They are deleting the group content, making the game more solo friendly. Check my thread in the LoTRO forums here.
Looks like you forgot something my friend
During these past weeks I have been thinking about going back to LOTRO.I started back when the game launched and left after 5 months.After playing almost everything that has been released during these last 5 years,I found that all these games lack the community feel I experienced in LOTRO.
I'm still undecided because I don`t want to enter the game and found myself alone in the lower level zones and solo all the way to higher levels.I like to play with people and see people all around the place.
Will it be difficult for me to pick up my 50 Minstrel and play to 65 as lots have changed since I left?
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
I like the article hope it goes some way to get more players.
That is by far the only problem with lotro, lack of players. I stopped subscribing after trying for nearly a week to get a team to do some group content. - I dont mind soloing, but I HATE skipping quests because I cant get a team. I want to play more than I want to level.
After then I just do monster play! - pretty much always people there and always a good fun.. but again, sometimes lacks players.
My only worry with them adding more PVM area's is that it might spreadplayers even more thinly
PvMP unfortantly isn't a very strong form of PvP, though if you're willing to make an effort all the main PvMP people end up moving to elendmir, so looking to have some PvP I would suggest going to that server.
As to the amount of people, I play on Firefoot... one of the smallest servers (maybe not the smallest since I don't know their numbers but we quite often are in the suggested server to play lol) its not hard to find groups for end game instances/content.
when people say they have trouble finding a group I usually find out that their trying to get group content in the lower levels, but all MMOs (maybe excluding WoW with the amount of people that are trying it out all the time I barely played it) end up with that problem when the orginal player base has moved on the higher level content. best way I've found is to get in a good kin and run with people's alts through that. its also the reason they are redoing of the epic story line with the option to do it solo, 2 man ,3 man, 4 man or full group of 6.
If you want to have people to talk too you can always /joinchannel glff works on any server I've played while its mostly respectful and I've barely ever seen any fights happen (I've seen 2 in my two years), there is however humor sometimes that can be considered childish, but you will almost always get a serious response if you ask a question (besides maybe asking where the bat cave is )
but thats from me so you can safely disregard everything I said two year lifetime subscriber as long as I take the occasional breaks (hmm dragon age was great) I can enjoy myself with my kinmates, solo, or in a group and really if you can't enjoy why play the game? to each his own
I think no MMO has such a great atmopshere as LOTRO, partially because of the great visual design of the world, and because many of the quests are more staged events and not "go there and do XYZ", especially the book quests. It all weaves a carpet of stories around you and ever region has a story of it's own of which you are part. I recall in beta, when I first was in the transition quest from the starter area to the open world of Elves and Dwarfs, and I felt like being inside of a movie and less of a mere MMO. I miss those epic story feelings in every other MMO, and thats what makes LOTRO special IMO.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I'd rather be in the prancing pony, smoking weed and hanging out after a days pve and maybe some pvp. If a later expansion allows to play a Mordor faction rather than monster play, then pvp would improve, but meh, the other parts of the game make up for it.
Deleting my 80s in WoW soon in case my inactive account gets hacked and just playing LotR for a while.
I`m a Lifer with LOTRO, and have been since the start, and i`ve played many online games - more than i can remember. Up to this day, none shine through like LoTRo. The gameworld, communty, quests, - everything - is top notch.
Someone said in the thread that the quests were dull, sure a lot of them you have to kill this and that an `X` number of times, but there are a lot of fantastic quests wich emerse you fully into the game. I remember one part of a quest, i think it was part of a book quest, where you just had to walk around Rivendale listening to the npc tell his story, it was so relaxing, it made everything i had thought about the game, just true, and hadn`t been kidding myself all along. LoTRo is a very special game., and what makes it more special is the community. The community is near perfect, there`s no idiots or kids, just people who want to help.
I remember about a month or two into the game, i was in a group, with my burglar, we`d happened upon a group of elites, and i was under instruction to riddle one of them (stun the mob), i riddled the wrong one, and we eventually wiped. After apologisiing to the rest of the group, i was expecting to be called `you effing Noob!` and all manner of worse things - like happns in WoW.... the replies came thick and fast - `don`t worry / its a fun / its just a game, lets gather and roll again` - i knew then that there was something special in the community and LoTR.
I had the exact same experience. I played in the beta on the B server ( i think) and was completly addicted from day 1. I found the hardcore group of beta players and along with them became the first max levels on the server and i was the first of my class. We completly dominated monster play, and being the only max level people it was constantly the group of us vs everyone else and it was a blast. I remember trying to convince everyone i knew from other games that this was the game to play, i remember taking a detour from leveling to explore everything that was way too high of a level for me. A friend and i went to Rivendel and i remember both of us pretty much saying "omg wtf this is rediculously real" the entire time we were walking there.
Then the beta phase came to an end, they started giving people levels and a few days later deleted everything. Although the game was fun there was no real end game in place and i think that killed it for me so i decided to just go back to playing BF2 and occasionally wow and wait for something else.
Now im having mmo withdrawl and Im torn between trying lotro again or reactivating my AOC account (since i actually own AoC and have a max level char)
You know what's worse than immature kids from WoW? Immature adults from LOTRO. LOTRO has many immature adults who thinks they're better than everyone else and they're very selfish. I don't ever remember getting help from anyone in LOTRO, but at least those kids help you out in WoW when needed/asked. And no i'm not defending WoW I played both and stopped. I'm not sure if this is the same for every server but it is for Gladden. Go read their forums you know what I mean. Despite the immature players LOTRO is a great game with great scenery until it reach MoM where everything starts to get dark and gloomy. And Turbine is getting lazy too early. Lvl 50 - 60 not much new skills (mainly upgraded version of older skills) and very nice looking armour, but I hated the nerf they put on weapon DPS to even out PVMP. Which they mention when PVMP was releash that they would not change the game in anyway just for PVMP, well they lied, why can't Turbine be like Blizzard, ignore all they complaint people have on classes (not including bugs) and do what they think is right. By doing that it's not making them bad gms, but it's keeps people happy. Let say out of 20,000 freeps and 200 creeps. The 200 creeps complained to turbine of how overpower the freeps are and they end up nerfing the freeps (which they did) now they end up upsetting 20,000 players instead of a small handful of 200. Lvl 60 - 65 no new skills, very lame look armour. And last Turbine haven't even fix the Champion's sprint yet, the skill say 125% running speed, but it's only 25%. I tested it by racing a captain, even guardian sprint faster. So like i mentioned before LOTRO is a great game with a very nice view, not including the lack of work from Turbine and the immature players.
Great article, although if i'm not mistaken there is a way to turn off the auto facing in combat in the options...dont quote me on that though. :P I'm actually playing Vanguard right now myself and kind of had the same experience you're talking about with LotRO. The game is vastly improved and I can honestly say the only reason tons of people aren't playing is because A) they are jaded from launch/beta and SOE isn't going to throw any fair amount of money into this game until they see a lot of people want to play it. It's a sad circle because gamers aren't going to play it for the reason of C) No gamers are going to go to a game that they see as a "sinking ship" .
Just to repeat that: SOE isn't going to throw any fair amount of money into this game
I sure HOPE not! I don't want SOE to come anywhere near THINKING about touching this game. They ruined everything else they bought and just kept their money in EQ. SOE killed Matrix, and ruined SWG. LOTRO is a Turbine game. And I agree with some that Turbine has made the mistake of listening to the whiners on some changes, and tried to appeal to more people by adding in magic-users and tweaking things to balance PVMP a little. Overall it is a solid game based primarily on a well built world. Not just the scenery, but they actually tried to create the illusion of an echo system. Ever notice how many useless prey animals there are in each region? Kill off all the predators, and more prey animals will spawn, for a little while. Not the best combat system, but a good game and a good story to pull you into the world. The Lifetime account option will ensure a loyal fan base for a long time to come. I'm looking forward to the final expansion that will inevitably allow us to fight right through the gates of Mordor. Hopefully there will be more innovative growth in the way there (and no more magic users or wizards).
1. You know what's worse than immature kids from WoW? Immature adults from LOTRO. LOTRO has many immature adults who thinks they're better than everyone else and they're very selfish. 2. Lvl 50 - 60 not much new skills (mainly upgraded version of older skills) and very nice looking armour, but I hated the nerf they put on weapon DPS to even out PVMP. 3. why can't Turbine be like Blizzard, ignore all they complaint people have on classes (not including bugs) and do what they think is right. 4. Let say out of 20,000 freeps and 200 creeps. The 200 creeps complained to turbine of how overpower the freeps are and they end up nerfing the freeps (which they did) now they end up upsetting 20,000 players instead of a small handful of 200. 5. the skill say 125% running speed, but it's only 25%. I tested it by racing a captain, even guardian sprint faster.
Edited for easier responding...
1. The same could be said of every mmo. I met a lot of immature adults in WoW too.
2. As a game increases in levels through expansions you kinda HAVE to slow down on giving new skills, otherwise you end up with 8 hotbars full of nothing but different skills and you end up not using most of them. For example, getting a new skill every two levels in a 50 level game is fine...you end up with 25 skills, but when that game has expanded to 80 or 100 levels, that same one skill every two levels ends up being 40-50 skills. So, you just focus on making your current ones more powerful so they stay relevant, and add an occasional new one every 4 or 5 levels.
3. Blizzard has done the same thing. In BC, Priests got Prayer of Mending, a spammable low-mana spell that would heal you for a small amount the next time you took damage. Priests were able to spam this on themselves during fights to keep themselves alive, but while spamming the spell they were not able to do any damage to their opponent and it was only a matter of time till our mana would run out and we'd die anyway. PvP players complained loudly and strongly in-game and in the forums to have the spell nerfed. Their reason? It took too long to kill priests. We weren't un-killable. We weren't winning more fights. We simply died more slowly and that was too much for the gankers to handle. So, it was nerfed and a cooldown was added because priests weren't supposed to survive being ganked.
4. If there are 20,000 freeps against 200 creeps, you honestly don't see that as evidence that something is wrong with class balance? If one side has such staggering numbers on their side then yes, something does need to be changed, because both sides should be relatively equal.
5. Generally, at least in all the mmo's I've played, 100% run speed means "normal" run speed and 125% means "25% faster than normal". 100% run speed does NOT mean "double" speed. My guess is you were thinging it meant "125% FASTER run speed" instead of the actual "125% run speed". So, unless your 25% sprint speed made you start walking instead of running, you were indeed going 25% faster than your normal run.
I played WoW on a pretty regular and sometimes hardcore level for nearly 4 years, and have wtached it gone downhill IMO ever since the first expansion. Like you I did not like the direction the latest expansion and patches have taken the game. I have met a few nice folks on there, and for a long time I tried to hang on to the game for those people - all the problems you have mentioned have just made it unbearable for me. At the end of last year, I was at the top of my game but I just had to walk away from it all.
I started playing LoTRO as one of my main games after I left WoW - I must say LoTRO was a real surprise for me. I wasn't interested in LoTRO when it first came out and never bothered with it. I think I must have a roleplayer in me somewhere, since I tend to get quite attached to my gear, and when Mines of Moria came out the idea of gear that grows and evolves with you fasinated me. And that was what drew me to LoTRO after the expansion came out.
I currently have a level 56 Runekeeper, and I am loving the game thus far, with the rich environments, the amazing graphical effects, the epic PvE story quests and overall lore, the music, et cetera. But it's not all roses though. I am finding it hard to get group content done, since most players are at the top end of the game and are mostly into their raids and instance farming, leaving the lower areas disturbingly empty. To make things worse, a lot of those who are in the lower tier areas often turns out to be alts, who just wants to power level for endgame and have no interest in playing the game. Speaking of which leveling is also too fast IMO, and I find myself moving through the zones almost too quickly. And as for the community, I'm a bit mixed about the folks on my server at this stage. Most of the players seems very anti-social, and most are unhelpful and borderline rude, with some very upper-classed attitudes. You have no idea how many times I have been laughed at and told off for asking simple questions, and a lot of times with the most helpful comments being "go look it up". And I have been yelled at and told off a few times for throwing a heal or two as I was passing by another player, since apparenly according to them I was stealing their precious XP. A couple of times the folks even went around and gathered and aggroed mobs onto me just for throwing a heal on them.
Anyways enjoy your time on LoTRO while it lasts. It's always good to see people, especially ex-WoW players, playing other MMOs other than WoW.
I think BCAnimus, like a few other people, makes a good point and it's something I don't plan to overlook in future articles.
Everybody has their own story. No two experiences are the same. While it's nice to know so many people have been in a similar boat, I understand that it's not exactly the same. Like BCAnimus, I'm encountering mostly people on alts (and not new players). They're already familiar with the content and end up just leading me through quests. Unfortunately, that's just the way things are 2+ years after the release of a MMO. I missed my opportunity with LOTRO. It's one of the reasons I still hang on to my EQ memories so close. I leveled up in EQ with "everyone".
-At the moment i got both wow and lotro subed and playing both, lotro is nice game imo since i prefer pve over pvp but it gets boring with deeds and lack of dungeons, but thats why i play wow too :P i raid in wow and play lotro for fun untill some other good MMO come out
I've played Lotro off and on since release (currently on). Everything that's been said about it is true. It's one of the best games on the market for alot of players. If you take the time to enjoy the trip, see the scenery, read the quests, its great. But there are some things to be aware of:
It can drive completists to distraction, deed grinding is painful.
It's primarily a solo game with some group quests. The split is maybe 75/25 solo/group or so. If you're looking for 'bring a group or dont bother' types of games, it's not your cup of tea.
PvP frankly is a bolt on. The PvMP system is unique and interesting, but its not a focus of development. Don't expect battlegrounds, or any force balancing mechanisms. Those would be great, but I don't see it ever happening.
The engine has limits. Some parts of the engine is from the original MEO iteration which dates from 03 or earlier. I think that this truely shows in the inventory system. They've patched it by making things stack better, reducing the number of different items dropped, etc, but truth is it's horrid in a lot of respects. Inventory Management is a part time job sometimes, require mule alts for crafting materials, recipies, etc. And now there are probably 10+ barter systems all using different barter tokens which all have to be stored in inventory, and most systems have multiple types of barter tokens. Ugh, just ugh.
But for all that, don't sweat the small stuff, enjoy the ride, play a couple of classes through the game and you'll get your money's worth and have alot of fun memories.
I wish my LotRO experience had been even a little bit like yours.
When I finally decided to try it, I found the quests to be terribly boring, and I could not get a soul to speak a word to me, in character or out. It was sad, for when I got to Bag End it was borderline magical for me to see it brought to life. Exploring the Shire was indescribable, seeing it in three dimensions.
But the closed off community, dull quests and crappy crafting killed it for me, and I'll never revisit it.
Thats stramge, on GLFF channel theres allways chatter going on about everything but finding a fellowship to join
Plus, finding a nice guild is allways nice when trying for being part of a community and get involved into stuff.
I`m a Lifer with LOTRO, and have been since the start, and i`ve played many online games - more than i can remember. Up to this day, none shine through like LoTRo. The gameworld, communty, quests, - everything - is top notch. Someone said in the thread that the quests were dull, sure a lot of them you have to kill this and that an `X` number of times, but there are a lot of fantastic quests wich emerse you fully into the game. I remember one part of a quest, i think it was part of a book quest, where you just had to walk around Rivendale listening to the npc tell his story, it was so relaxing, it made everything i had thought about the game, just true, and hadn`t been kidding myself all along. LoTRo is a very special game., and what makes it more special is the community. The community is near perfect, there`s no idiots or kids, just people who want to help. I remember about a month or two into the game, i was in a group, with my burglar, we`d happened upon a group of elites, and i was under instruction to riddle one of them (stun the mob), i riddled the wrong one, and we eventually wiped. After apologisiing to the rest of the group, i was expecting to be called `you effing Noob!` and all manner of worse things - like happns in WoW.... the replies came thick and fast - `don`t worry / its a fun / its just a game, lets gather and roll again` - i knew then that there was something special in the community and LoTR. just my two pennies, great article btw, i enjoyed it a lot. Plater
Thats very true, i can remember when in a pug with not so bright members we wipped like 10 times and hey, lets do it again feeling
Im currently subscribed to LotRO and I cant even force myself to play because most days I forget I am subscribed. I have a level 57 Rune Keeper and Moria has pretty much killed this game for me, it is just far too dull and uninspired.
Other things like mind nunmbing quests, stupid game design(deeds), horrible class balance(RKs cant heal, only Minnies can heal), elitist and new player unfriendly guilds and lack of non-max level grouping makes me understand the old "Bored of the Rings" moniker.
I did quit after getting level 35 for a bit because 30 to 40 was as dreadful as 50 to 60 is but I came back and found 40 to 50 was pretty good so maybe Lothlorien and Mirkwood will be good. I'll have to get out of Moria ASAP and find out. If its not then I'll fight my gag reflex long enough for my time to run out and quit until the next free week(which are like every other month).
Im currently subscribed to LotRO and I cant even force myself to play because most days I forget I am subscribed. I have a level 57 Rune Keeper and Moria has pretty much killed this game for me, it is just far too dull and uninspired. Other things like mind nunmbing quests, stupid game design(deeds), horrible class balance(RKs cant heal, only Minnies can heal), elitist and new player unfriendly guilds and lack of non-max level grouping makes me understand the old "Bored of the Rings" moniker.
I did quit after getting level 35 for a bit because 30 to 40 was as dreadful as 50 to 60 is but I came back and found 40 to 50 was pretty good so maybe Lothlorien and Mirkwood will be good. I'll have to get out of Moria ASAP and find out.
If its not then I'll fight my gag reflex long enough for my time to run out and quit until the next free week(which are like every other month).
hell i dont mind the free weekends actually its the only time ive really played tbh i havent been subscribed in like 3 months but ive lvled at least 6 times during the past two welcome back weekends so hey if they want to keep giving me free time to play then yea im going to take it whether im bored or not
I fully agree with what the OP had to say about world of warcraft and about lord of the rings online. Man do I miss those old school days of asherons call. I wish turbine would create another asherons call one, no no, not two, one!. Those were the best days of mmorpg's. I may come back to lotro because all the other mmorpg's are stale and boring these days and most have flopped to some degree.
Long live asherons call. I'll never forget the fun on darktide and later on on leafcull.
mmorpg's flop faster then mcdonalds cheese burgers these days.
There was one thing that put me off lotro. The fact that I cant go to iconic locations because they are instanced and require high level quest to even enter them.
I was exploring a bit, trying to go to the gates of moria (the glowy door on the mountain), was lvl 41. I couldnt even get near the area because the entire area around moria was instanced and wouldnt even let me in to take a look without some lvl 50 quest. That completely killed it for me. Even if I couldnt kill any mobs there, I still wanted to have a look. And I suspect most iconic areas in lotro's world will be like that. So I couldnt bring myself to play it anymore. I slowly began playing less and less, and a few weeks ago, I quit.
If you stand VERY still, and close your eyes, after a minute you can actually FEEL the universe revolving around PvP.
Originally posted by Zilverrug Originally posted by Vaske1984
i raid in wow and play lotro for fun
It's good to separate work and recreation!
I got a good laugh out of this. So true.
Good one!
Back to the OP, I can say I enjoyed your article and I don't find the combat so bad, even it seems Turbine is now aiming at tweaking it to make it feels more responsive. Makes me remember SWG in which we could queue like 10+ actions in a row, watching them being executed while enjoying some tell hell at the same time.
Honestly it's been a loong time singe I ever even felt or answerer "tell hell" to another player.
Comments
They are deleting the group content, making the game more solo friendly. Check my thread in the LoTRO forums here.
Looks like you forgot something my friend
During these past weeks I have been thinking about going back to LOTRO.I started back when the game launched and left after 5 months.After playing almost everything that has been released during these last 5 years,I found that all these games lack the community feel I experienced in LOTRO.
I'm still undecided because I don`t want to enter the game and found myself alone in the lower level zones and solo all the way to higher levels.I like to play with people and see people all around the place.
Will it be difficult for me to pick up my 50 Minstrel and play to 65 as lots have changed since I left?
In the land of Predators,the lion does not fear the jackals...
I like the article hope it goes some way to get more players.
That is by far the only problem with lotro, lack of players. I stopped subscribing after trying for nearly a week to get a team to do some group content. - I dont mind soloing, but I HATE skipping quests because I cant get a team. I want to play more than I want to level.
After then I just do monster play! - pretty much always people there and always a good fun.. but again, sometimes lacks players.
My only worry with them adding more PVM area's is that it might spreadplayers even more thinly
PvMP unfortantly isn't a very strong form of PvP, though if you're willing to make an effort all the main PvMP people end up moving to elendmir, so looking to have some PvP I would suggest going to that server.
As to the amount of people, I play on Firefoot... one of the smallest servers (maybe not the smallest since I don't know their numbers but we quite often are in the suggested server to play lol) its not hard to find groups for end game instances/content.
when people say they have trouble finding a group I usually find out that their trying to get group content in the lower levels, but all MMOs (maybe excluding WoW with the amount of people that are trying it out all the time I barely played it) end up with that problem when the orginal player base has moved on the higher level content. best way I've found is to get in a good kin and run with people's alts through that. its also the reason they are redoing of the epic story line with the option to do it solo, 2 man ,3 man, 4 man or full group of 6.
If you want to have people to talk too you can always /joinchannel glff works on any server I've played while its mostly respectful and I've barely ever seen any fights happen (I've seen 2 in my two years), there is however humor sometimes that can be considered childish, but you will almost always get a serious response if you ask a question (besides maybe asking where the bat cave is
)
but thats from me so you can safely disregard everything I said
two year lifetime subscriber as long as I take the occasional breaks (hmm dragon age was great) I can enjoy myself with my kinmates, solo, or in a group 
and really if you can't enjoy why play the game? to each his own
and to the article poster Welcome to LOTRO
I think no MMO has such a great atmopshere as LOTRO, partially because of the great visual design of the world, and because many of the quests are more staged events and not "go there and do XYZ", especially the book quests. It all weaves a carpet of stories around you and ever region has a story of it's own of which you are part. I recall in beta, when I first was in the transition quest from the starter area to the open world of Elves and Dwarfs, and I felt like being inside of a movie and less of a mere MMO. I miss those epic story feelings in every other MMO, and thats what makes LOTRO special IMO.
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
I'd rather be in the prancing pony, smoking weed and hanging out after a days pve and maybe some pvp. If a later expansion allows to play a Mordor faction rather than monster play, then pvp would improve, but meh, the other parts of the game make up for it.
Deleting my 80s in WoW soon in case my inactive account gets hacked and just playing LotR for a while.
I`m a Lifer with LOTRO, and have been since the start, and i`ve played many online games - more than i can remember. Up to this day, none shine through like LoTRo. The gameworld, communty, quests, - everything - is top notch.
Someone said in the thread that the quests were dull, sure a lot of them you have to kill this and that an `X` number of times, but there are a lot of fantastic quests wich emerse you fully into the game. I remember one part of a quest, i think it was part of a book quest, where you just had to walk around Rivendale listening to the npc tell his story, it was so relaxing, it made everything i had thought about the game, just true, and hadn`t been kidding myself all along. LoTRo is a very special game., and what makes it more special is the community. The community is near perfect, there`s no idiots or kids, just people who want to help.
I remember about a month or two into the game, i was in a group, with my burglar, we`d happened upon a group of elites, and i was under instruction to riddle one of them (stun the mob), i riddled the wrong one, and we eventually wiped. After apologisiing to the rest of the group, i was expecting to be called `you effing Noob!` and all manner of worse things - like happns in WoW.... the replies came thick and fast - `don`t worry / its a fun / its just a game, lets gather and roll again` - i knew then that there was something special in the community and LoTR.
just my two pennies,
great article btw, i enjoyed it a lot.
Plater
I had the exact same experience. I played in the beta on the B server ( i think) and was completly addicted from day 1. I found the hardcore group of beta players and along with them became the first max levels on the server and i was the first of my class. We completly dominated monster play, and being the only max level people it was constantly the group of us vs everyone else and it was a blast. I remember trying to convince everyone i knew from other games that this was the game to play, i remember taking a detour from leveling to explore everything that was way too high of a level for me. A friend and i went to Rivendel and i remember both of us pretty much saying "omg wtf this is rediculously real" the entire time we were walking there.
Then the beta phase came to an end, they started giving people levels and a few days later deleted everything. Although the game was fun there was no real end game in place and i think that killed it for me so i decided to just go back to playing BF2 and occasionally wow and wait for something else.
Now im having mmo withdrawl and Im torn between trying lotro again or reactivating my AOC account (since i actually own AoC and have a max level char)
You know what's worse than immature kids from WoW? Immature adults from LOTRO. LOTRO has many immature adults who thinks they're better than everyone else and they're very selfish. I don't ever remember getting help from anyone in LOTRO, but at least those kids help you out in WoW when needed/asked. And no i'm not defending WoW I played both and stopped. I'm not sure if this is the same for every server but it is for Gladden. Go read their forums you know what I mean. Despite the immature players LOTRO is a great game with great scenery until it reach MoM where everything starts to get dark and gloomy. And Turbine is getting lazy too early. Lvl 50 - 60 not much new skills (mainly upgraded version of older skills) and very nice looking armour, but I hated the nerf they put on weapon DPS to even out PVMP. Which they mention when PVMP was releash that they would not change the game in anyway just for PVMP, well they lied, why can't Turbine be like Blizzard, ignore all they complaint people have on classes (not including bugs) and do what they think is right. By doing that it's not making them bad gms, but it's keeps people happy. Let say out of 20,000 freeps and 200 creeps. The 200 creeps complained to turbine of how overpower the freeps are and they end up nerfing the freeps (which they did) now they end up upsetting 20,000 players instead of a small handful of 200. Lvl 60 - 65 no new skills, very lame look armour. And last Turbine haven't even fix the Champion's sprint yet, the skill say 125% running speed, but it's only 25%. I tested it by racing a captain, even guardian sprint faster. So like i mentioned before LOTRO is a great game with a very nice view, not including the lack of work from Turbine and the immature players.
Just to repeat that:
SOE isn't going to throw any fair amount of money into this game
I sure HOPE not! I don't want SOE to come anywhere near THINKING about touching this game. They ruined everything else they bought and just kept their money in EQ. SOE killed Matrix, and ruined SWG. LOTRO is a Turbine game. And I agree with some that Turbine has made the mistake of listening to the whiners on some changes, and tried to appeal to more people by adding in magic-users and tweaking things to balance PVMP a little. Overall it is a solid game based primarily on a well built world. Not just the scenery, but they actually tried to create the illusion of an echo system. Ever notice how many useless prey animals there are in each region? Kill off all the predators, and more prey animals will spawn, for a little while. Not the best combat system, but a good game and a good story to pull you into the world. The Lifetime account option will ensure a loyal fan base for a long time to come. I'm looking forward to the final expansion that will inevitably allow us to fight right through the gates of Mordor. Hopefully there will be more innovative growth in the way there (and no more magic users or wizards).
Edited for easier responding...
1. The same could be said of every mmo. I met a lot of immature adults in WoW too.
2. As a game increases in levels through expansions you kinda HAVE to slow down on giving new skills, otherwise you end up with 8 hotbars full of nothing but different skills and you end up not using most of them. For example, getting a new skill every two levels in a 50 level game is fine...you end up with 25 skills, but when that game has expanded to 80 or 100 levels, that same one skill every two levels ends up being 40-50 skills. So, you just focus on making your current ones more powerful so they stay relevant, and add an occasional new one every 4 or 5 levels.
3. Blizzard has done the same thing. In BC, Priests got Prayer of Mending, a spammable low-mana spell that would heal you for a small amount the next time you took damage. Priests were able to spam this on themselves during fights to keep themselves alive, but while spamming the spell they were not able to do any damage to their opponent and it was only a matter of time till our mana would run out and we'd die anyway. PvP players complained loudly and strongly in-game and in the forums to have the spell nerfed. Their reason? It took too long to kill priests. We weren't un-killable. We weren't winning more fights. We simply died more slowly and that was too much for the gankers to handle. So, it was nerfed and a cooldown was added because priests weren't supposed to survive being ganked.
4. If there are 20,000 freeps against 200 creeps, you honestly don't see that as evidence that something is wrong with class balance? If one side has such staggering numbers on their side then yes, something does need to be changed, because both sides should be relatively equal.
5. Generally, at least in all the mmo's I've played, 100% run speed means "normal" run speed and 125% means "25% faster than normal". 100% run speed does NOT mean "double" speed. My guess is you were thinging it meant "125% FASTER run speed" instead of the actual "125% run speed". So, unless your 25% sprint speed made you start walking instead of running, you were indeed going 25% faster than your normal run.
I played WoW on a pretty regular and sometimes hardcore level for nearly 4 years, and have wtached it gone downhill IMO ever since the first expansion. Like you I did not like the direction the latest expansion and patches have taken the game. I have met a few nice folks on there, and for a long time I tried to hang on to the game for those people - all the problems you have mentioned have just made it unbearable for me. At the end of last year, I was at the top of my game but I just had to walk away from it all.
I started playing LoTRO as one of my main games after I left WoW - I must say LoTRO was a real surprise for me. I wasn't interested in LoTRO when it first came out and never bothered with it. I think I must have a roleplayer in me somewhere, since I tend to get quite attached to my gear, and when Mines of Moria came out the idea of gear that grows and evolves with you fasinated me. And that was what drew me to LoTRO after the expansion came out.
I currently have a level 56 Runekeeper, and I am loving the game thus far, with the rich environments, the amazing graphical effects, the epic PvE story quests and overall lore, the music, et cetera. But it's not all roses though. I am finding it hard to get group content done, since most players are at the top end of the game and are mostly into their raids and instance farming, leaving the lower areas disturbingly empty. To make things worse, a lot of those who are in the lower tier areas often turns out to be alts, who just wants to power level for endgame and have no interest in playing the game. Speaking of which leveling is also too fast IMO, and I find myself moving through the zones almost too quickly. And as for the community, I'm a bit mixed about the folks on my server at this stage. Most of the players seems very anti-social, and most are unhelpful and borderline rude, with some very upper-classed attitudes. You have no idea how many times I have been laughed at and told off for asking simple questions, and a lot of times with the most helpful comments being "go look it up". And I have been yelled at and told off a few times for throwing a heal or two as I was passing by another player, since apparenly according to them I was stealing their precious XP. A couple of times the folks even went around and gathered and aggroed mobs onto me just for throwing a heal on them.
Anyways enjoy your time on LoTRO while it lasts. It's always good to see people, especially ex-WoW players, playing other MMOs other than WoW.
I think BCAnimus, like a few other people, makes a good point and it's something I don't plan to overlook in future articles.
Everybody has their own story. No two experiences are the same. While it's nice to know so many people have been in a similar boat, I understand that it's not exactly the same. Like BCAnimus, I'm encountering mostly people on alts (and not new players). They're already familiar with the content and end up just leading me through quests. Unfortunately, that's just the way things are 2+ years after the release of a MMO. I missed my opportunity with LOTRO. It's one of the reasons I still hang on to my EQ memories so close. I leveled up in EQ with "everyone".
http://www.jasonparmele.com
-At the moment i got both wow and lotro subed and playing both, lotro is nice game imo since i prefer pve over pvp but it gets boring with deeds and lack of dungeons, but thats why i play wow too :P i raid in wow and play lotro for fun untill some other good MMO come out
I've played Lotro off and on since release (currently on). Everything that's been said about it is true. It's one of the best games on the market for alot of players. If you take the time to enjoy the trip, see the scenery, read the quests, its great. But there are some things to be aware of:
It can drive completists to distraction, deed grinding is painful.
It's primarily a solo game with some group quests. The split is maybe 75/25 solo/group or so. If you're looking for 'bring a group or dont bother' types of games, it's not your cup of tea.
PvP frankly is a bolt on. The PvMP system is unique and interesting, but its not a focus of development. Don't expect battlegrounds, or any force balancing mechanisms. Those would be great, but I don't see it ever happening.
The engine has limits. Some parts of the engine is from the original MEO iteration which dates from 03 or earlier. I think that this truely shows in the inventory system. They've patched it by making things stack better, reducing the number of different items dropped, etc, but truth is it's horrid in a lot of respects. Inventory Management is a part time job sometimes, require mule alts for crafting materials, recipies, etc. And now there are probably 10+ barter systems all using different barter tokens which all have to be stored in inventory, and most systems have multiple types of barter tokens. Ugh, just ugh.
But for all that, don't sweat the small stuff, enjoy the ride, play a couple of classes through the game and you'll get your money's worth and have alot of fun memories.
Thats stramge, on GLFF channel theres allways chatter going on about everything but finding a fellowship to join
Plus, finding a nice guild is allways nice when trying for being part of a community and get involved into stuff.
Thats very true, i can remember when in a pug with not so bright members we wipped like 10 times and hey, lets do it again feeling
It's good to separate work and recreation!
It's good to separate work and recreation!
I got a good laugh out of this. So true.
Im currently subscribed to LotRO and I cant even force myself to play because most days I forget I am subscribed. I have a level 57 Rune Keeper and Moria has pretty much killed this game for me, it is just far too dull and uninspired.
Other things like mind nunmbing quests, stupid game design(deeds), horrible class balance(RKs cant heal, only Minnies can heal), elitist and new player unfriendly guilds and lack of non-max level grouping makes me understand the old "Bored of the Rings" moniker.
I did quit after getting level 35 for a bit because 30 to 40 was as dreadful as 50 to 60 is but I came back and found 40 to 50 was pretty good so maybe Lothlorien and Mirkwood will be good. I'll have to get out of Moria ASAP and find out.
If its not then I'll fight my gag reflex long enough for my time to run out and quit until the next free week(which are like every other month).
hell i dont mind the free weekends actually its the only time ive really played tbh i havent been subscribed in like 3 months but ive lvled at least 6 times during the past two welcome back weekends so hey if they want to keep giving me free time to play then yea im going to take it whether im bored or not
I fully agree with what the OP had to say about world of warcraft and about lord of the rings online. Man do I miss those old school days of asherons call. I wish turbine would create another asherons call one, no no, not two, one!. Those were the best days of mmorpg's. I may come back to lotro because all the other mmorpg's are stale and boring these days and most have flopped to some degree.
Long live asherons call. I'll never forget the fun on darktide and later on on leafcull.
mmorpg's flop faster then mcdonalds cheese burgers these days.
There was one thing that put me off lotro. The fact that I cant go to iconic locations because they are instanced and require high level quest to even enter them.
I was exploring a bit, trying to go to the gates of moria (the glowy door on the mountain), was lvl 41. I couldnt even get near the area because the entire area around moria was instanced and wouldnt even let me in to take a look without some lvl 50 quest. That completely killed it for me. Even if I couldnt kill any mobs there, I still wanted to have a look. And I suspect most iconic areas in lotro's world will be like that. So I couldnt bring myself to play it anymore. I slowly began playing less and less, and a few weeks ago, I quit.
If you stand VERY still, and close your eyes, after a minute you can actually FEEL the universe revolving around PvP.
It's good to separate work and recreation!
I got a good laugh out of this. So true.
Good one!
Back to the OP, I can say I enjoyed your article and I don't find the combat so bad, even it seems Turbine is now aiming at tweaking it to make it feels more responsive. Makes me remember SWG in which we could queue like 10+ actions in a row, watching them being executed while enjoying some tell hell at the same time.
Honestly it's been a loong time singe I ever even felt or answerer "tell hell" to another player.