Going to play LOTRO on Friday! who's with me? :)

[Diaxis]

LOTRO open beta begins for the $10 pre-order peeps come Friday ( starts April 6th for the cheapskates :D ).

Pre-order people get to keep their beta character when the game retails April 24th.

Anyone else here jumping ship?

[ananda]

LOTRO open beta begins for the $10 pre-order peeps come Friday ( starts April 6th for the cheapskates :D ).

Pre-order people get to keep their beta character when the game retails April 24th.

Anyone else here jumping ship?

nah, enjoying VG too much right now. no reason to leave.

[Zaraj]

LOTRO is a Dungeons and Dragon Online mod. Good to play while you wait for betters MMOs. Theres no real PVP, and the world is tiny. Once people realize this will move elsewhere... I am already "elsewhere" :D. I will stay here (VG) with my guildmates :D

[rhindle]

LOTRO open beta begins for the $10 pre-order peeps come Friday ( starts April 6th for the cheapskates ).

Pre-order people get to keep their beta character when the game retails April 24th.

Anyone else here jumping ship?

buh bye? LOTRO devs paying you $$$ per person who sub's to LOTRO? if not, stfu and why do we care about such a post?! lock... please...

[Hopfrog]

LOTRO open beta begins for the $10 pre-order peeps come Friday ( starts April 6th for the cheapskates :D ).

Pre-order people get to keep their beta character when the game retails April 24th.

Anyone else here jumping ship?

Played beta. Not a bad game, but geared toward a younger crowd. Too many Legoelazz and Froddoo running around.

Pretty presentation, good looking environment, but a lot of it seems like fluff. Cannot even open about 80% of the doors in the game. Felt like being on a movieset with a lot of false facades.

All the characters run like they got a pogo stick stuck up their tailpipe too.

I dunno, I thought it was a neat, or cute, little game. I'd prolly jump ship for Hello Kitty Online before I would for LOTRO.

[Thorqemada]

I have seen some vids, the animations are not good and only the background is apealing...

[Diaxis]

buh bye? LOTRO devs paying you $$$ per person who sub's to LOTRO? if not, stfu and why do we care about such a post?! lock... please...

LOL you're just upset Vanguard is circling the drain. The LOTRO community is hyped for Friday. The Vanguard community is... what? In a somber malaise? Hate to say it but DDO is better than VG. UO is better than VG.

[Hopfrog]

LOL you're just upset Vanguard is circling the drain. The LOTRO community is hyped for Friday. The Vanguard community is... what? In a somber malaise? Hate to say it but DDO is better than VG. UO is better than VG.

Lol, please do NOT lock these type of threads.

The VG players I play with are quite enjoying playing VG. Having played LOTRO beta, I get a good chuckle out of people who consider it a better product. Comedic gold.

[displeasingreality]

Lol, please do NOT lock these type of threads.

The VG players I play with are quite enjoying playing VG. Having played LOTRO beta, I get a good chuckle out of people who consider it a better product. Comedic gold.


"Comedic Gold" will be server numbers in vg following LOTRO's release, as well as the 500k + subs that lotro gets straight off the bat.

And the continued failure of VG.

[Rucki]

gl hf playing lotro. can i have your stuff? :)

[Treesong]

A thread like this is plain mean! :eek:

[Haze]

LOTR is fun as hell, I jumped this dead ship a month ago!

Having a great time come join the fun!

http://www.lotro.com/worldtour



:pirate:

[Hatto]

See I gonna play both :P

[soulseeker]

Heck Ill Chime in....I DO like VGUARD...hell im level 47.....BUT For a POLISHED game not released too early with over 2500 quest LOTRO is a good game. The "world is too small" comments are from the the VG fanbois that never tried the game.

Yes DDO sucked and still sucks but LOTRO is NOT DDO. Please try and come off that VG bandwagon for a few days.

[Diaxis]

"Comedic Gold" will be server numbers in vg following LOTRO's release, as well as the 500k + subs that lotro gets straight off the bat.

And the continued failure of VG.

Absolutely. The LOTRO pre-order is the #1 best seller on EBGames today, and has been in the top 6 since Vanguard retailed. My buddy and I have been watching the score, and this is no small feat. LOTRO collectors edition is also the #5 best seller. I recall that Vanguard appeared in the top 5 and fell back off the first week of February. Turbine is giving preorder peeps three weeks of play before retail ( unlike Sigil and their 3 days ), they have a solid client thats ran well on my machine since November ( unlike VG which begs for a $400 gfx card upgrade ), they only charge $10 per month instead of $15 ( for preorder people ) and hopefully, unlike Sigil, they won't half-*ss their billing system so that it charges people *after* they've cancelled. Its also a fun game, but some people here might not like it because it requires a little reading.

[JesperX]

The "world is too small" comments are from the the VG fanbois that never tried the game.


Or from people who've been in beta for a while and said "Hey, this world is kinda small"... ya know, because it is.

Hell, I've got PLENTY of gripe with VG and I don't need a game to have a VG sized world- which is funny because much like our own world, the majority of the VG world is covered by water anyway. My point is, it doesn't have to be huge- but the LOTRO world could definitely be a bit bigger.

I think the real "comedic gold" will be the number of people who refuse to subscribe after the first free month.

[Haze]

Or from people who've been in beta for a while and said "Hey, this world is kinda small"... ya know, because it is.

Hell, I've got PLENTY of gripe with VG and I don't need a game to have a VG sized world- which is funny because much like our own world, the majority of the VG world is covered by water anyway. My point is, it doesn't have to be huge- but the LOTRO world could definitely be a bit bigger.

I think the real "comedic gold" will be the number of people who refuse to subscribe after the first free month.

Well that might be hard since in the first free month you can only go to L 15, so I doubt new people will see much of what there is out there.

[JesperX]

Well that might be hard since in the first free month you can only go to L 15, so I doubt new people will see much of what there is out there.

That should be a red flag right there. Though I will note that it does get boring FAR before level 15.

[Diaxis]

Or from people who've been in beta for a while and said "Hey, this world is kinda small"... ya know, because it is.

Hell, I've got PLENTY of gripe with VG and I don't need a game to have a VG sized world- which is funny because much like our own world, the majority of the VG world is covered by water anyway. My point is, it doesn't have to be huge- but the LOTRO world could definitely be a bit bigger.

I think the real "comedic gold" will be the number of people who refuse to subscribe after the first free month.

I recall a discussion regarding a server merge in Vanguard? There is such a thing as too much space. One problem it creates is lack of player interactivity. UO started having this problem after they doubled the world size, and then later added Ilshenar, Tokuno and Malas. Half the fun is the chicanery and bull**** that comes with that other player standing at the edge of your screen not knowing what he's about to do. Players shouldn't need to travel for an hour just to see a different type of palm tree. Content should be accessible to the player, though mostly I blame the crap client performance in VG for that inaccessibility. Exploring Telon is like exploring South Dakota in a Powerpoint presentation. :D

[Haze]

That should be a red flag right there. Though I will note that it does get boring FAR before level 15.

Not at all, there is a ton of stuff to do, and I understand completely why they did this.

They are obviously confident about the game to know the game is good even just sampling to L 15.

I played to 50 in the closed betas over many months and I guarantee the world is not small or lacking in content :)

[Diaxis]

That should be a red flag right there. Though I will note that it does get boring FAR before level 15.

Some people like Chevys and some people like Fords. This may be academic however. We'll see next month. :)

[Vzur]

That should be a red flag right there. Though I will note that it does get boring FAR before level 15.

The "open beta" level cap is due to it being a headstart. A headstart that lasts a whole month is pretty much unheard of. I may not understand the logic of why they've done it that way, but I do understand why they don't want people to get too high level before the game even hits the shelves.

Has nothing to do with lack of higher level content, or anything like that. But there will always be powergamers who burn through it ASAP, and that wouldn't be good, to have new players come in on launch day, to be surrounded by high level characters immediately.

I was in beta, I pre-ordered, I will be bailing on VG in a few days. But, I won't say LOTRO is a better game. They both have thier strengths and weaknesses. I just have no loyalty, and prefer to play lots of games than stick with any one :p

Hopefully, I'll see some reasons to come back to VG in a few months. You know, before WAR comes out...

[Diaxis]

That should be a red flag right there. Though I will note that it does get boring FAR before level 15.

The other thing is that by giving all players 3.5 weeks to hit the level 15 cap, the non-closed beta people aren't going to be penalized for not knowing how to play, and can develop multiple characters to 15 if they aren't sure what class to play.

[Flight]

LOTRO is a Dungeons and Dragon Online mod. Good to play while you wait for betters MMOs. Theres no real PVP, and the world is tiny. Once people realize this will move elsewhere.

Pre-orders for LoTRO have already topped 600k and pushing towards 700, largely based on a successful beta.


The world is larger than EQ1 was on release.


I'm not proclaiming it or shouting its virtues, just hate to see blind ramblings on this forum.

[Brit]

The other thing is that by giving all players 3.5 weeks to hit the level 15 cap, the non-closed beta people aren't going to be penalized for not knowing how to play, and can develop multiple characters to 15 if they aren't sure what class to play.

And hopefully these players will help the new guys when they come. It's a fairly good idea IMHO.

I liked LOTR beta, it's a very pretty world with some fun stuff in there to stumble across. I like the combat animations and some of the dungeons are really well done. Whether it's sufficiently different from other stuff out there at the mo that people have time invested in playing ... I dunno but I supposse it will depend how much they draw on the books over time.

[Eukament]

Absolutely. The LOTRO pre-order is the #1 best seller on EBGames today, and has been in the top 6 since Vanguard retailed. My buddy and I have been watching the score, and this is no small feat. LOTRO collectors edition is also the #5 best seller. I recall that Vanguard appeared in the top 5 and fell back off the first week of February. Turbine is giving preorder peeps three weeks of play before retail ( unlike Sigil and their 3 days ), they have a solid client thats ran well on my machine since November ( unlike VG which begs for a $400 gfx card upgrade ), they only charge $10 per month instead of $15 ( for preorder people ) and hopefully, unlike Sigil, they won't half-*ss their billing system so that it charges people *after* they've cancelled. Its also a fun game, but some people here might not like it because it requires a little reading.

Hah, what do you expect? Its LotR, I bet if someone made Harry Potter you guys would jump that too right, cause Harry is just too cute! :rolleyes:

:volcano:

[Vzur]

Pre-orders for LoTRO have already topped 600k and pushing towards 700, largely based on a successful beta.

That is the main reason I can only chuckle when people say it will flop. I won't argue with a lot of the complaints about gamplay- I have them, too- but, this game has already been passing every test of success, during beta. People aren't mass pre-ordering it blind. To me, that's possibly the biggest sign of a successful MMO.

Sure, some won't stick around, but there are hundreds of thousands of casual gamers LOTRO appeals to, that would stick around even if levelling were faster, and the gameplay more shallow. I bet word-of-mouth will spread in such a way that numbers will dramatically increase after the first month, despite some getting bored of it.

Comparing its success to other MMOs doesn't mean that much, though. Look at WoW, not everyone's idea of the bestest MMO ever, no matter how successful its been. But saying LOTRO'll fail is just silly :p

[The_Dark_Knight]

If numbers of subscriptions = good MMO to you, then by all means play LOTRO or WoW.

However, if things like content and gameplay are important to you, and you don't want to be max level and wondering "what do I do know?" within a couple months, then LOTRO isn't for you.

I was in LOTRO beta, played a guardian to level 50 (5 days played) and a Champion to level 50 (7 days played). The world is small and has mostly repetitive content. The poster who said it feels like being on a movie is dead on... you watch cut scenes, can't enter most of the buildings, and have "zoning" load screens every time you do enter a building. The whole thing feels compartmentalized, sectioned off.

I don't want an MMO that holds my hand for me and "guides" me through a story. Add to that limited classes (only good races, no evil) and NPC animation routines that lack depth (repeating over and over, neat the first time, but really annoying the 100th time).

LOTRO is gorgeous, and polished. But it's like the swimsuit model you'll never ****.... you can look at the pretty picture only so long before you need to find something real.

[sonicring]

yup ill be there friday

[Leeonal]

Absolutely. The LOTRO pre-order is the #1 best seller on EBGames today, and has been in the top 6 since Vanguard retailed. My buddy and I have been watching the score, and this is no small feat. LOTRO collectors edition is also the #5 best seller. I recall that Vanguard appeared in the top 5 and fell back off the first week of February. Turbine is giving preorder peeps three weeks of play before retail ( unlike Sigil and their 3 days ), they have a solid client thats ran well on my machine since November ( unlike VG which begs for a $400 gfx card upgrade ), they only charge $10 per month instead of $15 ( for preorder people ) and hopefully, unlike Sigil, they won't half-*ss their billing system so that it charges people *after* they've cancelled. Its also a fun game, but some people here might not like it because it requires a little reading.

I wish LOTRO all the best, but do consider that VG was released at the same time as a certain big time expansion of the biggest MMO game right now. Add to that fact that LOTRO has a great advantage cause it is built on the world of J.R.R Tolkien. These are factors that you must take into consideration besides the difference between the games regarding engines and bugs etc. LOTRO will sell well, but it remains to be seen if it can survive for a long time or not. It certainly does not apppeal to me personally, my beta testing was a bit of a disappointment. But each man to his own I guess.

[Zaraj]

I hope LOTRO is sucessfull, because seems a good game.

And I hope most VG problems are fixed, cause is the game I want to play.

[Vortex]

Sorry. I won't be there.

I played LOTRO beta and felt the game was too ... linear - for lack of a better term - for my taste. It didn't seem to give me freedom to do what I wanted.

For example: I started a hobbit and it started me in a post office or some such place. I got a quest from a guy in front of me and left the building. After leaving, while waiting for it to load the outside area, I wondered if there were any other quest givers in the building. After it loaded I turned around to go back inside and the building I just left wasn't there! There was no way to go back; only forward on a very distinct path.

So far as the expansion to that "other game" that came out around the time Vanguard did, everyone I know who was playing it says they've already hit 70 and completed all new content.

[Rourke]

The OP has had nothing but crap to spew about VG from the time here got to Silky and now magically he all happy and inviting VG players to play a "pre-order" Beta for Lotro? Hmmmmm.....anyone wonder why the recent onslaught of "unhappy" players flooded SV in the last couple weeks? Kinda wierd how it coincided with a Pre-Order Beta. Prolly just me though.

I know the OP's major concerns have been the recent price of Gold..which actually after looking at his last 100 posts, seemed to be his ONLY concern.

Posts like this belong in /OOC imo. Lotro is a pile of steaming crap. If VG failed tommorrow, i would play no MMO's over going to kiddie-land with the rest of Legolas wanna-be nerds.

[hmsilven]

I have to say that after playing few weeks in LotRO beta back in january and at the same time being in Vanguard beta, my clear conclusion was that my style of game will be Vanguard. I understand the argument that LotRO is far more polished at the launch than Vanguard is at the present moment. However, the scope the project cannot be compared with each other. Only the client size difference speaks for the fact that Vanguard is far more ambitious than LotRO. Therefore I do not judge Vanguard for its current state, and remain patient and excited waiting how the game in about 6 months time will turn out to be.

My decision to play Vanguard instead of LotRO after beta testing them both was based merely on the feeling both games gave me. The biggest single decisive factor was, as strange as it sounds, that in LotRO I had the feeling of being inside the whole time. I never got the feeling of being out in the open and exploring wide worlds of middle earth. Also I never really enjoyed the graphics either, expect the water, which is the best MMOG water I have seen :) For me, the game also lacked the overall immensity that Vanguard has.

Like stated before, these are however matters of taste and cannot really be constructively discussed :p I wish the OP has nice time trying the LotRO out and if he decides to stay there and not come back to Vanguard, the only thing I can say is that we just value different aspects in MMOGs :)

[Tanaril]

Like stated before, these are however matters of taste and cannot really be constructively discussed :p I wish the OP has nice time trying the LotRO out and if he decides to stay there and not come back to Vanguard, the only thing I can say is that we just value different aspects in MMOGs :)

Like a decent in-game performance?:p

[Rourke]

Like a decent in-game performance?:p

I'd rather play a buggy game than some over-instanced WoW-wanna be, but even worse. The game is crap, and made by a Turbine. I like how they tick of "Players Invited" on thier site. It just goes up 1 every second. I mean WTF does "Invited" mean?? Oh...I just "Invited" 1 million people to my B-Day party too.

[displeasingreality]

I'd rather play a buggy game than some over-instanced WoW-wanna be, but even worse. The game is crap, and made by a Turbine. I like how they tick of "Players Invited" on thier site. It just goes up 1 every second. I mean WTF does "Invited" mean?? Oh...I just "Invited" 1 million people to my B-Day party too.


Thats going to one mean birthday party man - youre gonna need like 5k strippers for million peeps

[Flight]

...but even worse. The game is crap, and made by a Turbine.

I like how they tick of "Players Invited" on thier site. It just goes up 1 every second. I mean WTF does "Invited" mean?? Oh...I just "Invited" 1 million people to my B-Day party too.


Turbine have a terrific reputation. AC1 is still considered by many people to be the best MMORPG ever. Turbine established their reputation for constant roll out of new, fun and interesting content there.

People bash them now because of Dungeons and Dragons Online. I'd say in reply people expected the wrong thing from that game. It was D&D and it was Online. Its hard to do anything different with that franchise, without it not being D&D.





They are already pushing 700K pre-orders. Knowing Turbines history I'm confident with that kind of funding they can deliver extremely well, in terms of new content and ongoing hooks, to what is a very polished and finished game.

The fact you are guaranteed a less than 10 dollar a month subscription for life with pre order may be helping that, but its a lso a good hook. Personally, I've bought the Collectors Edition with lifetime subsciption paid.


I really hope Vanguard comes good, but I suspect playing it is going to be extremely uncomfortable in the meantime. This forum reminds me more and more of the SWG forums, with the fanbois blindly swearing allegiance and not seeing the problems.

[Cendharia]

I'm actually going to play both :) Vanguard is steadily improving including the "HOOK"..that I wanted to see back in beta, I was doing diplomacy today in Tursh with my human and kept chuckling to myself at some of the stuff..like the quest to investigate yourself after you cause someone's death. hehe

As far as Lotro goes, its a pleasant game. There is monster pvp, which..I have to say I got hooked on the last five days of closed beta...YES I was in the closed lotro beta since the first week of February ..*gasp* blasphemy.

Nope it isn't...as I said I like both games equally well. Vanguard still showing alot of promise and potential...I come up for renewal on my account June 1. So....

I just think its silly to go on any fansite or website to do with another game and spout nonsense about it supposedly failing. Children's antics. Better off finding better ways to spend your time than trolling folks who LIKE the game.

I LIKE BOTH. So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

By the way...I saw a level 42 champion I think it was...on Meneldor server prior to closed beta shutting down...his name was: Aradune. Brad was that you? hehehe I was so tempted to say hi and then I thought..nah probably somebody impersonating him.

Cend

[Cendharia]

Sorry. I won't be there.

I played LOTRO beta and felt the game was too ... linear - for lack of a better term - for my taste. It didn't seem to give me freedom to do what I wanted.

For example: I started a hobbit and it started me in a post office or some such place. I got a quest from a guy in front of me and left the building. After leaving, while waiting for it to load the outside area, I wondered if there were any other quest givers in the building. After it loaded I turned around to go back inside and the building I just left wasn't there! There was no way to go back; only forward on a very distinct path.

So far as the expansion to that "other game" that came out around the time Vanguard did, everyone I know who was playing it says they've already hit 70 and completed all new content.

Thats pretty funny Vortex..my main is a hobbit..there is a MAIL QUEST...long one, where you deliver mail...and gain a title for it. NONE of my hobbits ever started in a post office rofl. And....you can choose NOT to do it. There are a ton of quests and deeds you can do other than that one..and the deliver the pies ones...they are kind of annoying ..after completing the first time.

Other than that..pleasant game and fun to play..friendly people..a little more mature audience ..oh and some VERY VERY familiar guilds that I remember seeing during Vanguard's long beta. Won't name names :) Suffice it to say they are pretty well known.

At any rate..no need to dis other games, you're happy with Vanguard..thats good ..so am I.

Cend

[hmsilven]

Hope the LotRO launch goes all well and they have learned from the stress test abck in Jan, where the login server crashed and no-one could login for couple of days. It took them about a week to stabilize the system :p

[VaranjarRanger]

I won't buy anything that Turbine makes. I don't care how great LoTRO is supposed to be - they screwed up DDO, and they're not getting a dime out of me now.

That doesn't mean I have anything against those who are going to play LoTRO, though I do think it's pretty stupid to post about it here. You should really just move on with your lives...

For now, I'm staying with VG. The only thing that might pull me away is Bioware's MMO, whenever it finally comes out. But that all remains to be seen.

[Honor Woods]

Played beta. Not a bad game, but geared toward a younger crowd. Too many Legoelazz and Froddoo running around.

Pretty presentation, good looking environment, but a lot of it seems like fluff. Cannot even open about 80% of the doors in the game. Felt like being on a movieset with a lot of false facades.

All the characters run like they got a pogo stick stuck up their tailpipe too.

I dunno, I thought it was a neat, or cute, little game. I'd prolly jump ship for Hello Kitty Online before I would for LOTRO.

The running part is from DDO, which is from AC. Which is sad, because they could have done so much more with both titles.

[Fong]

LOTRO open beta begins for the $10 pre-order peeps come Friday ( starts April 6th for the cheapskates :D ).

Pre-order people get to keep their beta character when the game retails April 24th.

Anyone else here jumping ship?

LOTR is a highly anticipated MMORPG release. And I am excited for all those who will enjoy and stay there. Although, the game will be bought by me, just so I can play in a realm I grew up fantasizing about.

Unfortunatley, the game will not get subscription dollars from me. VG is my home for the next few years.

[Istaira]

LotRo is good if you want a side game, the crafting in it is extremely easy to master. The sceneray is lovely, but that is about where it ends. I agree with the other people on the chars, they really do look like they have a upset stomach.

I was bored by 30 in it. It took me around 2 weeks to attain 30 and Grandmaster in crafting (jewllery) After this I walked away. This is the kind of game you are either going to love or just hate. Try it, and if you do not like it, come back to VG.

I was lucky in that I tried it first and then came to VG. And I really do love VG.

[timor]

Not at all, there is a ton of stuff to do, and I understand completely why they did this.

They are obviously confident about the game to know the game is good even just sampling to L 15.

I played to 50 in the closed betas over many months and I guarantee the world is not small or lacking in content :)

lol u got to 50 in beta? well good luck with that. it sounds like another easy game.

VG ftw. getting better and better. dont come bak now ya hear?♠

[Elgarr]

Pre-orders for LoTRO have already topped 600k and pushing towards 700, largely based on a successful beta.


The world is larger than EQ1 was on release.


I'm not proclaiming it or shouting its virtues, just hate to see blind ramblings on this forum.

It has nothing to do with a successfull beta, if you think that, then you are very naive, its purely down to the name, lotr has a massive fan base, there are alot of people who are'nt even mmo lovers, but are getting into the game purely because of "Tolkiens world" i hope it does well, then those who leave vg to join it can stay there and stop posting on these boards. I for one will not be trying it, because it will not be any where near what tolkines worlds should be like, as i have said before, Jackson tried that, and failed on alot of parts.

[Hyper1138]

Wonder how good the sales of this craptastic MMO would be if it wasnt based off The Lord of The Rings Series?

[azatoth99]

I also played in the closed beta and I guess I had to high hopes for the game since I totally love the LOTR world. Graphic was ok though a bit cartoonish. I agree with many other posters that the world isn't allowing you freedom at all as pointed out the most doors are locked and not possible to enter and the world is way to small.

There are alot of quests indeed which is a good sign... but most of the quests are not that good most kill this and that quests.

My biggest concern however is the character advancement.... MAN it is BORING.... very very few skills each lvl and I never felt unique regardless what class I played. LOTR was one of the games I was sure I would play but ended up with a gruesome disappointment and I canceled my thoughts about buying the game..

Still with the concerns that VG has it is and I think will always be a much better game then LOTR...

/Azatoth


** I wish someone would develop a MMORPG based on the roleplaying game Rolemaster **

[Cendharia]

I have to say that after playing few weeks in LotRO beta back in january and at the same time being in Vanguard beta, my clear conclusion was that my style of game will be Vanguard. I understand the argument that LotRO is far more polished at the launch than Vanguard is at the present moment. However, the scope the project cannot be compared with each other. Only the client size difference speaks for the fact that Vanguard is far more ambitious than LotRO. Therefore I do not judge Vanguard for its current state, and remain patient and excited waiting how the game in about 6 months time will turn out to be.

My decision to play Vanguard instead of LotRO after beta testing them both was based merely on the feeling both games gave me. The biggest single decisive factor was, as strange as it sounds, that in LotRO I had the feeling of being inside the whole time. I never got the feeling of being out in the open and exploring wide worlds of middle earth. Also I never really enjoyed the graphics either, expect the water, which is the best MMOG water I have seen :) For me, the game also lacked the overall immensity that Vanguard has.

Like stated before, these are however matters of taste and cannot really be constructively discussed :p I wish the OP has nice time trying the LotRO out and if he decides to stay there and not come back to Vanguard, the only thing I can say is that we just value different aspects in MMOGs :)

I don't really think the two games can be compared anyway...different styles. Lotro at the lower levels is more relaxed so full of quests you never get to the end of them, crafting is fun ...simple but fun.

Vanguard is a more involved game, more stress factor..harder hitting. I will have a lifetime sub to Lotro ..and keep my VG account too. Lots of fun. :) I have moved servers in VG because I wanted to try a different server..I like to solo and do things on my own. When I am ready probably will accept a guild invite..just not in the mindset for that just yet in VG. I think I do more reading about the game still than playing it.

Information junky here.. lol

Anyways..if you enjoy Vanguard...Enjoy it for gosh sakes...to each his or her own. Don't understand the trolling thing....just makes me think the person is desperately lacking attention somewhere in their life. /shrug

Cend

[Zhou]

LOTRO might have some interesting features ,sure but iam having to much fun with Vanguard :)
To all of you who go to LOTRO, see ya in 2 months here again. :D

[Andia]

I re-downloaded the client yesterday after uninstalling it from my system during the stress test. It wasn't all that fun but I thought maybe I had missed something the first time through. So I'll try it again.

I'm sorry to say that the world does seem very small. I never read the Lord of the Rings books or even watched the movies but I don't think it's supposed to take 5 minutes to get from the Elven town to a Dwarven town. No matter what game you play that just seems odd to me.

I did however, download the Magic the Gathering beta client to see how that is. I think I might like it even though I haven't played the real game. I love card collecting games.

[Rourke]

Anyways..if you enjoy Vanguard...Enjoy it for gosh sakes...to each his or her own. Don't understand the trolling thing....just makes me think the person is desperately lacking attention somewhere in their life. /shrug

Cend


Last i will say on this matter, but the last couple weeks have been riddled with Vg Hate all over again, and now the Lotro pre-order starts up. Kinda funny if you ask me.

I dont mind Lotro debates, but why the hell we need to come to our VG fansite and have to read all about a different game in the VG general disucision is pretty much BS. If we wanna discuss Lotro, we have a section for OTHER GAMES here at SV. What's next? People coming here to tell us about the Toon Town expansion?

[Cendharia]

If numbers of subscriptions = good MMO to you, then by all means play LOTRO or WoW.

However, if things like content and gameplay are important to you, and you don't want to be max level and wondering "what do I do know?" within a couple months, then LOTRO isn't for you.

I was in LOTRO beta, played a guardian to level 50 (5 days played) and a Champion to level 50 (7 days played). The world is small and has mostly repetitive content. The poster who said it feels like being on a movie is dead on... you watch cut scenes, can't enter most of the buildings, and have "zoning" load screens every time you do enter a building. The whole thing feels compartmentalized, sectioned off.

I don't want an MMO that holds my hand for me and "guides" me through a story. Add to that limited classes (only good races, no evil) and NPC animation routines that lack depth (repeating over and over, neat the first time, but really annoying the 100th time).

LOTRO is gorgeous, and polished. But it's like the swimsuit model you'll never ****.... you can look at the pretty picture only so long before you need to find something real.

I beg to differ ..the evil races are in the Ettenmoors..and anyone can create one once they level their free people character to ten. You go to the fell scrying pool..and you create your monster. Then you go learn how to survive in the pvp environment as that monster. In five days I managed to get my spider ranked to rank 2..and almost 3 at the end of the night the lotro beta closed down.

Half-truths and half information don't do justice to anyone or anything that is being discussed.

Cend

[Zarkov]

Turbine have a terrific reputation.

As a former AC2 player, I'd say you're stretching the truth quite a bit there.

Or did you meant to write "terrible"?

[Zhou]

Last i will say on this matter, but the last couple weeks have been riddled with Vg Hate all over again, and now the Lotro pre-order starts up. Kinda funny if you ask me.

I dont mind Lotro debates, but why the hell we need to come to our VG fansite and have to read all about a different game in the VG general disucision is pretty much BS. If we wanna discuss Lotro, we have a section for OTHER GAMES here at SV. What's next? People coming here to tell us about the Toon Town expansion?

IS IT OUT ALREADY ????!!!!!!

[q149]

The characters in LoTRO look so retarded.. What are they thinking making them so crappy? .. it's 2007

It is hard to me to play it just because of this one thing.
Also, the graphics in general are suck compared to Vanguard.

Besides for that I haven't really played it much, there is no actual PvP.. just some sorry excuse they came up so they can say it has PvP, but it doesn't.

[cheex]

Played beta. Not a bad game, but geared toward a younger crowd. Too many Legoelazz and Froddoo running around.

Pretty presentation, good looking environment, but a lot of it seems like fluff. Cannot even open about 80% of the doors in the game. Felt like being on a movieset with a lot of false facades.

All the characters run like they got a pogo stick stuck up their tailpipe too.

I dunno, I thought it was a neat, or cute, little game. I'd prolly jump ship for Hello Kitty Online before I would for LOTRO.

OMGHELLOKITTYPEWPEW

is it true hello kitty online is close to release i can't wait HKO ROCKS :eek:

Diaxis, take your LOTRO and form a guild of 6 year olds. Make your Froodddooo char and find a nice place to hide in the shire. But before you go please give me all the level 4 items you have taken so long to get. Stop posting garbage like this....it clutters up the database.

[Cendharia]

Last i will say on this matter, but the last couple weeks have been riddled with Vg Hate all over again, and now the Lotro pre-order starts up. Kinda funny if you ask me.

I dont mind Lotro debates, but why the hell we need to come to our VG fansite and have to read all about a different game in the VG general disucision is pretty much BS. If we wanna discuss Lotro, we have a section for OTHER GAMES here at SV. What's next? People coming here to tell us about the Toon Town expansion?

It was the same during beta Rourke..all the Wow fans spending time discussing Wow..during Sigil's beta..where they were invited guests. I thought it was rude actually. But then again...I guess I was taught differently growing up.

You don't take advantage of someone's hospitality and then thumb your nose in their face as a thank you.

In my house ..rude guests get the boot. :) *wink*

Cend

[Hailin]

I really wanted to like LOTR when I beta'd it.

It was very polished. The linear path had a nice single player rpg feel to it.

BUT that camera AHHHHHH /throws mouse across the room. That is what I get for wireless. Twitch twitch.

Also the UI sucks it is a complete DDO ripoff which may have been an AC1 ripoff I don't know. I hate it. It's slow and painful. Do turbine not have a better UI person in the last 5 years that could do something that was more open and useful.

If they could fix those two things I would probably give the game another shot. :)

I do hope it is successful cause with success breeds competition among the market. And for gamers that is always a good thing.

[Cendharia]

LOTRO might have some interesting features ,sure but iam having to much fun with Vanguard :)
To all of you who go to LOTRO, see ya in 2 months here again. :D

I'll be back and forth with both games..:P

Cend

[Vzur]

I'll be back and forth with both games..:P

Cend

I'm torn, myself. I've never juggled two MMOs before, mostly because I'm poor and it seems like a waste of money. But, I'll have to see how I feel about them both in about a month. At this point, I can't say which I'll end up sticking with.

Some people say that they're so different, appealing to different audiences, but that's what I like about them. Who wants to play games that are all the same :p

[Fel Whisper]

DDO bites so hard you can actually still hear the sucking sound when your PC is powered down and you're miles away. Turbine promised every 35yo and older basement denzion the world, and they ended up with a game the size of Trengel Keep with one trick pony dungeons and broken end game content almost 2 years into it.

If they live up to their "reputation" Turbine will take yet another cherished and revered fantasy environment and have it flat on it's back, spreading it's legs for $15 a month while the same nerds pummel it with wild and uncoordinated gyrations that last 30 seconds. With no kissing.

And seriously? You don't have to be a Vanboy to read a thead like this and lol until Mt Dew shoots out of your nose.

-W

[Xofi]

I preordered. If I don't like it no biggie. If I do I get the cheap 10 dollars a month subscription fee.

Way back in the day I read the Hobbit and it got me into all this fantasy stuff so of course I'm going to at least try this game.

I can't help thinking that those who says its too small are being a little hypocritical. They will add expansions. As much as people say VG is constantly being fixed and improved upon it seems stupid to say another game has to be done and gigantic the day it releases.

[Willowynn]

If I had to deliver one more pie... and get ambushed by another hungry hobbit.... I would have gone INSANE!

[Aegorian]

some of you guys hate Vanguard and think it's a ripoff... LOTRO is just as freekin bad. In other words...

http://www.cis.rit.edu/~gaf1551/Misc/orly300.gif

[Venzule]

Lol, please do NOT lock these type of threads.

The VG players I play with are quite enjoying playing VG. Having played LOTRO beta, I get a good chuckle out of people who consider it a better product. Comedic gold.

LOTRO will hit 1 million subs in 6 months.


I guess you laugh in the face of success. :)

[Willowynn]

I did however, download the Magic the Gathering beta client to see how that is. I think I might like it even though I haven't played the real game. I love card collecting games.


Are they releasing another version or something? I've been playing MTGO since about 2002......

[azatoth99]

I can't help thinking that those who says its too small are being a little hypocritical. They will add expansions. As much as people say VG is constantly being fixed and improved upon it seems stupid to say another game has to be done and gigantic the day it releases.

Well the problem for me is that it feels plain stupid to have ie the elven city 5 min away from the dwarven city when the LOTR lore and map shows GREAT distance between the two.

How are the expansion packs going to solve this?? *Poof* Suddenly 5 more countries grow up from earth between the dwarven city and elven city :pirate:

/Aza

[Andia]

Are they releasing another version or something? I've been playing MTGO since about 2002......

It's Version 3 or some such. I never even knew it existed until yesterday when FilePlanet started offering Beta keys for it.

[Derf]

I'll be playing sometime this weekend, just not sure when I'll be able to log in. It'll be interesting, I'm sure it will be amusing to see every third character a hunter with a name that is a variation of Strider, Aragorn, or Legolas.:D

[MagicNumbers]

The same thing happens with the big blockbuster movies that are released. They generally take in a big amount of coin and get a lot of hype but for the most part they are really bad movies. I just got back from 300, and while it was visually cool it had no substance and was pretty weak.

This is what LOTRO is from my beta experience, lots of hype due to the name but no substance.

[rhindle]

I dont mind Lotro debates, but why the hell we need to come to our VG fansite and have to read all about a different game in the VG general disucision is pretty much BS. If we wanna discuss Lotro, we have a section for OTHER GAMES here at SV. What's next? People coming here to tell us about the Toon Town expansion?

... toon town expansion *cancels vg account + gets all excited!1!1!!!!!bbqz!

... but seriously I believe anyone who feels the need to go out of their way (i.e. make a new post) to just basically piss of a community / say something is crap etc must have something missing in their life, they have this need to just whine for whining's sake - like the grumpy old bastard down the pub sorta thing, who just goes on and on moaning about everything n anything even after you've bought him a pint...

[Gaige]

lol u got to 50 in beta? well good luck with that. it sounds like another easy game.

VG ftw. getting better and better. dont come bak now ya hear?♠

Pretty sure people got 50 in VG beta also. Like beta 3 and 4.

[rhagz]

Pretty sure people got 50 in VG beta also. Like beta 3 and 4.

They were 50 back in beta 1 and 2. In beta 3 the level cap was 30 for the longest time, then 40 for a while. I don't remember it going to 50 before launch, but it may have very briefly.

[MagicNumbers]

They were 50 back in beta 1 and 2. In beta 3 the level cap was 30 for the longest time, then 40 for a while. I don't remember it going to 50 before launch, but it may have very briefly.

I don't think that 50 was open in beta 4 or 5 either.

[Vesperia06]

I love LOTR! Count me in :) Vanguard was my "wait for the next MMO" game.

I'm already looking forward to expansions :D

[Khaunshar]

What is selling the game is 3 Peter Jackson blockbuster movies, and a famous novel. Not the beta hype, and not the quality of the game at all. There are a few IP licenses that rule out a financial flop, and LotR is (since the movies) one of them.

I am playing both games right now, and maybe its cause I already quit WoW a while back, or cause I started vanguard earlier, but I am still not quite sure if I like LotR or not. Its certainly a basics-only holy trinity PvE game, so its not innovative, but we all know that innovation doesnt sell anyways. My main problem is, from what I can see atm, its fairly linear, and with a common starting date, I expect the first play through to be jammed full of people. Already there is far more quest-spawn camping than I ever had anywhere, so I am not sure if its entertaining at release.
However I do enjoy good stories, and it seems to have a decent one for a MMORPG (I d rate it second to GW:Nightfall actually)so I have 2 questions for those with more experience:
Is the enjoyable, story-driven stuff and later game less susceptible to overcrowding and mostly instanced?
And when the story comes to an end, is the character max level ?

[Mithrull]

Hah, what do you expect? Its LotR, I bet if someone made Harry Potter you guys would jump that too right, cause Harry is just too cute! :rolleyes:

:volcano:

I think they'd play the open beta first, then jump into it if they liked it. With 1 million open beta testers, people won't be buying a hobbit in a poke.

[fatsuprman]

Sorry but Lotro is the most boring MMO to date....6 hours I lasted. A mockery to what one could do with Tolkiens lore.

[Derf]

There's some nice touches to the game (smoking a pipe, playing an instrument, clothing and armour are pretty good) but the game play really doesn't do much for me. Quests are nothing spectacular, with the exception of the Lore quest line. I still didn't find the Lore quest line to be that compelling either.

[Redstone]

Unless I can kill you at any time for no other reason than you being an ugly hobbit, count me out.

[MagicNumbers]

I know what I thought of beta but what's the word now that its live? Or am I a little early?

[Honor Woods]

I know what I thought of beta but what's the word now that its live? Or am I a little early?

Open beta, with a level cap of 15, and preorders get a discount on price and can keep their lvl 15 toons. and toons is a fitting description. :)

Goes live I think the 24th. I've now installed and removed it from my computer 3 times...

Not the game for me, but I won't dis it. I'm better than the folks who come here to do that to VG. :)

[Dragon-RD]

Sadly LOTRO just felt so much like what I wanted to get away from (WoW) that I cant bare to play it. Also I liked DDO alot more, no idea why people havn't returned to DDO it really is an amazing game. Then again, i've got nothing to play at the moment and considering re-subscribing to VG.

[jonyak]

Sadly LOTRO just felt so much like what I wanted to get away from (WoW) that I cant bare to play it. Also I liked DDO alot more, no idea why people havn't returned to DDO it really is an amazing game. Then again, i've got nothing to play at the moment and considering re-subscribing to VG.

I cancelled my lotro preorder. good game, just not for me.

[AsheMan]

Sadly LOTRO just felt so much like what I wanted to get away from (WoW) that I cant bare to play it. Also I liked DDO alot more, no idea why people havn't returned to DDO it really is an amazing game. Then again, i've got nothing to play at the moment and considering re-subscribing to VG.

People aren't coming to DDO because it's simply too small of a game. Even with 50% more content than on release you are still looking at about 180 quests total. And level 12 or 14 is the cap, you can accomplish that in no time at all? DDO would have been a major success had there been level 20 cap or even allow you to go beyond and have prestige classes and like triple the content or more.

[Swish]

... toon town expansion *cancels vg account + gets all excited!1!1!!!!!bbqz!

... but seriously I believe anyone who feels the need to go out of their way (i.e. make a new post) to just basically piss of a community / say something is crap etc must have something missing in their life, they have this need to just whine for whining's sake - like the grumpy old bastard down the pub sorta thing, who just goes on and on moaning about everything n anything even after you've bought him a pint...

Who are you talking about???? It cant be the OP. I went and reread it again and not one bad thing was said about VG (new post). You do realize they are talking about a GAME? Sorry cant people get excited about a game or not like a game? And your post is what? lol let me guess not a whine or a bitch just a fact. Seems to me your whining.

[The_Dark_Knight]

LOTRO isn't my cup of tea. I think it was made for the "casual" type or newcomer to the MMO genre who want to be guided through a game, and that isn't for everyone.

If you find it enjoyable, more power to you. Enjoy your game.

[Swayde]

I tested LoTRO from Alpha 3 onwards...I got into Vanguard beta at phase 3 (couple weeks after I got into LOTRO). I was astounded to see the difference in polish and gameplay and everything between the two. I assumed based on the stage of testing that LoTRO would be a lot worse off than VG, however, I was wrong. I ended up taking time off VG because it was mostly unplayable for me to test LoTRO and I had a blast doing it. My husband got into LoTRO during a stress test event for beta 2. He was also in VG beta with me. The two of us ended up spending more time in LoTRO than we did in VG and we really did have a good time.

When VG launched we had to decide which game to subscribe to and invest in. We simply can't afford to play 2 MMO's at once. We chose VG because we felt it had more long term potential and appeal. Also, we knew a lot more people who were going to play VG compared to just a couple choosing LoTRO. We have had some regrets about that decision. I believe the better decision would have been to play LoTRO until we got bored of it. It probably would have taken several months, a year max, because of the limitations in classes. By then VG might actually have been in a state of release rather than a pay-to-test beta phase.

On the other hand, it would have been a lot harder to catch up with our guild and friends if we waited to join VG.

Both are actually good games. LoTRO will do very well because it has a lot of story and roleplay elements to it and it is very casual friendly. It's also very, very kid friendly and it works well on older machines. That's another reason why I regret our decision at times. LoTRO was a game we could play with our son, VG doesn't even appeal to him, much less play on his computer.

VG to me is a more mature game, which is a good thing most of the time. It can get a bit boring at times though. And I get frustrated when I only have 2 hours to play with my husband and half that time is spent trying to find a location to play in.

Well we are in VG for at least a few more months since we paid for 6 months already. When our subs are up we'll have to re-evalute and decide if we'll stick with VG or move on. I figure Lotro won't be hard to pick up after launch and there are other games that will be coming out this year that look fairly good too. But the friends I have in VG are very hard to part with so that's a definite bonus VG has. And, it is a fun game when you manage to have some time to play it and find an area suitable for your level.