Still one of the best and unique MMOs

Lord.Bachus

I tought most people have forgotten about how good this game actually is for players like me that are into lore and stories...   I think this was the first game that put story so high on their agenda, and set the scene for the newer story based games like ESO, TSW and SWTOR.  And yet still it feels like a unique place..

 

here is why i keep returning to this game..

- even after 7 years the graphical art style is still convincing

- the scenery is still the best in any MMO, traveling the lands has so many beatifull sights

- despite many storie areas and dungeon being instanced, it really feels like a huge open world, more then any other themepark game

- mounted combat, best in any MMO

- big epic battles, being part of mass combat in PvE feels unique

- skirmishes...  Quick group content..

- fun dungeons and raids, very diverse, many of them scaling in level

- housing, still one of the best systems, part of the sociall system

- Quests and lore, having a story paralel to the big events in the books, makes you really feel part of the tolkien lore

- Society, is unbelievable, no other game has so many player organised events

- the music system, and people performing in the game world

- all those little fun things implemented in the world, like chicken runs

- Magic in the Tolkien world feels quite rare compared to other fantasy MMOs, as it should be...

- Regular content updates, like 3 major updates over the last year..

- Class diversity, all classes feel and play totally different, with unique mechanics for every class. Adding to the replayabillity

- so much story and quests, that you need several characters to see and play it all

- monster play, i love fighting other players this way, it does not break the worlds immersion

 

yes, its a leveling game, not an endgame game currently, but there are people everywhere, espescially with the new class recently released, level 1 to 50 zones are booming.  And while the lore is not totally true to tolkiens books, i am sure Tolkien himself would have loved to play a character in this game build around his very own world. 

 

Yet the story is allready in the 3rd book, and progressing towards the probable Mordor Climax, which got me wondering what will happen after that, but then thats another discussion entirely.  So far they they succeeded to make new content feel fresh every time, at allmost every update the game gets a new push into a different direction with new things to experience.

 

as a game hopper, i really hope that i can allways keep returning to this game and feel like getting home..  Its currently the only MMO that feels closer to a virtuall world then to a game

 

Vladric_Hellsinger

I really do wanna want to play this game, it's just I hear all these negative things about it and the F2P restrictions really discourage me to try it. Like I would rather buy all the expansions for 40 bucks right now than to bother with the F2P restrictions. 

Drakephire

Originally posted by Vladric_Hellsinger

I really do wanna want to play this game, it's just I hear all these negative things about it and the F2P restrictions really discourage me to try it. Like I would rather buy all the expansions for 40 bucks right now than to bother with the F2P restrictions. 

I think you can do that. If you buy/sub to the game, then there are no restrictions...in this way, it works just like a P2P game.

But if you just want to try it, the F2P restrictions are really quite tame when starting out, and for a good portion of the low level content.  People have played it entirely free, but that does take grinding at higher levels.

 

 

Vladric_Hellsinger

Originally posted by Drakephire

Originally posted by Vladric_Hellsinger

I really do wanna want to play this game, it's just I hear all these negative things about it and the F2P restrictions really discourage me to try it. Like I would rather buy all the expansions for 40 bucks right now than to bother with the F2P restrictions. 

I think you can do that. If you buy/sub to the game, then there are no restrictions...in this way, it works just like a P2P game.

But if you just want to try it, the F2P restrictions are really quite tame when starting out, and for a good portion of the low level content.  People have played it entirely free, but that does take grinding at higher levels.

 

 

So would it be easier to get the expansions than? 

flizzer

I've suggested on the official forums once we reach Mordor a crazy relative could be discovered with another ring.   

 

The game is huge and there are areas to still explore.  We have yet to see the Southfarthing.  I believe Turbine has said Mordor will not be the end of LOTRO.  It remains to be seen what will happen after we reach Mordor, however. 

Hariken

I have to agree with the OP on this. The game world is massive. It really does deserve more credit than it gets. I can understand some people don't like certain games. But the hate here this game gets is almost like the Wow hate. It also has one of the best older mature communities in mmo gaming. I have always run into people willing to help you with anything. And the chat is not filled with crap. You ask a question and people will answer you without all the crap you get in other chats in mmo's. All these things make a game great also. I still have alot of friends that play this game. They been there since launch and never looked back. 

Po_gg

Originally posted by Vladric_Hellsinger

I really do wanna want to play this game, it's just I hear all these negative things about it and the F2P restrictions really discourage me to try it. Like I would rather buy all the expansions for 40 bucks right now than to bother with the F2P restrictions. 

F2p can be harsh for newly arrived players, but it's a flexible one and you can work with it nicely. The first 30-32 level play is pretty much free, so you can try how does the game feels in the first place - maybe you won't like it and then no need to dive in further.

I would rather buy all the expansions for 40 bucks right now - you can do that any time, but sometimes (when on sale) you can do it for 20, or on very rare cases even for 15 bucks

If you don't want to bother with the f2p you still can subscribe and forget the restrictions. That way (if you sub for a while) you don't even have to buy the expansions for money, you can get them from the monthly stipend you get for the subscription.

 

Also you can play for totally free if you don't mind the grind - everything can be unlocked from the store, and its currency (TP, Turbine Points) can be earned from the game.

Kaniver

The move to FTP changed the feel of this game significantly. The graphics are decent at the very least and very engaging at the best.

Be careful in choosing a server some of them are very low in population. I have always enjoyed the crafting in LOTRO but FTP has made a mishmash  of that.

They really need to do a server merge.

The number one thing that annoys me is the pack space situation, I detest at how it causes you to have to constantly micro manage your inventory. It detracts from the enjoyment of the game greatly.

I've always thought the armors were well done in a very western conservative sort of way, and the music surprisingly stays with over the years. Hearing it again brings back a flood of memories.

This game world could be easily improved upon by just changing some of the systems and how there going at FTP. It doesn't need to be that dang complex.

Hariken

Originally posted by Po_gg

Originally posted by Vladric_Hellsinger

I really do wanna want to play this game, it's just I hear all these negative things about it and the F2P restrictions really discourage me to try it. Like I would rather buy all the expansions for 40 bucks right now than to bother with the F2P restrictions. 

F2p can be harsh for newly arrived players, but it's a flexible one and you can work with it nicely. The first 30-32 level play is pretty much free, so you can try how does the game feels in the first place - maybe you won't like it and then no need to dive in further.

I would rather buy all the expansions for 40 bucks right now - you can do that any time, but sometimes (when on sale) you can do it for 20, or on very rare cases even for 15 bucks

If you don't want to bother with the f2p you still can subscribe and forget the restrictions. That way (if you sub for a while) you don't even have to buy the expansions for money, you can get them from the monthly stipend you get for the subscription.

 

Also you can play for totally free if you don't mind the grind - everything can be unlocked from the store, and its currency (TP, Turbine Points) can be earned from the game.

That expansion deal is also making me want to go back and play it.  Pretty great deal for all of them right now.

Po_gg

Originally posted by flizzer

...  We have yet to see the Southfarthing.  ...

The Order (a hobbit roleplay kinship) already held 2 (I think) player events for this, with concerts, speeches and petition to the Mayor of Michel Delving... since the Southfarthing gate is there, near the Shire Homesteads, but it's closed since the game launched. It needs to be open - according to them hobbitses

 

edit: http://youtu.be/_3AMtGYtQCI  (spoiler, of course the gate is still closed. Mayor Whitfoot is not one hobbit easy to scare with bagpipes)

ReaperUk

I got in the open beta for this late summer 2006, took a lifetime sub at release and I've been playing it on and off ever since. I've played all the AAA mmos that have released since then but always return at least once a year. Many of my original kin still play it and have continuously for the past eight years. It's definitely the best mmorpg overall in that time for me. There's just an unbelievable amount of content.

rodingo

I loved the game back in 2007.  It helped ween me off of WoW and it was actually the first MMO that my wife and I played together.  Looking at, and having played, similar games with quest hub and gear treadmill focus since then really makes me  want more of a reason to come back instead of the same old same old.  I'm a lifetime member so my TP are just piling up that I use to buy an expansion every so often or various mounts.  I just wish they would do somewhat of a visual overhaul.  I have been wanting them to do that before WoW even announce they were doing it with WoD.

TheGoblinKing

Wish I could still feel the same as others about this game. I re visited it actually only 12 days ago, and my character still walks like she has a stick jammed up her rear and the graphics are... well terrible.

The dungeons I never liked and there pvp was worse (monster play)

We used to play before it was FTP, and the game isn't terrible if you like questing, but omg does it need a graphical face lift.

Tokken

It's a FUN / CASUAL MMO but I wouldn't put it in the BEST category. LOL

MoonKnightt

I really want to try this game and thank you so much for this post. Every time I convince myself to give it a fair chance I go to the forums and read horror story after horror story about Turbine and the Devs. Yeah I know; "Every MMO forum is like that!" but the fact of the matter is there is some compelling evidence on them.

Such as "If you come from any other MMO, you'd have to be pretty damn determined to fight through the clunky gameplay to reach the goodness that is this game."

"Riders of Rohan ruined the game for many! Mounted combat great in theory but bombed."

"Punishing game for anyone new to the game without friends and isn't a part of a well established guild."

"Isengard was and remains a abomination."

"Turbine is falling prey to the entitlement generation (thought who want everything but do not want to do anything to get it)."

"Free to play quickly turned to pay to win in the moors."

"Radiance ruined the game and created a divide in the community."

"Dead servers."

I don't know what any of the above stuff means, but it seems consistently complained about overall. However one thing that is praised is the story which is the main thing I care about. I also trust you judgment and almost always agree with what you say, so I will be checking it out.

Thanks again for this thread.

 

Po_gg

Originally posted by Troveaholic

I don't know what any of the above stuff means, but it seems consistently complained about overall. However one thing that is praised is the story which is the main thing I care about. I also trust you judgment and almost always agree with what you say, so I will be checking it out.

Thanks again for this thread.

The story and the world are great indeed, and don't worry, most of that quoted stuff is outdated now most, but not all, some of them are still valid.

Like "Punishing game for anyone new to the game without friends and isn't a part of a well established guild." is a nope, because of "Turbine is falling prey to the entitlement generation (thought who want everything but do not want to do anything to get it)." -> the game is fairly easy now even if solo. And also the community is helpful, so if you decide to group up, you can gather a pug pretty fast without a kin too - on most servers.

"Dead servers."  is a nope too in a general, but there are a few with lower pop. Some like it that way and go to those for avoiding the crowd you can check the forums before the selection (for US timezone the most populated are Brandywine and Gladden for "regular" play and Landroval if you want to roleplay a lot.)

 

The rest of the lines are either outdated (radiance is not even in the game since years, Isengard and Rohan fixed, mounted combat is fun but it's still not the cup of tea for some players, Moors is getting balance fixes after every update) or not precise (goodness starts right at the beginning, so you get that bundled with the clunky gameplay )

Azaron_Nightblade

I'll actually have to try it sometime, I think I originally steered away from it because of bad experiences with the publisher back when it was new and before it converted to F2P under Turbine's own management (IIRC at least).

So many games to play, so very little time. =/

(Heck, even with more time I highly doubt I could play all those that I actually want to. And to think some people complain endlessly about having nothing to play! xD )

Azaron_Nightblade

Originally posted by Po_gg

Originally posted by Troveaholic

I don't know what any of the above stuff means, but it seems consistently complained about overall. However one thing that is praised is the story which is the main thing I care about. I also trust you judgment and almost always agree with what you say, so I will be checking it out.

Thanks again for this thread.

The story and the world are great indeed, and don't worry, most of that quoted stuff is outdated now most, but not all, some of them are still valid.

Like "Punishing game for anyone new to the game without friends and isn't a part of a well established guild." is a nope, because of "Turbine is falling prey to the entitlement generation (thought who want everything but do not want to do anything to get it)." -> the game is fairly easy now even if solo. And also the community is helpful, so if you decide to group up, you can gather a pug pretty fast without a kin too - on most servers.

"Dead servers."  is a nope too in a general, but there are a few with lower pop. Some like it that way and go to those for avoiding the crowd you can check the forums before the selection (for US timezone the most populated are Brandywine and Gladden for "regular" play and Landroval if you want to roleplay a lot.)

 

The rest of the lines are either outdated (radiance is not even in the game since years, Isengard and Rohan fixed, mounted combat is fun but it's still not the cup of tea for some players, Moors is getting balance fixes after every update) or not precise (goodness starts right at the beginning, so you get that bundled with the clunky gameplay )

Ah, I remember originally cancelling my DDO subscription because the game was pointless to play solo (back when it was still a B2P game), so Turbine initially made that mistake with their other title too from the sound of it. Glad to hear they fixed it though!

Octagon7711

I'm a founder and still play it off and on from time to time. 

Po_gg

Originally posted by Azaron_Nightblade

 

Ah, I remember originally cancelling my DDO subscription because the game was pointless to play solo (back when it was still a B2P game), so Turbine initially made that mistake with their other title too from the sound of it. Glad to hear they fixed it though!

Yep, they added an option to all the former "forced grouping" instances, so now it's up to the player, either play it with a group, or play it solo/duo with a big buff (some call it godmode buff ). Sometimes you need to work with it hard, changing the build, etc (for example a squishy single-target character in an instance with massive swarm of adds will die even with the buff, so need to hone the build), but the option is there. It's still more fun with a group, imo

Originally posted by Azaron_Nightblade

So many games to play, so very little time. =/

Agree, for some extent I'm glad this year was so bland, more time for the current games I played 1-2 weeks of Wildstar and Firefall, nothing on ESO besides the beta (didn't even open the box yet), and almost reactivated my old FF XIV acc when ARR added housing, but I was busy elsewhere, so I skipped it in the end.

 

edit: off-topic list of 2014's gametime subbed, 2 months of AoC, 1 month of TOR, 1 month of TSW. Without a sub, a few more weeks in TOR and AoC, maybe +1 month (combined) in TSW, a couple weeks in Defiance, STO and Neverwinter, and cca. 5 months of LotRO (tough to add it up, played it almost every day during the year, with 3 months exclusively and pretty heavily during the course). This year's big loss among my main games went to STO, I barely played it sadly.

Necropsie

I started playing again recently, been a member till 2008. All i can say is, even after 6 years, i still find new quests in the starter areas i have never ever seen before. I just hope they get rid of the archaic UI someday and give us a little faster paced combat - maybe new animations too. Especially.. the animation after a cc effect ends, it saddens my heart how bad it is.

BruceYee

I don't know if what happened to me with this game was a rare but when I was installing this game about a year ago it said I had to install Pando Media Booster( I think LoL requires this to install too) and that gave me malware :

I played this game during Mines of Moria and it was some of the most magical gaming time I've ever had.

Po_gg

Originally posted by Necropsie
I started playing again recently, been a member till 2008. All i can say is, even after 6 years, i still find new quests in the starter areas i have never ever seen before. I just hope they get rid of the archaic UI someday and give us a little faster paced combat - maybe new animations too. Especially.. the animation after a cc effect ends, it saddens my heart how bad it is.

You find new ones, because occasionally they add new quests to the lower areas as well

UI, there's a LUA support for a while now, so you can change the UI as much as you want. Here's a cool UI pack http://www.lotrointerface.com/downloads/info581-JRRSkinscollection-Atributetomiddleearth.html

Animations, well... can't help with that

Po_gg

Originally posted by BruceYee

I don't know if what happened to me with this game was a rare but when I was installing this game about a year ago it said I had to install Pando Media Booster( I think LoL requires this to install too) and that gave me malware :

I played this game during Mines of Moria and it was some of the most magical gaming time I've ever had.

Luckily Pando is off the picture now (in brackets the "luckily", since we got Akamai instead... ). Yep, lots of AVs gave a malware alert for PMB, it was a lame distribution method. Not saying Akamai is better, but probably a bit more secure.

Lord.Bachus

Originally posted by Jean-Luc_Picard

I was in closed beta, bought a pre-order, am a founder (still have my cloak and the other stuff), and I stopped playing seriously when the game went free to play to only do the story lines. The quality had started to drop before though already anyway.

At release, LOTRO was a good theme park MMO despite having one of the worst combat of the genre. Nowadays, the game is just aged, totally lacks any kind of quality maintenance by Turbine, and the good parts can no longer compensate for the crappy combat and other flaws the game has.

 

To bad you base your opinion on six years ago, the first years after release the combat imrpoved dramatically making much much more fluent.    And they actually kept improving and adding more and better content over the years..  Graphics seem timeless, and annimations still are on par..

 

 

Originally posted by ReallyNow10
Had potential.  If it wasn't for the forced storyline (i.e., locking zones until you perform quests), I'd be in it right now.  If a zone is too high level for my character, then let me walk into it at my own risk.  Do not lock me out because I didn't have the patience to sit through a series of boring

Point taken, this is not your game, its all about the story line, and all those stories are wrapped in a multitiude of mechanics to add diversity..  If you dont like reading books, dont play this game, because this game tends to feel like a book featuring you..  Its a themepark very much

 

 

Originally posted by Troveaholic

I really want to try this game and thank you so much for this post. Every time I convince myself to give it a fair chance I go to the forums and read horror story after horror story about Turbine and the Devs. Yeah I know; "Every MMO forum is like that!" but the fact of the matter is there is some compelling evidence on them.

Such as "If you come from any other MMO, you'd have to be pretty damn determined to fight through the clunky gameplay to reach the goodness that is this game."

"Riders of Rohan ruined the game for many! Mounted combat great in theory but bombed."

"Punishing game for anyone new to the game without friends and isn't a part of a well established guild."

"Isengard was and remains a abomination."

"Turbine is falling prey to the entitlement generation (thought who want everything but do not want to do anything to get it)."

"Free to play quickly turned to pay to win in the moors."

"Radiance ruined the game and created a divide in the community."

"Dead servers."

I don't know what any of the above stuff means, but it seems consistently complained about overall. However one thing that is praised is the story which is the main thing I care about. I also trust you judgment and almost always agree with what you say, so I will be checking it out.

Thanks again for this thread.

 

 Its free, just some advice

- make sure to pick a populated server

- make sure to join a friendly leveling guild, with helpfull people, they tend to be all over the place

- take the stories step by step, leveling is the game and not the road to endgame

 

 

Originally posted by Gorwe
It is a nice game that is sadly outdated on every front.

Story? Swtor/TSW
World? wow/eso
Combat? Everything
Animations? Everything

As is evident, there is very little reason to play LoTRO besides the IP and community. If I were to suggest a game to LoTRO fans, it'd be ESO. Maybe swtor, but that one is SF so...

One mustn't forget that if you want a themepark game, there are 2 HUGE games out there(wow/eq2).

With all this said, if only they updated combat(to feel more responsive) and animations(lol horrible! :P )

Story, sure swtor and tsw have a nicer wrap around the story parts, but the lore of this game is much much deeper if you tend to read.

 

world, nothing beats the scenery and open world feel of Lotro, and i mean no single MMO comes close to this feel except Maybe Vanguard.   

 

Combat is as good as it gets in tab targetting MMOs personally i think minstrell is the most fun healing class in any tab targetting MMO, and Warden is the most fun class in MMO history...  

 

Annimations are still acceptable even after 7 years, and comming from me, that left a lot of games for bad annimations, it means a lot.  Maybe you only played at release, because back then annimations where stiff.... But my hobbit warden annimations are spot on and one of the reasons i love this class

Athisar

I think people overstate how poor the animations and combat are. The combat isn't as fluid as WoW, and the animations aren't as impressive as ESO, but neither is awful. Combat can feel a little bit slow, but it varies between classes and skills. Each class has a very different style of combat, for example the minstrel and hunter are both ranged but nothing like each other.

There are usually negatives with f2p, but it's not as bad as others. The cash shop isn't full of RNG lockboxes, and boosts are generally just convenience items that I've never once bought. The daily gift gives a lot of these type of items too. In saying that I'd strongly recommend anyone enjoying the game to buy at least one of the cheap starter packs in order to unlock various features on the account together with extras - the best deal by far is the Mithril edition, which includes loads of quest packs, a mount, and 2,000 TP (the edition is cheaper than the value of the points alone).

Playing the game in a regular way will earn you Turbine Points at a steady rate, and each deed/achievement can be repeated indefinitely on every character on every server for those who want to grind.