How is LOTRO?

[Jumpem]

I bought the game a long time ago, but never played it. What is everyone's opinion of it?

 

[TehJustinator]

LOTRO is a solid game. I really enjoy the scenery and the fact that they try to tell a story in the game through the use of Book quests.

The only real cons are the god awful character and armor models and the slow combat. Oh, and horses seem to look sickly-thin.

 

[Cuular]

And the god awful combat system.

Especially for the tank types where most of your "taunt" powers come off of reaction based powers where you have to block/parry first.

They use a "tiered" fighting system for most classes where you can't use some skills unless you've used one or more pre-requisite skills. And for the class that is supposed to try and protect other classes, that makes for a very annoying thing, waiting to block an attack that isn't going to work if the mage/healer/rogue has pulled aggro off you.

If they ever wise up and make all taunt type things for the fighter on just a timer based cycle, instead of 2nd or 3rd tier or reaction based I might even go back and try playing again.


But as mentioned above, it's a pretty good looking world.

 

[Danwar]

Its a great game if you want a mmorpg that actually has a story behind all the quests. the graphics are great and the reason behind people ranting about the combat system is because some people will cry foul against anything that is not 100% the same as WoW.

I used to play WoW, cleared Karazhan over 30 times and never knew why... (and no, going into wowwiki to read the history of the place is a big nono in my book).

So being in lotro and being engaged in deep story driven quests , with cinematics here and there is great for me.

 

[novasatori]

oh my god, i can't just spam keys to keep aggro
waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa


I HATED that about WoW, basically you just stand there pressing all your keys as fast as you can to burn rage. Combo system would be welcome in my book.

God forbid people have to pay attention to the game to play, amirite?

 

[rivan]

These comments are pretty accurate.

I liked it - it's pretty darned solo-friendly, as well.

 

[Danwar]

Originally posted by: novasatori
God forbid people have to pay attention to the game to play, amirite?

QFT +1

 

[KeithTalent]

I really want to start playing this game again, but I've been away from it for so long I have to nobody to play with, which is when I find it the most fun. Whenever I login now, I just find it a struggle to get anywhere with my old characters.

Maybe I need to find a newish Kinship where some people will join me from the beginning with new characters.

KT

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: novasatori
God forbid people have to pay attention to the game to play, amirite?

What do joo means? I have to pay attention in WoW all the time or the noobs in my group will wipe us :Q!

 

[sactoking]

Originally posted by: Cuular

Especially for the tank types where most of your "taunt" powers come off of reaction based powers where you have to block/parry first.

I have a lvl 46 tank in this game. I currently have 2 or 3 AOE taunts, a Legendary skill that is a taunt, and an attack that is a taunt which can be made into a cone attack. None of those require any B/P/E responses. None of the Parry responses are taunts. Tanks in this game have no Evade response skills. There is, I believe, 1 Block response that is a taunt.

Overall, the B/P response skills are some of the better damage dealing attacks (Overpower-Thrust-Salt the Wound), and the shield-bash responses can stun, but the vast majority of the taunts require no prerequisite skill to use.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Fun for PvE, the lack of true world PvP made it boring to me after a while. It also had a well executed launch and was fairly polished.

 

[Bacstar]

Recently came back to LoTRo after taking a little break, and I am completely getting back into it again. I've played a few MMO's and so far, LoTRo seems to be keeping my interest. My friend brought me over to Ettenmoors to do that PVPM (I think that's what they called it) thing which is Player vs Player Monster. It was intensely fun and another way of gaining experience to gain "Renown" or rank that allows you to purchase better gear.

Don't forget the new expansion is coming out shortly in the next few months for the Mines of Moria, raises the level cap to 60, and makes 2 new classes available. Like what the others have said about this MMO, the history and underlying story line in the game quests make this a very nostalgic experience if you're into the whole Middle Earth story.

Edit: In addition, the population in LoTRo seems more mature and friendly compared to WoW.

 

[Danwar]

Originally posted by: Bacstar

Edit: In addition, the population in LoTRo seems more mature and friendly compared to WoW.

This is a big plus in my opinion.

I have been in the game for a little over 2 months and have yet to see any "Chuck Norris´s" jokes. or even heard the term "noob, newb" in chat.

Seems that people are way more mature here.

oh and btw you can grow your own tobacco to smoke , might be dumb , but little things like that add to the overall feel and atmosphere of the game.

 

[natebigdawg]

I have been playing LOTRO for about 6 months and after just a month, I was hooked enough to buy a lifetime subscription! I can really see myself playing this until servers go down. I also got my wife hooked on it and she now wants me to get her a lifetime!

Anyways, I used to be very against MMO's in many respects especially for the monthly fee and the time that they can consume. Now, with getting the lifetime for $200, equal to 4 new PC Games, as well as having my wife enjoy playing with me, I am completley content with playing this game for years to come.

I have tried a few othe MMO's but could never see myself paying including WoW. LOTRO changed that whole perception for me. Turbine is great at releasing new content and they have already released plenty of new areas to explore at no charge! I don't think any MMO can compete with that. I find the questing to be interesting and relevant, something I have sorely missed from RPG's such as Baldur's Gate.

I think that LOTRO is perfect for anyone who has never gotten into an MMO especially if you like setting. The graphics really bring the game to life especially with the scencery. It is a very immersive experience and there are several things that set the game apart from WoW which make it my type of game. Again, I feel the community to be much more mature.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I played the beta with my little brother..but after that I stopped...it was kind of bland imo..reminded me of Lineage II...he played it for a few months after and said he liked it.

 

[Mide]

Do you have to pay for the upgrades, like the Mines of Moria or do those additions just happen like in Eve-Online?

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: Mide
Do you have to pay for the upgrades, like the Mines of Moria or do those additions just happen like in Eve-Online?

mines is going to be a purchase expansion, afaik. however, they've added several free zones to the base client, as well as adding to the story line.


as others have mentioned, the game has a good background story, a very pretty world, a pretty mature player base, and is pretty solo friendly. it's also relatively polished.

 

[CKent]

I got the trial and have a lv 6 burglar. So far it's enjoyable enough I guess, but then the real fun doesn't begin till the mid-high levels for me, at least in other MMORPGs. Since 2 weeks isn't long enough to let me see much of that, I'm curious what end-game is like. How extensive is PvE? Is there PvP? Will someone who plays a moderate amount find it enjoyable, or will it be stagnant?

On class - how does burglar compare to a WoW rogue? I got sick of healing or tanking and so I rolled this class to get as far from responsibility as possible - good choice?

 

[lupi]

Just saw that they are added a new caster class, guess they finally gave in to enough people complaining that lore kinda sucked as a mage.

 

[Joeydubbs]

I gave the free trial a whirl. If you have played WoW, lord of the rings will be an easy transition. Nice graphics, story line is a bit richer but I thought the gameplay wasn't quite as good as WoW. I didn't purchase after the trial mostly because I really didn't like any of the classes. When I got to the first major city I was really underwhelmed...I don't think I got a character much past the teens so take my feedback for what its worth...I will say that the game is fairly stable and user friendly. I have heard many refer to lord of the rings as "WoW Light," which is probably accurate is the most general of terms...