I'm an old WoW/EQ1/insert most mmo's here vet and I just want to settle into an mmo with a good PVE friendly community game. I have heard barely any bad things about this game and so I'm gonna download the trial. Any tips or what server to start on for the best community experience? (high pop would be best I would assume)

Thanks guys :D

Heres some advice. Quit whilst its early days, because 1. You could put your money towards something better 2. Its better to leave somethings unknown to you unknown. 3.  Everyone is out in moria anyways good luck enjoying the game to its full whilst there are that many raiding geeks on there.

Lol, hello troll, anyways, just did a head-count when starting up an alt yesterday, some 20 people or so in the starting instance, either starting for the first time or running alts, and that was not even at peak hours. Facts speak for itself :)

And for what it's worth, there's plenty of lower levels in my kin as well, in fact most are and only some 25% (just my rough estimate) have yet made it into Moria, most are new or returning players on various stages of their journey, some in their 20's, some in 30's etc, and so no, so to conclude no everyone is not in Moria and there are plenty of people to quest and group with on all levels :)

Anyhow back to the topic at hand, the most obvious "must do" is to start a Hobbit and visit The Shire :)

I just came back after a very long hiatus. I am on the Euro servers and it seems like the new one I chose has a busy population, though not overly busy. My old server seemed pretty dead but I was only logged in briefly. Which version of the game are you going to be playing?

Hmmm... as an EQ player, perhaps you used to stop and explore, smell the roses a bit ingame? That's a good way to approach LotRO. It's not a game to try to speed through since the journey is the main reason to play it. It has a different mindset from the general one in WoW, where xp rate is important. There are deeds you can acquire that help you to customise your character depending on your playstyle and what you think is important. Some deeds also help you to explore areas if you enjoy exploration. There are also a lot of fluff and roleplay elements in LotRO that are missing in the more recent MMOs.

I also recommend becoming a resource gatherer of some sort since you can sell things you harvest/gather/whatever on the auctionhouse.

Combat is diffferent in LotRO to WoW. It is less immediately responsive and more strategic. A lot of the skills/spells have secondary effects that can affect the entire outcome of battle and you have to get used to the pacing of combat. Some people hate it, others like it. I'm neutral to it, it's a nice change from WoW, but I'm getting used to it again. It does require some patience though.

Hmmm... I don't particularly like the Shire myself. Bree is quite nice (where low level Man characters start out) and a good place to find groups. You can take a horse though to any of the low level areas, so if you choose to make a Man and want to go to the Shire, all you have to do is get enough cash to take a horse there and you can indulge in all of the storyline quests.

If you intend to stay you will need gatherer trade ie explorer, if you want to try then buy still good choice as you can still tailor leather armor for non war classes.

Race choice really up to you although men/women get a good health trait that can be used in battle to replenish health (can be a lifesaver). Balanced races so up to you.

Hunter is a good starting class as you will be able to get around in the game easily because hunters can port from one place to another instantly once they get that skill quest/level (hunter gatherer good for material gathering with speed boost too).

Getting groups Tank and healer both get groups easiest followed by champion and all others hunter generally middle as its a dps class but there are way to many hunters because of MOM and how hunter was easy to level in MOM expansion.

Lotro is a very friendly game so unlike most games people of all levels will help you so talk to people they are friendly.

Trail limits chat (you cant pm someone unless they pm you although you can speak in general terms ie above your char) like I am a trail whoch means they will pm you. You cant initiate a fellow/group but you can get invited to one. You cant in game email or use the auction house.

All these things might sound like crap but every game has these after all its a taster not a full game and its only fair as people already pay for this game and full privallages.

Lastly dont think about it too much as a gamer you will have knowledge from your other games so you will be fine.

Anyway good luck

Follow the book quests and side quests have some fun and enjoy the game.

 Be sure to find the snowman in the Vale of Thrain area!

          THe only advice I would give is to stick with one class, two classes max......If you d othe "im gonna elvel all classes to 20 before I decide" tactic, then you'll most likely burn out on the game.......The quests get monotonous after awhile but if you just stick with one class then I think it wont get too unbearable........

That's some good advice by Theocritus.  Stick with no more than two classes.  Me, I've gone Hunter with my main, and Warden with my alt.  I'm still learning the finer points of tanking with the Warden.

As far as some advice, LOTRO is chock full of great solo content.  I've solo'ed my Warden up to 26 without doing any fellowship quests.  For a newbie, I would suggest rolling your character and doing the beginner instance and go from there.  It's a lot of fun!

See you in Eriador!

-G

don't bother repairing items till after lvl 10 or dying them till after lvl 20, you will be replacing them often

if you want to craft make your first character the explorer class ( tailor, prospector, forestor) even if don't want to craft much the prospector/forestor will allow you to spen minimal time in the crafting hall and make some good coin at higher levels.

i started maybe month ago and i didnt had problem to find ppl on Gilrain(EU) server,so dont worry about wow fanbois trolls,cuz there is many idiots coming frustrated from that poor game to try make others game bad in their words.

And every server has nice community so dont worry.

Welcome to the game.  I have to agree with the others on suggesting Explorer as your first crafting option.  Explorers are self sufficient, and if this is your first character that will help.  Other notes...

Be sure to complete all the Epic quests.  They offer really nice rewards and progress the main story line.  Speaking of the storyline, almost all the quests have a decent storyline.  In most mmo's I just skip all the quest text to complete the objective.  Here I actually take the time to read the quests.  Take your time and enjoy the story.  That is what this game is about.

Last week I did a /who on several servers to check numbers.  Almost all servers had around 100 people in the 1-10 levels.  From 10-20 the numbers where close to 150 for most of the servers.  One in particular had 250 in that level range.  This was also very early in the evening, 6pm EST when I checked.  So the low level zones are in no way empty.  Don't listen to that other poster.  One server in particular is almost too crowded.

Another little suggestion, don't get too over confident.  By that I mean, run if you need to and avoid dying at all cost.  Why?  Repairing from death is very expensive.  If you die a lot you will be broke.  I learned that the hard way on my minstrel a long time ago.  I'd get too confident and try to survive  just because I could heal myself.

I would also say to ignore the /Advice channel for the most part.  The Free Trial peeps seem to have flooded it with WoW Barrens chat talk.  Other than that....great community.

Explorer is a great profession for resource-gathering, but you can only make tailored gear as far as crafting items. This means leather and cloth-based armours (medium and light respectively), which is not terribly useful if you are playing a Guardian. Since so many people have picked up this profession, the AH can get flooded with especially low level ores, and it can be quite challenging to buy tailor recipes too.

I recommend making an alt straight away to bank stuff with. LotRO mobs drop lots of items that you might not want to vendor straight away, like purple-named trophies that are used in master level crafting at all tiers.

Try to do anything related to the Inn League.