Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

http://pc.ign.com/objects/012/012112.html

This will be a good game but will it stand against others like World of WarCraft and EverQuest?

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/middleearthonline/index.html?q=lord%20of%20the%20rings%20online

There's no release date set for anywhere yet.

Two seconds of searching found that...we're not a search engine, please.

there nothin wrong with makin a thread for it here though.

Also..

"set for release on the PC in November 2006"

I can't wait for Shadows of Angmar to come out

Oki Thanks.

(First off, I decided to make a new thread instead of posting in any of the 4-5 old threads because none of those had any useful information or discussion in them).

So now that this game has been released, has anyone tried it yet? I might be interested in this game if it turns out to have a better end-game then World of Warcraft. And from the reviews and movies I have seen so far it looks good. Even though it has a monthly fee like WoW (same price even).

So, for those of u who have tried it. How is it? And could anyone try to compare it up to games like WOW?


For those of u who haven't heard of it check out these sites:

North American site
European site
Gamespot review
IGN review
Note: this is an MMORPG and thus both IGN and Gamespot haven't gotten enough time to fully play the game for full reviews, these are merely Hands on previews.

And here is a lot of gameplay videos and trailers from
GameTrailers

Wish i could

Merged duplicates. I don't care what your excuse is, do not make duplicate threads.

Plays like WoW, minus the good PVP combat, from what I've heard.

I heard taht there is a kind of PVP but you can choose to play your toons or you can play as the evil side.

Apparently at lvl 10 u can get to a portal where u can control a monster (spider, wolf etc) which is at endgame level. This monster is able to attack other players that are still on their "Good guy" characters. Which seems very good as I found myself wanting to kill Horde rather then Alliance when i was paying WoW as Horde, now u get a chance to get revenge on bad players of same faction.

I just ordered it, people say it's excellent. Thought they say it plays way too much like WOW and other MMORPG.

The catch in this game is that you get special titles each time you do something or get any awards, and your name will never be left out without a title, which makes everything sound really cool when they talk to you

Added to that, the graphics are really good I heard, and that the interactiveness is good too. LOTS of quest, and I think "Gamespot" said it has more sidequests than even WOW. I'm sure it'll hold it's ground, and be a game played for a long time, but it will be on the "Guild Wars" level of MMORPG, while WoW will remain the Titan.

Which is sad because I hate WoW and love Lotr.

i really wasnt a fan at all in beta and quickly gave up the beta for vanguard beta. I must say im pretty shocked that the reviews for it have been very good.

My flat mate had this in beta and I played it a bit, and was engrossed. Nothing truly original and innovative and it does play very much like WoW, but even if you aren't a fan of WoW, that should not put you off.

In it's favour, it's a well made, well run game with some truly involving and epic quests, a great engine with a nicely forming community. A must have for any Tolkien fan really, and worth checking out if you play a few MMO's.

Apparently it sold more copies off the shelf in it's first week than WoW did.

So basically a good replacement for someone who are sick of WoW after playing it for over 1.5 years (1-70 and some low level alts)?

We wants it!

Originally posted by Morridini
So basically a good replacement for someone who are sick of WoW after playing it for over 1.5 years (1-70 and some low level alts)?

Exactly.

Think WoW in a LOTR world. Thats why I'm getting it, I found WoW's world stupid and I got bored of it really fast.


Well, once i'll get it i'll tell you guys if I like it or not

Edit:

I also have more information ont he "Hunt" PvP type.

You get to pick which monster you wanna play including Uruk Reavers(Uruk Swordsmen), Uruk Blackarrows (Uruk Archers), Warleaders, or Spiders. You can attack/defend different castles which either the other side control, or the other side is attacking. I'm not sure about "The Other Side" thought, their called "The Free People" and i'm not sure if their players or NPC, and if you get to play them.

Originally posted by Morridini
So basically a good replacement for someone who are sick of WoW after playing it for over 1.5 years (1-70 and some low level alts)?

Yes, I'd say it was. Personally, I played SW:G for 3 and a half years out of habit, but now I've jumped ship and have no worries.

The first free update has already been announced with 60 new quests, 9 sets of unqiue armour to obtain, new battlefields and new creatures to fight.

First free update for Lord of The RIngs Online: Shadows of Angmar?
Thats a mighty big update.

So when are they releasing that update? Is it going to autoupdate upon start of the game, or is it a seperate download?

Well I am still only drooling at screenshots and videos of the game, so I don't know how the patching etc is done. But I believe ti to be sometime during June.

Strangely the only thing i can say bad about LoTR is that the world is really really small. I fear they eventually will run out of stuff without having to make up junk or tweak the story beyond recognition. WoW when you really sit and look at it is huge and the idea of the th origional dark portal leaves open the idea of more expansion.

Well now it's coming with an expansion to the world already after only 1 month after release, if they keep this up then it won't be so small. Remember that it is a LotR game and they can use Middle Earth, and not only the parts we saw in the movies, but the rest as well.

From experience of beta, I'd go with an update happening upon the launcher. Another update of this size is scheduled for a mid-summer release, and a much larger one near fall.

There's enough quests to keep you going and the trait and title systems are very fun. Believe me, in beta I spent a good amount of time killing Wargs or Orcs just to get a title such as "Orc Slayer"or "Warg Hunter" at the end of my name. If you kill so many, say Orc or Wargs, as displayed on the meter given, you can get a special "trait" or special to use.

Would you advise me in getting the game? I'm a massive Tolkien fan and a fan of MMORPGs

The number is 40 of each kind I think exand kane.

And chill, I think it could be recommended for people like you, this game has already won me over. Now I just need to get a new computer....

Originally posted by Morridini
The number is 40 of each kind I think exand kane.

And chill, I think it could be recommended for people like you, this game has already won me over. Now I just need to get a new computer....

Yeah, I probably need to get a new computer first. The game looks so fantastic though. Might have to buy it anyway and put up with my shoddy comp, till I can get a new one.

looks a great game but ive already got WoW and on end game content so i dont think id want to change and i doubt i could afford both, if i had the money tho would be an awsome game to play i reckon, although i am a lover of the first age in Lotr and the hobbit adventure myself

If u enjoy WoW and don't mind the raid oriented End game then there isn't really much reason to switch to LotRO, only reason would
be if u are a Tolkien fan.
However I myself hate raiding and think the solo possibilities of LotRO sounds very interesting, especially the fact that all instances has a Solo tier, a Fellowship tier and a Raid tier. Meaning that even I who don't like raids can experience all the instances (always annoying how I never got to see Kel'Thuzzad in WoW).

Well in the broad context of LoTR middle earth is very small; its one contenent and the only other land really spoken of is the retreat of the Elves which can be assumed is another continent where no one can return from.

Most of the story in Middle Earth is in the past and they are choosing to focus on LoTR which is at the end of the age of that history.

hmm yes i too am especially annoyed at the same fact that Morri brought up, i too am annoyed that i never got to see Kelthuzard, it ruins it a little when you cannot experiance certain content because to get there takes so many other people and time.

by the sounds of it, this is ofcourse when the Witch king has more or less just been corrupted and has his old home Angmar, hmm, i wish they would open it out into the territory of the first age, it just seems so much more exciting because dragons and balrogs and maia and the like were so much more common.

i would certainly in a game visit Valinor and the Vanyar elves, especially as an evil creature when you unlock it

Ya, the first age would be wacko awesome, but no humans or Hobbits really; just Dwarves, Elves, and Fauna.

there were humans, just mostly primitive until they spent some time with the elves, then they even surprised the elves in battle. I think humans were certainly better fighters than a lot of the highborn, not as good equipment maybe but they were more ferocious.

maybe they will add expansions consisting of the first and second age events and characters. An instance against morgoth would be nice

Tribal primitative wise ya and very primal.

That would be cool, not sure if i remember anything spoken of tiem wise. In WoW they held precident with the bronze dragon flight as keepers of time allowing peeps to go back and fight in battles in the past which is really fun.

Originally posted by RaventheOnly
Tribal primitative wise ya and very primal.

That would be cool, not sure if i remember anything spoken of tiem wise. In WoW they held precident with the bronze dragon flight as keepers of time allowing peeps to go back and fight in battles in the past which is really fun.

hmm yeh that is a good idea from Blizzard, has anyone actually got attuned for Mount Hyjal yet i wonder, u seen wat u need to do for that place, i doubt its going to be done in a long while lol

Originally posted by Burning thought
hmm yeh that is a good idea from Blizzard, has anyone actually got attuned for Mount Hyjal yet i wonder, u seen wat u need to do for that place, i doubt its going to be done in a long while lol

Exactly, i never got attuned to Naxx, it was beyond my reach by a long shot. I guess tahts the idea of the game, you can struggle at your own pace to achieve what you can.

They have to vists the LOTR Middle earth as...

a. Brings in customers from a wider audience

b. They only have the license for LOTR

c. Beleriand has sunk under the sea, so Nagothrond, Doriath etc are a no go area.

I wonder how big Minas Tirith will be when it get added to the game, surely bigger then any of the cities in WoW?

Woohoo, my copy of LOTRO: SOA is now in New Jersey. Atleast thats what UPS is telling me.

Originally posted by Morridini
I wonder how big Minas Tirith will be when it get added to the game, surely bigger then any of the cities in WoW?

Not sure, Minas Tirith is actually suppose to be pretty small living space wise. most of its fortifications; seven concentric walls.

Right. Most of it's forts and barrakses and stuff. Gondor as a whole is much more militaristic then Rohan and the other free nations.

But still, if they follow the size done in the LotR movies it is bound to be big.

I'm soo going to do the plunge from the top that Theoden did
If only there was a way to lit oneself on fire.

Theodens of Rohan, you mean the Steward of Gondor

Opsy dopsy.

Yes, meant Denethor.

Originally posted by Morridini
Opsy dopsy.

Yes, meant Denethor.

lotsa names, no worries

Minas Tirith will still be huge, but it's the small fiefs and towns of Gondor never mentioned in the films that'll be nice to visit.

Remember in Return of the King when Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli leap off the ship with the Army of the Dead? Well, that port, Pelagir, will be a fantastic place to visit.

Theres a lot of kingdoms along the coast, in the book they where fighting the Umbar Pirates who were the ones who sent the fleet to Pelagir. They ment to send troops to aid Gondor, and some did merge witht he Rohirim but most were busy fighting the Umbar in their own kingdoms/towns. Even the tribe of Indian like tribe people who helped the Rohirim through the forest/jungle to get behind Mordor troops have a village like place.

Yep, there's so much material to rip from the books its unbelievable, of which the Druadan tribe are a tiny piece of.

You got Ithillien, Lossonarch, Lamedon, Belfalas and Anfalas just to name a couple. So much can be brought from the books, limited space is hardly an issue.

Personally, in beta, it was the lands of the north that interested me; as a Hunter class, tracking wild bears and wolves around the mountains etc. and bumping into all these landmarks. And exploring has so much more weight than say WoW, because, if your a fan, you'll have read all about these places since you first read the book.

Exactly, so i'm sure that LOTROOA will keep it's freshness with always updating, adding new places and so forth. It has so many exciting contents to add, that the producers wont have to make up some content which can screw the game, but add content that is already Tolkien proof. And I'm sure you'll get this feeling while you walk through places you remember from the book.

Do any of you think that places like Herod and Khan will be available? I can't see it happening, but it would be great if it did.

Do you mean Rhun and Harad? If so, yes, I can imagine them being implemented in the future. Not now though, just Eriador for now.

I believe they will focus on the Ringbearer's travel route first and foremost. Meaning the areas between the west coast and including Mordor.

Will the Grey Havens be accessible? That would be interesting to see.

Now the Grey Havens are interesting. I was going ballistic trying to find the entrance (they are pointed to on the map) but I don't think they've been made available yet.

Well I finally got it, installing it now. I'll report back soon.

First, I'll show you guys some screenshots I took, but I only began yesterday and didn't play very long.

http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/1019/screenshot00007cb4.jpg
"The Day Begins Yet Again"

http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/3006/screenshot00005jb1.jpg
"Hobbit's Quarry Site"

http://img103.imageshack.us/img103/1029/screenshot00004ln6.jpg
"Me Being Chased by 7 Wolves, and then Escaping by Swimming in The Water, which they fear"


I really love the game, the only thing about it that bugs me is that there are too few clases. Other then that, I love the game! There's no shortage of gold like in most MMORPG where you will find yourself unable to by armor of your level, but it's the other way around, you will always have money but you will try to lvl up to get better items.

It's really really big, althought I thought it would be small because so many places aren't yet in it and are going to be introduced only in further updates, but it took me 2 days to preety much explore 3/4 of The Shire. I am still continuing as I speak.

The deed system is wonderful, and so is the introduction to the game where you start out in the middle of the action. (For Elves, atleast)

Theres a good amount of players on, althought not as much as other MMORPG, but it just came out a month ago, so I think more players will come. I play on the "Firefoot" server.

I didn't try the Monster Play system yet, but i'm about to turn lvl 10 and then i'm heading to Bree-Land to go into the scrying well there.

Cool ^> ^

Got a few screenshots of monster play, I'll post them later.

Monster play can get really fun sometimes. I just logged out after defending one of my fortresses (Monster's Fortesses) against like 3 full raid group's of free people(Real players who reached lvl 40-50) And it was really crazy. 10 last "Free People" who were left on top of the fortress with all their teamates gone jumped out of the archer cracks and fell down on the ground, only to be killed by trolls.

You get to play as a Reaver(Sword), Blackarrow(Archer), Warlord(Buffer), Weaver(Poisoning Spider), and some monster that looks like a wolf, can't remember it's name, but it acts as an "assassin" by turning invisible and coming up behind enemies

In monster play there are also tons of quests you can do in the map you are stuck in, which give you destiny points. With the destiny points, you can then purchase upgrades. They will make you look different, or give you more skills, or give you more health, etc...

There are about 6 fortresses around the map, almost all the time atleast 4 are controlled by monster's forces, because clearly monster's have an advantage for now because of their lvl50 from the start.

Another thing I would like to add about Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar is it's crafting simplicity. In other games like Everquest 2 I didn't even mind with crafting because it was so damn confusing. But here, it's not confusing at all. You get to pick your vocation, such as forester, or weaponmaker, and then you either encounter mine "veins" of different metals which you mine, or say wood branches. Then you either smelt the metal into ingots, or use wax on the branches to turn them into fixed wood. Then you can also take thin leather to make it into boiled leather. None of the basic crafting materials are hard to find. In fact, their really easy to find.

Man, this game sounds amazing. How much is it per month?

I beileve it is 14.99 months, and the bigger packages you buy the less it costs.

What do you mean by packages?

Such as you pay one payment for 3 months, or 5 months, then the offer costs less then say if you do 3 x 14.99 or 5 x 14.99.

Oh.. right, right. Like X-Box LIVE, I think.

As a matter of fact I too got the game two days ago but has been a bit busy so haven't gotten to play too much.

I first selected a human Burglar, but found that class to be too boring. then I rolled a human Hunter that I find to be much more interesting.

I haven't taken that many screenshots yet, I'll see if find anything interesting to take screenshots of.

Oh and btw, I play on the English RP server Laurelin. If anyone else play there then add "Amiras" to your friends list.

Laurelin? There's no such server. In my servers screen, there's only Landroval, and I checked the forums and no Laurelin either. Where do you live? Maybe there's a seperate forum for Europe and USA?

Ops yes, I keep forgetting there is a world outside Europe.

English, Laurelin, Europe.

Great game.

And still, anyone playing this still?

They are about to roll out another large, free update!

I'm still subscribing to it, though I haven't played it in a good long while.

I haven't the time, but I do follow old news and get it handed to me by certain people. Still haven't added the good old Grey Havens yet though.

I liked the game, even though the Monster Play was kinda boring, but I for some reason lost the will to play it (it happens from time to time) and haven't touched it since my first month were up.

Great news, LotRO is going to become Free To Play this fall.

Yup, it's now free, which means that I'll be playing it. So, anyone else interested? Maybe we can get a party going.

If it is free to play I just may get it.

If anyone's curious to know if their PC can run it, go here to find out. Then go to the drop down menu and select "The Lord of the Rings Online". It'll tell you if your comp can handle it.

only reason I suggest doing that first is because it's a 4 hour download with a 700 kb download rate.

I need to get back into it.

I remember playing the beta way back before it was released. May just have to pick it up now.

I installed it, and jumped back in, only to be overwhlemed by not remembering where I was, what to do, and a lot of new changes (all my quests were removed because of "versioning", whatever that means). So I'll have to spend a lot of time refamiliarizing myself with the game before I can really continue playing.

Is there a point to the quests in this game besides "You're in area A, travel to Area B, slaughtering tons of fodder monsters on the way, and talk to the NPC you meet there"?

I am exceptionally wary of apparently free to play games where those that do pay get tangible, mechanical advantages. The cardinal sin here is that those who pay for a premium package get priority server access, leaving those not paying as second class in that respect. D&D online has the same problem.

Guild Wars this is not, and I will never try any game that has a two tier server access. To me, being free is effectively faked unless there is a universal service provided. I don't mind there being payments for fripperies like costumes or even for extra content, but server access is a red line.

It seems there are a lot of tangible features that 'free' players don't get here as well. I really don't like that.

I'm getting bored with this game. I hate MMORPGs on the account that every mission you do in the beginning is some fetch quest which in this case it's go to point A to accept quest, go to point B to talk to someone else to continue quest, go to point C to acquire object, return to point B to talk to person who sends you back to point A to complete quest only to discover you have to go back to point C to acquire another item.

I swear I'm getting tired of it. I perfer the RTS Battle for Middle-earth II.

'pologies for the necro.

Anyone still play this? I'm about to give it a run...