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Free Trial, my thoughts
Xiaoki
Member EpicPosts: 4,050
Playing the free trial and just wanted to share a few things.
The ads around this site about the anniversary event got me to check out the free trial. So, I tried to sign up and found out the sign up website doesnt work with Firefox even after I made the proper allowances to NoScript.
Ok, then I download the downloader and start downloading the game(which is 10GB). When I get to 99% I find that it wont download anymore. So, I try the game and I can play. However, a vital quest to continue the newbie quest line must have been in that 1%.
So, I uninstall LotRO and download the full game(a second time) minus their downloader program. Having to download the game twice I missed out on 2 days on the 10 day trial, biggie but very annoying.
Now I can play the full game with full graphics. I turn all graphics options up as high they will go. The only snag is to play with the highest texture resolution I have to download it first. Screw that.
- The graphics are mixed bags within mixed bags. The graphics are very good, dont misunderstand but glaring flaws keep popping up. The texture mapping while good on many things is downright awful on just as many. The Level of Detail pop up need to die. Textures pop up on half of things(so half a hill looks good and the other half is crap), huge objects like 50' tall boulders will suddenly appear and the trees' transition from 2-D object to 3-D is terrible.
- The armor looks special. And by special I mean horrible. I know you can change the colors so you dont look quite so horrible but instead of dyes they should have just had a customization thing so you change each piece once for free.
- The spell effects I cant really make a firm comment on, Im only level 19 so havent seen a lot of spells and such but what I have seen has been underwhelming.
- The shadows and the water look really nice, though I think thats because of Direct X10.
- Which reminds me of another odd problem. Direct X10 is Vista only but LotRO(a DX10 compatible game) had problems with Windows Vista Aero.
The animation can only be described as ....goofy. Fighting, running, walking, everything has this sort of mild exageration to it that makes it look ....goofy.
One thing that did stand out is the animation on clothes, its very good. Perhaps the best clothes animation Ive seen in an MMO.
The music is nice but havent really noticed it. Only seen one person doing pipe songs and he was doing pop songs. I partied with a Captain and even though he was nice and really helped me with some Elites I wanted him to go away ASAP because of his screaming. Dear God what the hell was Turbine thinking?
The gameplay seems pretty standard so far, I saw the Fellowship Ability pop up once(with the Captain) but couldnt use it because I was healing. I did enjoy the special party abilities in FF11 and EQ2.
I chose a Rune Keeper and I like how it plays. Grinding mobs for Deeds and Traits doesnt seem so bad when you like how you grind.
Couple questions:
I know I cant acces the mailbox on a trial account but can I talk in the general channels like /LFF? Ive tried getting into some groups but no one answers me. Not being able to send people tells is stupid. The reason it gave me wasnt trial account either it was some crap about being Friends first or something.
How much group content is there? Im almost level 20 and Ive only had to group once, we did a few quests to take out some single Elites for quests but thats it. I know LotRO has dungeon instances but how often are they run? I dont want to have to solo another 20 levels to have the privledge of playing with other people.
How is the economy? I havent had need to check out the Auction House so I havent but how are things? Other MMOs have good low level stuff at such outrageous prices that only people gearing out an alt can buy them. I would like get a few pieces of armor to replace the crap I have and some dyes to make it look non-ugly but I dont want to pay every silver for 2 things.
Yeah, it sounds like I have nothing but bad things to say but I am having fun. I am on the fence about actually subscribing and the monthly fee is $10 right now so its a good time but I also dont want to pay and find out that once you get to level 21 the game is awful. I like to group up with people. I dont mind lots of soloing but it gets boring after a while.
Comments
The only comment is that the 2d transition to 3d is done for an artistic effect. If you notice, they look like a mixture between a Maxfield Parish painting and some sort of impressionist painting. I've always liked the effect.
To add, there is group content. Quite a bit. I actually stop my sub because at one point there was too much group content for my tastes.
A good part of the main storyline is group.
However, whether you can get a pick up group for them is another thing. I woudl suggest joining a good fellowship.
I suppose the economy is fine. I have never had any problem finding low level gear if I was trying out an alt (though I never stick with them).
The nice thing is that you don't need great gear to play this game. So if you just go with what you get from quests, you can easily play.
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
Good descripton of the look, it does look like a painting (the lanscape).
And I have to agree with the OP, the armor is pretty awful.
Anyway, just to chime in, I really thought the first 20 levels or so were a lot of fun, and the next 20 levels (as far as I've gotten) were a drag.
However, since you've apparenly made 19 levels in 8 days (And it too me like a month and a half to get that far) and you like grinding, you very well might like the rest of the game a lot more than me though.
I don't think you can send tells or have a friend's list with a free trial. The only friend in the game I actually made was a free trial, but I couldn't friend him. (And then he quit).
You should be able to talk to the LFF channel, but it's pretty common for players to just ignore it. People in this game are very very quiet on public channels.
R.I.P. City of Heroes and my 17 characters there
I think a good part of the cause of that is from a lot of people still packed in Moria. Whenever I'm in there, talking is usually going on 24/7. Though it has been a while since the expansion came out, I'm sure people are still raiding in Moria and checking out Lothlorien and such; which is why I've had no trouble finding groups and radiance gear runs.
What is your rig specs for your PC. I use an ATI 4850 and have never had those texture issues.
I've seen you make this assertion across several posts. First the game really starts to shine at level 20 and beyond. Second I have NEVER ever had to grind in any area to level. There is an abundance of both solo and group content. I am an extremely casual player and was able to achieve level 20 in just under two weeks.
You are most definitely doing something wrong if you find yourself grinding mobs to level in LoTRO
Cheers
A month and a half to level to 20? Really? Ok, none of my business how much you play, but don't give the impression LoTRO is hard to level. It isn't. After going through the content once, I can level an alt from 1-10 in 2 hours. Granted it slows down obviously, but still..... And there are SO many quests, you can't do them all before you outlevel them.
To the OP: A trial account has limited chat options and no AH access. Its an effort to limit goldspammers. It works. You have to be grouped with someone, or have them on your friends list to talk to them. I gave in long before the trial was over, and just subscribed. Found a really nice kinship ( guild). It is pretty easy to find one, and most will help their members with group quests without asking you to sell your soul to them ( a problem I find with guilds in most MMOs).
I love the way this game looks. I find the vistas amazing, and I can live with the animations, although armor really is ugly, agreed. But I disagree about your accessment of the music. The score is epic, maybe you just haven't traveled enough to notice. Each area has its own mood music. There was a moment in Evendim where I heard a haunting female voice floating on the air, and had to turn up my sound to listen to her siren-like melody. Mood- music is definitely something LoTRO does right, even if it is a marginalized feature for games.
In conclusion, I hope you keep at it, give it as good go. I didn't like it the first time I tried it either , around launch, but now I am totally addicted.
I like love the game but Turbine needs to get rid of it's community managers. They have been caught so many times playing favorites and banning people who simply disagree with them it is insane. It would be one thing if they banned folks for trolling harassing etc...but Sapience especailly uses his position as a revenge tool.
Like others have said fing a good kinship, shop around for one that fits your play style and tastres and life become easiwer
Armor I agree that the armor is pretty fugly . Once you hit 20 with youer first toon shop for some cosmetic costumes. You can piece together some nice outfits and still use the attributes from your gear
There are a few group quests in the teens, but post 20 the group stuff kicks up quite a bit. A lot of nice group stuff in N Downs, some in LL for high teens and 20 - 30. Fornost is a first rate dungeon crawl.
@Jeremy how in the world did it take you a month and a half to make it to twenty? It takes normal players about 4 hours to make a level in the high teens. Playing 20 hours a week It takes me about 2 months give or take to get to 50, then another month to 6 weeks from 50 to 60. That would be playing a 25% group, 75% solo style.
I miss DAoC
Turbine routinely wins awards as company of the year, I don't think that would be possible if what you stated is true. Do you have anything to back up this statement, because this is the first time I have ever heard anything remotley like this. Sounds more like something Funcom or SOE would be accused of.
I miss DAoC
Im not saying the game looks bad but for every good point to the graphics theres an equal and opposite bad point. My biggest problem with the graphics is the Level of Detail. The goofy animations and armor I was able to accept after a bit a playing but the LoD just annoyed me through the entire trial.
Lateris - its not my computer. I have a quad core with 8GB or RAM and a GTX 260 with 896MB of RAM. I didnt bother downloading the Ultra High texture mapping pack because to get the game running right I had download it twice so I didnt want to download more stuff.
At the end of the trial I got to level 20 and did Great Barrow twice. It was a good instance with some interesting encounters.
I didnt subscribe but I did play all the way to the end. I am still currently on the fence about subscribing though. I had a great time and after the trial I still wanted to play, which quite frankly I havent felt with any free trial or free MMO. Im usually bored within 3 days but with LotRO I even didnt mind the Deed grinding(skills and kills).
If I did subscribe the only things that might make me regret doing so would be the group content or and out of control economy. I dont mind group quests but I dont like not being able to them even if I try and find groups several days in a row.
The economy of MMOs are often skewed by people with high level characters buying gear for an alt, especially at lower levels. So, a new player(like me) goes to the Auction House and sees single pieces of gear moderate for 25% of my total net worth. Never pleasant.
These were 2 problems I had with other MMOs I no longer play(which will remain nameless to not start any fanboy wars).
I too tried to Lotro trial, and i didnt like it much.
My grief was not with graphics, animation or the plain ugliness of the starter gear, but with the restrictions of the trial itself.
The trail restrictions would not allow you to advance sufficiently in tradeskills. As far as i could tell. most trade skills need materials from other skills. Armour smith needed leather straps, which needed boiled leather and that could only be done by a forester. Being a trial player, you cant trade with others, nor can you buy items on the auction house. Which means you cant really try the tradeskill past making bronze plates.
for me at least having a good try at the crafting system would be a deciding factor, when choosing a MMORPG to invest my time in.
the armorsmith is probably the most restrictive trade skill... all the other crafting professions can at least make some useful things without any help... so you just picked a bad skill for a trial account
I agree they need to do something about crafting for the trial accounts. However, as a subscriber, I trade goods between my alts for crafting. A little pricey to mail everything but I dont find money to be all that crucial in LoTRO. I have a 48 warden and the only big expense I incurred was buying a horse. I suppose if you want uber-gear or are "playing" on the AH, money becomes more important, but believe me, you can get along fine with what you accrue just killing and looting.
once you get to the end-game everything gets really expensive... a level 59 legendary weapon can run you about 20g on the AH, and that's if it's not a particulary desired one... I haven't been very smart with my money, but the only hope I have of getting a 2nd age is by having one randomly drop for me... or to keep making money at my current rate for a long long time...
I love the game, but received my second warning on the forums just for being honest about certain trolls that frequent their forums. These people continually post the same drivel over and over, causing lots of conflict and strife between the "casuals" and "hardcore." I call them out on it...and I get forum warnings.
W...T...F? And guess who gave me the warnings...Sapience. Whatever.
Anyway, I find I enjoy the game more by not reading all the "sky is falling!" garbage on the forums anyway.