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dazzlebone
Member Posts: 4
A lot of the time when you read up on LOTRO, you see comments stating quests are better and PvE is better in LOTRO than other games.
From looking at their website and reading about the game elements it seems that LOTRO is just the same as every other quest-based MMO with standard quests following the now universal method of "Click Questgiver > Read Quest description > Solve Tasks > Return to Questgiver".
Quests are the same kind as in all other fantasy MMOs with some being standalone, some being Instance Quests, some being part of a quest-series.
Is it because the amount of spelling errors are lower or the grammar is better that this concept has arose on these forums? Or is the AI very advanced with mobs never being in the same area twice, with mob camps moving, cities being built and torn down, areas changing level of difficulty or something because there is no mention of any of that when I loko at Turbine's website, it appears like standard MMO static world?
Is there some gem somewhere that is just kept a secret or what is this "PvE is great in LOTRO" really based on?
Curios and prospective LOTRO gamer.
Comments
It actually generates from the people that were pissed off at their current mmo (everquest 2, world of warcraft, and the 2nd rate games.)
I would say so; you have many fantasy books with dragons, magic and so on ... Like for example Eragon or Song of Ice and Fire from George R. R. Martin. But difference is in quality of the writter. Read the books and compare them, you'll see what I mean.
Great story telling and writting. Some would say yes because of Tolkien, but Turbine did a great job with story about fate of elf Narmeleth. there are some nice similarities with actual story of The one ring.
End even some chain quests that are not linked to epic book are nice. But some are also kill x of that and y of that. Like in every mmorpg.
Many quests are fairly standard mmorpg fare. You'll be killing x number of wolves, bears and boars at every every level for instance. Where it does differ from most other games is that it has a strong story line running through the game. There are many quests and instances that relate to the story but yes it has to be padded out with the other kill x number of x quests too.
Most games have quests with good stories in them. DDO had really well told stories, COH has some long stories involving the past and present of their main city and its inhabitants which are gripping and sometimes even touching. The introduction levels in AOC was brilliant, especially if you played it through with a member from each of the four archetypes so you got the complete story and could see the interaction. The quests themselves though are just like any other quest with set objectives and rewards at the end.
I was hoping something more like Gates of AhnQiraj in WOW (only good element in that game for me) with a story and a real gameworld element interaction and allowing the players to make a real impact and change in the gameworld.
Text is just text and personal taste will dictate whether it's good or not. Doesn't sound all that interesting then with the "best PvE ever" if it's more like "same PvE as every other game but with text I like more".
Still sounds a bit standard, but at least there's a trial available! Each race in Middle Earth has its own stories and motivations for getting involved with the Ring story I assume so you can replay the story differently with another race?
Well basically it's just the same old as in any other game, but I think that how the quests and stories intertwine with the lore and the player with the really well written quest stories make it different. On the games I've played LotRO still has the questlines and feeling of real world many others lack.
For example, the pie and postrunning in shire. Pure fedexing and *lots* of it to boot, and still those quest open a window to everyday life of hobbits in the Shire that is consistent with the lore. Several MMO companies might have good writers in the lore and quest department, but you can't beat someone who lived in "Middle-earth" for the best part of his life, doing his best that the world and the lore was mostly consistent. And as Turbine is bound to literary works of Tolkien they are - in bad and good - bound to lore for the most part and there will be no 180 degree turns because players want it.
Of course, the surroundings play very important part of this all and Turbine has done suberb job rendering Eriador into life. Still can remember the first time I made it from Lone-Lands to Rivendell and looking at the valley from the cliff edge...
In any game the player made change into gameworld is just smoke and mirrors. I could say that for example in Forochel where some of the camps can be taken over by hostile forces can be retaken for quest givers to appear is one though. Other thing that has lately made me think a lot is that self claimed sandbox players seem to force themselfes in quest based games to run through the "main" storyline using shortest possible route. Is it really true that they cannot when given more options than "Do what you please" but choose the questing?
LotRO is a polished game, the money it makes seems to go back into game development instead of lining investors pockets and interestingly, with PvP set up in it's own corner, class balancing is just balancing, not running around and flailing blindly with nerfbat. But the answers you get from here is either from us fanbois or the haters, the truth is out there somewhere: Other's trash is other's treasure.
Grab a testdrive and make your own opinion.
Playing: AC2
Played: UO, DaoC, Horizons, Ryzom, WAR, LotRO, Eve, VG...
the level of detail in this game is what really sets it off for me. one example is the other day I was doing a simple kill task quest in a area known as the burnt tor where some trees had been chopped down and burnd. small wisps of smoke were coming off the fallen charred logs and upon closer inspection you could see the embers still glowing down in the logs. Not a big thing but just a example of the level of detail that goes into each area. The quality of the game's design and implementation is really quite top notch.
I miss DAoC
Some of the things I like about LoTRO quests include:
There are many quests of the standard type such as kill a certain numer of a monsters, find and talk to a certain person. Most quests can be completed fairly quickly, so you can do them even if you currently only have a short amount of time to play. Most of these quests are part of storyline or in keeping with theme of the local area.
Overall, LoTRO does quests better than other games I have played such as WoW, Everquest, Everquest 2 and Dark Age of Camelot.
Vanguard was a good game for me since it is big and it looks impressive when you play it at full settings. I really loved climbing a mountain and looking out over the bays, the sea, the towns, it was very atmospheric with horizons stretching away ahead of you and you knew you could travel to any of those places. The great areas where mobs were few and far between was another thing I enjoyed, it felt more alive than the over-representation of mobs that I see in so many other MMOs.
Is LOTRO the same expansive vista of adventure where you create your own legend so to speak?
Because that would be AWESOME
)
LotRO does have a nice share of "vanilla" quests; go speak to person 'X', kill # of creatures, etc.
However, what makes the game for me is the epic storyline quests you are following as you climb through your levels. Each racial starting area has its own introduction to the epic quests, which provides alternate insight into how things happen in the early part of the game.
Note that there are a LOT of "fellowship" quests in the game, which typically require 2-3 people to complete at a comparable level, if not more. These can eventually be soloed by many classes, once you have outlevelled them, but are extremely hard to do on your own at the level you can receive them. This is a double-edged sword; it is a great way to find pick-up groups (PUGs) and meet people who are on the same quests, but for more solo-oriented people it can be a slight annoyance to need help to complete them.
I like the crafting system, the large number of deeds (exploration/area questing/skill use/monster killing), and if you are on certain servers, the possibility of role-playing is absolutely amazing.
Not at the moment as such as LotRO is bound to War of the Rings and the journey of the Fellowship. On the other hand, I've felt often to be a part of the teams Elrond set forward before Fellowship set out etc. Kind of being a part of the books but still out of limelight.
I think that in many respects VG and LotRO are very similar as games if you go to the basics. LotRO has stronger suspension of disbelief though IMHO. Pop culture references etc are fun at times, but they can break the immersion as well. Outside questing and whacking baddies LotRO has less time sinks than VG. Crafting is simpler as is fishing, but I'm not that certain if that is a bad thing or not. Gathering crafting materials can be bit harder in LotRO as the materials tend to be in areas where it's not necessarily safe. Timewise resource gathering in both games is pretty similar. Crafting end results are about the same in both games with the exception of LotRO having crafted stuff equalling raid gear or exceeding it.
The main game area is mostly seamless, except the gating between dwarf/elf starting area and shire and of course instanced houses, dungeons etc. You can't fly to places, as we havent gotten our eagle mounts yet... :P ...so there are some places you can see but can't get to. Most of the world is available for pootling around anyway inside the current region of implemented ME. I can only speak on my behalf, but there has been nights I've logged in and noticed hours later that I've not done anything else but walked around enjoying the scenery.
In the future, things might change, I reckon no-one but Turbine knows whether we see the fall of Sauron in the end and start a new era living in the 4th age. That is something only time will tell.
Playing: AC2
Played: UO, DaoC, Horizons, Ryzom, WAR, LotRO, Eve, VG...
Most games have quests with good stories in them. DDO had really well told stories, COH has some long stories involving the past and present of their main city and its inhabitants which are gripping and sometimes even touching. The introduction levels in AOC was brilliant, especially if you played it through with a member from each of the four archetypes so you got the complete story and could see the interaction. The quests themselves though are just like any other quest with set objectives and rewards at the end.
I was hoping something more like Gates of AhnQiraj in WOW (only good element in that game for me) with a story and a real gameworld element interaction and allowing the players to make a real impact and change in the gameworld.
Text is just text and personal taste will dictate whether it's good or not. Doesn't sound all that interesting then with the "best PvE ever" if it's more like "same PvE as every other game but with text I like more".
I played AOC, might return some day. I agree about Tortage and differences in story of each archetypes. But after Tortage nothing special anymore. I read Ymir pass is good.
One of the good things in LOTRO are scenarios where you take role of heroes in events, that are also mentioned in books, like first apperance of barlog in Moria, or Sauron in Eregion at time of forging the rings ...
In game where storytelling is one of main aspects of game, good "text" is very important.
You dont need to be fanboy of Martin works to see, he is a good writer. As for game you can call me fanboy, but not that kind that bashes other games.
Try it, if you are on Euro servers i can send you trial key.