I last logged in to Lord of the Rings Online around October 15, 2007, that is, until tonight when I downloaded the LOTRO 10 day free trial. Partially due to boredom, partially due to wanting to see how the game has changed, partially because my friends are giving it a shot, and partially because I still feel that LOTRO is one of the best MMORPGs post-WoW are the reasons I attribute to my decision to come back and give it a try. It’s one of the few MMORPGs that I’ve reached max level in post-WoW and one of the few that I played into the ground. I exhausted all there was to do in LOTRO. I had farmed Thorog and geared out completely, done the Rift, beta tested new content on the private Isengard server and seen The Rift and housing from their conception to implementation and just didn’t have the drive in me to continue without friends.
A lot has changed in the game since I played. They’ve added new classes, had tons of content updates, polished the game to an astonishing degree, and most importantly they’ve established themselves as a game with quite a solid following.
My LOTRO experience began this time by downloading the Turbine Download Manager. It had a few quirks to work out but I was pleasantly surprised at the download speeds (~700kb/s) and the ease at which I was able to create an account and start playing. It’s a rather nifty process actually, this TDM. After downloading the few files I was able to log in and create my character and take him all the way through the “tutorial” area – which is, for the Race of Man, the first stage of Archet before the introduction ends. While I was playing the TDM downloaded the files in the background and kept me updated on my status with a little icon on the screen. When I reached the end of the introduction it told me that I couldn’t progress until the files finished downloading (which they did).
Shortly after the download finished, I logged out and enabled Dx10 graphics and cranked everything up to “Ultimate” and gave her a whirl. Sheesh, this game looks good! I’ve always said that LOTRO is the best looking MMORPG for it’s performance out there and few would disagree.  The character I created is a Warden. Having done little to no research on the class, from what I’ve gathered it’s a tank type class with support thrown in. It’s really a perfect class for LOTRO since all their classes are interesting twists on the traditionals fantasy mmo classes.  My friends rolled a Runekeeper, Lore Master, Burgler, and Captain. Quite the party we have actually. I reached level 6 and logged. I’m waiting for the rest of the group to finish their downloads so that we can adventure beyond the introduction area together.
Until Darkfall launches, dare I jinx it by saying it launches “soon”, and before classes start again (17th), I’ll be enjoying this 10 day trial. Maybe I’ll see something that makes me subscribe beyond that and maybe I won’t. Although it’s a quest grind and a gear treadmill clone, it’s just nice to play a game that does some things really, really well because it knows what it wants to be.
I’ve never really unsubbed LOTRO since my wife plays it (and uses both accounts) but I recently got more into by the promise of shiny new items from Moria, and the Warden class which for me finally solves the problem of trying to solo through the game.
As a captain I burned out by level 40 tired of dying to more than 1 white mob or 2 blue ones because the class wasn’t designed to solo. With the warden, I can attack a yellow mob pretty much without fear or multiple whites and blues. As an offtank and good dps the warden also gets invited to parties pretty quickly. The run speed, ports, and temp stealth are just icing. Really, the warden is the hero class of LOTRO.
Also, every time I Ambush and do the uber-damage followup there’s the urge to yell THIS.. IS.. GONDOR!
You can count me among the LOTRO following, mostly because it feels like such a solid game. I only got into it recently but I’m pretty hooked. Taking my dear sweet time leveling (hit 31 today) and enjoying pretty much everything.
The game isn’t perfect, it has its flaws, but I find most of them don’t affect me much. Mind you, I like leveling up, I like story-involved questing, I like farming mobs and I love all of the extra little goodies here and there. Grind doesn’t phase me, in fact after so many people warned me it would be grindy, I’m almost disappointed I’m leveling faster than I expected.
My gf is pretty happy with her Warden, although she’s wondering how it’ll be in the Endgame. We’re in no rush tho, we’ve got a ton of scenery and content to enjoy. I’m on my Lore-Master and our best friend is thrilled with his Rune-Keeper.
We’ll see if it holds your interest Keen, I know returning to any game the 2nd time through is not as magical.
Sounds like WAR burnout is starting to effect you more. Hopefully your desire to play WAR will renew with the full expansion release in June.
I’ve only tested LOTRO by the 14 day trial they had several months ago, I truly enjoyed the trial period but chose not to sub cos I actually don’t know a single soul playing it and I couldn’t be arsed making new friends from scratch.
I’ll prob give it another spin some day though, it really had some unique features and a VERY solid quality feel.
WAR has lost my interest atm, I just don’t enjoy endgame, I hope it changes with the “expansion” but I reckon it won’t.
Meanwhile I’ve actually resubbed to AoC (gaaasp) and I’m enjoying it a LOT (doublegaaaaasp)!
I’m a PvP whore, and I PvP only for the sake of PvP not for the sake of getting gear or whatnot. I’ve actually had some really thrilling fights in AoC lately where I’ve lost but still had a ton of fun cos the fight was dynamic and required a lot of me in terms of player skill (and lack thereof prob lost me the fights xD).
LoTRO is in my list of games to play again. I only have a level 20 guy there, as Monster play took most of my time… which led me to WAR.
My plan now is for it to take WoW’s place once I tire of Level 80.
I wanted to love LoTRO. I tried at launch, I tried again 6 months later… then I tried again about a week ago with the new classes, but no matter how hard I want to like this game I can’t.
The production value is really great, I love the stories and cut scenes to the quests, but I could never get past how bland and slow the combat was. This is the only mmo I literally feel asleep at the keyboard playing.
I do applaud Turbine on creating what looks like a great community and solid title for those who like it though.
Spooky. Just two 3 days ago, I did the same, and with CoH. I wanted to do a write up about going back to a game I never played (LotRO) and a game I did play (CoH) from a fresh start.
The LotRO is an amazing experience like you said. The fact that Turbine set it up so you can play with 10-30 minutes of the download is amazing. The fact that you can enable a file share, torrent style download REALLY speeds things up. I actually made my way through the intro before the download was finished.
CoH has been awful comparatively, I haven’t even been able to log in due to some weird visual bug that cuts the top and right off with black bars, and resizes the screen. And then the boards haven’t been functioning. If I had been a new player, there would be no way in hell that I would ever go on from that point.
Anyway, thanks for stealing my thunder! 😉
I recently resubbed to LOTRO… but something just ain’t right. Maybe I’ve played too many fast-paced games recently, maybe I’m losing my love for MMOs, I’m not sure. Whatever it is, I’ve not logged in for about 5 days now, and have no urge to do it any time soon. Such a shame. I loved this game a year ago.
Dude… admit it. You’re a PvE junkie! 😛
How else do you explain giving up WAR for WoW (just until you got to 80 via quests) and now LOTRO (to quest-grind even more)!? I mean, WAR’s RvR isn’t perfect, but you must think it’s absolutely terrible if you’d rather PvE!
Or is this another “my friends left and I have no-one to play with” thing? If so, I can understand that completely.
Well it sounds like his friends left WAR with him to play Lotro, I think swapping around MMO’s can be beneficial. I may go back and try WAR again for example if I hear they clean up things and add a darkness falls type dungeon and so on.. I might go back and try Vanguard someday if I hear it has somehow become popular. I did go and try Guild Wars again thanks to its being free and it was much nicer the second time. Though really it is a rare thing for me because the new shinies often overpower the old ones.
By the way Dismantled, you need to run a dungeon with a group before you judge the combat too harshly. Conjunctions add a lot, as does coordination and CC and stuff. Also, if you think its slow you should roll a burglar with fast daggers or a champion, and use whirlwind attack which makes you attack 10% faster and 20% faster if you use it enough to get the feat. Things start hopping a little more then.
Speaking of which I hear Atlantica Online has some neat tactics they have added to the game, and its free, might be worth checking out. (I have yet to do so)
@Thallian: Actually, my friends left WAR before me. I’ve kinda been hanging on trying to get them to continue playing, heh. I’m still playing WAR too. I’m in a rut right now on my Ironbreaker – level 35 – trying to push to 40. I know that if I can hit 40 then I’ll be able to squeeze out a few more weeks before burnout… but beyond that I think I’ll be done with the game unless Mythic fixes the T4 RvR and other problems. I’ve been patient enough. 🙂
@Snafzg: I’ve never hidden the fact that I love PvE and PvP equally. What I dislike is when a developer tries to tack one on to the other and fails or tries to do both and fails. I like having a game that is purely PvP centric and one that is PvE centric. However, it’s becoming harder and harder to find a game that sticks to one route without trying to capture the entire market – trying to appeal to everyone, thus making no one happy.
PvE is where I started in MMORPGs, and it’s something I can never truly give up. As I’ve said in some of my previous blog entries, I actually didn’t like PvP until I first tried it in DAOC; I did some in EQ but remained mostly PvE there.
LOTRO -is- more of the same in terms of quest grinds, gear treadmills, and the post-WoW gameplay. But, it’s done a few things right that numb the pain of such gameplay.
try to get in and see some of the new moria content. The new class’s are great, but you already leveled through that.
Moria is very cool.
Lifetime subscriber here.
I’m not sure how I can play my old characters again to try out the Moria content without resubbing and buying Moria – is there some form of trial key that will allow me to play my old characters? For now I’m on a new trial account.
LoTRO is a solid product and Turbine has spent the past year polishing it up, from what I understand. It’s a WoW clone, no doubt, but it’s still good times.
On the comments about slow combat, I’ll agree somewhat.
LOTRO does follow the (perhaps old now) model of slow starting. A new character at level 1 doesn’t have a lot of excitement in the way of abilities. So if you don’t let the story carry you along a trial or short stint in the game– I could see it feeling less than stellar after some fast-paced PvP activity in WAR or just the overall combat in say Guild Wars or City of Heroes, not to mention Age of Conan’s visceral combat.
But if you’re patient and you’re happy with it getting better as you level up… well I’m finding LOTRO pretty rewarding.
This is also one of those to-each-their-own things, slow methodical (and perhaps strategical) combat versus faster, tactical combat.
@Delmania: Old argument, but how much of WoW is an Everquest, Asheron’s Call, etc.. even Diku clone? Turbine has been at this longer than Blizzard has, so I’d say who clones whom is a matter of perspective.
. . .
@Keen: Similar destination, different path: I started with PvP games. I was heavily into deathmatch tournaments with Doom, Quake and even before that flight sims (Fighter Duel Pro… or Air Warrior anyone?). Then co-op / PvE grabbed me.
Ultimately I’d prefer a game that merged both PvP and PvE well, but until it’s done right I’m finding the PvE experience in MMOs far more satisfying.
Maybe it’s because I’m a LAN snob, but if I want pure PvP action by itself, I’d rather jump into a shooter or at least something more immediate when I want fast-based combat. I don’t think I’m alone in this, otherwise games like Fury may have faired better.
I think Mythic’s ideal of RvR sounds nice, but the implementation is so far removed from the blend of PvP & PvE that I want.
I played lotro in beta and stuck with it until WAR released. I really enjoyed the community on Landroval (that was my server) and the game overall. I still really like the game world and the PvE in lotro, but the PvP became abysmal. I’ve heard it has gotten even worse post Moria (a friend of mine told me he got 1 shotted by a hunter on his creep due to some new mechanic blah blah…yeah that sounds like a ton of fun).
I’d go back if the community was the same and the same people were around, but other than that the game has little draw to me. Overall the PvE in lotro is fantastic (the first or second time through that is) though and it does make the leveling process a little less painful.
i could never get in to lotro, not sure what it was really. felt like it should have been a really good game, was a lot i liked about it.
it never did hook me though, in the end i think it was i could not find a toon there i really enjoyed.
@Rog: I’ve always maintained that WoW is actually the anti-EQ that brought about a paradigm shift in MMOs that turned them group-based spawn camping, dungeon crawling games into solo leveling, instanced dungeons games. But yes, they’re all more or less DIKU based.
Love LoTRO, and not sure why I left it. I guess after hitting level cap pre-expansion, grinding the few dungeons for gear lost its appeal. BUT…while I played it was probably the best MMO I’ve played in terms of smoothness, graphics, stability, and immersion. Lack of content (and the disappointing promise of WAR) led me to leave.
Now I’ve even left WAR and am back in WoW which I thought I would never come back to. I’ve fallen back in love with WoW’s questing, lots of content, and polish. With 5 70s to level up (pally at 78 atm), and my son playing, I’ll be staying there until something solid once again catches my interest. Here’s hoping on Darkfall.
Keen, agree with you on WARs fundamental Tier 4 problem. And no amount of fortress “fixes” will resolve the issue. The game was built around the 6 capital cities, and each pairing being a separate war for people to hop around in, progress the campaign and sack a city. Until they put the 4 cities back in and restructure the campaign the way it was meant to be played, Tier 4 will suck.
Atlantica is actually quite decent. Final Fantasy lovers will really dig it as its a mirror image of the combat turned mmo, but it does grow thin after 20ish.
Another “Free to Play” must try is Runes of Magic. I know we hear “wow clone” thrown out alot, but this game really takes the cake on that. The graphics are nearly identical, combat is the same as well.
The differences lies in the “duel-class” system that alows you to make like a Rogue/mage, or Priest/Knight and so forth.
I can only recommend it because it is free. I dabble with it :p
I gave Runes of Magic a shot but was truly uninterested in it once I logged in. They really catered their advertisement imagery to the western crowd, but the game reflects almost none of that.
Hey Keen, Sandoz (from your oral sugery blog). Well, well, well….LOTRO…welcome. What server are you on? I have been with LOTRO since the beginning [yes, founder status, lvl 25 mount (yeah)]. I did break away for WAR, but left that when I felt lost in the leveling process and drowning in adolescent grouping.
It is a shame that in the 10 days you are there, you won’t experience the Moria mines, or the legendary weapon system (you can glance at some of those via the auction house). The Mines of Moria have incredible detailing and the quests feel they mean something as you try to get through areas even the real fellowship never ventured into.
I will agree that the game is not perfect and the SOLO content can be slow at times, but the higher level instances are pretty fun. Your character seems to come alive after lvl 50. Important for me (but not for others), I like a game that I can log on and off of without feeling that I will die a slow death by not staying up with everyone. Rest experience is increased and there are plenty of quests to catch up.
BTW, although it will never be like WAR, you may want to try the PvP again. They have really stepped up and put more into that area of the game. Roaming groups big and small remind me of DAOC in its heyday.
Back to my first question (and a question for anyone playing) what server are some of you on. I am on the ‘Landroval’ server. My main is a burgler, and my alts. are champion, and rune-keeper.
I’m on Landroval, name is Morkeen.
Do you know of any way that I can give the game a try again with my old account and not resub? Like a “come back and try” key for previous players? I would love to see what the higher level stuff is like now before spending money on it. The lower level stuff is as good as I remember though and better since they polished it up.
I believe I have characters spread around, but my mains were a 50 Minstrel, 50 captain, 40 something Burgler, and a 30 something Champion.
–Mouth update that will only interest Sandoz–
Oh btw, I saw the oral surgeon yesterday for 5 minutes as he looked into my mouth and said “Looks beautiful, cya in 10 weeks”. TEN WEEKS before I go back and have it “punctured” aka cut open and “soft caps” put on. After that it’s 5 more weeks before I go back, get cut again, and then head over to the dentist for my more permanent caps. I wore my retainer last night (since he said to wear it if it fits) thinking it would fit (it was designed to have a little part that fit into the space where I was missing a molar) and I thought it did, but when I woke up this morning and took it out it seems that it pushed my gums up (sorta concave) where I had the implants put in a bit. After taking it out, the gums have dropped down again – possibly back where they were – but it scared the crap out of me. I hope I didn’t mess anything up! OH, and the sutures should come out on their own within 5 days he said. I think one came out already actually.
I will look you up on the Landroval server. I have seen them do the “come back and try it again” promotion several times, but not sure when it will be back. I don’t know any way to get around the “10 day trial” unless someone else has a thought.
Yeah, the ten weeks is so the bone will heal around the implant and make the foundation of the implant strong. I would say the “worse is over”, except maybe the cost of all of this.
Same thing as Dismantled for me. I played LoTRO at launch for a month or two then again about 8 months later (during a welcome back deal I believe) for maybe a month. After all was said and done I had a burg to like 30 with an array of alts due to severe altitis.
IMO it is one of the best MMOs to play casually (as Sandoz points out) and has one of the best looks (only DX10 game I’ve ever played on PC). LoTRO is actually the reason I use Vista now lol. I think I can attribute my burnout due to never finding a real guild to join or making any friends.
I’m going to download the trial tomorrow to give the 2 new classes a shot since they appear 10x more complex and interesting than the original ones. However I just resubbed to WAR while quitting WoW so I’m not burned out quite yet 😛
Keen, is $15 to resub for one month just to try the game really too much ? =P
I was actually considering giving LOTRO a whirl not that long ago. I tried coming back to WAR, but I just can’t get into it. I think I’m finally completely burnt out. Maybe I’ll look into this trial. I’m not really that big of a PvP guy and LOTRO has been catching my attention lately. I’m also not too interested in Darkfall, which leaves me kind of looking for something new.
@Proximo: Nah, if it were just $15 I would. I have to get the Moria expansion too. 🙁 After getting into WoW, thinking it would be different, just to find it wasn’t… I’m not sure if I’m ready to get burned like that again.
Expansion was only twenty bucks at Best Buy, just got it last week!
$20 at Best Buy and it comes with Shadows of Angmar, some ingame item tokens, a map, a poster, buddy keys…backordered on their website…
My story is a lot like others I’ve read here..
Tried it at launch, quit. Cameback about a year later (this past summer) and quit again. Decided I had some money to blow, so bought Moria and resubbed. In my time my highest character is 42 and I have a ton of alts.
I would love to get into the game, but I just can’t. The one specific issue for me is the combat, it just feels too slow for me. I also know nobody playing the game, which is another big factor, I can get past that… but not the combat. I played for a little bit after I bought Moria and that’s pretty much been it, I have no urge to play it.
That’s the absolute biggest factor for me, with any game, whether or not my friends come along with me to play.
If they don’t, or they leave early, I only get limited enjoyment out of it.
Lucky for me, they mostly have the same preferences I do, at least the core of my friends & family guild is in LOTRO atm (while a few others are still playing WoW and EVE).
It’s a hugely different experience to play the game with friends.
Keen, are you still playing the trial? If you are, how is it a little further in?