaming after time away for a few years (I previously played a MUD exclusively). I love the idea of Lord of the Rings Online, but I'm curious about the extent and quality of roleplay going on in the game. I've heard word of an "unofficial" RP server, Landroval. Would someone coming from a rich, involving, and rp-enforced environment (and loved it that way), find this game unsatisfying?
Can anyone comment on the type of roleplay that goes on there - is it immersive? Are there GMs (I assume there are GMs) that encourage it? Will my experience be shattered by oocness?
I really want to play this game (it looks stunning and I'm a Tolkien fan), but I fear anything completely linear or restrictive. I want a place where I can develop a deep character and storyline (that could go on for years) -but at the same time, still have fun, mechanically, with crafting and fighting.
Whatever game I choose, I want it to be the right choice; I don't like to go back and forth. It'll be an all-or-nothing sort of thing. Any help is appreciated!
Comments
You will probably be disappointed with LotRO.
First of all there is no official RP server in the US thus you will have many people on the server that do not roleplay. There is no enforcement of RP policies thus be prepared to see many people with crazy names, chatting ooc in whatever channel they like and bunny-jumping all around the place. Things are a little better on the European Laurelin server because this is an official RP server and GMs will enforce naming rules and will make sure that the /say channel is free from random ooc talk.
Secondly, and probably a more major concern, is that LotRO - while being a good, polished and beautiful game - is completely linear: nothing what you do changes the game world in any way, nothing what you do is unique in any way. There's no way around it. Please understand me right, LotRO is a good game, however it is designed for convenience, for fast and easy leveling, for finding a new shiny reward just around the next corner - but it's not designed for immersion and involvement.
That said, it is possible to role-play in LotRO (and I do enjoy my RP in LotRO very much) but you better get your expectations right - but then, you should just download the free trial and see for yourself.
I maintain this List of Sandbox MMORPGs. Please post or send PM for corrections and suggestions.
This is insane , and sad in same time.
In europe you have RPserver - Laurelin
I can safely say , as long time mmo,mud,pnp player i never encountered more roleplay in online game.
Hands down the most RP oriented MMO server in existance
Yep, for US servers its Landroval and Rp is EVERYWHERE!
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
Agreed . everyone Rp's in this game. landroval especially.
Agreed . everyone Rp's in this game. landroval especially.
And as a side-benefit (and the usual reason I go for RP servers although I'm a very light RPer) the OOC chat in Landroval, even in Bree, is very minimal compared to other servers and the maturity level reflected in all the channels is also excellent.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
Elendilmir is also a good RP worl for LotRo. You could check out the Valacirca Alliance or my kinship:
www.gatheringoflaurelin.com.
First and most prominent big difference compared to most other MMOs with RP: Creativity. You COULD say that LotRO is a totally linear world where what you do or not do has no effect on anything game related. That holds true for the mechanics, still LotRO is about the only game with a community (at least on german RP-beleager) that's actually able to deliver a creative roleplaying community.
A community that is totally detached and independend from actual game mechanics and growing on the ground of enforced naming and /say policy. I've been playing numerous roleplaying events, storylines, dungeon runs, I've been invited to marriages, parties, bazars, you name it... Everything way above stupid game mechanics. If you don't have a table at hand, just /emote yourself to a table, like you do at a Pen and Paper session all the time.
This is the unique aspect of LotRO and what makes this - in the field of RP-compatible MMOs - so speical. So the answer is 'yea, go for it if you want to roplay in an MMO, nothing else comes close'
Meridion
Another vote for Landroval.
It's the unofficial RP server for North America, but there is plenty of RP to be had there.
I would have to agree with one of the posters above, there is easily more RP going on in this game than any other I've played.
Einherjar_LC says: WTB the true successor to UO or Asheron's Call pst!
i cant run 20m without running into a rp'r on landroval...not my cup of tea...but it makes it pretty amusing when you run by trhem and catch only a small segment of their story..and you do a little double take and say to yourself "what did they just say?"
The game is not interactive in the sense that the Gamemasters are there to make the world respond to the players.
Everything is static.
This comes with the territory of generic simpple MMOs and only a few try to give any control to the players. You just have to shrug at that.
There is plenty of bad childhoods (and people who will talk about them if you give them half the chance), dead parents/loved ones, declarations of love, and so on. It is not Neverwinter Nights or a MUD.
Just don't be offended when a cybersexer accidentally drops, what should have been a whisper, in /say
- nitefly
Perhaps in English this time. I read your post 3 times. I even tried reading it backwards... no luck. Anyone got a deciphering tool available? Perhaps that could shed some light on what nitefly was trying to get across there.
I think he resonates what a few people that dislike the game are attempting to influence.
Basically they want to create a sandbox where they can turn the tide of the war and ruin it for everyone else. It is the one chance to have an uberfest of creating Tolkiens world to what they want. No consideration for the lore, the story, or what Tolkien Enterprises holds as boundries. Most have not read the book and base their whole ideals on the coupling of a movie (lots of content not put in the movie for time considerations) with their own fantasy of how they could be allied with the Witch King and create a world beyond even what the goblins desire.
And after watching that influence of a few determine the fate of the many for MMO's, I get afraid, very afraid of what a few complaints can do. Karana Council of Guilds on EQ, Furor from EQ going to work for Blizzard and having direct impact on development.
I worry when the hardcore that master new content in a week cry about what direction the game needs to go and that MOST of the player base is still enjoying that content but it changes for a few.
I think he resonates what a few people that dislike the game are attempting to influence.
Basically they want to create a sandbox where they can turn the tide of the war and ruin it for everyone else. It is the one chance to have an uberfest of creating Tolkiens world to what they want. No consideration for the lore, the story, or what Tolkien Enterprises holds as boundries. Most have not read the book and base their whole ideals on the coupling of a movie (lots of content not put in the movie for time considerations) with their own fantasy of how they could be allied with the Witch King and create a world beyond even what the goblins desire.
And after watching that influence of a few determine the fate of the many for MMO's, I get afraid, very afraid of what a few complaints can do. Karana Council of Guilds on EQ, Furor from EQ going to work for Blizzard and having direct impact on development.
I worry when the hardcore that master new content in a week cry about what direction the game needs to go and that MOST of the player base is still enjoying that content but it changes for a few.
I wouldn't worry about that Turbine obviously has a plan of development and in any case it is steered by the limits of the franchise. Plus the vocals are those that try a game, find an aspect they dislike, bash at it, most likely they don't get exactly what they want, move on to the next one.
Well, yes, this is a video game and as such cannot be as interactive as gamemaster talking to half dozen players. That is unlikely to change unless Turbine hires about 50 000 game masters to cater to the players 24/7. Something I suspect it is unlikely to happen.
LOTRO is a frame and a background for RP, how much RP you get out of it is up to you and your friends.
Cybering is the problem in all online games but LOTRO is among cyber unfriendly places. If for no other reason you cannot strip your characters down into revealing underware and female body types certainly aren't barbie dolsl with bowling balls for breasts. That being said my personal very enjoyable experience was a group of WoW cyberers comming en masse to LOTRO and leaving en masse after a week. LOTRO RP doesn't cater to cyberers or Nietszchean uber types, too prudish for the first batch and the second group just doesn't get the buzz of being the baddest mofo around.
I second that.
I'm playing on Laurelin and most players do RP.Most players on LOTRO do RP but especially on server Laurelin.
If is someone from Laurelin add me to xfire.
If you come from "a rich, involving, and rp-enforced environment" I don't think you will find LotRO satisfying, no. There is involvement in the game and you cannot in any interact with the game world.
There are GMs, but they do not partake, nor do they enforce, initialize or encourage roleplaying. They are there to make sure nobody gets stuck, when people complain about swearing and so on.
Immersive roleplaying? It is internal roleplaying. That comes with the whole generic fantasy MMO scene, so it is not a situation that is confined to LotRO, all the other more or less identical fantasy MMOs are like this.
You can easily develop a deep character if you mean motivations, desires, dreams, hopes, ambitions, backstory and so on. Just be sure to fit it to the stasis of the game, otherwise they will never be able to come to fruition.
If you are a big Tolkien fan I would personally (me personally, not like that is a gigantic truth or something, just me saying how I feel) recommend that you do not take up this game unless you are prepared to ignore the Tolkien you have read and accept Turbine's version of Middle Earth.
For me, the breaking points are as follows (then you decide whether they mean anything to you, if not, go for the trial):
- The world is very small. The scope and grandeur of Middle Earth is for me not present due to the world being VERY small.
- There are aggressive Monsters EVERYWHERE. This is tied in to the whole effort of making the game a generic fantasy MMO with "Kill X amount of monster Y, return to Questgiver Z" or "Collect X amount of Y, return to Questgiver Z" but it also means that the journey, the exploration, and the immersion into the world of Middle Earth is for me just a tour through a Fun Fair with a whole lot of Shooting Tents.
- Healing is done by playing a drum/banjo. I kid you not. If this was morale only (a sort of alternate value apart from your health and resilience) it would make sense, but this is healing the crushing blows of dragons and trolls, not about summoning up the actual courage of fighting these things.
- You have Elves, Dwarves, and Hobbits who are not even remotely recognizable to the ones you read about. This means that Bree is brimming with these rare and special races in this Age of Man. Simple solution could have been to limit them to one per account, only accessible after doing certain things or something else. The current status makes Middle Earth indiscernable from any fantasy world in any other fantasy MMO.
- Aggressive deers, colossal spiders (and other creatures that just make me shake my head), orcs & goblins right outside settlements (but they just stand there, waiting to be killed, it is not a flowing living world where defenders fight these creatures or where the orcs/goblins once in a while attacks). The feeling of a static world is very much present everywhere you go.
This is just my opinion, other people will have other opinions.
I've just recently started to get into RP, but honestly LOTRO is absolutely great for RP. Don't listen to the people that are poo-pooing it. Nitefly has completely unrealistic expectations. Look what he's asking for- a game with no healing, a 1:1 representation of middle earth, land devoid of enemies, etc etc. Basically he wants a middle earth simulation. But LOTRO is an MMORPG, not a simulation. It's extremely faithful to Tolkien's LOTRO, at least as much as an MMO can be.
Anyway, back to the RP. LOTRO is very good for RP. What you can do is only limited by your creativity. There's a lot of cool game mechanics that support RP. Your character has a biography that you can customize with family trees and whatnot. You can get all kinds of titles and purchase a surname. There's also all different kinds of pipe weeds you can farm and smoke. One of the coolest features, which is also great for RP, is the music system. There's all kinds of instruments which you can actually play. My friend started LOTRO, and he can play the piano IRL. He picked up an instrument and within minutes was playing songs that he knew. I'm not much of a musician myself, but you can also get these things called ABC song files which are text documents that the game can read and play songs automatically. I've got all kinds of abc songs I can play.
Recently Turbine introduced the outfit system which gives you 3 different outfits to develop. One is your actual armor. Often times your true armor won't match or look very good, so you have 2 alternate outfits which you can equip whatever you want without affecting your stats. So in your true armor you may be a knight in shining armour, in outfit 1 you might dressed like a farmer, and in outfit 2 you are dressed for a long journey. They also started making cosmetic items like all kinds of different quivers, backpacks, tunics, dresses, etc. This has been a really awesome thing for RP'ers because it lets them customize their visual appearance better and more easily.
Later this month they are releasing book 13 which will include the first hobby- fishing. Just another thing for RP'ers to utilize. So yea, LOTRO is really good for RP'ing. Lots of things in the game that support RP. The game won't RP for you though. You have to make use of the community and your imagination.
~~~ Currently Playing ~~~
LOTRO- Guardian Wrymstrum & Lore-master Stabler on Nimrodel.
Conan- Zoltar <Angels of Death> Guardian on Stormrage.
I think it is very good that Wrymstrum offers his alternate opinion but I find fault with him saying that my expectations are unrealistic.
The world could easily be larger, there is no reason why Middle Earth should be this small. I'm not talking about how much is represented, of course they had to take it in pieces, that's fair enough, but where Middle Earth in the books is HUGE, in the game everything is very close together. Right now the scope is approximately 800 yards to 20 miles. Other MMOs have been able to present large worlds before (thus also putting at least a little bit of space between the hostile creatures), so this is a limitation imposed by Turbine, not the medium.
We have housing in the game, but housing is closed off in an instance so that players don't actually live in the world, thus not creating a vibrant part of the world, but a separate pseudo-dimension where people live (which could otherwise have been great for roleplaying, small settlements in the massive world run by players). Other MMOs have been able to do this before, so this is a limitation imposed by Turbine, not the medium.
The environment could react to the actions of the players. By this I mean monsters could withdraw a bit if a lot of them was killed, they could have small fortifications from time to time, the number of predators could fluctuate, quest availability could be dependent on player actions and results in the game, so that players could participate in eachother's play and see a common goal emerging, feeling part of the War of the Ring, instead of having the War of the Ring play out as a single-player instanced experience apart from the Kinship or Pick-up group. Other MMOs have been able to do this before, this is a limitation imposed by Turbine, not the medium.
Personal opinion: My expectation to newer games are getting progressively higher, I expect that they see what was before and do something else, something more, or just focus on other elements that could be explored in the MMO genre. As a consumer I personally believe that to be a reasonable request.
On the other hand, I also think that the MMO scene could have a less confrontational community if more players played more than one MMO at a time, but it is tough to change
Good luck, OP with your decision. At least this game has a Trial so you can see before you buy.
I would love for the world to be larger as you say, but I don't think it's a huge issue. Essentially what you would be doing is spreading all the content out. It would be cool for exploring, but it would also increase travel times a lot, possibly increasing tedium for a lot of players. Personally I don't think the size of the zones is a negative for lotro. They found a decent balance. Plus if you look at what they are saying about Moria, it's going to be incredibly huge. Sounds pretty awesome to me.
Housing needs to be instanced. Yes, other games have done housing on the actual landscape. That can bring problems of it's own. I had outdoor housing in AC, and honestly it wasn't all that much different from instanced housing, except that instanced housing is a lot easier for Turbine to program and the landscape doesn't become littered with houses everywhere. Outdoor housing may sound cool, but with thousands of players it would just be too much housing everywhere.
Finally I like the epic quests, and all this stuff about your actions affecting the world sounds kind of pie in the sky to me. Supposedly in the expansion there's going to be "world changing instances", whatever that means. I'm skeptical. Anyway, all your points sound like nit-picking and/or unrealistic expectations. But that's just my 2 cents.
~~~ Currently Playing ~~~
LOTRO- Guardian Wrymstrum & Lore-master Stabler on Nimrodel.
Conan- Zoltar <Angels of Death> Guardian on Stormrage.
People are crying over this time and again.
But to be realistic, look at games with large worlds, Dark and Light, Star Wars Galaxies, Vanguard... Leaving ASIDE all other aspects of these games they share a rough, generator mediated world. There ARE designed areas, but they, aside from the hot spots, are generated by an engine that was told to create "[swamp]" in a 2 mile radius around the cursor...
...Now the question is. What do you want? If you draw all your Tolkien feeling from the superlarge world, then the concept of hand-crafted, medium sized world is a bummer. If you draw your Tolkien feeling from the close-to-exact reconstruction of places, arrangements and quests, it's excellent.
May I add that I've read everything prominent from Tolkien concerning middle-earth including pieces like "the lost tales" or "a history of middle-earth - leys of beleriand" and I myself DO think the game does an incredible job at delievering Tolkien lore. As far as an MMO can go...
Meridion