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LOTRO: Initial Impressions
Knightblast
Member UncommonPosts: 1,787
I've been testing the Open Beta for the past day or so ( a very long night yesterday, heh), and have the following first impressions of this one.
Polish -- The code seems pretty polished to me. I haven't come across any obvious bugs yet, and I've played in many areas of the game. The graphics are smooth, even at highish settings, the animations are fine and I haven't seen any oddities yet. Seems like a polished product.
Graphics -- Quite well done. The setting is familiar, which makes it hard to render well, but the artwork in the game is quite spectacular in evoking familiar areas of Middle Earth. Character models are fine, if a bit uninspired.
Gameplay -- Mostly quest-based. Storyline quests are instanced. I like the storyline quests, they are very well done and also link the game together into arcs more effectively than I've seen in most games. The actual combat will seem familiar to someone who is used to a MMORPG.
Overall -- Quite impressed so far. The most impressive thing is the game's smoothness. I think that, in light of the popularity of the license, will lead to a bright future for the game, at least in the short to medium term. It doesn't seem like a game designed to appeal to hardcore MMO players, but rather to casual players and above all LOTR fans.
Compared to WoW -- There have been a lot of threads about this, and to be honest I'm pretty baffled by them. It doesn't really seem all that similar to WoW to me. The classes seem balanced more along the lines that DAoC did it rather than WoW, and the pace is not the same relentless, almost breathless, pace that WoW features (and which is probably its trademark). I mean, okay, it has the same RPG-style combat, and is very quest based, but beyond those superficial similarities, it doesn't feel like WoW to play really, at least not to me.
Polish -- The code seems pretty polished to me. I haven't come across any obvious bugs yet, and I've played in many areas of the game. The graphics are smooth, even at highish settings, the animations are fine and I haven't seen any oddities yet. Seems like a polished product.
Graphics -- Quite well done. The setting is familiar, which makes it hard to render well, but the artwork in the game is quite spectacular in evoking familiar areas of Middle Earth. Character models are fine, if a bit uninspired.
Gameplay -- Mostly quest-based. Storyline quests are instanced. I like the storyline quests, they are very well done and also link the game together into arcs more effectively than I've seen in most games. The actual combat will seem familiar to someone who is used to a MMORPG.
Overall -- Quite impressed so far. The most impressive thing is the game's smoothness. I think that, in light of the popularity of the license, will lead to a bright future for the game, at least in the short to medium term. It doesn't seem like a game designed to appeal to hardcore MMO players, but rather to casual players and above all LOTR fans.
Compared to WoW -- There have been a lot of threads about this, and to be honest I'm pretty baffled by them. It doesn't really seem all that similar to WoW to me. The classes seem balanced more along the lines that DAoC did it rather than WoW, and the pace is not the same relentless, almost breathless, pace that WoW features (and which is probably its trademark). I mean, okay, it has the same RPG-style combat, and is very quest based, but beyond those superficial similarities, it doesn't feel like WoW to play really, at least not to me.
Comments
Other than the Vista/Graphic driver bug they're having, I'm very impressed by it.
You have to understand...for the last two years almost every MMO that has come out was a pile of horse sh*t.
LoTR isn't God's gift to MMOs but it certainly feels like it in the shadows of the last few MMOs that were just released.
Edit: Also, I have to say that its more compared to EQ2 than WoW. Crazy I know....but every EQ2 shortcut key is the same as LoTR shortcut key
People who have to create conspiracy and hate threads to further a cause lacks in intellectual comprehension of diversity.
Completely agree with op. The only resemblance to wow is in its ease to pick up and play as a new game and iits intuitive feel.
I dont preorder any games as a rule however this one has been a definate for me.
Greatness is difficult to appreciate from close up. The great mountain on the horizon is only the ground when you are standing on it.
LotRO, was boring. Pretty map/world design. But, I got bored of it very fast.
Bland.
Now, if they allowed open pvp on any nutsack that named themselves XxLegolasxX or Gand0lph, or any of the 1,000,001 variations thereon, I'd be sold, if only to make them weep.
As it stands, I'll be avoiding the homo-erotic hobbit festival.
Homoerotic? What do you mean, this game has very little similarity to the Jackson movies.
I must agree with op. When I heard about lotro, I thought, gee another way to cash in on some franchise. IE - major suckage.
Then, earlier this week I read some positive reviews on it. Being sick of the grind fest, I thought I would do a bit more reading. Forums here, forums on the lotro site. More positive stuff about this game. Took a chance and pre-ordered. Logged in Friday, and was thoroughly impressed. Not your typical cheesey exploit of an IP. But, actually very well done.
Another thing to note... the game runs pretty darn good on my machine. I have a Mac Book Pro, Intel. 256mb Video, 1gb Ram, and of course Boot Camp for WinXP. I was a bit afraid that this would run the game like crap, but quite the opposite. Runs great! A ton of people were complaining about serious lag in /ooc, but I saw almost none in the past few days I have been playing.
If you are a Tolkien fan, you will totally dig this game. The way they infuse the Tolkien world into an MMO is really impressive. If you are sick of WoW, or any other grindfest, give this one a shot. I am glad I did.
If you are a type that thirsts for all out PVP, or are more a hardcore mmo'er, you may want to skip lotro. It would likely bore you quickly. The game is all about content. Focus is on PVE, and on doing quests. It's relaxing and low stress to play so far. Crafting has been well implemented... I am actually able to use the stuff I make for myself. Also has the standard stuff: Auction House, Mail system, 5 chars per server, mounts, etc. No playerhousing yet, but I read that they are working on it for a future patch.
Good job Turbine. Much better job with lotro than ddo!
"...and with that cryptic comment, I'm off to bed!"
who me ?