Lord of the Rings Online

Originally posted by DonnieBrasco

Originally posted by openedge1

Originally posted by solareus

Originally posted by Servase

Things are easy to find, maps are gorgeous - it's the lack of content.

 

July 21, 2008 - Book 14

October #, 2008 - Book 15?

November ##., 2008 - Mines of Moria?

January ##, 2008 - Book 2 V2

 

Book 14 will add enough content to keep you playing for 3-7 days. But then what? you go back to being bored as shit until book 15. Then what does book 15 add, same crap as previous books where you will be bored after 3-7days.

Mines of Moria will keep you busy for maybe, 1month, then what, back to being bored lol... Hopefully they add some dungeons in moria...

I dislike how they stated the change from 50 - 60 would be minimal. According to a interview with gamespy, they didn't want you to be to powerful over level 50 content. Probably cuz they won't be adding much at 60, they want you to be doing level 50 shit still.

Curently i'm on book 5 chapter 5 . So your "opinion is pretty much that , your "opinion". IF you want to come up with some new angle on your discussion I will always be able to point out, its your "opinion. Be well !~

I am confused with this answer. Are you saying in the last year (based on your posting history for LOTRO) you have not progressed further than this?

Why is it taking so long? How much time a week do you actually play. How many other games do you play?

How many max level characters do you have (because according to this post...none). You have been adamant that the content is enough to keep you occupied, yet if we average you game time, you maybe spend...30 minutes a day or less playing.

I am really interested to hear why...If you are not bored, I base it totally on the fact you hardly ever log in to even give the game any attention in the first place.

I am really fascinated in why you have not even maxed one character yet.

Read the post above yours.

BTW, I never cared for only the books. Been playing since pre-launch, capped my first char about 10 months later. But, until very recently, I progressed only as far as Book 7.

Why? Because there were SO many other things to do, leveling alts, gathering traits, exploring new areas (Evendim, Misty mountains east, Tal Bruinen, Forochel), that somehow I was always "distracted" :)

And since I usually have max 2-3 hours to play in one sessions (but most often 1 or less), If I can't find a group to do exactly those FS quests that I need: then I just solo or craft. Happens very very often.

Regardless of how much time do I have for playing, be it 20 minutes or 5 hours: there is _always_ something to do!  (Recently if I have 10 minutes, I log in, check if anything sold in the AH, see if I can buy some rare trophy to finish my old 1 shot recipes, check if my concession jobs have timed out yet or not, and if I still have a couple of minutes, I go for fishing.)

This game just keeps getting better :)

DB

Best mmorpg on the market in my opinion. There is just something joyful seeing Hobbits running about

Originally posted by Servase

Things are easy to find, maps are gorgeous - it's the lack of content.

 

July 21, 2008 - Book 14

October #, 2008 - Book 15?

November ##., 2008 - Mines of Moria?

January ##, 2008 - Book 2 V2

 

Book 14 will add enough content to keep you playing for 3-7 days. But then what? you go back to being bored as shit until book 15. Then what does book 15 add, same crap as previous books where you will be bored after 3-7days.

Mines of Moria will keep you busy for maybe, 1month, then what, back to being bored lol... Hopefully they add some dungeons in moria...

I dislike how they stated the change from 50 - 60 would be minimal. According to a interview with gamespy, they didn't want you to be to powerful over level 50 content. Probably cuz they won't be adding much at 60, they want you to be doing level 50 shit still.

BTW Book 15 and MOM will be released at the same time.

Originally posted by meltphaces

I played this game for a while before and enjoyed it but eventually moved on due to lack of an end game and lack of variety in the game. Now i'm returning for a while if not for long-term. However.. i'm concerned that this game suffers from slow development and is hindered by the hardcore Tolkien fans who simultaneously keep the game in business but also hinder progress by being sticklers to the lore. Don't get me wrong i'm a fan of the books too and don't want to see this become another WoW clone and full of kids..but look at it realistically for a moment:

Any development/expansion/addition to the game will be met with opposition and scrutiny as to whether or not its within the lore .. I honestly don't know if the game will be able to last years under those terms like a EQ, DAOC or WoW can because it can never really evolve too far..  for example:

-a maximum of 4 playable races, forever. Don't say monster play cause thats really just an illusion and at the end of the day you're still one of those 4 races, and not everyone does it.

Does this really matter?  Does having 50 different races make other games better?  If you say yes, then why?  COD4 is one of the most popular video games of all time.  How many playable races does it have?  Tolkein's works have somehow managed to stay popular for over 50 years....with only 4 main character races.  How is that possible?

-nothing magical can ever be added to the game, nor can any classes be added like a traditional MMO Wizard DPS class, due to lore

This is both wrong, and irrelevant in my opinion.  Why can't an MMO succeed without classic high-fantasy magic?  In any event, there's really plenty of it.  There's the Minstrel, which is exactly the same as a Priest, the Loremaster, and soon to come, the Runekeeper.

-no interaction with any of the iconic, memorable characters unless it's part something that already happened in the books/movies, in which case its predictable.

Again, this is not true.  There are many quests that involve the main storyline characters, some of which you are doing for the characters, and some you even do WITH them.

-A forseeable ending to the game when they exhaust the worthwhile book content and eventually have to let players raid Mordor and see Sauron defeated.

Does anyone know what happened in Middle Earth after Sauron fell?  Sounds to me like an awesome, wide-open canvas for a great MMO.  In fact, if I recall correctly, the original concept for Middle Earth Online had the story starting immediately after the fall of Sauron.

How long do you honestly think it can go on for? I think they are deliberately taking their sweet time on developing the game due to these reasons.. I quit right after the month of the Burglar and it doesn't look like much was added since. I do have hopes though, the game definitely has potential. I think every player needs to acknowledge something though; only one of these two things can happen with this game in the future:

1) Eventually the lore will have to be bent slightly or interpreted differently to add new content/classes/races/zones.. or

Why?  Why does there have to be more races or classes?  Two new ones are coming with MoM.  There's a whole huge world that can be developed without "bending" the lore.  I'd be surprised if they are ever able to develop all of ME in the next ten years.

2) The game will die and be a ghost-town like so many others have, and even the hardcore lifetime subscribing Tolkien fans will be moonlighting in other MMO's, if you aren't already..

EQ still has tons of players almost 10 years later.  Why should this game be any different?

That's all really..just some ramblings from a returned player, concerned but hopeful for the future. Sorry if it all came out negative but i'm short on sleep at the moment.

Umm, stuff....and stuff.

Originally posted by Servase

Things are easy to find, maps are gorgeous - it's the lack of content.

 

July 21, 2008 - Book 14

October #, 2008 - Book 15?

November ##., 2008 - Mines of Moria?

January ##, 2008 - Book 2 V2

 

Book 14 will add enough content to keep you playing for 3-7 days. But then what? you go back to being bored as shit until book 15. Then what does book 15 add, same crap as previous books where you will be bored after 3-7days.

Mines of Moria will keep you busy for maybe, 1month, then what, back to being bored lol... Hopefully they add some dungeons in moria...

I dislike how they stated the change from 50 - 60 would be minimal. According to a interview with gamespy, they didn't want you to be to powerful over level 50 content. Probably cuz they won't be adding much at 60, they want you to be doing level 50 shit still.

Book 15 comes with Mines of Morai. 

Also between book 14 and the Mines of Moria there's going to be a festival and live events for the conclusion of the story arc.

You're misinterpreting the 50-60 content.  They're just saying it's going to be a gradual increase similar to 40-50 instead of a huge initial spike where all your equipment is immediately replaced by the easiest quest rewards. 

As far as things to do, they said that Moria will have a lot of  quests, instances, raids, etc.  There will be tons to do.

Originally posted by meltphaces

I played this game for a while before and enjoyed it but eventually moved on due to lack of an end game and lack of variety in the game. Now i'm returning for a while if not for long-term. However.. i'm concerned that this game suffers from slow development and is hindered by the hardcore Tolkien fans who simultaneously keep the game in business but also hinder progress by being sticklers to the lore. Don't get me wrong i'm a fan of the books too and don't want to see this become another WoW clone and full of kids..but look at it realistically for a moment:

Any development/expansion/addition to the game will be met with opposition and scrutiny as to whether or not its within the lore .. I honestly don't know if the game will be able to last years under those terms like a EQ, DAOC or WoW can because it can never really evolve too far..  for example:

-a maximum of 4 playable races, forever. Don't say monster play cause thats really just an illusion and at the end of the day you're still one of those 4 races, and not everyone does it.

True, but those 4 races have a lot of depth to them.  I don't see this as a big issue.

-nothing magical can ever be added to the game, nor can any classes be added like a traditional MMO Wizard DPS class, due to lore

The loremaste is very wizard like, but to an extent what you say is true.  They are making a new class called the rune-keeper which is going to be a DPS/Healing hybrid and should stray a little more into the magical, but we'll have to wait to see exactly how that's going to work.  Just because they can't do fireball tossing mages doesn't mean they can't do anything cool.

-no interaction with any of the iconic, memorable characters unless it's part something that already happened in the books/movies, in which case its predictable.

One of the areas I'm most excited about is Mirkwood/Dale/Lonely Mountain because Turbine will have a lot more freedom to come up with their own storyline involving major characters.  Turbine is also planning on using session play to let us take part in iconic moments which may have happened far in the past. 

-A forseeable ending to the game when they exhaust the worthwhile book content and eventually have to let players raid Mordor and see Sauron defeated.

But that end will not come for a long, long time.  Moria is getting released this fall.  We can assume that they will probably do Rohan for another expansion and the areas from the Hobbit in another.  So the earliest that I'm expecting to see Gondor is Fall 2010, and I'm sure they can stretch out the story of what happens there for a year or two before destroying the ring (~2012).  Then of course you have the events that happen in the shire which could add a little more to the game.  It could be cool to see some of the events from the fourth age.  By then I'm sure Turbine will come up for a plan to keep the game exciting for players. 

How long do you honestly think it can go on for? I think they are deliberately taking their sweet time on developing the game due to these reasons.. I quit right after the month of the Burglar and it doesn't look like much was added since. I do have hopes though, the game definitely has potential. I think every player needs to acknowledge something though; only one of these two things can happen with this game in the future:

Well, book 12 (burglar/guardian) did take the longest to come out, so that may be why you think they slowed down.  It took 4 months instead of the usual 2-3.  But book 13 released a whole new zone to the game with a lot of content in it.  Book 14 is about to come out, and it looks like it's going to be one of the best patches.  Overall Turbine is really good at pumping out new content, but I do think there were some areas that could have used some more attention. 

1) Eventually the lore will have to be bent slightly or interpreted differently to add new content/classes/races/zones.. or The game will die and be a ghost-town like so many others have, and even the hardcore lifetime subscribing Tolkien fans will be moonlighting in other MMO's, if you aren't already..

I don't think that's the case. 

That's all really..just some ramblings from a returned player, concerned but hopeful for the future. Sorry if it all came out negative but i'm short on sleep at the moment.

At times I've wondered about some of these things, but I've begun to have a lot of faith in Turbine.  They are doing a lot of cool things from the Legendary Items to Session play where you can participate in iconic moments from the lore.  The expansion is sounding awesome with two new classes, new end game content, an epic interpretation of moria, and some cool new technology such as a new UI and new technology that will reduce the number of loading screens in the game.

Originally posted by Wrymstrum

You're misinterpreting the 50-60 content.  They're just saying it's going to be a gradual increase similar to 40-50 instead of a huge initial spike where all your equipment is immediately replaced by the easiest quest rewards. 

Yes! I think this is about alot of people are worried about MoM will be like TBC when it was released... From what Ive heard the main complaint about the WoW expansion was that the transision from lvl 60 wasnt very smooth and that a lvl 58 char could get normal drops that was superior to previous raid-gear!

In the Steefel interview he just said that the progression beyond lvl 50 is going to be smooth when it comes to gear.. Its nice to see that they are learning from other companys mistakes!

only problem i see for this game is what happens when we have 2 or 3 expansions (and all the updates inbetween)  gonna be bloody hard to get a group together when you got 1/10th of middle earth (which is huge btw)

I played LOTRO at launch but stopped not too long after. I just returned this past week and while familiar..seems different. I seem to feel more at ease wth it this time and apprec