All Posts by Elnator

Originally posted by Soldarith
Thank you for taking the time to post a well-thought review on this game; it is appreciated.

I have some questions, however, if you or someone else who has actual first-hand experience is able to answer them.

Is the world seamless - meaning, can a player explore wherever they want? To what limits? - Think of Fable and how a limiting terrain really limits your gameplay experience.

How is combat? Is it turn-based, queued, or is it live?

Are there limits to tradeskills - meaning, is it possible for a player to max out all of the tradeskills?

Is the gameplay linear, 'a'la Guildwars - i.e. pre-determined storyline that you have to follow and the only 'freedom' you have is going back to old lands or the order in which you follow the main storyline.

Can you return to older completed content for more loot/rewards? Speaking of loot, how is it handled in the world? Are there different quality types/rarities? Are there magical properties on items?

How to does the game intent on handling "farming" or "camping" - two very different topics but somewhat related.

Can a player solo in the game forever and still feel a sense of achievement?

Economy - How does the world's economy work? It is player-driven? Are there auction houses to sell/buy or does everyone just shout around town?

Finally, what goals are there for a character? I mean beyond the obvious ones: Do every single quest! Gain levels faster than everyone else! Amass amounts of money that one's character could never spend! etc...I mean, it being an MMO I assume there is no "ending" per-say...but what are the goals of characters playing in this so well-defined world?

Thanks again for an excellent read and I look forward to this discussion providing some invaluable information about the game.

Originally posted by OBK1

Thank you, puts a lot of my worries to rest. I am still concerned about character development and uniqness though.

Tell me, does the race you choose have any effect on gameplay or is it just cosmetical?

MMMM FFXI:
Cookie cutter Class/Level Grinders for the win I guess.

FFXI is just EQ1 re-hashed.  Thanks... played EQ1 for 6 years... really looking for a game that IMPROVES on that template, not just re-hashes it with a better graphics engine.
FFXI's graphics also don't appeal to me.  Then again the Final Fantasy single player game graphics didn't either.  I hate anime.

Oh admit it you were all dying to see my thoughts on this game :)

Actually you probably don't give a rat's rear but I'm going to post them anyway... cuz my kid got me up at this god-awful hour and I'm not in the mood to log into a game right now :)

Well to begin with I've been following LOTRO since before it even had a working title back in 1998 (yes, really, it's been in planning THAT long, wiki it if you don't believe me).  Since then LOTRO has been handed to 3 different development teams, finally landing in the lap of Turbine.....

So along comes Turbine.... First thing they did was announce they're not going to have PVP or the alignment system or even permadeath like it was originally going to be set up.  I immediately started worrying about this title but hey.... Turbine had done "ok" with AC1.... sure AC2 was a dud but that happens.  Then before beta starts DDO turns out to be a complete disaster... just not an impressive game at all so I am REALLY concerned now and it appears Turbine has lost their edge... well... shortly after DDO released I got into the LOTRO Beta....

Well I'm glad I did.......

Graphics:
To begin with the Graphics in LOTR:O are phenomenal.  Very polished and finished.  Much like WoW the graphics are awesome but have very low system requirements.  Even my 4 year old Laptop with a GeForce 4400 GO card in it can run the game just fine.  The world is very detailed and the graphics are top notch.  Turbine went with the more "realistic" style of graphics rather than the 'cartoon' style graphics.  This  makes all the difference to me.  While I could always appreciate the quality of the artwork in WoW it never appealed to me.  In LOTRO the artwork is awesome and really draws me into the game.  If you've ever looked at tolkien FAN art you will feel VERY much at home in LOTRO.   The artists went with a sort of water-color palate and chose to go with a more realistic look to characters and environment.  Allowing the world to draw you in and explore.

Sound:
Turbine didn't skimp here either.  The audio tracks in LOTR:O are extremely well done.  If you watched the movies you will recognize the sound as being very similar to the scores used in the movies.  I really enjoy the music that Turbine incorporated into the game.  I also really like the way they implemented so many sound aspects into gameplay.  Players can even have online jam sessions within the game.  I've actually sat and watched a 'concert' held by players and was able to enjoy the music they made.  Pretty slick stuff. 

Quests:
Well they obviously learned from their both their good parts and bad parts in DDO.  In LOTR:O the Quests are very well done.  Once you begin them some are instanced but most are out on the open world.  LOTR:O is absolutely a more standard MMORPG where 99% of your time will be in non-instanced land interacting with both the environment of the game as well as other players.  I really like this.  The quests are widely varied and very well done.  Making the game feel much more like an adventure than a 'go kill 20 wolves' repete syndrome.  Granted there are "go kill x and get me y" quests but there are a wide variety of other types as well.  The more involved quests generally kick off an instance so that your adventure can't be interrupted by other players.  And the storyline quests are absolutely top notch.  The quest system is done in such a way that while LOTR:O is an MMORPG at some points it feels almost like you're playing a co-operative single player MMORPG (Like NWN).  It's not 'perfect' but it's definitely one of the better quest systems I've run across.

Combat:
Nothing too spectacular here.  Combat is pretty standard.  You can wack on badguys with a sword or you can shoot them with a bow or you can blast them with "magic" (ok we don't call them mages but it's the same thing) or you can heal your party members with magic or song.  The combat system does allow for some pretty creative chains of skills and if you DONT use the skills properly you can significantly reduce your productivity.  Even to the point where in some cases if you don't use the skills properly you WILL die.  So combat, while not particularly hard to figure out, is involved enough to keep most folks very happy.   

Grouping:
I both like and dislike LOTR:O in the grouping aspect.  In the early levels of the game there is almost no reason whatsoever to group.  This continues up till about level 15-20 (depending on your abilities as a player, your ability to keep yourself equipped in good equipment and your playstyle).  After that grouping does become a bit more important but it's possible (at least as far as I've gone in levels) to play solo all the way through the game.    The game incorporated a very similar group finding system to what DDO uses (which is arguably the BEST "looking for group" interface I've ever seen).  So when you WANT to group you have a great tool for finding one.  But, as I said, most folks don't bother to group, especially at the very earliest levels asside for some key quests that most people DO group to accomplish.  LOTR:O appears to cater to the casual player very much, maybe even more than WoW in some regards. 

Level/Skill system:
Well... anyone who knows me knows that I am not a fan of class/level systems.  And this area IS a turnoff for me in LOTR but the rest of the game is so good that I am able to forgive it.  You pick a class, you go up in levels.  As you level you unlock skills but you don't automatically get them.  If you want a skill you have to go to a trainer and buy/train it (much like WoW or EQ1).   At higher levels you'll start unlocking traits which you can assign as well (again similar to WoW and EQ2 in this regard).  So it's a pretty standard level grinder though there are SO MANY quests (see above under quests) that unless you are just hell bent on reaching max level you really won't notice the grind.  Which is what I love.  I've always been a huge fan of quests and LOTR:O has them in droves....

Crafting:
Yep... it's got crafting... and the crafting is actually very fun and intricate.  Once it gets off the ground it looks like most folks will be running around in crafted gear as well.  Most things I've found in game I can buy a better item from a crafter so far.  (There are some exceptions to that).  So if you're a crafter you'll enjoy this aspect of game play.

PvP:
Most know I'm a PVP'er myself and I do admit that the original plan to just all-out eliminate PVP in LOTR really irritated me.  But Turbine has come through with a neat feature called "Monster Play".   At this point I have not had the opportunity to monkey with it much but it seems like a cool system so far.  Basically you can become an NPC and fight players as if you were one of the mobs in the game.  This is VERY cool and if Turbine takes advantage of it like I would I foresee some VERY entertaining GM Events on the horizons of this game :)


Content:
I see lots of people griping about how we didn't get all of middle earth at release.... Well I'm here to tell you, as a vet of just about everything ever released:  LOTR:O may be small in total landmass (right now) but it's HUGE in terms of content.  And Eraidor isn't even finished yet.  I can't wait to see how much it grows between now and release.   This is an area of concern for me, however.  As I am not a fan of paid expansions.  I'm hoping Turbine follows the AC1 and DDO model where "expansions" are free content updates because I refuse to pay for content updates to games any longer.  EVE has spoiled me in that regard.   All that said, there is PLENTY of content in the game to keep players busy already.  And they're still not done adding what they plan to have in at release yet.

Stability:
As I mentioned you should have no problems running this on just about any system even REMOTELY recently purchased.  But is it buggy?  Nope.... sure there are a FEW bugs but I can honestly say this is one of the most bug free games I've played (including released titles).  LOTR is, currently, less buggy than most retail MMO's out there.  And that's impressive.  I've had very few problems with bugs since Beta 2 started and Turbine has been great about stomping the ones we have reported.   Is it perfect?  Nah, but it's very solid.  

Putting it all together:
As many know I have a strict policy of  "Never Pre-Order".  In fact I have only ever pre-ordered 1 MMORPG:  Ultima Online...   EQ I got into at release because I was a guide so I didn't have to pre-order that one (and wouldn't have anyway, I knew release was going to be a nightmarish lag-fest).... So... eln.... is LOTR:O worth buying?

My answer is simple:  I pre-ordered.

I'm not a kid and I don't like 2D games either.  I like 3d though I am very excited about the new UO update coming out with Kingdom Reborn.  I plan to re-sub just to see how it plays with the updated graphics.  I probably won't stick with it but... who knows.

Originally posted by MadAce
BTW, you should all seriously check out THIS GAME!

Tho I think it's full of missed opportunities.

Heya Rat...
While I do enjoy EVE I also agree with you.  I would love to see a freelancer/Privateer style space MMORPG as well.  EVE  has many of those features but at it's core it's more of a political/economical game that happens to occur in space than a space game, per se.  Like I said, I like EVE, I even play it still.  But I agree that there is definitely room for a freelancer or Privateer (older gamers will remember this one and it's what actually inspired freelancer) style MMO.

I have no problem with the current size of the world as long as Turbine sticks to it's tradition of free content updates.  I pre-ordered but if they charge for expansions I will be cancelling.

Pretty sure they have already stated that they plan to do free content updates just like AC1 and DDO though so I'm not really concerned.

And to reiterate what others have said:
I've been playing this since Beta Phase 1 almost a year ago now.  The world has grown steadily over time.  They may even get some more regions in before release (though I doubt it).  I also played AC1.  Turbine is VERY good at adding new content to their games.

I was one of their biggest critics when I first found out they were doing this title.  But what I've seen during this beta has turned that around and I am very excited about this releasing.  So much so that, as I said, I pre-ordered.  Which, by the way, makes this the first game i've pre-ordered since Ultima Online.

Been playing since Phase 1 of Closed Beta.
Back then there were no voices at all
Now most NPC's have a brief blurb they say when you first click them and there are voice-overs for several quest intro's.  More and more have been added as time goes by and it's one of the most requested features by the beta players so I expect Turbine will continue to slowly add more to the game.

Remember when EQ2 was in beta there were only a few voice overs as well.  They've slowly increased them over time there as well.  I doubt LOTRO will ever have as MANY voice overs as EQ2 but to me that's a good thing.  EQ2 has way too many in some cases.  LOTR is still a bit sparse but it gets better every patch. 

Hopefully eventually all the quests will have voice-overs for the quest text.  Then again the quest text in LOTRO is a LOT more detailed than for most EQ2 quests :)

I have played pretty much everything out there, including Vanguard and even suffered through WoW for a bit...

LOTRO is the best Fantasy MMORPG to hit the market since DAOC in my opinion.
It's better than EQ2, WoW or Vanguard.  Especially for casual players.

It is also the first MMORPG since Ultima Online that I have pre-ordered.

Originally posted by bl1nd
Thats so carebear....

Originally posted by Taram

Originally posted by Gameloading
I think the Lotro NDA has already been lifted.

Hmmm I haven't seen anything about it... Someone actually in the beta could probably say for certain though.

Originally posted by MaeEye

Originally posted by Elnator
Suggestions based on your statements:

EVE:  Highly skill based.  No levels.  No grind really either.  Entirely a skill driven game.  Takes a lot of thought and planning to really excel at the game as well as attention to details, patience and a good deal of business savvy.  It can be played by casual or hard-core gamers.

EQ2:  A slight step 'up' in difficulty from WoW.  Still similar gameplay however.  This might be more your speed.  It's hard to say... the game isn't cookie cutter combat though.

I don't recommend Vanguard.... it isn't worth the money right now.  Maybe in a year or so.

Another really good alternative, believe it or not, is Guild Wars.... it's got a nice PVE setting (I recommend getting the original for like $29.95 and playing that through before buying any expansions) as well as a superb PVP setup if all you want to do is arena fight.  It's got no monthly fee but has many features popular about MMORPG's including both co-operative PVE and PVP.

Not too many others out that i'd recommend right now.  A year or so ago I'd have recommended DAOC but the population in DAOC is steadily dwindling away and it's hard to get into for new players now due to the sparsity of other players at lower level.  It's still one of the best Realm vs. Realm PVP games out there though.


Something I am planning to do myself once the new update hits:
Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn

I agree with this guy.  EQ2 might be a good step up.  It's a solid game, with fun gameplay and great combat.  EQ2 is basically like WoW (or vice Versa) but harder gameplay.  I really dig the graphics in EQ2 also.

I would recommend LOTRO to you, but that is a easier version of WoW basically, lol.  If you can actually belive that.  Beside that, there isn't a whole lot to try out these days. 

UO might be a good try.  tell me, what is your history with MMo;s?

If you have an Xbox 360, maybe something like Crackdown?

Also, what about a new RTS?  LOTR: Battle for middle earth 2 was fun.  Or you have Titan Quest (online abilities), or hey you could even play that new Supreme COmmander coming out shortly.

btw, you can try Vanguard if you want, but beware.

Suggestions based on your statements:

EVE:  Highly skill based.  No levels.  No grind really either.  Entirely a skill driven game.  Takes a lot of thought and planning to really excel at the game as well as attention to details, patience and a good deal of business savvy.  It can be played by casual or hard-core gamers.

EQ2:  A slight step 'up' in difficulty from WoW.  Still similar gameplay however.  This might be more your speed.  It's hard to say... the game isn't cookie cutter combat though.

I don't recommend Vanguard.... it isn't worth the money right now.  Maybe in a year or so.

Another really good alternative, believe it or not, is Guild Wars.... it's got a nice PVE setting (I recommend getting the original for like $29.95 and playing that through before buying any expansions) as well as a superb PVP setup if all you want to do is arena fight.  It's got no monthly fee but has many features popular about MMORPG's including both co-operative PVE and PVP.

Not too many others out that i'd recommend right now.  A year or so ago I'd have recommended DAOC but the population in DAOC is steadily dwindling away and it's hard to get into for new players now due to the sparsity of other players at lower level.  It's still one of the best Realm vs. Realm PVP games out there though.


Something I am planning to do myself once the new update hits:
Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn

Originally posted by Brabus

Originally posted by Elnator

Originally posted by Brabus
I wont get into the bugs (there are still many, but I know its still in beta), but somethings wont change.  Im a rather big tolkin fan, and am a long time gamer (beta tested realm and UO, been active mmorpg-player since then).  But this game has almost nothing to do with lord of the rings except for the name, similar like DDO.  They just exploited the name to lure