I recently found out this game still exists, as I was under the impression the game was dead, along with Turbine. I was pleased to see it isn't and my account is still accessible. Recently I've been able to make time in my life for one of my favorite things, MMOs. Between that, and my Discord community, it's my social outlet. I've found this community to be great in the past, as well as currently upon returning. I've also become acutely aware pf my limitations due to recent circumstances.

I've tried other games recently as well. I liked Classic WoW for the bit I tried it, but that's just retreading old ground, and the modern stuff is not for me. Final Fantasy XIV was great, and Shadowbringers was probably the most fun I've had in a long time, but the game feels really cumbersome in ability number and mechanics. While I was able to play certain jobs, the game never felt satisfying in that I always felt "suboptimal," it's kind of hard to explain. I've heard that LOTRO has a similar number of abilities, so I'm a bit worried there, especially since I can't swap classes as freely as I could swap jobs in FFXIV.

Okay, kind of rambling, so I'll try to wrap this up with what I want to ask or discuss. I have some cognitive difficulty/disabilities and find that modern action combat systems are a struggle. Old style tab targeting was my favorite thing. The slow server ticks/attacks really made it feel "D&Desque" with attacks being timed and deliberate, and not so fast, so I could actually keep up. This has been lost a little in modern games. I'd always hoped the difficulty would come from the content, not the class, but I guess it needs both.
I start to lose the game at about 24 abilities. 1-6+shift,ctrl,alt would be ideal. I have a gaming mouse and am doing my best to adapt and make it work. Clearly deliberate and focused abilities are what I'm looking for. To give an example, I really liked the Samurai from FFXIV. There was a clear path for me to plot. I collect Sen and trigger the ability I need, which changes based on the situation. I have 1 DoT to manage and Kenki to burn. While not complex, I enjoyed the Sen mechanic because it's not always the "same" and Kenki was easy enough to utilize. I also had 2 dash abilities to help with positioning. So the 3 Sen chains, as well as the mobility, and the Kenki skill, as well as some cooldowns defensives, brought me to a nice sweet spot of about 12ish abilities I was using, which was enough for normal content without dragging the team down too much. I would never dare to any of the higher difficulties.

My enjoyment comes from completing quests, crafting, and small group play. I loved running all the dungeons in Discord with friends. Fishing was another huge part of the game for me, as was the Golden Saucer. I really hope that LOTRO still has small group content available. I remember the game having various deeds and such, which fit the bill for what I'm looking for. I have no idea what endgame looks like, as I have never gotten there. I just want to do the content, and help people along the way, maybe make a new friend. I'm just overwhelmed when I look at character creation, and how permanent the choice is, as I will probably not have an alt. Even "basic" classes like Champion have to juggle fervor as well as power.