Thread: I didn't expect this game to be so good, and overall polished...

Being an avid gamer, I usually have a love-hate relationship with MMORPGS. I did play WoW for quite a lot until it became too stale for my taste (and the community was horrible) and I was also in love with EVE online, although the amount of time it requires in order to succeed goes well beyond what I can afford.

I decided to give Age of Conan a try, and didn't like it at all. The combat system was not appealing, graphically it was not as good as they suggested (even at maximum) and I couldn't care less for the lore, despite being a Conan fan myself. The world, in short, was not engaging at all.

Now, I decided to give LOTRO a try. I've always liked Tolkien's books and world (I'm trying to get my children to like it, too...looks like I'm succeeding, as my little daughter loves every movie scene with Gandalf in it) and I've been delighted to find a few surprises:

-Graphics and movement: much better than I expected. At maximum, they are even stunning. Beautiful landscapes, a lot of care for little details (icons, menus, etc), fluid and well designed movement. Character design, combat effects...everything composes a wonderful picture. Very satisfying. I like this more than WoW, and much more than AoC.

-Lore and questing: I just hit level 10, but it's been very interesting so far. I surprised myself reading the text of ALL the quests given to me. The world is quite appealing and you get into it. You get involved. You care.

-Crafting and other things to do: I just got into crafting and it looks great fun. I decided to go with Armorsmithing/Metalcrafting/Tailoring, which were given to me in a bundle. Very good, so far, and I will be making a Lvl 15 armor set for myself in due time. Deeds are great, and I don't know what Tasks are yet, but more content is always good even if, for the time being, my backpacks are full of stuff.

-Community: I had no choice but to ask a couple of questions in public channels...and I did not get insulted once. A new experience for me when starting a game. Also, I didn't see spam or any form of unpleasantness. Quite on the contrary: people answered my questions and were nice and helpful. Could it be that I finally found a MMORPG community that does not suck?

All in all, I am pleasantly surprised. I've never liked free MMORPGS and I have no problem with paying for entertainment, so I already decided this game deserves some of my money. I still have to decide how, but I'm going to the Turbine shop after I post this to take a look.

In fact, I was going to purchase The Old Republic this week, but I don't feel like it anymore. I'll keep playing this. Let's see how it goes after the initial experience fades off.

Middle Earth, here I go.

Welcome to LOTRO, and thanks for taking the time to write such a lovely review! I'm a relative newbie myself and still have an initiate's enthusiasm, so I really like hearing that others are enjoying it too

See if you can find a cheap copy of Mines of Moria on Amazon.com. You get a whole mess of content and a free month.

Welcome to LOTRO! I have started playing in September 2011 and can tell you that I am still very much enjoying the experience. Buckle up, you're in for quite a ride.

And it's true, asking in /advice has never, ever given me a bad reply yet. Worst thing that has happened: nobody answered, and that has been very rare. The community in LOTRO is for the most part open minded and welcoming towards new players. As long as you're polite, you will quickly be embraced!

Welcome into middle-earth where the overall community is THE BEST i have seen sofar!! i hope you enjoy your stay as much as i am doing.

If i can give you guys 1 tip, go find yourself a decent kin (guild) because later on there will be plenty of content in which you have to group and as you might know kins are good for finding groups and get game-friends, some kins will hand you crafted stuff for free and the events (parties, raids and hell even in-game weddings are organized) ,some kins organize, can add to the fun of playing this game.

Originally Posted by Hammurabi

See if you can find a cheap copy of Mines of Moria on Amazon.com. You get a whole mess of content and a free month.

Shortly after the game went free to play, MoM was going for around $10 but I don't think you will be able to find it that cheep any more (it is getting scarce). I would suggest going to the Turbine Web Store (not the in game store, the web based store on the Turbine web site) and spending the $50 on the Rise of Isengard Legendary expansion package. With some careful grinding, the amount of content you receive from that package can allow you to reach level cap without having to buy any more quest packs (although there are I couple I would recommend that have some really good and fun content like Evendim). The Legengdary package includes Moria, Lothlorien, Mirkwood, and all the Isengard content.

One thing I know is that if the game keeps the same quality, I will purchase the expansions in the order they were released. I'm not in a hurry to level up (at all) and I do want to see everything I can.

I'm still deciding if I'll go for VIP membership with a subscription, or purchasing the things I need (like, points for riding & mounts, or lifting the backpack restriction) and the expansions as I need them.

But the good thing is that I CAN choose. In other MMORPGs, you either pay or you don't. You get everything or nothing. And when you go for a subscription, you feel compelled to play a lot because you might feel you are "wasting" your money if you don't.

In here, you got a lot of freedom. You can control where to put your money and what for. I like that a lot.

I also realized that I got a few Turbine points for completing Deeds. That's pretty good, as technically there are not many things blocked by the "free" status, then. Either you pay with money, or with dedication to the game. You have choices.

I will have to research a bit in other forums, to see what advantages does theVIP status grant you, and what happens with your stuff if (for instance) you cancel the recurring payment because you go on holidays or something, but one thing's for sure: Turbine has a HIGH quality product and I'm going to spend money on it.

I'll check the kin thingy, of course. Instances and raids are a pivotal element in MMORPGs and I am curious to see how they are implemented in LOTRO. I play a Guardian because I always loved tanking (I was pretty good at it, if I might say so), and tanking means playing in groups.

Thanks everyone for the welcome and the tips.

Originally Posted by Farnham

One thing I know is that if the game keeps the same quality, I will purchase the expansions in the order they were released. I'm not in a hurry to level up (at all) and I do want to see everything I can.

I'm still deciding if I'll go for VIP membership with a subscription, or purchasing the things I need (like, points for riding & mounts, or lifting the backpack restriction) and the expansions as I need them.

But the good thing is that I CAN choose. In other MMORPGs, you either pay or you don't. You get everything or nothing. And when you go for a subscription, you feel compelled to play a lot because you might feel you are "wasting" your money if you don't.

In here, you got a lot of freedom. You can control where to put your money and what for. I like that a lot.

I also realized that I got a few Turbine points for completing Deeds. That's pretty good, as technically there are not many things blocked by the "free" status, then. Either you pay with money, or with dedication to the game. You have choices.

I will have to research a bit in other forums, to see what advantages does theVIP status grant you, and what happens with your stuff if (for instance) you cancel the recurring payment because you go on holidays or something, but one thing's for sure: Turbine has a HIGH quality product and I'm going to spend money on it.

I'll check the kin thingy, of course. Instances and raids are a pivotal element in MMORPGs and I am curious to see how they are implemented in LOTRO. I play a Guardian because I always loved tanking (I was pretty good at it, if I might say so), and tanking means playing in groups.

Thanks everyone for the welcome and the tips.

Just an FYI. Going VIP will lift the inventory and gold cap limits permanently on any characters logged on during the subscription period should you drop back to premium status.

Originally Posted by Maldrake

Just an FYI. Going VIP will lift the inventory and gold cap limits permanently on any characters logged on during the subscription period should you drop back to premium status.

Oh, really? So, if I go VIP and, let's say, next month or two months later I decide to take a break or downgrade to Premium, I keep the uncapped gold and the 5 bags?

Or do you mean that if I go VIP > Premium I get 5 gold cap instead of 2?

I'm checking the store now, trying to check the price in Euros for a VIP subscription. Without success, if I may say so. In Pounds and in Dollars it's crystal clear, but not in Euros.

I would do the conversion myself, but too often gamers are given the 1$ = 1€ treatment, so...

If 10 US$ are fairly converted into €uros, I see no reason to ever downgrade to Premium. 10 US$ is peanuts. A full MONTH of entertainment and 500 TPs (great icing on top of it all) for the cost of two bottles of reasonably good ale in my local supermarket. That's a good deal in my book. 10 Euros is also peanuts, but unfair conversion rates bug me to no end.

Now, where were those prices again...

First of all, welcome!

Originally Posted by Farnham

One thing I know is that if the game keeps the same quality, I will purchase the expansions in the order they were released. I'm not in a hurry to level up (at all) and I do want to see everything I can.

I'm still deciding if I'll go for VIP membership with a subscription, or purchasing the things I need (like, points for riding & mounts, or lifting the backpack restriction) and the expansions as I need them.

Here is a chart that tells you quite nicely what you get for wha bundle:
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.p...k-Access-Chart

The nice thing is you do not have to get expansion after expansion as some content is already included with bigger packages of later expansions like the RoI legendary pack. This is quite a good deal for the price including some other interesting parts.

However you might want to subscribe at least for a month, create all the characters you want to play as you get a lot of permanent perks for each character logged in during VIP that you otherwise need to pay TP for. Some perks are even not permanently unlockable with TP like Swift Travel.

For a small overview of the account types you can check
http://lotro.mmorsel.com/2010/09/bes...ount-type.html
even though the page is not updated anymore for a while this page is still worth to look at for the VIP to premium downgrades.

Originally Posted by Farnham

Oh, really? So, if I go VIP and, let's say, next month or two months later I decide to take a break or downgrade to Premium, I keep the uncapped gold and the 5 bags?

Or do you mean that if I go VIP > Premium I get 5 gold cap instead of 2?

Yep the downgrade perks are permanent. You keep 5 bags and unlimited gold (well 9999 gold max). But only for logged in characters. As character slots are also not for free if you like to have lots of alts this takes some planning.

Welcome to Middle-Earth. Always nice to see someone else who enjoys what has been created here. And also most pleasing to see someone who properly appreciates, in both senses of the word, the implications of the F2P model. Choices is what it is all about. You can spend time, or you can spend $$, or both, as you see fit.

Anything you need to know, just ask in-game or on the forums. You are pretty much assured of a polite and helpful answer. Not saying wedon't have out jerks, but mostly they don't last.

Originally Posted by Farnham

Oh, really? So, if I go VIP and, let's say, next month or two months later I decide to take a break or downgrade to Premium, I keep the uncapped gold and the 5 bags?...

Not only that, but also all trait slots are unlocked and stay unlocked (this also applies to Monsterplay characters)

There is one more thing even more important though:
You keep swift travel permanently unlocked - there is no way to permanently unlock swift travel on a premium-only char regardless of how much money one spends on Turbine points - subbing for a month will grant it permanently.

All this applies to characters that were logged in during the VIP time. Yes, even freshly made level 1 chars. So basically, since you lamented the "nned to play" once a subscription exists, it is relatively easy to take a subscription break in LotrO; you can still play at almost full capacity, and the thousands of TP you earn in-game will earn you the questpacks soon enough - SHOULD you decide to subscribe, or buy content.

Originally Posted by Farnham

I'm still deciding if I'll go for VIP membership with a subscription, or purchasing the things I need (like, points for riding & mounts, or lifting the backpack restriction) and the expansions as I need them.

It is absolutely worth subscribing for a month, even if you decide not to go permanently VIP. You get permanent unlocks on the gold cap, inventory bags, virtue and trait slots, swift travel, the ability to trade and mail gold, and the riding skill (if you complete a lvl 20 quest while VIP). Also, when your subscription lapses you get to complete any quests and deeds started while subscribed, even if they're in areas to which you no longer have access. So if you time it right you can get a huge amount of perks and content from a one-month sub.

There's an excellent post at http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.p...Your-Questions which gives you all the details about what happens when you subscribe, unsubscribe, etc.

Re price conversions into euro, I can't recall exactly what I paid for my one-month sub, but I do remember that it was somewhat more in euro than the converted dollar equivalent. Same goes for buying TP - you're charged in euro, not in dollars, and it does work out a bit more.

Originally Posted by mjk47

Welcome to Middle-Earth. Always nice to see someone else who enjoys what has been created here. And also most pleasing to see someone who properly appreciates, in both senses of the word, the implications of the F2P model. Choices is what it is all about. You can spend time, or you can spend $$, or both, as you see fit.

This game is a form of entertainment like any other. Turbine is a company, and has employees to pay and utilities to take care of, so it needs revenue.

If anything, I am surprised to see how much you get for free. Other free MMORPGs (at least Age of Conan, which I recently tried and uninstalled) give but a fraction of what Turbine allows you to enjoy here. Mounts, expansion and quest packs, aesthetical elements...all can theorically be purchased with in-game currency obtained through playing.

The way Turbine has implemented this is very attractive and, while I don't actually know (or care much) about the number of active subscriptions, I would not be surprised at all to see that this game is doing (financially) much better than the competition. While being much less restrictive to the free player.

Hats off to Turbine, and hats off to the community. Seeing all the goodies you get when upgrading, I'm going VIP ASAP.

Thanks a lot and best regards to people taking time to try and help new users.

You sound like you're off to a good start and have gotten some great advice already. One thing you've done that I recommend against is making your first character a Metalsmith - and I speak from experience since that's what my character is. While it's nice to make yourself some armor and crafting tools while you level there isn't that much demand for anything you make at end-game except for the very occasional Guardian Belt or Captain Emblems (OK, the guild heavy shield is still good as well). The most common recommendation is to make your first character an Explorer. They can harvest both wood and ore nodes as well as process hides. They can send the raw materials to any crafting alts you make in the future. The other good option is a Historian for the Scholar craft. Scholars are one of the most annoying crafts to level, but their wares are in very high demand at end-game and it's very hard for a non-scholar to provide adequate raw materials for them.

That being said, it's certainly not the end of the world if you want to keep being a Metalsmith.

Originally Posted by Valiant_Turtle

You sound like you're off to a good start and have gotten some great advice already. One thing you've done that I recommend against is making your first character a Metalsmith - and I speak from experience since that's what my character is. While it's nice to make yourself some armor and crafting tools while you level there isn't that much demand for anything you make at end-game except for the very occasional Guardian Belt or Captain Emblems (OK, the guild heavy shield is still good as well). The most common recommendation is to make your first character an Explorer. They can harvest both wood and ore nodes as well as process hides. They can send the raw materials to any crafting alts you make in the future. The other good option is a Historian for the Scholar craft. Scholars are one of the most annoying crafts to level, but their wares are in very high demand at end-game and it's very hard for a non-scholar to provide adequate raw materials for them.

That being said, it's certainly not the end of the world if you want to keep being a Metalsmith.

I chose Metalsmith purely for RPG reasons. I love the idea of collecting ore, smelting metal and creating gear, even if it's useless in the long run.

Welcome to Middle-Earth! Glad you are enjoying the game.
If you happen to play on the Brandywine server feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any questions or need help. In-game name is Iargis.

so far you have gotten a ton of good advice. case and point of the lotro community.

my word of advice is this. lotro is very alt friendly. seems like you are taking your time to enjoy the game so you might enjoy the idea of playing a couple alts. personally i love the idea of playing different race and class combos. such as a man guardian, elf hunter, dwarf champ and hobbit burglar; being totally random of course. each class and race has its own fell and playing a couple characters allows you to see a different aspect of the game.

each race has its own starting area and the 3 main starting maps really only allow for about 20 levels of play. shire and erid luin being to about 15 and bree to about 25. so if you play a man and reach level 25 off the quests there really isnt any reason to go to the shire for questing. so you spend a couple days playing a hobbit and so on and so on.

also you can choose different crafting vocations that can help all your alts out. make one and explorer and just work on gathering up materials for your main crafter who in tern crafts goodies for your other alts.

also keep in mind that when you reach the point of joining a crafters guild you can only be kindred with one. so if you have a character who has both a metalsmith and tailor you have to choose between the two. and being kindred with guild is clutch for many reasons. but you have plenty of time till then. BUT keep that in mind. i would certainly plan on making an alt a jeweler as well since all classes need that stuff.

either way enjoy middle earth!

It sounds like you bring a great attitude, so welcome to Middle Earth!!!

I always enjoy reading someone's fresh perspective on LOTRO. There can be a lot of negativity on the forums, but I think for most of us the good points far outweigh the bad.

The suggestions you've received so far are all good ones. I'll lend my support to a couple:

1. Subscribe if you can. As you say $10/month is only a couple of drinks. It takes a huge amount of work to catch up to the stuff subscribers get for free. You'd find yourself needing/working for Turbine points as a F2P player, but for subscribers the earned ones and 500/month can be considered bonuses to spend on luxuries. I think the F2P model is great, but it's not for the time poor.

2. Consider levelling an alt of a different race if you can spare the time. Dwarves and elves level in one area, while Men level near Bree and Hobbits in the Shire. All roads lead to Bree eventually, but the starter areas are all quite different and very well designed. An alt gives you the opportunity to choose an Explorer (to gather Ore and Wood), which really would help your Guard with his crafting. Otherwise, it can get expensive to buy raw materials to make items and level up your crafting ... UNLESS ... you join a kin. Most kins have keen crafters and/or resource gatherers you can craft for.

3. Enjoy the journey. It sounds like you're off to a fine start!

Here's a classic thread with lots of great tips: "things I wish I knew earlier".

Hey, that "things I wish I knew earlier" topic looks pretty interesting. I'll be sure to check it up immediately.

So far I reached Bree, I completed a few Deeds, I learned to set Traits with the Bard, and gave myself some weapon training.

I also reached the first Mastery in my craft, and collected a hell of a lot of quests which I'll be sure to finish before travelling with Aragorn again (just in case).

The more I see, the more I like it. Graphically it's very, very good, and it looks so big. I am already growing fond of my Guardian, I can't wait to hit Lvl 15 and train Heavy armor to wear the Bronze set I crafted myself, and I really, really want to get rid of the crude club I'm using to whack enemies over the head and get a nice axe or sword.

Guardians feel extremely overpowered, much more than the early Protection warrior in WoW. At level 11 and with horrible equipment I can tackle three Lvl 14 enemies and I don't even break a sweat, much less risk getting killed.

I'm having a blast, and running around like mad in the huge starting area. I have to get me a nice horse ASAP.

And I got the itch to re-read The Lord of the Rings. It's been too long since the last time...

Originally Posted by Farnham

I am already growing fond of my Guardian, I can't wait to hit Lvl 15 and train Heavy armor to wear the Bronze set I crafted myself, and I really, really want to get rid of the crude club I'm using to whack enemies over the head and get a nice axe or sword.

Guardians feel extremely overpowered, much more than the early Protection warrior in WoW. At level 11 and with horrible equipment I can tackle three Lvl 14 enemies and I don't even break a sweat, much less risk getting killed.

Yep - Guards can just soak up damage, especially if geared specifically for soloing many mobs. It's awesome fun!

There are a few good vids on Youtube showing Guards doing big pulls and surviving e.g. this one (not me).

The trade-off is a reduction in damage output, so it can be a little slower when you are only fighting one mob at a time.

Originally Posted by Farnham

Could it be that I finally found a MMORPG community that does not suck?

Yes....lol....Welcome to Middle-Earth!

Originally Posted by Farnham

In fact, I was going to purchase The Old Republic this week, but I don't feel like it anymore.

I would suggest you wait a while. I've been playing SWTOR this last month and while it has many good points
it, sadly, needs lots of polish, bug fixes and TLC. I am going to park my Smuggler at Fleet, let my subscription
lapse. and wait about 6 months. Then I'll go back, pop for a months sub, and see what's what.

The wonderful thing about LOTRO is, for many of us, it has become a home that we venture out from, but come back to when we need a break from the nuttyness that is out there. I saw quite a few LOTRO "oldtimers" over at SWTOR.....!

Soooo....relax, take your time, explore, try out lots of alts and class choices. Don't be in a hurry to join a Kinship....find one that is a good fit. You can even try out different servers....(be sure to roll a char on Landroval for all the community events and fun.....and don't miss the Weatherstock Concert...lol). If LOTRO turns out to be a good fit, you'll probably be around for a few years!!!

One thing you might want to try is what my brother-in-law has done. He rolled a lovely elf princess for his 8 year-old granddaughter, and leveled her up to about 25 at which point all the mobs in the shire are greyed out. It's kind of amazing to watch her play; she has a little collection of horses and outfits and she just rides around the Shire and makes up her own "adventures". It's hilarious fun to watch....she sits there and makes up conversations with NPCs. (*Important note.....I believe he disabled chat and a few other settings*).

Like I said, welcome to Middle-Earth, if you happen to spot Tobiee or his little sis Tabiee run by be sure to toss out a hello.

Mae Govannen....

Originally Posted by GruntDoc

Yes....lol....Welcome to Middle-Earth!



I would suggest you wait a while. I've been playing SWTOR this last month and while it has many good points
it, sadly, needs lots of polish, bug fixes and TLC. I am going to park my Smuggler at Fleet, let my subscription
lapse. and wait about 6 months. Then I'll go back, pop for a months sub, and see what's what.

The wonderful thing about LOTRO is, for many of us, it has become a home that we venture out from, but come back to when we need a break from the nuttyness that is out there. I saw quite a few LOTRO "oldtimers" over at SWTOR.....!

Soooo....relax, take your time, explore, try out lots of alts and class choices. Don't be in a hurry to join a Kinship....find one that is a good fit. You can even try out different servers....(be sure to roll a char on Landroval for all the community events and fun.....and don't miss the Weatherstock Concert...lol). If LOTRO turns out to be a good fit, you'll probably be around for a few years!!!

One thing you might want to try is what my brother-in-law has done. He rolled a lovely elf princess for his 8 year-old granddaughter, and leveled her up to about 25 at which point all the mobs in the shire are greyed out. It's kind of amazing to watch her play; she has a little collection of horses and outfits and she just rides around the Shire and makes up her own "adventures". It's hilarious fun to watch....she sits there and makes up conversations with NPCs. (*Important note.....I believe he disabled chat and a few other settings*).

Like I said, welcome to Middle-Earth, if you happen to spot Tobiee or his little sis Tabiee run by be sure to toss out a hello.

Thanks for the kind words. I'm officially addicted and I foresee I'll be roaming the Middle Earth for quite a long time. I asked around and was told that the best moment to become VIP was at level 20, when you can get the Riding quest. I agree and it will probably be tomorrow (been a bit busy...not even level 20 yet).

I take my time, smell the flowers on the road, do all the crafting I can (Metalsmithing is incredibly useful for a low level Guardian!) and do all the quests. Can't wait to get my first horse...

Originally Posted by GruntDoc

Mae Govannen....

Le hannon, mellon-nin!