LOTRO

[Panda Man]

Originally Posted by Computer-Ed

I understand the arguement but then I look at a game like EVE where the game has some good depth of storyline, free updates for game play as well as content and super support in general.

CSS is a great game but in the end you play just to play with no stroyline really driving you. I love the feel of a good story that you can wrap around you and get lost in, hence why I hate most FPS.

Each his own..

In Soviet Russia, FPS hate you for not having a good story!

Personally I just play on private servers so I don't have to cough up money. I'm a strategy guy, and pretty much all online strategy games online are free - they way they should be. I can see why a company would charge, they need something to cover the costs of their servers and such, but I still try to avoid subscriptions, I like to pay once and get it over with.

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by Computer-Ed

I have two of my friends that are big into Everquest and Everquest II, they have invested a lot of money and time into thier play, YEARS on EQ. They are both going to drop their EQ and EQ2 accounts in the next 90 days as soon as their clan mates finish the move over.

Your friends are giving up EQ in favor for LOTRO? In all honesty, I sincerely beleive that EQ is the superior of the the two games. I, too, have years of gaming experience with the original EverQuest, in fact it was the first MMO that I cut my teeth on. EQ became a well polished and successful MMO that was never watered down or kiddiefied like LOTRO and WoW are.

Originally Posted by Capper

Where would you place this game in relation to games like Everquest II and WOW? I've never played that type of game much, but my neighbor is completely addicted to them.

I know your comment was intended towards Computer Ed, Capper, but LOTRO is an almost exact replica of WoW. Change the storyline and the names, and you basically have another WoW on your hands. EverQuest II is slightly more diverse in that it does not follow the de facto cookie cutter WoW template that nearly all current MMO's are made of.

Originally Posted by Computer-Ed

CSS is a great game but in the end you play just to play with no stroyline really driving you. I love the feel of a good story that you can wrap around you and get lost in, hence why I hate most FPS.

I agree, FPS are and can be a bit bland. I played FEAR and HL2 to completion, but in the end the satisfaction of beating the game was just not the same as finishing a RPG or MMO. However, playing a FPS online with other opponents, well now, that is a different story. Blackhawk Down, Battlefield 2, Delta Force 2, and other FPS type games I love to play online with other people. Who cares about storyline when you're repeatedly pwning people?

[Computer-Ed]

Originally Posted by garetjax

Your friends are giving up EQ in favor for LOTRO? In all honesty, I sincerely I know your comment was intended towards Computer Ed, Capper, but LOTRO is an almost exact replica of WoW. Change the storyline and the names, and you basically have another WoW on your hands. EverQuest II is slightly more diverse in that it does not follow the de facto cookie cutter WoW template that nearly all current MMO's are made of.

I would respectfully disagree with this and agree at the same time. The mechanics of the game are very WOW similiar but the actual play is very different. This is like comparing a poorly written DnD novel to Tolkien, it might use words in both books and the same basic style of cover art but the depth inside is way different.

In WOW I NEVER felt like I was part of something from the storyline. It was dry and generic. In LOTRO the missions all have a strong storyline feel and draw you into the bigger tail of the war for Middleearth.

Currently my Dwarf is fighting the Dourhands, a clan of dwarves that have sided with evil and have even attempted to start an elf/dwarf war. As I and my Kinsmen work through this quest series we see a bit into dwarven politics and begin to see how this could effect the war the war overall will go.

Even the mundane and petty missions have a decent plot twist to them that draws you more into being a dwarf. i have not played the other races yet but my friends tell me they all do the same thing draw you into the race.

WOW never was able to this, it has next to no backstory to draw you into the the bit that is there is cheesy and poorly written.

Additionally I do not think it can be overstated enough the risk LOTRO took by break the typical fantasy mold and going with no true magic user. The magic user was introduced into fantasy gaming as a cheap way for power users to feel like Gods in the game. Think the silly FPS games where a single person is carrying a weapon that does nuc level damage to all it faces and has no ammo restrictions, you know the kind of games I mean.

LOTRO took a huge risk cutting this out of the game but did so for the integrity of the game world. This alone, a devotion to something more than easy money but a real effort to stay within the Tolkien fiction is a HUGE departure from anything done by any gaming company with this type of play.

While I will again agree that the mechanics of the game are similiar to WOW and many others, the real part of the game, the soul of the game is different from any fantasy game done to date. To say it is kidified or cloned is to do a diservice to the creators and the vision they have so well implimented as well as leave one wondering if any real play time with it has been spent.

As for EQ, yes many of them are looking to leave EQ. the reason is not the game per sae, though it is dated and time for a major overhaul but rather the way Sony has ripped off it's customer base over the years and keeps doing so.

[garetjax]

Originally Posted by Computer-Ed

Additionally I do not think it can be overstated enough the risk LOTRO took by break the typical fantasy mold and going with no true magic user.... LOTRO took a huge risk cutting this out of the game but did so for the integrity of the game world.

This is why I firmly beleive that LOTRO will become popular only for those people who want to immerse themselves into a true Tolkien-esque environment. Keeping true to the books is good for those people who have read them and know what to expect in an MMO of this kind. I honestly do not consider that LOTRO took a risk by not incorporating magic users into the game. Turbine and Midway simply followed the theme of the Middle Earth story; that is all.

Simply put, if people who play this game know anything about LOTR, they know that magic users are rare, and therefore know what to expect in the game. So no, in my opinion there was no risk associated with not offering magic users in the MMO. The developers were simply adhering to Middle Earth lore, nothing more.

Originally Posted by Computer-Ed

This alone, a devotion to something more than easy money but a real effort to stay within the Tolkien fiction is a HUGE departure from anything done by any gaming company with this type of play.

When I first started beta'ing LOTRO and then continued to play once it went live, the feeling I received from the game overall was that it was hastily hashed together in order to accomplish two things:

1) Use the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy to put together a MMO in the shortest time possible to get cash flowing off the LOTR name.

2) Use the success of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy in order to dissuade subscribers from buying and playing SOE's Vanguard: Saga of Heroes MMO.

Basically, LOTRO feels like it was thrown together at the last minute, in order to make easy money off the LOTRO name as soon as possible. The game feels and plays like a template of any other MMO out there: the names have changed, the quest text and backstory changed and not much else. Hell, even the combat system and mechanics, I am sorry to say, is pathetic and reeks of both WoW and DnD styles. And this was an issue that was hotly discussed even while the game was still in beta (and ignored) and still went live anyway.