Is there a thread where I can see high resolution screenshots of all regions of the game?
What is this game like?
How big is this game?
Will I enjoy playing it?
What are the graphics like?
Is there a story or is it just grinding by killing monsters?
Are there dungeons or is it all outside?
Does armor look cool?
Can I make a unique-looking character in this game?
Do characters of the same class and level all look the same?
Are the monsters all the same no matter where you go? Or is there lots of variety?
Are there mounts? What do they look like?
What about bosses? Are there many?
What do group battles look like?
Is buying the Mines of Moria, Siege of Mirkwood, Isengard or other expansion worth it?
How has Turbine done in staying accurate to the lore as they translate Tolkien's words into a game?
These and other questions are routinely asked by people thinking about playing LOTRO, or thinking about going VIP. And, one way to partially answer the questions is through visuals, or ... screenshots.
In this thread, I've posted screenshots that mostly cover the areas new players will encounter, with a few from other more advanced areas of the game mixed in to tantalize.
Middle Earth as produced by Turbine is a huge, complex, detailed and interesting world, and it's getting bigger. There are so many neat or scary places to go and great monsters to see and defeat, solo or in groups.
It's a story-driven game, based on the novels, not the movies. If you are into "crashing" your way through a game to get to the max level, you are going to miss what makes this game truly outstanding.
Also, I have another screenshot thread that covers all the areas of the entire game. I usually post a new screenshot in that main thread two to four times a week. So, using the link to my main thread in my signature below, you can come back often and take a peek at the latest ones.
As of March 2012, this thread has about 200 screenshots in it. Also, my main thread is now over 700 screenshots that I've taken, none of which duplicate the screenshots in this thread or the other thread. That's over unique 900 screenshots; enjoy!!
All my screenshots are in high-resolution, and so, nearly all of them are suitable for use as desktop wallpapers, too. Just right click them and save them on your computer.
If you are debating about whether to buy the game or the Moria, Mirkwood, Isengard, or other expansions, if you are considering going VIP rather than just F2P, or if you are just wondering about what it all looks like, you can find most of the screenshots in my main screenshot thread, together with brief commentary on what the screenshot is showing.
This screenshot is just a sample of all the ones I've posted in the thread linked in the above post. Just to whet your appetites. It's of a warg rider and his warg in Khazad-dum.
An elf hunter in an elven refuge in these dangerous latter days of the Third Age. She was still gaining a lot of experience in the arts of war when this screenshot was taken.
This is not the main screenshot thread, see the first post.
To whet the appetite of axe wielders new to the game, this is of the first legendary axe you can get in Eregion and The Walls of Moria. And, yes, those are small red flames flickering over its surface.
Many of you new players may or may not know about the Dressing Room in LOTRO. Hold your ctrl key down and left click a piece of armor in your Character Journal Panel. The Dressing Room allows you to test dye your armor to see what they would look like. A very nice game function.
Want a unique or near-unique look? One way to get that is with dyes and the Dressing Room.
If you want to see what one example of dyeing mixed pieces of armor from different sources, like different sets, and mixed crafted and rewarded items, would look like, take a look at today's post in my main screenshot thread.
Don't overlook food, scrolls, and potions as you loot or craft. Good food can really make a difference as you work on quests. In fact, experienced instance and raid leaders will insist you have food and potions appropriate to your level in the harder ones.
Goblins are one of the "intelligent" opponents you'll encounter. This happens to be one of the side areas of Golfimbul's Hole in The Shire. There are plenty of goblins in the Hole to test the sharp edges of your weapon against. Be sure to listen to what they have to say as you battle them.
For lots more screenshots, see the link in the first post in this thread.
The Trollshaws are aptly named, at least in this time near the end of the Third Age when Sauron's minions are more common. This screenshot is of two of the types of trolls you'll run into.
The Old Forest is a gloomy maze-like place. At its worst, you will find this huorn. Huorns are walking, semi-sentient, aggressive trees. This one is called a Haunted Barren-oak.
For a good set of game screenshots go to my main screenshot thread. And remember, most of these make really good wallpapers on your desktop.
I've begun a short series of screenshots on Thaurlach, the balrog in The Rift. If you've always been curious about Tolkien's balrogs, take a look at my screenshot thread. The link to the thread is in the first post in this thread, or in my signature below.
And for today, a nice picture of Crookdell. It's a pretty typical goblin encampment and is in Rath Teraig in Erid Luin. If you're new to the game, go there with a few friends.
The balrog series is now complete. It was near the end of my main screenshot thread, but that thread has grown a lot since I first posted it. Take a look around that thread, linked in my sig below, and you'll find it.
This screenshot is of the great dwarven port of Kheledul in Erid Luin. It is now occupied by Dourhand dwarves, who are not friendly with the Longbeard family of dwarves, or anyone else of the Free Peoples.
Some of you will remember these guys from The Hobbit.
"Blimey, Bert, look what I've copped!" said William.
"What is it?" said the others coming up.
"Lumme, if I knows! What are yer?" The Hobbit p35.
Bilbo and the dwarves ran into them in the Trollshaws and the outcome was that they were turned to stone by sunlight.
That's one of the great things about this game: the devs have taken a lot of trouble to be sure to include the events and places from Tolkien's books that many of us remember.
This screenshot is of the entrance to one of the first major dungeon instances in the game. Yes, there are other instances you will be going into before this, but this one's likely to be the first where you really need a well-designed fellowship of the right level to win through it.
The Great Barrows quests will usually take a minimum of a full fellowship at level 25 or higher. If you can get one member in their 30s or higher, it will be a bit easier, although the higher level player will likely want to speed through it. Make it a condition of their joining you that they don't rush you through it. It's a great, although dangerous place, and you really will want to take your time and enjoy it.
If you are questing or exploring in the Shire, one of the earliest orc bosses you'll see is Muruk. He likes his privacy and won't be particularly happy to see you intruding into his personal space.
This dwarven gentleman (not a gentleman!) is one of the first bosses you will fight if you start a dwarven character in Erid Luin. Of course, any race can do the quests for any of the starter areas. When I started the game, I made sure I started one of every race so I could experience all the starter areas. If you have the time and interest, consider doing that, too.
If you start a dwarf or an elf, you will encounter these three bosses in the final introductory instance. The skinny guy doing the talking is an undead named Ivar the Bloodhand. It'll be a while before you will want to tackle him.
LOTRO is a storyline-intensive mmo, which is one reason I enjoy the game so much, and am so bored by most other mmos with little or no storylines. Encountering these three bosses is the intermediate culmination of a storyline you've already been experiencing. Hopefully, you've been reading your quest dialogues.
My elf hunter on her horse in the Lone Lands quite a while ago. But, it's one of my favorites of her riding, so I thought you might like to see it. In, my biased opinion, I like the look of this horse, especially for elves and she's still using it all these many months later.
And, don't forget that these screenshots make good wallpapers.
Scenery, scenery. There's a lot to look at and enjoy in LOTRO. The river is the Baranduin, or Brandywine to the hobbits. This one is looking east from a height in Barandalf, Evindim.
Today, on my main screenshot thread, I posted screens of a couple of the higher level non-legendary crafted bows for all to see. Tomorrow, there will be another weapon to drool over in that thread. heh
And for this thread, I thought folks might like to see this screenshot. It's of Sambrog, Wight-lord in the Great Barrow. He is a Nemesis level monster with over 14K morale points. If you encounter him at level, you'll need well-organized help to survive.
Frodo used deception to leave the Shire safely. Here is his house in Crickhollow in the Buckland area, a part of the deception. Fredregar Bolger, who impersonated him as part of the deception, is also shown.
Doors, doors, doors. The devs have spent some time making wonderful doors for us to see and use. My main screenshot thread linked in the first post of this thread has a lot of door pictures in it.
One of the first dungeons you'll enter with a full fellowship is the Great Barrow in the Southern Barrow Downs outside Bree. And, you'll see threatening doors like this one when you explore the Barrow, assuming you survive, of course. Notice the upper left and right corners of the door trim: wolf or warg heads.
Note: the white lower third of the screenshot isn't a flaw; it's creepy, chill mist. Hey, those goosebumps on your arms are giving you away!
good stuff Jeff. After having a break from the game (just got back in after about a month or two), the screenshots are nice! LotOR was one of the few games that i really enjoyed taking screenshots of.
Hi I am new to this game. Played WoW before to level 71. Got bored with it and the only time I got excited was in rare special events. Started thinking if only it had a real story to follow.
I loved solomons video. Looks like this game is turning into something better then WoW has ever been.
You have my thinks for this thread. I am still on free trail and trying to decide if I like it or not.
Svalfang is likely the first giant you will encounter in LOTRO; he won't be the last.
If you'd like to see more, this thread in the Postcards from Middle-earth forums has well over 500 screenshots now, most suitable for using as desktop wallpapers.
Hi I am new to this game. Played WoW before to level 71. Got bored with it and the only time I got excited was in rare special events. Started thinking if only it had a real story to follow.
I loved solomons video. Looks like this game is turning into something better then WoW has ever been.
You have my thinks for this thread. I am still on free trail and trying to decide if I like it or not.
Way to go...! Karen
Actually the Northrend areas have quite a bit of coherent story to them ><, Alliance has WAY more story elements than the Horde does though. The only problem is most of it concludes in high level raids and its nothing compared to something like LOTRO.
One of the things I could never find when I played LOTRO a while back(re-subbing tomorrow maybe) were good screenshots, namely of high level characters XD. But then after I started playing I realized it wouldnt have mattered because of the outfit system so everyone always looks however they want to regardless of gear.
That and a lot of the time the screens I did find were discouraging because they were taken on low-end rigs, but some of the stuff is just amazing.
One of the things I could never find when I played LOTRO a while back(re-subbing tomorrow maybe) were good screenshots, namely of high level characters XD. But then after I started playing I realized it wouldnt have mattered because of the outfit system so everyone always looks however they want to regardless of gear.
Two of the questions I frequently see mmo players ask goes something like: Can I make a unique-looking character in this game? Or, do characters of the same class and level all look the same?
Right after the original release of the game, the answer was, unfortunately, they all look the same. But Turbine quickly released the outfit system and the dyeing system and has added to both of them as they've added more content.
One of the reward choices for new characters doing one of the early quests is to choose between three dye colors. So even new characters can look different than another new character of the same class and level. After that, you'll need to visit the Auction House or get to know a Scholar for more dye colors, but dyeing is easy, especially once Turbine added the Dressing Room function where you can test every available color on the armor you are wearing, or armor you are considering buying, to see beforehand what you like.
So now, you can make a unique or nearly unique-looking character no matter your level or class. You can equip the best armor your character can wear and, with an outfit, look completely different than that, if you want. If you have new armor, but don't like the look of it, but love the look of old armor, you can wear the good new stuff, but appear with the old armor. Plus, dyeing adds another set of possible looks, as I've tried to show a little in my main screenshot thread.
Perhaps one of the best ways to know that these two systems, the outfit and dyeing systems, are working well for players is how seldom one sees an identical look to what one of your own characters is wearing. Yes, both systems have some quirks, but overall, they work, and that's good.
So, here's an example of what I've been talking about, of a character I created on the day Siege of Mirkwood was released. The armor is crafted level 14 Thick Leather medium armor. The armor comes with purple color. No offense to those who like it, but ugh for me. So, having used the Dressing Room function on this armor, I picked the navy dye when I completed the quest that gives dye as a reward, and you see the blue result. Much better. I did not dye the shoulder guards or gloves yet, so you can see the purple color. Just imagine it in all the same places where you now see navy blue.
The cape was grey, so I used one of the navy dye pots on it, too.
All-in-all, a nice set. Not absolutely unique, but hey, for level 14 armor, not bad either.
In various places in Middle Earth, you will encounter trolls of one kind or another. Typically, if you encounter them at level, they will give you a run for your money. Usually, a small fellowhip of two or three is best in dealing with them. This one is one of the earliest: a Stone-troll in Pinglade in Rushock Bog of the Shire.
If you do the early Epic quests, or if you play a hobbit or man character in Archet, you'll run into Amdir, one of the first Dunedain Rangers you'll see in the game. He has a sad end, and this screenshot is a part of the epic quest chain where you see what happens to him.
You can see him laying on a pedestal on the far left of the screenshot, in red, behind Torthann. Next time I post in this thread, I'll show you what happened to him, there in that chamber.
If you haven't started the early Prologue/Forward and Book 1 Epic quests, I sure encourage you to.
This is Amdir, after his "conversion" to a wraith. He was stabbed by a Nazgul with a blade, one presumes a Morgul blade. He suffers the fate that would have been Frodo's had Strider and the elves not intervened. Your job, with a little help, is to kill him. And since he's not one of the ring-bound Nazgul of Sauron's, you can do that. Freeing him from this terrible doom is a good thing.
Again, if you haven't done the epic quests, I encourage you to. Yes, a few are tough but most are soloable and they are fun and you see the story unfolding.
Finally, most of my screenshots are suitable for using as desktop wallpapers. Link to my main screenshot thread is in the first post.
As far as bosses you can fight go, it won't take long before you are encountering them. This guy, Muruk, is in the Shire and you'll likely run into him if you are doing all the quests there.
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Re: Lengthy Thread of Game Screenshots
Originally Posted by karn50
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