Jump to content

The Lord of The Rings Online


Recommended Posts

Oh Squeak!

This is where Ive been hiding! :D

I have just started this game, so I really cant give alot of intelligent feedback on it other than to say its fun! and beautiful! entertaining and addictive as well :oooo: Quest counts are in the hundreds.. (Lets just say if someone wanted me to do the quest info like Ive been with sacred... I would need a padded room!!) hehe I did get just a few pics of it so far, Ive been running around like a mad woman and tend forget to get pics but Ill get more!

th_ScreenShot00000.jpgth_ScreenShot00013.jpgth_ScreenShot00019.jpgth_ScreenShot00021.jpg

 

 

I will add more when I have time :) But wanted to share a few neat things so far, I do love my elves! The Mistress of the Bow! (Havent found a whip yet!)

 

Lotro!!

Link to comment

Ari, did you buy this? What's the game mechanics like...is it like Sacred? Is there hardcore going on? I'm intrigued. Also, what kind of a resource hog is it... does it need a massive graphics card ?

 

:D

 

gogo

Link to comment

Whats the cost to play it?

I know they had some special deal during beta testing but whats the initial and monthly cost now?

I did a search on the net but could only find old info.

 

stubbs

Link to comment

Hey all

 

Yeah, I'm still playing Lord of the Rings online and still loving it. It is a little like WoW but without the kiddies - the community is much more mature, 6 different characters to choose from: Loremaster (crowd control), Champion (Area of Effect DPS), Captain (Buffer, dps), Hunter (single target DPS), Burglar (Trickster, dps), and Guardian (Tank). Character build is set on virtues and traits which you earn through exploration, killing (grinding) mobs and using your skills. Level maximum now is 50 and it should take a casual player many weeks of playtime to achieve - it took me from April (general release) to about July to get there. I have two level 50s now a Hunter and a Guardian.

 

Questing is the core of the game. The developers have tried very hard to develop content that appeals to a broad audience, there is much solo content designed for rewards, experience and exploration; small group fellowships (2-3 player) cooperative adventures, 6-player groups (more challenging) quests, 12-man raids, 24-man raids and the EPIC quests where you can quest with Aragorn, Gimli, Radagast the Brown, find lost palantirs, chase the Nazgul, aid the fellowship as they make their way thru the story. Much fun!

 

The Tolkien lore is well maintained, thoroughly researched and simply amazing. The world is laid out just as you saw it in the maps in the books: The Shire, Bree-town, Lone Lands, Trollshaws, Rivendell, Misty Mountains, Angmar. You meet and interact with known characters from the books, Frodo, Tom Bombadil, Pippen, Merry, Gandalf and the evil ones as well: Nazgul, Bill Ferney, the Witch King, Gollum and even a Balrog! The visuals are terrific - Bree town at night, Weathertop, Annuminas, Misty Mountains, the Shire. Yeah it takes a bit of a decent rig to play - I use a GeForce 6800 sitting on top of 2 gigs Ram and don't have any problems - but that about the minimum. The new 8800s are much better.

 

Crafting is alive and well in the game - You can specialize and make weapons, jewellery, armour, potions, bows, furnture and things for player housing. You can gather ore, wood and other materilas - you can cook and farm. The economy works pretty well - I've had to balance activities from crafting and gathering to accumulate the coin necessary to upgrade armour and weapons and purchase potions and other goodies. A great sideline.

 

The is a form of PVP, in a select area called the Ettenmoors. Players can roll a monster or can play as their own character against other players - never did it, but some like it a lot.

 

Great game, very immersive and loads of fun.

 

I play on the Gladden server as Armequen (Hunter) or Armori (Guardian). Stop in and look me up and I'll show you around Middle Earth!

Link to comment

Hey Highlander, Welcome back, it's great to see you :D

 

Great write up of the game there and almost makes me want to play it but I am one of those who won't Pay to Play :s hehe does sound and look wonderful though. Is there another one coming up?...are you still involved or in the loop for any more beta testing in the future?

 

Claire :o

Link to comment

Turbine has been updating LotRO with a free upgrade about every two months or so since the general release last April. We are scheduled for the next one real soon, it was rumored to be coming this month, but time runs short, so possibly in February. These usually take the form of expansions to the land area, character skill tweaks/nerfs (depending on who you talk to, lol), more quests (EPIC, solo, fellowship and raid), new gear, enhancements like player housing, crafting options and the like. There are rumors of a paid expansion to the game in the future, but no date has been announced. No one knows, but there's tons of speculation on what form it will take.

 

Right now, from a timeline perspective the fellowship (Frodo, Merry, Pippin, Aragron, Boromir, Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf) are in Rivendell and it's presumably the day before the Council of Elrond. The land area encompasses the area from the Shire to Bree thru the Midgewater Marshes and Lone Lands and into the Trollshaws and finally into Rivendell. The Misty Mountains, Angmar, Annuminas are there to explore as well as the Dwarven and Elven homelands. The next big expansion is rumored to move into areas like Rohan, Gondor or even the Mines of Moria. Increasing the level current level cap of 50 to maybe 60 or more is also rumored. Speculation puts it around next Christmas or first quarter of 2009.

 

For me, I looked at Age of Conan and decided it's not what I'm looking for and did the same with Crysis and Hellgate London. So for the time being, I'm content to stay with LotRO through the forseeable future. A call went out recently for new content testers, but the competition was fierce and I didn't get the nod. One of my kinmates did, however and he's having the time of his life testing the new stuff. They accorded the testers quite a lot of freedom and near-administrator rights to the game, but he's bound to a non-disclosure agreement and can't tell anyone what he sees in the new stuff. He is one of the best players I know in the game and his insight will be very valuable to the developers. He's an engineer with a quick and keen insight into the game mechanics and has the rare skill of being able to talk in complete sentences, too.

 

I expect the call will go out soon for new content testers and I'll be in line once again, hopefully for the big expansion that's planned.

 

Because I was a Beta tester in this game and a "Founder" I got a special deal on the pay-to-play costs, so I took the lifetime offer when it was $199. Given the hours of playtime I've invested I'm guessing my cost is in the pennies/hour range, so I've got my investment back a few times over all ready. And the really cool thing about it is you don't have to fleetsave or worry that when you sign back after being away for a couple of days that some fleetcrasher raided all your goodies. It's so nice just to sign out and not worry.

Link to comment

Thank you Highlander for the wonderful description! :bow:

I know its a pay to play, I myself always vowed never to touch one, but What I like with this is if I have a couple bucks free, I can toss it on the account as I go so I dont feel the stress of having two games come out of my checking account a month with my husbands WOW.

 

Oh yes, There are two versions or releases of this game, The European LOTRO and the US LOTRO.

Because all my friends played on the Eu version, thats the one I bought :) The two don't cross over which is a real shame.

 

I can be found in Snowbourn with my Arilaftia Elf Hunter and Aridrathir my Elf Guardian!

I have more pics to share as well as some "Monster Play" vids to get all pretty and Ill post them as soon as they are done! You can see my cute little warg puppy of destruction and my buddy who enjoys stomping people with his troll! ah its just fun!

Link to comment

Looks fantastic Ari! Can't wait to see those videos of you and your little warg puppy of destruction, lol. Oh and good luck on finding the whip, haha. :)

 

Very nice insight into LOTRO Highlander. Gee... All this time we thought you were hard at work huh. Truth is out now! Been playing video games all these months haven't you. :bow:

Link to comment

wow I heard the game looked good but...

I saw you're pics ari and got intrested and how now spent 30 mins watching gameplay movies and screenshots!

 

I realy cant stand monthly pay games and that would be the only thing straping me gere instead of running out buying it!

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...
Please Sign In or Sign Up