Lord of the Rings Online

Here's my point of view about LOTRO:

If you expect a next generation hardcore mmorpg experience that will absolutely blow you away then you will be disappointed. If you want a fun, casual, easy to learn game with great storytelling set in the middle-earth universe during the time of the "War of the Rings" then LOTRO is a good game. Yes, it uses tried and true interface that is very much "WoW-like" so if you are an ex-WoW player then you will feel right at home with the UI and the controls which are all customizable to whatever you want. What I don't get is why are some ex-WoW players so bitter about new games using game features that is popularized by WoW (note: I use the word popularized because most of WoW features sure as hell isn't original but is adopted from other mmorpgs such as EQ/DAOC but spit-polish  shined by Blizzard). I feel a user interface that is designed to be as familiar to the user as possible is an important step in getting the user to feel at east with the game. Personally I would rather use WoW-like UI than having to tinker around with some archaic controls.

The way LOTRO is designed is that it tries to gradually introduce you more into the game mechanics. First the tutorial teaches you how to use the basic controls, then the newbie areas teaches you about interacting with the world and basic usage of your class abilities. As your character progress more important features are taught to the user such as using conjunctions (party combo abilities) and group adventure dynamics. If you haven't notice the early quest are very easy to do and does not require much partying to complete. Once you hit the teens and mid levels things get tougher and you will need to party up on some quests and dungeons in order to be successful. I applaud Turbine's approach to gradually introducing the game functions to you instead of just dumping you unprepared into a tough dungeon.

Originally posted by Raserei
Were not trying to sucker you into buying this game lol ....LOTRO is truely a good game. I will add, playing the trial might not be enough since monster play is at level 10, crafting is past the starting zone (Past archet if your human), no dungeons until higher teens. The list goes on, in other words the trial is pretty useless I truely suggest gettng this game. I stopped playing wow after 2 years and this game is my new MMO until something crazy comes out.

Originally posted by StanlyManly
Some people are trying to sucker you into buying this game....LOTRO is truely a mediocre, "me too" game. I will add, playing the trial would be enough since players with experience in MMORPG's should be able to see if the game has the "feel" they are looking for, before investing $50 of their hard earned money. The list goes on, I truly suggest holding off on this game. I stopped playing wow after 2 years and this game is just another MMO that I'm not playing, as I wait for something better to come out.

Originally posted by Raserei
Were not trying to sucker you into buying this game....LOTRO is truely a good game. I will add, playing the trial might not be enough since monster play is at level 10, crafting is past the starting zone (Past archet if your human), no dungeons until higher teens. The list goes on, I truely suggest gettng this game. I stopped playing wow after 2 years and this game is my new MMO until something crazy comes out.

For short, some people will enjoy it while some will hate it with a passion. Me I enjoyed LOTRO, but that's just me. I have the explorer/RPing type of personality. I enjoy reading quest logs and npc conversations and actually being aware of what the hell is happing around me.  If you want non-stop pvp, ganking, crap talking, territorial conquests, chest pounding, "I-am-a-better-person-than-you-coz-I-got-Tier6-armor" then you won't find it in LOTRO. If you enjoy taking your time to smell the virtual flowers, doing quests with friends, socialize, craft, playing with emotes for hours or just staring blankly at the screen admiring the pixelated scenarios then I welcome you to middle-earth and LOTRO!