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Arguments to prefer LOTRO over WOW
Denweisel
Member Posts: 17
I need some arguments that prefer LOTRO over WOW. This isn't debate to convince which game is better in your opinion, i just need some good points in LOTRO to convince friend of mine to agree this opinion.
Thanks for advance.
Comments
I believe there is a free trial. Why not have him play and decide for himself?
It's got about 1/4 of the content? Who wants to get bogged down doing quests and raids...
R.I.P. City of Heroes and my 17 characters there
It depends on what kind of game you want... LotrOs basics are pretty simillar to WoWs but if you want a relaxed, mature game that focus on story instead of phat lewt then maybe LotrO is for you. LotrO is more like a RPG than WoW in my opinion.
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd
LOTRO = Baldurs Gate
WOW = Super Mario rpg
I'm doubt you will get any arguments other than flame war in thread like this , i'm too loong on this forums.
LOTRO actually has a good story. You feel like you're actually part of a cause. In WoW you just don't get that vibe, you're just another person.
The world is a lot more real in LotRO. Still stylized, but not cartoony. Beyond pure looks, though, it just feels more alive and more believable. Zones flow together in a way that's natural. Grass ripples by moonlight. Flocks of birds will occasionally fly overhead. Weather effects make WoW's look like amateur hour. There are also focus points everywhere that tease you off the main path. The game constantly plays off your curiosity by showing you some ruin or other point of interest that teases you into finally checking out.
LotRO is a journey, where WoW is a destination. By this I mean that WoW is all about getting you to max level, where the game totally changes. Everything before that is really just fluff to teach you how to play your character. In LotRO, the Epic quest line goes far to make you feel a lot more involved in the world and make each region more meaningful. There's more content than a single character can do, so you focus on what interests you the most. But you really want to focus on the moment, rather than on getting to the end as quick as possible. After all, there's still years of content left to come out as the game moves toward Gondor and ultimately Moria.
Character customization as you play is also a major improvement over WoW. In WoW you get a new talent point at each level and spend it on one of three trees. It's very linear, and the system begs players to create or follow "flavor of the month" builds. Character customization is really a copycat system. LotRO rewards you for doing things. The deeds system pretty much guarantees that few players will have exactly the same build; especially before level 60. Then there are also the two Outfits that you get at level 20, which help you look how you want to look rather than being stuck with whatever hodgepodge gives you the best stats. And once you reach 45, the Legendary System is just amazing. Odds are good that no two legendary items will ever be exactly the same.
Of course, LotRO has housing and WoW doesn't. It's not terribly meaningful, but it's there and helps you feel more connected to the world. Plus the kinship housing is great for bringing guilds together outside of raids.
And yes, the community is a whole lot different in LotRO than in WoW. Much easier to find helpful and friendly people. More intelligent chat channels.
Ultimately, I think WoW feels a lot like Disneyland. Mercilessly streamlined fun, all exactly the same as everyone else's, packaged and marketed until you want to scream. It anticipates every need you have before you even knew you had it, and doesn't make you really work for anything. (At least until end game.) LotRO is more like taking the family to Yellowstone. You can sign up for all the nature hikes, bus tours, etc. Or you can just get out and explore what might be around the next corner.
need i say more?
"Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know." William Saroyan
Best post yet :P
What? With each post you make, it just seems like you are here to toos out baseless things just to knock the game. It may very well have 1/4 the content, but its also 1/4 its age. Logic much? It also is updated more frequently with new content, zones and whole features more frequently than any other MMO, FOR FREE.
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"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
Wow was fun like 3 years ago.
But now? LoTRO > WoW any day of the week.
Regarding amount of content in LotRO vs. WoW:
It's important to keep a couple things in mind.
All of this is very much in keeping with the difference in philosophy between the two games. In WoW, it's all about getting you to max level as quickly as possible. Earlier levels are basically just to teach you how to play your character. In LotRO, the idea is to give you a very interesting world with lots to do throughout the game. It may not have as much to do at max level, but if anything it takes you longer to get to that point. The whole journey is more fulfilling.
LotRO has some unique classes, ways to alter your character into a more general or specific role. Varied landscape and internal areas. Graphics are a no contest. Content is added at all levels. And most of all... your friends haven't played the crap out of it yet
I loved my time in WoW but its a game, only CoX has managed to stay my go to game between MMOs for more than 2 years. LotRO is my go to fantasy MMO though.
Lotro has no pink haired deathknight gnomes and paladins on motor cycles to lure younger people. Nuff said )
Graphics dont make the game guys, and lets be real LOTRO has some major flaws, most of the time it is spent solo, no real reason to group.
http://helpourfuture.blogspot.com/
save our future.
I spent a whole lot more time solo in WoW than I do in LotRO. The only reason to group in WoW is to do a dungeon (which almost nobody does anymore until Northrend) or to raid. I have several level 80 characters at this point, and every one of them got there completely solo.
In LotRO, it is possible to go to max level solo. But in doing so you'll miss a lot of major content such as the epic quest line. There are a major number of other quests that need full groups as well. For example, all the quests into the Great Barrow -- a really fun dungeon for people in their 20's. Or the Retake Weathertop instance. Or the non-instanced group quests in SW and NE Lone Lands. Or the end of the quest line for the rangers just north of Bree that ends in an instance with three elites that you need to take on all at once.
Levels 1-15 have no need to solo. From that point on, the game adds a lot more small group and full group content.
This is not a flaw. In fact, it's a plus because it means that people can play the game how they want to play it. Someone who wants to solo can. Someone who wants groups can easily find them. And since this discussion is basically about the merits of LotRO vs. WoW you simply can't with a straight face say "LotRO has no reason for grouping". Not when compared to the other one.
No, LotRO isn't perfect. It's also not for everyone. But then, neither is any other game I've ever played -- including WoW.
Lotro used to be great to play because it was laid-back and not gear-based. Unfortunately that is no longer the case past lvl 50. The worst part is the extreme randomness of the drops. Furthermore crafting has been completely abandoned with the recent patches. However, if you get you friend to start playing Lotro now, you might have him up to max level a few months from now when they fix the problems. (or make them worse, who knows)
Both games are stupidly easy. Whether you need to hit the same skill over and over to win a fight (WoW) or alternate between 2 skills is largely academic. Both games are made for idiots in terms of solo combat. Or rather, they are made for an audience that doesnt really want to fight, but rather read some website while auto-attack finishes the fight.
But, the big difference is in the endgame. LotRO has a small number of (now, it wasnt that way for 4 months) difficult and complex instances, and is generally about single groups, with one 12-man raid. WoW has a larger number of utterly simplistic "get loot fast" instances and raids, which allow for more people, but really are just a continuation of the "auto-win" concept.
I guess if you like being fed rewards and successes without actually having to do much, or be skilled, WoW is the better game.
That's a personal choice in how YOU want to play the game, and your statement is by no means fact.
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"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
I don't understand this gear complaint. It's very easy to get gear good enough to run every piece of content in the game *except* the Watcher fight. The crafted gear is not the best, but it is Good Enough. If people want to obsess about getting the perfect 2nd Age weapon with perfect Legacies, that's their problem. I've got a 3rd Age that's Good Enough, and if something better drops then great - but I don't *need* it, and you don't either. This obsession about gear, which has been getting worse, has not been good for LOTRO or MMOs in general. And it's a self-inflicted disease!
I don't understand this gear complaint. It's very easy to get gear good enough to run every piece of content in the game *except* the Watcher fight. The crafted gear is not the best, but it is Good Enough. If people want to obsess about getting the perfect 2nd Age weapon with perfect Legacies, that's their problem. I've got a 3rd Age that's Good Enough, and if something better drops then great - but I don't *need* it, and you don't either. This obsession about gear, which has been getting worse, has not been good for LOTRO or MMOs in general. And it's a self-inflicted disease!
I don't ether, i think he is confusing his personal taste, or choice, with reality of implementation.
The crafting is viable at all levels in this game. Its very nicely balanced with loot drops. Once exception is Raid dropped gear, that's only really necessary, if you raid.
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
I don't see in any way how you see LOTRO as a gear based game I have a level 60 who is still wearing some lvl 50-60 gear and am doing just fine as I gather the mats that I need to have my metalsmith craft the rest of my level 60 suit right now I have level 60 leggings and chest now I don't do much raiding and instancing at all but I've done enough to discount this gear based theory of yours.
And another said something about the crafting which with the craft guilds is still some of the best crafting in game to this day I am still gearing all of my toons at every level with crafted items which are almost always superior to drops of the same level.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
The crafting system is actually a valid argument against the whole idea that LotRO is all about soloing. The crafting system actually encourages teamwork, and especially kinship participation. Here's why I say this:
If you are a solo player trying to get by completely self-reliantly then crafting will have minimal benefit to you. By the time you get your skill up to where you can make a particular crafted, you will usually be a few levels above its requirements. So you'll sometime be able to make gear that replaces an item which you haven't been lucky enough to phase out through quest rewards or loot drops. But there's virtually no way that you'll ever be able to make a crit item which you can actually make use of. You also won't make much money off crafted items because the master craftsmen are able to make better stuff for each level than you can. For the pure solo player, crafting becomes a money sink with little reward. Much like WoW, in fact.
On the other hand, if you're part of a good kinship you will find that higher level players are often more than happy to craft stuff for you. These high level players will have achieved mastery in each crafting tier and accumulated a bunch of one-shot recipes that are just burning to be used. If you've been keeping an eye out you will probably have come across a few great recipes for stuff that you can use as well -- you just need a crafter to make it for you. Most of these kin crafters don't even care about profit. All they ask is that you provide them with the necessary ingredients, which are pretty easy to get. They'll then use their far superior crafting tools and crafting journals to drastically increase the crit chance, equipping you with gear that frankly blows the doors off most anything you can get through quests or drops. This is radically different from WoW because with the exception of only a few recipes in each profession even the best crafters will still only be able to create average gear for lowbies.
And yes, the crafting system is even viable at end game. For almost all end game content, crafted gear can hold its own against what you get out of raids. The only exception is the Watcher, which requires massive amounts of radiance. This means that active kinships can use their crafters to get their fellows ready for all but the hardest raid in the game. They don't have to run and re-run tier 1 dungeons to get everyone in that gear so that they can then run and re-run tier 2 dungeons so that they can then move on to tier 3 and so forth. They CAN play it this way, just using raids to get gear for people. But that's not their only option. Again, it's a clear difference from WoW.
For anyone with the slightest interest in crafting, LotRO is the clear winner when compared to WoW. I never played SWG, so I don't know anything about the old "amazing" crafting system they had that I always hear about. But out of the many, many games that I have played the one with the best crafting system is LotRO.
I agree that the LOTRO crafting is far superior to WOW but i think the game with the most fun crafting system,of the games ive played, is EQ2. Every item made is a mini game of sorts.
And a very tedious pain in the ass too.
But yes, EQ2 had some detailed crafting. Vanguard's was even better, IMO. LoTRO's is balanced just right.