Thread: New to LOTRO RP

Which server has a more active RP, Laurelin or Landroval??

I would guess that they are mostly even, though I have never visited Laurelin personally. RP is very active on both servers, and from what I hear both communities host weekly RP events. The big difference is, Landroval was formerly on one of the American servers, whereas Laurelin was one of the European ones. Therefore, you'll generally find more players from America on Landroval, and more players from across the pond over on Laurelin.

The biggest thing which you should consider is which time zone your in and what your game times are. If your only only during your own time zone peak times 7pm-11pm then go with the server which is closest times to your own timezone.

IE if you live in the US - Landroval
Europe - Laurelin

There are people in our Laurelin community who play on both servers but they also have more time to invest than a lot of players and also more flexible hours. These players speak highly of both servers, the main difference being the fact that Laurelin is less tolerant on lore breaking names than Landroval from what i have read.

I will go in much more detail here, because i dont think you are getting the full picture so far

Laurelin is the only official (English) RP server, thus a big part of the community are rpers or people who just enjoy a more immersive enviroment. It might be a former EU server, but it seems that since Turbine took over the server (a year ago or so i think) there was/is a noticeable increase during very late hours (the time most from US play) and ever since the server still grows and its very possible that it will reach a point that it will be busy (RP-wise at least) at most of the times
Also dont forget, because Laurelin has the official RP tag, most, if not all new folks, that like roleplay, will instantly choose this server above any other

Now another important thing, is what kind of RP you want. Landroval and Laurelin are very different actually
RP on Landroval seems to be more casual and light (there are exceptions of course) and the recurring events they have are musical/concert-type
RP on Laurelin seems to be more medium-heavy (that doesnt mean people here rp all the time of course) and much more lore-centric which makes for a more immersive experience. People here seem to care about the lore and some very good examples are the RP Events and Kins here.

You can look and compare for youself before you decide, i suggest you to take a look at the webportals of these servers and their forums here: Landroval Times and forums and Laurelin Archives and forums
There you can see the people, the RP Kins and Events and more. There is a big difference between them so someone who knows what he/she wants (RP-wise) it will not be that hard to select the right server for him/her

If you join Laurelin RP, feel free to drop me a tell, if you have any questions about RP or the lore

Originally Posted by Khalis_Laurelin

The biggest thing which you should consider is which time zone your in and what your game times are. If your only only during your own time zone peak times 7pm-11pm then go with the server which is closest times to your own timezone.

IE if you live in the US - Landroval
Europe - Laurelin

There are people in our Laurelin community who play on both servers but they also have more time to invest than a lot of players and also more flexible hours. These players speak highly of both servers, the main difference being the fact that Laurelin is less tolerant on lore breaking names than Landroval from what i have read.

Less tolerant? What madness is this!

Originally Posted by Mephistophelis

Less tolerant? What madness is this!

Laurelin is the only English-speaking server the Turbine Official Roleplaying Rules and Policy is enforced to.
Which boils down this this.

- You can see a Minstrel named "IHEALALOT" or "sezualheal69' running around in Landroval. Not on Laurelin
- Your RP event can be interrupted and harassed by griefers who emote spam and what not during your RP event. Not on Laurelin.
- If someone insist on talking about OOC stuff, like the amazing prowess of their bedroom skills, in the /LFF /Say /Regional /Trade /Emote or character's biography, there's nothing you can do but put them on ignore. Not on Laurelin.

On Laurelin, these don't happen often, but once they do, folks gets reported and subsequently disappear to (presumably) troll the other servers...

I'm a north-americain player, playing on Laurelin, which is a predominantly European server. Many NA players (myself included) migrated to Laurelin for the above reasons.

Originally Posted by Mistwood

Laurelin is the only English-speaking server the Turbine Official Roleplaying Rules and Policy is enforced to.
Which boils down this this.

- You can see a Minstrel named "IHEALALOT" or "sezualheal69' running around in Landroval. Not on Laurelin
- Your RP event can be interrupted and harassed by griefers who emote spam and what not during your RP event. Not on Laurelin.
- If someone insist on talking about OOC stuff, like the amazing prowess of their bedroom skills, in the /LFF /Say /Regional /Trade /Emote or character's biography, there's nothing you can do but put them on ignore. Not on Laurelin.

On Laurelin, these don't happen often, but once they do, folks gets reported and subsequently disappear to (presumably) troll the other servers...

I'm a north-americain player, playing on Laurelin, which is a predominantly European server. Many NA players (myself included) migrated to Laurelin for the above reasons.

I understand, I read the comment contrary to its understanding. I thought Laurelin was more tolerant on people breaking the rules. :-P

Originally Posted by Mephistophelis

I understand, I read the comment contrary to its understanding. I thought Laurelin was more tolerant on people breaking the rules. :-P

Oh no no, I was merely elaborating what the previous commenter had said, in case there are some shred of genuine confusion in your previous joking statement (but mainly for other readers of this thread who might not clear about what RP policy is entailed of).

Also I'd also like to point out that there are quite a lot of non-RPer and casua, non-RPl kins on Laurelin too. The only extra requirements for a non-RPer to be on a RP server is to NOT griefing ongoing RP and pick a mildly non-lorebreaking name.

All this pro-Laurelin stuff aside, I found Landroval RP a heck lot more enjoyable than Laurelin RP my brief time there.

Your mileage may vary.

OP, I suggest rolling a toon on *both* servers, play both servers at times you'll mostly be on a few times, and then make your own decision

I ended up choosing Laurelin, my characters name is Bedridoc. My next question is .... where do I start...I have made my bio but the whole process seems overwhelming to me. I have tried minor RP in WoW but it was a joke and full of trolls. How should I get started? Any steps I should follow?

Originally Posted by brocco3

I ended up choosing Laurelin, my characters name is Bedridoc. My next question is .... where do I start...I have made my bio but the whole process seems overwhelming to me. I have tried minor RP in WoW but it was a joke and full of trolls. How should I get started? Any steps I should follow?

Welcome to Laurelin! Dont worry RP in LotRO and especially on Laurelin is really a nice experience, mature and within the spirit of LotR and Middle-earth

I will contact you in-game when i get a chance (cant today, going to work) and will let you know more, about where you can find advice for RP and more

Originally Posted by ''Cris'''

Welcome to Laurelin! Dont worry RP in LotRO and especially on Laurelin is really a nice experience, mature and within the spirit of LotR and Middle-earth

I will contact you in-game when i get a chance (cant today, going to work) and will let you know more, about where you can find advice for RP and more

thank you very much!

Originally Posted by ''Cris'''

Welcome to Laurelin! Dont worry RP in LotRO and especially on Laurelin is really a nice experience, mature and within the spirit of LotR and Middle-earth

I will contact you in-game when i get a chance (cant today, going to work) and will let you know more, about where you can find advice for RP and more

I also signed up for Landroval only because after looking at the forum posts and Archive link you sent showed that alot of the events and gatherings are in EUR time. server time 3-5ish. I work everyday till around 5 (server time) so I wouldn't be able to attend much. Ill get both post raid and see which one I see the most life on. Will I be missing out on most RP being an EST time zoner?

Landroval, Probably. Also, the pricing on items in Auction House is much cheaper =)

saving up to buy a 100g symbol of the elder king! i can't believe it =D =D =D !

I've been playing LOTRO for two months now. It is the first (and only) MMORPG I've played, and the only one I have any interest in playing as I am a Tolkien/LOTR enthusiast. Though I love the game, I began playing LOTRO hoping for a rich and immersive Middle Earth RP experience but have been far from satisfied with the RP on both Landroval and Lauralin.

For what it is worth, here’s a few of my observations: I’m in the U.S. so Landroval is much more populated when I’m on, but I have found that if I can get on Lauralin when there are a fair number of players on I stand a much better chance of getting involved in spontaneous RP than I ever have on Landroval. On the other hand, I have had more incidences of getting involved in spontaneous fellowships while playing on Landroval, though none of the other players in those fellowships had any interest in roleplaying.

I have seen more ridiculous and annoying names on Landroval but I have actually seen more trolls on Lauralin. It is rare that I am inside or outside of the Prancing Pony and there is not some childish player running around in circles, jumping up and down, running across tables, running back and forth in front of me (or somebody else), and/or playing some annoying emote over and over again like a stuck record.

Having said that, I definitely lean more toward Lauralin for RP, but find it rather hit or miss for a player who is on in the evenings in the U.S.

So on that note; I enjoy playing a hunter better than playing a Captain. My hunter toon happens to be on Landroval and my Captain on Landroval. I’m thinking that I would like to transfer my hunter to Lauralin but I have read that you cannot transfer from a U.S. server to a European server. Is this still the case since it was taken over by Turbine?

Originally Posted by HeathenElf

For what it is worth, here’s a few of my observations: I’m in the U.S. so Landroval is much more populated when I’m on, but I have found that if I can get on Lauralin when there are a fair number of players on I stand a much better chance of getting involved in spontaneous RP than I ever have on Landroval. On the other hand, I have had more incidences of getting involved in spontaneous fellowships while playing on Landroval, though none of the other players in those fellowships had any interest in roleplaying.

I have seen more ridiculous and annoying names on Landroval but I have actually seen more trolls on Lauralin. It is rare that I am inside or outside of the Prancing Pony and there is not some childish player running around in circles, jumping up and down, running across tables, running back and forth in front of me (or somebody else), and/or playing some annoying emote over and over again like a stuck record.

Having said that, I definitely lean more toward Lauralin for RP, but find it rather hit or miss for a player who is on in the evenings in the U.S.

I find Laurelin RP to be less intrusive than Landroval RP. Much of the "Pony RP" on Landroval has been co-opted by some unknown number of players who claim to be members of the Bree town watch and other adherents to that player-created fiction. One character noted to me the other day that he reports to <name>, leader of the Bree watch. I was tempted to say "So, Chief Watcher Grimbriar's first name is <name>, eh?" but I figured that would just cause a ruckus. I did mention that <name> must report to Mayor Tenderlarch, which comment was greeted by another player with derision. IC derision, yet still derision, presumably because the in-game facts do not mesh well with their fiction.

So my take is that Landroval is fine for light, Pony RP, but Laurelin is better suited to more serious RP.

I am originally from Evernight, but myself and some friends are transferring to Landroval for Weatherstock next year.
I am in UTC +2, and I have been able to be on in the mid-mornings my time (3-6am servertime). I have found that most of the RP, even in the dreaded Pony, has been very mature. I have even noticed non-RPers making sure they don't cut in front of someone playing music, etc. Everyone has been really welcoming, and I am enjoying every minute.
2 quick questions - how populated is Landroval in European evenings? and how many events happen at that time?
Just thought I'd pop up and throw in a word or 2 for Landroval, I am loving it already