Population?

[Ballaorf]

I just came back to LotRO after a decent break. I finally finished Moria (well, as much of it as I'm going to do, anyway) and hit 59.

For now, I'm okay with the fact that there isn't anyone around. I haven't had any trouble with content and I'll just skip anything Fellowship. Ultimately, if I ever make it to the end game, I'd like to actually experience some raid content or group with other players. I recognize that it may be a different story by the time I get there, but how lively is the end game? GLFF always has a lot of chat, but it seems a bit... cliquey and no one really seems to use it for grouping.

Any tips or input would be awesome.

[Turuin]

Come play creepside. You can get to r5 over a weekend, and R8 in a week or two.

[Vilan]

I use GLFF all the time for grouping. I see endgame group requests all the time, somewhat buried amidst the spam I admit. Can't say I've noticed any cliqueness. Getting into a raid can sometimes take a while if you're an unknown quantity, but if you look for groups you can find them. I've run all the Moria instances several times using GLFF groups. It might take some time for less popular ones, but surely you can find a GS or Turtle group quick enough. Just ask and you'll find interest!

[Laire]

I use GLFF all the time for grouping. I see endgame group requests all the time, somewhat buried amidst the spam I admit. Can't say I've noticed any cliqueness. Getting into a raid can sometimes take a while if you're an unknown quantity, but if you look for groups you can find them. I've run all the Moria instances several times using GLFF groups. It might take some time for less popular ones, but surely you can find a GS or Turtle group quick enough. Just ask and you'll find interest!

Basically this. Less than a half a dozen individuals like to use it as if it's their own personal chatroom every day (rather than creating their own channel, which would be a lot more respectful IMO), some pop in to talk occasionally, and then the silent majority are there watching for groups.

You just have to ask.

As for end game stuff, yes, it is definitely very active.

[Ballaorf]

Thanks!

I've never done an instance or a raid. That stuff is mostly 75 and 85, right?

[Vilan]

Instances start at level 20. There's a few skirmishes plus Great Barrows. Then Garth Agarwen and Fornost around 30, Annuminas at 40, Angmar stuff at 50, Moria at 58ish. Most of those are scalable, though they tend to get run at end-game levels. Raids start at level 50 with the Rift. I suppose you could do skirmish raids starting at level 20 but I've never tried this. Could be lots of fun if you could find enough for it!

[Wolfhelm]

Thanks!

I've never done an instance or a raid. That stuff is mostly 75 and 85, right?

As Vilan said there are group instances for almost every level, and raids starting at level 50 (The Rift and Helegrod).
Check out the kinship forums and find yourself a kin which suits your time-zone and play style. Provided they are active enough and have enough members you'll normally find there'll be people who want to run their alts though some of that content.

[Ballaorf]

Thanks guys! I guess my question was more, do people do the raids / instances at lower levels? But it sounds like not except in Kins.

No one in my kin seems to play anymore, but I kind of don't want to leave, silly as it sounds. Maybe I'll look for a new one.

[Vilan]

Anything scalable is usually only done at max level, other than Great Barrows which gets run around 20 quite a bit. Angmar and Moria are non-scalable and get run fairly often. Moria in particular is easy enough to put together a group for, even in GLFF, and it's mostly done by folks 55-65. A kin helps but is not required.

[Ballaorf]

Kind of funny... I ended up in 2-3 raid and instance groups yesterday from GLFF. I reupped to VIP, too. Having a great time.

Thanks again everyone

[tgrayjr]

Kind of funny... I ended up in 2-3 raid and instance groups yesterday from GLFF. I reupped to VIP, too. Having a great time.

Thanks again everyone

Yay! That's good. Once you get comfy with the instances don't hesitate to try to get groups together yourself. There are definitely many of us who only use GLFF for finding groups (unless I'm drunk, in which case I'll sometimes say something else in there) Good luck to you!

Edit: I agree on the clicque-ish nature of GLFF. Sometimes it intimidates me, hehe

[Alegrya]

Thanks guys! I guess my question was more, do people do the raids / instances at lower levels? But it sounds like not except in Kins.

No one in my kin seems to play anymore, but I kind of don't want to leave, silly as it sounds. Maybe I'll look for a new one.

I totally understand that, when the big kin I was in last year splintered I went one way and other friends went another. I stayed in a kinship that didn't do much for a while trying to rustle up some action but wound up moving over to be with friends who were more active in-game.

If I'm around I tend to keep an eye on glff, have pugged in a few raids that way. Like yourself I haven't got the chance to do too many due to being a bit slower than the average end-gamer to get to cap and then when I get there nobody wants to do the runs anymore. Happy to help lower levels with stuff, just ping me in-game if I'm online and if I'm not busy I'll come along and help.

[Fodder66]

I'm a bit like Ballaorf. Haven't done any of the group raids or instances, just soloed it all the way so far. Love the game and would like to try raids / instances etc but seems people take some of this pretty seriously and there is not much tolerance for noobs like me who have no idea how the raid mechanics work or the associated strategies. I am just a casual gamer and a bit fearful of causing a total wipe through my ineptitude. Are there any experienced raiders that 'train' up people like me who have not done this stuff? I have heard that having voice channel is preferable for raiding also. What do people commonly use for this - Vents?

[Gannet]

I'm a bit like Ballaorf. Haven't done any of the group raids or instances, just soloed it all the way so far. Love the game and would like to try raids / instances etc but seems people take some of this pretty seriously and there is not much tolerance for noobs like me who have no idea how the raid mechanics work or the associated strategies. I am just a casual gamer and a bit fearful of causing a total wipe through my ineptitude. Are there any experienced raiders that 'train' up people like me who have not done this stuff? I have heard that having voice channel is preferable for raiding also. What do people commonly use for this - Vents?

Many leaders do expect players experienced within relevant endgame raids/instances, and those who don't seldom explicitly state that they're willing to take inexperienced players along. I myself am by no means an experienced or skilled raider, but when I lead stuff, I'm always happy to help new people find their feet - an attitude I myself greatly benefited from when I first hit a then-level cap. We all have to start somewhere! It's also actually really helpful to get raid experience in the Rift or Helegrod (level 50), even if you're over-levelled. People (including myself) still run Rift every so often for old times' sake, Eldgang rep, gear for alts, and the possibility of a coveted Jewelled Bell (jingle jangle!). Because it maintains some semblance of a challenge while being relatively underlevelled, it is a good place to learn things like positioning, skill cycles, common boss mechanics, etc. Most Rift leaders nowadays aren't choosy about experience because it's pretty easy with overlevelled people.

Voice clients such as Vent and Teamspeak are very popular among kins, but normally pick-up groups won't require their use unless the majority are of the same kin. They are quite important for the harder raids (particularly tier 2), but for easier raids and smaller instances, they are almost never a requirement.

P.S. There used to be an alliance called the Elendilmir Small Kinship Alliance (ESKA) which ran Rift and Dar Narbugud on alternating weeks. I don't think they do those weekly runs anymore, but their chat channel (eska) is still filled with really friendly, helpful, experienced, and skilled players.