Goodbye to LOTRO

[AegisRegnat]

I have to say, much of the gameplay is still a mystery to me, and I am not a fan of overly complex game mechanisms which for me get in the way of the story. LOTRO for me is special because it is apparently made with a lot of care. The scenery is stunning and the game is fairly true to the story from the books. They of course did a lot of side stories which are not in the books but fit very well. Many side quests are fun and you meet some interesting characters. Very well done. As said, the fighting is not my cup of tea but of course you need difficulties to overcome or else the thing gets boring. No issue with that.

You're right in your first post. It makes sense for someone who went so much effort creating a hero from scratch, after 100 or 120 levels to still be at the beginning...
But I will have to disagree with what you say above.

This game can't be worthy of its price because of many deficiencies and malfunctions that makes a player literally suffer instead of enjoying the hours spent on it.

In this pay-to-suffer game everything is made in a weird, compulsive way, exhausting the player with tiring and many times useless quest chains full of junks for reward and many other failures, offering only pain and frustration to most players.

The whole game was made based on the specifics of each developer's character in mind, but not on the expectations and visions of the people who embraced it. And so it still is without the intention of changing perspective.

Unfortunately, I can say after years of playing that Lotro has failed at this point.

[Starbuck1771]

I feel the same, although I'm not on Laurelin. I hate hearing that someone wants to quit after so long, when I would happily jump into a Fellowship and help you through Pelargir so you can get back to enjoying the game.

Are you in a kinship? That's one of the great benefits of a good kin, you can say "I'm really frustrated by X" and someone will be happy to help you out. If not, the lotro community discord is good, and failing that, maybe you'll find help here on the forums.

So long ? It's only a short time compared to someone like myself who's been here the better part of two decades. Only the weak willed quit. Just Man Up step back take a break to play something else then come back when you're ready. What you're experiencing is burnout.

[Jeroen4593]

Thanks for all the friendly advice. I really appreciate it.

I just tried Blood for Blood in Linhir, solo instance, and after much hacking and slashing got butchered at the very end. Just as I thought is was over. That sealed it for me.

I simply don't want to learn how to survive these encounters. I know I could learn to do it, but it is no fun for me. I play a game for fun. I skipped skirmishes where I could, avoided instances, and got the impression that I could get by until the end without. Apparently not.

And it's not the fighting per se. It is the whole new system of learning how to command, how to use a ballista, etc. For no purpose that I value.

I enormously enjoyed traveling through Middle Earth and visit all of Tolkien's locations, meet his characters and many others, sometimes good, sometimes evil, sometimes ambiguous. Those were the most interesting. Assist the Fellowship indirectly, help people along the way with their small or large problems. For me the environment and finding my way in it is the most attractive aspect of the game, followed by interacting with the characters.

I have to say that I feel cheated. Up until level 100 there was no indication at all that I would have to go through all this battling. Many difficulties, to be sure, but nothing like this.

I deleted my character. No going back. This time it is really goodbye.

Thanks again to all, and keep enjoying.

[Erionor]

Thanks for all the friendly advice. I really appreciate it.

I just tried Blood for Blood in Linhir, solo instance, and after much hacking and slashing got butchered at the very end. Just as I thought is was over. That sealed it for me.

I simply don't want to learn how to survive these encounters. I know I could learn to do it, but it is no fun for me. I play a game for fun. I skipped skirmishes where I could, avoided instances, and got the impression that I could get by until the end without. Apparently not.

And it's not the fighting per se. It is the whole new system of learning how to command, how to use a ballista, etc. For no purpose that I value.

I enormously enjoyed traveling through Middle Earth and visit all of Tolkien's locations, meet his characters and many others, sometimes good, sometimes evil, sometimes ambiguous. Those were the most interesting. Assist the Fellowship indirectly, help people along the way with their small or large problems. For me the environment and finding my way in it is the most attractive aspect of the game, followed by interacting with the characters.

I have to say that I feel cheated. Up until level 100 there was no indication at all that I would have to go through all this battling. Many difficulties, to be sure, but nothing like this.

I deleted my character. No going back. This time it is really goodbye.

Thanks again to all, and keep enjoying.

This is very sad. Especially deleting your character... literally burning your bridges completely...

The obvious solution to me, if you just wanted to enjoy the story but not have any difficult fights, would be would be to Valar your character to a high level so you can just play through the story with ease.

I am surprised you found these instances so difficult though, as most of the landscape/story is pretty easy. Perhaps it was a gear issue? Did you have strong enough gear/stats for the job? Had you reforged your legendary items regularly to increase their strength? Perhaps your character was not strong enough for the tasks. I am speculating ofc and it is a bit late now, but a real shame to have deleted the whole thing over an instance being difficult.

I hope you return at some point and have another go, or find another game that is easier than this one. Best wishes

[Jeroen4593]

You're right in your first post. It makes sense for someone who went so much effort creating a hero from scratch, after 100 or 120 levels to still be at the beginning...
But I will have to disagree with what you say above.

This game can't be worthy of its price because of many deficiencies and malfunctions that makes a player literally suffer instead of enjoying the hours spent on it.

In this pay-to-suffer game everything is made in a weird, compulsive way, exhausting the player with tiring and many times useless quest chains full of junks for reward and many other failures, offering only pain and frustration to most players.

The whole game was made based on the specifics of each developer's character in mind, but not on the expectations and visions of the people who embraced it. And so it still is without the intention of changing perspective.

Unfortunately, I can say after years of playing that Lotro has failed at this point.

Those are very interesting observations. I have said elsewhere that I enjoyed the scenery and the "world vision", and I stand by that. (By and large, that is, because I hated Angmar for example. But Rohan I thought was beautiful, as were many other places.) Also some of the cities. I think they were lovingly made.

But you are right. Many quests were very boring indeed. Endless senseless killing of enemies, collecting a lot of junk, not interesting. I kept up with it because there was enough other stuff to keep me interested. But here, at level 100, it stops for me, as I have explained elsewhere.

I played LOTRO many years ago, then stopped. Some time ago I went back, because I missed traveling through the world. Now I quit again, frustrated by being forced to fight instead of being allowed to discover.

I don't know the developers, but it sounds that you are right in that there is no unifying vision. It seems there is a faction interested in building the world and following along Tolkien's story, and a faction that enjoys building a hack-and-slash game. If people enjoy the latter, fine. But I think at the very least they should make the game playable for other players as well.

I will not mourn the time spent in something that I will not finish. But I do feel cheated, as there was no indication that the character of the game would change so much at this advanced stage, making it impossible for me to enjoy anymore.

[Jeroen4593]

So long ? It's only a short time compared to someone like myself who's been here the better part of two decades. Only the weak willed quit. Just Man Up step back take a break to play something else then come back when you're ready. What you're experiencing is burnout.

Why should I "Man Up" if it's only a game? That is a philosophy I cannot follow.

[Jeroen4593]

I am surprised you found these instances so difficult though, as most of the landscape/story is pretty easy. Perhaps it was a gear issue? Did you have strong enough gear/stats for the job? Had you reforged your legendary items regularly to increase their strength? Perhaps your character was not strong enough for the tasks. I am speculating ofc and it is a bit late now, but a real shame to have deleted the whole thing over an instance being difficult.

Not sure how strong I was relative to my level. From level 96 on for some reason I could not find any quests at my level, only 100 and above. I managed to get to 99 and then 100 without too much difficulty doing them. I always reforged. Always chose the best gear from the quest rewards, focusing on the 6 main stats. But never sought other means of acquiring gear.

In general I could dispense with a mob of 3 at level 100 by appropriate tactics (scaring one away, optimal sequencing of attacks, staying out of reach by firing while running, etc.)

I could probably have managed my character a bit better. I did not have many clues how to manage my traits optimally. Or rather, never really delved into it. Just could not get myself interested. Same for stats and other markers, many of which I could not find a good explanation for.

That is one of the things I never liked in the game: too many and too complicated mechanisms for my taste. Never found out how to do mounted combat well. Maybe should have done some skirmishing to acquire whatever points that might give - if any, never found that out too.

Also found fighting itself tedious, had to pay too much attention to all that was happening: who has the focus, making sure I am facing them, etc. Not very fun to spend hours on, if what you mainly want to do is explore the world and interact with the characters. Not to have an easy time of it, that is not what I mean.

Best wishes

Thanks, much appreciated.

[Erionor]

Not sure how strong I was relative to my level. From level 96 on for some reason I could not find any quests at my level, only 100 and above. I managed to get to 99 and then 100 without too much difficulty doing them. I always reforged. Always chose the best gear from the quest rewards, focusing on the 6 main stats. But never sought other means of acquiring gear.

In general I could dispense with a mob of 3 at level 100 by appropriate tactics (scaring one away, optimal sequencing of attacks, staying out of reach by firing while running, etc.)

I could probably have managed my character a bit better. I did not have many clues how to manage my traits optimally. Or rather, never really delved into it. Just could not get myself interested. Same for stats and other markers, many of which I could not find a good explanation for.

That is one of the things I never liked in the game: too many and too complicated mechanisms for my taste. Never found out how to do mounted combat well. Maybe should have done some skirmishing to acquire whatever points that might give - if any, never found that out too.

Also found fighting itself tedious, had to pay too much attention to all that was happening: who has the focus, making sure I am facing them, etc. Not very fun to spend hours on, if what you mainly want to do is explore the world and interact with the characters. Not to have an easy time of it, that is not what I mean.



Thanks, much appreciated.

Anytime. Try the Valar idea some time - next time they do some kind of free event maybe. Recently there were giveaways of some of the expansions which included free Valar level skips. Perhaps if you came back at one of these times in the future you could use one of the level skips so you could have a ready made strong character and just play through the story without difficulty to enjoy the journey.

[Jeroen4593]

Anytime. Try the Valar idea some time - next time they do some kind of free event maybe. Recently there were giveaways of some of the expansions which included free Valar level skips. Perhaps if you came back at one of these times in the future you could use one of the level skips so you could have a ready made strong character and just play through the story without difficulty to enjoy the journey.

Thanks, might do that. Cheers.

[Elmagor]

Why should I "Man Up" if it's only a game? That is a philosophy I cannot follow.

Consider that as any other aspect of life. Like you going to training gym and suddenly you reach weight what you can't lift, but lifting less weight not fun for you anymore. You can burn bridges and say "enough is enough" and never go here again. Or you can find trainer, or discuss that with veterans and adjust your training. When you have level 100, you can ask other players - where you can get better gear, how you can change your trait spec, your LI, what virtues you need, to be able to handle 3 mobs in same time.

As example, if you can't complete Pelargir just ask other players who can help you, show you tactic or handle that instances, because even if you complete that in duo, this is still counts for epic quest. Maybe you go to far with JUST doing epic quests and need complete other quests too to get better gear

Epic not that hard, yes it have some bumps in the road like mounted combat instances or epic battles, but you can talk with other players and be prepared to complete them with less troubles

[Jeroen4593]

Consider that as any other aspect of life. Like you going to training gym and suddenly you reach weight what you can't lift, but lifting less weight not fun for you anymore. You can burn bridges and say "enough is enough" and never go here again. Or you can find trainer, or discuss that with veterans and adjust your training. When you have level 100, you can ask other players - where you can get better gear, how you can change your trait spec, your LI, what virtues you need, to be able to handle 3 mobs in same time.

As example, if you can't complete Pelargir just ask other players who can help you, show you tactic or handle that instances, because even if you complete that in duo, this is still counts for epic quest. Maybe you go to far with JUST doing epic quests and need complete other quests too to get better gear

Epic not that hard, yes it have some bumps in the road like mounted combat instances or epic battles, but you can talk with other players and be prepared to complete them with less troubles

There you and I differ. This is not life, and why would I treat it as such? In real life, yes, I surmount difficulties and come out stronger and, hopefully, reach my goal that seemed out of reach.

But I don't play a game like real life. My goal in a game is not to prove anything to myself, or to anyone else for that matter, but simply to have fun, according to my taste. And LOTRO gave me no fun anymore. Yes, it would have been nice to follow the road to the end. But it is just a game, and as soon as it stops being fun to play I quit. Glad it's not real life. There are more things I enjoy doing than I have time to do them.

Having said that, thanks for your thoughts. If nothing else, it helped me clarify my own. Be well.

[Elmagor]

There you and I differ. This is not life, and why would I treat it as such? In real life, yes, I surmount difficulties and come out stronger and, hopefully, reach my goal that seemed out of reach.

But I don't play a game like real life. My goal in a game is not to prove anything to myself, or to anyone else for that matter, but simply to have fun, according to my taste. And LOTRO gave me no fun anymore. Yes, it would have been nice to follow the road to the end. But it is just a game, and as soon as it stops being fun to play I quit. Glad it's not real life. There are more things I enjoy doing than I have time to do them.

Having said that, thanks for your thoughts. If nothing else, it helped me clarify my own. Be well.

Consider that as hobby. Many things in our life wasn't real life, but we always want and can improve them. Where is always some space to improve anything. Like you collect baseball cards, or Philately (study of postage stamps). You can collect them, but sooner or later you need talk to other people to put some order into your collection. Doesn't matter, people like to collect anything. Or even your room where you live. You want improve something, or remodel, or make it better. Like remove old bed and buy new better bed. You can say "well, this is my bed, no one see it, why I need improve it?" or "I sleep here every night, can I invest some efforts to make it better and more comfortable?". You set your goal - complete some part of epic. Like Epic Volume 4 in Gondor, or reach MT. And you can't reach your goal, because of some roadblocks. And you can say after that: well, it was harder when I expect, I don't consider what I complete it, but here I am, make next step and leave it behind. Why give up such fast? Lotro wasn't solo game where you on your own and only depend on your skills. It's sad what you put some effort into your character and give up after first problems. Some people here spend their time and try to help you, it's sad to them too - to see what you can't make it and decide to delete character.

[TesalionLortus]

Sad to see the OP go due to something like this. That non-epic quest shouldn't be a deal breaker and frankly I'm a little bit surprised after 100 levels of quests the OP... has never run into similar situations when they had to re-do content or re-do an enemy camp, for one reason or another? I know the game has gotten easier and easier but come on, there are still some tighter spots here and there where you can run across more mobs than you can chew or aggro too many during certain solo instances, it would have to be incredibly lucky for the OP to never find themselves in such a spot or never even die. I guess I just find it hard to believe? That's all.

Either way, best wishes your way. If you're still reading this thread, makes me curious: what other games would you have in mind that don't have such problems you said you've run across here? If you had any in mind, that is. And would you still happily explore this beautifully crafted game world at your leisure if there were other convenient ways to level up on landscape (but perhaps less story driven) and thus allowing you to move on to next zones? But since you didn't just skip this problematic non-epic quest that disappointed you... then I guess no? Though I don't remember how Blood for Blood quest is structured/chained and whether it doesn't actually gate next zone quests behind it, so that's why I ask and am not sure, because if it does then I can see how it is a big problem

[LagunaD2]

There's no need to use a Valar level skip. You can just pick-up the epic story at the next "on-ramp".

I know The Wastes has an epic story entry point at the Camp of the Host (and this is where you get sent after using a 105 Valar). From there it's just a few easy solo quests and you'll be ready to experience Sauron's fall and enter Mordor.

[Starbuck1771]

There you and I differ. This is not life, and why would I treat it as such? In real life, yes, I surmount difficulties and come out stronger and, hopefully, reach my goal that seemed out of reach.

But I don't play a game like real life. My goal in a game is not to prove anything to myself, or to anyone else for that matter, but simply to have fun, according to my taste. And LOTRO gave me no fun anymore. Yes, it would have been nice to follow the road to the end. But it is just a game, and as soon as it stops being fun to play I quit. Glad it's not real life. There are more things I enjoy doing than I have time to do them.

Having said that, thanks for your thoughts. If nothing else, it helped me clarify my own. Be well.

That is why you fail. I suggest you try other genre's of games as clearly abt MMORPG you will play you will quit once you have to rely on help. Good Luck Kid you'll need it

[Jeroen4593]

Sad to see the OP go due to something like this. That non-epic quest shouldn't be a deal breaker and frankly I'm a little bit surprised after 100 levels of quests the OP... has never run into similar situations when they had to re-do content or re-do an enemy camp, for one reason or another?

If I gave the impression that this was my first setback, I misrepresented. I have hit many roadblocks along the way and have been "incapacitated" quite a number of times. Never complained about that, just "buckled up" and retried. Often more than once. The difference this time was that I felt cheated by unexpectedly having to go through a whole new set of tactics I never asked for and which I frankly don't enjoy learning or doing.

Either way, best wishes your way. If you're still reading this thread, makes me curious: what other games would you have in mind that don't have such problems you said you've run across here? If you had any in mind, that is. And would you still happily explore this beautifully crafted game world at your leisure if there were other convenient ways to level up on landscape (but perhaps less story driven) and thus allowing you to move on to next zones? But since you didn't just skip this problematic non-epic quest that disappointed you... then I guess no? Though I don't remember how Blood for Blood quest is structured/chained and whether it doesn't actually gate next zone quests behind it, so that's why I ask and am not sure, because if it does then I can see how it is a big problem

I am not so much into computer games, in any case not RPG. (Not quite true. In the distant past I played games like old and true Adventure, the granddaddy of them all; and especially (Net)Hack, Moria, Angband, if anyone remembers those... Never got to Morgoth in the latter one but had a lot of fun trying. Died countless times, and in those games it meant starting over from scratch, but never got as frustrated as now with LOTRO.)

Apart from LOTRO, I mostly play games with a puzzle aspect. And word and cipher games. I tried WoW but that did nothing for me. What attracts me in LOTRO, as I said before, is how they visually brought Tolkien's world to life, and how they managed to add a lot of side developments in it that add to, and not conflict with, the books. On the whole, beautifully done.

The question why I decided to delete my character is a good one, and frankly one I have no definitive answer to. The rational reason, that I didn't enjoy doing wat they wanted me to do (and then why should I continue?) stands, but there is more to that - I could simply have stopped playing. What I wanted to do is remove the temptation. I don't like giving up, but at the same time I don't want to continue something that costs me too much time and is (to me) a boring slog.

Blood for Blood is not necessary for progress. But I can be a perfectionist and I don't like skipping a challenge just because I can't seem to do it, even though it bores me. And also because there might be some interesting follow up. And not wanting to duck a challenge is also the reason I would probably not feel fine "buying" myself into a high level. So, in a way I am creating my own roadblocks. Silly, I know...

As you may see, the fighting and especially its complex system is not why I enjoy LOTRO. Of course, any game needs a certain level of challenge or else it is boring. Then you better just read the books. Nothing wrong with that, mind you - they have been with me for most of my life.

FWIW, I would prefer the difficulty to be less in fighting but more in solving puzzles as in: try to understand what this or that character wants, and how to get it. "I think what he needs is a magic mushroom. Maybe there is a cave nearby where I can find it? Maybe it is hidden behind that group of trees. Yes, I think I found it. But it is behind a closed door. How do I open it?" (Think of the doors of Moria.) Some fighting with groups of baddies to save some poor farmers would be fine - after all, LOTR is about the fight against evil -, as long as relevant to the story and not just to assemble points to level up. But leave the war itself with its complexities to Aragorn and Theoden. Or, better still for those who like that kind of thing, give the player the choice to go through it or to have it presented in some story-like form.

Thank you for asking. I hope I expressed myself clearly.

[AegisRegnat]

That is why you fail. I suggest you try other genre's of games as clearly abt MMORPG you will play you will quit once you have to rely on help. Good Luck Kid you'll need it

No sir, Jeroen4593 has a very proper way of thinking and dealing with situations and especially with this game.

But you guys want to present Lotro as a game that has no issues at all and that the problem concerns those who give up because they faced the failures involved in it.

And for that reason, they feel cheated when their dream is ruined by the inadequacies of the game.

His voice in here represents the views of many many other players that unfortunately are not heard on this forum.

[TesalionLortus]

Thanks for answering. Well yeah, in a way, I can understand that:

The question why I decided to delete my character is a good one, and frankly one I have no definitive answer to. The rational reason, that I didn't enjoy doing wat they wanted me to do (and then why should I continue?) stands, but there is more to that - I could simply have stopped playing. What I wanted to do is remove the temptation. I don't like giving up, but at the same time I don't want to continue something that costs me too much time and is (to me) a boring slog.

I did something similar with No Man's Sky, though that's certainly a bit different, since I didn't exactly enjoy it for the story and not even for the world (which is basically auto generated in a poor way). But it had some "tempting" aspects of base building and a stroll through space, and I didn't want to waste my time knowing that it doesn't amount to anything in the end, since it's such an empty space simulator with no weight behind these actions and outposts you build. But my mind definitely works differently in games that actually have narrative and world to offer, as in, a few gameplay roadblocks can be easily overcome/ignored.

I would like the idea of quests that aren't just defeat X and collect-X-for-NPCs, and more of a free-style exploration with well-handled interactions and mysteries to uncover that you're likely to bump into within the world and engage with. And I do think that game is too grindy as it is, though that mostly refers to all these additional "end game" activities, dailies, missions, and what not, not necessarily content backed by some regional tales. But at the end of the day it's an MMO and the engine works as it does (meaning there are some limits in how some of the quests/quest objects may be set up) so I realize that's something to keep in mind. While I *do* get a certain frustration in not being able to witness the story of the quest chain unfold, I would say it would be perfectly fine to read the complete lotro wiki entry (with full dialogues from this specific quest, so like a page of a book, and you only lose in-game visuals) and then just skip the quest itself in game and move on. But it's too late now. Well, who knows, maybe another time!

[Elmagor]

No sir, Jeroen4593 has a very proper way of thinking and dealing with situations and especially with this game.

But you guys want to present Lotro as a game that has no issues at all and that the problem concerns those who give up because they faced the failures involved in it.

And for that reason, they feel cheated when their dream is ruined by the inadequacies of the game.

His voice in here represents the views of many many other players that unfortunately are not heard on this forum.

No one say what Lotro don't have issues. Yes, we don't encounter problems with that specific quests, but everyone in the game can encounter some sort of problems (T12 delving missions can be best example). But we trying overcam that issues and reach goals what we set for himself.

[Starbuck1771]

No sir, Jeroen4593 has a very proper way of thinking and dealing with situations and especially with this game.

But you guys want to present Lotro as a game that has no issues at all and that the problem concerns those who give up because they faced the failures involved in it.

And for that reason, they feel cheated when their dream is ruined by the inadequacies of the game.

His voice in here represents the views of many many other players that unfortunately are not heard on this forum.

Every game has issues however the issue he has if you read his posts is with himself. Also look at his posts date yet three days later he is still here.

[Jeroen4593]

That is why you fail. I suggest you try other genre's of games as clearly abt MMORPG you will play you will quit once you have to rely on help. Good Luck Kid you'll need it

Why label a decision not to go through with something that is boring to you "fail"?

[Jeroen4593]

Also look at his posts date yet three days later he is still here.

Yes, on the forum. And?

[Starliteyes]

The difference this time was that I felt cheated by unexpectedly having to go through a whole new set of tactics I never asked for and which I frankly don't enjoy learning or doing.

The thing about Lotro is that you don't HAVE to do anything. If something is boring or too hard or too tedious, you can just skip it. There are some folks (and in my case, some characters) who do nothing but crafting or Festivals or music. Some just like to explore the world and not do anything else in it. Some want to do PvMP and nothing else. Lotro is SO varied, you can pick and choose the aspects of the game you enjoy and ignore the rest. Like life, the game is what YOU make of it.

Personally, I think I've tried it all. I was a hardcore raider and really enjoyed it until I didn't. So I gave it up. I was deep into the Moors until the folks who were fun left and it wasn't fun anymore, so I left, too. I have one completionist character, one of each class that only does epics and enough to keep me entertained, several crafters, a music group, and some characters that I just like to dress up and store things on.

So, no one, least of all the game, is telling you how to play and what to play. Only you make that decision.

[Jeroen4593]

The thing about Lotro is that you don't HAVE to do anything. If something is boring or too hard or too tedious, you can just skip it. There are some folks (and in my case, some characters) who do nothing but crafting or Festivals or music. Some just like to explore the world and not do anything else in it. Some want to do PvMP and nothing else. Lotro is SO varied, you can pick and choose the aspects of the game you enjoy and ignore the rest. Like life, the game is what YOU make of it.

Personally, I think I've tried it all. I was a hardcore raider and really enjoyed it until I didn't. So I gave it up. I was deep into the Moors until the folks who were fun left and it wasn't fun anymore, so I left, too. I have one completionist character, one of each class that only does epics and enough to keep me entertained, several crafters, a music group, and some characters that I just like to dress up and store things on.

So, no one, least of all the game, is telling you how to play and what to play. Only you make that decision.

Understood, but I wanted to follow along with the story and, maybe in error, thought that it meant having to do all epic quests or I would remain stuck. But I did skip skirmishing, mounted combat, etc. Never did Festivals or music and likely never will. Never paid attention to my appearance, etc. Never bought a house, although I felt tempted by Belfalas. But they had nothing available in my price range.

Yet I still think that for doing the full epic story line they should not force you to go through things like Epic Battles. That line should be available to a broad selection of players, in any case all players who made it to level 100, without having forced a whole new battle system upon them. And allow all players to solo the story to the end if they prefer to.

And yes, you are right, LOTRO is so varied that it is a bit like life. You will hardly ever grasp every facet of it. Apparently you have to find your own way. As in life.

Learned a thing or two from this thread. If I ever start again I will follow your advice.

[Elmagor]

The difference this time was that I felt cheated by unexpectedly having to go through a whole new set of tactics I never asked for and which I frankly don't enjoy learning or doing.

Most of us know story about 2 hobbits, Bilbo and Frodo Baggins, who feel same way many times during their journey, but they still go forward and we follow their steps in this wonderfull world