All i can say is, even in its beta stage LOTRO is awesome, i belive it will do very well once its live indeed. Finally Turbine are getting there touch back and its about time to.
Garrik
________________________________
"once upon a midnight dreary, while i porn surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of 'hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, "give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404."
I started lotro at the first stage of beta(so i've had a few months of experience with the game) I agree with some of the op's opinions and disagree with others. I'll just throw out points as they come to me.
The graphic engine is very nice, impressive graphics without needing a $2000 rig to play. Easily played with highest settings, was even able to play on my laptop on the very lowest settings(my laptop isnt really for gaming)
Classes and combat: Not a whole lotta classes and what classes there are very generic. I've played every one to max level and i never got a real feel for any of them. Imo there wasnt that much difference between the classes(which makes it easier for the devs to balance) Minstral was fun to play, burgler was ok, was able to both solo and group to max level
World size: This is my biggest problem and its funny i hadnt really realized it till they put the queue system in. The servers are going to be very small based on the world map. So if this game has any sucess be prepared to be waiting to get into the game(wow players may be used to this and accept it. Personally i will not pay to play a game where i have to wait an hour or so to get in, reason i quit wow 10 days in)
Crafting: To an old Swg crafter its a joke, but i guess on par with Wow's crafting(didnt get too into wow's crafting but from my small experience it was very similar)
Quests: Some were your typical kill x and collect x number of x, but other quests were very well writen and engaging.
The game will be alot of fun for some people (the lore is rich) but imo not a game that will hold most peoples interest for too long. They could probably improve the game vastly by simple doubling the size of the map, leaving the content alone. There arent many places you can go and explore on your own. Expect players all around at all times.
Flame my opinions if you will, but i've played alot longer than most of you. For a while i was addicted to the game, but it wore off pretty fast.
I would have to agree that it is more of the same. I have been in the Beta for about 3 months now, with 3 charachters, each has over 10 hours of gameplay on them. It feels a lot like WoW, except it does some things better. THis game is not for everybody as people have mentioned. It does not suck you in immedietly, you need to get up to the higher levels to get to the fun stuff. For me atleast, the majority of the quests are boring and the same MMO rehashes. As much as I try to get immeresed, it still feels like a chore. The highlights for me in this game are the graphics (which are decent, I still prefer Guild Wars graphics to LoTRO) and the instanced quests. The instanced stuff is truly amazing, it captures the whole LOTR atmosphere very well and it is just plain fun.
After a 6 month burn-out on mmos i decide to try vanguard, i was enjoying it a lot but the performance was getting me down, so i thought id try for a beta key and give this a shot. Boy was i suprised.
I thought basically an mmo based on LOTR or any other fantasy books/movies would be a crappy cash-in. Not this one.
Great Performance, i can run on high on my low-end system.
Combat feels nice and is a lot of fun.
I found as the quests progressed i actually wanted to find out what was going to happen and wanted to explore all the areas i knew from the movies and books, which now that i think about it is a very positive part of using pre-made well-known lore in a game.
The "lore" feature which records and awards you for using certain skills, killing certain animals and exploring areas, i love it a lot and gives more reason to play than to just level up.
I've not tried the PvM yet but am very interested in trying it as i love pvp.
I'm not a big LOTR fan and haven't seen the movies or read the books in a while, but i think i'm going to re-read the book again, just because this game reminded of what a great place middle-earth is
Im currently a lvl 14 Hunter and loving it. It would be a bit foolish of me to say im going to play this forever or that im going to pre-order it because i dont know if the game will get boring or how the game plays at later lvls, but if im loving it in a few weeks as much as i am now, its a definite pre-order.
With all due respect to the OP, the review sounds more like an article of praise than a review. I like the graphics of the game just as much as the next guy, but "phenomenal" is a big word.
Its a good title but the same old stuff really. No sense of ownership or permanence.
After playing the beta for a couple days, I would have to agree with you (somewhat that is). To me the LOTRO = 70% WoW and 30% EQ2; basically they took all the good things from both games and rolled it into one. I guess I would explain it as an adult version of WoW. However I wont pass final judgement until I get further into the game.
I was a little disapointed with some of the character models (the humans, and elves to be exact). They seem kind of bland looking to me - especially for a next gen MMORPG. The dwarf, hobbits, and environment look great though.
As far as ownership and permanence, do you mean owning houses?
about the bland thing i dont agree at all
about the wow and eq thing maybe but why should that be a bad thing?
p.s. they took great things from wow only to make them better and more challenging.....wow sucks
Sorry, but I've been beta'ing Granado Espada along side LOTRO, and compared to the GE character models the LOTR models seem really bland to me. I guess my view would be different if I hadn't seen the GE graphics - must of spoiled it for me . Plus I'm a anime fanboy .
As far as LOTRO = WoW, it just seems to me that the game is holding players hands through the lower levels (like WoW does thru most of it's levels). It didn't seem very challenging to me. Players must be getting bored with the beta because when I started an elf character I had two players kill-stealing and being typical a-hole punks . LOL, in beta - who would have guessed! I wanted to tell them "you know its not worth kill-stealing to power level, because you don't get to keep the characters".
Anyways, overall I've been enjoying the LOTRO experience.
With all due respect to the OP, the review sounds more like an article of praise than a review. I like the graphics of the game just as much as the next guy, but "phenomenal" is a big word.
What's wrong with the word phenomenal? I've seen reviews about stuff in real life where that word was used.
A review is a review, some praise the subject, some hate on it.
I started lotro at the first stage of beta(so i've had a few months of experience with the game) I agree with some of the op's opinions and disagree with others. I'll just throw out points as they come to me.
The graphic engine is very nice, impressive graphics without needing a $2000 rig to play. Easily played with highest settings, was even able to play on my laptop on the very lowest settings(my laptop isnt really for gaming)
Classes and combat: Not a whole lotta classes and what classes there are very generic. I've played every one to max level and i never got a real feel for any of them. Imo there wasnt that much difference between the classes(which makes it easier for the devs to balance) Minstral was fun to play, burgler was ok, was able to both solo and group to max level
World size: This is my biggest problem and its funny i hadnt really realized it till they put the queue system in. The servers are going to be very small based on the world map. So if this game has any sucess be prepared to be waiting to get into the game(wow players may be used to this and accept it. Personally i will not pay to play a game where i have to wait an hour or so to get in, reason i quit wow 10 days in)
Crafting: To an old Swg crafter its a joke, but i guess on par with Wow's crafting(didnt get too into wow's crafting but from my small experience it was very similar)
Quests: Some were your typical kill x and collect x number of x, but other quests were very well writen and engaging.
The game will be alot of fun for some people (the lore is rich) but imo not a game that will hold most peoples interest for too long. They could probably improve the game vastly by simple doubling the size of the map, leaving the content alone. There arent many places you can go and explore on your own. Expect players all around at all times.
Flame my opinions if you will, but i've played alot longer than most of you. For a while i was addicted to the game, but it wore off pretty fast.
As another beta 1 (alpha 2) player, I have to agree with your post. You have captured what I feel about the game without being biased. It's a solid game. To me, it doesn't offer anything new or different than, say, WoW. But it should be successful as alot of MMOers became MMOers with WoW and are looking to move on after a couple years playing WoW. LOTRO will be easy to transition to, and offers alot of the people that want to get away from the immature crowd (hopefully) a place of refuge.
That said, I feel like the game is a little too bland, and doesn't push the envelope in any direction. For me, it's a small step to the side when I was looking for a big step forward.
Comments
All i can say is, even in its beta stage LOTRO is awesome, i belive it will do very well once its live indeed. Finally Turbine are getting there touch back and its about time to.
Garrik
________________________________
"once upon a midnight dreary, while i porn surfed, weak and weary, over many a strange and spurious site of 'hot xxx galore'. While i clicked my fav'rite bookmark, suddenly there came a warning, and my heart was filled with mourning, mourning for my dear amour, " 'Tis not possible!", i muttered, "give me back my free hardcore!"..... quoth the server, 404."
i'am downloading the game right now , 2 hours to go , comon! faster!
to bad there wont be mount at release
The graphic engine is very nice, impressive graphics without needing a $2000 rig to play. Easily played with highest settings, was even able to play on my laptop on the very lowest settings(my laptop isnt really for gaming)
Classes and combat: Not a whole lotta classes and what classes there are very generic. I've played every one to max level and i never got a real feel for any of them. Imo there wasnt that much difference between the classes(which makes it easier for the devs to balance) Minstral was fun to play, burgler was ok, was able to both solo and group to max level
World size: This is my biggest problem and its funny i hadnt really realized it till they put the queue system in. The servers are going to be very small based on the world map. So if this game has any sucess be prepared to be waiting to get into the game(wow players may be used to this and accept it. Personally i will not pay to play a game where i have to wait an hour or so to get in, reason i quit wow 10 days in)
Crafting: To an old Swg crafter its a joke, but i guess on par with Wow's crafting(didnt get too into wow's crafting but from my small experience it was very similar)
Quests: Some were your typical kill x and collect x number of x, but other quests were very well writen and engaging.
The game will be alot of fun for some people (the lore is rich) but imo not a game that will hold most peoples interest for too long. They could probably improve the game vastly by simple doubling the size of the map, leaving the content alone. There arent many places you can go and explore on your own. Expect players all around at all times.
Flame my opinions if you will, but i've played alot longer than most of you. For a while i was addicted to the game, but it wore off pretty fast.
there r mounts right now but only horses as far as i now
they cost 3 gold pieces
I would have to agree that it is more of the same. I have been in the Beta for about 3 months now, with 3 charachters, each has over 10 hours of gameplay on them. It feels a lot like WoW, except it does some things better. THis game is not for everybody as people have mentioned. It does not suck you in immedietly, you need to get up to the higher levels to get to the fun stuff. For me atleast, the majority of the quests are boring and the same MMO rehashes. As much as I try to get immeresed, it still feels like a chore. The highlights for me in this game are the graphics (which are decent, I still prefer Guild Wars graphics to LoTRO) and the instanced quests. The instanced stuff is truly amazing, it captures the whole LOTR atmosphere very well and it is just plain fun.
there r mounts right now but only horses as far as i now
they cost 3 gold pieces
oh ok, they should update the faq then
just finished downloading , had a go (only till level 4) its a lot like wow and a bit of eq2 in it.
there's a lack of class and race, but its not that bad. a nice game for the LOTR fan but i dont think i ll be playing it at release
Totally agree with the OP, loving this game.
After a 6 month burn-out on mmos i decide to try vanguard, i was enjoying it a lot but the performance was getting me down, so i thought id try for a beta key and give this a shot. Boy was i suprised.
I thought basically an mmo based on LOTR or any other fantasy books/movies would be a crappy cash-in. Not this one.
Great Performance, i can run on high on my low-end system.
Combat feels nice and is a lot of fun.
I found as the quests progressed i actually wanted to find out what was going to happen and wanted to explore all the areas i knew from the movies and books, which now that i think about it is a very positive part of using pre-made well-known lore in a game.
The "lore" feature which records and awards you for using certain skills, killing certain animals and exploring areas, i love it a lot and gives more reason to play than to just level up.
I've not tried the PvM yet but am very interested in trying it as i love pvp.
I'm not a big LOTR fan and haven't seen the movies or read the books in a while, but i think i'm going to re-read the book again, just because this game reminded of what a great place middle-earth is
Im currently a lvl 14 Hunter and loving it. It would be a bit foolish of me to say im going to play this forever or that im going to pre-order it because i dont know if the game will get boring or how the game plays at later lvls, but if im loving it in a few weeks as much as i am now, its a definite pre-order.
After playing the beta for a couple days, I would have to agree with you (somewhat that is). To me the LOTRO = 70% WoW and 30% EQ2; basically they took all the good things from both games and rolled it into one. I guess I would explain it as an adult version of WoW. However I wont pass final judgement until I get further into the game.
I was a little disapointed with some of the character models (the humans, and elves to be exact). They seem kind of bland looking to me - especially for a next gen MMORPG. The dwarf, hobbits, and environment look great though.
As far as ownership and permanence, do you mean owning houses?
about the bland thing i dont agree at all
about the wow and eq thing maybe but why should that be a bad thing?
p.s. they took great things from wow only to make them better and more challenging.....wow sucks
Sorry, but I've been beta'ing Granado Espada along side LOTRO, and compared to the GE character models the LOTR models seem really bland to me. I guess my view would be different if I hadn't seen the GE graphics - must of spoiled it for me . Plus I'm a anime fanboy .
As far as LOTRO = WoW, it just seems to me that the game is holding players hands through the lower levels (like WoW does thru most of it's levels). It didn't seem very challenging to me. Players must be getting bored with the beta because when I started an elf character I had two players kill-stealing and being typical a-hole punks . LOL, in beta - who would have guessed! I wanted to tell them "you know its not worth kill-stealing to power level, because you don't get to keep the characters".
Anyways, overall I've been enjoying the LOTRO experience.
i may try this out it sounds good and looks pritty cool
but the only thing putting me of is the races man dwarf elfs & hobbits
i know there the actualy races from the book/movie but it doesnt feel right why cant we play the bad guy race the orcs etc
cause it just looks like its gonna be WoW without the horde if ya get me zzzz
What's wrong with the word phenomenal? I've seen reviews about stuff in real life where that word was used.
A review is a review, some praise the subject, some hate on it.
As another beta 1 (alpha 2) player, I have to agree with your post. You have captured what I feel about the game without being biased. It's a solid game. To me, it doesn't offer anything new or different than, say, WoW. But it should be successful as alot of MMOers became MMOers with WoW and are looking to move on after a couple years playing WoW. LOTRO will be easy to transition to, and offers alot of the people that want to get away from the immature crowd (hopefully) a place of refuge.
That said, I feel like the game is a little too bland, and doesn't push the envelope in any direction. For me, it's a small step to the side when I was looking for a big step forward.