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LOTR - Beginner MMO... Anything here for MMO veterans ?
webmaster074
Member Posts: 5
i love anything to do with LOTR, and am interested in trying this game now that it is out of beta, but my question is this:
Is there anything here for a hardcore MMO veteran whos played pretty much most MMOs around right now, or is it more of an entry level MMO which wouldnt really keep my interest for more than a few days?
I play EQ2 and that has kept me interested for a few years, and its the only MMO that I have a real love for, but my LOTR passion is strong here too.
Most MMOs I subscribe to dont keep me interested for more than a month (probably besides EVE, and EQ2) is LOTR any different ?
Comments
I don't call me hardcore player, but I'd say no. I have a lvl 50 burglar and I've done already all quests (except the ones in the Ettenmoors (PvP zone) and Helegrod (Raid dungeon). There's not much to do, even for a casual. Now they added a reputation system to occupy the players. The PvP zone is just a joke, as a good hero, you are just too strong (I played there until rank 5), as an evil orc it's real pain (played two evil chars up to rank 3). Helegrod is easy and it invites to stupefying armor grinding.
Lotro's lore is great, but it's all just too easy, I don't think, that you'll be happy for long as a EQ2 veteran. But until lvl 50 the game is great.
If by hard you kmean raids then LoTRO only has a couple of raid dungeons, there may be a few more by the time you level up to them however. If you mean hard by grind level , there are some grinds in game if you choose to go that route, reputation and traits can get grindy if you want to max them out. If you mean hard by game mechanics and strategy, no MMORPG is even half as challanging as say checkers, they are all just time sinks in a graphical chatroom. LoTRO plays about the same as any of them. Learn which buttons to press in the right order and not to attack red mobs and you will be ok.
Do 7 day trial and decide for yourself, it is free just download it.
I miss DAoC
I was an hardcore player in WOW. I'm a fanatic lover of this mmorpg. To be honest as a veteran player lotro atm don't give you much challange. Only the new Thorog boss is a quite interesting challange atm but i'm not sure that can take An hardcore gamer locked for long. I can't say what will happen in the future. But is lotro like tho other MMORPG ? Absolutely not.
Lotro is different. Lotro ambient was realized in an excellent way. I think too many ppl have talk about his amazing graphics but i'm not talking about that. Play as an hobbit in The Shire give you a feeling you can't have from any other mmorpg imo. Not talking only about talkien lore. I wasn't a talkien fanatic. I' m talking about a relaxing way to play an mmorpg and about the feeling this world give you.
I can't if this game will not take you on your chair for years but. Honestly with the book 11 many things will come. Is quite strange the way this game is taking. I was impressed for example that turbine added a reputation system not really hard to be completed, but cut an half of farming needed to have a trait. Not so usual to have a cut on the farming.
As many player are saying this game lack of end game content and can point a little bit more to casual player., Bbut i can't say honestly that turbine is leaving me without endgame content. PVP atm is really a joke, but PVE is nice. To be honest if turbine go for a good endgame challange for hardcore gamers I don't think there's anything else you can go for atm regarding PVE. Turbine have to wake up about that. And hurry a little.
Hello there,
Others have done a good job of answering your question, so I'll try not to reiterate too much of what they said.
I'll sum it up this way...
LoTRO is a so-called casual MMO, which, by definition is not "hardcore". Add to this that it's only been out just over 4 months now, and you have a casual MMO that still has alot of growing to do. As of right now, the only major region accounted for at present is Eriador. Though there's alot to do in that one region, the majority of the complete map still hasn't been added. Heck, they're still expanding on Eriador... so even that region isn't "complete" yet.
As for the PvP, well, again, it's in its infancy.. The concept of PvMP is a unique twist on PvP and I think it will grow and develop based on player feedback, in addition to Turbine's observations on how it can be improved, etc.
To further qualify, when I think of "casual friendly", I don't necessarily tie it down specifically to it being "not hardcore" or "easier to level". If you look at the variety of activities in LoTRO now that have nothing to do with leveling your class... crafting, "critter play", music system, the various "side games" available, etc, it seems to me that the game is better approached as an "activity you partake in", and not so much a "game you try to beat".
So, is it for you? Well, if you are set on a more "hardcore" playstyle - of harder grinds, lots of raid-level content, etc... I'd say that, at least for now, LoTRO probably isn't.
However, I'd like to approach this from another angle...
As you're fan of LoTR and Middle Earth, you might do well to at least give the trial a spin - limited as it is. If you can set aside the "hardcore" thing for a while, get into the spirit of the game, the world and the setting, and just enjoy filling the shoes of a denizen of Middle Earth for a time - doing whatever it is you choose to do... you might surprise yourself. If nothing else, it might prove to be a good "filler" for when you want a break from whatever game you're playing to get your hardcore fix.
Personally, I think a key to enjoying any game is being able to get into the spirit of the game and enjoy it for what it is. The moment you try fitting a square peg into a round hole, or in this case, a "hardcore" playstyle into a "casual" game - or vice versa - it's already pretty much a lost cause. You almost can't help but be disappointed.
True story... There's a friend of mine who was weened on Lineage 2 - a game synonymous with "hardcore grinding" (and RMT botting.. but that's another topic). It was his first and, except for a short stint on Archlord (a Lineage 2 derivative)t, only MMO. To him, Lineage 2 defines "what a MMO should be". So he judges every new game he plays by that.
He decided to try LoTRO, since his father and his father's girlfriend both play as well. It was a trip listening to him on Ventrilo. He was trying his damndest to not do quests... He just wanted to grind his way up - a la Lineage 2. Every time he'd ask about a quest NPC, there was clear agitation in his voice... because all he wanted to do was grind. When the mobs he was fighting were no longer a challenge enough, he'd gripe. "Where are some harder mobs?" We're like, "They're not gonna get much harder in that area than what you're fighting now. You're going to have to do the quests and get out of there to find anything harder".
He finally sucked it up and completed the quest chain to get out of the newbie area. And then just went straight on to grinding until he logged off. What was funny to me is that he grew up playing PnP AD&D, Palladium, etc... So questing shouldn't have been so alien a concept to him - I even busted his chops about that. I asked him, "What was your tabletop RP sessions like? The DM saying "Go kill 100 rats and return to me with their tails?" (See? I'm not only a smartass to people on here; I do it to friends, too
. Anyway, chances are, he's not going to last in LoTRO... Why? Because he's still trying to play Lineage 2; trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. LoTRO is simply not designed around that style of gameplay.
On the other hand, his father and girlfriend also played and enjoyed Lineage 2, as have I for that matter. In fact they introduced him to it... and they love LoTRO. Because they're playing it in the spirit of what it is. It was summed it up very well by someone I was talking to about it... "If I wanted to play something like Lineage 2... I'll play Lineage 2. This is Lord of The Rings".
Sorry to ramble on about that, but it's a point, in general, that I think is critical to enjoying *any* game, whatever the genre, when it's something different than what someone is used to.
But then again, no game is for everyone and your mileage may vary.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
If you truly love the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I want to give you something to ponder, that the other posters have not mentioned.I have found a significant segment of the player population to be very articulate and well read fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy. I've witnessed very interesting and informative discussions about the books in the chat channels from time to time.
So if you like LOTR as much as you claim, you may enjoy meeting other like minded people.
"Don't corpse-camp that idea. Its never gonna rez"
Bladezz (The Guild)
Let me tell you something , you are by any means NOT Casual!
Playing: World of Warcraft.
Played: Lord of the Rings Online, Starwars Galaxies.
Tried: Starwars the Old Republic, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, Vanguard, Age of Conan, Aion.
If its worth $50 to you to spend a month or so "finishing" LOTRO, go for it. Like Jackdog said though, get a trial and see for yourself. I think I read that there are some restrictions on trial accounts though, a big one being you can't send tells or trade. The usual attempt to ward off gold farmers/sellers. At least, think it was LOTRO has this, someone else can tell you for sure, but it kind of sucks to be restricted in that way, though its understandable.
Going to agree with Jack here, he is right on the money. Were I you, I'd stick with EQ2 until the new crop of MMOs come down the pipe. If you are a "hardcore" Lord of the Rings lore fan, you'll probably have a lot of fun immersing yourself in the lore of the game, but I imaging you'd zip to 50 pretty fast judging by your OP, at which point you'll be looking elsewhere again.If its worth $50 to you to spend a month or so "finishing" LOTRO, go for it. Like Jackdog said though, get a trial and see for yourself. I think I read that there are some restrictions on trial accounts though, a big one being you can't send tells or trade. The usual attempt to ward off gold farmers/sellers. At least, think it was LOTRO has this, someone else can tell you for sure, but it kind of sucks to be restricted in that way, though its understandable.
Yeah, trial accounts are restricted from mailing, trading and sending /tells - three of the main "tools" used by RMT... among a few other things. I think they're restricted from using Regional and OOC channels, too.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
If you are searching something new, you will not find it in Lotro.
Lotro is a good game, well developed, but nothing new from a veteran MMo point of view.
Anyway if you survived the EQ2 quests, totally overwhelming your journal, you surely can survive to Lotro quests
Nickname registered on www.mynickname.org
If you are searching something new, you will not find it in Lotro.
Lotro is a good game, well developed, but nothing new from a veteran MMo point of view.
Anyway if you survived the EQ2 quests, totally overwhelming your journal, you surely can survive to Lotro quests
Again, I still think that depends on what you go into the game expecting.
Though it seems a bit pretentious (to me), I could call myself a MMO Veteran, having played (too) many, going as far back as AC2, Shadowbane (when it first launched), FFXI for about 2.5 years... as well as Lineage 2, EQ2, RO, AO, and a number of others spanning the spectrum from "hardcore PvP" to "you can't get much more carebear than this".
Yet, I still can get into and enjoy LoTRO. Recognizing all the things that are similar, to me, makes all its differences or nuances stand out even more.
I guess being a "MMO Vet" doesn't necessarily have to make one "jaded" toward them. -shrug- I think it all depends on how you approach the game. Finding something that hasn't been seen or done before in any other MMO is becoming harder and more self-defeating. There's only so many ways people can combine the common "MMO Features" and make it feel fresh. It eventually boils down to the usual suspects in different clothing. At some point, everything's going to have a sense of "I've seen this before" to it.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
A couple MMOs of note IMO that tried to change things up somewhat are AA and TR (in beta). Though in my opinion, TR really reminds me of AA a lot. We all know what happened to Auto Assault though
Personally, I am more looking for adeeper, more complex MMO more than uniqueness, since as WSIMike correctly points out, there is a finite number of ways to come at old gameplay from a new angle. Like so many, I had pinned my hopes on Vanguard, but thats still very much a work in progress, so I'm left with EQ2 until GnH, AoC, and WAR are released.
Nothing out there right now is very intriguing.
I feel for anyone who thinks any MMOROPG is 'hard" the only differences are the amounts of time you need to spend to reach max level. LoTRO is slightly longer than WoW and slightly less than EQII. That is if you can find anyone to group with at low levels in EQII these days, seems to be getting difficult to find new players to group with in EQII these days.
I miss DAoC
What this game offers that others don't is an immersive story line.
If you go out and try to grind to 50 asap, then you'll get bored quickly. If you take your time, enjoy the stories and scenery, then hopefully you'll have plenty of content to keep you busy until more updates come out.
7 day trial is very nice, should give you a good idea of what to expect.
I thought of this thread this morning while I was on.
Me and 5 of my guidmates ( all lvl 50's) were on and had formed a fellowship in order to use the ingame voice system. We were prettyu much scattered throughout the entire world and were discussing what we planned to do today and what we had done this weekend. A couple were grinding reputation, most of us still had items to get for the lvl 45 class quests, all of us had done various high level instanced dungeon crawls this weekend, most are working thier craft schools still, 1 was doing a lot of PvMP in Ettienmoors, all of us have various level alts.
All of us have played LoTRO since launch, a lot of us were in closed beta, most of us have been gaming together since DAoC and played EQII for years and none of us are bored. Take that for whatever it is worth.
I miss DAoC
If you are searching something new, you will not find it in Lotro.
Lotro is a good game, well developed, but nothing new from a veteran MMo point of view.
Anyway if you survived the EQ2 quests, totally overwhelming your journal, you surely can survive to Lotro quests
Again, I still think that depends on what you go into the game expecting.
Though it seems a bit pretentious (to me), I could call myself a MMO Veteran, having played (too) many, going as far back as AC2, Shadowbane (when it first launched), FFXI for about 2.5 years... as well as Lineage 2, EQ2, RO, AO, and a number of others spanning the spectrum from "hardcore PvP" to "you can't get much more carebear than this".
Yet, I still can get into and enjoy LoTRO. Recognizing all the things that are similar, to me, makes all its differences or nuances stand out even more.
I guess being a "MMO Vet" doesn't necessarily have to make one "jaded" toward them. -shrug- I think it all depends on how you approach the game. Finding something that hasn't been seen or done before in any other MMO is becoming harder and more self-defeating. There's only so many ways people can combine the common "MMO Features" and make it feel fresh. It eventually boils down to the usual suspects in different clothing. At some point, everything's going to have a sense of "I've seen this before" to it.
If you read better, I just told that there are nothing new into Lotro, not that Lotro is a bad game. I'm still playing it. And I said it is a good game. But it is a fact that you will not find anything 'new' into the game, unless you are new to the genre (that's the reason of speaking about vets).
And my last statement was simply a 'joking' sentence as stated by the smiley at the end.
Nickname registered on www.mynickname.org
If you are searching something new, you will not find it in Lotro.
Lotro is a good game, well developed, but nothing new from a veteran MMo point of view.
Anyway if you survived the EQ2 quests, totally overwhelming your journal, you surely can survive to Lotro quests
Again, I still think that depends on what you go into the game expecting.
Though it seems a bit pretentious (to me), I could call myself a MMO Veteran, having played (too) many, going as far back as AC2, Shadowbane (when it first launched), FFXI for about 2.5 years... as well as Lineage 2, EQ2, RO, AO, and a number of others spanning the spectrum from "hardcore PvP" to "you can't get much more carebear than this".
Yet, I still can get into and enjoy LoTRO. Recognizing all the things that are similar, to me, makes all its differences or nuances stand out even more.
I guess being a "MMO Vet" doesn't necessarily have to make one "jaded" toward them. -shrug- I think it all depends on how you approach the game. Finding something that hasn't been seen or done before in any other MMO is becoming harder and more self-defeating. There's only so many ways people can combine the common "MMO Features" and make it feel fresh. It eventually boils down to the usual suspects in different clothing. At some point, everything's going to have a sense of "I've seen this before" to it.
If you read better, I just told that there are nothing new into Lotro, not that Lotro is a bad game. I'm still playing it. And I said it is a good game. But it is a fact that you will not find anything 'new' into the game, unless you are new to the genre (that's the reason of speaking about vets).
And my last statement was simply a 'joking' sentence as stated by the smiley at the end.
lol.. relax, guy. No need to get crass. I "read just fine", and I'm not knocking what you said. I was just sharing my own point-of-view on the topic.
That is what discussion forums are for, right?
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops