Thread: Early beta and launch .. anyone around still?

I started LOTRO (and MMO in general) in the (closed? the thing I remember is that it was on invites) EU Beta back in feb 2007.
I remember knowing nothing about MMOs and trying to reach Rivendell with my fresh out-of-the-intro-zone burglar...
I didn't pass through the Lone Lands, and got killed by the second goblin I encountered (I fled bravely in front of the first one, after it hit me for 2/3rd of my life....).
I may have some screenshots more interesting than these somewhere on one of my old hard drives. But as I changed twice of computer, I still have to find them back...

Been around all the time since...

Regards,
Skro

I wasn't in the betas but I did start playing from early access - I do recall getting horribly lost in the Elven starter area whilst one of my kinnies kept sending me tells to hurry up and get the starter instance done so she could invite me to kin hehe! Must go digging for some screenies...

Was around for the final beta, and went lifetime as soon as the game was released. Since then I've been on and off for the last 5 years

Another veteran here. :-)

Got in on the last few days of open beta was in Trestlebridge when the world ended. Pre-ordered 2 lifetime subs for my wife (no, wait, we weren't even married then!) and me.

Early access was supposed to start on April 14th in EU. I remember lurking on CMs forums for tidbits of info when late afternoon / early evening of April 13th the words spread like wildfire "The servers are up!" - my first char, my burglar was created that day. Probably one of the first burgs on Belegaer. :-)

We were very active players logging in almost every evening until our son was born last August. Boy, did he cut down on our playtime... I remember I had the last of 5 available chars at 50 and finished Book 1 (oh the days when the last fights with Narmeleth still took a full fellowship and everyone knowing what to do...) just two days before Moria (and thus more slots) came out.

Sadly, I lost all my beta / early access screenies somewhere along the line. My oldest surviving one shows my little burg returning on a quest in North Downs:



I think one of the first things I did on live was run my little hobbit to Bag End and look inside Bilbo's house.

edit: I think I still have some of the original fear pots that remove ALL fear debuffs on one of my chars... ;-)

I started playing 27/04/07, god it seems like a lifetime ago and I'm still using the very first toon I created *cough cough Hunter* I have made played other classes since but none of them give me the 'Hunter combat/read a book whilst watching television' vibe tbh lmao.

Yup. Still around since day #1 of open beta...

still here and will be till the end

I was lucky enough to get an invite to a stress test weekend in Jan 2007. It took nearly half the weekend to get the client downloaded and playing but once I did I was hooked and, well, here I still am.

Started in open beta, been playing ever since. Jeweled Bell goes *Jingle, Jangle*!

I didn't play beta, but joined the game a week after it was launched in EU. Very early on, I met a bunch of nice people who invited me to their kinship and I have been there ever since. I have made some very good friends through this kin, and we have annual kin gatherings, thanks to a friend who has since left our kin. Through lotro, believe it or not, I met and fell in love with a man from Germany, and moved out to be with him in 2009. Isn't it funny how life goes?

I can't see myself stopping playing any time soon either :-)

I had to wait until the game arrived in NZ which was a week or two after the game launched iirc. Nowadays I just buy from Amazon US so don't miss out on the launch fun! I picked up a Lifetime Subscription when they offered it a second time around. Can't think of an investment that's given me nearly as much fun for the dollar.

I too went and tried life in a galaxy far far away but it didn't take long to get old pretty fast. Depends entirely on which IP you prefer I guess, that and the art style, and both confirmed LoTR was it for me. So I'm back taking my new Orion-ised Warden through Dunland at present, and loving every minute of it.

Three cheers to Turbine and LoTRO! Happy Birthday, and thank you for 5 great years.

I've been around since closed beta. My Husband has been around since pre-F&A.

Cool Beta screenshots! So funny to see everyone in their early-days armor. Hehe. I wish I'd started the game at launch, but I read some disparaging reviews at the time and decided to wait and see. I didn't actually get around to starting till spring of 09but I've had a lot of fun since coming.

Sometimes, I think I've been here too long when the grind gets to me, but I'm still here and am curious about Rohan. I'm cautiously curious, I guess, since I'm worried this war-steed is simply going to be a legendary weapon grind in a mount. LOTRO is already too anti-alt for my taste.

I've never been involved in a Beta since I began MMOing, but GW2 marks my first chance. Is interesting.

Originally Posted by Ayrolen

Sadly, that was two totally FUBARED laptops ago, so I don't have access to any really old screenies. My husband has been around since either August or September of 2006, I think, when he got an Alpha invite. I watched him play for several months and got to know the people he was in a kinship with when I'd log in and craft for him while he was at work. Upon the insistence of his former kin-leader, I accepted a buddy beta key around the end of November 2006, I think. I was completely and utterly hooked after that.

Sept 11th, 2006 for me. And I know of a few people that were in 2 to 3 weeks earlier then me - MAWorking for one. Hm... Haven't seen him around it a long time, now that I think of it...

I was part of beta, but don't remember my account details, so I created a new account. I remember playing a hobbit minstrel on the Brandywine server, and before launch, there was a big event at the Brandywine river.

Lifetime founders account.

First got into the tail end of closed beta (i'll have to rummage at home to find pics from then/there) but i recall dozens of us all at the Brandywine ferry at border of Shire/Breeland in the finale of that.

Then open Beta with the Level 15 cap... here's a screenie of me drunk and passed out outside the prancing pony as the server went down (kinchat is Aurora Australis on Elendilmir, still going strong) This was on my Captain Feenicks, who despite being my original "Main" is yet to crack level 40. I just enjoyed my Minstrel alt way more in the long term.

Wow that takes me back... I don't remember if I was in Beta anymore... I might have been I think. I remember getting into the game before most people, so likely I was. Haha, I think this is the longest any game has sustained my interest. Thank you Turbine for creating something this wonderful! (now, if someone would be so kind as to petition the RNG for the toast emote for me...)

I joined right at the beginning of SoA, my dad made the account so I no longer have access to it. So around 2008 I made this account.

I was fortunate to be invited into the first phase of closed beta. If I recall correctly it was in the summer of 2006. The 'game' was playable but there were so many bugs to identify from text and grammar issues to lodes spawning in the middle of the air. Stable routes had not yet been implemented so you had to run everywhere. Almost weekly there would be some event where the devs would ask players to log into certain locations or perform certain activities. It was my one and only time to experience a closed beta and I both enjoyed the experience and tried to take it as a responsibility to do the best I could to report every little bug I discovered.

I remember when they announced the date when closed beta would end and open beta begin and when the game would go live thinking, 'So soon? But there is so much more to do first!'. Yet launch day came and went and all was fairly smooth. There was a certain sadness with the end of beta as all the characters would be wiped, but also a sense of excitement as launch date approached.

The game has come a long way since then. The majority of the changes I would say are good ones. I'm still enjoying the journey and have no plans of leaving Middle-earth.

i was in the final closed beta, then open beta, and i had my lvl 15 hunter all maxed out with the best possible gear and Bow of the Eagle! at launch.

it was great fun, and there was so many players then and no dynamic layering so you saw hundreds of people in bree.

in starter areas were all the little lvl 6 mini-bosses still. they were great fun to fight.

those were fun times.

This account was started a year after launch, but my other one was in open beta. I had originally started on Firefoot, but some bug in the Archet starter instance made it so I was stuck forever loading trying to continue an early quest, so I moved to Nimrodel.

My first character, a little Hobbit Minstrel, has been sitting in Moria at level 52 for ages now It took me forever to even take her into Moria. Despite that, 4 level cap characters across two accounts and another (level 49 Warden) is well on her way there . Also have a 52 Rune keeper and a 61 Burglar, but the Warden's been really peaking my interest... Especially since my main is a Guardian. Seems I'm drawn to tanking, despite never really tanking in my prior MMO!

Still wishing I could've gone lifetime way back when though...

Was not here for launch but have some ss of the Mirkwood end of beta event

Shing! Shing! was just not cutting it

The Devs Not Playing Fair!

Bree before the server crashed!

My husband and I have been playing since closed beta also. For our anniversary in 2007 (which happens to be the same date as LOTRO's), we gave each other a founder's lifetime subscription.

Normally I just read the forums and don't post. I was compelled to add to this thread since my main is pictured in Yurick's last screenshot in his post above. Thank you, Yurick, for including me also. (lol)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my husband and to LOTRO.