Wow has amazing character animation and it is unbelievably fluid. No MMO compares to how smooth the charcter animation and abilities are. Also, wow armour and weapons are wicked looking... nothing compares to gettiing a new item and staring at your toon. 9/10 wow
LOTRO weapons and armor are absolutly boring. The character animation is clunky. Fighting is clunky. 4/10 LOTRO
I dont even understand how somoene could arrive at this.
Otherwise I think the rest of the article is close to my feelings.
LOTRO should NOT have won that Player Character category. It has the ugliest player character models in any mmo. By far. Really. They are.
Animations are a second point. Wow have very good animations while LOTRO's charcter animation leave a LOT to be desired. Should be like 7/10 for WoW and 3/10 for LOTRO.
I'm absolutely shocked the author of the article gave LoTRO a 10/10 on group play. Given that almost all the story quests are now soloable, the game is a complete solo fest until the level cap. Sure, there are some group quests scattered throughout the game world, but there are just as many of those in WoW. Even so, good luck finding a group to complete some of those quests as most servers are completely devoid of any sort of a cohesive low level population.
I played LoTRO at launch and honestly had a much more positive experience than in any other time I tried the game, because there were a lot more group oriented activities and the game had the low level population to support them. Now, however, low level areas are a ghost town save for a few newbies, twinked alts, and bored high level players. I do hope that the switch to F2P brings back some of the fun I had with this game at launch, but as of now, it's laughable to suggest that LoTRO has anything close to flawless (as the 10/10 represents) group play.
Wait a minute, when did they make all the group quests soloable?
Wow has amazing character animation and it is unbelievably fluid. No MMO compares to how smooth the charcter animation and abilities are. Also, wow armour and weapons are wicked looking... nothing compares to gettiing a new item and staring at your toon. 9/10 wow
LOTRO weapons and armor are absolutly boring. The character animation is clunky. Fighting is clunky. 4/10 LOTRO
I dont even understand how somoene could arrive at this.
Otherwise I think the rest of the article is close to my feelings.
The gear in Lotro is not that bad, you can hide it with cosmetic
Here is my Toon...I don’t think he looks that bad, there is plenty of good looking cosmetic gear.
Also the High-end Moria and Mirkwood Gear looks pretty Badass.
LOTRO should NOT have won that Player Character category. It has the ugliest player character models in any mmo. By far. Really. They are.
Animations are a second point. Wow have very good animations while LOTRO's charcter animation leave a LOT to be desired. Should be like 7/10 for WoW and 3/10 for LOTRO.
I think the character models look pretty good, they don’t have that plastic look like in EQ2 and Vanguard when they try to make them look realistic...The animation could use some work though.
Um how does that equal a loss considering it doesn't affect someone who subscribes to lotro they get everything that a f2p player would get through the turbine store.
I liked LOTRO for the time I did play it , I just felt it wasn't to scale. the world seemed too small to me considering it only took me about around 5 minutes to run from the shire to bree when it should have taken hours or days or more to travel that distance on foot
Though I got tired of LotRO as it was similar to WoW, yet I find LotRO more enjoyable for new players, who havent played WoW.
I remember myself walking into that hobbirt forest with treants and stuff in the evening. At first it was beatiful, sunny, everything was green around you, the trees were so high and so dense that the sky was made of green leaves sparkling on the sun. And while I was enjoying it, it soon became dark. Everything went silent around you, the forest became silent, as if there was something even greater than the forest itself, and sinister... Thats when I decided that I should get from that place as soon as possible. And after sneaking around for about an hour I finally got out, no more wolves or ther hungry or sinister creatures, I was finally out of that kingdom of trees. The night sky looked so peaceful...
That was my most enjoyable expirience in MMO, not just LotRO. And as I played LotRO I found that I enjoyed questing and the world itself much more than in any other mmorpg. Soon I got bored, I dont even know why, maybe because I got used to constant grind and power lvling, and other than to enjoy the game and its world, all I did was to try to reach lvl cap as soon as possible.
Yes WoW is prettier, its more colorful and shiny than a rainbow. It has pretty and (im sorry) titty characters, vanilla world where orcs and foreseken are as good guys as humans and elves, and bad guys wait for you to lvl up and kill them. Its easy to play, you can solo most of the game, get a cool motorcycle or huge sword which looks like a club, for your character. In short - an ideal game for person who doesnt give a shit about the world or the lore, and wants to become cool and stuff. And while I enjoy playing WoW with my friends, I find its lore and world dead, boring, ridiculous and stupid. You kill every freaking character you've known since Warcraft III RTS, you ride fucking bikes, copters, and fugly dragons (kids sure love dragons), ORKZ R GUD and everything else seems like a game created by a child, with huge swords, dragons, bikes and freaking lasers out of the eyes and any other crap that comes out of its mind.
I wonder how LotRO is going. I miss people playing motral kombat tunes in taverns, Tolkien's world (even if I imagined it different while reading the book, still, both movie and the game world is very well done, if only orcs didnt look like bags of crap...)... WoW isnt going to die soon, yet I hope it will, as what it became now isnt very enjoyable. I hope someone will risk to make something new, as myslef and a lot of people (im sure there are) are waiting for some fresh MMO which isnt going to be clone of WoW, and while doing that, I think I'll switch to LotRO when it goes f2p.
You know, I like wow better due to the combo of solo/group plays. Not to mention the story line. Passing through the King expansion was very fun. Here is what it comes down to. In WoW one can fly, one can drive/ride, one can ride bieatch in a frineds ride. Lots of options I guess which is big plus on WoW.
I have played both. I hate lotro to its very core tor turning a great game into what is going to be another bad example of a free to play game. I would have much rather Lotro shut down that do that.
Wow I gave up on it 3 years ago due to so many nerfs haded out to my pally.
However I will say this I would go back to wow if I had to, but Lotro is dead to me now.
I have played both. I hate lotro to its very core tor turning a great game into what is going to be another bad example of a free to play game. I would have much rather Lotro shut down that do that.
Wow I gave up on it 3 years ago due to so many nerfs haded out to my pally.
However I will say this I would go back to wow if I had to, but Lotro is dead to me now.
I am going to give LOTRO a month or two when it goes F2P before I decide to leave or no...I will stay on sub for sure though.
I think this writer did a really good job with this one, and I agree 100% with the outcome, because personally.. I rather disliked both of these games, and it pains me to say this but.. when looking back at my experience with the two, I actually did enjoyed WoW a little bit more, so from my perspective they got this vs. dead on.
I couldn't help but feel a bias here as every area seemed to be exaggerated,when talking aout WOW.
When you talk about NEW player experience,you are talking about as bland a beginning to any game out there,there is nothing exciting about stepping into the noob town[not city] in Wow.
I read other over blown notations such as exciting quests?Ar we talking about fetch my stein then return it ,ya that was pretty amazing...not !.Or are we talking about fetching me 8 or 10 skins?ya reall imaginative and exciting...again not !.
There is actually very little in Wow that screams exciting or imaginative,most everything has already been done in Everquest and looks better in Everquest 2.I do agree there is lots of choice in WOW,but i have mentioned before that Wow aims for quantity over quality.Blizzard has had the money and time to at least follow the path of Runescape and try to upgrade the game,instead they just keep adding more quantity,never once improving quality.
It is not necessary for me to go over every single point,as i already mentioned it all seemed to be exaggerated with bias.Reading it all ,it seemed like the author was stuggling to call things "tired",instead of saying the truth,the players look awfully cheap and the game world is pretty cheap as well.
The telling tale of bias is something i ALWAYS see when people talk about WOW,they have to start every speech with Wow's numbers or past success with numbers.When you are portraying a non biased comparison of games,the developers past or numbers SHOULD have absolutely zero bearing on any of it.
I never had the opportunity to play LOTRO,but i doubt it would matter as Wow was winning this battle as soon as the author mentioned WOW's numbers.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
If LOTR had world PvP like WOW I would have packed in WOW years ago, but without the faction based World PvP LOTR is incredibly boring as the world feels so safe. You just know while u quest that nothing bad is going to happen, it would be great if u had to keep your eyes open for orcs etc.
Aside from the raid grind wow is great for people wioth jobs and families with lower end pcs. You can log in for an hour or so and actually do something.
Q: (sing-song) "why would you want to play an MMORPG alone?"
Because I effing FEEL like it. Got it? It's more challenging soloing something that isn't meant to be soloed and I don't feel like wasting others' time by asking them help me with simple solo quests. I group when I need to and solo otherwise. Many players play this way and we expect our playstyles to be catered to also. Deal with it.
You forgot graphics:
WoW -1/10 because it looks like a friggin' kids' game.
LoTRO -7/10 (because there is zero grit to the look).
Let me preface this by saying that I have played both games to level cap, and am playing neither currently. I'm for waiting for something new, and I'm hopeful. You know. A new hope sort of thing.
Anyways, here is MY breakdown.
Game world
WoW: 10/10.
Never has a map been so massive, diverse and interesting. You can ride for literally an entire day and never see the same place twice. There is a sense of epicness and immersion that innovated in ways we have a hard time remembering.
LOTRO: 6/10
Let me start by saying that the graphics are stunning... Sitting in the shire overlooking a waterfall with your graphics cranked to ultra was an amazing experience... Unfortunately it was fouled by the fact that from that perch I could see both Hobitton and the Buckleberry ferry... The sense of epicness and size brought to us by the books and films is completely absent. I wouldn't have liked the hobbit if Bilbo had made the trip to Rivendell in 15 minutes. This problem of scale is compounded by the repetition of environments... their struggle for realism left all the terrain looking too similar. With the exceptions being places like Angmar, which were downright unenjoyable to behold.
Characters
WoW 8/10
Good, well balanced characters... They were unique, fun, and interesting. They all had excellent chemistry... Unfortunately there was little diversity... you basically got 8 choices...
Lotro 6/10
Balance was a factor here. Some classes sucked. You picked a sucky class? You cant be as good as someone else. I went Champion, my buddy went hunter.... He loved the game, I despised it.... He was constantly sought for in PvP and Instances...and I was useless.
Solo Play:
WoW 10/10 The author nailed it.
LOTRO 5/10... If I can count the hours I just sat around grinding traits waiting for a group to help me with a quest... I hear this has been changed, but in my era LOTRO was for solo classes...or waiting.
Group Play
Wow 9/10
WoW brought us amazing instances, fun quests, and world PvP....
LOTRO 8/10
Also great fun with all of the above with the exception of PvP... Unfortunately I found the LOTRO instances slightly buggy, and the book system made it hard to find people willing to team up.
PvP
WoW 9/10
Amazing, Diverse, Fun...
LOTRO 1/10
Completely imbalanced.... Only one Battleground at launch... Monsters were more of a side show... Lag issues...
And finally I think community is completely based on luck... there are good and bad communities in both these games....
So by my calculation...
Wow 46
LOTRO 26
Just my ten cents.
Totally agree. Not being fanbois but this poster hit the nail.
I disagree with a few of the points laid out here (for both lotro and wow. I am a lotro fan but do not think it is the greatest game ever). However, there are two points to me that make lotro shine: the community and the shire.
The comunity is the number one reason I left wow, and the shire is at times just jaw-droppingly beautiful to me. I am, of course, a lord of the rings nerd from way back, and I think Turbine did an inspired job on the shire. The rest of the areas in the game, maybe not so much, but to me, the shire is extremly important and I think Turbine realy nailed it.
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
This article is just another "please the people" thread it doesnt tell the real side of anything. WoW is way better in each area. Yea believe it or not grp play is very present in WoW, you just are given the option to use it or not unlike most games that force you to grp.
Dont care to go into further details but Lotro is going F2P for a reason...
Turbine should have let Lotro and reopen Asheron's call 2 with F2P
I have only played WoW on a trial and watched others play it. That experience was enough for me to know I never wanted to play it. The cartooney graphics and ridiculous comical additions are too much for me. I am not saying they are bad, but just not my style.
As for LOTRO, I have played to lvl cap multiple times and raid all end-game content to death. As of recently I would have to say LOTRO's raid (Dol Goldur) is full of fail with its incompetent gear. As for the raid itself, I think it is brilliant. PvP.... Where to start... LOTRO PvP is well terrible. This article sums up what PvP ought to be.
LOTRO PvP covers most of the necessary areas for respectable PvP in the worst way possible:
1. Restricted Environment
1 Area in 3+ years... with the simplistic change of getting rid of hot spots... Come on.
2.Lack of goals, rewards, competition, and public kill/death ratio.
The ranking system in LOTRO is broken to reflect nothing about the player. As you rank, you get nothing for all your effort. Sure you can get a horse(R9), or capes that are outdated, it is a complete waste of time to PvP from a rewards/goals point of view.
3.Overpowered classes
Anyone who played or plays LOTRO knows this all too well. There has nearly not be a single patch with a reasonable equilibrium. First it was hunters, then it was most creep classes, then it was RK's, then it was Rk's, then it was anyone with CJ's... it never stops. Not to mention the early days with no DR for Lore Masters, it was a CC-fest.
In the end, LOTRO's complete lack of care for PvP is a catastrophic mistake. What great potential squandered by Turbine.
LOTRO PvP 3/10
It does deserve 3 pts simply b/c creepside is a bit more rewarding, and yet still falls short.
Such a comment from a simple minded WoW player...-_-'
If you haven't even played Lotro... don't tell such things. And really, youtube video's does not mean anything.
Anywayz good article, but I disagree with 1thing: New Player Experience
Ex-Warcraft player for you.
Simple minded? I don't think it's that complicated if you've played numerous mmos from F2P to P2P, from Anarchy Online to WoW, and most of the sleeper and mainstream hits. I'm a Tolkien fan and I'm not touching LotR Online because it lacks that Tolkien feel. The books let you become part of the world word by word. The game? Well, let's just say it's too 'meh' to be the world created in the books. Seriously? Barbie doll design? Pretty world? Hello??? The Chronicles of Spellborn's world was more alive than LotRO...
Comments
"Middle-Earth is a nice place to enjoy pipe weed and good banter."
HAHA yes!!! I love it!
Player Character is completely off.
Wow has amazing character animation and it is unbelievably fluid. No MMO compares to how smooth the charcter animation and abilities are. Also, wow armour and weapons are wicked looking... nothing compares to gettiing a new item and staring at your toon. 9/10 wow
LOTRO weapons and armor are absolutly boring. The character animation is clunky. Fighting is clunky. 4/10 LOTRO
I dont even understand how somoene could arrive at this.
Otherwise I think the rest of the article is close to my feelings.
LOTRO should NOT have won that Player Character category. It has the ugliest player character models in any mmo. By far. Really. They are.
Animations are a second point. Wow have very good animations while LOTRO's charcter animation leave a LOT to be desired. Should be like 7/10 for WoW and 3/10 for LOTRO.
I have been known to be wrong before.
The gear in Lotro is not that bad, you can hide it with cosmetic
Here is my Toon...I don’t think he looks that bad, there is plenty of good looking cosmetic gear.
Also the High-end Moria and Mirkwood Gear looks pretty Badass.
March on! - Lets Invade Pekopon
I think the character models look pretty good, they don’t have that plastic look like in EQ2 and Vanguard when they try to make them look realistic...The animation could use some work though.
March on! - Lets Invade Pekopon
Um how does that equal a loss considering it doesn't affect someone who subscribes to lotro they get everything that a f2p player would get through the turbine store.
I liked LOTRO for the time I did play it , I just felt it wasn't to scale. the world seemed too small to me considering it only took me about around 5 minutes to run from the shire to bree when it should have taken hours or days or more to travel that distance on foot
Evil will always triumph because good is dumb....
You know I love both games, but sadly they both are so similar that its hard to pick one over the other.
Though I got tired of LotRO as it was similar to WoW, yet I find LotRO more enjoyable for new players, who havent played WoW.
I remember myself walking into that hobbirt forest with treants and stuff in the evening. At first it was beatiful, sunny, everything was green around you, the trees were so high and so dense that the sky was made of green leaves sparkling on the sun. And while I was enjoying it, it soon became dark. Everything went silent around you, the forest became silent, as if there was something even greater than the forest itself, and sinister... Thats when I decided that I should get from that place as soon as possible. And after sneaking around for about an hour I finally got out, no more wolves or ther hungry or sinister creatures, I was finally out of that kingdom of trees. The night sky looked so peaceful...
That was my most enjoyable expirience in MMO, not just LotRO. And as I played LotRO I found that I enjoyed questing and the world itself much more than in any other mmorpg. Soon I got bored, I dont even know why, maybe because I got used to constant grind and power lvling, and other than to enjoy the game and its world, all I did was to try to reach lvl cap as soon as possible.
Yes WoW is prettier, its more colorful and shiny than a rainbow. It has pretty and (im sorry) titty characters, vanilla world where orcs and foreseken are as good guys as humans and elves, and bad guys wait for you to lvl up and kill them. Its easy to play, you can solo most of the game, get a cool motorcycle or huge sword which looks like a club, for your character. In short - an ideal game for person who doesnt give a shit about the world or the lore, and wants to become cool and stuff. And while I enjoy playing WoW with my friends, I find its lore and world dead, boring, ridiculous and stupid. You kill every freaking character you've known since Warcraft III RTS, you ride fucking bikes, copters, and fugly dragons (kids sure love dragons), ORKZ R GUD and everything else seems like a game created by a child, with huge swords, dragons, bikes and freaking lasers out of the eyes and any other crap that comes out of its mind.
I wonder how LotRO is going. I miss people playing motral kombat tunes in taverns, Tolkien's world (even if I imagined it different while reading the book, still, both movie and the game world is very well done, if only orcs didnt look like bags of crap...)... WoW isnt going to die soon, yet I hope it will, as what it became now isnt very enjoyable. I hope someone will risk to make something new, as myslef and a lot of people (im sure there are) are waiting for some fresh MMO which isnt going to be clone of WoW, and while doing that, I think I'll switch to LotRO when it goes f2p.
IZI MODO?! Ha-ha-ha!
You know, I like wow better due to the combo of solo/group plays. Not to mention the story line. Passing through the King expansion was very fun. Here is what it comes down to. In WoW one can fly, one can drive/ride, one can ride bieatch in a frineds ride. Lots of options I guess which is big plus on WoW.
I have played both. I hate lotro to its very core tor turning a great game into what is going to be another bad example of a free to play game. I would have much rather Lotro shut down that do that.
Wow I gave up on it 3 years ago due to so many nerfs haded out to my pally.
However I will say this I would go back to wow if I had to, but Lotro is dead to me now.
I am going to give LOTRO a month or two when it goes F2P before I decide to leave or no...I will stay on sub for sure though.
March on! - Lets Invade Pekopon
I think this writer did a really good job with this one, and I agree 100% with the outcome, because personally.. I rather disliked both of these games, and it pains me to say this but.. when looking back at my experience with the two, I actually did enjoyed WoW a little bit more, so from my perspective they got this vs. dead on.
Great job
I couldn't help but feel a bias here as every area seemed to be exaggerated,when talking aout WOW.
When you talk about NEW player experience,you are talking about as bland a beginning to any game out there,there is nothing exciting about stepping into the noob town[not city] in Wow.
I read other over blown notations such as exciting quests?Ar we talking about fetch my stein then return it ,ya that was pretty amazing...not !.Or are we talking about fetching me 8 or 10 skins?ya reall imaginative and exciting...again not !.
There is actually very little in Wow that screams exciting or imaginative,most everything has already been done in Everquest and looks better in Everquest 2.I do agree there is lots of choice in WOW,but i have mentioned before that Wow aims for quantity over quality.Blizzard has had the money and time to at least follow the path of Runescape and try to upgrade the game,instead they just keep adding more quantity,never once improving quality.
It is not necessary for me to go over every single point,as i already mentioned it all seemed to be exaggerated with bias.Reading it all ,it seemed like the author was stuggling to call things "tired",instead of saying the truth,the players look awfully cheap and the game world is pretty cheap as well.
The telling tale of bias is something i ALWAYS see when people talk about WOW,they have to start every speech with Wow's numbers or past success with numbers.When you are portraying a non biased comparison of games,the developers past or numbers SHOULD have absolutely zero bearing on any of it.
I never had the opportunity to play LOTRO,but i doubt it would matter as Wow was winning this battle as soon as the author mentioned WOW's numbers.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
If LOTR had world PvP like WOW I would have packed in WOW years ago, but without the faction based World PvP LOTR is incredibly boring as the world feels so safe. You just know while u quest that nothing bad is going to happen, it would be great if u had to keep your eyes open for orcs etc.
LOTR failed because of shit PvP.
Aside from the raid grind wow is great for people wioth jobs and families with lower end pcs. You can log in for an hour or so and actually do something.
It's the same old thing...:
Q: (sing-song) "why would you want to play an MMORPG alone?"
Because I effing FEEL like it. Got it? It's more challenging soloing something that isn't meant to be soloed and I don't feel like wasting others' time by asking them help me with simple solo quests. I group when I need to and solo otherwise. Many players play this way and we expect our playstyles to be catered to also. Deal with it.
You forgot graphics:
WoW -1/10 because it looks like a friggin' kids' game.
LoTRO -7/10 (because there is zero grit to the look).
Totally agree. Not being fanbois but this poster hit the nail.
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
I disagree with a few of the points laid out here (for both lotro and wow. I am a lotro fan but do not think it is the greatest game ever). However, there are two points to me that make lotro shine: the community and the shire.
The comunity is the number one reason I left wow, and the shire is at times just jaw-droppingly beautiful to me. I am, of course, a lord of the rings nerd from way back, and I think Turbine did an inspired job on the shire. The rest of the areas in the game, maybe not so much, but to me, the shire is extremly important and I think Turbine realy nailed it.
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
Turbine should have let Lotro and reopen Asheron's call 2 with F2P
Millions ate at McDonalds and still do but .....
I have only played WoW on a trial and watched others play it. That experience was enough for me to know I never wanted to play it. The cartooney graphics and ridiculous comical additions are too much for me. I am not saying they are bad, but just not my style.
As for LOTRO, I have played to lvl cap multiple times and raid all end-game content to death. As of recently I would have to say LOTRO's raid (Dol Goldur) is full of fail with its incompetent gear. As for the raid itself, I think it is brilliant. PvP.... Where to start... LOTRO PvP is well terrible. This article sums up what PvP ought to be.
http://www.karashur.net/mmorpg-articles/best-mmorpg2.php
LOTRO PvP covers most of the necessary areas for respectable PvP in the worst way possible:
1. Restricted Environment
1 Area in 3+ years... with the simplistic change of getting rid of hot spots... Come on.
2.Lack of goals, rewards, competition, and public kill/death ratio.
The ranking system in LOTRO is broken to reflect nothing about the player. As you rank, you get nothing for all your effort. Sure you can get a horse(R9), or capes that are outdated, it is a complete waste of time to PvP from a rewards/goals point of view.
3.Overpowered classes
Anyone who played or plays LOTRO knows this all too well. There has nearly not be a single patch with a reasonable equilibrium. First it was hunters, then it was most creep classes, then it was RK's, then it was Rk's, then it was anyone with CJ's... it never stops. Not to mention the early days with no DR for Lore Masters, it was a CC-fest.
In the end, LOTRO's complete lack of care for PvP is a catastrophic mistake. What great potential squandered by Turbine.
LOTRO PvP 3/10
It does deserve 3 pts simply b/c creepside is a bit more rewarding, and yet still falls short.
Ex-Warcraft player for you.
Simple minded? I don't think it's that complicated if you've played numerous mmos from F2P to P2P, from Anarchy Online to WoW, and most of the sleeper and mainstream hits. I'm a Tolkien fan and I'm not touching LotR Online because it lacks that Tolkien feel. The books let you become part of the world word by word. The game? Well, let's just say it's too 'meh' to be the world created in the books. Seriously? Barbie doll design? Pretty world? Hello??? The Chronicles of Spellborn's world was more alive than LotRO...
Color with no texture. Moving on.