I am just behind another "lets try out LOTRO" 3-week period. *sigh*

What I dont get is, why LOTRO is so damn boring. Really, no trolling meant, but... ya know LOTRO looks great. And I am a huge Tolkien-fan for a long time. There are funny quests, great atmosphere in the various landscapes, it is all very true to the books... and yet every time I think, "hey I am bored... why not try out LOTRO?" it goes the same way.

I play it, have fun for 2 weeks, then in week 3 my enthusiasm drops severly, and at week 4 I stop playing. Usually I keep sub another 2-3 weeks until I realize I don't miss the game a heck.

The thing is, I can't even say 100% why. In every other MMO I could say exactly why, and usually there are some things which clearly miss. Surely its the dull classes and races, for one thing. But there is some... excitement missing. Some variation. I cant say 100%. Its so much like a theme park of entertainment point A, B and C... When I look at LOTRO rationally, most things seem to be alright, but I cant for the love of the Maker find myself entertained, and that puzzles me. Maybe the world is too "safe" and "known". After playing the game the first 2 months I felt like EQ2 after 3 years.

I really dont want to drive you from LOTRO when you like it, thats all fine, but it kinda puts me at odds, but LOTRO is so... DAMN BORING. And that is a pity. Sorta.

Anyone else?

Oh well... /rant off

LotRO has a lot of good elements and qualities but in the end it was aimed at the mass market and it is very, very solo friendly - so it is more fast food than gourmet and this means to some it will be 'boring'.  My first go around with the game I was a big proponent of the 'Bored of the Rings Online' moniker but in coming back post Moria and seeing some of the evolutionary combat changes as well as the new classes (particularly RK, not a fan of melee in LotRO) it has gotten better. 

The real problem I still have with the game is that it is a very liner type game no so much in that it is lacking exploration and whatnot but that the only thing to every really do is what the DEVs pre built for you to do.  Since solo play is so supported it is very hard to spice things up with group play unless you just got enough pals on who need/want to do what you need/want to do, and this is a big if since so many things are quest chain based making syncing folks on the same parts a real nightmare.  Additionally, group content rarely rewards anything more than solo stuff and even forgetting the time to find a group solo stuff is so much faster and easier that in a practical sense it means solo is far more rewarding that group play.  So you take a little toon in a big world with grouping be so painful and even discouraged and it adds to the boring, or better said, blandness I think some folks find in LotRO.

Yep, same thing here. But I have finaly found the source of my problem.

Lotro has everything, yet they somehow managed to screw up the most important feature, the thing you do all the time: Combat, it's extremely slow and boring. Combat is not fun, so it makes the game boring to play.

Take for example Linage 2. This game is a pure grind. There are almost no quests, so you grind for months until you get to the levels to enjoy some good pvp. Yet combat hits hard and is fast. It's fun to play.

In lotro after playing for 1 hour I am already bored and switch it off. When I play Lineage 2 I can play for hours to no end, and after all these years, every time I come back to it , it still keeps me playing for whole nights and I don't even realize it until the next morning.

L2 has no quests and most mobs are just standing there, this is nothing compared to the lotro world... But combat is fast and makes you actually feel you are hitting something. This together with the great character progression makes the game fun to play. Then you add the great team play, the player trading and the pvp with castle owneship and you have a great game.

Now take lotro.... slow boring combat... ruins everything.

I log in once a day to increase my fishing skill since it can only go up 8 pts per day and max' out at 200 - As boring as it is I'd rather do it for a few minutes and then log off instead of quest grind

I'm currently playing and enjoying LoTRO. As a vacation from Eve. That being said the problem I know I'll have before too long is that the game is geared so much to the storyline that eventually I'll stop caring. knowing that the map of middle earth is going to parcelled over time sucks. Knowing the whole storyline sucks. Knowing that because of the storyline no matter what they open up in the future (Gondor perhaps) Bree will still probably be the hotspot in middle earth because lowbies won't be able to access the rest of the game.

I really really would have loved a more sandboxy type Middle-Earth MMO as opposed to LotR MMO. you know just after the storyline of the books with the whole of the land open for exploration.  That would have kept me going for a long time. As it is now I can already feel I'll prolly be cancelling around the time I hit level cap if not before.

Its an amazeingly well made and polished game, (and that I'm currently enjoying) but I prefer to make my own story than to be shoehorned into a storyline I know back to front.

There is also something else about the game, something harder to describe but I think characteristic of Turbine.  Turbine does a good job on the games they make but they make very narrow games, very predefined games in terms of what you can ultimately do.  So if you like what they like or what they built for you to do you will love it - if not you will be like 'I don't get it'.  Turbine kind of reminds me the way parents can be with their kids, especially new parents.  They think they are oh so cure and just abut anything they do is so cute and funny (think Seinfeld, 'you got to come see the baby') that they forget people who are not them get over that cuteness really fast if they ever are taken by it at all.  So the first couple times you get sent all around Middle Earth (and I mean like couple stages of 20 minutes trips) just to talk to this NPC to see his wall-o-text then go to another to see his wall-o-text and so on it may be cool but after a couple times it is just boring as hell for some.

Anyways, not trying to rag the game too much - LotRO is a quality MMO worth the box price and especially now with the $10 a month sub it is worth that first month sub, but I don't think it offers too much past that unless you just dig the somewhat narrow vision Turbine has built in to the game.  Now if they would fix grouping so you got better rewards for group stuff than solo stuff that is on par with the greater difficulty and time and did something to reduce the amount of fragmentation from chain quests and grouping then there would be some good interest added in as that x-factor of player made interest would be more part of the game. 

i very much enjoy the game. i dont agree with any of the above posters have said. however thats just my opinion just like the above posters. some games arent meant for a certain type of person.

I guess its fair to say NOW that turbine makes linear games - but the first game they ever made was AC.. a sandbox game.. I think AC being as amazing as it was at the time was a fluke though.. they've shown they can't reproduce the same magic twice

Originally posted by lornj

i very much enjoy the game. i dont agree with any of the above posters have said. however thats just my opinion just like the above posters. some games arent meant for a certain type of person.

I think you are right, and I think that is what each of us was saying above.  LotRO is unquestionably well made but it is made for a very certain type of player or style.  After a couple weeks the lack of freedom to break from that style and do something different or something more personal and the issues with grouping just leave you a bit SOL if that style is not exactly yours.

I know this will likely be taken as a flame, allthough it is meant on descriptively and not as an insult, in a very general way LotRO is like an online Oblivion (save the Ring lore and whatnot, I am speaking gamewise) - it is like an online RPG where you unlock the characters and adventures the developers built and interact (though often in more of a passing way) with others as you do this.  I can find plenty of entertainment in that to justify the purchase but over time the lack of ability to really do anything my own and issues with grouping make it grow a bit bland.

Originally posted by Elikal

I am just behind another "lets try out LOTRO" 3-week period. *sigh*

What I dont get is, why LOTRO is so damn boring. Really, no trolling meant, but... ya know LOTRO looks great. And I am a huge Tolkien-fan for a long time. There are funny quests, great atmosphere in the various landscapes, it is all very true to the books... and yet every time I think, "hey I am bored... why not try out LOTRO?" it goes the same way.

I play it, have fun for 2 weeks, then in week 3 my enthusiasm drops severly, and at week 4 I stop playing. Usually I keep sub another 2-3 weeks until I realize I don't miss the game a heck.

The thing is, I can't even say 100% why. In every other MMO I could say exactly why, and usually there are some things which clearly miss. Surely its the dull classes and races, for one thing. But there is some... excitement missing. Some variation. I cant say 100%. Its so much like a theme park of entertainment point A, B and C... When I look at LOTRO rationally, most things seem to be alright, but I cant for the love of the Maker find myself entertained, and that puzzles me. Maybe the world is too "safe" and "known". After playing the game the first 2 months I felt like EQ2 after 3 years.

I really dont want to drive you from LOTRO when you like it, thats all fine, but it kinda puts me at odds, but LOTRO is so... DAMN BORING. And that is a pity. Sorta.

Anyone else?

Oh well... /rant off

hahaha thats SO clever! "Bored of the rings"!! I think noone else have ever made a thread called that! You are a funny man :D

/sarcasm off

I recenlty dowloaded the WoW trial again.... At level 10 I was so bored I just coudnt log in anymore...

I was a huge WAR fan... At lvl 14 I was so bored I couldnt level anymore...

EQ2, Vanguard, TR and pretty much every other moden MMO I got bored even before that.

I have 3 lvl 50-60 characters and have no problem level another one.

Whats the point with this post? Nothing...

Originally posted by lornj

i very much enjoy the game. i dont agree with any of the above posters have said. however thats just my opinion just like the above posters. some games arent meant for a certain type of person.

I partly agree with you, If you are not enjoying lotro then maybe it isnt for you or you just are not doing the right things

Lotro is a cracker although its not a personal favourite and I flicker in and out.  I think maybe your an mmo migrator and sticking to one isnt for you.

For me Lotro does what turbine set out to do you are wound into a story, problem is like in every other game there is an opposing player faction/s Alliance/Horde, Mids/Hibs/Albs etc.  monstor v player play does not make up for that hole.

This adds a sense of belonging and a cause to fight.  Lotro is just closer to the rpg part of mmorpg.

I never understand why people take the time to make posts like these, then again I'm not really I'm taking the time to respond. :)

LoTRO is a fine PvE game, that has kept me completely entertained for about 6 months now. The world is immersive, and the community is the best I've ever played a game with.  The quests , although run of the mill, are engaging and encourage me to continue. I DO like the story finding an overall plot more meaningful than hephazardly wondering the land looking for something to do.  In short I enjoy the game and expect to be playing for quite sometime.

I think the OP is just burned out on the play style of current MMOs. If it isn't burnout then LoTRO is just not the game for you, but thankfully there are a multitude of choices. GL

so basicly what you are saying is that Turbine designed the perfect fantasy MMORPG yet you are bored. Sounds like MMO burnout to me, try a different genre than fantasy for awhile maybe or just get away from MMos entirely for awhile.

been playing these games for about 12 years now and I hav eto walk away every few months, had the same issues with, Uo, DAoC, EQII, SWG, and yes I even take a month or so off from LoTRO avbout every six months. I love my  lifetime sub, best purchase I ever made in gaming. This way  I don't feel any pressure to play, when the mood strikes I play, or if I feel like spending my time reading a good book or whatever it is always there when I log back in..

*SIGH*

Once again, supposedly "grownup" people, who cannot differentiate between personal experience and "universal truth"

No, dude, Lotro is *not* boring.

YOU got bored of it. End of story.

I admit if I had to drive an Enzo Ferrari everyday for a whole year, I would get bored of it. Would that make it a bad car? - comparison distorted on purpose.

OP, grow up.

DB

Originally posted by Tekaelon

I never understand why people take the time to make posts like these, then again I'm not really I'm taking the time to respond. :)

Trolling.

If you can come up with *any* other defendable reason, I'll take it back.

No, the idea of "trying to tell other people how the game -reeeeally- is" - pathetic, childish and useless, of course :)

People will *always* have their own opinions, ever.

DB

Not boring for me at all after 2 1/2 years playing (since closed beta). If anything, there's too much to do. Do I want to hunt mithril flake droppers, run my crafting instances, item advancement instances, work on my epic quest line, radiance gear instances, gather crafting materials? Just too much to do personally... I still haven't finished all the chicken play instances!

Elikal has an MMO ever held your attention for more than six months? Maybe you're just the kind of person who gets bored with these sorts of games too easily. I'm that way with single player games, I'll play them a few hours and toss them aside usually. Maybe try some other genres too, I was pretty hooked on racing games for quite some with Sega GT, Project Gotham Racing, and Forza on the ol' Xbox. Branch out and try some new things, you just might get hooked.

I'm sorry but I think part of this is the players' fault.

You don't have to do the main quest/story. Heck, I only got to book 8 and stopped.

When I take quests I don't just click "ok" kill what I need to or collect what I need to and then run back to get another. I take the quest, head off in the general direction that I'm supposed to and explore a bit while looking for the quest objective.

Heck, I actually witnessed some players roleplaying and they were actively fighting toward the heart of an Orc Camp. When they got to the difficult area they announced that "we have gone as far as we dare. The enemy has dug themselves in and we will need to get reinforcements to drive them out". Then they took off.

Clearly they knew how to make their own fun.

It is true that some areas are closed off unless you have the appropriate quest. This is of course a shame. But you don't have to play the way you think you need to.

You can come up with alternate ways.

Yes the combat in the game is very slow and dull. Although the community makes the game.  If you are in an active guild that can really make the difference. Guild events and so forth can be really enjoyable. But for the most part you have to be lvl 60 to do anything in that rannge. (well besides getting drunk ingame and trying to guess were you will end up). And for my post before, its fine if you delete it. But a mod should not change the meaning behind the post. Thats a no no. I would rather you delete the whole message.

Originally posted by fuzzi1983

Yes the combat in the game is very slow and dull. Although the community makes the game.  If you are in an active guild that can really make the difference. Guild events and so forth can be really enjoyable. But for the most part you have to be lvl 60 to do anything in that rannge. (well besides getting drunk ingame and trying to guess were you will end up). And for my post before, its fine if you delete it. But a mod should not change the meaning behind the post. Thats a no no. I would rather you delete the whole message.

Its the government man. Its a giant coverup. lolololol