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Lord of the Rings Online: Preview: First 10 Levels
Dana
Member Posts: 2,415
We got to play from levels one to ten with a Hobbit Burglar at an event in San Francisco. Today, we share with you how those ten levels treated us. This article is based on the seven hours of gameplay Senior Editor Dana Massey experienced during the event.
;) The best thing Turbine did with quests was the sheer quantity of them. Little rings on the mini map show quest givers in the character's general vicinity. I did dozens of quests in each area of the land I traveled through and never managed to even accept all that were offered. Someone who just had to experience everything could spend days in the early level areas doing quests and I am not sure the well would ever run dry. I explored the whole Shire and good chunk of the human lands and had more quests than I knew what to do with. It was - at times - overwhelming. Not that that is a bad problem to have.
To help with this, Turbine added a little progress list on the right side of the screen. There, players can add or remove quests to their active list and have simple instructions on what their next step is. All that needs to be done is to click on one to bring up even more detailed instructions. The tool was intuitive and handy. For example, when I left the Human areas for the Shire, I removed the old quests from my active list. I still had them and even re-added them when I went back to Human territory, but since I had no hope of completing them all those miles away, I just stowed them until I wanted to take them up again. |
You can read more here.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Comments
I kill other players because they're smarter than AI, sometimes.
Turbine DOESN'T do it again... ever since I first heard they were the dev team I lost interest in playing, just like I did when I first heard SOE was doing SWG, and with DDO...
There is no doubt they can make a pretty MMO, even AC2 LOOKED good, but thats where things break down...
Its sad, really
Grinding quests is still grinding, sounds too much like FFxi (group combos, lots of quests, little char customization) but with a tired engine and a shiny new skin
Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood. -Nietzsche
Very good review, it make me want to play the game even more than i already wanted to.The one thing I am not happy to hear is the character customization.
I tought they would have gone a step ahead with this one and have more option then say *cough warcraft cough* since they only have so many races to choose from I mean, look at eq2, they have all these options with char customization and they have what, around 16 races? I hope they will be improving that area but for the rest, it look fine to me!
Grinding faction and rerunning the same instance 40 -60 times is a grind to me and boring as watching paint dry. Lotro disguises the 'grind' quite simply with good content. And the ability to solo or group as you wish is a great bonus for the casual player. They have more then a 'pretty' MMO. Then again you'll never see it. <shrug> To each their own 'grind'.
To all those sceptics who are so quick to jump in and criticise I say "Don't knock it until you've tried it" The author of the article said himself he went there not really expecting much and walked away after 7 immersed hours in the game to write what I feel was a very clear and unbiased article. I am always willing to give a new game a DECENT try, I hated a few games when I first tried them, but rather than quit quickly I allowed myself some time to really give them a feel and they turned out to be addictive and fun.
The only thing that might differentiate it from the popular tripe in the MMO industry today are the visuals. That in and of itself is not worth the purchase price.
"While the petting zoo feeling was disappointing, it is hard to fault Turbine for doing what almost every MMO on Earth has ever done. Idealistically, I'd hoped things would be different, but given no one has yet presented a better way of doing things, perhaps that was a bit naive. "
I disagree. I expect developers to be innovative and not copy every aspect of WoW's simplicity in hopes to mimic their success. LOTR shouldn't be using icons over questgivers and showing their location on a minimap with obvious scripts that don't offer any puzzle solving. That is just way too easy and gives me the feeling of being led around by my nose.
The way quests were done in early EQ1 were much better. Not knowing who had a quest actually made every NPC worth engaging. When questgivers have icons or glows around them, indicating there is a quest available, it makes every other NPC unimportant and no one bothers talking to them. Those other NPCs might as well not even be there at all.
In early EQ1 you had to pursue a conversation with a NPC in an attempt to extract information. Some of it was useful, pertaining to a quest or tactical, geographical information, while some of it was lore, or just plain fluff. The information wasn't just handed to you on a silver platter. You could miss a quest or important information by not pursuing a line of questioning which made each NPC potentially valuable and each quest more realistic and individually attuned. You had to think and problem solve since some were quite vague, but that makes them challenging and unique and the game fun, even though at times frustrating as well.
"We feel gold selling and websites that promote it damage games like Vanguard and will do everything possible to combat it."
Brad McQuaid
Chairman & CEO, Sigil Games Online, Inc.
Executive Producer, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
www.vanguardsoh
i'm not too sure though if i'll play LOTRO though. the character customization is a large feature and very important. and it also seems that there's lots of instancing (i could be wrong i dunno). if it's anything like DDO then i wont play it, Turbine totally messed up with that game.
as for one of the above posters who said Turbine AND SOE made him turn down a game, i say this: go marry a night elf, blizzard fanboi!
oh and btw i dont think LOTRO is copying WoW in any way. nor do i think WoW copied pieces from EQ and the other "elder" games, it's just the way mmorpgs are. Turbine's not trying to make a completely innovative game, they're trying to make one with the same feel as the rest but with a LOTR spin on it, which will be very popular with role-players.
Currently Playing: Tabula Rasa
Gaming History: EQ, EQ2, SWG, EVE, Anarchy Online, CoX, GW, SRO, Rakion, Ryzom, WoW, Rappelz, Shadowbane, 9Dragons, DAoC, Dungeon Runners, DnD Online, Space Cowboy, LotRO, Vanguard, Fury, Hellgate
Wanting to Play: WAR, TCoS, Darkfall, Aion
LotRO is very much on the "open world" style of gaming. It is not hyper instanced.
There are instanced missions, but those are largely large story events that involve changing the world (something you cannot do when others are around).
They also use layered instances. IE: I am in an instanced tutorial (alone) when I start. Then I go into a city with other newbies and we play, but when I complete my newbie arc, I enter a new instance to fight off invaders in that town. Eventually, the town burns down at the end of the quest. Then, I enter the completely open world, where the town has burned down for all in it (given they've completed that quest).
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
To quote a friend of mine:
"I think the game will draw in a lot of hard core LOTR fans yet to me it just seems like a generic MMORPG. It doesn't introduce anything new to the MMO world, its one thing to keep a few tried and true features and a whole other to have nothing but, and one of the great things of the books/movies is the epic-ness of it all. How can LOTRO portray any sense of epic-ness with 1000 other people in a server? It just seems like its a medicre MMO trying to ride the Lord of the Rings namesake. "
I'm a life long LOTR reader/fan, have all the extended version gift box sets, read the Silmarillion and all the Unfinished Tales... get once Turbine was announced I almost literally cried.
Is it just be or is MMORPG.com getting like so many of the game mags out there, afraid to write a bad review so it doesn't loose insider perks and adverts? To biased and you loose readers, as many a game mag has found out!
Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood. -Nietzsche
Bluntly, you're wrong. I'm sorry, but saying you enjoyed something doesn't mean you've sold out to the man. I clearly explained all the things I disliked or liked and the reasons I disliked or liked them. This allows people to evaluate the features I mentioned on their own and form their own opinions, as well as reading mine That's really all you can do at this early stage.
Plus, I more or less agree with your friend (and my article said as much). The only thing I'd add is that they did a damn polished job of it. The mechanics are the same, but the setting is great and the content is bountiful. I've played many games with these mechanics that do not allow me to level up exclusively through quests... That was a major reason I enjoyed LotRO. The fact that the game felt so "complete" at such an early stage was quite impressive.
As the headline said: this game is not innovative.
If you're seeking innovation... look somewhere else.
If you want a familiar, yet really polished MMORPG in just about the best fantasy setting possible... LotRO will interest you.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
Bluntly, you're wrong. I'm sorry, but saying you enjoyed something doesn't mean you've sold out to the man. I clearly explained all the things I disliked or liked and the reasons I disliked or liked them. This allows people to evaluate the features I mentioned on their own and form their own opinions, as well as reading mine That's really all you can do at this early stage.
Plus, I more or less agree with your friend (and my article said as much). The only thing I'd add is that they did a damn polished job of it. The mechanics are the same, but the setting is great and the content is bountiful. I've played many games with these mechanics that do not allow me to level up exclusively through quests... That was a major reason I enjoyed LotRO. The fact that the game felt so "complete" at such an early stage was quite impressive.
As the headline said: this game is not innovative.
If you're seeking innovation... look somewhere else.
If you want a familiar, yet really polished MMORPG in just about the best fantasy setting possible... LotRO will interest you.
Well to be fair, I was thinking of another couple reviews moreso than this one when I said that, but from what you said even just about Char creation, just not being innovative doesn't really describe it... I mean, if the Char creation quality was only up to EQ2 levels it still wouldn't be INNOVATIVE, but it would be up to the "AAA" MMO standard thats already been set...
Perhaps that comment isn't justified by this review, but even the bad ones aren't bad enough... to say DDO came out to "mixed" reviews really is being too generous... its floundering at best.
Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood. -Nietzsche
For me, I write what I think. I honestly have never considered a phrase like "Studio X won't talk to me if I trash their game" when writing. That's just one of those things you need to take our word for though.
For LotRO, the bottom line for me was that I had a lot of fun, despite its flaws. Read the article, I think I mostly talk about flaws, but for whatever reason, I had a blast. That's a good sign for a game, flaws can be fixed, fun is harder.
My original headline was "I liked it and I don't know why", lol. Anyway, it's a mixed bag and not for anyone, but that's what I thought in ten levels. Garrett's doing a full preview for when the NDA comes down, so I am sure we'll go more in depth then.
Dana Massey
Formerly of MMORPG.com
Currently Lead Designer for Bit Trap Studios
I think LoTR is going to be a good game. I like it when I have a lot of little quests to do. Kill 6 of this, or 10 of that, etc. plus turning in the quests yields good bonus points to level faster. All you guys that don't like it, don't play it. That way there will be less people to drag down their servers and I will get a better gaming experience. Lol.
AC2 was just beautiful, and the first game to have a respec, but the combat, the lack of shops, and a retarded pyramid scheme guild setup combined to give me LITERAL headaches when I played it... also WTF is up with only 3 races, 2 of which were as ugly and disingenuous as sin?
Then they get what SHOULD have been the GOD license of MMOs: D and freaking D, that which every RPG in small or large part was based off of. EQ was modeled to be D+D online but without the license and look how successful it was/still is (its numbers now probably beat DDO,lol).
You seriously could not imagine a sweeter plum from a MMO... and yet with all the lore, the built in classes, races, etc etc etc (one could literally go on for DAYS about all the content literally handed to them on a silver platter), they somehow manage to bollocks that up.
And now LOTR... sigh... one wonders where they keep getting the money.
But their games never fail to be beautiful, but something fundimental breaks down, its like a cloned sheep with fraying chromasomes, it looks good and sounds right, but it just falls apart.
Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood. -Nietzsche
It's better be hated for who you are, than loved for who you aren't.
"God, please help us sinful children of Ivalice.."
but with no, and I mean NO innovation, and typical Turbine excecution, people who buy this are gonna with they had their 50 bucks when the 30 day trial is over and so is their time in Middle Earth, (online)...
Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood. -Nietzsche
I will be looking forward for more to come. LOTRO sounds great, I will definitly be giving it a try.
The game is stunningly beautiful at times. Anyone who wrote off Turbine after D&DO will find they did so prematurely. I think LOTRO will benefit from those WoW fans (non-PvP) who want something simiiliar but offer a refreshing change of scenery.
I know I'm there, at least until Warhammer manages to make it retail...
Now playing Vanguard, but drooling for WAR
Did you stop playing the beta after 5 minutes? DDO this game is not, not even close.
DDO is a fully instanced, group only, twitch based fantasy game.
This is an open world, solo & group, strategic and thoughtful MMO. Its nothing like DDO in anyway. The combat is fun and fairly original in parts, the enviroments are interesting and well laid out, the storyline quests are engaging, and they are actually attempting to stay true to the source material instead of dumping in mages, warlocks and necro's like everyone else. Go back to the beta now, log in a dwarf and work your way through the Dwarf starter area for a few hours, exploring the HUGE Dwarf halls that are reminisent of Moria, then log in to DDO and sit on the dock (the starter area) then come back and say it is the same game.
"When people don't know much about something, they tend to fill in the blanks the way they want them to be filled in. They are almost always disappointed." - Will Wright
Turbine = the Uwe Boll of MMOs
Of all that is written, I love only what a person has written with his own blood. -Nietzsche
Also, I completly agree with what R.A. Salvatore said at the Mythic las vegas show. MMO's are most fun when YOU make up a story for yourself, not run through a tredmill of scripted scenes that TELL you what your story is.
Even my current dislike of vanguard is less than my hatered for what LoTR:O is right now, because even with all the dumbing down done to vanguard, it's still a sandbox where I can make my own story, not be told what the hell to do and who the hell I am.