Comments on: Interview: Jeffrey Steefel on LOTRO: Mines of Moria

By: lotro

lotro — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 09:37:14 +0000

is anybody know when will next part of this game?

By: MMORPGPlayer

MMORPGPlayer — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:21:29 +0000

I think MMORPG developers have to be very careful of trying to be innovative within a current successful MMORPG. You can go back to that great single player game that was on the top 10 charts, it is still the great game it was back then.

MMORPGs just implode and always become garbage. World of Warcraft was a good game but now it is garbage. They made too many changes to the game. Everquest was agood game but now it is garbage.

There is a reason why people play these games in the beginning it is because they find the design fun to play. Why drive these people away?

By: Megamaj

Megamaj — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:59:07 +0000

Did anyone else notice that it’s not spelled ‘Tolkein’ but Tolkien?

By: Huppla

Huppla — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 21:31:35 +0000

DAoC did have weapons and other items that you could level. Not as fancy as this system, though.

By: araczynski

araczynski — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:44:24 +0000

thanks for the info tony, sounds like i should’ve bought that lifetime membership after all :) either of the two times they offered :) maybe they’ll offer again…

By: Weylund

Weylund — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 00:16:57 +0000

When do you get these legendary weapons? I pre-ordered and loved the game for months; I left when I got incredibly, incredibly bored.

Holy crow, I would re-up just for legendary weapons.

By: Erlam

Erlam — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 23:27:03 +0000

How long have (gamers) been asking for weapons they keep with them for a whole game, and that level with them?

Why is it taking people so long to realise that’d be a good idea?

By: Tony

Tony — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:20:57 +0000

Even back in beta I’d hestitate to call it simply a “WoW clone”. No more than WoW was a clone of Turbine’s own Asheron’s Call when it launched, honestly. Obviously both LotRO and WoW have improved significantly since then. They have their differences and if you care enough about those differences, that can be a big deal. Some might see that as a reason to play WoW which is great for them. I see it as a reason to stick with LotRO personally, so I’m happy too lol.

andy: The game has gotten a LOT more solo friendly. I have gotten up to 50 with my champ doing, I would say, 99% of it by myself. Grouping with people was more out of fun than necessity.

There’s a lot of solo friendly quests. If you’re out of some in one zone, it’s guaranteed another has new ones for you to do since you were last there (or you can move on to the next level zone). I never felt like I didn’t have at least several options while leveling in that sense. It’s gotten a lot better over time.

Certainly you’re going to miss some cool quests taking it that route… and some of the harder dungeons will be essentially impossible unless you manage to get 10 to 20 levels ahead of what they’re expecting. But you can get a good experience and level all the way up well anyway.

The main thing to keep in mind is that if you care about the epic questline, you’re going to have to eventually group up. A lot of it (a good half) is focused on levels 40 to 50 and each book has at least a chapter or two that require a group.

There’s a lot of nice people in this game and a lot of great kinships/guilds. I’d just say join one that sounds good on the forums and go from there. I do almost everything on my own, but it’s nice to know that if I need help I can count on some nice people to join me… and vice versa, as I’ll help out others too.

By: malkav11

malkav11 — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:14:30 +0000

Legendary swords is an *awesome* idea. I’m still not likely to go back, alas.

By: andy

andy — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:56:59 +0000

anyone know if LOTRO is more solo friendly than it was in beta/release? that’s the one thing i was hoping beyond all hope for when i preordered. then after a few days in beta i cancelled. been looking back ever since, hoping things have changed.

AoC was very solo friendly, i loved that about that game.

By: Venkman

Venkman — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:31:57 +0000

LotR is a top MMO? It seemed like a complete WOW clone when i tried the beta, but i am glad it is doing good since i love the material it is based on.

And why you assume its still the same I have no idea. MMOs are not like traditional games that are released and seldom change. MMOc constantly change, new things are being introduced. Granted this is not true of all MMOs and some change more than others, but to simply say you played it back in beta and that now its still the same, is simply false.

By: phuzz

phuzz — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 15:43:33 +0000

@gaijin
crass, but it made me laugh :)

I do like the idea of not having to get rid of weapons because they’re staying powerful along with you. One of the things I disliked about Stalker was having to dump the SA-80 (I can’t remember what they were called in game, but I know an SA-80 when I see one) that had got me through loads of fights because it was old and busted and there was better guns.