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why is this game so high rated?
Jakdstripper
Member RarePosts: 2,410
i'v played a few mmos (WoW, AoC, Aion, War, DF) and, a few months back, i was bored so decided to try the free trial since i keep hearing and reading all about how good Lotro is.
i am a fan of Lord of the rings. i'v red the books, watched the movies, the cartoons, so i figured why not try the game?
my experience was not long lived. first the character selecion was pretty uggly. i looked at the character modles and i did not like what i saw plain and simple. anyways i figured well maybe it gets better once i actually play. i got into the game and started walking arround, i did not like how my character moved or any of the fighting animations (Aion has far better combat animation).
Looking arround the world was far from beautifull, even at highest settings it fell far short of games like Aion or AoC which are graphycly amazing. now i should point out that i opted for the "download wile playing" option for the free trial so i'm aware the graphycs options were restricted. needless to say i didn't play for more then a few hours before logging off for good. i just coudn't get into the game at all. the whole game felt a lot like War but graphicly not even close (and i consider War mediocre at best).
What exactly do people find that is so good in this game? why is it rated so high?
this is not a flame post, on the contrary i'm seriously trying to figure this out what i'm missing here.
Comments
I like hanging out at the Prancing Pony tavern, playing a few tunes and having a virtual smoke with others. Nice atmosphere and it's not too expensive to sub. Sometimes the PVP(monster play) mechanic bothers me, but all in all it's a good game.
I don't keep a constant sub, but go back when I feel like it.
i'm very sorry that your first experience with LotRO was unfavorable but i think there must have been some kind of problem with your setting/pc because LotRO is a beautiful game, the gameplay is epic and as a huge Tolkien fan myself i can honestly say Turbine has done and is doing a good job of handling lore......considering the medium is a mmo.
here are a few screen shots, though for whatever reason the quality drops when linking to forums. and if anyone would like i could go around and take some SS of some of the better vistas.
and i will say that the starter instanced areas are not that great but even those areas have some beautiful areas once you get to their live world counterparts.
Rivendale: outside the last homely house on a mid lvl warden.
Mirkwood: killing a few orcs.
You need to download the high resolution textures, you will be amazed at the difference.
I do not know why you are saying this game looks bad.. it is one of the better looking games out there IMO. Make sure you have the high res textures, Dx10..ect.. I know there was an amazing improvement in visual quality when I switched up.
Considering LotRO is almost as old as WoW the graphics stand up well. Though I agree with the OP's assetion that the character modles (sic) could be better.
Also OP, take Ortheri's post regarding Turbine's 'keeping to the lore' with a large pinch o' salt. They have done nothing of the sort this past year or two. Infact their tweaks and twiddles are downright shameful.
All in all LotRO can be both fun and serious for all players, stick with OP, at least for now.
I can agree with you about the avatars but not even slightly about the world That is definitely something they did well.
My guess is you started in the starter elf/dwarf area and saw the snow and that was it. That area is "ok".
I like the maxfield parish sky
he never did meet me in the library but was later found, quite sloshed, on the porch muttering something about clowns and the politics of pies.
From mirkwood looking into lothlorien which is why it's a bit dark. I love the impressionistic handling of distant objects though some don't like it.
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
WoW was released nov.04, LotRO was released in april 07.
and yes, take my statement about lore with a grain of salt, since things like Moria would not have been reclaimed till long after the war of the ring, Angmar being a threat at all, Mirkwoods invasion by lothlorien so early, hobbit pc's all over the place, so no and so forth. most of these are understandable exceptions to make a playable mmo, though there are things that i find superfluous, (cough, runekeeper, cough) but as a whole I think they stick to the theme and feel of Tolkiens work well.
My two cents anyway.
"..graphycly" - for crying out loud...
LoTRO is one of those games that I want to like, I know I should like it but for some reason, I can't. The world is beautifully rendered, but the character animations and combat representations are dull and boring. The whole game lacks something - I think it might be that it's just not fun a lot of the time - it takes itself pretty seriously and it's strongly group orientated in the mid-levels, which not everybody likes.
Lots of people love this game and fair play to them - Turbine also put a lot of work into it, it's just not for everybody.
It takes all kinds i guess, but i do feel you misrepresent lotro.
I find lotro to be the most casual oriented mmo on the market with 90% of the game soloable, as a matter of fact one of the biggest complaint threads on lotro's forums is about the lack of group content at all level ranges.
Character animations and combat representations being dull and boring is you opinion and thats cool, after all you you cant please everyone, Im not sure i understand your opv about taking itself to seriously?
I find myself (aswell as most lotro players) rerunning old content thats way out-leveled simply for the well drawn story's, the epic scenery and pure fun of doing them again.
Yeah, I get what you're saying, I dunno, I think I'm struggling to explain to myself why I can't stick with the game, I get tired with it really quickly and I don't know why. It has something to do with the predictability of the thing or blandness or something, I can't tie it down - I should like it, but I don't.
My guess is that there is no sense of "rushing' in LOTRO. everthing seems sort of placid.
I don't know why but there is no sense of "I have to do x" and therefore some players might not feel that fire under their feet.
Just a guess.
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
The toon's and animations are probably the weakest part of the game true. That's just something you have to ignore. It's like not enjoying WoW because of the big shoulder fantasy armor. You either ignore it or not.
General graphics - you said it yourself; you picked download while play. You won't get the complete Hi-Rez package until you complete the starter area since it's like one of the last items to load. If you download the Hi-Rez version completely prior to playing and turn your graphics up you'll see why people talk about how the world looks.
People rate it high because of the LotR storyline, the mini-novel quest write ups, the feat system allowing you some difference between your toon and the next guys, parts of the combat system and the different professions as a few are unique from the norm.
As one that is playing AoC and played LotRO, I liked how each race had it's own tutorial & starter area which provided a storyline into the main game (vs Tortage for all), I'd say lore and quest plots were about equal, I like both the lore's and enjoy both quest plots, giving a slight edge to AoC's for being of a more manageable length.
Since you didn't play long a few good to excellent LotRO features are the skirmish system, had a blast with the 2 I did and one of the earlier Dwarf (for me) quests where you, Dwarves and Elves form an army and attack the ???? not Orc's but the little bad guys and the evil Dwarves. A nice large scale assualt, PvE mayhem at it's best.
Bad parts: you travel alot, I got very tired running from the end of 1 zone to the other while doing a quest line.
I doublt if anything, anyone says here is going to make you try it again, but it would be worth it if you gave it a full amount of time to try it out.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
That's so true, I really love the books and movies and I love MMOs. I thought there was no reason for me not to like LotrO, but I simply couldn't stand the character models, combat / running animations, the overall 'clunkiness' of it all, including the UI looks.
I don't doubt that the quests, story etc. are immersive, but personally I don't think the game would have been half as popular were it not for the lore.
I know It's my own issue and not the game's though, because I simply can't ignore it as it's quite a big deal to me. I guess I've been spoilt by WoW's overall smoothness and the feeling that you're really in control of your character. No MMO since then has equaled it in that department IMO, though Aion is not as far behind as the others.
I quit Lotro a few months ago but I still think Lotro is one of the best game on the market. After Lotro I have played Aion, AOC, Warhammer and such, none of the other game able to compare with Lotro.
Among these games, Lotro gives me longer fun, then Warhammer was extremely fun but ended fast, AOC is so so, the worst and the most boring game was Aion.
To me LOTRO is a tricky one ...
I like the books, the movies, etc. .. and the game looks beautiful, and the quests (if you read and believe them) are fun as well ...
But the character models ...
dohh ... they ruin the game for me (no matter how much I play it).
I read somewhere - Turbine wanted them to be 'realistic' and true to Tolkiens lore etc. - so we have no Superman types and Disney princesses ... they did that but the result (to my tastes) is just not right.
They are not realistic (as in Final Fantasy: The Spirits within film, or GTA IV for that matter), and they are not cartoonish ... they are somewhere in between and that makes them look just like badly done. .. And another thing that does not help one bit - is the way they move - all this strange strafing now and then and running (while not moving (when getting stuck somehere)) just does not look right.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
I've played FFXI, WoW, Warhammer, AoC, Aion, LOTRO and Allods....
FFXI and LOTRO are by far my favorite with Vanilla Wow coming second. LOTRO is all substance and no flash. If the manner in which you use your abilities or the way armor looks on you is a strong part of why you like ot dislike an MMO, then I can see why LOTRO is not for everyone.
But, for people where game mechanics are fun, even though they don't look pretty, and you enjoy a deep/immersive game then LOTRO is amazing. I love the quality of the writing in the quests. I enjoy the trait/deed system because there is an additional basis for completing quests and killing monsters. Unlike most other games i've played, I actually feel part of the world.
Think of LOTRO as a the Oscar Winning Best picture that had a moderate amount of box office success. Compare that to a movie like AVatar (which I enjoyed) that is primarily all flash with a moderate amount of underlying substance.
For example, I saw the movie "There will be Blood" a few days ago. I still think about the movie a week after the fact. Though I enjoyed Avatar as I watched it, it was completely forgetable afterwards.
I think the same can be said for LoTRO. For people that stick with it, it sticks with you. It's deeper and more meaningful MMO, even if its outer skin does not reflect that.
By no means do I intimate that people who dont' like LoTRO are shallow. Far from it, but to appreciate LoTRO, somethings you have to accept are not good as other games. For me, even though AoC had a lot of the things I liked, the UI design and icons for abilities really turned me off. I couldn't force myself to play AoC and get to the "good stuff" by overlooking the "shallow" stuff.
Anytime you have to "try" to like a game, it's not worth playing regardless what everyone else says. Surprisingly, I felt the same way for Dragon's Age Origins. I knew its merits, but just couldn't get into it.
Same here, the character models ruined it for me. I just couldn't get over how cartoony they look. If just they changed the models to be a bit more realistic, more detailed and not so clunky-looking, I would give it a second look. Now, I know graphics aren't everything, but I have noticed (with games like Fallen Earth or WoW too), that I just prefer good character models. They represent myself and I just can't stand that cartoony touch...and it's a shame too, since I think the landscapes look quite good.
Ok so I had a few negative things to say before, but I had to edit my post after playing again. After giving a lot of other mmos a try over the last month I came back to lotro and have to say I was impressed all over again. There are some real crap games out there, but Lotro isn't one of them.
Overall, compared to most other games out currently it should be high ranked. I'm not saying its #1 or even in the top 3, but compared to much of the crap thats turned out these days its in the top 10%. Keep in mind that imo that 10% contains a large number of games, but still, lotro should be up there. The starter zone tutorials, lore, mechanics, graphics are all very nicely done. UI customization, Class selection, quests, Skirmishes, pvp, good community. Theres no denying that this game has some great features.
I like how you compare the graphics of a 5 year old game to the graphics of the two best looking MMOs to come out in the last 2 years. You also need to download the high-res textures. And I guess I'm not one to criticize your "grading" process, but graphics aren't everything, man. The gameplay is great and the immersion is fairly awesome.
A MMO ccan have the best looking graphics engine going and still be a crap game. AoC was gorgeous but failed in almost every other aspect of the game. I agree that LoTRO character models and animations are not the best but no game is perfect and the good far outweighs the bad in this game.
Some of the reasons LoTRO is still rated high - a mature community, good customer support, a variety of things to do, well balanced classes, a robust economy and a well thought out crafting system, lots of fluff like the festivals and music system, not to mention some uniwue gameplay options such as the quests where you go back in time and fight along NPC's, the skirmish system, the epic quests where you can choose to group or solo, a abundance of 3, 6, and 12 man quests, spectacular scenery, the ability to switch between displaying either of 2 sets of "social" cosmetic clothing in addition to your armor. I could go on but you should get the picture.
I miss DAoC
This game has its faults for sure, but graphics is not one of them. If you have it on highest settings and a half decent graphics card it does look amazing. The toons do look a bit odd, a bit barrel shaped maybe. But apart from that, graphics are excellent and easily up there with anything released recently.
Customization options for your toons is amazing, don't think any other games allows you to change as much as Lotro.
Quests, instances and story is far beyond most other games. You can easily see that a lot of effort and work gone into creating it.
However Lotro is a PVE game. There is no real PVP which is why I left the game. I got hooked on PVP in other game and Lotro can't match that. I wish it did have PVP, it would have been the perfect game.
Lotro can also feel a bit boring at times, mobs are often very similiar and restricted - boars, bears etc. But that's probably down to the lore. It was mainly the fights that made it feel a bit boring, as it's fairly slow paced. I actually found myself almost falling a sleep while leveling.. that might have improved with the latest expansion though, not sure.
But other than those 2 points the game is VERY solid and currently there is nothing recent on the market that does PvE other than maybe DDO but that's heavily instances, no open world and worse graphics.
Play: -
Played: FFXIV, WAR, Allods, Aion, AoC, DDO, EQ2, GW, Lotro, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, WoW
You mean to tell me that I just wasted all that time reading all the text of someone who bases a game solely on graphics? The opinions of people who care about graphics don't even matter! You could have given me a warning or something, man!
"It is in your nature to do one thing correctly; Before me, you rightfully tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." ~Francis Dolarhyde
"why is this game rated so high?"
IMHO, desperation for something different and / or fresh from WoW.
However I don't agree with your critisms at all.
All you mainly write about is the graphics / art. Did you play the game at all? Aion isn't even close to "amazing" and neither is AoC. I play them all on high with DX10 where I can. LotR is by far the better looking.
Gameplay, they are all mediocre but Aion is the worse of the three. AoC, probably second then LotR.
That's not saying to much as overall none of them are all that good gameplay wise, standard is pretty much how I would sum them up but Aion is easily the inferior of the bunch.
My biggest complaint of LOTRO and the reason I cancelled is that the xp you get from killing mobs is so low. You are pretty much forced to quest to level. There are times when I just don't feel like questing and want to grind on mobs, but you can't in LOTRO because the mob xp is so low.
Currently Playing: DAOC Uthgard
Previously Played: UO, DAOC, Shadowbane, AC2, SWG, Horizons, COX, WOW, EQ2, LOTRO, AOC, WAR, Vanguard, Rift, SWTOR, ESO, GW2.