Hey guys, about to try this trial for LOTRO, it looks promising, but as I'm downloading I wanted some info from the veterans and current players before I myself test it.

A few basic things first...  Currency farmers, botters?  Are there many of them?  Are they handled  proffessionally the staff of LOTRO?

How linear/grind tough is the game?  I don't mind grinding, I just want to know the extent of it.

How's the community?  Accepting, elitist jerks, mix of both, etc.

I think that just about covers what I want some basic info on, thanks!

Originally posted by Phasma

Hey guys, about to try this trial for LOTRO, it looks promising, but as I'm downloading I wanted some info from the veterans and current players before I myself test it.

A few basic things first...  Currency farmers, botters?  Are there many of them?  Are they handled  proffessionally the staff of LOTRO?

How linear/grind tough is the game?  I don't mind grinding, I just want to know the extent of it.

How's the community?  Accepting, elitist jerks, mix of both, etc.

I think that just about covers what I want some basic info on, thanks! 

Curreny farmers and botters: None that I am aware of. I do know there are places where you can buy LotRO gold, but I cannot recall any in-game advertisements. I think I may have seen one single botter a long time ago, but that's about it. I'd say they're doing a good job, then ;-)

The only thing you might consider truly linear about the game is the environment, though with the addition of places like Eastern Misty Mountains, Evendim, Forochel, and of course Moria, this is now far less linear than before. The game is not really grind tough, unless you count a fairly slow rate of advancement as grind tough. It will take you quite some time to reach the level cap, but LotRO capitalises on the effort to reach that cap rather than on the cap itself. That is to say the journey to the level cap is very fun and entertaining and far from linear. Crafting can be slightly grindy at times, especially at the higher ranks.

As with most MMOs, there's a hint of elitism there in some players, but the vast majority of them is very kind. Suffice to say you won't find a WoWesque community, but one more akin to EQ2.

The only negatives I had with LotRO had to do with the end-game. It's much too repetetive, the main options are either daily quests or instance grind.

I'm currently trying the trial too and I was wondering what the PvP was like.
I've not really heard much about it at all, but I'm expecting there is some form of it. =)
 

Originally posted by elvrage

I'm currently trying the trial too and I was wondering what the PvP was like.
I've not really heard much about it at all, but I'm expecting there is some form of it. =)
 

I don't really do any pvp in LoTRo but basically around lvl 10 you can start PvP.  You go to some altar and you can create a monster character in a large PvP zone.  It is kinda neat there are quests and things and you are instantly high lvl.  The other option is you level a character up to some level.  I'm not sure if the requirement is lvl 50 or 60.  I'm guessing it is 60.  There is one large zone where you can go to do PvP.  Doing PvP gives you destiny points.  Oh and it is open PvP or really RvR, monsters against player characters.

That's the basics.  I'm sure someone with more experience will be able to add details.

My biggest complaint were the character animations. The "feel" of the game felt off at first, but I sort of got used to it after playing a few weeks. It's very WoW-like though, and since I'd already played WoW i got bored and quit before hitting 40, also partially due to the fact all the quests turned into group quests and it was annoying having to find groups all the time. This was just when the game launched so they might've put more solo content in since then.

That said, a lot of stuff in the game impressed me, such as the graphics, the stories and especially the RP content. The crafting was also an upgrade over WoW's. I sometimes think of trying the game again, but I always end up playing WoW instead - I just find WoW more fun to play, personally. The community in LotRO seemed mature and friendly, and I didn't feel I was grinding more than I did in WoW.

Full DIsclosure: I really disliked my 14 day LotRO experience, only played the trial, so this is going to be negative.

The community when I tried was non-existent. The game is a few years old, and I imagine folks are in existing social networks and have no use for new people. People don't talk to each other in-game. Others claim it's the greatest community ever if you know some secret player-made channels. I tried to strike up conversations in-game, but they all ignored. All of 'em. Never a single response. It was the epitome of the MMORPG as single player RPGers playing next to each other.

The crafting is probably the worst I've ever encountered in an MMO. Everything that you craft requires at least one vendor-purchased item to complete the recipe. It's an absolute cash-sink. You need to buy cans of water to water your crops, for the love of Pete. It's laughable. Crafting was clearly a last-minute afterthought and, again, the worst I've ever seen in an MMO.

The questing/grinding is similar to WoW, but believe it or not, there is much more running around. Quests were laid out to have you run from town A to Town B to Town C, Back to A, Back to C, Back to B, etc. Then you start another quest after that back in Town C and you have to run through all those same towns again. You could say some of WoWs quests are a bit like that, but it is far, far worse in LotRO. The game is 90% running back and forth.

PvP I don't know much about, but I've heard it said that PvP (Monster Play) is one of LotRO's weak points. If it's weaker than it's crafting and questing, it must be atrocious.

I loved the books, and in the beginning it was exciting seeing the book laid out in three dimensions for me to explore in. I was giddy when I found Bag-End. But the excitement wore off as I kept finding myself taking 5-10 minutes walks back and forth across the shire. It was also frustrating never having enough money to do level up my combat and/or crafting skills, or make the most rudimentary crafting items because the vendor-required items cost so damned much compared to what I was getting as drops in-game.

It really broke my heart how this game disappointed me.

Originally posted by RendRegen

... The crafting was also an upgrade over WoW's...

This has to be some cruel joke.

As bad as WoW's crafting is, WoW allows you a combination of 5 professions/secondary (2/3) skills. LotRO has a combination of 4 skills/hobbies (3/1).

In WoW you could just play the game with a complementary gathering/crafting profession and progress fairly easily, only requiring a special item to make a piece of Epic Gear. LotRO recipes ALL, even at the most basic, require you to purchase items from in-game vendors. That is a horrible feature (I would say "bug" had it not been purposefully designed that way) to have in a crafting system.

I think WoWs could be better, but LotRO's crafting system needs to just be thrown out.

my negatives about lotro:
 
from a designers point of view:
nothing new there, its like wow with middle earth textures wrapped over it and semi quality cut scense thrown in here and there. Character animations are worse than what other games had 5 years earlier. Only things that where sort of new to me where the music system and the fear thing, both nice but old soon.

from a gamers point of view:

its repetitive and boring and the epic story did never catch me, in fact it made the story unintresting because it was a single player story telling in a multi player game. Not the community (multiplayers) adventure the story plot but every single individiual does so individually. (single player game with a chat)

from a (EU) customer point of view:

i felt treated like second class because support, website and prices where worse for EU players. Customer support was standart replies from people who had no powers in game.

from social point of view:

the community was like any other in any other MMO, a tad more lore fanatic and a tad more rp pathetic. When i played the effect was also that many "new-to-mmo-genre" people played lotro who did simply not know the basic manners (dont steal spawns, dont roll for rare stuff you can only sell but ur team  mate would use and so on...) This probably has become better now since it takes a while till a new player base respects such "unwritten manners"

Altogether:
LOTRO was a disappointing boring experience when i played it, a boring single player game with an online chat attached to it. The most fun i had was with the kinship mates - which i can have in any online chat with the right people.
 
 
 
 

Originally posted by PhelimReagh

Originally posted by RendRegen

... The crafting was also an upgrade over WoW's...

 

This has to be some cruel joke.

 

As bad as WoW's crafting is, WoW allows you a combination of 5 professions/secondary (2/3) skills. LotRO has a combination of 4 skills/hobbies (3/1).

 

In WoW you could just play the game with a complementary gathering/crafting profession and progress fairly easily, only requiring a special item to make a piece of Epic Gear. LotRO recipes ALL, even at the most basic, require you to purchase items from in-game vendors. That is a horrible feature (I would say "bug" had it not been purposefully designed that way) to have in a crafting system.

 

I think WoWs could be better, but LotRO's crafting system needs to just be thrown out.

I was thinking more along the lines of the crafted items in LotRO being useful, while in WoW it's all junk you would never actually craft to use. You only craft to gain skill.

Crafted gear is good up to level 50. Most of the crafted gear for levels 50 to 60 is not as good as the rewards from quests that can be soloed. The crafting is far superior to the crafting that was in WoW when I played WoW a few years ago.

PvP is in the Ettenmoors zone.   There is no reason to go to the Ettenmoors unless you want to pvp.

There are 2 opposing pvp sides. 

• One side is the Free Peoples (freeps), which are made up of toons leveled through pve.  You can enter the pvp zone with your level 40 or higher pve (freep) toon but you will be much stronger when you reach the current level cap of 60. A level 40 pve toon can hit the level 60 creeps for full (level 40) damage.
• The other side is the monster side, commonly called Creeps.  Once you have a level 10 pve (freep) toon, you can create a level 60 monster (on the creep side) and jump straight into pvp. 

PvP needs some work. There are class imbalances between some overpowered freep classes and the creeps. There are players that love the pvp who rarely play pve. For pvp, a lot of players seem to be transferring their toons to the Elendilmir server.

I think you'll find that 1-60 it's one of the best fantasty PvE experiences you can have.  Interesting storylines that really immerse you in the lore emerge from the quest chains, the community on most servers is really great, and it has nearly my favorite crafting among mainstream MMOs (only EQ II is really up there with it in terms of utility).

Once you hit 60, the game may or may not fall flat on it's face for you.  However, by that time you should have gotten a solid three months or so of entertainment out of the game. If you enjoy 6 man instances and raiding, you'll be in luck.  If not, there's not much worth doing once you've maxed out the factions that you care about, maxed your virtues, gotten all your legendary traits, and gotten a decent set of second age legendaries (meaning you have maybe a month or so of content left once you hit the cap, and a lot of it is very grindy). 

 Honestly, as a former DAOC RvR addict, the ONLY thing I could possibly complain about would be the PvP. LOTRO PvP is not on the same level as DAOC RvR, but what is??

Besides.. I am having so much fun with the world class PvE that it will be month's until I even begin to miss truly miss RvR.

Best PvE I have ever seen, easily.

Fun, but ultimately limited PvP.

It's a great game on the whole.. I can't say anything truly negative so far. 

Here is to hoping that Mythic and Turbine have a baby together someday!

you should hava test it instead asking around...there r a lot of variables here that might be-OK or disappoiting you

thats the idea of trial

but nevermind... a good thing about lotro: great PVE, many maps to play and a amazing community, a lot of interesting and fun ppl. And as many other MMO out there, the big issue is the end-game, but if you're smart, it won't  bothers you enough to ruin the pleasure of playing for fun :)

Originally posted by PhelimReagh

Full DIsclosure: I really disliked my 14 day LotRO experience, only played the trial, so this is going to be negative.

 

The community when I tried was non-existent. The game is a few years old, and I imagine folks are in existing social networks and have no use for new people. People don't talk to each other in-game. Others claim it's the greatest community ever if you know some secret player-made channels. I tried to strike up conversations in-game, but they all ignored. All of 'em. Never a single response. It was the epitome of the MMORPG as single player RPGers playing next to each other.

 

The crafting is probably the worst I've ever encountered in an MMO. Everything that you craft requires at least one vendor-purchased item to complete the recipe. It's an absolute cash-sink. You need to buy cans of water to water your crops, for the love of Pete. It's laughable. Crafting was clearly a last-minute afterthought and, again, the worst I've ever seen in an MMO.

 

The questing/grinding is similar to WoW, but believe it or not, there is much more running around. Quests were laid out to have you run from town A to Town B to Town C, Back to A, Back to C, Back to B, etc. Then you start another quest after that back in Town C and you have to run through all those same towns again. You could say some of WoWs quests are a bit like that, but it is far, far worse in LotRO. The game is 90% running back and forth.

 

PvP I don't know much about, but I've heard it said that PvP (Monster Play) is one of LotRO's weak points. If it's weaker than it's crafting and questing, it must be atrocious.

I loved the books, and in the beginning it was exciting seeing the book laid out in three dimensions for me to explore in. I was giddy when I found Bag-End. But the excitement wore off as I kept finding myself taking 5-10 minutes walks back and forth across the shire. It was also frustrating never having enough money to do level up my combat and/or crafting skills, or make the most rudimentary crafting items because the vendor-required items cost so damned much compared to what I was getting as drops in-game.

 

It really broke my heart how this game disappointed me.

Gosh that is total opposite to how I played the game and my opinions.

Crafting actually meant something, you actually used the items.  Out of the 4 professions I leveled on either of my characters, I never once had to buy from a vendor for items. I could have, if I so chose to, but those items did not help me level crafting easier, nor give me things that I needed, nor sell well, from what I'm told.  I've run into much, much MUCH worse crafting than LotrO.  War or WoW for example.  War's really was last second.  LotrO the end stuff you actually use, and it's very good.

The community is great. There were always people talking in advice/ooc/glff anytime I played, in any zone, even the remote ones.  Quite a few times, There were people that said, hey I'm a high level, but I'll come help.  Or I have what I need from that instance, but I'll come with ya.  The community I played with (and not just kin, the entire server) was easily one of the best communities if not the best.  Maybe there is another reason for your bad luck with it.

Can't say much on questing, your normal Kill X, Find Y Item, Take Z item here.  But than, I did not encounter a whole go to A to B, to C, to A.  I did each town one at a time, and never had any problems.  I know you can get quests to move to the next town at lower levels before you finish your last towns quest.  Sounds like you sorta did that.  Live and learn I guess!

The PvP...Meh.  It's a slower combat system.  If there are big raids on either side, it can be pretty fun.  Otherwise, as a freep, you run into large groups of wargs (stealth Monster class) Or small groups of freeps will just roll medium sized groups of Creeps.  You really don't play this game, just for the pvp. Simple as that.   Could really have been something, but it's just meh.  Plus, the same exact map since release, with a few things added in now and than.

I recommend this to anyone that enjoys a more story based game.  The combat is slower, which, for some people, can be a blessing.  Graphics and music is wonderful.  It has its ups and downs for sure.  If you are going to seriously play, I'd recommend Brandywine or Landrovel, the two most populated servers, if I recall.

Toon graphics compared to world graphics is horrid.

and no chance to play as the other faction ie: trolls,Uraki...ect..ect

Originally posted by Swanea

Originally posted by PhelimReagh

Full DIsclosure: I really disliked my 14 day LotRO experience, only played the trial, so this is going to be negative.

 

The community when I tried was non-existent. The game is a few years old, and I imagine folks are in existing social networks and have no use for new people. People don't talk to each other in-game. Others claim it's the greatest community ever if you know some secret player-made channels. I tried to strike up conversations in-game, but they all ignored. All of 'em. Never a single response. It was the epitome of the MMORPG as single player RPGers playing next to each other.

 

The crafting is probably the worst I've ever encountered in an MMO. Everything that you craft requires at least one vendor-purchased item to complete the recipe. It's an absolute cash-sink. You need to buy cans of water to water your crops, for the love of Pete. It's laughable. Crafting was clearly a last-minute afterthought and, again, the worst I've ever seen in an MMO.

 

The questing/grinding is similar to WoW, but believe it or not, there is much more running around. Quests were laid out to have you run from town A to Town B to Town C, Back to A, Back to C, Back to B, etc. Then you start another quest after that back in Town C and you have to run through all those same towns again. You could say some of WoWs quests are a bit like that, but it is far, far worse in LotRO. The game is 90% running back and forth.

 

PvP I don't know much about, but I've heard it said that PvP (Monster Play) is one of LotRO's weak points. If it's weaker than it's crafting and questing, it must be atrocious.

I loved the books, and in the beginning it was exciting seeing the book laid out in three dimensions for me to explore in. I was giddy when I found Bag-End. But the excitement wore off as I kept finding myself taking 5-10 minutes walks back and forth across the shire. It was also frustrating never having enough money to do level up my combat and/or crafting skills, or make the most rudimentary crafting items because the vendor-required items cost so damned much compared to what I was getting as drops in-game.

 

It really broke my heart how this game disappointed me.

Gosh that is total opposite to how I played the game and my opinions.

Crafting actually meant something, you actually used the items.  Out of the 4 professions I leveled on either of my characters, I never once had to buy from a vendor for items. I could have, if I so chose to, but those items did not help me level crafting easier, nor give me things that I needed, nor sell well, from what I'm told.  I've run into much, much MUCH worse crafting than LotrO.  War or WoW for example.  War's really was last second.  LotrO the end stuff you actually use, and it's very good.

The community is great. There were always people talking in advice/ooc/glff anytime I played, in any zone, even the remote ones.  Quite a few times, There were people that said, hey I'm a high level, but I'll come help.  Or I have what I need from that instance, but I'll come with ya.  The community I played with (and not just kin, the entire server) was easily one of the best communities if not the best.  Maybe there is another reason for your bad luck with it.

Can't say much on questing, your normal Kill X, Find Y Item, Take Z item here.  But than, I did not encounter a whole go to A to B, to C, to A.  I did each town one at a time, and never had any problems.  I know you can get quests to move to the next town at lower levels before you finish your last towns quest.  Sounds like you sorta did that.  Live and learn I guess!

The PvP...Meh.  It's a slower combat system.  If there are big raids on either side, it can be pretty fun.  Otherwise, as a freep, you run into large groups of wargs (stealth Monster class) Or small groups of freeps will just roll medium sized groups of Creeps.  You really don't play this game, just for the pvp. Simple as that.   Could really have been something, but it's just meh.  Plus, the same exact map since release, with a few things added in now and than.

I recommend this to anyone that enjoys a more story based game.  The combat is slower, which, for some people, can be a blessing.  Graphics and music is wonderful.  It has its ups and downs for sure.  If you are going to seriously play, I'd recommend Brandywine or Landrovel, the two most populated servers, if I recall.

It isn't just that you use the items, but that crafting is fun to do. Crafting is NOT fun in LotRO, and that was one of the main reasons I quit playing. Questing is fun, sometimes, but usually it just feels like a better version of WoW questing. However, I'm not saying it's a bad game, crafting is BIG to me, and I don't mean just meaningful crafting but fun and immersive crafting.
 

The biggest negative, to me are the people who have no imagination to play their role in middle earth. Think lotro is a great role playing outlet, and way to many people from other games are coming and it just feels to crowded at times. I think lotro thrieves better on a mid size community, not one that is way to populated where the developers just start painting a broad brush to satifsfy everyone.

The population size if perfect for lotro, it able give that genuine community relation to the player and the developers.

So if you are just trying this game because your bored of flapping your emo wings in iother games, please, don't even bother with lotro. You are simply not the type of person that fits into a game of this caliber.

I always found WoW graphics to be cartoony, granted it fits the games it is based on so that is fine but to call it horrid well I guess maybe if both are at minimums then maybe. You can play as a troll or an Uraki you just have to stay in the pvp zone but much like DaoC there is PvE to be had out there even. My issue with Lotro is it was a lot of fun before Moria. Moria added a whole lot of drama about gated raids and grinds for gear grinds to level gear and grinds to upgrade said gear. None of which would have been too bad if they had not had the random elements that where woven into them.

Originally posted by darkboaz

I always found WoW graphics to be cartoony, granted it fits the games it is based on so that is fine but to call it horrid well I guess maybe if both are at minimums then maybe. You can play as a troll or an Uraki you just have to stay in the pvp zone but much like DaoC there is PvE to be had out there even. My issue with Lotro is it was a lot of fun before Moria. Moria added a whole lot of drama about gated raids and grinds for gear grinds to level gear and grinds to upgrade said gear. None of which would have been too bad if they had not had the random elements that where woven into them.

I actually like lotro graphics the horrid part your talking about is comparing "world" to "player" but the over all graphics a great imo.

but the thread wanted my negatives thats them

p.s monster play is not the same as lvling a toon in another faction