Thread: Possible returning player

Ive done an off and on again dance with this game since release, coming and going and always enjoying but always leaving again for some reason.

Me and a friend want to come back now that we heard we can roll on this server without downloading a separate client. We also want to be high enough level to check out rohan when it releases.

Just some general questions from a returning player, if no one minds id greatly appreciate your time.

1) Is RP still active on this server? Do we have to "Look for it" or is it just their?
1a) Is it easy to integrate into RP as a low level/new player?

2) We are east coast North America and this is a EU server. Is that going to cause a problem or do alot of US players play here because its the only official RP server?

3) What classes/crafts are in high demand on this server?

4) is a lot of the RP race specific? Or if we roll different races will we still be able to do most RP together?

5)Is starting fresh in LOTRO difficult these days or have the made improvements too it?

6) What is the most "fun" path to take to level? We want too see interesting stuff, we never really got past level 30, and we dont care what path is the easiest or offers the most XP, we want to see cool areas and experience fun quests.

7) Feel free to add any advice you may want to add to returning players they may find useful.


Thanks for your time.

I would like to point out to you that just because the us servers only have RP optional servers, RP is VERY much active on those servers and you may be better served on Landroval or one of the other RP optional servers with time zones closer to yours.

I'm on my phone, so I can't respond to all the questions, but will hit the main ones.

First, there is a growing community of NAers on this server, and those of us that are here are very dedicated to Laurelin. We RP, we quest, we run instances, level alts, the whole nine yards.

Laurelin is not very populated during our timezone, but that can be an advantage - in that the RP and the RP events are what we make them. It's a clean slate.

Plus, and this is the critical part to probably all of us Laureliners, you never have to see an out of context name.

Anyway, I highly recommend checking the server out. And if you're looking to get your feet wet, feel free to drop one of the Iron Axes a line. We're consistently active every night during EST evenings. Link is in my sig

Peace!

I'll have a bash ...

Originally Posted by Lythariel

1) Is RP still active on this server? Do we have to "Look for it" or is it just their?
1a) Is it easy to integrate into RP as a low level/new player?

RP isn't universal by any means, some people just like to experience an "authentic" environment not offered by other servers. There are specific events which should be relatively easy for a low-level character to get to (with the exception of the Elven Hall of Fire gathering but then it's relatively easy to find a Captain or Hunter able to transport you there) and are pretty open and easy to integrate into.

2) We are east coast North America and this is a EU server. Is that going to cause a problem or do alot of US players play here because its the only official RP server?

I've noticed a few US players appearing since the move, and although there is a bit of a dip in numbers during the week I think there's still enough people around to make it worth your while. At the weekends of course, things will become much busier as play times will tend to overlap more.

3) What classes/crafts are in high demand on this server?

I don't think there's anything that is particularly needed, my advice would be to go for whatever would be most useful in terms of self-sufficiency.

4) is a lot of the RP race specific? Or if we roll different races will we still be able to do most RP together?

Quite a bit is, yes. Green Dragon Fridays (to grab an example out of the air) is aimed at a predominantly Hobbit (and occasional Dwarf) audience; equally there are events aimed at other races. There are single-race Kinships and alliances but there are also mixed-race Kinships too. RP in the Prancing Pony, for example, tends to be pretty cosmopolitan. So really it's down to what sort of thing you prefer ... whatever it is you should be able to find it.

5)Is starting fresh in LOTRO difficult these days or have the made improvements too it?

No, I think it's pretty straightforward as long as you choose a self-sufficient trade. Changes to classes and starting areas mean that it's pretty easy to level these days ... and there's a reasonable amount of choice about where to go too.

6) What is the most "fun" path to take to level? We want too see interesting stuff, we never really got past level 30, and we dont care what path is the easiest or offers the most XP, we want to see cool areas and experience fun quests.

In terms of fun paths, depends what you find entertaining. I prefer the Lone Lands over the North Downs, and Forochel over Angmar but that's just my personal choice, there are lots of cool things to see and fun, engaging quests (as well as less fun, less engaging quests) wherever you go. First time through if you just follow the Epic story line you probably won't go far wrong.

7) Feel free to add any advice you may want to add to returning players they may find useful.

• Keep your eyes on this forum.
• Try to keep a sense of humour on hand at all times.
• Use /globallff with caution and a big pinch of salt.
• If it's not fun, stop doing it and find something else to do ... you might end up finding the most awesome thing in the whole game.
• Moria is worth everything.

Hope this is of some help ... welcome to Laurelin.

Thanks everyone.

Hmmm, did take my whole post. Strange.

Anyhow, thanks again for all the answers.

During "regular NA" times what exactly does the population look like?

I dont require a TON of people, but if we do stick with the game I would eventually like to do things like engage in PvM and possibly see some high end content just to see it. These are long term goals that we probably wont ever meet, but I at least wouldn't mind the possibility. At the very least id like to be able to do things with more than just me and him, dungeons and such and if its impossible to find a group for two brand new players with no high level characters to fall back on to buy them gear and what not it might get too difficult.

We will duo level together, but at the same time we would like to RP in all different ways. Small groups, large groups events etc... and if none of that stuff happens during NA times, then perhaps the suggestion to check out landroval was a good one.

But the first name i saw when I went over to their forums was "Neilpatrickharris". Dont get me wrong, I love NPH and How I met your mother is one of my favorite shows. But when people run around with names like that on RP servers its kind of a deal breaker for me. Just need to decide what is worse, the time difference or stuff like that.

That being said, I often tend to play pretty late NA time, like into 3am and sometimes beyond. not sure what the time difference is, but that may make me overlap into EU times correct?

Originally Posted by Lythariel

But the first name i saw when I went over to their forums was "Neilpatrickharris".

That being said, I often tend to play pretty late NA time, like into 3am and sometimes beyond. not sure what the time difference is, but that may make me overlap into EU times correct?

And that's why I'm on Laurelin..

Yes, 3am will overlap with the morning crew over in the EU, as well as catch the early evening Aussies/Oceanic folk. Small groups compared to what the server looks like between 2 - 7 pm EST, but folk nonetheless.

In terms of the pop during NA hours, there are roughly 30-50 people on the globallff channel (which not everyone is on, so its just a gauge), compared to 450-600 during EST afternoons. However, there are usually many more people on during the evenings than that number suggests, they just don't know about it or how to use custom player channels.

Since there is no real enforcement, only generalized guidelines as to the type of conversations that may be had (IE, trying to keep IC in public communication channels), your bad eggs are going to get through every so often.

That being said, Laurelin does have the higher concentration of dedicated RP'ers than the other two servers that I have been on. I've encountered players at random in the landscape and ended up having one-and-a-half hour long IC conversations with them, whereas I've had kinmates in a "medium RP" (self-pronounced) kinship that have had blatant OOC conversations without any visible separation between IC and OOC statements (The double parenthesis "((" and the like).

You take the good with the bad, and as far as active RP goes, the good tends to outweigh the bad on Laurelin.