LOTRO stress test this weekend

[Javai]

But that vineyard really did annoy me

PM me and I'll tell you where it is

I've also found that quest directions can be a little bit vague but that's not really a bad thing for me as it pushes you to explore the world yourself. For what it's worht the ones in the elf starting area(s) seem to be much more vague in their directions than the ones in the human starting area. Maybe they expect ELves to be smart enough to work it out on their own

 

[Poag]

Well i know i wasn't the only one who was unable to find it, seeing the same people more than 4 times in the "west" area of town and them stopping and asking "Wheres the vineyard?" kinda made me feel satisfied I was not alone in my quest for the location of the vineyard?

Destory an evil spirit who threatens the world? Pfft that...i'm on a far more challenging quest for the vineyard!!!

 

[Poag]

As a side thing tho.

The end of Introduction quest, against the dwarves, was alot of fun.

Having mobile NPCs that talk help fight and generally "get stuck in" is a really nice thing to see and i very much enjoyed that quest. Although as a minstrel it was very easy to nuke things from afar and heal Odwin.

 

[Javai]

As a side thing tho.

The end of Introduction quest, against the dwarves, was alot of fun.

Having mobile NPCs that talk help fight and generally "get stuck in" is a really nice thing to see and i very much enjoyed that quest. Although as a minstrel it was very easy to nuke things from afar and heal Odwin.

I had one of many 'wow that's cool' moments when he whipped his axe out and smashed open the door for me

Had another during the hobbit intro quest when the hobbit set fire to the buildings for me to escape - little things yes but they make the game world feel alive.

 

[Poag]

I had one of many 'wow that's cool' moments when he whipped his axe out and smashed open the door for me

Had another during the hobbit intro quest when the hobbit set fire to the buildings for me to escape - little things yes but they make the game world feel alive.

Haha, i also said to myself.

No..hes not..gonna....is he..no..yes!

And then rushed ina nd was afced by alot of high level NPCs ready to kill me..luckily they saw my elvish might and my evil bango and beat a hasty retreat!

I still giggle to myself when i "kill" someone with my lute.

 

[pez]

I think the problem is that those of us who's mmo experience matured on the group dynamic of DAoC just don't enjoy these games where you spend all your time soloing. Thats certainly the case for me.

 

[Asuyi]

I still giggle to myself when i "kill" someone with my lute.

You play as minstrel? I haven't played only as captain and loremaster so far. Probably I'll create a minstrel character as a test
The captains are quite cool, I love their warcry, it really inspires me to fight, even if it is lost cause (when I get surrounded by monsters)

 

[Poag]

I do indeed, I also intend on playing one if i get the game at release.

They appear to be competant healer types, I usually play as a ranged dps or melee, but I always liked playing other peoples healer types characters, and a hybrid is nice

I'm currently leaning towards getting the pre-order of the game, mainly from the fact I have nothing else to play currently, but also that it does seem to be a good game that being well received.

So if any guild needs a little healer type, give me a poke

 

[Faeldawn]

I think the problem is that those of us who's mmo experience matured on the group dynamic of DAoC just don't enjoy these games where you spend all your time soloing. Thats certainly the case for me.

There are lots of quests you simply cannot do solo and as for monster play, if your raiding you need 20+ players for some areas and thats just to kill NPC's

I agree with Javai though, the quest directions are sometimes a bit vague, but this really works for me as it's more satisfying when you find your own way instead of the spoon-fed WoW and DAoC style quests.

Anyone done the Cog quest yet? Juts finished lvl 5 last night, nice little puzzle quest to finish it off which i got first time

 

[Faeldawn]

I had one of many 'wow that's cool' moments when he whipped his axe out and smashed open the door for me

Had another during the hobbit intro quest when the hobbit set fire to the buildings for me to escape - little things yes but they make the game world feel alive.

Wandering around Bag End had that effect on me, standing outside looking out on the Shire. This is the kind of thing i loved about SWG, being able to visit these landmarks

 

[pez]

There are lots of quests you simply cannot do solo and as for monster play, if your raiding you need 20+ players for some areas and thats just to kill NPC's

I read that it becomes a lot more group friendly after level 30 or so, i only played up to level 15 and soloed 99% of it despite being constantly looking for group and monitoring the regional channels. I didn't feel like soloing through another ten levels or so.

I just found levelling up to be a solo-fest like in WoW.

 

[rynnor]

I read that it becomes a lot more group friendly after level 30 or so, i only played up to level 15 and soloed 99% of it despite being constantly looking for group and monitoring the regional channels. I didn't feel like soloing through another ten levels or so.

I just found levelling up to be a solo-fest like in WoW.

All the classes can solo quite well at low levels which lets you get used to the game at your own pace - not that its difficult to get a group either though

Later on groups are more neccesary by which point you should at least have learned the basics of your class.

After playing through all the 4 races intro/starting zones I think the Shire is the best - highest density of quests nice flat zone with no 'walls' to stop you wandering and generally feels the most polished.

Followed by the human zones and then the fairly bad dwarf/elf starting zones - cant stand em personally - only so much empty mountainside I can stomach ;P

I expect the other starting zones will get fully populated at some point - in fact I'm being a bit harsh - compared to daoc theres nothing as empty as a lot of those zones and the shire is probably the best starting zone for an mmo I've ever played.

 

[Faeldawn]

Just want to share a few things now the beta is almost over:

This game is a classic fantasy clone, they seem to have taken bits of WoW, bits of EQ2, bits of a few other games, bolted them together, sprinkled it with LOTR dust and put it in a box.

Very, very disappointed. It really did look good until you get past level 10 and then at lvl 40 it's still unimaginative repetitive questing crap that could have been ripped from any mmorpg, inserted and labelled "Content".

Don't get me wrong, this game has some really nice touches..the epic event cut-scenes are kinda cool (although they are a shameless rip of the Baldurs Gate style), the graphics are nice on full settings, the game seems to be pretty much lag free if you tone down your settings a bit.

What tore it for me is they use the LOTR characters as cash pawns, level 12 quests given by "Strider" who is supposedly hidden in the Prancing Pony...well not very well hidden as last time I went there there were about 20 people having a party in his bedroom! It just saps the realism out of the thing, and it is the realism that is the only selling point for this game.

It is a pretty polished game, but it is very average and unimaginative. I'm afraid when it looks, smells and acts like it, you call it what it is, another poor cash-in on a big-name title.

 

[rynnor]

Just want to share a few things now the beta is almost over:

This game is a classic fantasy clone, they seem to have taken bits of WoW, bits of EQ2, bits of a few other games, bolted them together, sprinkled it with LOTR dust and put it in a box.

Very, very disappointed. It really did look good until you get past level 10 and then at lvl 40 it's still unimaginative repetitive questing crap that could have been ripped from any mmorpg, inserted and labelled "Content".

Don't get me wrong, this game has some really nice touches..the epic event cut-scenes are kinda cool (although they are a shameless rip of the Baldurs Gate style), the graphics are nice on full settings, the game seems to be pretty much lag free if you tone down your settings a bit.

What tore it for me is they use the LOTR characters as cash pawns, level 12 quests given by "Strider" who is supposedly hidden in the Prancing Pony...well not very well hidden as last time I went there there were about 20 people having a party in his bedroom! It just saps the realism out of the thing, and it is the realism that is the only selling point for this game.

It is a pretty polished game, but it is very average and unimaginative. I'm afraid when it looks, smells and acts like it, you call it what it is, another poor cash-in on a big-name title.

I'm not sure what you expected - its an MMO set in Tolkiens world - like wow/eq2 and all other current mmo's it borrows from its pre-decessors in terms of established mechanisms that work together with its own refinements.

If you dont like this one you wont like wow/daoc etc. etc.

If you find having other people arounds 'sucks the realism' then you should stick to single player rpgs - I'm not really sure where realism comes into fantasy either

I'd say they have made a very solid start - if it continues to develop as I expect it will be a market leader.

If you want something completely different in terms of an mmo then look elsewhere but you can count the truly different yet sucessfull mmo's on the fingers of one foot - the market just doesnt support them.

 

[Aada]

Just want to share a few things now the beta is almost over:

This game is a classic fantasy clone, they seem to have taken bits of WoW, bits of EQ2, bits of a few other games, bolted them together, sprinkled it with LOTR dust and put it in a box.

Very, very disappointed. It really did look good until you get past level 10 and then at lvl 40 it's still unimaginative repetitive questing crap that could have been ripped from any mmorpg, inserted and labelled "Content".

Don't get me wrong, this game has some really nice touches..the epic event cut-scenes are kinda cool (although they are a shameless rip of the Baldurs Gate style), the graphics are nice on full settings, the game seems to be pretty much lag free if you tone down your settings a bit.

What tore it for me is they use the LOTR characters as cash pawns, level 12 quests given by "Strider" who is supposedly hidden in the Prancing Pony...well not very well hidden as last time I went there there were about 20 people having a party in his bedroom! It just saps the realism out of the thing, and it is the realism that is the only selling point for this game.

It is a pretty polished game, but it is very average and unimaginative. I'm afraid when it looks, smells and acts like it, you call it what it is, another poor cash-in on a big-name title.

Doesn't suprise me one bit!

I look at the company that made it and look at their last 2 MMORPG titles and think its going to flop big time.

Nobody gives 2 hoots if its LOTR, just look at D&D Online a massive massive licence and it's almost dead within 2 years of release.

It also has some BS pvp system why not just create 2 factions and let players decide if they want to be a good guy/bad guy?

Could have been a great game with pvp added to it.

 

[Talivar]

Is a great game tbh, i dont understand what ppl expect lol. Gfx are great, lving is easy and fun with no grind, combat is good and group combos make it better,crafting is nice and easy to use, u can lv fully on quests and a lot of the quests have a epic or personal feel, atmosphere is great, trait system is something ALL other mmos should look at and copy, and finnally the pvp is fun and feels a lot like daoc pvp so i have no clue why so many call it shit.

 

[Javai]

I normally avoid Betas like the plague but I wanted to try this one - and then found I couldn't stop playing it even though I knew it would all be wiped. I have only one bad thing to say about the game - I can't play it for another 5 days

I didn't get to try monster play but the Beta Blogs I've read make it sound very much like DaoC pvp but without the issues of class/realm balance. The traits and 'deeds' system was amazing. And the strong storyline ofthe 'main' quest made it feel alot more like a solo rpg you played with friends than a mmorpg. Graphically it is alogn way ahead of WoW (though ofc only if you've got a decent system AND the hi-res textures which weren't available on Beta without having thepre-order DVD).

DDO failed because it was shipped much too soon for financial reasons and didn't have the content to keep the player base for any length of time. LOTRO is a very different beast.

 

[Faeldawn]

If you want something completely different in terms of an mmo then look elsewhere but you can count the truly different yet sucessfull mmo's on the fingers of one foot - the market just doesnt support them.

Your right ofc, but thats not really the point. I like the game, but I had hoped for something new with this one as had many others.

WoW built the mould, now every man and his dog is just copying the formula. In that mould LOTRO is a decent game, but in reality it's just the latest from the mmorpg cloning factory and stamped with a big-name title.

My disappointment is that another fantasy big-name has been made into an average game with no real thought or innovation.

WoW built this market, moving mmorpg's into the mainstreat for the first time, before WoW there were no huge Western mmorpg's (UO, EQ, AO, DAoC were never mainstream games). When a company finally does challenge the norm, as Blizzard once did, they can affect a change in the market. LOTRO does not do this, it just holds out the begging bowl and says "Me too!".

Love or hate WoW, you have to admire Blizzards marketing strategy. The mmorpg genre now needs a title to break that mould in order too advance. LOTRO could have been that title but sadly it took the easy route.

 

[rynnor]

Love or hate WoW, you have to admire Blizzards marketing strategy. The mmorpg genre now needs a title to break that mould in order too advance. LOTRO could have been that title but sadly it took the easy route.

Wow was the first easy mmo - the others made it a lot harder but with wow anyone could play it - thats what gave it mass appeal. With the massive market its found you cant say its wrong and other games will come along into that same segment.

LOTR is certainly gunning for those wow players but it isnt a straight clone - it has refinements on crafting and other bits and a completely original pvp system which will never create those bitter nerf x class threads

You should really see this as a good thing - mass market games like wow and lotr will expand the mmo market a hell of a lot - eventually those players will crave more of a challenge and then alternatives will be viable.

That time has not yet come however so LOTR has taken the only route that isnt commercial suicide.

Finally, say what you like about them but Turbine have put out the most finished looking beta I have ever seen from an mmo - I havent fallen through the world once

 

[Aada]

Ok so last week i went and picked up the £2 10 day head start DVD from GAME.

Craptastic fucking game.

1. This combat system is so fucking old and mundane you have to wonder why they added it. They copied alot from WoW but they didn't copy the fun part from WoW - Combat system.

2. The world looks great no doubt about that but the characters/monsters/npcs just look HORRIBLE! my Elf walks around like he just got out of prison and his bum hurts.

3. Back to point 2, has anyone took a horse ride? omfg the horses look worse then DAoC

4. Kill a bug quests ? they have no right being here in a LOTR game, the game is pretty fun when you have to club goblins/dorfs but those quests are few and far between. Instead i am told to go out and kill bears.

5. Music? hm average at best but depressing most of the time.

6. Weapons/Armour they don't make you go 'omfg nice drop' when they drop you look at the stats think 'hm yeah whatever' then whack the next mole!

7. Crafting system one of the better the points to the game seems like they really sat down and thought it out.

8. No individuality in this game at all everyone looks almost the same and even worse there is no spec choices to a class you gain a skill every lvl or so and everyone else playing the same class gains that too. Again everyone is the same.

Seems to be with point 8 is that they took the lazy way out and decided not to add any spec lines to classes to stop the nerf bat threads, but i will take a nerf over no choice to specialise any day of the week.

1 hour ago i quit and uninstalled the game and threw away the preorder pack i had and cancelled my preorder on the net.

For me another failed attempt by Turbine at creating an MMO seems to me they need to go back to their roots and look at what people enjoyed about Asherons Call.

My girlfriend also had the Early Access thing but she stopped playing the same day she got it. Her words ''i really couldn't imagine playing that game for 5 hours''.

I stuck with it to see what i could get got to lvl 20 with my Loremaster got my next quest ran up the hill (while reading the OOC chat to see other people moaning about what they hated) and just said bye to my guild and quit there and then.

I am really happy i chose to buy the £2 thing from GAME instead of wasting £30 on release.

Looks like it's back to waiting on Conan/WAR.

For those thinking about getting the game look long and hard at my points to see if they are the type of things you dislike in a MMORPG and have made you quit other games.

I assure you this post is totally inbiased in favour of any other MMORPG i play at the moment. (infact the only one i am playing is COV totally different game)

I went in with an open mind and this was my experience, for those that do like it no offence at all and i am happy you are enjoying the game.

 

[Ctuchik]

and finnally the pvp is fun and feels a lot like daoc pvp so i have no clue why so many call it shit.

the pvp is only fun if ur playing ur main human toon. it sucks if u play as a monster. why? well, you will never *ever* be on par with a human toon in terms of power, no matter how much you upgrade the monster you will always be underpowered compared to the "human" counterpart.

that was atleast the statement from the devs on the beta boards when i played it....

thats why its shit.

 

[Ctuchik]

LOTR is certainly gunning for those wow players but it isnt a straight clone - it has refinements on crafting and other bits and a completely original pvp system which will never create those bitter nerf x class threads

it will. read my post above this for why....

 

[Asuyi]

Being a roleplayer I was never really into pvp so I can't talk about the player-vs monster system in LOTRO.
I admit I was also a bit disappointed from the game, as I really expected it to be something different and to match the great title it has. Well, it is not but this does not make it a bad game, though not for everybody's taste. The animations are not that bad, at least better than those of EQ2 and WoW. The character creation was poorly designed, and it is true that most individuals of one race look very similar - nevertheless the graphics is so beautiful that I am willig to forgive Turbine this failure. I would be happy though if they make some changes with the coming expansions and make this mediocre game really great... whether they have the potential to do this is another question.

 

[rynnor]

Ok so last week i went and picked up the £2 10 day head start DVD from GAME.

Craptastic fucking game.

1. This combat system is so fucking old and mundane you have to wonder why they added it. They copied alot from WoW but they didn't copy the fun part from WoW - Combat system.

2. The world looks great no doubt about that but the characters/monsters/npcs just look HORRIBLE! my Elf walks around like he just got out of prison and his bum hurts.

3. Back to point 2, has anyone took a horse ride? omfg the horses look worse then DAoC

4. Kill a bug quests ? they have no right being here in a LOTR game, the game is pretty fun when you have to club goblins/dorfs but those quests are few and far between. Instead i am told to go out and kill bears.

5. Music? hm average at best but depressing most of the time.

6. Weapons/Armour they don't make you go 'omfg nice drop' when they drop you look at the stats think 'hm yeah whatever' then whack the next mole!

7. Crafting system one of the better the points to the game seems like they really sat down and thought it out.

8. No individuality in this game at all everyone looks almost the same and even worse there is no spec choices to a class you gain a skill every lvl or so and everyone else playing the same class gains that too. Again everyone is the same.

Seems to be with point 8 is that they took the lazy way out and decided not to add any spec lines to classes to stop the nerf bat threads, but i will take a nerf over no choice to specialise any day of the week.

1 hour ago i quit and uninstalled the game and threw away the preorder pack i had and cancelled my preorder on the net.

For me another failed attempt by Turbine at creating an MMO seems to me they need to go back to their roots and look at what people enjoyed about Asherons Call.

My girlfriend also had the Early Access thing but she stopped playing the same day she got it. Her words ''i really couldn't imagine playing that game for 5 hours''.

I stuck with it to see what i could get got to lvl 20 with my Loremaster got my next quest ran up the hill (while reading the OOC chat to see other people moaning about what they hated) and just said bye to my guild and quit there and then.

I am really happy i chose to buy the £2 thing from GAME instead of wasting £30 on release.

Looks like it's back to waiting on Conan/WAR.

For those thinking about getting the game look long and hard at my points to see if they are the type of things you dislike in a MMORPG and have made you quit other games.

I assure you this post is totally inbiased in favour of any other MMORPG i play at the moment. (infact the only one i am playing is COV totally different game)

I went in with an open mind and this was my experience, for those that do like it no offence at all and i am happy you are enjoying the game.

1. Combat system is fundamentally the same as all other mmos including wow - it does borrow the group moves idea from eq2 as well tho. Dont get your point here.

2. Looks ok to me - no mmo has 'realistic looking' chars - wow is a prime example.

3. Horses are better modelled than daoc - if you watch the hips one comes up at a time as per a real horse.

4. Kill quests are in every mmo but they are a tiny proportion of the quests in LOTR - it has the most quests of any mmo I have seen.

5. Music is better than at beta now - much seems dragged from the films now - dont know if they did a deal?

6. Weapons/ armour were patched a while back to look worse at low level - they look ace at high level but I guess you wouldnt have seen any.

7. crafting is good

8. You missed a fundamental part of the game - virtues - you get race/class/epic/basic traits - you can only slot limited numbers and this is where the differentiation between members of same race/class comes in but you obviously missed it.

I'm having a lot of fun personally - now back to the game

 

[Ctuchik]

Being a roleplayer I was never really into pvp so I can't talk about the player-vs monster system in LOTRO.
I admit I was also a bit disappointed from the game, as I really expected it to be something different and to match the great title it has. Well, it is not but this does not make it a bad game, though not for everybody's taste. The animations are not that bad, at least better than those of EQ2 and WoW. The character creation was poorly designed, and it is true that most individuals of one race look very similar - nevertheless the graphics is so beautiful that I am willig to forgive Turbine this failure. I would be happy though if they make some changes with the coming expansions and make this mediocre game really great... whether they have the potential to do this is another question.

no, its certainly not a *bad* game. its just not even close to as good as it *could* have been. they had so much potential when they started to make this game. but all they could be arsed to do is yet another fucking cookie cutter.......

 

[Ctuchik]

WoW built this market, moving mmorpg's into the mainstreat for the first time, before WoW there were no huge Western mmorpg's (UO, EQ, AO, DAoC were never mainstream games). When a company finally does challenge the norm, as Blizzard once did, they can affect a change in the market. LOTRO does not do this, it just holds out the begging bowl and says "Me too!".

all that needs to be said about this game tbh... well put indeed...