I played LOTR for the first time when it was still in beta. My first impression of beta was "complete trash". Of course the game was in beta, but I was not impressed to purchase it on initial release.

Now here we are with a brand new expansion. I got a little desperate looking for a game to play, I haven't played an mmorpg since the disappointment that we all know of as Vanguard. Thought about WAR, read the forums and saw a lot of negative posts so decided to pass, then I thought about age of conan, same result. I had previously played, UO, EQ, Lineage2, AO, EQ2, Vanguard, SWG(first few months of release, one of the best mmorpg experiences ever...), Guild Wars, DAOC and a tiny bit of WOW(wasn't for me). Out of those I enjoyed EQ2, SWG and the original EQ the most.

Anyway, back to the point. I came to the LOTR forums (i knew the new expo just released) and even though I wasn't impressed initially I decided based on the forum feedback here that the game was decent and worth a try. I went of and bought the complete edition pack, I was impressed with the price of only $39(CND) for both original and expansion. Rushed home to install it and just as soon as the install was complete the disappointment kicked in.

First, the graphics... I have high end system so I maxed everything out and yes the game ran smoothly but the graphics are POOR, even maxed out. The animations are completely terrible. Characters are just not what I expected from a newer MMORPG. Its probably near the bottom of the barrel from every single game I played if you consider the time of release as a factor. The only thing I liked about the graphics where the shadows from the trees... but this was hardly enough and completely offset by the rest of the game.

The battle animations felt awkward at best and the beginning spell/combat effects left A LOT to be desired. The very first few NPCs I interacted with had maybe what felt like 3 polygons for a face with a terribly mapped texture to match.

I did manage to create a character I liked. There was enough customization options for hair, beard and the face that you will likely find a reasonable end result. However, after completing a few quests and getting new armour I found myself wearing orange "leather" armour and green pants, with some brown coloured shoulder pads... It was a complete disaster and broke immersion immediately.
I understand graphics aren't a big indicator of quality and we can easily point to graphically advanced games that failed (vanguard comes to mind) but the rest of my first few hours (and probably last) did little to convince me to continue playing.

The interface is the worst I have seen of any game. It just looks ugly, the mini map is not very friendly and all the menus seemed off putting. The quest log is acceptable but I definitely found it difficult finding locations of my next quest and I don't mind exploring but when the quest is kill "x number of monsters" then the last thing I want to do is spend 15 minutes trying to find the location for a boring generic quest.
Game play wise it just did not seem fun. It’s your typical hit your 1, 2,3 ,4 till enemy dies with absolutely nothing there to spice things up. Usually I would be fine with this if it was at least fast paced but it wasn't. It was slow.

Sounds/Music are mediocre. The music didn't draw me in, didn't add to any form of immersion. The combat sounds are sometimes too echoey... sounds like your in an empty underground tunnel with some of the skills I was using. The NPCs only have partial voice overs, and I suppose it’s better than none at all but if you even played EQ2 for 5 minutes and then played this you would quickly know what difference better voice overs can make.

After a few hours I just felt bored and was forcing myself to play longer to hopefully uncover some hidden qualities that I missed initially. Quickly I realized I can't force myself to play this any longer, at least not in one sitting. Felt inclined to warn new comers that may have played some of the games I have that are just looking for a new game. The whole first impression experience can be summed up into one word "terrible".

Again, this is a FIRST impression. Don't flame me for not playing this longer and giving it more of a chance. I have the whole month left so I will log at least a few more hours in and try a few other starter areas at the very least.

Maybe this game isn't for me, or maybe I am missing something here...

---

Originally posted by reborngamer
I played LOTR for the first time when it was still in beta. My first impression of beta was "complete trash". Of course the game was in beta, but I was not impressed to purchase it on initial release.

Now here we are with a brand new expansion. I got a little desperate looking for a game to play, I haven't played an mmorpg since the disappointment that we all know of as Vanguard. Thought about WAR, read the forums and saw a lot of negative posts so decided to pass, then I thought about age of conan, same result. I had previously played, UO, EQ, Lineage2, AO, EQ2, Vanguard, SWG(first few months of release, one of the best mmorpg experiences ever...), Guild Wars, DAOC and a tiny bit of WOW(wasn't for me). Out of those I enjoyed EQ2, SWG and the original EQ the most.

Anyway, back to the point. I came to the LOTR forums (i knew the new expo just released) and even though I wasn't impressed initially I decided based on the forum feedback here that the game was decent and worth a try. I went of and bought the complete edition pack, I was impressed with the price of only $39(CND) for both original and expansion. Rushed home to install it and just as soon as the install was complete the disappointment kicked in.

First, the graphics... I have high end system so I maxed everything out and yes the game ran smoothly but the graphics are POOR, even maxed out. The animations are completely terrible. Characters are just not what I expected from a newer MMORPG. Its probably near the bottom of the barrel from every single game I played if you consider the time of release as a factor. The only thing I liked about the graphics where the shadows from the trees... but this was hardly enough and completely offset by the rest of the game.

The battle animations felt awkward at best and the beginning spell/combat effects left A LOT to be desired. The very first few NPCs I interacted with had maybe what felt like 3 polygons for a face with a terribly mapped texture to match.

I did manage to create a character I liked. There was enough customization options for hair, beard and the face that you will likely find a reasonable end result. However, after completing a few quests and getting new armour I found myself wearing orange "leather" armour and green pants, with some brown coloured shoulder pads... It was a complete disaster and broke immersion immediately.
I understand graphics aren't a big indicator of quality and we can easily point to graphically advanced games that failed (vanguard comes to mind) but the rest of my first few hours (and probably last) did little to convince me to continue playing.

The interface is the worst I have seen of any game. It just looks ugly, the mini map is not very friendly and all the menus seemed off putting. The quest log is acceptable but I definitely found it difficult finding locations of my next quest and I don't mind exploring but when the quest is kill "x number of monsters" then the last thing I want to do is spend 15 minutes trying to find the location for a boring generic quest.
Game play wise it just did not seem fun. It’s your typical hit your 1, 2,3 ,4 till enemy dies with absolutely nothing there to spice things up. Usually I would be fine with this if it was at least fast paced but it wasn't. It was slow.

Sounds/Music are mediocre. The music didn't draw me in, didn't add to any form of immersion. The combat sounds are sometimes too echoey... sounds like your in an empty underground tunnel with some of the skills I was using. The NPCs only have partial voice overs, and I suppose it’s better than none at all but if you even played EQ2 for 5 minutes and then played this you would quickly know what difference better voice overs can make.

After a few hours I just felt bored and was forcing myself to play longer to hopefully uncover some hidden qualities that I missed initially. Quickly I realized I can't force myself to play this any longer, at least not in one sitting. Felt inclined to warn new comers that may have played some of the games I have that are just looking for a new game. The whole first impression experience can be summed up into one word "terrible".

Again, this is a FIRST impression. Don't flame me for not playing this longer and giving it more of a chance. I have the whole month left so I will log at least a few more hours in and try a few other starter areas at the very least.

Maybe this game isn't for me, or maybe I am missing something here...
 

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I'm not sure what kind of "high-end" PC you have but the graphics in LotRO is damn near on par with Age of Conan and has gotten many good praises on DirectX 10 the graphics are absolutely stunning. Again you may be talking about the art style instead of the actual graphics, which you may not be aware is two different things.

While the orange and mis-colored armor has always been my biggest gripe there is dyes and the cosmetic system they added to it many books ago that made it much much much more better. You may want to dive into that around level 10 you unlock that ability.

They just recently changed the UI around a bit with Mines of Moria for the better. I don't know what UI you are looking at but it is the most organized and clearly explained UI you will ever see in an MMO everything is listed and tells you exactly what you need when you need it. The new trait UI is completely awesome telling you exactly what bonuses you have equipped in various areas.

The music, it depends where you go, some areas have little passion in it and others get your blood running.

Voice overs were meant to be small and only to tell you important details such as when you come into a story instance.

I'm not sure what type of game you were looking for but you should have seen this is a quest oriented MMO, if you don't like to do tons of quests at a time this game isn't for you. Saying that this game is as casual as you can get if you make it to be. If you are trying desperately to level hardcore you may seem lost and you are not immersing yourself into the wonderful lore LotRO gives to you.

You may want to reserve your judgment for another day when you get higher level, I'm not sure what you got but you need at least 15-18ish till your first major instance where your fun kicks in to overdrive.

In my own personal opinion i think the graphics maxed out with DX10 in this game can look superb but i agree about the combat and animations. After playing AOC and a few other games when i go back and try LOTRO ( I re-subbed for 3 months ) the combat just feels so damn slow and boring. Now i think this is a very good quality game with a fantastic story but i just can't stay interested in game for more than an hour or so. I am almost sure that it is the combat and animations now.

"I'm not sure what kind of "high-end" PC you have but the graphics in LotRO is damn near on par with Age of Conan and has gotten many good praises on DirectX 10 the graphics are absolutely stunning. Again you may be talking about the art style instead of the actual graphics, which you may not be aware is two different things."

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550

4Gb PC6400 dual channel DDR2-RAM

nVidia GeForce GTX280

WD VelociRaptor 300Gb 10,000RPM SATA hard drive

I haven't played Age of Conan, but again, I can assure you that these are not "absolutely stunning" graphics. They are OK graphics. This is of course based on one location from the original game so I may come back and comment further once I see a few more locations.

"While the orange and mis-colored armor has always been my biggest gripe there is dyes and the cosmetic system they added to it many books ago that made it much much much more better. You may want to dive into that around level 10 you unlock that ability."

For me immersion is very important and things that make your character look like he just got of his circus shift as a clown are complete deal breakers. I am also guessing the dyes allow you to dye your armor whatever color you wish, which means I'll probably be running into dwarves in pink armor... just speculating here lol.

"They just recently changed the UI around a bit with Mines of Moria for the better. I don't know what UI you are looking at but it is the most organized and clearly explained UI you will ever see in an MMO everything is listed and tells you exactly what you need when you need it. The new trait UI is completely awesome telling you exactly what bonuses you have equipped in various areas."

I was speaking purely from an aesthetically pleasing factor. It might function properly, but I found the minimap of little use, I also don't recall seeing a compass anywhere (might have missed it) which isn't a big deal but should be a no brainer considering all quests are southwest, southeast etc... of your location.

"I'm not sure what type of game you were looking for but you should have seen this is a quest oriented MMO, if you don't like to do tons of quests at a time this game isn't for you. Saying that this game is as casual as you can get if you make it to be. If you are trying desperately to level hardcore you may seem lost and you are not immersing yourself into the wonderful lore LotRO gives to you."

Perhaps you missed the part where I said I enjoyed playing everQUEST and everQUEST2, as well as SWG(which wasn't a hardcore leveling game..). Immersion is number one for me, quests, story, look and feel as well as gameplay are huge on my list. I simply (from a first impression) found these areas all lacking.

"You may want to reserve your judgment for another day when you get higher level, I'm not sure what you got but you need at least 15-18ish till your first major instance where your fun kicks in to overdrive."

I hope your right, but the whole idea of waiting till your X level to have fun seems flawed.

---

Originally posted by reborngamer
"I'm not sure what kind of "high-end" PC you have but the graphics in LotRO is damn near on par with Age of Conan and has gotten many good praises on DirectX 10 the graphics are absolutely stunning. Again you may be talking about the art style instead of the actual graphics, which you may not be aware is two different things."
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
4Gb PC6400 dual channel DDR2-RAM
nVidia GeForce GTX280
WD VelociRaptor 300Gb 10,000RPM SATA hard drive
I haven't played Age of Conan, but again, I can assure you that these are not "absolutely stunning" graphics. They are OK graphics. This is of course based on one location from the original game so I may come back and comment further once I see a few more locations.
"While the orange and mis-colored armor has always been my biggest gripe there is dyes and the cosmetic system they added to it many books ago that made it much much much more better. You may want to dive into that around level 10 you unlock that ability."
For me immersion is very important and things that make your character look like he just got of his circus shift as a clown are complete deal breakers. I am also guessing the dyes allow you to dye your armor whatever color you wish, which means I'll probably be running into dwarves in pink armor... just speculating here lol.
"They just recently changed the UI around a bit with Mines of Moria for the better. I don't know what UI you are looking at but it is the most organized and clearly explained UI you will ever see in an MMO everything is listed and tells you exactly what you need when you need it. The new trait UI is completely awesome telling you exactly what bonuses you have equipped in various areas."
I was speaking purely from an aesthetically pleasing factor. It might function properly, but I found the minimap of little use, I also don't recall seeing a compass anywhere (might have missed it) which isn't a big deal but should be a no brainer considering all quests are southwest, southeast etc... of your location.
"I'm not sure what type of game you were looking for but you should have seen this is a quest oriented MMO, if you don't like to do tons of quests at a time this game isn't for you. Saying that this game is as casual as you can get if you make it to be. If you are trying desperately to level hardcore you may seem lost and you are not immersing yourself into the wonderful lore LotRO gives to you."
Perhaps you missed the part where I said I enjoyed playing everQUEST and everQUEST2, as well as SWG(which wasn't a hardcore leveling game..). Immersion is number one for me, quests, story, look and feel as well as gameplay are huge on my list. I simply (from a first impression) found these areas all lacking.
"You may want to reserve your judgment for another day when you get higher level, I'm not sure what you got but you need at least 15-18ish till your first major instance where your fun kicks in to overdrive."
I hope your right, but the whole idea of waiting till your X level to have fun seems flawed.
 

---

Even the starting areas can look absolutely stunning. An example of what you should see in DirectX 10:

Your PC is decked out so I'm not sure what is holding you back graphic wise, if you are looking for Crysis type graphics in an MMO that just won't happen but rest assure LotRO has one of the best graphics in the genre.

Pink isn't a viable dye plus all the dyes are within a lore standard they are gritty and dark to fit with the world. You won't be seeing anything insanely misplaced I can assure you that.

The mini-map is practically useless except to pin-point quests in the area, it isn't used for direction but more of a surrounding detection of what services are around the area in which it does a perfect job for just that.

While I agree that leveling to x level shouldn't be the case, in LotRO they take you step by step to get you used to what you will be immersed in. To really get into the fun you must level past 15 its just has to happen. Your first group and once you get into the actual epic quests (the main storyline) you will be hooked of wanting more. Turbine did an amazing job of telling a story and letting you play an important role in it. If you like to get immersed then my final words to you is give yourself the extra mile and get to this point, you will thank yourself later. You will get hooked!

Should have asked for a trial key to check out LOTRO before buying. Never go by what people post here. There are negative posters in every game listed here. Trial trial trial, if you are out shopping for a MMO I highly suggest trial shopping before buying.

If you haven't tried AoC or War you should see if you can snag a trial key. Never know you may just like it.

As for LOTRO I think if you did not like the game back in beta I don't think you would like it now. The feel of the game seems it just wasn't there for you. Nothing wrong with that. Goodluck in finding the MMO that is fun for you.

Think maybe you might be MMO burnt out?

Originally posted by Hashbrick

 

---

Originally posted by reborngamer
"I'm not sure what kind of "high-end" PC you have but the graphics in LotRO is damn near on par with Age of Conan and has gotten many good praises on DirectX 10 the graphics are absolutely stunning. Again you may be talking about the art style instead of the actual graphics, which you may not be aware is two different things."
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
4Gb PC6400 dual channel DDR2-RAM
nVidia GeForce GTX280
WD VelociRaptor 300Gb 10,000RPM SATA hard drive
I haven't played Age of Conan, but again, I can assure you that these are not "absolutely stunning" graphics. They are OK graphics. This is of course based on one location from the original game so I may come back and comment further once I see a few more locations.
"While the orange and mis-colored armor has always been my biggest gripe there is dyes and the cosmetic system they added to it many books ago that made it much much much more better. You may want to dive into that around level 10 you unlock that ability."
For me immersion is very important and things that make your character look like he just got of his circus shift as a clown are complete deal breakers. I am also guessing the dyes allow you to dye your armor whatever color you wish, which means I'll probably be running into dwarves in pink armor... just speculating here lol.
"They just recently changed the UI around a bit with Mines of Moria for the better. I don't know what UI you are looking at but it is the most organized and clearly explained UI you will ever see in an MMO everything is listed and tells you exactly what you need when you need it. The new trait UI is completely awesome telling you exactly what bonuses you have equipped in various areas."
I was speaking purely from an aesthetically pleasing factor. It might function properly, but I found the minimap of little use, I also don't recall seeing a compass anywhere (might have missed it) which isn't a big deal but should be a no brainer considering all quests are southwest, southeast etc... of your location.
"I'm not sure what type of game you were looking for but you should have seen this is a quest oriented MMO, if you don't like to do tons of quests at a time this game isn't for you. Saying that this game is as casual as you can get if you make it to be. If you are trying desperately to level hardcore you may seem lost and you are not immersing yourself into the wonderful lore LotRO gives to you."
Perhaps you missed the part where I said I enjoyed playing everQUEST and everQUEST2, as well as SWG(which wasn't a hardcore leveling game..). Immersion is number one for me, quests, story, look and feel as well as gameplay are huge on my list. I simply (from a first impression) found these areas all lacking.
"You may want to reserve your judgment for another day when you get higher level, I'm not sure what you got but you need at least 15-18ish till your first major instance where your fun kicks in to overdrive."
I hope your right, but the whole idea of waiting till your X level to have fun seems flawed.
 

---

 

Even the starting areas can look absolutely stunning. An example of what you should see in DirectX 10:

Your PC is decked out so I'm not sure what is holding you back graphic wise, if you are looking for Crysis type graphics in an MMO that just won't happen but rest assure LotRO has one of the best graphics in the genre.

Pink isn't a viable dye plus all the dyes are within a lore standard they are gritty and dark to fit with the world. You won't be seeing anything insanely misplaced I can assure you that.

The mini-map is practically useless except to pin-point quests in the area, it isn't used for direction but more of a surrounding detection of what services are around the area in which it does a perfect job for just that.

While I agree that leveling to x level shouldn't be the case, in LotRO they take you step by step to get you used to what you will be immersed in. To really get into the fun you must level past 15 its just has to happen. Your first group and once you get into the actual epic quests (the main storyline) you will be hooked of wanting more. Turbine did an amazing job of telling a story and letting you play an important role in it. If you like to get immersed then my final words to you is give yourself the extra mile and get to this point, you will thank yourself later. You will get hooked!

Man that picture looks sweet. Almost saddens me that my account is de-activated. I love the game and the scenery. 

lotro is horrible grafic

remove, reflex water, the grafic lotro is POOR, very very poor

vanguard, and AOc very best

vanguard dx9 very  very best

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Originally posted by claudiofm
*snip*

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I have no clue what you are trying to prove your PC has terrible graphic quality, both games you shown are low-end graphics no matter what game you play it will look plain.

For instance look at the palm tree in your pic you can see the jagged lines, that isn't normal you have a lot of options turned off and it looks like crap.

Look here is a shot on very low graphics on LotRO and it still beats your low-end shots.

lotro graphics are nice. the scenery is beautiful the character models though are awful. but the world is something to behold

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Originally posted by EATtheDEAD
lotro graphics are nice. the scenery is beautiful the character models though are awful. but the world is something to behold

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I wouldn't say awful I've seen much worse but it is something that is lacking and it may be more because of the art direction then anything else. I'll agree though the world of LotRO is the pure enjoyment of the graphics inside this game.

The tree shadowing and reflections are very nice. My biggest problem is the characters and animations.  -> SCROLL RIGHT

Holy hell buddy warn somebody about a huge fonzie looking like character popping up in your face damn near freaked me out.

If the character models are your gripe that may keep you from playing. The key is to look at the world and your surroundings, I rarely keep eye on my character.

  To the OP sorry to hear you haven't enjoyed it so far. Was thinking of possibly getting it myself but with Fallout3, and EQ2 TSO I find myself busy enough really. Anyway its very possible its just not for you. I'd have to agree the character customization wasn't the best IMO but i found the storyline with a group of friends more then made up for it. If one dislikes quests/storyline then i would say there are better MMO's to try

   Cheers

Originally posted by reborngamer

The tree shadowing and reflections are very nice. My biggest problem is the characters and animations.  -> SCROLL RIGHT

 

I think there's something wrong with your settings. Also, that doesn't look like a player character.. .looks like an npc.

I just got close to my character and it looks nothign like that. Much more detail.

Also, "no" there is no dying armor pink. You can alter what your charcter looks like (regarding armor, robes, etc) quite a bit. I've mixed and match all sorts of things to make a character look like a real elven warrior (within the context of the art design). That and some judiciously placed Black or grey dye and it works.

the world is beautiful, the characers are ok to good (player avatars not npc's) the lighting is great,.. music is very good to horrible.

But as far as look? Look at the above screenshot in DX10. I can come somewhat close in DX9 but it doesn't look quite as "real".

The animations are serviceable. the female elf running isn't so great.

 Also, are you playing with the high quality textures?

Simple as this. I've played WoW, WAR, EVE, EQ,EQ2, Vanguard... pretty much all games out there. I will tell you that LOTRO has some of the best graphics out there. Definitely a HUGE improvement over WoW.
The only issues with LOTRO is the lack of content (I.e raid dungeons and limited PVP) and the lack of items(very few).
Otherwise, the storyline is epic. <Mod edit>

Originally posted by claudiofm

lotro is horrible grafic

 

remove, reflex water, the grafic lotro is POOR, very very poor

 

 

 

 

vanguard, and AOc very best

 

vanguard dx9 very  very best

 

 

 

 

 

That shot of lotro is NOT DX10. I would say thats on the lower end of the graphic options.
 

Lotro may not the best looking MMO out there anymore, but if people cannot play lotro because it looks terrible or doesnt have the best graphics anymore, then you need a slap on the face.

Lotro will always look amazing. Its set in middlearth and i have yet to see a MMO that has stunning locations such as lotro.

Yes I have everything on full, with the highest quality textures. There is nothing wrong with my settings. Graphics aside the game still completely lacks in any fun factor and the gameplay is plain and boring. Again this is a first impression, I can't stress that enough.

And Servase, no I can't see that the storyline is epic because if you read my post and perhaps had more than 3 brain cells occupying your skull you might have noticed that this is a first impression from a new player after only a few hours of gameplay.

I don't want to make this about WoW but next time you type something think about the fact that there is 11 million subs in WoW so clearly they are doing something right.

Oh and yes, I did try WoW at one point. Though ultimately I decided the game wasn't for me at least it managed to keep me going for more than a couple hours unlike LOTR, which managed to kill my desire for MMORPGS in both beta and now.

This is my opinion of course, so feel free to disagree :P

LotrO is not for everyone,  it has some aesthetics and mechanics that just doesn't appeal to a broad audience.

But for 1000's of people , like myself, this is the best mmorpg that I've ever played, hands down. This game makes me forget the pvp tirades I had in other games and  exchange them for an adventure of a life time, it is awesome , for me.

Be well in your next game adventure !

I can respect that. As the old saying goes "to each his own".

It  is nice that someone loves Vanguard and AoC, I hear they need all the players they can get LOL. LoTRO is simply the best PvE game out there at the moment and has been for sometime. Turbine may not be perfect and I don't agree with every decision they make but they are still head and shoulders above the rest of the competiotion as far as a good fantasy PvE centric game.

We were discussing that in other topic, about animation and models. It's allmost like reading same people again just with another nickname.
Models are not the best, bot not bad either. And there is outfit system if you don't like early armor look.

But then again, i felt same in WOW, and yet I have nothing against game itself or gamers that like it. I just didn't like graphics and lore. Or SWG for that matter. 

Shame you didn't post Elrond as an example, great looking npc.

BTW what class did you choose first. Try warden if you want more complex combat, or lore master and burglar.

Originally posted by reborngamer

I can respect that. As the old saying goes "to each his own".

definitly a step in the right direction.

I read your first impression review with great intrest and here are a few comments from my point of view:

First of all i found it remarkable that you take so much from forum opinions. My advise here: Trial a game and dont look into forums at all.

The MMO i enjoyed the most i did not read any forums for 3 years.

Second i find it rather remarkable that you go off about the poor graphics where the LOTRO community is so proud for their nice graphics and screenshots.

But surprise, i agree with you. Short after LOTRO i tried Vanguard and to my own surprise i found the graphics there more appealing and creating more immersion to me than the clumsy LOTRO animations and ugly character models.

Most important and where you definitly hit the nail on the head: LOTRO has almost no fun factor. It is boring predictable gameplay, completely mindless almost no surprises nothing new for someone with an MMO history.

The "epic" story is sliced in pieces for everyone to walk with frodo - it is mainstream sightseeing tour through middle earth. No myst, no covered secrets, nothing special at all.

Raids are just big groups, no mass raids or huge battels. Not sure if meanwhile the server community has influence on the server plot or not.

PvP is a side game with creeps never meaning anything to the rest of the game. LOTRO is not for me. It is missing alot of sandbox and dynamic elements. Some things from Tabula Rasa and some epic stuff.

But as you said correctly: To Each his own.

How far did you get into game?

It is obvious from the very beginning of the OPs post that this game wouldn't be for him/her.

Why even bother trying the game when you already held it in disdain?

"and a tiny bit of WOW(wasn't for me)."

(Wouldn't want to be one of them.)

For my two cents, the survey says....