tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34126572.post4161252225739188869..comments2023-10-15T04:55:00.347-05:00Comments on Anyway Games: LOTR Online: initial impressionsAaron Millerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06397235341719388657noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34126572.post-46143423212449896282009-04-21T09:40:00.000-05:002009-04-21T09:40:00.000-05:00Also consider LOTR has no support to speak of outs...Also consider LOTR has no support to speak of outside the game. It's mostly in the form of FAQ's and actual live people are impossible to locate.<br /><br />Imagine you are having trouble getting the game installed. You are screwed if the reason is not covered in the FAQ's.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34126572.post-78237051162025542522007-12-02T01:24:00.000-06:002007-12-02T01:24:00.000-06:00I agree that LOTRO is a decent game, and the reaso...I agree that LOTRO is a decent game, and the reason that i play it is because i absolutely LOVE the lord of the rings. If i didn't- i wouldn't play it w/o friends on it. Too bad all of mine are still stuck to WoW...<BR/><BR/>you're right though about MMO's being a problem. The entire genre (after everquest expansions turned it into a copycat of everything new) has turned out nothing worth spending much time fawning over.<BR/><BR/>I'm sticking to my RTS (and LOTRO, but just 'cause it's LOTR!) ty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34126572.post-42875267785630780802007-10-23T23:19:00.000-05:002007-10-23T23:19:00.000-05:00I agree with you 100% Aaron.I wasted 30.00 on this...I agree with you 100% Aaron.<BR/><BR/>I wasted 30.00 on this piece of crap. I have played many many many mmo's (Fiesta, FFXI, WoW, City of heroes/Villians, Silkroad, Rappelz, Mabinogi, Maple Story, Project Entropia, Second Life, Perfect World, Granado Espada, FlyFF, Anarchy Online, EvE Online, Space Cowboy, RF Online, Ragnarok, 2Moons, Lineage 2, Auto Assault, and many others i can't think of at the moment.) the only ones i have played for longer than a month are City of Heroes, and Final Fantasy XI.<BR/><BR/>FFXI has a very different quest system, and City of has a character creation that is off the charts.<BR/><BR/>LOTR is exactly like the "point and click" korean mmo's (similar to lineage and WoW). It is just set in a popular world. A popular world with severe net-lag. <BR/><BR/>This game offers up nothing that WoW and L2 do not besides the story. Even the interface is exactly the same.<BR/><BR/>It's a great game if you don't want to learn how to play something new, or if you love LOTR so much that it makes you vomit just to think about standing next to a virtual Legolas.<BR/><BR/>If you like run of the mill quests, LOTR, muddled tutorials, and bad voice acting, then pick this or WoW up. But if you crave some depth, origionality, and creativity, stick the retail box in your ass then dance a jig. <BR/><BR/>At least that way you can experience something new for $30.00.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34126572.post-77441036178660891792007-10-17T17:30:00.000-05:002007-10-17T17:30:00.000-05:00You're right, I was looking for instant gratificat...You're right, I was looking for instant gratification. There's a difference between enjoying yourself while struggling toward a goal and having to slave through boring content to reach the fun parts. All games should be fun right off the bat. <BR/><BR/>Current MMOs are not designed to make players grind because that's how any MMO has to be. An MMO can be fun at the start and throughout. You're seeing MMOs only for what they have been in the past. I assure you, they can be very different. Grinding doesn't have to be essential to MMO gameplay. <BR/><BR/>You're wrong that this review (which I clearly labelled "initial impressions" in the title) is like giving a car a bad review for having an automatic transmission. It's not like that because an automatic transmission is a good feature when it fits with particular vehicles of quality. Grinding in MMOs, on the other hand, and shoddy quest design annoy players no matter what game they're put into. I have absolutely no doubt that you, too, Guillermo, would prefer MMOs to have better-crafted quests and gameplay that doesn't feel like just going through the motions. <BR/><BR/>For developers to continue including grinding and only the most basic, predictable quests in MMOs is like if car manufacturers continued to include only AM radio with bad reception in every car, instead of upgrading to high-quality CD players when they became available. If every car only offered the AM radio, car buyers would still be right to demand better.<BR/><BR/>And I was thinking specifically of people who are still able to enjoy MMOs as they are now when I said "I'm not saying that LOTR is bad as MMOGs go". Compared to other current MMOs, LOTRO's pretty decent. But it's still completely deserving of criticism for not addressing the problems that plague all MMOs and are not the necessary evils that many think they are.Aaron Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06397235341719388657noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34126572.post-15680740350822300282007-10-17T15:39:00.000-05:002007-10-17T15:39:00.000-05:00I found nothing even remotely helpful about this r...I found nothing even remotely helpful about this review with respect to LOTR. When a review about a specific game eventually results in a broad critique against an entire genre of online games (MMORPGs, in this specific case), the original intent of the reviewer lacks merit.<BR/><BR/>Saying that LOTR is just another WOW with slight difference basically tells me it is an awesome game, mainly because I enjoy playing WOW.<BR/><BR/>It is my impression that the reviewer was looking for instant gratification in an MMORPG. There is no such thing. Unless you buy a top level toon without the experience of low-level play.<BR/><BR/>I, too, played several other MMORPGs until I ended up playing WOW. I played Lineage (not Lineage II because there is no Mac version), Shadowbane, and EQ. Even Second Life. I prefer WoW hands down.<BR/><BR/>So here I am trying to find useful reviews of LOTR to play on a PC and I stumble upon this lame review. Its like buying a new car and writing "automatic transmission sucks" to review a specific car. <BR/><BR/>Not a smart review, in my honest opinion, and the reviewer should have played some more of the game to be even considered a trustworthy source. A smart reviewer can understand and even anticipate what MMORPGers are looking for in a new game.<BR/><BR/>I personally don't like sports games. But just because I don't like them doesn't mean I can honestly try a new sports game title, play it for a couple hours, and label it as "crap".<BR/><BR/>This review is crap. I'm regret I even spent time writing this, because I bet the reviewer won't have the guts to allow it to stay.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34126572.post-65446624098307341232007-10-13T21:22:00.000-05:002007-10-13T21:22:00.000-05:00Excellent review! I waited until they (finally) re...Excellent review! I waited until they (finally) released a trial version and my initial impression is well summed up in what your wrote. I played two characters, a human champion to level 12 and a human captain to level 10. It's more of the same crap in a new pile. :\Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34126572.post-58550747957676172622007-04-17T20:10:00.000-05:002007-04-17T20:10:00.000-05:00Hey are you aware that if i google 'lotr online su...Hey are you aware that if i google 'lotr online sucks' it's your blog that comes up first?!!<BR/><BR/>I think it's kinda cool because you give a good and well explained review of it.<BR/><BR/>CheersAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com