I was a die-hard EQ2 vet for years...asbolutely loved it. Having said that, I must say that like all things you need some fresh things and ideas which EQ2 was lacking over time. For Rift, I'm only at level 13, but I must say that I like what I see so far. It's been a long time since I had that good "buzz" from a new game. The game runs nicely, graphics are nice and I already get the sense of strong team-play going on.

Should you jump?This is what I tell myself when I want to try a new game (assuming you can afford it). Go for it, give yourself a 3 month subscription and at the end play it if you still like it. If not go back to EQ2 or whatever game. You'll get a ton of opinions but in the end you have to like it.

Pook

Thank you for the advice, think I'll wait then :)

 *sigh*

No, it's a good pc. Well, the overheating part is not so great (that's my fault)., but it's a D901C from ibuypower and it's not 2 years old. Anwyhoo, it's not even 2 years old 2 8800gtm cards in sli.

I'm open to suggestions, but I can play Eq2, AOC, Vanguard and LOTRO just fine (and on high settings). Believe me when I say, I don't just willy nilly pick am mmo...so I want this game to succeed. 

 Laughed when I saw your post Spirit. Soooo, agree with what you said. Lag is a major problem and yet folks say, "Oh no i'm fine!"....whatever

I bought the game last week. IMO the game has the "potential" to really, really be a hit, but OMG the laaaaggggggggg. It's ok when you are outside of the towns but go into Embry xroads and you may as well be looking at  a power point presentation slide show, it's that bad.  I really hope they can fix it since all the missions and stuff are IN towns. 

*wine* I hope this doesn't end like TR ...that would be 2 in a row for me! Guess I'll have to be forever killing orcs and trolls.

Pook

Nope, didn't upgrade. It's an IT build for work so I don't really wanna mess with it.  Regarding the trusted site thing, I'll poke around but don't thin that's it. Some of the pages load but others just lock it up. I don't have a problem going to the site itself.
 

Pook

Looking for some help or tips on why my browser keeps locking up on the LOTRO forum site??? It used to be fine, now when the pages start to load it just locks my browser up (ie. browser not responding).  Seems like something in the last week or so. I use MS explorer and can't switch since it's a work PC or else I would try Chrome or Firefox.

Any tips would be helpful. I would post this on their site, but it would probably crash! For the record, it does it on my home pc too :(

Please help, or else I'll be forced to actualy work at the office!!! Seriosly, thanks in advance.

Pook

I still had a toon I created almost 2 years earlier. For some reason, it had never "clicked" with me and I basically played only a couple of months at launch. For some reason, when I started in December I really liked it. Anwyhooo, I would bet your stuff will still be there.

Pooks

I agree with Oz that YES you can heal, but the Minstrel is probably the "stronger" of the two in terms of healing. As a guardian they both do fine, but I seem to spike a little less with the Minnie. Of course it could be the players I have been with....my 2 cents.

Pookie

Congratulations Turbine!!!

Having just started this game last month I can see why they did so well.

A game incredibly polished, fun to play, lots of content, and a great community of "mature" players!.

Who would have thought that it was so, well simple?

Gratz again,  Turbine!

Pooks

Having just started playing LoTRO (31 Guard) and AoC (2 lvl 80's), here's what I see.

AoC

-Focus of the game is PVP. Yes, clearly there is a good amount of PVE, but the "focus" is PVP.

- Yes, you can log in and play casual or not. There is a fair amount of quests, etc for that.

- Grind is truly subjective imo, but I found AoC to be one of the easier games to level up in. There is a slow-down in the upper levels (60+) but over all not a biggie.

- Crafting is kinda, meh. There is a system, but not all that great.

LotRO

- Focus of the game is PVP. Yes, cleary there is some PVP, but he "focus" is PVE. Haha, just flipped the first bullet from above.

- Zillions of little quests to do for a short time, so don't worry about that. Also, a robust crafting system. As you have heard before, they really do have good lore and quests.

- Community seems, well more "mature". Not that I thougth AOC was bad, just well less whiny.

Summary: Both are good games and if you want to just be casual then frankly you can't really go wrong.

Enjoy,

Pooks

Thanks for the advice, well I'll definitely avoid that one. I'll keep poking around maybe something will show up.

Like most folks I "suspect", I have tried a variety of headsets. Usually, after heavy play time, my brains get baked. So far the best (for me) has been that I pipe the sound through the speakers on my desk and use a cheapo little lapel microphone.  It works nicely (not great, but ok).

My question is, "Do you know of a wireless device that is ONLY a microphone?" I know that there are some with headsets, but I'm after something I could either wear (like a cell phone) or pin on my shirt. This way I could go grab a beer (haha) or stealh bio-break.

Many thanks in advance for any pointers or help you could give.

Thanks,

Pooks

Thanks for the tip! I'll see what happens after my 8 days :)

Tks again!

So i'm goofing off with Lotro and liking it.  I'm using my super-old buddy key to get 10 free days. I used to have a toon from a long time ago (i think well over a year); however, my old toon is gone on this "buddy account".

What I'm wondering is if I resub will it show up or after a year or do I need to start from scratch? It's not really a biggie, but I did like his name.

Thanks in advance for any help/suggestions.

Pook

"Currently there are still some problems with the siege system"

Look I really like the game ( 80 PoM) and am starting to raid, but to say "SOME" problems with siege is like saying, "The Titanic had SOME problems with water!"

Siege warfare is practically unplayable with the atrocious lag/framerates. For example, you try to move forward and 5 seconds later (no joke) you end up "somewhere". I think in time they will fix this and as I said I like the game, but that was a pretty darn poor reviewer imo.

Pook

Thanks for the inputs all. You are right I'm mainly interested in the cellular cards that have been coming out.

Pooks

Hi,

Looking for any experiences you might have around the current crop of WiFi cards from Sprint/Verizon. Just for the record I'm NOT talking about your regular wireless cards for 802.11a/g/g but rather the ones that allow you access off the cell phone networks :)

I'm wondering specifically if lag would be a problem???

I have one from work and it's actually pretty decent for surfing and office stuff, but nervous on how it would perform on today's MMO's (AoC, WoW, etc). Sadly, my new laptop requires another type for the PCMCI but before I go down that path I was hoping maybe someone had some advice?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Pook

Played EQ2 for about 2 1/2 years and played Vanguard for about 5 months and got a Shaman maxed and am now playing AoC.  Vanguard really is the game that should have been the "next" EQ2 imo. You will definitely enjoy it...period. BTW, I felt that I got more than my money's worth for both games.

However, some things were obvious to me.

• SOE put plenty of resources into it to get the game to and acceptable play level (bugs, performance, etc). Lot's and lot's of posts on this, so no need to rehash. 
  • HOWEVER, the result is that so many people left that it was always the feeling that you were in a ghost town. Yes, you can get groups and all but it just feels, well... kinda "lifeless".
• LONG-TERM the game will be around i think, but you get the feeling that dev's are crying for resources and while it maybe go on, it will ALWAYS be the "JV TEAM" with SOE.
  • I hope I'm wrong here because it had soo much potential (diplomacy ftw). However, as a program manager IRW, when you hear the dev's crying for resources and time, that's never a good sign for long-term projects.

Either way, it's a fun game, great graphics and if your girlfriend likes crafting, it is very well done. I may come back but frankly been enjoying AoC for the time beeing. Good luck to ya.

Pooks

I've been playing it since Jan of this year and really enjoying myself. I am an ex-wow/eq2 (liked both) and think the game is worth my money for now. I would recommend Seradon for the server but I'm biased since I'm on it . Seriously, seems the game has had a fair amount of fixes and if you have the rig for it (it's a pig) the graphics are stunning and the quests are fun. Can't speak to end game yet because only 36 right now, but I look forward to that also.

My thoughts were to give it a shot until AoC comes out and see how that game is also.Just like you I was  more than a little worried with all the deserved bad press.  Worst case I stay with Vanguard since I'm liking it or give AoC a shot to see what all the hype is about. Oh, if you like crafting it really does have some good stuff there.

Best of luck no matter what you choose.

Pooks