New to Lotro: A few questions

Waldoe

I am a huge fan of MMOs and the Lord of the rings books and movies series. I do not know why I did not try this game out until now. I am looking to play this game until FFXIV or GW2 comes out and maybe even longer than that if it really pulls me in. So I will just number the few questions I have to make it easy to answer them.

1. Game population still healthy? Do not want to take the time to level and and see the game be empty for endgame.

2. How long does it normally take to hit level cap? I play for a few hours each day sometimes a bit more.

3. Are there a lot of cool areas/landscapes, towns, monsters to enjoy as you progress through the game? So far so good, but I have only played a hunter up to lvl 20 and I am going to switch to guardian.

4. What exactly is there to do when I hit endgame? Honestly, I like doing a lot of different yet fairly challenging encounters/raids when I reach the level cap.

5. Also, if there are raids and things how many man raids (8, 12, 24....?) are they and is there a bunch of different ones to do?

6. Is the Mines of Moria expansion fun? Being in the mines was always my favorite parts in the books and movies ha.

7. Is there any word of an expansion past Seige of Mirkwood?

Those are most of the major questions I had for now. If I think of any others ill edit this or post later on in the thread. Thanks.

Azureal

1. I play on Elendilmir. Population is ok, there seems ton be a healthy base of GMT+8 guilds which is nice. Starter areas can feel quiet, but once you hit Bree and beyond, its all good. Weekends are always busy.

 

2. Im not there yet, as I hadnt really felt the urge. Currently have a 39 alt, plus 3 more characters ~ level 20. Thats in about 2 months of play. Once you hit level 30, you can start smashing your way through skirmishes (think instanced Themed mini dungeon runs) and plough your way well into your high 40's and 50's. Ive had to restrain a little bit because of a period of about 2 days I skipped ahead of the wife, shes still at 36, Im now 39. Just from skirmishes.

 

3. Yeah, I will admit, and everyone says the same thing, the world is really nice. Turbine do PvE well, and have graced their players with a beautiful looking gaming world to match. Sure, theres niggles about character animations (who gives a shit) and some waterfalls dont look nice, but honestly, Ive never noticed. Im having too much fun.

 

4. I cant answer, Im not there yet, BUT, our /glff channel always has raids forming. Im talking constantly.

 

5. Again, I dont know. 3, 6, 12? Ive heard those numbers being mentioned. Someone will confirm though.

 

6. Theres talk of a Rohan expansion.....

 

7. No idea, Im not there yet. I do hear a lot of people saying they feel a little burned out after Moria though...

snake_mmo

LotRO instances in short:

 

• 
  A total of 3 epic quest volumes including 25 books. One book includes somewhere between 5-20 chapters. Each chapter includes one or more instanced encounters.
• 
  A total of 29 fellowship dungeons (6 man)
• 
  A total of 10 public dungeons
• 
  A total of 6 raid instances (12-24 man)
• 
  A total of 8 raid objectives in the Ettenmoors
• 
  A total of 13 Skirmish instances (1-12 man)

Rocketeer

Originally posted by Waldoe

I am a huge fan of MMOs and the Lord of the rings books and movies series. I do not know why I did not try this game out until now. I am looking to play this game until FFXIV or GW2 comes out and maybe even longer than that if it really pulls me in. So I will just number the few questions I have to make it easy to answer them.

1. Game population still healthy? Do not want to take the time to level and and see the game be empty for endgame. 

The population on my server is very good(Brandywine), the game population isnt exactly shrinking and Turbine doesnt add new servers nilly willy spreading out the population.

 

2. How long does it normally take to hit level cap? I play for a few hours each day sometimes a bit more.

That depends on how you play. Im playing my new warden exclusively nor for about 2 weeks and he is level 34. Im seeing quite a slowdown now though, so my guess would be atleast another 4 weeks for and i play a couple hours each day. I do crafting, skirmishes and groups. If you know WoW, the leveling speed seems similar to that of the old world, but slower than BC or WoTLK lands. 

3. Are there a lot of cool areas/landscapes, towns, monsters to enjoy as you progress through the game? So far so good, but I have only played a hunter up to lvl 20 and I am going to switch to guardian.

Yes there is quite some variety, but its more subtle than the difference in games like WoW where you go from desert to floating purple rocks in space. Im not sure about the towns, we have Bree, which is awesome, but not much else. Maybe Thorins hall and Rivendell. Oh there are plenty encampments or settlements in the landscapes, but nothing you could call a town(<30 npcs). The monsters are quite interesting, for one they are visually well done. You have the typical stuff like: Orcs, Halforcs, Wargs, Goblins, Trolls, Undead both zombie and skeleton kind, evil humans, evil dwarfs, Giants, wild animals like bears, cats, wolfes and ofc spiders and other creepy crawlies to name just what comes to mind. All of them come with plenty of subcategories, for example there are goblin archers, shamans, warriors, spear throwers etc with further subcategories depending on strenght(swarm, normal, signature, elite, arch elite, arch-nemesis i think).

4. What exactly is there to do when I hit endgame? Honestly, I like doing a lot of different yet fairly challenging encounters/raids when I reach the level cap.

I see alot of people twinking. Others raid, or do the PvMP, in my kin there is also done RP and ofc crafting, which is very important even in endgame.

5. Also, if there are raids and things how many man raids (8, 12, 24....?) are they and is there a bunch of different ones to do?

I know there are some 24 man raids pre-moria i think, the NEW raids though are 12 man. But id like someone to confirm. Im twinking mostly, not at endgame yet ^^.

6. Is the Mines of Moria expansion fun? Being in the mines was always my favorite parts in the books and movies ha.

Some love it some hate it. The area is supposed to be quite a bit bigger than other areas in lotro, and being mines and stuff, easy to loose orientation inside. Personally im looking forward to it.

7. Is there any word of an expansion past Seige of Mirkwood?

Not directly afaik, but if you take a look at the ingame map of middle earth, you notice that we can only access Eriador and have just startet to explore Rhovanion. I would say its a sure bet that there will be more expansions to fill out the map, and complete the story. 

Those are most of the major questions I had for now. If I think of any others ill edit this or post later on in the thread. Thanks.

So yeah i think i know where you are coming from, your worried that by joining late the game might already be dying or stagnant, which happened once or twice to me aswell with other games. Its not the case here, the game is going strong, the population steady/growing and the devs seem to care and not have all run off to do other stuff. Besides the game is not that old.

So dont worry about the game withering away or be a desert, but you have to like the style. Everything here is more serious, well even more realistic. The houses look like houses might look in a medieval time, you dont have HP but morale, and healers are not calling for divine aid but play a merry tune to boost your morale. And then there are hobbits. If you can live with that welcome aboard .

zeowyrm

Originally posted by Waldoe

I am a huge fan of MMOs and the Lord of the rings books and movies series. I do not know why I did not try this game out until now. I am looking to play this game until FFXIV or GW2 comes out and maybe even longer than that if it really pulls me in. So I will just number the few questions I have to make it easy to answer them.

1. Game population still healthy? Do not want to take the time to level and and see the game be empty for endgame.

Pop is fine, although its very topheavy, so don't expect a lot of people til you hit Moria

2. How long does it normally take to hit level cap? I play for a few hours each day sometimes a bit more.

Depends on how you play.  Used to take about a month of dedicated playing.

3. Are there a lot of cool areas/landscapes, towns, monsters to enjoy as you progress through the game? So far so good, but I have only played a hunter up to lvl 20 and I am going to switch to guardian.

There are a lot of great environments, from the frosty Forochel region to the deep places of Moria.  Visually, the environments are the best things in this game

4. What exactly is there to do when I hit endgame? Honestly, I like doing a lot of different yet fairly challenging encounters/raids when I reach the level cap.

There's the Radiance grind, the Legendary Item grind, the Skirmish grind, and once you have your Rad gear, some raiding

5. Also, if there are raids and things how many man raids (8, 12, 24....?) are they and is there a bunch of different ones to do?

There are customizable raids for Skirmishes, althought the only raids I'm familiar with no one does anymore and that was the original 2.  Biggest raid current is 12 I believe.

6. Is the Mines of Moria expansion fun? Being in the mines was always my favorite parts in the books and movies ha.

Moria itself is impressive and magnificent.  I see the Moria expansion as where the game went wrong, but that's just my opinion.

7. Is there any word of an expansion past Seige of Mirkwood?

I'd expect at least Rohan soon, although if they ever add a route to the Lonely Mountain, I'd resub again personally.

Those are most of the major questions I had for now. If I think of any others ill edit this or post later on in the thread. Thanks.

Waldoe

All great info. Thanks everyone. Feel free to add anything else as well.