Originally posted by Tibernicuspa LotRO is just as bad, linear, and hand holding. Avoid it.
Lotro may be easy but it is not bad, linear or is there hand holding. But of course there was a post about lotro that you had not stopped by to post bias opinion of a video game you don't play.
try playing all quests when they are still red or orange.... its not easy that way...
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Originally posted by Tibernicuspa LotRO is just as bad, linear, and hand holding. Avoid it.
Lotro may be easy but it is not bad, linear or is there hand holding. But of course there was a post about lotro that you had not stopped by to post bias opinion of a video game you don't play.
try playing all quests when they are still red or orange.... its not easy that way...
On that note, I think Turbine should at least raise the stats of all the mobs a level or two. As it is, my little dwarf guardian is a wrecking ball (like Miley Cyrus, but with a weapon) with his 2nd age two-handed club named "Tater Smasher".
If you think it' easy, start doing the group quests or try to burn down elites.
It get's very challenging then
If the game didn't actively make it difficult to group with people, and discourage you from socializing...
I played at launch and the game now is very solo friendly. There's no really difficulty in grouping as you don't need to in the open world.
Northdowns and Lonelands used to have some good openworld group content, now they give you a magic stone so you can solo it.
This game is very easy compared to what it was I agree.
I also don't like how people tell me to do group content solo to get a challenge. It's as ridiculous as telling someone to do it naked(gearless or whites).
You really are letting the developers off with those statements. It's the developers job to make challenging group/solo content, not mine. However, catering to the masses the only option you have is to instance the content and make it scaleable.
More and more mainstream AAA mmo's are being developed into instanced lobby games, especially at end game. It really does sour the journey when the end game is so similar to something I'm bored off (FPS instanced based PvP deathmatchs).
This is the game that got me into the genre, so I missed out on the more virtual world type games. Any recommendations? Something I should try to see what the 'vets' keeping banging on about.
I'm downloading Vanguard right now. Anything else, hopefully still with an active population. Graphics are not a problem for me.
Northdowns and Lonelands used to have some good openworld group content, now they give you a magic stone so you can solo it.
This game is very easy compared to what it was I agree.
I also don't like how people tell me to do group content solo to get a challenge. It's as ridiculous as telling someone to do it naked(gearless or whites).
....
I'm downloading Vanguard right now. Anything else, hopefully still with an active population. Graphics are not a problem for me.
Only the bookquests have the IG buff, the open world ones have not. North Downs have a lot of fellowship quests in the open.
Yep, the game is over-easy now with the HD changes. And I agree, it's silly that we have to find ourselves the challenge. I like to test the boundaries just like the other guy (that's why I tried to solo many instances since HD launch), but that's not right on the long run. Group content is ment to be played with a group. I mean, imo.
I don't mind the IG buff, since it's only optional, but if I have the chance I like to play those quests in a group as well.
Vanguard's f2p model has a few issues but overall it's friendly and open. The game itself is nice, has many solo and group content, fun mechanics, both crafting and diplomacy are fun. Sadly it's not massively populated. Maybe the late f2p switch, or the bugs are the reason, but sometimes it seems Vanguard is fallen off the radar completely...
If you think it' easy, start doing the group quests or try to burn down elites.
It get's very challenging then
If the game didn't actively make it difficult to group with people, and discourage you from socializing...
Now that takes the really takes the cake!
Now you are simply complaining for the sake of complaining Tibe
Really? The last two times I tried to run through the game with a group of friends we were constantly forced apart by the game mechanics. We all had to be on the exact same step of the exact same quests or we'd all get split off from one another.
Originally posted by BarCrow How did someone play Middle Earth Online beta?...I thought Sierra had to scratch that when they went belly up and got purchased by Vivendi. It never got to Beta..or alpha as far as I know..which may not be much.
How do people remember the Sierra project, which wasn't publicized at all, more than the Turbine Middle Earth Online, which was advertised and developed for 4 years? Boggling.
LotRO IS Middle Earth Online. 9 months before the initial launch they renamed it to LotRO, delayed the game 8 months, and turned the game into a WoW clone from a sandbox.
The Sierra project was entirely unrelated.
I was actually subscribed to some Sierra newsletter. Not sure how I signed up for it. I seemed to remember something I filled out for Police Quest. Maybe that was how . I did play Space and Kings and Police quest so it could have been any of them but I really only remember ever filling some survey or what not from Police Quest. So I think that is how I started receiving a newsletter. On one of them, possibly two...I remember it had little tidbits hinting at the game. Even a screen shot I think. So long ago..lol. I remember the Sierra project for this reason and because..at the time.. I was really only familiar with UO. Although a fan of the Ultima series I was going to hold out for a similar game based on Tolkien's creation. Of course, that incarnation never came and I gradually just forgot and never really delved into MMOs at all until years later. (Wish I'd hopped on the EQ train though). I wasn't really hyped over the Turbine game tbo. The first MMO I ever played was City of Heroes then WOW so by the time Turbine release LOTRO I was pretty engrossed in those two games still. So I admit I never even heard of the Turbine Middle Earth Online precursor to LOTRO. I've since experienced LOTRO and enjoyed my brief time playing (12 months or so off and on) but sounds like it's earlier version (MEO) might have ended up a better game. Who knows.
Turbine's MEO did have a massive following. Far bigger than what ended up in LotRO (though that's an unfair measurement, as most pre release games have bigger followings than the post release games).
MEO wasn't the perma death project Sierra had in mind, but it was a sandbox with the tag line "Live in Middle Earth." It was very much focused on simulating how life would work in Middle Earth. There was an alignment/morality system, and everything was really wide open. No instances.
About 9 months before launch Turbine delayed it and renamed it LotRO, and turned it into an easy, hand holding, quest grinding, instance centric WoW clone. Probably half the reason was because it turned out simulating life in ME was too hard, and it's just easier to make a shallow WoW clone. The other reason, I suspect, is publisher involvement. Turbine won a court case that gave them sole control over the game, and with that power, they turned it into LotRO, fired or relocated their veteran staff members, and hired a bunch of 23ish year old folks to run the game.
Maybe maybe 10% of ALL quest in Lotro have the little saying this quest is intended for solo in red writing. The other 90% of quest do not. That means probably over 90% of the time you can group.
So 10% of a game in no way makes it difficult to group or forces you not to group or advocated anti social behavior.
Nitpicking the minor portions of a video game and turning around and trying to make them sound like the majority is not a very reliable method of describing a video game. As many here have tried to explain to a couple on here.
Maybe maybe 10% of ALL quest in Lotro have the little saying this quest is intended for solo in red writing. The other 90% of quest do not. That means probably over 90% of the time you can group.
Nitpicking the minor portions of a video game
Minor? Quest grinding is the end all be all gameplay of this game.
And you can't quest grind with a group of people if you're all on different steps of the quest.
I'm on step 4 of this "Kill 10 wolf" quest, I try to share it with my bud, either he isn't eligable at all, or he gets put on step 1. Now he has to go kill mobs I already did, in another zone.
Or better yet, I have a quest to go into a dungeon and do something. My friend wants to come with me. He has to grind through an overly long, 20 step linear quest just to enter the dungeon with me.
The end result is generally both of us being in the same group, but in two different zones doing different quests. AND THIS IS WITH REAL LIFE FRIENDS. If this was a stranger? We never would have grouped AT ALL. Who has patience to wait for a stranger like that?
It's not like we can both just ignore the quests and kill mobs together, because there are just about zero rewards or incentives for doing so.
Maybe maybe 10% of ALL quest in Lotro have the little saying this quest is intended for solo in red writing. The other 90% of quest do not. That means probably over 90% of the time you can group.
Nitpicking the minor portions of a video game
Minor? Quest grinding is the end all be all gameplay of this game.
And you can't quest grind with a group of people if you're all on different steps of the quest.
I'm on step 4 of this "Kill 10 wolf" quest, I try to share it with my bud, either he isn't eligable at all, or he gets put on step 1. Now he has to go kill mobs I already did, in another zone.
Or better yet, I have a quest to go into a dungeon and do something. My friend wants to come with me. He has to grind through an overly long, 20 step linear quest just to enter the dungeon with me.
The end result is generally both of us being in the same group, but in two different zones doing different quests. AND THIS IS WITH REAL LIFE FRIENDS. If this was a stranger? We never would have grouped AT ALL. Who has patience to wait for a stranger like that?
It's not like we can both just ignore the quests and kill mobs together, because there are just about zero rewards or incentives for doing so.
What you are describing is a very small % of this game. Also there is nothing wrong going back to help your RL friend kill an extra couple wolves to advance your deed which is a huge incentive and reward.
As as with the majority of MMOs out today, (maybe you just need to find a new type of video game) you cannot share a quest that you are further along in on the chain, games like WoW, Swtor, AoC, ffxiv, eq, TSW, Tera etc etc again maybe you just don't enjoy this type of mmo nothing wrong with that but why waste time playing them and posting on them?
So yes what you are describing is a very small % of the game.
Yes there is is a huge incentive and reward to help your RL friend kill extra mobs more than any other game actually.
I can't justify playing the first real WoW clone that paved the way for all these other crap shoot MMO's. If LOTRO didn't have the name it does it would have closed down years ago.
Maybe maybe 10% of ALL quest in Lotro have the little saying this quest is intended for solo in red writing. The other 90% of quest do not. That means probably over 90% of the time you can group.
Nitpicking the minor portions of a video game
Minor? Quest grinding is the end all be all gameplay of this game.
And you can't quest grind with a group of people if you're all on different steps of the quest.
I'm on step 4 of this "Kill 10 wolf" quest, I try to share it with my bud, either he isn't eligable at all, or he gets put on step 1. Now he has to go kill mobs I already did, in another zone.
Or better yet, I have a quest to go into a dungeon and do something. My friend wants to come with me. He has to grind through an overly long, 20 step linear quest just to enter the dungeon with me.
The end result is generally both of us being in the same group, but in two different zones doing different quests. AND THIS IS WITH REAL LIFE FRIENDS. If this was a stranger? We never would have grouped AT ALL. Who has patience to wait for a stranger like that?
It's not like we can both just ignore the quests and kill mobs together, because there are just about zero rewards or incentives for doing so.
What you are describing is a very small % of this game.
In the whole year and a half I dumped into the game, this was 90% of my gameplay
Originally posted by fantasyfreak112 I can't justify playing the first real WoW clone that paved the way for all these other crap shoot MMO's. If LOTRO didn't have the name it does it would have closed down years ago.
Oh that's absolutely true. The name is the only thing keeping this thing going. Sad that the biggest IP in the whole world can barely stay afloat, but that's what you do when you crank out a WoW clone.
Originally posted by fantasyfreak112 I can't justify playing the first real WoW clone that paved the way for all these other crap shoot MMO's. If LOTRO didn't have the name it does it would have closed down years ago.
That argument is so weak.
wow would have closed is it didn't have the the Warcraft
swtor would have closed if it didn't have the star wars
age of Conan would close is it didn't have to Conan
STO would close if it didn't have the star trek
ffxiv would close if it didn't have the final fantasy
eq2 and eq next would will close without the eq
eso will close close without the elder scrolls
I can keep going...
hope you get the point of how that arguement is weak.
Maybe maybe 10% of ALL quest in Lotro have the little saying this quest is intended for solo in red writing. The other 90% of quest do not. That means probably over 90% of the time you can group.
Nitpicking the minor portions of a video game
Minor? Quest grinding is the end all be all gameplay of this game.
And you can't quest grind with a group of people if you're all on different steps of the quest.
I'm on step 4 of this "Kill 10 wolf" quest, I try to share it with my bud, either he isn't eligable at all, or he gets put on step 1. Now he has to go kill mobs I already did, in another zone.
Or better yet, I have a quest to go into a dungeon and do something. My friend wants to come with me. He has to grind through an overly long, 20 step linear quest just to enter the dungeon with me.
The end result is generally both of us being in the same group, but in two different zones doing different quests. AND THIS IS WITH REAL LIFE FRIENDS. If this was a stranger? We never would have grouped AT ALL. Who has patience to wait for a stranger like that?
It's not like we can both just ignore the quests and kill mobs together, because there are just about zero rewards or incentives for doing so.
What you are describing is a very small % of this game.
In the whole year and a half I dumped into the game, this was 90% of my gameplay
Well I would tell your RL friends to keep up then.
in the 6+years this has been an issue maybe 10% of the time, and the other that I have spent the last 6+ yrs not once did someone complain about it.
I do like how you cut out the other part you know about the reward and incentive to go bAck and help out is one if the best in mmos. Remember you send there was zero incentive when actually there is a huge incentive. So based on that major misinformation its clear my source is a lot more reliable .
Again in nothing wrong with not enjoying this type of mmo there are a lot of others that do not follow this model.
Originally posted by fantasyfreak112 I can't justify playing the first real WoW clone that paved the way for all these other crap shoot MMO's. If LOTRO didn't have the name it does it would have closed down years ago.
That argument is so weak.
wow would have closed is it didn't have the the Warcraft
So false it isn't even funny. All these games aren't cloning WoW because of it's name lmao!
swtor would have closed if it didn't have the star wars
Horrible example, it almost did close and is still widely considered one of the biggest MMO fails in recent history
age of Conan would close is it didn't have to Conan
Terrible game on the brink of closing
STO would close if it didn't have the star trek
Another game that's borderline failed since launch
ffxiv would close if it didn't have the final fantasy
True but by now this gives aid to my argument more then yours
eq2 and eq next would will close without the eq
More like EQ2 was so bad it almost failed DESPITE the huge name it had
eso will close close without the elder scrolls
Sadly the TESO name is hurting this game cuz fans are finding out it's nothing like Elder Scrolls. This game is actually decent til you put the TESO name on it, ironically.
I can keep going...
Please do.
hope you get the point of how that arguement is weak.
Maybe maybe 10% of ALL quest in Lotro have the little saying this quest is intended for solo in red writing. The other 90% of quest do not. That means probably over 90% of the time you can group.
Nitpicking the minor portions of a video game
Minor? Quest grinding is the end all be all gameplay of this game.
And you can't quest grind with a group of people if you're all on different steps of the quest.
I'm on step 4 of this "Kill 10 wolf" quest, I try to share it with my bud, either he isn't eligable at all, or he gets put on step 1. Now he has to go kill mobs I already did, in another zone.
Or better yet, I have a quest to go into a dungeon and do something. My friend wants to come with me. He has to grind through an overly long, 20 step linear quest just to enter the dungeon with me.
The end result is generally both of us being in the same group, but in two different zones doing different quests. AND THIS IS WITH REAL LIFE FRIENDS. If this was a stranger? We never would have grouped AT ALL. Who has patience to wait for a stranger like that?
It's not like we can both just ignore the quests and kill mobs together, because there are just about zero rewards or incentives for doing so.
What you are describing is a very small % of this game.
In the whole year and a half I dumped into the game, this was 90% of my gameplay
Well I would tell your RL friends to keep up then.
So your solution to bad game design that actively discourages grouping is... to tell my friends never to log in without me, and for all of us to do the same quests at the same time no matter what?
Originally posted by fantasyfreak112 I can't justify playing the first real WoW clone that paved the way for all these other crap shoot MMO's. If LOTRO didn't have the name it does it would have closed down years ago.
That argument is so weak.
wow would have closed is it didn't have the the Warcraft
So false it isn't even funny. All these games aren't cloning WoW because of it's name lmao!
swtor would have closed if it didn't have the star wars
Horrible example, it almost did close and is still widely considered one of the biggest MMO fails in recent history
age of Conan would close is it didn't have to Conan
Terrible game on the brink of closing
STO would close if it didn't have the star trek
Another game that's borderline failed since launch
ffxiv would close if it didn't have the final fantasy
True but by now this gives aid to my argument more then yours
eq2 and eq next would will close without the eq
More like EQ2 was so bad it almost failed DESPITE the huge name it had
eso will close close without the elder scrolls
Sadly the TESO name is hurting this game cuz fans are finding out it's nothing like Elder Scrolls. This game is actually decent til you put the TESO name on it, ironically.
I can keep going...
Please do.
hope you get the point of how that arguement is weak.
We haven't
Well you have your opinion I have mine. These games are based around the name for example Swtor it's based around Star Wars, just for the record the biggest fail ever has over a million players a month and making a profit sounds like a failure nice try. These games would not exist just like Halo, cod, metal gear , Zelda, Mario without the main aspect of them their ip. To say x game would close without the name is ridiculous because the game wouldn't never been made without that ip.
.
That argument is weak and always will be. It's usually the argument haters throw out when all their other talking points have failed it's normal don't worry happens all the time. Better luck next time.
Maybe maybe 10% of ALL quest in Lotro have the little saying this quest is intended for solo in red writing. The other 90% of quest do not. That means probably over 90% of the time you can group.
Nitpicking the minor portions of a video game
Minor? Quest grinding is the end all be all gameplay of this game.
And you can't quest grind with a group of people if you're all on different steps of the quest.
I'm on step 4 of this "Kill 10 wolf" quest, I try to share it with my bud, either he isn't eligable at all, or he gets put on step 1. Now he has to go kill mobs I already did, in another zone.
Or better yet, I have a quest to go into a dungeon and do something. My friend wants to come with me. He has to grind through an overly long, 20 step linear quest just to enter the dungeon with me.
The end result is generally both of us being in the same group, but in two different zones doing different quests. AND THIS IS WITH REAL LIFE FRIENDS. If this was a stranger? We never would have grouped AT ALL. Who has patience to wait for a stranger like that?
It's not like we can both just ignore the quests and kill mobs together, because there are just about zero rewards or incentives for doing so.
What you are describing is a very small % of this game.
In the whole year and a half I dumped into the game, this was 90% of my gameplay
Well I would tell your RL friends to keep up then.
So your solution to bad game design that actively discourages grouping is... to tell my friends never to log in without me, and for all of us to do the same quests at the same time no matter what?
Haha that's not what I said at all nice try.
What I said is lotro makes it rewarding to go back and help your friend so it encourages grouping.
I also never said lotro was a bad game. See if I think a game is bad I move on to the next one, I would never spend a min or worse years spreading misinformation or lies on a video game I think is bad or hate. I just don't see that as healthy, mature , normal behavior but hey that's just my opinion.
Well you have your opinion I have mine. These games are based around the name for example Swtor it's based around Star Wars, just for the record the biggest fail ever has over a million players a month and making a profit sounds like a failure nice try. These games would not exist just like Halo, cod, metal gear , Zelda, Mario without the main aspect of them their ip. To say x game would close without the name is ridiculous because the game wouldn't never been made without that ip.
This is true in the case of cash grab MMO's that attempt to leech off an IP's name; such as, LOTRO.
Well you have your opinion I have mine. These games are based around the name for example Swtor it's based around Star Wars, just for the record the biggest fail ever has over a million players a month and making a profit sounds like a failure nice try. These games would not exist just like Halo, cod, metal gear , Zelda, Mario without the main aspect of them their ip. To say x game would close without the name is ridiculous because the game wouldn't never been made without that ip.
This is true in the case of cash grab MMO's that attempt to leech off an IP's name; such as, LOTRO.
So a game that has never merged servers still releasing content 6+ yrs in is cash grab? Cash grab usually refers to quick, fast, instant 6+ years doesn't sound like any of those. But again we have different opinions.
LotRO has always been very easy for the first twenty levels and gets harder after that. How much harder is entirely dependent on how you yourself choose to play the game.
There is far more content available than is needed to level up a character so if you are the type of person who feels compelled to finish every quest available to you, you'll end up tackling most of them when on, or more likely over the level of the quest and they will be very easy. However, if you make a point to miss out many of the non story line quests and forge ahead so that you are only tackling quests that are orange or red, I can assure you, you won't be finding them easy mode.
Like all so called F2P games in reality, it's a Freemium game and unless you are a complete Scrooge, you should expect to spend some money on quest packs to keep you going until Moria. After that you can buy the expansions, which include all the quests you need. The best deal is to buy the quad pack from the LotRO store. For $39.99 you get Moria, Mirkwood, Isengard and Rohan. If you buy that straight away, you'll get extra character slots, access to the Runekeeper and Warden classes and a mount.
It's also worth paying one months VIP fee of $14.99 to upgrade to a premium account right from the start, as it permanently unlocks some useful features you'll need but will cost more if you buy them as extras in the store.
Originally posted by Tibernicuspa LotRO is just as bad, linear, and hand holding. Avoid it.
What I was thinking. Haven't tried Neverwinter tbh, but can't imagine it's really that much worse.
It's not any worse than LotRO. LotRO gives the illusion of freedom but it's still linear quest based progression. At least Neverwinter has real-time combat to keep it interesting.
Well you have your opinion I have mine. These games are based around the name for example Swtor it's based around Star Wars, just for the record the biggest fail ever has over a million players a month and making a profit sounds like a failure nice try. These games would not exist just like Halo, cod, metal gear , Zelda, Mario without the main aspect of them their ip. To say x game would close without the name is ridiculous because the game wouldn't never been made without that ip.
This is true in the case of cash grab MMO's that attempt to leech off an IP's name; such as, LOTRO.
So a game that has never merged servers still releasing content 6+ yrs in is cash grab? Cash grab usually refers to quick, fast, instant
How else do you explain them firing their veteran developers 9 month before launch, and restructuring the game to be a WoW clone, other than a quick cash grab?
Originally posted by BarCrow How did someone play Middle Earth Online beta?...I thought Sierra had to scratch that when they went belly up and got purchased by Vivendi. It never got to Beta..or alpha as far as I know..which may not be much.
How do people remember the Sierra project, which wasn't publicized at all, more than the Turbine Middle Earth Online, which was advertised and developed for 4 years? Boggling.
LotRO IS Middle Earth Online. 9 months before the initial launch they renamed it to LotRO, delayed the game 8 months, and turned the game into a WoW clone from a sandbox.
The Sierra project was entirely unrelated.
I was actually subscribed to some Sierra newsletter. Not sure how I signed up for it. I seemed to remember something I filled out for Police Quest. Maybe that was how . I did play Space and Kings and Police quest so it could have been any of them but I really only remember ever filling some survey or what not from Police Quest. So I think that is how I started receiving a newsletter. On one of them, possibly two...I remember it had little tidbits hinting at the game. Even a screen shot I think. So long ago..lol. I remember the Sierra project for this reason and because..at the time.. I was really only familiar with UO. Although a fan of the Ultima series I was going to hold out for a similar game based on Tolkien's creation. Of course, that incarnation never came and I gradually just forgot and never really delved into MMOs at all until years later. (Wish I'd hopped on the EQ train though). I wasn't really hyped over the Turbine game tbo. The first MMO I ever played was City of Heroes then WOW so by the time Turbine release LOTRO I was pretty engrossed in those two games still. So I admit I never even heard of the Turbine Middle Earth Online precursor to LOTRO. I've since experienced LOTRO and enjoyed my brief time playing (12 months or so off and on) but sounds like it's earlier version (MEO) might have ended up a better game. Who knows.
Turbine's MEO did have a massive following. Far bigger than what ended up in LotRO (though that's an unfair measurement, as most pre release games have bigger followings than the post release games).
MEO wasn't the perma death project Sierra had in mind, but it was a sandbox with the tag line "Live in Middle Earth." It was very much focused on simulating how life would work in Middle Earth. There was an alignment/morality system, and everything was really wide open. No instances.
About 9 months before launch Turbine delayed it and renamed it LotRO, and turned it into an easy, hand holding, quest grinding, instance centric WoW clone. Probably half the reason was because it turned out simulating life in ME was too hard, and it's just easier to make a shallow WoW clone. The other reason, I suspect, is publisher involvement. Turbine won a court case that gave them sole control over the game, and with that power, they turned it into LotRO, fired or relocated their veteran staff members, and hired a bunch of 23ish year old folks to run the game.
Comments
try playing all quests when they are still red or orange.... its not easy that way...
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
On that note, I think Turbine should at least raise the stats of all the mobs a level or two. As it is, my little dwarf guardian is a wrecking ball (like Miley Cyrus, but with a weapon) with his 2nd age two-handed club named "Tater Smasher".
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
I played at launch and the game now is very solo friendly. There's no really difficulty in grouping as you don't need to in the open world.
Northdowns and Lonelands used to have some good openworld group content, now they give you a magic stone so you can solo it.
This game is very easy compared to what it was I agree.
I also don't like how people tell me to do group content solo to get a challenge. It's as ridiculous as telling someone to do it naked(gearless or whites).
You really are letting the developers off with those statements. It's the developers job to make challenging group/solo content, not mine. However, catering to the masses the only option you have is to instance the content and make it scaleable.
More and more mainstream AAA mmo's are being developed into instanced lobby games, especially at end game. It really does sour the journey when the end game is so similar to something I'm bored off (FPS instanced based PvP deathmatchs).
This is the game that got me into the genre, so I missed out on the more virtual world type games. Any recommendations? Something I should try to see what the 'vets' keeping banging on about.
I'm downloading Vanguard right now. Anything else, hopefully still with an active population. Graphics are not a problem for me.
Only the bookquests have the IG buff, the open world ones have not. North Downs have a lot of fellowship quests in the open.
Yep, the game is over-easy now with the HD changes. And I agree, it's silly that we have to find ourselves the challenge. I like to test the boundaries just like the other guy (that's why I tried to solo many instances since HD launch), but that's not right on the long run. Group content is ment to be played with a group. I mean, imo.
I don't mind the IG buff, since it's only optional, but if I have the chance I like to play those quests in a group as well.
Vanguard's f2p model has a few issues but overall it's friendly and open. The game itself is nice, has many solo and group content, fun mechanics, both crafting and diplomacy are fun. Sadly it's not massively populated. Maybe the late f2p switch, or the bugs are the reason, but sometimes it seems Vanguard is fallen off the radar completely...
Really? The last two times I tried to run through the game with a group of friends we were constantly forced apart by the game mechanics. We all had to be on the exact same step of the exact same quests or we'd all get split off from one another.
Turbine's MEO did have a massive following. Far bigger than what ended up in LotRO (though that's an unfair measurement, as most pre release games have bigger followings than the post release games).
MEO wasn't the perma death project Sierra had in mind, but it was a sandbox with the tag line "Live in Middle Earth." It was very much focused on simulating how life would work in Middle Earth. There was an alignment/morality system, and everything was really wide open. No instances.
About 9 months before launch Turbine delayed it and renamed it LotRO, and turned it into an easy, hand holding, quest grinding, instance centric WoW clone. Probably half the reason was because it turned out simulating life in ME was too hard, and it's just easier to make a shallow WoW clone. The other reason, I suspect, is publisher involvement. Turbine won a court case that gave them sole control over the game, and with that power, they turned it into LotRO, fired or relocated their veteran staff members, and hired a bunch of 23ish year old folks to run the game.
The MEO community was devastated.
Maybe maybe 10% of ALL quest in Lotro have the little saying this quest is intended for solo in red writing. The other 90% of quest do not. That means probably over 90% of the time you can group.
So 10% of a game in no way makes it difficult to group or forces you not to group or advocated anti social behavior.
Nitpicking the minor portions of a video game and turning around and trying to make them sound like the majority is not a very reliable method of describing a video game. As many here have tried to explain to a couple on here.
Minor? Quest grinding is the end all be all gameplay of this game.
And you can't quest grind with a group of people if you're all on different steps of the quest.
I'm on step 4 of this "Kill 10 wolf" quest, I try to share it with my bud, either he isn't eligable at all, or he gets put on step 1. Now he has to go kill mobs I already did, in another zone.
Or better yet, I have a quest to go into a dungeon and do something. My friend wants to come with me. He has to grind through an overly long, 20 step linear quest just to enter the dungeon with me.
The end result is generally both of us being in the same group, but in two different zones doing different quests. AND THIS IS WITH REAL LIFE FRIENDS. If this was a stranger? We never would have grouped AT ALL. Who has patience to wait for a stranger like that?
It's not like we can both just ignore the quests and kill mobs together, because there are just about zero rewards or incentives for doing so.
What you are describing is a very small % of this game. Also there is nothing wrong going back to help your RL friend kill an extra couple wolves to advance your deed which is a huge incentive and reward.
As as with the majority of MMOs out today, (maybe you just need to find a new type of video game) you cannot share a quest that you are further along in on the chain, games like WoW, Swtor, AoC, ffxiv, eq, TSW, Tera etc etc again maybe you just don't enjoy this type of mmo nothing wrong with that but why waste time playing them and posting on them?
So yes what you are describing is a very small % of the game.
Yes there is is a huge incentive and reward to help your RL friend kill extra mobs more than any other game actually.
In the whole year and a half I dumped into the game, this was 90% of my gameplay
Oh that's absolutely true. The name is the only thing keeping this thing going. Sad that the biggest IP in the whole world can barely stay afloat, but that's what you do when you crank out a WoW clone.
That argument is so weak.
wow would have closed is it didn't have the the Warcraft
swtor would have closed if it didn't have the star wars
age of Conan would close is it didn't have to Conan
STO would close if it didn't have the star trek
ffxiv would close if it didn't have the final fantasy
eq2 and eq next would will close without the eq
eso will close close without the elder scrolls
I can keep going...
hope you get the point of how that arguement is weak.
Well I would tell your RL friends to keep up then.
in the 6+years this has been an issue maybe 10% of the time, and the other that I have spent the last 6+ yrs not once did someone complain about it.
I do like how you cut out the other part you know about the reward and incentive to go bAck and help out is one if the best in mmos. Remember you send there was zero incentive when actually there is a huge incentive. So based on that major misinformation its clear my source is a lot more reliable .
Again in nothing wrong with not enjoying this type of mmo there are a lot of others that do not follow this model.
So your solution to bad game design that actively discourages grouping is... to tell my friends never to log in without me, and for all of us to do the same quests at the same time no matter what?
What I was thinking. Haven't tried Neverwinter tbh, but can't imagine it's really that much worse.
Well you have your opinion I have mine. These games are based around the name for example Swtor it's based around Star Wars, just for the record the biggest fail ever has over a million players a month and making a profit sounds like a failure nice try. These games would not exist just like Halo, cod, metal gear , Zelda, Mario without the main aspect of them their ip. To say x game would close without the name is ridiculous because the game wouldn't never been made without that ip.
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That argument is weak and always will be. It's usually the argument haters throw out when all their other talking points have failed it's normal don't worry happens all the time. Better luck next time.
Haha that's not what I said at all nice try.
What I said is lotro makes it rewarding to go back and help your friend so it encourages grouping.
I also never said lotro was a bad game. See if I think a game is bad I move on to the next one, I would never spend a min or worse years spreading misinformation or lies on a video game I think is bad or hate. I just don't see that as healthy, mature , normal behavior but hey that's just my opinion.
This is true in the case of cash grab MMO's that attempt to leech off an IP's name; such as, LOTRO.
So a game that has never merged servers still releasing content 6+ yrs in is cash grab? Cash grab usually refers to quick, fast, instant 6+ years doesn't sound like any of those. But again we have different opinions.LotRO has always been very easy for the first twenty levels and gets harder after that. How much harder is entirely dependent on how you yourself choose to play the game.
There is far more content available than is needed to level up a character so if you are the type of person who feels compelled to finish every quest available to you, you'll end up tackling most of them when on, or more likely over the level of the quest and they will be very easy. However, if you make a point to miss out many of the non story line quests and forge ahead so that you are only tackling quests that are orange or red, I can assure you, you won't be finding them easy mode.
Like all so called F2P games in reality, it's a Freemium game and unless you are a complete Scrooge, you should expect to spend some money on quest packs to keep you going until Moria. After that you can buy the expansions, which include all the quests you need. The best deal is to buy the quad pack from the LotRO store. For $39.99 you get Moria, Mirkwood, Isengard and Rohan. If you buy that straight away, you'll get extra character slots, access to the Runekeeper and Warden classes and a mount.
It's also worth paying one months VIP fee of $14.99 to upgrade to a premium account right from the start, as it permanently unlocks some useful features you'll need but will cost more if you buy them as extras in the store.
It's not any worse than LotRO. LotRO gives the illusion of freedom but it's still linear quest based progression. At least Neverwinter has real-time combat to keep it interesting.
Bumping for those who don't know about it.