Elmoth wrote:Regarding the other ME online computer game (LOTR online), is it any good/worth it? Never convinced myself to test it, so no idea, really. For some strange reason never made an impact in the usual gaming communities/forums I visit regularly, even if they are quite populated by potential gamers for such things...
You can ask 10 people this question and get 12 different responses.
For me it's the best MMO that I've played because it primarily fits my style.
- easy going
amusement park style
not PvP
Lots of exploration
Can be played solo
beautiful art and great stories
Now I know that's not to everyone's style. There is a small area for PvP (the Ettenmoors); you can either be a "freep" or "creep" (The former is jargon for Free Peoples - in other words, you hero character in the game and the latter is jargon for creatures). As a creep you can be an orc, troll, spider, or warg.
Now I've never done this - but my son enjoys monster play. I don't enjoy PvP at all. My wife and I play as a duo, we have a kinship (aka guild in other MMOs) and we enjoy the world.
The game is heavy on exploration as there is no end to the number of quests you can do in an given character level with lots of places to go. The game is a great gateway into Tolkien's world (virtually). The "Epic" quests are "storyline" quests that follow the fellowship's journey to Mordor. You interact with the characters, and you perform many duties that assist their journey. There's also hundreds of quests that you can do regionally in each area you get to. It has turned off a lot of my friends early on, cuz the intro quests and early quests are rather dull....but there's still a beauty to the art/geography, and a great literary value to the workings of the quests. If you can get past the intros and get into the better quests, it's worth the patience.
The landscapes are beautiful. The flavor of the game is reminiscent of the true books and The One Ring game. The dialogue with each quest ties wonderfully to the world. All in all, if you would be entertained by simply being a part of that world and exploring it, you would truly enjoy it. If on the other hand you want a more PvP experience with hard core raids against others, you may not find it to your liking. The quests can be corny, and repetitive for sure.
I have my favorite places to go. The Golden wood is gorgeous. Moria is breathtaking to see. The Shire is very lovely and well done. Forochel is definitely interesting. Isengard is very nasty and worthy of feeling dread, and Angmar is utterly and completely horrible (in a good way), and dreadfully nasty - especially Carn Dum.
But there's many nuances to the game that add to the quaintness of it. Festivals all throughout the year full of fun things to do, rewards, titles, and nice shiny stuff to win. Cosmetic outfits to strive for to spiffy up your character. Houses you can buy and decorate with the stuff you earn at festivals. Emotes and such that you can learn to interact with others online. Class/Race/Social/Regional deeds that can be accomplished in tiers that unlock rewards for the character. There are raids which are particularly difficult, there are instances, and there are skirmishes - which the latter is very cool concept. They're repeatable instances with a specific goal, but they're scaled to your fellowship's level, and are never exactly the same - each time is different opponent dynamics, so you can never prepare perfectly like you can in a repeated instance. I love skirmishes. You have a "soldier" that you call and train as you go up in levels and each soldier to each character in your group are often different roles, so they add a great diverse element.
There is Reputation to earn with many different factions throughout the world. And with increased reputation, access to better equipment - that thematically make sense for that group; as well as access to cool decorations and cosmetic outfits again that thematically fit that group. Crafting is also wonderful. You can join a craft guild that provides a myriad of very powerful items that you can craft. The economy in the game is designed essentially among players - since no one crafter can do everything. For instance, a "Woodworker weaponsmith" can make great bows and spears etc, but can only craft them from worked wood planks. Someone with "Forestry" needs to gather the wood branches and treat them into "planks" to be worked. Cooks need food which can provide a great number of "consumable" benefits to user, but cooks need "Farmers" to grow a lot of the produce they need to make their yummy goodness. A "Prospector" can mine and smelt ore, but only a Armorer, or Weaponsmith really needs them in smelted form. So the economy is such that one can mine and smelt, and another can fashion it into gear and these are then traded or sold to each other.
So for me - the game provides a great deal of depth and no end to what I can do. I have 8 characters to try many different facets of the game and experience a great deal of diversity. There's never a dull moment, and I never run out of a "goal" to achieve, whether it's a crafting tier, resource gathering, quests, reputation, deeds to finish, etc etc.
They just added "Mounted Combat" in Rohan only. War-Steeds are awesome, if a little difficult to manage. They advance in power as you do, and there are a number of roaming encounters out on the plains that provide opportunity for a "raid-like" approach by many war-steed riding players to go attack.
I am on the Crickhollow server. My main character is Shandralyn Shieldmaiden and she is the leader of Pathfinders of the Rohirrim kinship located in the Shire. She is a Warden. My favorite class by far. (Wardens are a blend of heavily defensive tanks or damage dealing - depending on personal choice). Followed by the Guardian (a heavily armored tank that keeps the enemy focused on attacking them and off the others in a group) as my second fav, and then I like Captains and Minstrels as tied for third fav. (Captains are kinda like a paladin - they can tank, they can damage, they can heal, and they have a soldier that they summon who assists them in battle. Many Captain abilities are beneficial to a whole group - like a paladin in D&D; Minstrels are bards. They heal the group better than any, or they can crowd control well - their buffs help the fellowship as a whole as well). Other available classes are Loremasters (similar to a druid actually with a pet to aid you - they specialize in crowd control), Rune-Keepers (basically the sorcerers - they specialize in either damage via lightning, fire, or cold, or in healing). Burglar (nuff said), Champions (which are the default damage dealing melee specialists), and Hunters (master archers lots of damage but not overly protected - needs a tank usually to protect them as they dish out their damage).
