Lord of the Rings Online

[Eric]

Slight derail, but how's Lord of the Rings Online?

[Shellie]

Slight derail, but how's Lord of the Rings Online?

I haven't had this much fun since Asheron's Call. I can definitely tell it's a Turbine game...there is a ton of very well done side stories, etc. Even in the first month of launch, I can't believe how much stuff is in this game already, and Turbine is already doing a monthly update to add content, etc.

It really feels like a finished game. There are a few small bugs, but they arent game stopping. I have a strange problem where it takes a while for the launcher to be able to see if a server is up/down, and I have to wait a couple of minutes before I can log in while it detects. I'm working with Support to figure it out.

It has a good community feel..I think because most of the kiddies are playing WoW. Most of the people I run into are mature players.

I didn't pick it up because I'm into LOTR though...I love Turbine, and know they can make a great game and really care about their subscribers and what they want. (we wont mention AC2 though, ok? )

The game is based on the books, not the movies, and the game story goes along side the LOTR story.

It has a lot of the same mechanics as WoW, with some of it's own original things, like fellowship manuevers (combos you do while in a group to do big damage, mega heals, big DoTs, etc)

The game world is beautiful. It does require some good hardware to take full advantage of it though, but even at low settings, it still looks very good for me.

The only thing that I would say needs improvement is the armor/equipment. I'm confident that as time goes on things will improve, but right now everything looks a bit bland.

Oh, how could I forget Monster play! At lvl 10 you have the option to create lvl 50 monsters that you use to do PvP in Ettenmoors. I havent played much, but it's a very neat system. You can do quests as a creep (monster) and gain points that you can use to buy special temp effects, or they can transfer to your main char.

The music is very well done. You can also play instruments, which can be good or bad, depending on how well you can do it heh.


Overall it's a great game that I already like a lot more than I ever did WoW.

[Tessian]

I used to love Turbine...then they totally tanked the AC2 release...it's generally a bad sign when within 4 months of release there's a huge bug that makes chatting impossible...

It's a shame too because I won one of their contests and had an AC2 account free for life...think Turbine would honor it for this?

Edit-- Read some reviews and info on LOTRO...looks very nice and probably the best MMO out there, but it's still nothing really new from what we've seen before...oh and the $15/month still sucks. Luckily I don't have time for a MMO or I'd probably be getting it now.

[Shellie]

Because I was in the beta and pre-ordered, I get it for 9.99 a month, or $199 lifetime subscription. Of course I chose 9.99 a month because I never know how long an MMO will hold my attention.

[Eric]

My thread was made a-new!....Well played Sine..well played.....

[Tessian]

I knew this game was coming out...but I was unaware it was by Turbine, or that it was any good

I only ever saw Beta offers for Europeans too...

I just hope Turbine doesn't F this up like they did AC2...I spent a lot of money upgrading my PC at the time to play it...then to have the entire community tank because of massive crippling bugs and Turbine deciding to retool half the classes 6 months after release...

I wouldn't even have expected amateurs to pull that crap, let alone Turbine.

Yes I'm bitter...AC was amazing and then AC2 just turned out to be a kick to the groin.

[Shellie]

I really think the problems with AC2 were Microsoft's fault. The game wasnt ready to be released. It lacked content, it was buggy, and the classes were unbalanced. I think Microsoft pushed them to release the game. That's why they are no longer affiliated with Microsoft anymore. They broke that tie shortly after I believe.

[Tessian]

I do know that Turbine bought AC2 back from MS at one point...but even after that the game still was dead.

If MS is that responsible for the game's demise, I'm surprised Turbine didn't start blaming them... fan base probably would have been more resilient.

[Shellie]

I think it was too late at that point. MMO's that do that badly at launch never really recover.

[Shellie]

The class in AC(tactician?) that built walls and turrets..that was a fun class to play! It was overpowered, but you get 2 of those guys together and some ranged classes, you could camp an area and just lay waste to anything that spawned.

[kali o.]

Just as a quick alternative opinion on LotRO (I only played till end of beta)

It's a good game, rather polished for a Turbine MMO. Monsterplay and earned traits/titles are definately the coolest features.

A lot of people call it a "WoW clone"...while maybe not entirely accurate, it does highlight what is essentially wrong with LotRO. If you are a player that burned out on WoW, you will find the strikingly similar gameplay in lord of the rings will do little to draw you in (unless you are just a Huge fan of the books/lore).

Turbine took a huge chance on D&D Online by making it so different (combat system and entirely instanced). It was, comparatively, a failure. Turbine stuck to what worked in other MMOs when they made LotRO, which feels way too "been-there-done-that" for me. It is commercially a success (at least so far).

PS - Crafting system sucked when I last tried it and the profession inter-dependability was poorly thoughtout and generally stupid. This is one area that, while they tried to copy WoW, they still fucked it up.

[SineSwiper]

Turbine took a huge chance on D&D Online by making it so different (combat system and entirely instanced). It was, comparatively, a failure.

Guild Wars is an example of an entirely instanced MMO. Also, the new Conan MMO is supposed to be combat based.

Reviews of D&D Online give the lack of skills as a huge hit to the success of the game. After all, the fun of going through all of those months of leveling is the various skill sets. If you don't have that, what the fuck is the point?

[Julius Seeker]

I haven't got the game yet, but I am one of those huge Lord of the Rings fans. The problem is that I would just want to explore the world of Middle Earth, not level up in it for 150 hours a month.

[kali o.]

Reviews of D&D Online give the lack of skills as a huge hit to the success of the game. After all, the fun of going through all of those months of leveling is the various skill sets. If you don't have that, what the fuck is the point?

I have no idea what this means...? "Lack of skills"? ""Various skill sets"? Nothing you said makes much sense, so either the reviews were misinformed or you misunderstood the critisms therein.

[SineSwiper]

Kali, what do you have on the bottom bar of your MMO? Yeah, those are skills, spells, whatever the fuck you want to call them.

[kali o.]

Kali, what do you have on the bottom bar of your MMO? Yeah, those are skills, spells, whatever the fuck you want to call them.

Err, well "skills" are a tad more specific when discussing Dungeons & Dragons (which, of course, you'd know if you had any actual experience before spouting your $.02...but hey, you're Sine).

Nonetheless, DDO definately isn't lacking in "skills" - at least in comparison to LotR (and to be fair, half of the active combat skills in LotR are redundant, and the one's that come from achievments are boderline useless...uppercut anyone?).