Comments on: Running Rings Around: Siege Of Mirkwood

By: Windleaf

Windleaf — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:57:13 +0000

As a player and longtime Tolkien fan, this is the only MMO I’ve played that I am willing to commit time and money to. I’ve yet to get a lifetime membership but certainly will. I tried WoW but it just didn’t work for me. Then again I have a bias knowing a lot of LOTR lore and none of WoWs. If nothing else I know WoW has amazing cinematics.
A kin is good to have, not hard to find one. There are plenty of raiding Kins, Maelstrom on Meneldor is one I know of, all 60 lvl and they have all the gear. I’m not in it, but as a casual player I like my smaller Kin fine.
Some hardcore players gripe about class nerfing, but overall it’s a great game I’d reccommend highly to anyone. Going from console FPS shooters to an MMO was a bit of an adjustment, but done easily enough. There are tons of helpful players who have been on since beta. I became more of a technical and strategical player after talking to players whose Kin I later joined.
There is much to look forward to as much of Middle Earth isn’t yet open, such as Isengard, Rohan, Mordor, the Pelennor Fields, Minas Tirith, Osgiliath, Cirith Ungol and Minas Morgul, Fangorn, The Dead Marshes, The Lonely Mountain and Lake Town, the Desolation of Smaug (though the last 3 most likely would be combined). In short there is a vast amount to lok forward to in expansions.
My only concern in a technical sense would be the means by which classes evolve and abilities with so much yet to do in regards to untold chapters and unopened areas.
I am hoping that the technical aspects will evolve as well as the expansions have thus far.
In closing I am eagerly awaiting new classes, new monsters, maps, and seeing Middle Earth come to life, as I can now travel to a place I loved as a child and share in the adventures. I’m now living the childhood dream of being an Elf in Middle Earth, meeting the heroes, and finally meeting Lady Galadriel in Lothlorien (who I had a childhood crush on). So here’s to many years of evolution and fun! Cheers,

May the stars shine upon your road,
Windleaf Beldagkir, Knights of Annuminas Kin

By: Centralblues

Centralblues — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:33:01 +0000

LOTRO is my first MMO experience, having read the books since I was a wee one, I have to say, I love it. I have 6 toons going, one level 60 Guardian and I really like the whole experience. The only problem I have is I’m in a small kin, we can never get enough people together to run the big instances for radiance gear which prevents us from doing the big raids as they are radiance gated.
I prefer all the content up to the end game stuff and enjoy leveling toons more than running the same instances over and over so I can get my rad gear.

Overall, I’m pretty pumped about this expansion, will give me a chance to take my lvl 60 toon up a few notches. I just hope they don’t forget about the rest of the experience for the multitude of people who don’t have lvl 60 characters.

By: Zyrxil

Zyrxil — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:27:03 +0000

It’s a very casual experience though. I mean, it has raids and stuff, but a lot of the game mechanics don’t make sense under mathematical scrutiny. There aren’t a lot of theorycrafters playing so it sort of works out.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:20:34 +0000

LOTRO’s the only MMO that I’ve tried that has really clicked with me. If you join a decent kinship, of course, you’ll rarely be lost for grouping opportunities!

By: Frans Coehoorn

Frans Coehoorn — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:51:58 +0000

Was it expensive to get your house back? :P

By: Tei

Tei — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:07:36 +0000

It could be lazyness. The work ethics in USA is very high, so stuff like lazyness is not tolerated. But here in europa, seems that submission to the command chain is more important than productivity. As a result, decissions on europe are vertical, from the high, to the bottom. Where in USA there are more horizontal decissions, and decissions made in the bottom. Since is the bottom that have contact with the market, is often aware of problems that will never be available on the top. As a result, our work culture is broken. The people with the information can’t take decissions, and the people that can take decissions, lack the information. I am sure some dude at Codemasters was aware of this benefict, but was not in his hand to move his company this direction. Wen the higher ups are aware of the need of such things, is too late… as in “I have read in a blog that Turbine are doing such and such, and we are not doing it…”.

By: fabrulana

fabrulana — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:04:49 +0000

Awesome game, they can have my money any day …. and now they do :)

By: Tei

Tei — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:57:47 +0000

“As a current player, I really have no idea what you are talking about”

I am talking about rumours that is getting harder and harder to make PUG’s, since the game population are becoming more prone to soloer, and avoid grouping. But is just a rumour,It could be wrong. Most MMO’s are into that evolution to (bad) singleplayer games, so It will be like normal, but sad, that LOTRO is following it too. Sad because with the LOTR lore and all, It was a delicious grouping game.

By: Ian

Ian — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:52:48 +0000

I too would like a proper LotR RPG. The Third Age did nothing for me.

Most of what I hear about LotRO is complimentary and I really ought to spend a weekend having a bash at the trial.

By: MrTest

MrTest — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:00:02 +0000

A proper LOTR RPG is well overdue. It’s one of the few licenses I actually feel *needs* to be exploited in an interesting way.

By: Lobotomist

Lobotomist — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:59:48 +0000

Shame that Turbine gives expansion for free if you resubscribe for 3 months. And Codemasters (Europe) not.
Same goes for DDO. Turbine gives it for free. While Codemasters still has subscription….

By: ulix

ulix — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:28:59 +0000

Wasn’t EA making an open-world single-player LOTR – RPG?

White Council? Seems like its on hold, which is a shame, really.