Post - Lord of the Rings Online 7 day Free Trial now Available
A 7 day free trial of the Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) have just been made available by Codemasters Online..
It's a really good game, so if you like Tolkiens Middle Earth then I can safely recommend it to you..
I have bought it myself a while ago, and even if I don't have time to play that much I play it from time to time and I find it very good.
I did play World of Warcraft, but I got tired of the endless "grinding" and leveling up "hysteria" after a while so I deleted that one...
I think LOTRO is much better than WoW since it isn't that focused on leveling up to max level before the "action starts", and the quests and storyline(s) are also much better in my opinion..
you can visit www.trylotro.com to download it and generate your free trial key..
Enjoy..
Damn you -HAL-, You've talk me into it. At least the Trial...
The game I am really waiting for is WARHAMMER Online. But since that isn't out until next year I am going to give LOTRO online a try.
Which class do you recommend? In all RPGs, I Generally prefer Tanks to spellcasters, so I am thinking a Champion, Guardian, or Captain. Might try and Elven Hunter too, since I used to do archery...
Last edited by mmarsh; September 18th, 2007 at 17:39.
I'm a Guardian now (lvl 43) but I haven't tested the other classes much yet so I really don't know what else to recommend.
Minstrels (healers) are always wanted in fellowships, but they can be quite challenging to play solo..
Had some initial setup problems but all is good now.
Went with a Human Champion now level 7 -Just finished the intro.
All in all its very similar to WOW although not without some improvements. The quests are much better, but the inventory system still sucks. One think I like is that its MUCH easier to solo than in WOW. Thats good because finding fellowships isn't always easy.
My basic problem with it are two-fold, the inability to play the forces of Mordor or Isgard hurts the game as does the lack of true PVP. Also there are fewer classes to choose from compared to WOW.
But my chief complaint is the combat is the same click-fest as WOW. I am looking forward to games like Conan DnD or Warhammer where you can actual control the combat, instead of mouse clicking.
UPDATE
I Abandoned my Champion and went with a Elven Hunter. A little weak at first, but I am now up to level 5 and I am doing some wicked damage. I can bring down Goblins even before they reach me. Its much more exhilerateing than the Champion because I am am trying for the 'undying' title (never killed by lvl. 20). Its very tricky, as I cannot allow to be overwhelmed. Which means I must proceed with extreme caution.
Once my Trial is up, I want to try the DDO trial (which coincidentally is also made by Turbine Games). I'll see which game I like better.
It has its flaws, but I definitely like LOTRO more than WOW.
Last edited by mmarsh; September 20th, 2007 at 12:52.
All in all its very similar to WOW although not without some improvements. The quests are much better, but the inventory system still sucks. One think I like is that its MUCH easier to solo than in WOW. Thats good because finding fellowships isn't always easy.
Another thing that I also like about it that it's much more quest focused that World of warcraft so it pays off to do quests for experience instead of just going around and mindlessly killing things for XP...
Quote:
My basic problem with it are two-fold, the inability to play the forces of Mordor or Isgard hurts the game as does the lack of true PVP. Also there are fewer classes to choose from compared to WOW.
You can play as orcs, trolls, wolves etc. in Monster play (PvP) once you reach level 10: http://www.lotro.com/article/313
And you can also enter monster play with your good character once you reach level 40 (all "monster players" are level 50..)
I haven't played it much, but it's a quite interesting system.
Quote:
I Abandoned my Champion and went with a Elven Hunter. A little weak at first, but I am now up to level 5 and I am doing some wicked damage. I can bring down Goblins even before they reach me. Its much more exhilerateing than the Champion because I am am trying for the 'undying' title (never killed by lvl. 20). Its very tricky, as I cannot allow to be overwhelmed. Which means I must proceed with extreme caution.
I managed to reach level 15 before I was killed so I only got the "the Indomitable" title..
Quote:
It has its flaws, but I definitely like LOTRO more than WOW.
I certainly agree with you there, and they've been quite good at fixing flaws with each major update so it will probably get better later as well (only been two major updates until now)
They've also planned paid updates where the level cap will be raised and other bigger areas in middle earth will be unlocked (rumors says that the mines of Moria is next...)
I finished with a lvl 15 Hunter and a 7th lvl Champion
Here what I think: Its a copy of WOW, but its better in most regards. The game is very enjoyable for those beginners or those who don't want a overly complicated game with lots of customizing...
First what I didn't like:
The only really unfortunate thing is the lack of the 'evil' side. The ability to do quests for Mordor or Isngard and combat the forces of 'good' like in WOW would have really improved this game. I am at a loss as to why the designers chose to make only the good guys as playable. Yes there is the Monster play but its not the same. The WOW system is better on this score.
Not enough classes/races compared to other MMORPG. Some of the race/class combos are weird, like a Dwarven Hunter? The bows are taller than he is. To make it more interesting I would have done more race specific classes. For Example, make the Guardian -a Dwarf only class. The Hunter -elf or Human, the burglar -hobbit only. But ultimately the game needs more classes.
The inventory system is as bad a WOW. Its just terrible. When I look at something I have no idea what is it until I click on it.
Finally there was both lag and rubberbanding. Codemasters was fixing this via a patch as my trial ran out, but there were time when my Character just refused to move forward. -Like he was walking on a escalator moing the wrong way. Really annoying.
What I did like.
Quest are great. They are both will written and interesting. Even the redundant quests like collect 'x' number of 'y' are done so that it could be finished as quickly as possible.
Soloing is possible for almost all quests except for a few 'boss' and 'instance' quests. Its also easy to find a fellowship.
The classes were well balanced. My Hunter was a pure nuker (deadly at range, but only average at melee and very fragile). Unlike the WOW hunter that seemed to be excellant at all 3. All the classes abilities are specific. Hunters are Nukers, Champions give deal damage but cannot take it as well, Guardians are the exact opposite. And the Burglar, Loremaster and Ministral suck at melee combat, but have other abilities. Although there didn't seem to be many Minstrals or Burglars, these classes ought to be tweaked abit more to gather more player interest.
The scenery is incredible. The Character models a little less. I few more customizing options are needed.
Should you buy it? If you like WOW. yes. If your a hardcore rpg player you will find it too basic.
Will I buy it? Depends. I am going to try the DDO trial tonight in order to compare. DDO is a much more hardcore game. There is also hellgate london, Age of Conan and Warhammer that look really good.
I agree with most of your pros and cons as well.
But you forgot one VERY important thing: It's played in the Middle Earth/The Tolkien "universe"!!
And since I'm a huge fan of the books and movies that's a very important thing for me..
The lag and rubberbanding issues seems to have been fixed in the latest patch by the way, so that should hopefully not happen very often now..
I really wonder what they'll come up with in their first paid addon.
Rohan, Gondor and/or the mines of Moria would have been nice.
And I also guess that Mordor will be added in later paid addons as well, but probably not in the first one(s)..
