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atteSmythe
2007-03-02, 05:47 PM
Anyone here in the Beta? The last fantasy MMO I played was UO, back when it first came out (1996? 7?). I've actually only played one other (http://puzzlepirates.com) MMO since then, and I'm kind of getting the itch again. I've read good things about LOTRO, but I'd like to hear about it from somewhere other than a news site.

purple gelatinous cube o' Doom
2007-03-02, 06:51 PM
I'm currently in the beta. To be honest, it's really nothing spectacular. It's just your run of the mill here's a quest, go do it and come get another one game. Honestly, I was very dissappointed with the game. The minute I read that Turbine took over the project, I figured they'd find a way to screw the game up, and they lived up to my expectations. It's a better game engine that DDO, but it's really nothing special. You can't even play a dwarf either.

Suraht
2007-03-03, 09:59 PM
I'm currently in the beta. To be honest, it's really nothing spectacular. It's just your run of the mill here's a quest, go do it and come get another one game. Honestly, I was very dissappointed with the game. The minute I read that Turbine took over the project, I figured they'd find a way to screw the game up, and they lived up to my expectations. It's a better game engine that DDO, but it's really nothing special. You can't even play a dwarf either.


Can't play a dwarf? Did they take the dwarves out in the last week or so? Let me fire up my client and check.....

Nope, the dwarves are still a playable race.

As far as what to expect, it looks absolutely beautiful. The night sky has twinkling stars and constellations, the characters are well formed and animated, and the terrain looks stunning.

The initial reaction most people have in the first five to ten minutes of playing is "Gee, this is a lot like World of Warcraft," and they aren't far off, as far as the user interface goes and the quest system go. If you look past the surface though, you will notice the differences...instead of a skill tree, you have a trait system, for example...and of course, the lore of LotR is what's going to keep a person interested.

Speaking of lore, this game does it in spades, and does it well. You will hate the Sackville-Bagginses, you will giggle along with Tom Bombadil while cursing the old forest, and the rest of the world just seems right. There are a bunch of quests that are there mainly to grind out experience on, but there are some that send you to explore and uncover map, there are some that introduce you to various people you'll need to know, and there's an epic storyline, where you get to be an unknown part of the books by setting Frodo and Co. up with information and such while they tend to the storyline from the books.

There is no direct PvP. Instead, there is monster play. One or more characters takes on the role of one of the major monster types that are known and feared/loathed from the books, and other characters will fight them with their characters. Not something I've tried, but from all reports, people are having fun with it.

The game may still be in closed beta, but it's very highly polished, and has been since November. Still bugs to iron out, of course, but overall much farther along than I would have thought.

However, I can't argue that the game has a "been there and done that" feeling. There isn't anything new or innovative here, and if you're bored with the current crop of MMORPGs, then this will probably only hold your attention as long as you care about the storyline. If you really like the LotR universe, and have often thought about being a character in the books, then give this game a look. If you're just looking for the next big MMO, then I'd just say skip it. There will probably be a decent fan base for this game, but it's not a threat to unseat WoW at the top of the food chain.

chiefwaha
2007-03-05, 02:15 PM
Yes, you can play dwarves, just not female dwarves. Played one while testing the guardian class.

I absolutely love LoTRO so far. I've only played WoW, so I don't have anything else to compare to, but the story grabs you a lot harder than any of the WoW quests. I actually read the quests, rather than just look at the final goal. You get the feeling your character is actually affecting things, rather than just a cog in a machine like WoW. The classes are interesting, and fit LoTR pretty well. I dislike PvP, but I tried PvMP and I actually enjoyed it. It's a great way to keep some of the PvP players happy(although not for all of them).

My suggestion is to grab Computer Games magazine to get a closed Beta key and try it out(it's only good this month). http://www.cgonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1075&Itemid=1

atteSmythe
2007-03-05, 05:25 PM
Cool, thanks for the impressions, guys. Coming from the two MMOs that I've played, this whole concept of 'plot' in an MMO is completely foreign to me. I'd kind of like to see how it works out, so given the choice between Blizzard's lore and Prof. Tolkien's lore...well, if the games are remotely comparable, it's not much of a decision, is it? ;)

purple gelatinous cube o' Doom
2007-03-06, 12:17 AM
yes, I see they now have dwarves to play. The last time I'd played it, dwarves were not an option. I don't know whether they took the dwarves out for a bit to tweak something or what. But at one point they weren't there (trust me, I wanted to play one, but had to settle for human then). But the fact remains it's still just a here's a quest, go kill stuff, complete thequest and get your money/items. Which gets extremely boring in a hurry. The graphics are extremely well done, but by not being able to interact with NPC's for role playing options/your actions impact the game (EX. what you say/do influences how PC/NPC's in game view you) takes away the magic and wonder of Middle Earth, and turns it into a glorified hack and slash that attempts a story.

Om
2007-03-06, 01:22 PM
But the fact remains it's still just a here's a quest, go kill stuff, complete thequest and get your money/items.Doesn't that describe just about every MMO made to date?

Beleriphon
2007-03-06, 09:14 PM
Doesn't that describe just about every MMO made to date?

The problem is that it has fetch quests, its that the game does a piss poor job of hiding them, or particularly making you want to do anything. I found WoW to be much better, in that it gave you a series of reasonably short quests that would chain together nicely. LotRO doesn't do that, either the quests are so short so as to be utterly pointless, or so long that you don't care by the end.

chiefwaha
2007-03-08, 03:30 PM
The problem is that it has fetch quests, its that the game does a piss poor job of hiding them, or particularly making you want to do anything. I found WoW to be much better, in that it gave you a series of reasonably short quests that would chain together nicely. LotRO doesn't do that, either the quests are so short so as to be utterly pointless, or so long that you don't care by the end.

I found it to be completely opposite actually. WoW never made me want to pay attention to the quests, LoTRO did. I took a significant portion of time actually reading the dialogue, and immersing myself in the story, rather than talk to the quest giver and read the quest only enough to find out where to go and collect x or kill y number of z. Yes, they are the same sort of quests, but I've found them better written in general. In my opinion WoW is a numbers game, while LoTRO is a story game.

Suraht
2007-03-09, 09:46 PM
I would like to add one thing: the /music option is far, far too much fun. Get enough people with enough different instruments, and you can have a traveling troupe.

Although the intro to Sweet Child O' Mine doesn't sound all that great on a lute.

Wehrkind
2007-03-12, 01:53 AM
I think the quest system is something that will have to be killed completely if MMO's are to be different. Don't get me wrong, I have been playing WoW since beta with only maybe 4 months of serious breaks. My roommate got Vanguard or whatever the new Sony OE game is called. It's WoW with diplomacy and furries. The diplomacy is cool, but otherwise it is almost exactly the same.

It just seems to me that the trouble with MMO's is while the world is persistant, changes in it can not be. Otherwise the first time a guild kills Onyxia, that's the end of the story. If you let players be both PC and the NPCs (ie. players can assume important roles etc.) the danger is that either they can be permanantly killed, or they become so powerful they are untouchable. (That was what I gather tended to happen with Ultima Online.)

I suppose there are answers to these problems, but I can't figure them out.

chiefwaha
2007-03-12, 12:07 PM
Well LoTRO manages to do that, kinda. I won't get into it too much, but everyone manages to be a part of a change in the world at least once, where the town you're in burns. From that point on it's burnt for you, but other new players can play through it as well. Haven't gotten far enough, so I can't comment on Onyxia type raids, but I do know that your character can affect the world somewhat without having it affect the world for everyone before you in the story.

Arlanthe
2007-03-15, 05:14 AM
It is typical MMO fare with a few novel twists.

A fighter that gains a type of "rage"? A hunter that can AoE with arrows? A sneak attacking "rogue" type? Most of the classes sounds like they have a direct WoW analog, and the races are the same as WoW Alliance with Gnomes replaced by Halflings. The same basic trade skills with minor twists, the same kinds of quests. There is a reason it is being compared heavily to WoW.

I don't feel like I have anything more to gain by playing through the Beta. It's a giant me-too product marketed toward LotR fans.

Next MMO please.

atteSmythe
2007-03-15, 01:54 PM
I consider the game well-made if everyone says the mechanics are pretty much identical to WoW. I guess I'm just happy that I'll be able to play an MMO with such good mechanics that isn't stuck in the comparatively-lame Warcraft universe.

I'm sure it won't have WoW's level of success, but for those few of us who haven't played WoW yet, it should be a good thing!

Arlanthe
2007-03-20, 05:11 AM
I consider the game well-made if everyone says the mechanics are pretty much identical to WoW. I guess I'm just happy that I'll be able to play an MMO with such good mechanics that isn't stuck in the comparatively-lame Warcraft universe.

I'm sure it won't have WoW's level of success, but for those few of us who haven't played WoW yet, it should be a good thing!

I agree WoW is best to date, but the genre needs to grow, mature, and evolve even more. I posted this paper in it's own post, but here is the same linhk to an essay on the future of MMOs I am working on: http://www.box.net/shared/va49zm07th

chiefwaha
2007-03-20, 12:29 PM
First off, WoW was built off Lord of the Rings, not the other way around. Anyway there is only so much they can do with the Lord of the Rings license because it's such a well loved franchise.. As for the MMO genre, all I can say is LotRO isn't the game to be breaking ground. It's a game designed for the casual gamer and the LotR fans that haven't play online games, and you don't get more casual friendly than WoW. I don't think LotRO is for everyone, but if you're a LotR fan, a 'noob' to MMOs, or prefer a storyline to you games, you'll have fun. Hard core MMORPGers probably will get bored really quickly.

Reinforcements
2007-03-21, 02:53 AM
grumble grumble pre-order beta won't let me play until March 30 grumble