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Returning to LOTRO..but wondering: can this game last?
meltphaces
Member Posts: 23
I played this game for a while before and enjoyed it but eventually moved on due to lack of an end game and lack of variety in the game. Now i'm returning for a while if not for long-term. However.. i'm concerned that this game suffers from slow development and is hindered by the hardcore Tolkien fans who simultaneously keep the game in business but also hinder progress by being sticklers to the lore. Don't get me wrong i'm a fan of the books too and don't want to see this become another WoW clone and full of kids..but look at it realistically for a moment:
Any development/expansion/addition to the game will be met with opposition and scrutiny as to whether or not its within the lore .. I honestly don't know if the game will be able to last years under those terms like a EQ, DAOC or WoW can because it can never really evolve too far.. for example:
-a maximum of 4 playable races, forever. Don't say monster play cause thats really just an illusion and at the end of the day you're still one of those 4 races, and not everyone does it.
-nothing magical can ever be added to the game, nor can any classes be added like a traditional MMO Wizard DPS class, due to lore
-no interaction with any of the iconic, memorable characters unless it's part something that already happened in the books/movies, in which case its predictable.
-A forseeable ending to the game when they exhaust the worthwhile book content and eventually have to let players raid Mordor and see Sauron defeated.
How long do you honestly think it can go on for? I think they are deliberately taking their sweet time on developing the game due to these reasons.. I quit right after the month of the Burglar and it doesn't look like much was added since. I do have hopes though, the game definitely has potential. I think every player needs to acknowledge something though; only one of these two things can happen with this game in the future:
1) Eventually the lore will have to be bent slightly or interpreted differently to add new content/classes/races/zones.. or
2) The game will die and be a ghost-town like so many others have, and even the hardcore lifetime subscribing Tolkien fans will be moonlighting in other MMO's, if you aren't already..
That's all really..just some ramblings from a returned player, concerned but hopeful for the future. Sorry if it all came out negative but i'm short on sleep at the moment.
Comments
Im also considering playing this game and I think you have raised several logical questions that I would like to see the responses
"after the time of dice came the day of mice "
I don't think it will be a ghost town...there have been alot of new people hoping on lately, buying up lifetime subs and everything. I mean sheesh people still play EQ and UO. EQ still has expansions coming out and Turbine has the rights through like 2014 with options for 2017. A dev said that they might even continue things passed the destroying of the ring and into the 4th Age, in which there is a bunch of stuff they would be able to do.
I'm not sure which book update was the Month of the Burglar, but they have added a bunch of stuff in just a year. They've got to be one of the best developers for delivering content. Gotta give them a bunch of kudos.
This isn't and will never be and hardcore/raiding game, but pretty much the whole expansion is for level 50 players so there will be planty to do. And if you are hardcore you will be spending a BUNCH of time trying to level your legendary items to the max.
50 levels x 6 items x 9 legacies x all gold x 3 of the highest level relics...dang thats a big timesink. A timesink that sounds like alot of fun.
******************************
Brandywine Global LFF chan "/joinchannel glff"
To be honest, I think the LotRO devs release content far quicker than many other dev teams. When they do it, it's quality content too. I see nothing wrong with sticking to the lore until they can't possibly do it anymore.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
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I`ve played LoTRo since day 1, and i can tell you that this game does not suffer from slow developement, we`ve had two new big areas, with hundreds of quests, and with MoM out this autumn, there`s certainly no danger of running out of things to do.
Lots of people in-game, lots of people buying life-time subs. Turbine are promising one big update every year, and i think they will deliver. two new character classes due too.
The lore and story, and potential game world of LoTRo is huge, this game will be here for years to come, theres no danger in that.
I`ve played lots of mmo`s, and i can tell you, LoTRo is up there with the best.
Plater
Thx for the views
I will be trying this game in the next 3-4 weeks
Later
"after the time of dice came the day of mice "
Well I sure don't call adding 3 (fixing to be 4 with book 14) new zones. Housing (Another 3 zones for housing) and a hobbie system along with a pass on balance for every class. That is what 5 books additions with content and all for free.
Thats almost the equivelent of a WoW expansion and blizzard makes you pay extra for that expansion. Thats just the free stuff Turbine has added to Lotro. Now take the new expansion coming out in afew months and that makes for one heck of alot of content being added to the game in a short amount of time.
And its worth mentioning that LOTRO is only $9.99 to buy the game right now on the main page. Though it is a limited time offer and it will soon be going back upto the $19.99 price.
I actually think the restictions of the IP is forcing Turbine to be creative and come with new interesting content isntead of just adding another raid with a huge flaming deamon that drops flaming uber loot... and coming up with new races like, human with a lizard head or a human with tiger head, or human with bird head...
Just look at the new system om Legendary items coming in Mines of Moria, fits perfectly with the lore and seems like an awesome thing (on paper atleast)....
The way they are going to use seesion play and the new battlefield intances are other things that Turbine are coming up with to make the game more interesting without just adding bigger baddder bosses and better loot!
There will never be a Mage class, or flying mounts or world PvP...
because then the game will really become a ghost town and not even the lifetimers ar gonna play it!
Read about whats coming in the expansion and I think you will change your mind...
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
I think the restrictions of the of the IP are forcing Turbine to create a believable and cohesive world.
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.
I hear this all the time... that somehow the Lore is holding this game back. That is totally untrue. Turbine did a fantastic job balancing the story and making it a MMORPG. The basic formulae, so far, for the mmos is... you need a Tank, DPS, CC, and Heals. Mission accomplished as far as I can see. If this game didn't have any healers cc or mage type skills, then I could see your point. But it has got those...
You have Loremasters that are doing everything an enchanter/wizard/mage (pets) hybrid would do in any other game. Furthermore I think it is great there isn't some cookie cutter wizard class that is pure dps. All of the classes have alot of depth and play styles and each class has multiple roles to fill of the basic MMO roles (tank cc dps heals).
They are also adding 2 new classes with the next expansion. One called a rune caster that... /gasp uses a form of magic. (or however they are going rationalize it. Reading magic runes I guess.) I am interested to see what they do with the class, and why they feel they need another "mage" class besides the loremaster, and what the differences are between the two.
They have ALOT of content to chew through still from the books. This game will be around a LONG time before some Kinship drops the One Ring into the lava at Mordor. And who knows if that will be the end? I think it would be kinda cool to end the game that way. They can release the new holographic, or virtual reality direct brain plug in version when LOTRO finally ends in 2017
Now eventually some company somewhere will release a better game with better graphics and gameplay. It hasn't happened yet. It's the best game out there and the best looking game out there IMO, and I have tried them all. (check out my screenshots on my profile for some LOTRO awesomeness).
I can see what you mean and that lore could be more of a bad thing than good. But Turbine just like those dudes making Lotr conquest have lincense to the books this means they can change a certain ending and let sauron win then they game could be completly different and instead of being a postman in the shire you will have to defend it. What ever is green and good in this world will be gone, their will be no shire, personnaly i would love to see this happen. < Story,
Now magic class yes you can't be a wizard as they are far to powerfull but they could still make a weaker elemtalist that controls the powers of the elements not magic, though it plays the same as pretty much any other mage class.
I think when it comes to the battles they sould try to make to scale as close as possible (and say the instance is open once every month and the whole servers join the same fight but you don't play as your character instead a rohan archer for example. This probaly won't happen but could you imagine the scale? battlem of helms deep over 10000 npc evil people vs the whole servers united on the walls (the people are a 10 levels behind the npcs to make the battle harder or it could be to easy. I hope they can make the battles huge and not kick of ladders like the movie games.
LotrO and Lotr:Conquest dont use the same license, Conquest use the movie license which give them alot more freedom to change the lore... Turbine would never do what EA (or whoever does conquest) are doing.. Im sure Conquest will be a fun game but it will have very little do do with the books written by Tolkien, it will only use the names and characters from it and then do a game...
And by the way.. The Shire gets invaded in th books and after the ring is destoyed the hobbits go back there to free the Shire from Saruman... so 10 years from now or something maybe we will go back to the Shire and help them
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
I just returned to it and re-realized how ridiculously boring its combat is.
Coming back to lotro from AoC.... I swing my weapons here and usually don't even hear a Hit sound effect... Just swing my axes and hear SWOOSH and thats it.... its so dang... boring.... especially after the satisfying cleaving gore of AoC.
I wish I could combine the two games. Cause AoC has nothing else beyond that.
To respond to the OP.
How will they manage to come up with new content? Well, hopefully, they will use their imaginations, raid the books for ideas, and deliver an experience unlike other MMOs.
Yes, EQ, WoW etc all use Magic and lots of races, but where does it say that is how a fantasy MMO HAS to be? When designers set themselves rules and boundaries (such as sticking to the lore) it should force them to begin thinking in new directions, and deliver exciting new content, rather than as you appear to be suggesting, fall back on the "old tried and tested" MMO fair.
I'm not worried it will die out or go nowhere, they have years and years worth of material to mine from, just in the 3 main LOTR books, not to mention the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, the Lost Tales and many more books Tolkien wrote. Plus, if you read the books (any of them) he hints at hundreds of other lands, countries, places, people, and history. Enough for a lifetime of expansions and content.
So, should we be worried? Not in the slightest. Hell, we're heading to expansion 1, and they are only as far as the Mines of Moria!! Thats not even into the second novel yet! At that rate they can continue to expand (at 1 box per year) for the next 4- 6 years at least, which takes them into the current length of EQ1.
"When people don't know much about something, they tend to fill in the blanks the way they want them to be filled in. They are almost always disappointed." - Will Wright
I agree, or even like Guild Wars. Check out this video to hear the sounds. So MUCH effect of spells casting, swords clanging, grunts, hits..
Guild Wars Combat
Compared to
LOTRO
With the Dwarf shout out doing most other sounds.
As well, I like the latest editions of GW (Nightfall and EoTN) where music kicks in to combat with. The fanfare and upbeat pace of backing music is incredible. EQ2 also recently added this feature. Situational music is awesome.
Hopefully MoM will add some of these extra goodies.
Try turning the sound to software sound. I don't seem to see a problem with the in-combat sound. Maybe i am not paying a bunch of attention to it though. But I know this has been a problem for others and that helped.
******************************
Brandywine Global LFF chan "/joinchannel glff"
I agree, or even like Guild Wars. Check out this video to hear the sounds. So MUCH effect of spells casting, swords clanging, grunts, hits..
Guild Wars Combat
Compared to
LOTRO
With the Dwarf shout out doing most other sounds.
As well, I like the latest editions of GW (Nightfall and EoTN) where music kicks in to combat with. The fanfare and upbeat pace of backing music is incredible. EQ2 also recently added this feature. Situational music is awesome.
Hopefully MoM will add some of these extra goodies.
I never understood what the hell is the big deal with animations, either way it is going to be the same animations and you will get bored with it. What LotRO does best is makes you involved in the story and feel like you are in the world of Middle Earth. That is the gem of this title, that is what they are focusing and should be focusing. Who needs sound effects, I turn off my sound to listen to my music anyway and I know I'm not alone on that.
They do a great job adding content to the game and staying within the bonds of the lore. They have tons of room to add content and Middle Earth is huge more than most think. Outside the bonds of the movies of coarse and mostly that is what people think. I urge you to pick up a Middle Earth Guide if you want to know how huge the world really is and the lore behind it.
I can only see good things coming, in fact they tweak and add to raid/group instances for the better. Proof of this is they are adding a new system so that re-doing epic quests to help people will always award them as well, this is will really help out with the lack of players going through that content. The devs do listen and watch and they do a great job keeping things on par with what is needed.
LotrO and Lotr:Conquest dont use the same license, Conquest use the movie license which give them alot more freedom to change the lore... Turbine would never do what EA (or whoever does conquest) are doing.. Im sure Conquest will be a fun game but it will have very little do do with the books written by Tollien, it will only use the names and characters from it and then do a game...
And by the way.. The Shire gets invaded in th books and after the ring is destoyed the hobbits go back there to free the Shire from Saruman... so 10 years from now or something maybe we will go back to the Shire and help them
I know the shire gets invaded but thats by the ruffians and saruman, these arn't really a threat considering hobbits alone defended themselves i was hopeing for an all out war expanding the whole of middle earth when we do get to Mordor hopefully the game won't finish. Anyway mordor will be in quite a few years so hopefully we will have a lot more combat stuff to do (rumours that mounted combat will arrive with Rohan).
I think the problem is that you are being a bit impatient and are concerned because you feel that your issues with the game are shared by all.
But the fact is that there is a die hard group of players who enjoy the game the way it is and also enjoy the development which has been quite a lot.
Remember, there is a lot of Middle Earth out there and it only makes sense to fill it all up when it is ready. The game will "die" just like any other game dies. That is the nature of it. However, because of its strong IP, you will have players who will be there until the end. I am really not worried about the game.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I agree, or even like Guild Wars. Check out this video to hear the sounds. So MUCH effect of spells casting, swords clanging, grunts, hits..
Guild Wars Combat
Compared to
LOTRO
With the Dwarf shout out doing most other sounds.
As well, I like the latest editions of GW (Nightfall and EoTN) where music kicks in to combat with. The fanfare and upbeat pace of backing music is incredible. EQ2 also recently added this feature. Situational music is awesome.
Hopefully MoM will add some of these extra goodies.
I think its a valid concern.. the combat in LotrO can seem abit dull compared to some other games, but I find it good enough... what I like is that its not just button mashing like many other games, it have a more rytmical feel to it (hard to explain)
just wanted to add that there is situational music in the game but maybe its limited to the Ettenmoors.. there is an amazing track with War-pipes that trigger when you are attacking... It really brings an epic feel to the battle!
Openedge1 this is how you should critise games, nice to see you could do it
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
I agree 100%! They have done a fantastic job with balancing content and lore. I am a life time member if that tells you how much I like the game over the past year. With that in mind though I love PVP which I feel the lore allows more PVP then what we have. I wish they would add more or different ways to PVP then PVM. I think the Lore allows for more zones and different types of pvp. Anyway just a suggestion. I play the game 20 ish hours a week but would probably play more if there were more ways to pvp them PVM.
Anthony
I agree that guild wars has better combat, but were not talking about the same category of game here. Gw doesnt have huge areas, extensive lore, crafting lots of leveling. It focused on very developped skills system, very unique professions.
If you could mix mmos to make a perfect one I'd say take the lotro lore/ landscape, slap the guild wars combat system, AOC graphics, ryzom's crafting system and you'd get what all mmorpgs try to be.
I'm not a no life that sits in front of his computer all day long, I'm an intern that sits in front of his computer all day long.
I actually prefer LOTROs graphics to AoC, the art is much much better. In AoC there were a couple nice scenes but almost every time there was some messed up low res texture that ruined it all. Check out some of the AoC screenshots on this site and you'll see what I mean. There will be be some wall or door or something that looks like total crap, wrecking the view.
I agree about the combat, it's one of the most negative things about this game, or maybe it's because i played a Captain.
Minstrel is also an issue. The heal/low damage factor makes killing a mob solo sleepy town (could just hit heal/hit and watch a movie at the same time). Captain is just like a Paladin in respect to it's light heal/combat feel.
But, this is pretty much the standard for all games. Wonder when some MMO company will step up and change this Tank/Heal/Spank mechanic.
Guild Wars definitely changes that up a bit now, but does not have the full MMO feel.
Maybe Guild Wars 2 will be a step in the right direction. Fast combat, short battles and a persistent world. Woot!