Thread 718004073

Been seeing this more and more lately. Looks old as shit but apparently people are starting to jump back into it. Is it actually any good or just another death grind mmo?

I used to play it f2p over a decade ago
it was basically a wow clone with lotr skin, and it did it well
some of the lore is retarded but you can only do so much to give the player the "im an important person" in a pre-defined fantasy setting like middle earth so you have to look at it with a grain of salt
some of the classes that were released (like warden) broke the meta and gameplay for a bit but i have no idea if they fixed it a decade later yet

>>718005532
only surviving screenshot i currently have on hand, something super simple but suprisingly aesthetic all these years later despite my near zero effort into making it look nice
taken at weathertop looking eastwards if i remember correctly

what people have you been seeing getting into it?

>>718005731
Lot of YouTubers I watch mostly. There’s a big expansion coming near the end of the year as well apparently.

>>718006428
interesting. i know the core playerbase still survives even after all these years but i would never imagine fresh blood being into it in the same way people get into ffxiv or wow these days

>>718004073 (OP)
it's a decent, typical MMO. i played it a few months ago but didn't stick with it for long but i think i just wasn't in the MMO mood. it looks and feels very dated but it has some charm to it, particularly in the environments and the music is great. can't hurt to give it a go, i enjoyed my brief time with it and might go back one day

>>718004073 (OP)
It is great if you are a Tolkienfag.
>>718005731
The landscape actually looks great even on middle settings especially considering LotRO's age. The world has few loading screens so you can go from Grey Havens to Minas Tirith with 0-2 depending on the path picked.

>>718004073 (OP)
yeah you're grinding 1-150 alone because nobody else is leveling so you're not running dungeons and the only people you will see will be alts powerleveling

>>718006768
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Hqv7K5cU_c

>>718006996
>grinding
It is enjoyable enough for people to buy the item (for the currency earned in-game btw) that stops levelig, so they can experience all zones without overleveling them.

>>718004073 (OP)
People play it simply for lore accuracy and the only place where you can actually see the world depicted as Tolkien intended, before they added bearded women.

>>718007208
comfy as sin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3dPApPyIGs

>>718004073 (OP)
It's for lotr nerds, its very detailed very big mmo map, but it plays just like wow

From The Book of Oaths
>This page leads into a discussion at considerable depth of the fate of an ancient Elf who was a Lord among Lords, who set upon himself and his people an Oath so powerful and dire that it is believed to have shaped the course of entire ages of the world, and the fate of countless Elves, Men, and dwarves.
>Unfortunately, the argument remains quite abstract within these pages, as the scholars of Men who penned the work seem only to know of these events through legends and myths, and the Elves of that time were apparently not keen to discuss the subject openly.
>Nevertheless, if the events described by the scholars are indeed founded even partially in truth, it suggests that the Oath taken by this Elf-lord may well have been the most powerful words ever to pass the lips of any being of Middle-earth, be they mortal or immortal, wizard or king.
Feanorbros, we are in LotRO.

>>718006996
Can I at least experience everything solo? Or is there content that I just won’t be able to do?

>>718007340
Because it's LOTR.
Otherwise, how else are you going to LEVEL your character? You're going to grind through the zones either way.

>>718007362
>they changed Tom's voice
Sad.

>>718007343
this
But since they ran out of book base (it happened a few years ago) the only thing left in it is a well-maintained style of Middle-earth, basically it's like a huge theme park, but in recent years all the non-binary and multi-colored garbage has come here too.

>>718004073 (OP)
Remember the 32bit servers are getting killed at the end of the month so transfer your characters while you can to new ones.

>>718007669
>Because it's LOTR.
I think the problem is they really lost the plot in recent expansions and updates. They're massively expanding tiny bits of info so much so it's almost fan fiction now. It just so CONVENIENTLY let them add dark-skinned characters as well.

>>718007664
Most of it can be done solo except for 6+ instances from later regions (early ones and 3-man ones can be just overleveled/set on lower level).
>>718007669
Nah, many zones share the level, without Turtoise Stone you would have to choose for example if you want Forochel or Angmar (both 40-50) or North Downs or Cardolan (20-30).

>>718007589
>I will take part in your damned fate
>Morgoth, I cried
>It's my oath!
>So don't fear the eyes of the dark lord

>>718007903
Really? Last time they didn't even have gay or interracial marriage.
>>718008060
Niggas in Umbar don't bother me too much.

>>718008167
>>718007589
daily reminder to disregard oath posts

i have been looking for an mmo and never played lotro back in the day
maybe i'll pick it up, i need a low-effort grindan game

>>718008312
Uh oh, we have a jail-crow here.

>>718008280
What about nigerian elves?

Never played it but tempted. I'd want to be a wizard in this or the new tabletop RPG game but I understand that it's probably something that's supposed to be rare in this universe like Jedi or Space Marines in theirs.

That said I'll take being a comfy hobbit too.

>>718008604
Is this a NPC or option in character creator? Both are bad but first one is worse.

AHHH NOOOOO BLACK PEOPLE ARE IN MY VIDEO GAME IM GOING FUCKING INSANE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA I NEED TO VOTE TO COLLAPSE EVERYTHING CAUSE OF THIS!!!!

>>718008604
sexo

>>718008739
Shouldve framed more niggers for crack

>>718008708
character creator.
Also your elf can be smoked, asian and other brown cultures

>>718008639
There is a lore-keeper class, which stands for 'wizard' but you mostly throw tar/burning pinecones and befriend animals and a rune-keeper class, which is actual wizard and was considered controversial and not lorefriendly, very fun to play btw.

>>718009048
>smoked
My elf is quite well smoked.
>tfw cross-breeding pipe-weed to get cool visual is a skill

I played this game years ago but never got to max level. It's undoubtedly the best recreation of Middle Earth in a video game, and that's really its selling point to me. If you really hate 2010s MMO mechanics though, you probably won't tolerate it, since it's all cooldown combat. I never felt that the grind was too bad, there are so many zones nowadays that you'll probably outlevel half the content before getting to it. Might be different at endgame though.

How are the gear aesthetics? Im the boring full plate knight kind of guy, but LOTR always seemed pretty averse to letting the heroes wear anything that covers their face

>>718004073 (OP)
It's a pretty standard 2000s MMO ala WOW, Everquest, and such. The environments look very pretty, especially in the modern zones as I've heard, there are pretty interesting classes (I play Warden personally), and they make expansions early.

I like Landscape Difficulty they added somewhat recently, which lets you make enemies stronger so that it isn't complete steamroll, though the Eye mechanic there is just annoying. I also wish they didn't increase level cap each expansion and instead either made them all stay at the same level or made the world scale, though at this point it's far from worth it for them I feel.

>>718004073 (OP)
I played it at launch and for several years after. It was really something special back then - I quit in the expansion after the Mines of Moria when the game went F2P.

There is a fuckload of content now I bet (there was even back then) so you can probably find unlimited things to do.

Worth a shot, it costs you nothing.

>>718009741
I think it's because they chose a very safe MMORPG expansion model to go with, and levels caps an easy go to. People have forgotten what absolute ASS mounted combat they added in the Rohan expansion, for example.

>>718009704
Pretty shit, nearly impossible to look that good t: played for about 200hrs at the start of the year

>>718009963
The early game is pretty kino, fucking around in the Shire essentially doing low-stakes chores for Hobbits is pretty unique in the MMO world.

>>718004073 (OP)
>head to the Prancing Pony for a quest and pint
>see this

>>718009704
definitely on the more subdued side, but you have the usual light, medium and heavy categories.

>>718010487
BLACK LARD

>>718009963
>>718010440
I found the new tutorial to be horrendous. Old racial ones are still great.

>>718004073 (OP)
I played it for a bit during its release days and then shortly after it went f2p. Fun to run around in the world for a Tolkien nerd but otherwise it's a rather standard WoW style MMO.
A shame that they nerfed the Old forest that place used to be creepy and dangerous with no map and shifting paths.

>>718010487
JKR & JRRT crossover.jpg

Did the switch to the new servers happen?
Is it better now?

>>718004073 (OP)
I like how it does some subversions. Like the Hunter isn't your token pet class and is more about efficient travel.

>>718010773
if it's anything like ddo, initial transfer shitstorm notwithstanding, it should really improve moment to moment gameplay experience.

>>718010487
Tragic UI.

>>718010773
lag is actually worse now if anything because of server concentration and overloading

This would be my game if not for the SHAMELESS monetization they do.
Yea you can ignore a lot of it, but god damn it, every single menu has a some sort of MTX button to press, worse than RS3.
The actual world design as amazing in this game.
I don't know if they do some rendering magic for some zones, but seeing Weathertop tower over that region is amazing.
>>718010927
I got into LOTRO around December.
Played on some Euro server, pretty active.
Shit was lagging like a bitch during prime time.
They said it was because of 32 bit servers and that there was allegedly a switch going to happen to 64.
But I have not played for half a year, so was wondering.
I had heard that the servers that already were 64bit were better but not perfect, something to do with the amount information each player character carries adding up or something?
>>718011157
Oh shit.

>>718011001
there's only so much you can do in this game, you can't even move the bars up

>>718011376
Problem is also the ancient engine. You can't blame ALL shitty performance on servers.

>>718010636
I wouldn't know, haven't made a new toon in probably 10 years.

Game needs to die so a better lotr mmo can be attempted.

>>718011775
Won't happen, if you think LOTRO got pozzed imagine what a 2025 era new one would be like. Probably more like Amazon's shitty fanfic.

>>718010301
Female player models have a lot of nice clothes and because of how cosmetic outfits work, they can run around Mordor in dresses.

>>718011775
well amazon is the one attempting one so have fun

>>718012142
>is
Didn't that get cancelled?

>>718008167
>BUT I ARRIVED

>decide to download the game
>go to the site
>everything is in maintenance so i can't even download the client
rofl

>>718012936
I remember being really annoyed that free coupon they had going on could ONLY be redeemed from in-game store so I had to download the damn thing just to apply the code.

>>718013257
Why the fuck do you care about a coupon for a game you don't play

>>718013257
I also remember some super anniversary where they were giving away a lot of content and I suggested a couple of friends to try it. But they never found where to enter the code, and on reddit and steam they responded with literally >>718013897 similar posts, so they shrugged their shoulders and said that they wouldn't download this crap just to enter the code there.

>>718004073 (OP)
It can be decently fun as far as MMOs go, but they really nickel and dime every single little thing
I can't imagine the f2p experience is anything less than total shit
It is hella comfy though

>>718010301
Damn, are there at least some full helms or fur cloaks?

>>718012936
you can download through steam

>>718015727
I remember there being some proper fur cloaks in the Forochel region stuff. Never played heavy armor classes so can't really say on helmets.

>>718015798
i read somewhere the steam client isn't kept up to date or something

>>718015983
it just downloads the launcher which will let you bypass downloading it through the website
the launcher downloads and updates the game

>>718016152
might be some truth to it being out of date or are the latest news really from may

>>718004073 (OP)
Gameplay is shit and story took a nosedive after Mordor. It's nice early on if you don't mind being overleveled all the time, later on it's only worth it for some sightseeing.

>>718012265
Last thing i heard is that it's back on, but Amazon LotR MMO just sounds cursed there is maybe a 0.1% chance of it being any good.

>>718016347
idk i've never had an issue with it

Did they add the not shit servers yet?

>>718017989
They did but it's still laggy at prime time

I prefer the classic pserver, the retail game is way too laggy

>>718015662
It's not that but, you just need Premium Wallet for barter coins, since there's tons of them later on. It's for 995 LP for the whole account which you should have by North Downs/Evendim/Trollshaws (faster if you make alts). It also goes on sale sometimes.

>>718019021
Does the subscription service fix all of the micro shit, or would I still need to spend money on things to make the game playable?

>>718019452
Back when it first went free-to-play the smart move was to subscribe for one month since that would unlock a lot of permanent benefits such as that wallet thing iirc. But they've changed stuff since then I think.

>>718019452
a few years back they made 1-120 (or was it 1-85) completely free
previously it was like 1-30 and then basically the 30+ zones all had to be unlocked with coins you gained through various grind deeds

I take it the orc gameplay/pvp stuff isn’t good, or it’s just dead player count wise?

For anybody interested: the company that owns LOTRO, Daybreak, also owns a number of other games including Everquest, and are currently suing an EQ private server.
>https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/70555215/daybreak-game-company-llc-v-takahashi/

>>718020691
Ironically they seem to be putting more emphasis on PvMP than ever. Too bad it's about 10-12 years too late.

>>718020691
It was pretty dead the last few years on my servers, but the new servers might have revived it

>>718020691
It's a shame cuz it was fun, the uruk archer fuckin slayed
They were talking about changing the siege portion which would be nice

>>718020917
Shame they didn’t capitalize on it more, the idea of a dedicated monster/pvp race is really cool.