Downloading Trial...some questions

Johnhost · May 2008

Ah yes, another trial question thread.

I too like many who seem to find their way to LOTRO played Everquest 1 & 2 for years. I must say that overall my experience has been positive. But I think I am a bit bored with Norrath and thought I would spin my wheels in Middle Earth for a change.

My main questions are:

Are there any dragons to fight/raid (I don't mean drakes either)? I really enjoy killing a huge powerful dragon.
Is it possible to enjoy the game without doing the quests?
What would you say are the top features of the game itself?
I am going to playing pretty casual, is it too late to enjoy the game as it was from release?
What kind of mounts are there?
I enjoy collecting things in an RPG, are there awesome items, weapons, armor, house items, etc to collect and show off?

EQ2 is a fun game, but because of their rubbish graphics engine I have bad performance often times. I am hoping LOTRO is newer and the engine more polished.

Thanks

FikusOfAhazi · May 2008

Originally posted by Johnhost

Ah yes, another trial question thread.
I too like many who seem to find their way to LOTRO played Everquest 1 & 2 for years. I must say that overall my experience has been positive. But I think I am a bit bored with Norrath and thought I would spin my wheels in Middle Earth for a change.
My main questions are:

Are there any dragons to fight/raid (I don't mean drakes either)? I really enjoy killing a huge powerful dragon. Ya i think so.
Is it possible to enjoy the game without doing the quests? I hardly "do" quests. I take them all then do all my deeds and traits and crafting...end up finishing quests along the way. Rest xp and killing mobs is the way to level IMO. I was level 30 when I left lonelands for North downs...questers usually hit north downs around 23-25.
What would you say are the top features of the game itself? dont have to reach level cap before you can have fun. The game is fun all the way through.
I am going to playing pretty casual, is it too late to enjoy the game as it was from release? Its 10x's better now than at release.
What kind of mounts are there? horses
I enjoy collecting things in an RPG, are there awesome items, weapons, armor, house items, etc to collect and show off? yes on all. Just added fishing, now you can take your rare fish to the taxidermist and then put it up in your house.

EQ2 is a fun game, but because of their rubbish graphics engine I have bad performance often times. I am hoping LOTRO is newer and the engine more polished. LOTRO runs much better IMO
Thanks

hope that helps, anything more specific ya wanna know just ask.

Larsa · May 2008

Originally posted by Johnhost

...
My main questions are:

Are there any dragons to fight/raid (I don't mean drakes either)? I really enjoy killing a huge powerful dragon.
Is it possible to enjoy the game without doing the quests?
What would you say are the top features of the game itself?
I am going to playing pretty casual, is it too late to enjoy the game as it was from release?
What kind of mounts are there?
I enjoy collecting things in an RPG, are there awesome items, weapons, armor, house items, etc to collect and show off?

...

Dragons - no, no real dragons in LotRO cause Frodo, Aragaon and the lads didn't fight dragons in the books either. Plenty of drakes though. However, there are other huge things you can fight.

Not doing quests - no, the game is the quests. Some quests (notably the class quests) you will have to do unless you want to gimp your character. A number of quests (the epic ones) are the best content of the game. The majority of the quests you can do or not, but remember that quests are the prime source of XP in LotRO.

Top feature of the game - Good Middle Earth immersion, polish, good graphic, plenty of content (areas, quests, raids, solo-content as well as group-content), very casual friendly, very solo-friendly, very easy game.

Casual game play - no problem at all, the game is hyper casual-friendly all the way to level 50. Note however that obtaining the best high-end items requires some effort. You will not be able to deck-out your character in all the best shiny things when you don't group up for high-end content. Not directed at you but there is currently some whining on the official boards from solo-ers and so-called casuals that they can't get the best gear during an easy half an hour walk in the park.

Mounts - Horses. Currently there are 8 different horses (different skins) in game that players can acquire. One of them very difficult to get, 3 of them reasonably difficult, 4 of them easy to get. Small races (dwarf, hobbit) get the same mount as Pony.

Collecting things - Possible, there are somewhat rare items in the game. But to show off? Nah, all items that you might find have been found 10.000 times already since launch.

Shangala · May 2008

Dragons - no, no real dragons in LotRO cause Frodo, Aragaon and the lads didn't fight dragons in the books either. Plenty of drakes though.

What's the difference between drakes and dragons?

FikusOfAhazi · May 2008

Originally posted by Shangala

Dragons - no, no real dragons in LotRO cause Frodo, Aragaon and the lads didn't fight dragons in the books either. Plenty of drakes though.

What's the difference between drakes and dragons?

Dragons fly? I dunno. They also use lore from the book " the hobbit"..so its possible that there "could" be a dragon in game even though the lads didnt fight any in the lotr books. However. I am no expert in middle earth lore so I could be very, very wrong.

Larsa · May 2008

Originally posted by Shangala

...
What's the difference between drakes and dragons?

I always thought Dragons have wings and can fly and drakes don't, but then I'm not really sure, hehe.

Anyway, my post that you quoted was wrong anyway, brainfade on my part - of course there is a dragon in the game.

lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Monster:Thorog

FikusOfAhazi · May 2008

Originally posted by Larsa

Originally posted by Shangala

...
What's the difference between drakes and dragons?

I always thought Dragons have wings and can fly and drakes don't, but then I'm not really sure, hehe.

Anyway, my post that you quoted was wrong anyway, brainfade on my part - of course there is a dragon in the game.

lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Monster:Thorog

i thought there was a dragon

Can I ask you what you mean by lotro being a very easy game? Not that Im saying you're wrong, I just like to see what people's definitions of easy and hard are in mmo's..if you have time that is. Just curious, thats all. Thanks.

Larsa · May 2008

Originally posted by FikusOfAhazi
Can I ask you what you mean by lotro being a very easy game? Not that Im saying you're wrong, I just like to see what people's definitions of easy and hard are in mmo's..if you have time that is. Just curious, thats all. Thanks.

Well, my definition of easy in this case would be that it's next to impossible to make any errors - and if you do so it hardly matters anyway. Here are a few examples of what I consider easy-mode for combat situations:

1. No real death penalty. You only loose a few silver and a few minutes time to go back to the mob that just killed you.

2. You cannot fail a quests. Just repeat the quest until you've done it.

3. Any class can comfortably defeat any normal mob, up to a mob a few levels above you.

4. Rather narrow aggro range reduces chance of adds.

5. Player characters can out-run almost every mob.

6. Find yourself in a tight spot with mobs all around you? No problem, just teleport out.

7. For most fellowship quests a full fellowship is hugely overpowered and can just steamroll the mobs without any risk of failure.

FikusOfAhazi · May 2008

Originally posted by Larsa

Originally posted by FikusOfAhazi
Can I ask you what you mean by lotro being a very easy game? Not that Im saying you're wrong, I just like to see what people's definitions of easy and hard are in mmo's..if you have time that is. Just curious, thats all. Thanks.

Well, my definition of easy in this case would be that it's next to impossible to make any errors - and if you do so it hardly matters anyway. Here are a few examples of what I consider easy-mode for combat situations:

1. No real death penalty. You only loose a few silver and a few minutes time to go back to the mob that just killed you.

2. You cannot fail a quests. Just repeat the quest until you've done it.

3. Any class can comfortably defeat any normal mob, up to a mob a few levels above you.

4. Rather narrow aggro range reduces chance of adds.

5. Player characters can out-run almost every mob.

6. Find yourself in a tight spot with mobs all around you? No problem, just teleport out.

7. For most fellowship quests a full fellowship is hugely overpowered and can just steamroll the mobs without any risk of failure.

Thank you. It would be interesting (to me) if you put a "compared to" whatever game after each of those so I could get a better understanding, but I wont ask you to do that. Those are all valid opinions. Thanks again.

Sovrath · May 2008

Originally posted by Larsa

Originally posted by FikusOfAhazi
Can I ask you what you mean by lotro being a very easy game? Not that Im saying you're wrong, I just like to see what people's definitions of easy and hard are in mmo's..if you have time that is. Just curious, thats all. Thanks.

Well, my definition of easy in this case would be that it's next to impossible to make any errors - and if you do so it hardly matters anyway. Here are a few examples of what I consider easy-mode for combat situations:

1. No real death penalty. You only loose a few silver and a few minutes time to go back to the mob that just killed you.

2. You cannot fail a quests. Just repeat the quest until you've done it.

3. Any class can comfortably defeat any normal mob, up to a mob a few levels above you.

4. Rather narrow aggro range reduces chance of adds.

5. Player characters can out-run almost every mob.

6. Find yourself in a tight spot with mobs all around you? No problem, just teleport out.

7. For most fellowship quests a full fellowship is hugely overpowered and can just steamroll the mobs without any risk of failure.

I have to agree with most of this but don't recall any teleport?

I have to say I really love the game. I was in closed beta, when to open but ran into some issues because most of the quests I had were fellowship quests. Took a break, came back and I like the game much better now.

Drakes don't fly. I think there is a large drake. To the op, I think you need to realize that this game can be similar to WoW but it's not like wow. so there really aren't a lot of raids and though there is "better gear" you can make due without it just fine. It is an easy game but if you like quest based games (I think you said you didn't?) and story lines then this game is fun.

As far as grinding... well, you "could" grind but it just seems to be a waste as you are bypassing any content. Having said that, I had decided to explore Goblin Town and in my explorations I noticed I made 25% xp toward lvl 50. So it is possible.

Jaxom92 · May 2008

To answer OP's questions:

Are there any dragons to fight/raid (I don't mean drakes either)? I really enjoy killing a huge powerful dragon.

There is only one official dragon in the game, and it's not really alive. It can be fought though, however it's in a raid, so it'll be some time before you get there, and very casual players don't usually participate in raiding anyhow.

The lore for the time this game is set in dictates there's probably not an actual living dragon left in Middle-Earth. The last known dragon, Smaug, was killed by Bard in the Hobbit, which is prior to the setting of LOTRO.

That said, there are two other classifications of dragon kind in this game: worms and drakes. Worms are ground dwelling creatures, usually normal mobs that spit fire at you on occasion. Drakes seem to have the greatest variation within the game. There are strictly ground dwelling drakes, generally elites. There are also more challenging quests and instances in which you come across flying drakes - namely in Angmar, which is high level content. For all intents and purposes, fighting these flying drakes is close enough to fighting a dragon. My personal experience was that these things are quite massive, and if they were only drakes, I'd hate to ever come across a live, breathing, and fully functional full-fledged dragon.

Is it possible to enjoy the game without doing the quests?

I would say not for an extended period of time. One of the weaknesses of MMOs in general is the difficulty of putting in a story. Turbine endevored to remedy this situation, but it created an effect where the game is very, very quest centric. For me, that's fine. I love doing quests. For others, that's not necessarily their thing, so they don't enjoy the game as much.

I highly recommend taking the time to read the quest text. It's very well written, and from what I've heard, top in the MMO genre. There has been numerous testimony that folks got bored when they didn't read the quests and just started grinding them, but when they took the time to read the quests, they felt a much greater connection to the game and world. They enjoyed their time much better.

That said, there are things to do in the game that isn't questing, however quests is the primary way of getting xp. Strictly grinding xp from mobs will be very slow to level your character. The other activities are aquiring deeds, which basically rewards grinding beyond xp, crafting, and hobbies (only fishing in the game so far for hobbies). Otherwise, you're looking at questing.

What would you say are the top features of the game itself?

I'm a big fan of quests and story, so that is probably my favorite part of the game, however, the quality of the world is up there as well. Each part of the world is hand crafted with great care and doens't seem just plopped in for the sake of getting content out. The graphics are beautiful and really help pull the player into the world. So, quests and graphics. Both immersion type features for me.

I am going to playing pretty casual, is it too late to enjoy the game as it was from release?

Absolutely not. People in this game have serious cases of alt-itis and so you'll see a good spread of levels, even a year after release. That said, the lower level areas will be noticeably less populated than other areas. Once you get to Bree, you should be fine. Don't agonize over not completing fellowship quests, and even though the epic storyline in the starter zones does have a fellowship rated section, you can go back once you've leveled above the quest and finish it solo if you absolutely cannot find a fellowship to complete it. I'd highly recommend going through the epic storyline.

What kind of mounts are there?

Just horses, with various skins. You have to be level 35 to aquire a horse, though you might see folks after 25 have a horse - that was a special promotion to people who had lifetime subscriptions in December 2007. I had to wait to level 35 for my horse and it wasn't a big deal.

I enjoy collecting things in an RPG, are there awesome items, weapons, armor, house items, etc to collect and show off?

There are definitely things to collect. The value of which is of course determined by you. If you think it's something nice, keep it. The best way to do this is store it in your bank vault or house. However, showing off collected items isn't as advanced. You can decorate your house, and there are trophies you can get stuffed for killing various animials. Sometimes you'll get a drop that can be taken to a taxidermist and you can put that in your house.

The other way is to wear the gear you feel is special. Now, you can actually wear it for the stats, or you can put it on as a cosmetic outfit. My character has one set of gear which is his stat gear and a whole 'nother set that is his cosmetic gear, which I think looks better than the stat gear.

I'm not sure this is exactly what you want though. There has been hints to expanding the collection aspect by adding in items and functions, but it's not really fully flushed out yet. The absolutely uber items that are the rarest come from raiding or high levels in PvMP in the Ettenmoors. Not exactly casual friendly, but not super hard-core either.

I hope that answers your questions well enough and I hope you enjoy the game.

Johnhost · May 2008

Ok so I played it, played through Archet (whatever it's called) town starter quests. Here are my thoughts.

Graphics - The outdoor environments are very well done. The world is very nice, the place looks geographically real and has so many touches to make it seem real. Indoors and in towns the blocky graphics of the buildings are not so nice.
- Character graphics are really poor. The faces look painted on, the outfits look so also. It's very low poly.
- The UI feels like a EA hack 'n slash Lord of the Rings game mixed with a WoW interface. It didn't impress.
- Keyboard movement is frustrating with the little bounce they put in when you turn. Again it feels like a mouse only driven hack 'n slash controls, not really smooth.
- The spell/action icons are poorly done
- The animations seem almost non-existent. What animation there was is not that good.
Combat - Not much to say, I only got a small taste, but it seems like your basic button mash. I didn't find any strategy by level 6 to mash in any order...just hit buttons until everything dies. The large auto-attack button again makes me feel like it's mouse driven hack 'n slash.
Quests - I guess EQ2 spoiled me too much. I was used to full blown voiced quests, this was a quick hail and a wall of text. The world felt very wooden, like if the graphics weren't immersion breaking enough the lack of voices (especially in a tutorial/Newbie zone) was too much.
Story - Obliviously they try and bring you into the story, but like watching a clip of a film for 2 minutes, you don't really get into the story. Again everything felt staged and boring. (don't know about later on in the game)
Help - I hit the help button once and it took me the LOTRO website, not to the help section, just the main page...it wasn't helpful.
ETC - Only horses for mounts? Boring. Fishing sounds nice, but who doesn't have it? No swimming underwater, no underwater zones? Boring.

My conclusion then is this. This game is PERFECT for someone (any age really) who loves the LOTR video games released so far. Moving from the EA hack 'n slash games into this game will be a natural transition (once they get used to the MMO controls). The game has a fairly linear path to take, the graphics are about the same as other LOTR games and the UI is similar as well.

For someone coming from Everquest 2 or games like Oblivion this is going to be a let down. The freedom of Norrath and Cyrodiil are lost with Middle Earth. Not only can you not be evil, but lack of choice abounds.

I think if your new to MMO's or a huge fan of the LOTR lore, you will enjoy this game for awhile. If you don't mind older blocky graphics, you will like the basic gameplay. There is nothing new, just third hand-me-downs mechanics from EQ1 which released in 1999, and their character graphics are about the same (actually I think EQ1 characters are better looking).

If you don't care much for LOTR lore but don't mind low poly graphics, go with WoW.

FikusOfAhazi · May 2008

Now that's how you BS my friends.

Charlizd · May 2008

Originally posted by Johnhost

Ok so I played it, played through Archet (whatever it's called) town starter quests. Here are my thoughts.

Graphics - The outdoor environments are very well done. The world is very nice, the place looks geographically real and has so many touches to make it seem real. Indoors and in towns the blocky graphics of the buildings are not so nice.

Character graphics are really poor. The faces look painted on, the outfits look so also. It's very low poly.
The UI feels like a EA hack 'n slash Lord of the Rings game mixed with a WoW interface. It didn't impress.
Keyboard movement is frustrating with the little bounce they put in when you turn. Again it feels like a mouse only driven hack 'n slash controls, not really smooth.
The spell/action icons are poorly done
The animations seem almost non-existent. What animation there was is not that good.

Combat - Not much to say, I only got a small taste, but it seems like your basic button mash. I didn't find any strategy by level 6 to mash in any order...just hit buttons until everything dies. The large auto-attack button again makes me feel like it's mouse driven hack 'n slash.
Quests - I guess EQ2 spoiled me too much. I was used to full blown voiced quests, this was a quick hail and a wall of text. The world felt very wooden, like if the graphics weren't immersion breaking enough the lack of voices (especially in a tutorial/Newbie zone) was too much.
Story - Obliviously they try and bring you into the story, but like watching a clip of a film for 2 minutes, you don't really get into the story. Again everything felt staged and boring. (don't know about later on in the game)
Help - I hit the help button once and it took me the LOTRO website, not to the help section, just the main page...it wasn't helpful.
ETC - Only horses for mounts? Boring. Fishing sounds nice, but who doesn't have it? No swimming underwater, no underwater zones? Boring.

My conclusion then is this. This game is PERFECT for someone (any age really) who loves the LOTR video games released so far. Moving from the EA hack 'n slash games into this game will be a natural transition (once they get used to the MMO controls). The game has a fairly linear path to take, the graphics are about the same as other LOTR games and the UI is similar as well.
For someone coming from Everquest 2 or games like Oblivion this is going to be a let down. The freedom of Norrath and Cyrodiil are lost with Middle Earth. Not only can you not be evil, but lack of choice abounds.
I think if your new to MMO's or a huge fan of the LOTR lore, you will enjoy this game for awhile. If you don't mind older blocky graphics, you will like the basic gameplay. There is nothing new, just third hand-me-downs mechanics from EQ1 which released in 1999, and their character graphics are about the same (actually I think EQ1 characters are better looking).
If you don't care much for LOTR lore but don't mind low poly graphics, go with WoW.

Well you know what i was gonna say you give some good points but guess what sorry the only good POINT i seen you make was that the World was very well done, i guess every has there own opinon but some of the things you said here are just plain Wrong the only 1 i will point out on is the Oblivion Remark seriously dude how on earth can you use that game as a comparison? 1 it is not an MMO and 2 it total different class of Medieval Fantasy the others i wont bother with because obviously you dont know enough of the Lore to know why some things are not there, oh and you played through archet? i like people who can make a review on the overall game by playing through the Tutorial heh.

Sovrath · May 2008

Originally posted by Johnhost

Ok so I played it, played through Archet (whatever it's called) town starter quests. Here are my thoughts.

Graphics - The outdoor environments are very well done. The world is very nice, the place looks geographically real and has so many touches to make it seem real. Indoors and in towns the blocky graphics of the buildings are not so nice.

Character graphics are really poor. The faces look painted on, the outfits look so also. It's very low poly.
The UI feels like a EA hack 'n slash Lord of the Rings game mixed with a WoW interface. It didn't impress.
Keyboard movement is frustrating with the little bounce they put in when you turn. Again it feels like a mouse only driven hack 'n slash controls, not really smooth.
The spell/action icons are poorly done
The animations seem almost non-existent. What animation there was is not that good.

Combat - Not much to say, I only got a small taste, but it seems like your basic button mash. I didn't find any strategy by level 6 to mash in any order...just hit buttons until everything dies. The large auto-attack button again makes me feel like it's mouse driven hack 'n slash.
Quests - I guess EQ2 spoiled me too much. I was used to full blown voiced quests, this was a quick hail and a wall of text. The world felt very wooden, like if the graphics weren't immersion breaking enough the lack of voices (especially in a tutorial/Newbie zone) was too much.
Story - Obliviously they try and bring you into the story, but like watching a clip of a film for 2 minutes, you don't really get into the story. Again everything felt staged and boring. (don't know about later on in the game)
Help - I hit the help button once and it took me the LOTRO website, not to the help section, just the main page...it wasn't helpful.
ETC - Only horses for mounts? Boring. Fishing sounds nice, but who doesn't have it? No swimming underwater, no underwater zones? Boring.

My conclusion then is this. This game is PERFECT for someone (any age really) who loves the LOTR video games released so far. Moving from the EA hack 'n slash games into this game will be a natural transition (once they get used to the MMO controls). The game has a fairly linear path to take, the graphics are about the same as other LOTR games and the UI is similar as well.
For someone coming from Everquest 2 or games like Oblivion this is going to be a let down. The freedom of Norrath and Cyrodiil are lost with Middle Earth. Not only can you not be evil, but lack of choice abounds.
I think if your new to MMO's or a huge fan of the LOTR lore, you will enjoy this game for awhile. If you don't mind older blocky graphics, you will like the basic gameplay. There is nothing new, just third hand-me-downs mechanics from EQ1 which released in 1999, and their character graphics are about the same (actually I think EQ1 characters are better looking).
If you don't care much for LOTR lore but don't mind low poly graphics, go with WoW.

Well, some of that is accurate, some opinion.

If you are running the game at top graphics then I have to say that they are arguably the best. Perhaps Conan might rival. I don't know of one fantasy game that has comparable graphics.

I'm not realy sure about the characters being low poly but they are a bit stiff and the hair is horrible at times

combat, you need to wait until you get higher. you may or may not like it but at your lvl you didn't even touch upon the combat, especially in groups.

Quests.. sorry, I know this is going to sound an insult and I do apologize, but EQ 2 quests are trash. The trite harry potterish cutsey characters and their overboard (but apt) acting is enough to sweeten any morning coffee. I actually play the quests in LOTRO. In EQ2 I had to stop doing them because they were so boring and grating. My opinion but there it is.

Yes the story is linnear but so are books. There is a story and it's very good as compared to other mmos. Of course if you can't stand story driven mmo's then there it is.

Oh yeah, the interface is "ok" but not great. I don't agree with your assessment comparing it to the EA games which feel like console games.

I see you are an EQII fan. the games are different but I find EQII trite as I've said above and the land is brown and the characters look like they are clay. I think that is a trade off with "realistic" games in order to try to obtain realism but still add enough artistry to cover up the fact that truly realistic graphics are a long way to come in mmo's. Having said that the lighting effects in EQII are comparable to LOTRO. (or vice versa)

I'm afraid I find your post suspect however. you mention not being evil, no other mounts but horses. These are common complaints of many people and have been known for a long time. There are numerous threads about this. I sometimes think they are people who aren't interested in middle earth so much as some generic fantasy world (EQII, WoW, Vanguard). Lotro is far more sublime than any of these games.

It just seems that you are tainted by high fantasy glasses and don't really understand the world that is middle earth. Or at least not sensitive to the fact that it actually stems from less fantastical (as compared to today's games and fantasy stories) sources. It's one of the earliest contemporary fantasy worlds. Granted many don't like the game because of this. No fantastical settings, flying carpets, over the top spell effects, etc.

But if you don't like it you don't like it. Unless you plan to play to a higher lvl to experience how the game develops it could be time to move on. Good Luck.

edit: sorry I'm back, I'm still reeling that you feel EQ II is a better game overall (at least that's what I' m getting.) It just goes to show you how people differ in taste as I just couldn't' abide that game.

edit 2: ok I'm loading up EQII again because I need to look at it again through different eyes. It just seemed like such ... well, "not my taste". Now I have to really look at it and see if I was "right" because when I came from EQII (and I've played a lot of Oblivion and years of Morrowind - it's what got me to try online games in the first place) I felt that LOTRO was a vast breath of fresh air in comparison (well. not to oblivion which I liked very much and still play).

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