LOTRO is the MMO for people who want to play a game and not experience a lifestyle change.   LOTRO is not about chasing the invisible carrot that you can never obtain.   Its not about being 'leet' or ganking people.  

MMOs in general are not 'hard' in any aspect.   They simply have different levels of  consuming time and annoyances.   No MMO I've experienced to date has thoughtful puzzles like Portal or intellectual challenges like online chess, or really intense split second decisions like those in a game of Counterstrike.   All MMOs are all basically dumbed down for the masses (Except maybe Eve which I haven't played.)

So stating WoW or EQ or <insert random MMO> is hard is not true.   LOTRO is less annoying that a lot of those so called 'harder' MMOs in that it doesnt require you to camp 24 hours to get a single piece of +1 loot.   It also doesn't mean you have to raid endlessly to compete in the end game PVP and have a chance.

LOTRO is about providing you with a very interactive storyline based upon the greatest work of fiction in modern history.   Giving you the best graphical experience of any current MMO.   Attracting the most mature audience in an MMO I've seen.    LOTRO has an experienced developer team that seems to really care about the community and the product and not to make a fast buck at the expense of the gamer or the IP. 

LOTRO also does something no other previous MMO has come close to accomplishing.   LOTRO made  a primary healer class that is actually extremely fun to play in the Minstrel.  

Overall LOTRO isn't perfect but the future is bright and its the best MMO we have in a rather stagnant market. 

If you need to get spend 8+ hours camping or raiding to get a +1 Axe of Leetness every night of your life, then LOTRO isn't for you.   If you need to run around ganking a bunch of 'noobs' with your +1 Axe of leetness and fooling yourself into thinking you're skilled while watching your EPEEN grow, then LOTRO isn't for you.  If you're a mature gamer who enjoys a high quality, immersive MMO, get it now!

Hurry though, lifetime membership for $199.00 (hell of a deal) ends 1 June 2008.

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Originally posted by tfox2k1
LOTRO is the MMO for people who want to play a game and not experience a lifestyle change.   LOTRO is not about chasing the invisible carrot that you can never obtain.   Its not about being 'leet' or ganking people.  
MMOs in general are not 'hard' in any aspect.   They simply have different levels of  consuming time and annoyances.   No MMO I've experienced to date has thoughtful puzzles like Portal or intellectual challenges like online chess, or really intense split second decisions like those in a game of Counterstrike.   All MMOs are all basically dumbed down for the masses (Except maybe Eve which I haven't played.)
So stating WoW or EQ or <insert random MMO> is hard is not true.   LOTRO is less annoying that a lot of those so called 'harder' MMOs in that it doesnt require you to camp 24 hours to get a single piece of +1 loot.   It also doesn't mean you have to raid endlessly to compete in the end game PVP and have a chance.
LOTRO is about providing you with a very interactive storyline based upon the greatest work of fiction in modern history.   Giving you the best graphical experience of any current MMO.   Attracting the most mature audience in an MMO I've seen.    LOTRO has an experienced developer team that seems to really care about the community and the product and not to make a fast buck at the expense of the gamer or the IP. 
LOTRO also does something no other previous MMO has come close to accomplishing.   LOTRO made  a primary healer class that is actually extremely fun to play in the Minstrel.  
Overall LOTRO isn't perfect but the future is bright and its the best MMO we have in a rather stagnant market. 
If you need to get spend 8+ hours camping or raiding to get a +1 Axe of Leetness every night of your life, then LOTRO isn't for you.   If you need to run around ganking a bunch of 'noobs' with your +1 Axe of leetness and fooling yourself into thinking you're skilled while watching your EPEEN grow, then LOTRO isn't for you.  If you're a mature gamer who enjoys a high quality, immersive MMO, get it now!
Hurry though, lifetime membership for $199.00 (hell of a deal) ends 1 June 2008.
 

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Hmm..Are you adverticing for Turbine ?

Also, LOTRO looks nice but it doesnt have "the best graphics" wich is a technical term, othervise it's YOUR opinion that the art inside LOTRO is the best..

must be a bot (or unoriginal at best) as he posted the exact same thing in another thread.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/2000970#2000970

I take it as a compliment my review of LOTRO was so well written two of  you assumed I was working for Turbine or a bot.    Simply not the case.   Just my thoughts on LOTRO.   I've been playing MMO's for many years, been in just about every major MMO released, and LOTRO deserved my thoughts.

Same reason I'll post a review on IMDB about  a great movie that many people maybe haven't seen.   Trying to get the word out. 

I decided to repeat my post just to get it noticed by a few more people.

If someone is seeking an MMO that actually lets you eat the carrot rather than beat you over the head with it.  Play LOTRO.

Turbine is running subscription specials until 1 June, so if you're interested never been a better time.

I wish they would have done something different. The one huge thing they could have done different than most MMO's is to make the game skill based. I'm tired of the level/class systems in games. I prefer skill based and classless, but of course, there really aren't any of those that are any good. Oh well.

The good thing about lotro IMO is you can have fun right out of the box, no need to max level before you can do anything that you want. Although it has levels which I dont enjoy, l hardly ever notice what level I am unless Im in an area thats too high for my level. I also hardly notice when I do level. Many times Ill be out and gain 1-2 levels without realizing it. So, there are a couple reasons I can enjoy this game where other level based games make me sick to play. The group dynamics are some of the best out there too. Other than that its your standard MMO done "very' well. Keeps getting better. Game is alot better for level 1-50 than it was at launch. IMO of coarse.

I have played LotRO shortly after release. Back at this time I could not get into love with any of the classes. Somehow I felt that it made no difference which spell to use since they had almost the same effect anyway (beat or beat or maybe beat?). Has this changed? And could you please explain what you mean by "group dynamics"? Furthermore I would like to hear about dungeon design. Is it like WoW which is all about tank, spank, heal? WoW's dungeon design is really horriblly boring imho. If you cannot beat a dungeon you just need better gear (more DPS, more healing power, more damage reduction).

Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by woeye

I have played LotRO shortly after release. Back at this time I could not get into love with any of the classes. Somehow I felt that it made no difference which spell to use since they had almost the same effect anyway (beat or beat or maybe beat?). Has this changed? And could you please explain what you mean by "group dynamics"? Furthermore I would like to hear about dungeon design. Is it like WoW which is all about tank, spank, heal? WoW's dungeon design is really horriblly boring imho. If you cannot beat a dungeon you just need better gear (more DPS, more healing power, more damage reduction).

Thanks in advance.

Almost every skill is like that, especially the non-damage skills. The way they can be used in groups is endless. Then they way they can be used in combinations with other classes skills is even more dynamic. But solo, or just rare grouping you dont get to see that kind of thing. At low levels this is hard to see because its easy and you dont have alot of skills, so its basically smash it til it dies cause that works.

Dungeon design is about tanking and healing if you wanna play it like that. But knowing how to use your skills and using them in conjunction with other peoples skills, you can do things with pretty much any make-up. Not counting raids of coarse..thats a different beast. There is no dungeon you wont be able to do because of your gear(including raids). Its all about knowing how to use your skills..all of them. Raids are the only thing that require specific classes to finish them.

I really wanted to love this game because of course I grew up with the books.  Gameplay is pretty dumbed down imo and that's the reason hasn't really taken off to a greater extent.  I thought it was fun for about 2-3 months and then the excitement really dropped off.  I stopped playing around Christmas.

The OP talked about how great it was to not need to camp things, hit the ground running and not need every piece of L33T gear to have a good time.  All true, but there really isn't much feeling of reward without some fun loot items and awesome but challenging encounters that demand skill and repeat attempts. 

Still the shire was a fun newb experience, perhaps the best I've seen in any game, so maybe I'll jump back in again someday after some expansions and sharpening of the game experience by Turbine. 

Originally posted by Lachlan66

I really wanted to love this game because of course I grew up with the books.  Gameplay is pretty dumbed down imo and that's the reason hasn't really taken off to a greater extent.  I thought it was fun for about 2-3 months and then the excitement really dropped off.  I stopped playing around Christmas. Dumbed down? how does it dffer from 99% of mmos? Also, Why do you think it should have taken off to a greater extent..personally I think its done much better in that area when you look at MMO's as a whole. I can see why you lost excitement after a few months though...the game lacked in alot of areas. they are filling these in, but still remain in a few spots. People get used to questing, then at areas where the quests dull, or too many group quests that are hard, there wasnt much else for them to do besides wait for  group members or log. Its slowly getting better like it should though.

The OP talked about how great it was to not need to camp things, hit the ground running and not need every piece of L33T gear to have a good time.  All true, but there really isn't much feeling of reward without some fun loot items and awesome but challenging encounters that demand skill and repeat attempts. There are plenty of those, both loot and challanging quests. Crafted  loot is just as good though and gear isnt that important so the reward seems less. I wish quests rewards were determined by your class rather than get a great bow that my burglar can only sell to an npc vendor for pennies. But there are many many challanging quests. Some of the most difficult non-raid quests I've ever played are in this game. Most are easy, just like most mmo's. Thats what people want appearently, otherwise they'd all be hard. Or are you just talking about raid gear..which I agree, the raid gear isnt that good for anything other than raids. They are adding more and more ways to obtain good gear, or earned gear through reputaion. But raiding will hopefully not be the one and only way, or wont be necessary in order to do anything.

Still the shire was a fun newb experience, perhaps the best I've seen in any game, so maybe I'll jump back in again someday after some expansions and sharpening of the game experience by Turbine. Game is alot better now for level 1-50 than at christmas, but prolly wont be "good enough" until around the expansion comes out IMO. Turbine is doing it the right way so far, if they keep it up, the game will keep growing. We'll see if they can.

 

Certainly LOTRO isnt perfect but one thing it has going for it is QUALITY.  The graphics are great, the engine works very well on many many many systems, the game has very few bugs, the patches and expansions come out VERY ready, the dev. team has changed and modified things but you see very few wholesale class or item nerfs, the servers are stable etc.

LOTRO is not all things to all people.  Everquest 1/2 have better dungeon crawls, WOW has better raids, but in this time of really sub par releases and sub standard quality you can feel comfortable knowing that TURBINE is putting out a well thought out high quality product.

For me its just about perfect for where I am in my  life/gaming career.  I was in eq1 at release, spent years on hardcore raids and camps.  Grew up, acquired more responsibility, less patience, dont quite have the time or the mindset to sit in one spot for 10 hours or to raid and hit 5 buttons once every thirty minutes for 4 hours.  LOTRO is deep enough to be rewarding but shallow enough not to shame you into an all consuming playstyle to advance.

So...good quality, good dev. team, good mix of depth and casual, and a growing customer base, growing dev. team, frequent expansions and a paid/major expansion class/level cap coming this fall.  All in all when you consider vanguard/fury/hellgate/tabula rasa/potbs  id say LOTRO is a pretty damn good place to spend some time.

Vantras, perfect  summary of why play LOTRO.   I too have a similar gaming history and lifestyle.   No way at this point in life would I do those extremely long EQ camps again.  

WoW was fun until end game and then trying to complete with 14 year olds in PVP who could farm and raid many more hours than I could as a working adult, was not for me.    PVP in WoW is no where near skil based, its almost entirely loot and level.

The other MMOs, either very buggy, dead or dying, and just not worth the time, investment, or effort.

For now and in the near future, LOTRO is the best we have in the MMO genre.