Thread: My impressions as a newbie.

Played a few subscription mmos,done the rounds of most f2p games.

Kicking myself i didn't try this game out a year or more ago,generally my f2p game experience has been money pits,where you're almost forced into some kind of cold war arms race to try and keep up with all the other players(especially with pvp)and common courtesy does not exist.

The dev teams by and large treat their playerbase like trash,rarely delivering promised newsletters/news,sneaking in money grabs with their updates that aren't listed in patch notes,chopping and changing your items you have spent either a lot of time or a lot of money levelling...on the sly,forcing you to buy the newly released equipments...

So having gotten tired of the rushing,the money grabs,and for some games the social aspect(some games out there due to the dev treatment of their playerbase do really have a larger proportion of...prats to put it politely)i did some research on this,by browsing the forums and reading up on it all it seemed like this was a more pleasant place,and there are the requisite patch notes and dev discussions that i can see.

Loaded the game up,and all i can say is wow.

The graphics are more than passable,it definitley has the lotr charm you'd imagine from the books(but although a fan of tolkien that isn't my reason for playing this,when it comes to games i need a timesink for when i have time off from the mates and work)

So far it seems solo friendly,and other players have said as much,which is a draw for me after being fed up of all the forced grouping and raids that have been in so many of my previous games...just burned out by all that.

The crafting seems well thought out,deep but still user friendly,and i'm probably enjoying that part of the game the most right now.

The cash shop....after studying that for ages haha,i can say i'm rather happy with it,people have continually said it's all attainable from free play(and i look forward to earning as much tp as i can from playing)but that won't stop me from flat out buying some stuff either,as long as i feel happy with the game i'm more than happy to support it somewhat.

Although the CS is a little confusing and daunting,but reading the forum and studying it a bit gets you over that hurdle.

The pace of the game makes a very welcome change from what i'm used too,play at your own pace and do what you want,doesn't seem to be that mad rush to epic end game gear feeling you get in other titles.

The size of the areas is something else i like,at my low level travelling is hard and getting used to where everything else is taking some time,but i love it...getting from a to b is slow,but you end up collecting crafting materials on the way and doing some deeds,easy to go offtrack from what you were originally supposed to be doing.

I have not run into any bugs or glitches as yet,but i'm sure i will eventually as i play more,as long as they aren't gamebreaking i can deal.

Something else this game has,is a feeling of quality,you don't get that with the majority of f2p games(although it could have something to do with this once being a subscription game)

As an almost free player so far,it doesn't feel like i'm limited by the restrictions as yet,and that's good...but the one big hate i have is....bag space!I've already bought the rest of the bags,and i'm still running out of space all the time,so many items you find and since i'm still new you're never sure whats usefull or can sell in auction for good coin later on,it's seriously annoying always having to go back to the vault/shops to sell or empty your inventory.

Thats the only gripe i can think of,and it isn't that major,i mean combat and skills etc is by the numbers mmo,but i like that also,i'm not really looking for some revolutionary triple back flip flourish moves with decapitation finisher linking into some mad 100 hit combo on some other enemy half a mile from my current location...:P

I've noticed a few people on chats complaining about the game,saying it seems to be pay to win etc...all i can say to that is,when you've played as many as i have,you'll come to the realization that this game is actually an oasis compared to most in the market.

Infact i'm so happy with this game,i might just get over my previous mmo burnout feelings with raids and whatnot,and get into the more social play :O

I did try to get some of my games playing mates from other games to try this out,some did but they left shortly after...it seems the lazier pace of this game compared to others we played had put them off,all i can say to others is,don't leave right away,give yourself time to get into the game and learn the functions before you judge it.

Welcome ^-^!

Having played a lot of other F2P's and P2P's myself, I completely agree with you. Middle Earth's a relaxing place to be, and if I were you I'd take my time enjoying the journey. The graphics grow on you, the main story and side stories are interesting and easy to follow, and the maps are fun to explore, full of hidden locations and little details that bring them to life.

Once you learn what's useful and what you can do without, vault and bag space should become way more manageable. They're still a bit of an issue for everyone though - storage's one of Lotro's weak points. [Especially if you take a liking to the outfit system.] [I did.] But there are lots of workarounds. One thing you can do is: buy a house! Standard houses come with one 30-slot chest, and Deluxes come with two of those [but you will have to unlock the currency cap for a deluxe]. Joining a kinship would help you understand what items are worth selling in the AH and what's vendor trash - or you can use http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Main_Page.

The bugs... I find most of them funny. Some people on the other hand can't stand a typo. Different points of view...

I guess Lotro's lazy pace not for everyone, but I find it very refreshing in the midst of all the "rush to endgame" mmorpgs out there. I hope you'll have fun!

Best tip any F2P player can get is to buy Mines of Moria(must be US version) box for 20 dollars from eg. Amazon. It comes with month of VIP time (which unlocks all bags, traits, fast travel, gold cap, etc. for all characters made and played during that month) and it also gives you extra character slot, unlocks the warden and runekeeper classes, etc.

Welcome to Middle-earth!

If you need any help or have any questions feel free to drop me a tell in-game