I was out of town away from my good home pc, but now I'm back.  For the last two weeks I had to make a decision as to play LOTRO or Vanguard.  I've been here mmorpg.com everyday reading post, and came to the conclusion that I will play Vanguard.

Here is why:
 

LOTRO

LOTRO is tempting, because I have a good home PC and would love to take advantage of the great graphics and coding.  The game seems to have a mature following from what I had been reading here, cause kids have to play WoW if they are gonna get along with their 5th grade class mates.

Now the problem I have with LOTRO after reading post such as " Bored of the rings " and " Cooking mana vs. lotro " and many others is that they never fixed the grouping and book quest.  I remember was a major problem for me when I played the beta. Along with the " fetch me an apple pie " quest.  From reading post on mmorpg it still seems as if people are still not using the    "Looking for fellowship' feature, or just not on the same part of the quest no matter how populated the servers are.  I see a lot of people talking about how they don't like this game anymore or bored with it and unable to put their finger on exactly why. Well I am 100% convinced that it's the grouping for quest problem, NO ONE IS EVER ON THE SAME PAGE with doing group quest or Dungeon quest.,,,, You are forced to play alone, bottom line !!. 

As with all MMO's and I've played them all. Guilds do not solve this problem, as much as a guild could be good and helpful, they can't help when you have a problem with chain quest, with the exception of " mercy help " where one or two higher levels come to your aid and blast you thru the quest.  I for one don't like to use people like that, besides you loose  your welcome after a few times of doing that anyway.

Vanguard

Vanguard, Well I know what your gonna say. What makes you say it's any better, infact it has a lower population and bad coding. Well your right.  BUT it's growing in population, getting better, and the mmorpg post are getting much more up beat. YES it has group quest, I LOVE GROUP QUEST, just not ridiculous chain quest.  And from what I read it's got even more of a mature following of any game.  And best of all many dungeons, I like them the best.  It's the best feature of any game for me.

I plan on doing a lot of research the day before I play, to find the best guild on a populated server, one that uses ventrilo.  I plan on playing slow and working with others of my level, without the problems of chain quest over and over.

My research on LOTRO here on mmorpg is that I'm seeing the SAME FANS fending off  all the one time posters one by one over and over again, for basically the same problem's that this game has.

The bottom line is Turbine really has to fix some simple problems with this game as far a group chain quest.  I'm not a programmer, but it does not take one to fix this problem.  It's a matter of fixing quest, because it's sad that a very good game is bad because of a social issue ( hold off on expansions and fix simple core problems).  I'm also 100% convinced that this game could have 11 million players if fixed. 

The vets here don't like changes because they had been playing like this since beta.  Well sorry, we have the same problem with the vets on EQ2 as far as change, but game's with problems need repair, no matter how painful it is to vets.

Wrong choice IMO, Vangaurd is on life support while Lotro still has a growing community and content.

Originally posted by page

My research on LOTRO here on mmorpg is that I'm seeing the SAME FANS fending off  all the one time posters one by one over and over again, for basically the same problem's that this game has.

Dude, you can't be serious. There is a free trial, you know?

If you really wish to decide what you gonna play based on comments in a public forum..... no,  I can't even go there, this is so wrong... Geez :/

DB

Originally posted by page 

My research on LOTRO here on mmorpg is that I'm seeing the SAME FANS fending off  all the one time posters one by one over and over again, for basically the same problem's that this game has.

The bottom line is Turbine really has to fix some simple problems with this game as far a group chain quest.  I'm not a programmer, but it does not take one to fix this problem.  It's a matter of fixing quest, because it's sad that a very good game is bad because of a social issue ( hold off on expansions and fix simple core problems).  I'm also 100% convinced that this game could have 11 million players if fixed. 

The vets here don't like changes because they had been playing like this since beta.  Well sorry, we have the same problem with the vets on EQ2 as far as change, but game's with problems need repair, no matter how painful it is to vets.

Whatever floats your boat...they're both good games although personally I think Rings is better but VG is a good game as well.  Not like I work for either company so I don't care.  I don't really understand what you're talking about in the above post but okie dokie . The group quest thing isn't a problem if you play on one of the well populated servers or if you're in a solid kin. It just isn't...yes the game does have an issue which is it has too many servers not the group quest item within itself.  So the reason you see some vets saying it isn't an issue is because...well...it isn't. 

Now if you were saying they're lying to themselves that Turbine is too stubborn to eliminate a few servers so some players aren't screwed when they try this game and happen to pick the wrong server and end up in no man's land where group quests then become an issue - I would agree with you.  The element wihin itself isn't an issue iit's the fact there are and always have been too many servers for this game.  If you do some research though you can avoid this problem altogether because quite frankly on the well populated servers there is no issue with the group quest thing.

EDIT: I have to say though that what you see on this forum is no different than what you see on any other forum so not sure why you felt the need to single this one out.  Sometimes vets here are overly defensive and looking at things through rose colored glass and other times they're spot on in what they're saying.  Sometimes posters that come here have legitimate concerns and issues and other times they're full of it or just here for trolling.  It's the same on all the forums. 

...and if you think Rings has issues you're in for a rude awakening with VG.  The game has come a long way from release but it still isn't nearly as polished as something like Rings not to mention it has major population woes.

Seeing as how you have always slammed LoTRO and praised Vanguard on your past postings this does not come as a surpise.

Enjoy Vanguard, you are right it does have plenty of forced grouping, trouble is there arn't many people playing to group with so you might miss a lot of the content. Also a few months back I purchased and played Vanguard for a month, so I have recent experience.

Heres a warning for you though,  be sure and  watch your credit cards charges closely and good luck with SOE's so called CS is they screw up a charge. trying to get a reimbursement for a false charge is like trying to get a chicken leg away from a starving man. When the CS rep threatened to charge me with fraud when I told him I would get my card company to do a chargeback I decided then and there to never have any more dealings with SOE. Epilogue- I did get my 20 bucks back from the credit card company. Hell of a way to lose a 5 year plus customer but then I guess  they needed that 20 to pay the light bill that month.

That's great you're going to play Vanguard, but you really shouldn't base that decision on forum comments. Both games have free trials which is really the best way to make a decision on a game.

Grouping early on in LotRO isn't a problem at all, but it does start to get more challenging on the epic quests later on as well as some of the dungeons. Even in a kin, it can be difficult to put a group together.

I also recently started playing Vanguard. It has very much been a solo game for me so far. I've grouped up a couple of times, but haven't been forced into any groups yet. One tip for Vanguard is to edit your vgclient.ini file. When I first started playing VG, the performance was really bad, and no matter what settings I switched to, it didn't get any better. I fiddled around with my vgclient, and now it's running really well with 50-60 fps no problem. Do a search for vgclient settings and that'll give you all the info you need.

Anyway, both games are good with more mature communities. I find Vanguard more challenging (in a good way), but you really can't go wrong with either one.

Originally posted by Nizur

That's great you're going to play Vanguard, but you really shouldn't base that decision on forum comments. Both games have free trials which is really the best way to make a decision on a game.

Grouping early on in LotRO isn't a problem at all, but it does start to get more challenging on the epic quests later on as well as some of the dungeons. Even in a kin, it can be difficult to put a group together.

I also recently started playing Vanguard. It has very much been a solo game for me so far. I've grouped up a couple of times, but haven't been forced into any groups yet. One tip for Vanguard is to edit your vgclient.ini file. When I first started playing VG, the performance was really bad, and no matter what settings I switched to, it didn't get any better. I fiddled around with my vgclient, and now it's running really well with 50-60 fps no problem. Do a search for vgclient settings and that'll give you all the info you need.

Anyway, both games are good with more mature communities. I find Vanguard more challenging (in a good way), but you really can't go wrong with either one.

I second this.

It is always wiser to try the trials to determine which you game you prefer. All of us that post here have our own opinion and biases, so it is not a good idea to blindly follow the advise. It is ok in my opinion to ask and get the advise but take it all with a grain of salt.

Originally posted by Nizur

That's great you're going to play Vanguard, but you really shouldn't base that decision on forum comments. Both games have free trials which is really the best way to make a decision on a game.

Grouping early on in LotRO isn't a problem at all, but it does start to get more challenging on the epic quests later on as well as some of the dungeons. Even in a kin, it can be difficult to put a group together.

I also recently started playing Vanguard. It has very much been a solo game for me so far. I've grouped up a couple of times, but haven't been forced into any groups yet. One tip for Vanguard is to edit your vgclient.ini file. When I first started playing VG, the performance was really bad, and no matter what settings I switched to, it didn't get any better. I fiddled around with my vgclient, and now it's running really well with 50-60 fps no problem. Do a search for vgclient settings and that'll give you all the info you need.

Anyway, both games are good with more mature communities. I find Vanguard more challenging (in a good way), but you really can't go wrong with either one.

Very true your comments on group availability in LOTRO.  I just quit playing the game due to how hard it was to find groups at the higher levels.  A friend of mine just resubbed to VG and is trying to get me into it so it may be an option for me as well.

If you want quests based on player groups then try DDO.  Active and growing player base with relatively few bugs.  The game is supported by Turbine and the latest Mod 9 is due out. It takes the players up to level 20.

FYI I hate farming games like LOTR (boring).

Another factor you should consider: Turbine cares a tiny bit about hteir players and actually listen to the valid issues that they raise.

SOE on the other hand seem to do everything the players wouldnt want the ruined swg with one patch and fully refused to restore swg to what it was, their excuse was we dont have backups of hte old version (yeah right).

Vanguard could turn intro a item mall driven game in three weeks.

I dont beleive you'll have problems grouping since most hardcore players have many alts since the classes offer a quite different gameplay.

Originally posted by grandpagamer

Originally posted by Nizur

That's great you're going to play Vanguard, but you really shouldn't base that decision on forum comments. Both games have free trials which is really the best way to make a decision on a game.

Grouping early on in LotRO isn't a problem at all, but it does start to get more challenging on the epic quests later on as well as some of the dungeons. Even in a kin, it can be difficult to put a group together.

I also recently started playing Vanguard. It has very much been a solo game for me so far. I've grouped up a couple of times, but haven't been forced into any groups yet. One tip for Vanguard is to edit your vgclient.ini file. When I first started playing VG, the performance was really bad, and no matter what settings I switched to, it didn't get any better. I fiddled around with my vgclient, and now it's running really well with 50-60 fps no problem. Do a search for vgclient settings and that'll give you all the info you need.

Anyway, both games are good with more mature communities. I find Vanguard more challenging (in a good way), but you really can't go wrong with either one.

Very true your comments on group availability in LOTRO.  I just quit playing the game due to how hard it was to find groups at the higher levels.  A friend of mine just resubbed to VG and is trying to get me into it so it may be an option for me as well.

Really depends on the server.  Not making excuses for Turbine because in reality it is still their shortcoming and stubbornness that creates the issue but there are servers where finding a group isn't hard for most content.
 

Then there are those where it's ridiculous and makes you just want to give up. I'll never understand it because they've lost customers over this but at this point I think it's safe to assume they're not going to change it, which is utterly foolish on their part but I can only guess they're afraid what taking away some servers will do from a PR standpoint.

Originally posted by beaverz

Another factor you should consider: Turbine cares a tiny bit about hteir players and actually listen to the valid issues that they raise.

SOE on the other hand seem to do everything the players wouldnt want the ruined swg with one patch and fully refused to restore swg to what it was, their excuse was we dont have backups of hte old version (yeah right).

Vanguard could turn intro a item mall driven game in three weeks.

I dont beleive you'll have problems grouping since most hardcore players have many alts since the classes offer a quite different gameplay.

 

Yes, Turbine cares a little tiny bit (as in almost none).  Read the LOTRO forums all is not good. 

I have played both games and LOTRO is way more polished than Vanguard (as in light years).  LOTRO was great when it was in the SoA phase, but since Moria it has steadily gone downhill (and our kin activity as well...we can barely recruit enough good players to cover the ones that leave).  The point is Turbines clients have told them what is wrong (in hundreds of posts) and they refuse to acknowledge them at all.  It is starting to look like an NGE experience over on the LOTRO forums  (not as horrific but when all is taken into account the trend is there). 

Now when is AION coming?

Originally posted by avalon1000

I have played both games and LOTRO is way more polished than Vanguard (as in light years).  LOTRO was great when it was in the SoA phase, but since Moria it has steadily gone downhill (and our kin activity as well...we can barely recruit enough good players to cover the ones that leave).

Might want to look at your kinship rather than the game as looking at both XFire and Quantncast data LoTRO has had a increased customer traffic since MoM's release ( post December vs pre December numbers). All games do have some decline during the summer months since a lot of us do  have a real life. Catching real fish vs pixilated and seeing real girls in bikinis vs pixilated ones in chain mail, canoeing, hiking etc etc  ....well you get the idea.

Please understand that I'm here to express my feelings, and my post was in no way trolling.  Jackdog remembers me from my posting a few weeks back.  Infact it's quit the same.  Back then I began my decision making process, but now I had set it in stone.  I'm not here to gloat or make fun of Lotro, it was hard to decide.  I wanted Lotro more than Vanguard.  I'm buying a big 52" TV for my living room, and would love for this game to be my show model for anyone that comes over.

I'm here studying Lotro because when I played the beta, it was imposable to pass around quest as much as my groups were excited to do so, but it was just imposable.  Our guild had the same problem, we along with the entire server had a real positive attitude.  But found we had to play by our self.  The chat box was screaming help continuously, but left people cold.

It's been what like two years since bata, and at least 8 months since I had even read the LOTRO forums.  I'm not sure, I have a time displacement problem.  But anyway the problem was soooo apparent to bata testers, I was sure Turbine would have fixed the group quest thing by now !!

I think part of the reason I'm here is because, I secretly would like everyone to agree with me, and that Turbine would read this and fix it.  I know it's a selfish ego thing I have going on here.  But I'm sure if everyone looks deep inside, they post for the same reason, I'm just being honest.  I don't think I ever really trolled, but I had sad some nasty stuff on mmorpg.com because I was down right pissed.  I'm not pissed at Turbine, is just that FOR ME, and MY OPINION this game is sooo close to being good, with just some quest fixes.  That I think a lot of people would stop scratching their heads as to why they find it boring. 

I wish I could be along side people like Jackdog and say I would love to play LOTRO.

perhaps I was Page, at any rate good luck with Vanguard. The game is better bug and performance wise than it was a t launch, just very empty and the graphics are not all that. My experience with it was not pleasant but there some that seem to enjoy it and to be fair in 5 years of dealing with SOE I only that one billing problem but their CS is the absolute second worst in the industry in my opinion, FC has the dubious distinction of the worst although SOE is close.

Thanks jackdog, and have fun with Lotro.

With all of my rant, I'm gonna miss the mature community and the beautiful graphics of Lotro. Such as Migwater Marsh and the Old Forest, they were nice even in bata and my old computer.

Originally posted by page

Thanks jackdog, and have fun with Lotro.

With all of my rant, I'm gonna miss the mature community and the beautiful graphics of Lotro. Such as Migwater Marsh and the Old Forest, they were nice even in bata and my old computer.

 

Well the game isn't going anywhere if you change your mind. Anyway no shoe fits every foot and no game fits everyones needs either. I wish you good adventuring in Vanguard

I recently made an MMO call myself. I decided to quit LOTRO after realizing it's the worst MMO I've ever played in over 10 years.

Originally posted by Jester47

I recently made an MMO call myself. I decided to quit LOTRO after realizing it's the worst MMO I've ever played in over 10 years.

I'm just an occasional lurker here but I had to log on and ask, what makes it the worst?

Not trying to argue with you, I'm just curious.

Originally posted by Verkain

Originally posted by Jester47

I recently made an MMO call myself. I decided to quit LOTRO after realizing it's the worst MMO I've ever played in over 10 years.

 

I'm just an occasional lurker here but I had to log on and ask, what makes it the worst?

Not trying to argue with you, I'm just curious.

Trolling does.

DB

Hello Page, feel exactly like you felt in beta testing. I am dual boxing with two pcs, this game certaintly feels like a second job so far.

Only reason I am still playing is that from reading post lots of people mention issue being resolved later on, however I already put more then 48 hours play time for sure. However I must admit that I should be playing for the current content as opposed to the future expectations, which might be a big disapointment.

I'm sorry, but WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT?
 
Really. There seems to be a huge wave of BS in this thread.

---

I see a lot of people talking about how they don't like this game anymore or bored with it and unable to put their finger on exactly why. Well I am 100% convinced that it's the grouping for quest problem, NO ONE IS EVER ON THE SAME PAGE with doing group quest or Dungeon quest.,,,, You are forced to play alone, bottom line !!.

---

This right here, this simply is not true, no matter how many times people on this forum say it is. People in this game CONTINUOUSLY group when needed, and HELP each other catch up if they are not. Including myself. You are not forced to play alone, you are choosing to do so because you yourself are only concerned with what you want to do, no two ways about it. I have grouped many times right when i log on, and then most of my game time is questing with the same group of helpful people, we do their quests, some of mine, sometimes we bang out some peoples who are farther back so we can all tackle what ever it is.

This is with PUGS. This is the culture of the game. Its not full of catass achievers that only care about themselves.

I am completely convinced anyone who says they have issue grouping, are rather very short with people, or are rude in the request. Most likely you said "1.2.3" in the LFF chat, and then complained 5 seconds later no one contacted you. Or, you have invited others they said "can you help with X really quick and then we will be on the same part " and you booted them.

Maybe this is just an issue with the codemasters server or something, but the US server are just fine, there is nothing wrong with grouping except for possibly, your ability to play with others.

Thanks for saying what I have been wanting to say Bloodworth. I agree, I do a lot of PUG's since I have been leveling a couple of alts lately. Found a couple of excellent new members for our kin that way last week. Did  2 PUGs within a hour this morning doing some Forsaken Inn quests.

Seems like the worse other games do the more trolls wander over to this forum. Another game had a huge foobar this weekend regarding a ingame event and the troll posts just seem to increase here automatically. Strange how that happens isn't it?

Originally posted by Mrbloodworth

I'm sorry, but WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PEOPLE TALKING ABOUT?
 
Really. There seems to be a huge wave of BS in this thread.

 

---

I see a lot of people talking about how they don't like this game anymore or bored with it and unable to put their finger on exactly why. Well I am 100% convinced that it's the grouping for quest problem, NO ONE IS EVER ON THE SAME PAGE with doing group quest or Dungeon quest.,,,, You are forced to play alone, bottom line !!.

---

 

This right here, this simply is not true, no matter how many times people on this forum say it is. People in this game CONTINUOUSLY group when needed, and HELP each other catch up if they are not. Including myself. You are not forced to play alone, you are choosing to do so because you yourself are only concerned with what you want to do, no two ways about it. I have grouped many times right when i log on, and then most of my game time is questing with the same group of helpful people, we do their quests, some of mine, sometimes we bang out some peoples who are farther back so we can all tackle what ever it is.

This is with PUGS. This is the culture of the game. Its not full of catass achievers that only care about themselves.

I am completely convinced anyone who says they have issue grouping, are rather very short with people, or are rude in the request. Most likely you said "1.2.3" in the LFF chat, and then complained 5 seconds later no one contacted you. Or, you have invited others they said "can you help with X really quick and then we will be on the same part " and you booted them.

Maybe this is just an issue with the codemasters server or something, but the US server are just fine, there is nothing wrong with grouping except for possibly, your ability to play with others.

Man, you seriously want to argue with someone who never touched the game, but is "100% convinced" of its "fault"? :D

Do you think you can argue about *anything* with someone having that kind of mindset? :)

Better do what Jackdog did wish him well in VG. He'll probably never admit how  wrong he was though :)

Seriously, the plain idea of deciding which MMO to play, based on forum comments speaks for itself. Just let this one go and this topic die I'd say :)

DB

Originally posted by Mrbloodworth

IMaybe this is just an issue with the codemasters server or something, but the US server are just fine, there is nothing wrong with grouping except for possibly, your ability to play with others.

Rest assured, CM servers (mine being Snowbourn) are perfectly fine with grouping. Never had an issue doing any FS quests in my 2+ years there. Besides, OP is from the US.

DB