Lotr Mmorpg

[fallenintoshadows]

The hell? This idea just seems stupid but sure enough it's happening! Apparently it's supposed to be "the best MMORPG" (cause we're never heard that one!) because it focuses less on grinding and more on progressing. It'll be pretty annoying if we lose players of FFXI to LOTR.... but maybe the RMT can find a nice new game to eat...

[Mog]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

LOTR = WoW. Enough said.

[Jei]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

It has pretty screenshots. But from what I heard, the world is still quite small and the system is very ordinary everyday MMORPG. Tank, mage, DD, nothing innovative.

Might be fun, I don't know. Haven't got into the beta so I can't say much.

[neighbortaru]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

i got into closed beta, but i'm still under NDA so I can't talk about it. however, they will soon have open beta so you can check it out for yourselves (or you can pick up the april copy of Computer Games magazine, they have beta keys)

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

Isn't this the one made by EA? I knew there was another, but it was said to be cancelled.

Its wishful thinking to think RMT would leave one MMO for another though, more likely more RMT would just replace the players that leave any current MMO for a new one (see Lineage II)

[jwalton]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

Having played a fair bit of it, I can safely say that Lord of the Rings Online is nothing special at all. Everything it does, World of Warcraft, Everquest 2, and Final Fantasy XI does better. The gameplay mechanics are a simplified version of what World of Warcraft and Everquest 2 offer, and the attempt at an epic story falls completely short compared to what Final Fantasy XI offers, or even Sega's Phantasy Star Universe for that matter, mostly because the latter two games make effective use of dynamic camera angles to help dramatize scenes.

With only four races and seven classes, and races like dwarf being restricted to four of the seven, variety will be a major problem. It's not a bad game, it's just that there's nothing going for it, other than it taking place in Middle Earth. It not taking place after the movies restricts the game from ever having anything epic happen, since the events of the movies must overshadow anything the players can access. I recommend giving this one a miss, as there's better stuff out there.

[Murphie]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

RMT invade every MMO. It's completely unavoidable. They are even in City of Heroes/Villans, where the currency is nearly worthless (people hold costume contests in town and just hand out scads of credits to random strangers).

[fastcart]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

i got into closed beta, but i'm still under NDA so I can't talk about it. however, they will soon have open beta so you can check it out for yourselves (or you can pick up the april copy of Computer Games magazine, they have beta keys)

They opened up NDA. http://beta.lotro.com/announcement.php?f=70&a=3

Important News about the LOTRO Beta Non-Disclosure Agreement!
Greetings everyone!
We’re pleased to announce that the non-disclosure agreement for The Lord of the Rings Online(tm): Shadows of Angmar(tm) has been lifted from the Preview Agreement! The updated Preview Agreement will be displayed the next time you log into the game, and can viewed at http://www.lotro.com/article/148.
What does this mean? As of today (February 12th) you’re free to talk about The Lord of the Rings Online and your experiences in our beta - in person and online. The closed forums at beta.lotro.com will remain active for support and detailed discussions about the game including bugs or gameplay issues.

I enjoyed the stress test. But, I think it was mostly because I've played FFXI for almost 4 years and it was a refreshing change. I wouldn't pay for it though.

[Rostum]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

I played in closed beta and the stress test. It's a lot like WoW, but the differences lie in the player base, art direction and deeper story in quests.

During my time playing and reading forums, the player base is very much more mature, and the graphics/art direction in-game is a lot more realistic/high fantasy than WoW (which is a really good thing IMO).

I think it's quite a decent game, the only thing innovative is it's PvP or rather, PvMP (Player vs Monster Player), so they can stick to the lore as much as possible. Also if you pre-order you only pay $9.99 a month compared to $14.99 a month. Though I am highly undecided if I should take the plunge into this MMO or maybe another one (getting tired of FFXI, end-game, and friends leaving...).

An MMORPG that interests me the most, is Age of Conan. Being a huge Conan fan (read all the books, read about the lore, and like the first film), this please me a lot. The graphics are magnificent too (using DirectX10), as well as the battle mechanics and PvP. Not sure when it's released, maybe in November.

Anyways, just my two gil. =)

Edit: Just reading above about some comparasons: This game is in beta at the moment, they still have a month or two to fully release it!

WoW was absolutely shocking when it was released for retail: Paladin's didn't even have a talent tree! (Or was that in open beta?) And there were many many many bugs as well as a pretty simplified battle system. As well as no story and a lore you would only know from playing past games. Also, FFXI has a really great storyline, except it'll take you a bajillion years to get through it all, because of the tedious hours you need to level / form statics or random people to help you missions / etc. Hell, it's been 3 years since I started and I can't really get Divine Might done because everyone makes it impossible to organise (and no one will do the single Ark-Angel fights).

Just wanted to say that. I do love FFXI, but yeah...

[Jei]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

Close beta, I kinda expect any community to be nice you know. When FFXI was doing beta before NA release, player based was extremely nice too. Like 100x better than when the NA release

[Rostum]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

Well, the only other closed/open beta I can go on is WoW, and that was shocking.

[jwalton]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

An MMORPG that interests me the most, is Age of Conan. Being a huge Conan fan (read all the books, read about the lore, and like the first film), this please me a lot. The graphics are magnificent too (using DirectX10), as well as the battle mechanics and PvP. Not sure when it's released, maybe in November.

It's nice that the game is coming to Xbox 360 and Vista, but the fact that it's developed by Funcom makes me very wary. It's been a few years since I last touched Anarchy Online which happened to be during the days before it became free to play, and all I recall of it was a horribly unbalanced, buggy MMORPG that had the worst launch in the history of the genre. Age of Conan may sport fancy graphics, but I question the quality of the actual game itself. I suppose time will tell, but they didn't leave a very positive impression with their first MMORPG, and from my understanding, Anarchy Online never "grew up" so to speak.

[Rostum]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

That was a fairly long time ago though. I am defenately willing to give them another chance -- as they could have very well learned their mistakes from the past.

[Telera]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

I think it looks interesting, and a less intense grind is more my flavor. I tire of months to get anywhere, months to get enough gil to finish getting somewhere, and dealing with the general elitism, rules, and bullshit XI has thrown at me in the two years I've played. This is, largely, why I haven't levelled in 5 months or so. I just can't care enough to make the effort anymore. PSU is something I can pick up, grind, lay down, and not have to worry about it. If LotRo is similar in that aspect, or at the very least less intense, I probably will jump ship.

The other upside is if I get in at the start, get to the top fast, I can get out of whatever bullshit cookie cutters and rules are sure to follow. And can just wander about doing my own thing while the newbs have to stress over it.

You have to do this, you have to be that, you have to wear this, this is the ONLY good zone to exp in at this lvl, blah blah blah...

Love XI, but after a while it becomes more of a love/hate thing than straight love.

[Rostum]

Re: Lotr Mmorpg

I agree Telera, and LotR is very much just the same as WoW, but with a Middle Earth setting -- so you get the majority of people starting out, who haven't really play any MMO before, that have always wanted to explore Middle Earth in some way.

Either way, it's an easy grind, with the same kind of questing system.

Tell me though, how is PSU? I had thought about getting that at one stage, but thought I might finish it too early and move on.