Early Impressions

Nexus6

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Hey guys, I pretty much finished the Ered Luin map, or I think at least 80-90% of it (Guild Wars 2 has me conditioned to do 100% map completions. ;) Some thoughts at this early stage:

1) Graphically it definitely seems a bit dated, especially when comparing it to more recent mmo's like Guild Wars 2, The Secret World, and Star Trek Online. This is probably the biggest single strike against it. Having said that, the visuals still have a certain appeal. For one example the night sky is absolutely breathtaking! In GW2 I never seemed to notice the change from day to night, but you definitely notice it in LOTRO. For another example, the lush rolling hills, farms, and hobbit houses of the Shire are sure to delight any Tolkien fan. Can't wait to stroll around Rivendell, or brave the bridge at Khazad Dum. :)

2) The game is a Tolkien fan's role playing dream come true. LOTRO probably has the best lore I've ever seen in an mmo, and although it requires at least a modest amount of reading like most mmo's these days, the writers kept things very close to JRR, nor thankfully do they seem to get long-winded with it. There are also a lot of nice little touches, like the totally charming animation when you fire up some pipe weed. I felt just like that fool of a Took! ;) In fact I would say that the respect the Turbine writers seem to have for the Tolkien lore is maybe the single best thing about the game.


3) The combat is OK. Not the best I've seen, but kind of your typical mmo fair. This is one place where Guild Wars and Star Wars: TOR has it beat, but I'm not complaining too much. It's what I would call 'good enough' combat. Also, to be fair, I'm only at level 16 and it will be interesting to see how the combat progresses as I level up.

4) There are a lot of subtle and not so subtle nudges by Turbine to get you to spend money in the cash shop, though I've seen worse. At least they don't flash those annoying and immersion killing "So and so just got an Elachi supreme dreadnaught ship from a lockbox" messages. Nor have I encountered any 'must have' buys yet.

5) I've seen a moderate number of other players around, though the map chat seems oddly quiet most of the time. I'm not complaining though, because for one thing I did get help a couple times when posting messages in map chat. Also, thank God there are none of those 'Maw up", 'Ravenous bugblatter beast of Trall up' messages from people in zone chat trying to break the game (getting good gear with little effort). I definitely don't miss that stuff. In fact in GW2, Secret World, and STO I got in the habit of turning off map chat when it got to silly or annoying. Anyway, the LOTRO community on the whole does seem better and more mature than all the kids and hardcores playing other mmo's.

6) Inventory management is a bit of a pain, but not a major issue. It seems though that I do have to do inventory cleanup stops far more frequently than I did in other mmo's. Also, it can be a bit tricky at times figuring out what you need to hold on to and what you can safely sell. I expect though that this is a typical LOTRO noob thing.

7) From what I've seen thus far, the Turbine writers have exactly the right idea with the main story quests. That is, although you are not part of the famous Fellowship, your own story progresses as you do direct and indirect things to help the fellowship. This was brilliant, and probably the best way to handle LOTRO within the 'hero assembly line/theme park' mmo framework.

8) Most of the minor quests seem to be your standard mmo fair: fetch X number of items, kill X number of baddies, etc. On the plus side though, I get less of the feel of having to go out and kill everything that moves like I do in GW2. The Shire, especially, seems chock full of non-violent quests, like the 'care bear' chicken quests. ;)

9) I mostly like crafting, though it seems a bit strange the way they've set up the crafting disciplines in triads. For example, weaponsmithing is part of the historian/scholar triad, but to do weaponsmithing you need ore and mining is not part of the historian triad, so I'm assuming you have to buy it off the auction house. Speaking of the auction house, the immediate response nature of the exchanges in GW2 and STO I think spoiled me a little, though I would agree that LOTRO's auction house is probably a more realistic way of doing trading between players.

10) I love the way they handle horses for fast travel. This is far more realistic and immersive than the stupid Asuran Gates in GW2 that make that big world feel small. Anyways, Tolkien himself was a big horse fan, so to not have mounts in LOTRO would have been criminal.

That's all I can think of to say for now. Thus far I give the game a solid B+ rating. Maybe it's not blowing me away, but I am mostly enjoying it and it is holding my interest and drawing me away from GW2, definitely a good thing.
 
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Michael Dorosh

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Hey guys, I pretty much finished the Ered Luin map, or I think at least 80-90% of it (Guild Wars 2 has me conditioned to do 100% map completions. ;) Some thoughts at this early stage:

1) Graphically it definitely seems a bit dated, especially when comparing it to more recent mmo's like Guild Wars 2, The Secret World, and Star Trek Online. This is probably the biggest single strike against it. Having said that, the visuals still have a certain appeal. For one example the night sky is absolutely breathtaking! In GW2 I never seemed to notice the change from day to night, but you definitely notice it in LOTRO. For another example, the lush rolling hills, farms, and hobbit houses of the Shire are sure to delight any Tolkien fan. Can't wait to stroll around Rivendell, or brave the bridge at Khazad Dum. :)

2) The game is a Tolkien fan's role playing dream come true. LOTRO probably has the best lore I've ever seen in an mmo, and although it requires at least a modest amount of reading like most mmo's these days, the writers kept things very close to JRR, nor thankfully do they seem to get long-winded with it. There are also a lot of nice little touches, like the totally charming animation when you fire up some pipe weed. I felt just like that fool of a Took! ;) In fact I would say that the respect the Turbine writers seem to have for the Tolkien lore is maybe the single best thing about the game.


3) The combat is OK. Not the best I've seen, but kind of your typical mmo fair. This is one place where Guild Wars and Star Wars: TOR has it beat, but I'm not complaining too much. It's what I would call 'good enough' combat. Also, to be fair, I'm only at level 16 and it will be interesting to see how the combat progresses as I level up.

4) There are a lot of subtle and not so subtle nudges by Turbine to get you to spend money in the cash shop, though I've seen worse. At least they don't flash those annoying and immersion killing "So and so just got an Elachi supreme dreadnaught ship from a lockbox" messages. Nor have I encountered any 'must have' buys yet.

5) I've seen a moderate number of other players around, though the map chat seems oddly quiet most of the time. I'm not complaining though, because for one thing I did get help a couple times when posting messages in map chat. Also, thank God there are none of those 'Maw up", 'Ravenous bugblatter beast of Trall up' messages from people in zone chat trying to break the game (getting good gear with little effort). I definitely don't miss that stuff. In fact in GW2, Secret World, and STO I got in the habit of turning off map chat when it got to silly or annoying. Anyway, the LOTRO community on the whole does seem better and more mature than all the kids and hardcores playing other mmo's.

6) Inventory management is a bit of a pain, but not a major issue. It seems though that I do have to do inventory cleanup stops far more frequently than I did in other mmo's. Also, it can be a bit tricky at times figuring out what you need to hold on to and what you can safely sell. I expect though that this is a typical LOTRO noob thing.

7) From what I've seen thus far, the Turbine writers have exactly the right idea with the main story quests. That is, although you are not part of the famous Fellowship, your own story progresses as you do direct and indirect things to help the fellowship. This was brilliant, and probably the best way to handle LOTRO within the 'hero assembly line/theme park' mmo framework.

8) Most of the minor quests seem to be your standard mmo fair: fetch X number of items, kill X number of baddies, etc. On the plus side though, I get less of the feel of having to go out and kill everything that moves like I do in GW2. The Shire, especially, seems chock full of non-violent quests, like the 'care bear' chicken quests. ;)

9) I mostly like crafting, though it seems a bit strange the way they've set up the crafting disciplines in triads. For example, weaponsmithing is part of the historian/scholar triad, but to do weaponsmithing you need ore and mining is not part of the historian triad, so I'm assuming you have to buy it off the auction house. Speaking of the auction house, the immediate response nature of the exchanges in GW2 and STO I think spoiled me a little, though I would agree that LOTRO's auction house is probably a more realistic way of doing trading between players.

10) I love the way they handle horses for fast travel. This is far more realistic and immersive than the stupid Asuran Gates in GW2 that make that big world feel small. Anyways, Tolkien himself was a big horse fan, so to not have mounts in LOTRO would have been criminal.

That's all I can think of to say for now. Thus far I give the game a solid B+ rating. Maybe it's not blowing me away, but I am mostly enjoying it and it is holding my interest and drawing me away from GW2, definitely a good thing.
If you enjoy the game, I would suggest you run as far away from this particular forum as possible, as posting here (more accurately, reading the negative comments of the one or two regulars who still bother to read this forum) will only suck whatever enjoyment you have for the game out of you.

I enjoyed reading your comments and mostly agree. I find that discussing the game on the internet in general, and in particular this site, only leads to having others rip apart your opinions for no real gain. You don't need someone else to tell you what you like. The game will either sell itself, or it won't. Perhaps I'll see you on Landroval someday.
 

Redwolf

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If you enjoy the game, I would suggest you run as far away from this particular forum as possible, as posting here (more accurately, reading the negative comments of the one or two regulars who still bother to read this forum) will only suck whatever enjoyment you have for the game out of you.

I enjoyed reading your comments and mostly agree. I find that discussing the game on the internet in general, and in particular this site, only leads to having others rip apart your opinions for no real gain. You don't need someone else to tell you what you like. The game will either sell itself, or it won't. Perhaps I'll see you on Landroval someday.
May I ask what your highest level character is these days, Michael?

I think I've been very clear that the problems I perceive affect many parts of the game but that simply enjoying the landscape and the "early" levels with the storyline are still very enjoyable. I say "early" because it kicks in after you come out of Moria, except if you happen not to like Moria, and that's 60 levels and takes a first-time player a long time. Good value, the only sad part is that you are forced to level multiple characters to enjoy the best parts of the game (unless you don't mind doing them when you outleveled them).

The problems in other areas are real and will be more real Nov 17 when all classes get all skills revamped, aka dumbed down and restricted in what you can combine. Plus the usual, excessive grind in levels 75+, loot problems, PvP imbalance with no fixes, store signs everywhere, unwanted XP (crafting), destiny points stealing, gambling (for real world money), bugs such as Draigoch never having been fixed, I could go on. All the developers/programmer they have are new and not familiar with how these classes play.
 

Palantir

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If you enjoy the game, I would suggest you run as far away from this particular forum as possible, as posting here (more accurately, reading the negative comments of the one or two regulars who still bother to read this forum) will only suck whatever enjoyment you have for the game out of you. .
WHAT?

Where did all that "negative" come from MD as I"M about the ONLY ONE who posts here... and I'm still playing the game since beta... and it ROCKS in Rohan!
You know as well as RW and I do how much we like the game but with every game there are things we didn't like or ask for and we talk about it & don't try and sugar coat it.

Read all of the posts, I love this game and the quest lines just keep getting better & better. Did I or you or RW let the "problems" we didn't like stop us from playing?
No, the game is way too much fun overall to let minor issues ruin it. And most you can simply ignore or overlook...

As far as this forums comments ... hell when I & RW are the only ones posting we've talked about everything already so it's rather a "what's new has changed" than "hey, guess what's STILL great" about the game.
 

Redwolf

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In all seriousness, Michael might be in for a bad surprise Nov 17 when all skills for all classes have been upturned with what the (plenty and abundant) leaks from the "closed" beta call "dreadful implementation".

It used to be the first rule of MMO games that you don't follow the forums, because they will ruin the fun. But under these circumstances you have to, unless you enjoy being hit by tons of bricks after an update.
 

Redwolf

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Just adding this.

Many of the problems with recent expansions do not affect enjoyment of the lower levels, or don't do extensive damage. Many players never make it to Moria or out of Moria so what do they care when quests out in the east at level 85 have been replaced by grind, and what do they care about overly aggressive monetization of LIs? And even if you did, roll a new character and do the levels you skipped due to outleveling them.

The skill changes for all classes will affect everybody down to level 2.
 

Nexus6

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Hey guys, thanks for the great comments. I must admit I've been giving my elven archer a rest for a few days because I got frustrated with the auction house. Let me explain: In the historian triad, I'm up to about a hundred in both scholar and farmer (and love smoking the pipeweed I grow! ;) However, I am totally dead in the water with weapons crafting since I can't get any ore. Anyway, I finally visited the auction house in the Dwarven enclave and put in a bid. I was very irritated to find though that I waited two days and tied up 30 silver only to find that I was outbid! That was very annoying. :( I hate the auction house. I wish it was like the exchange in Star Trek Online and Guild Wars 2. In those games you get the stuff instantly as long as you have the money.

I would also add (and correct me if I'm wrong), but I've been sort of conditioned by Guild Wars 2 to clear entire maps, but if you do this in LOTRO it can be rather boring. Am I right? I mean, in the Shire I loved the chicken quests, but everything else I've seen thus far in the Shire has been nothing special. Should I ditch the map clearing mentality?

Glad someone had something good to say about Helm's Deep. Can't wait to try it. :D
 

Redwolf

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The problem is uneven money making. You make so much more money at higher levels, at that keeps auction house prices up and out of reach of low level characters, for items that everybody needs such as crafting materials (to level more crafters).

The stupid AH with no autobidding like ebay and no research ability of past sellthrough doesn't help. As a casual seller you are forced to rip off the buyer or yourself.
 
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