Lord of the Rings Online MMORPG

[Farael]

Originally Posted by Durelin

So does there seem to be enough "quest lines" so to speak? And have you experienced any of those "encounter" type deals? I've never played a game with those before (I've only ever played free MMORPGs, actually, and not very much), and though I've had them explained to me, it would be interesting to see what their like in LOTRO in particular...that is, if you have any idea.

There are plenty of quest lines... I'm going to guess that The Shire is the most finished area of the game, and so I'll tell you thinking about it. Playing in Ered Luin with my dwarf and elf there are fewer quests (although still plenty), but in The Shire with my hobbit there are LOTS.

There are also different kinds of quests. Of course you have the proven "go kill X of such beast" but at least they usually give you a good reason (i.e: Kill wolves for pelts, kill orcs because they are making the roads dangerous, or kill Dourhand Dwarves because they stole our gold and we need to make them pay for it).

Then we have the "go find..." Sometimes what you need to find is inside an enemy camp, sometimes it's somewhere out in the wild (where there are plenty of beasts to keep you busy) and sometimes you can only get this something if you kill a baddie and you get that as "loot"

For those of you not used to MMOG's (trust me, I'm still very much a beginner) loot is what you get searching the body of a dead enemy... sometimes you get coins, others some weapons (often crummy, sometimes fancy), others armour or other useful tools.

Finally, specially in the shire, you have a series of quests where you have to help the quick post and so you have to run letters back and forth, while avoiding nosey hobbits, and another series of quests where you have to shuttle pies back and forth avoiding hungry hobbits. Some of those are worth it (and if you do 13 of them you get a bonus "trait" for your character) but these get a little old after a while. Still, they are a great excuse for exploring, even if you don't manage to get wherever you are supposed to go in time.

Oh, and though I know you haven't had too much of a chance to do anything, how is the character progression/leveling looking? Is how you develop your character pretty versatile, in character creation and as you level?

One of the critics I've read in the game forums is that character progression is too linear. Most elven hunters of the same level will have almost the same characteristics (or for that matter, any other two characters of the same type).

While that is true, I think that there are two important things to overcome this. First of all, you have plenty of options during battle and after a while you (or at least I) tend to develop a "style". Certain combinations of skills that you find work best for you. While I'm sure that someone with a lot of free time will develop the "perfect" combination, there's still enough leeway (IMHO) so that no two players will do the same thing, and so they will not really be the same.

And also, you can always add a little role playing into your game and then your characters will be rather unique. Sure, perhaps they will have the same "stats" as any other, but I don't see many dwarves bowing to Dwalin before talking to him. Mine does.

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

Have you tried the PVP system yet?

I have not, so this is all hear-say, but what I know for sure is that there is no PvP.

Instead, we have "Monster Play". Once you get to level 10 you can find a special NPC in bree which lets you go to a special area and there you can be a monster in the service of the Dark Lord.

On the other hand, when you get to a certain level (I Can't remember exactly, but I think it's around 40 or 45) you can go to that same area with your main character and fight AGAINST the monsters.

This has two main advantages. First of all, it allows you to stand a competitive chance in "PvP" even if you don't have fifty hours to toss into the game every week. Second, it allows the game to stay within the "Tolkien Lore". You can't play an "evil" class as your main character, and elfs killing hobbits who are killing humans who are attacking dwarves would not be too "Tolkien".

From the reviews I've read, I've only heard GREAT things about this PvMP (Player vs. Monster Player) system. It also allows those of us who would rather quest around and enjoy Middle Earth to do exactly that.

Hope that answered your questions... anything else, you know where to find me