An Open Letter to Players and Devs

[Kittyvicious]

So I know threads like this have like been made before, but I really wanted to talk about the game in a specific way and have no outlet except here. Let me preface by saying I have been playing LotRO off and on over 4+ years. I have subscribed for a month here and there, I have bought coins a couple of times, but I've honestly never devoted any serious time to the game. I've been thinking for a long time that I've passed the game by for too long, but I have finally given it some proper focus and I wanted to talk about it.

Due to my love of the beginning game and ability to be distracted easily, I've actually never taken a character out of the Vanillla content. I leveled a hunter to mid 40's, a mini to mid 40's, and then a warden to mid 40's over my flirts with the game. Part of it was my focus on crafting and traveling around, part of it was lack of content due to not buying questing areas, but I really lost focus.

I made the decision to buy the quad pack prior to HD launching because I wanted to make a commitment that I would see this game's content. I started that journey about a week or so ago, whenever I started 'actively' posting here. Let me tell you, I have been thoroughly enjoying myself. I know this is several years late and some of the content has been revamped, including the class mechanics, but I just finished Moria and it was rather well done. I'm actually conflicted because there are soooo many more quests to do in there, but I'm exalted with both factions, already level 61, and my home of Mirkwood is calling my name.

I know it's easy to get caught up in what changes you dislike, how the game has moved away from what you enjoy, but as someone completely apart from all the 'drama' this game has taken in its changes I have to say it's a grand adventure. Other than having way too much backtracking, especially in the story quests, LotRO is the MMO equivalent of reading a really good book. It makes you want to live inside the world, visiting your favorite parts over and over.

While a lot of people will write this off as a 'LotRO is Fun' thread, I mean this more to be an outsiders experience. Perhaps some people have forgotten that they could feel this way about the game? Maybe you have taken time away and forgotten what it could be. Or maybe you really have done all there is to do. For me, my adventure has just started and I hope that I can be as steadfast as Sam and see it all to the end. There are many deeds and accomplishments, not to mention several festivals and lots of pie to eat ahead of me.

It's easy for a community to devour itself, which I do see happen on here a little, but maybe we could all remember that we're here for a reason. Whether it's the first time we ran through the Shire, when we looked out over Weathertop, when we had that sense of dread approaching Moria knowing the Watcher was in the lake (maybe we even swam through it trying not to pee our hobbit pants)....whatever it is...I promise you it is still there. A lot of changes, possibly for the worse, have happened by necessity to generate revenue but please don't get too caught up in that.

This sounds naïve, way too cheery (especially for me), but honestly I am very glad that the people still working at Turbine are trying to make our dream come true. I'm sure it's a struggle to balance what you want to do, what we ask you to do, and what the execs want to do to make money, but above all thank you for bringing this word to life. I know you have until 2017, but I hope to still be playing LotRO when we ring in a new decade.

To anyone reading this - feel free to blast me out of the water, feel free to say everything you hate about the game, or simply remember what you love even if it has passed you by. You may find that there is another adventure waiting for you just outside the door, if you could only remember how to put one foot on the road and let it carry you ever on. Not all who wander are lost...

[Rugongrod]

*Applauds* Kudos for an extremely well written opinion on this game that I happen to share with you.

Kudos also to everyone at Turbine for crafting such a thoroughly entertaining game.

[SouthernBelle0927]

LotRO is the MMO equivalent of reading a really good book. It makes you want to live inside the world, visiting your favorite parts over and over.

^^^ This. I know I'm a relative newbie compared to many of the regulars here, but this perfectly captures my feelings about the game. I just didn't realize it until you expressed the statement in exactly this way.

I am an inveterate re-reader. If a book and its characters entrance me the first time through, I will go back to it over and over and over, and it never gets old. This has held true for all sorts of books.

What's great about LOTRO is that, unlike a book or a movie, I can actually insert myself INTO the story. So LOTRO is the next best thing to literally diving into the pages of a book and being absorbed into it. Even better, I can keep returning in different guises to experience it from different viewpoints. Even session play, which can be frustrating, gives me an opportunity to step into the shoes of one of the characters in the story itself for a few minutes. When you read a book, you're often experiencing the story from the viewpoint either of the writer or the main character only.

I'm well aware there are issues, some annoying and some rather serious. However, the uniqueness of the MMORPG format combined with a fantastic piece of fantasy literature (and I'm not even a big fan of the fantasy genre per se), is an irresistible lure. To think I fully expected to just stick with my first character and take her through it and be done. I'm now running two characters and starting to consider rolling a third. Boy, was I naïve!

[Eldarian_Grace]

Yes, there is plenty i'm not happy with, I find my opportunities to find groups severely limited and I did enjoy PUGs quite a lot never had any problems so the plummeting of GLFF numbers makes me sad.

But you raise a good point, there's plenty to enjoy here still, despite the one shot kill mechanics and other problems.

[yafga]

I really like lord of the rings, both book and movies! I also like the hobbit.

But what i cant understand is how people can say that this game has a fantastic story? Its not bad, but the story itself doesnt carry the game. Yes the lore and being able to visit all regions are great, since you know the locations from the movies and books. But the way that the story is told isnt very good at all, for example its many stupid quests that doesnt make any sense like kill "x number of animals". And many stupid quests where you need to go fetch things, and clean tables etc.. And the stiff animations during conversations ruins the experience, also the ugly character models. I cant say that im impressed how the story is told, even tho the core story of the game is good. Not to mention the voice acting that we got in HD, it was not good in my opinion.

I did enjoy the book quests that were a part of SOA,MOM and SOM, but after that, the book quests lost quality or just became uninteresting. We didnt get as many cinematics after mirkwood, that also made it worse.


When i was 100% active in this game were in Moria/mirkwood times. And no it wasnt just about the dungeons and raids we had back then that made me stay. It was the quests, the interesting regions(wich wasnt just a big grass plane), the graphics, new systems that accually worked! We had legendary wepons system in moria that was really fun, in mirkwood we got skirmishes wich also were alot of fun! It got implemented with the book quests wich made it even more interesting. The overall quality of Moria and mirkwood was so much better. We also had new voice acting for npcs, wich you might see as a small thing but it added to the overall experience. Moria and Mirkwood were dreadfull places, and you got the feeling that it was dangerous, and it was.

The Helms deep expansion was a disappointment.
I really cant understand how they can release a new expansion that makes the game worse than its previous state. Sure its a money boost for them, but in the long run they doom their game.

The quests were generic and gated in quest chains. The region still have terrible lag, invisible walls, easy enemies you can almost 1hit, and its just a copy paste from East Rohan. The way these quests were designed is so terrible, never played an mmo with such boring quests. And we also got Big Battles. I think all of them had gamebreaking bugs in them, and i bet a few of them still has.
The new class system were fine i think, but it would have been more fun if they gave us content to use more of the trees rather than just a pure dps build.


This is my view on the game, i have not played for a very long time now! still check the forums for news! (sorry for my bad english)

[Dernudan]

I really like lord of the rings, both book and movies! I also like the hobbit.

But what i cant understand is how people can say that this game has a fantastic story? Its not bad, but the story itself doesnt carry the game. Yes the lore and being able to visit all regions are great, since you know the locations from the movies and books. But the way that the story is told isnt very good at all, for example its many stupid quests that doesnt make any sense like kill "x number of animals". And many stupid quests where you need to go fetch things, and clean tables etc.. And the stiff animations during conversations ruins the experience, also the ugly character models. I cant say that im impressed how the story is told, even tho the core story of the game is good. Not to mention the voice acting that we got in HD, it was not good in my opinion.

I did enjoy the book quests that were a part of SOA,MOM and SOM, but after that, the book quests lost quality or just became uninteresting. We didnt get as many cinematics after mirkwood, that also made it worse.


When i was 100% active in this game were in Moria/mirkwood times. And no it wasnt just about the dungeons and raids we had back then that made me stay. It was the quests, the interesting regions(wich wasnt just a big grass plane), the graphics, new systems that accually worked! We had legendary wepons system in moria that was really fun, in mirkwood we got skirmishes wich also were alot of fun! It got implemented with the book quests wich made it even more interesting. The overall quality of Moria and mirkwood was so much better. We also had new voice acting for npcs, wich you might see as a small thing but it added to the overall experience. Moria and Mirkwood were dreadfull places, and you got the feeling that it was dangerous, and it was.

The Helms deep expansion was a disappointment.
I really cant understand how they can release a new expansion that makes the game worse than its previous state. Sure its a money boost for them, but in the long run they doom their game.

The quests were generic and gated in quest chains. The region still have terrible lag, invisible walls, easy enemies you can almost 1hit, and its just a copy paste from East Rohan. The way these quests were designed is so terrible, never played an mmo with such boring quests. And we also got Big Battles. I think all of them had gamebreaking bugs in them, and i bet a few of them still has.
The new class system were fine i think, but it would have been more fun if they gave us content to use more of the trees rather than just a pure dps build.


This is my view on the game, i have not played for a very long time now! still check the forums for news! (sorry for my bad english)

How do you know anything about the state of the game if you have not played the game for a very long time. You can not judge a game just by checking the forums, that is where ppl just go and complain.

[Rainothon]

I leveled a hunter to mid 40's, a mini to mid 40's, and then a warden to mid 40's over my flirts with the game. I just finished Moria and it was rather well done. I'm actually conflicted because there are soooo many more quests to do in there, but I'm exalted with both factions, already level 61, and my home of Mirkwood is calling my name.

I severely maimed your post to extract what stands out to me. You haven't even touched on the matters that cause much of the late criticism, because they are indeed related to endgame. Thank Eru you haven't gotten there yet.

I predict you will indeed continue to enjoy yourself very much all the way through Enedwaith, Dunland and Rohan. Good times are indeed ahead for you!

You'll likely also enjoy HD's story. I know I did.

But once you're through with the quests, what's next? Your gear has turned you into an unstoppable force of Uberness against anything but some raid-level mobs and some heavy archer-based warbands. Epic Battles, once you're beyond rank 1 and are milking the system for platina, and can life with the RNG loot, you are okay. I haven't made it to rank 1 yet and frankly as the eewy RNG awaits me if I start working for platinum, I can't really be bothered. The loot is desirable to me but the method of obtaining too fickle for my taste. My IRL Leisure time is indeed both limited and precioussss.

For me HD lead me to the Moors and that's something I had never predicted at it's release. Good luck for me it lead me to good times there. At the end of the day the story continues merrily for me. I wish you the same.

I'll end with a piece of advice: Enjoy your journey and suck the marrow out of it to the fullest. Good times. Oh yeah!

[EtherDragon]

So, I have been away for a long time, and came back after buying the expansion package.

Maybe it's because I'm one of those "casual gamers" everyone seems to rag on, but I like the new expansion content. I do agree that advancing is easy-sauce, and that it needs to be a bit more difficult so that it can be more meaningful. But overall, the new content has been really fun - and I'm looking forward to playing through it a second time, and a third.

[zariarn]

How do you know anything about the state of the game if you have not played the game for a very long time. You can not judge a game just by checking the forums, that is where ppl just go and complain.

This is it....

[yafga]

How do you know anything about the state of the game if you have not played the game for a very long time. You can not judge a game just by checking the forums, that is where ppl just go and complain.

Well i played HD, did all the quests in west Rohan and got a rank6 engineer. Has anything changed since the last two months? Sorry "very long time" may sound alot more than i ment. I checked the game out in 12.1 aswell, but i didnt see any changes to the difficulty so i loged out.

[Nymphonic]

Maybe it's because I'm one of those "casual gamers" everyone seems to rag on, but I like the new expansion content.

Oh this is me in a nutshell. I'm not here to raid or go into instances, they are not my thing. With that being said, I do feel that not bringing in new raids is not healthy for the game and should have been made a priority.

I'm here to be in Middle Earth and to be a part of that world, and in that regard, Turbine has made my dream come true. Yes, there are issues, like zone soundtracks not working, difficulty level being too low, Lis are boring for me and so on.

But there is just something "magical" for lack of a better term, that keeps me coming back here for more after trying other games.

[Kittyvicious]

I'll end with a piece of advice: Enjoy your journey and suck the marrow out of it to the fullest. Good times. Oh yeah!

I doubt I will be able to catch up unless I'm playing to my extreme fullest potential, forsaking all other games, but even so there is a wealth of content for me that I haven't seen. I'm not someone who is interested in raiding as a form of end game anymore, but I do understand that a lot of people do. Even though those people are normally a very small minority in the game overall, they are still important. I suspect I'll be fine in a cozy, casual role in this game. The more I can do on my own, the better.

There are tons of problems in the game I'm sure. And I'm sure those are detailed very often. I just wanted to say that there is still something there we all must love and for people who may have lost the way, try to reclaim it! If you truly can find no adventure with your name on it, perhaps it is time to sail over the seas forevermore. I just hit Lothlorien and woooow. I'm so far behind, why did I wait so long?

[English]

@ Kittyvicious - Understand this, those of us that have been with the game for 7 years couldn't agree with you more. It has been a fantastic game, a ~fabulous~ journey. Personally, I am nothing but grateful for it, never had so much fun. A challenge all along the way, till lately.

The lack of challenge and the lack of a need to group IS the reason why many are standing on the sidelines now, waiting and watching which direction Turbine is really taking the game. IF it is more towards a 'solo casual' direction, as has been the case now for some time, than the more dedicated MMOer, hardcore or those players with more time looking to be challenged will look elsewhere for a new one. Life. The only bummer is we did wanted to get to Mordor, however long it took, BUT challenged along the way, in a social (group) setting. That's it in a nutshell.

Keep in mind also that after 7 years, we have seen the game, I wish it was totally new to me also, but isn't. Perhaps the more veteran players are harder and harder to please (challenged) and costly to please (new challenging instances are not easy to produce I am sure), and there may lie the real reason behind the direction Turbine is taking now with the game. Totally understandable.

I envy you and do wish you the best of journeys.

[PluckFSH]

So I know threads like this have like been made before, but I really wanted to talk about the game in a specific way and have no outlet except here. Let me preface by saying I have been playing LotRO off and on over 4+ years. I have subscribed for a month here and there, I have bought coins a couple of times, but I've honestly never devoted any serious time to the game. I've been thinking for a long time that I've passed the game by for too long, but I have finally given it some proper focus and I wanted to talk about it.

Due to my love of the beginning game and ability to be distracted easily, I've actually never taken a character out of the Vanillla content. I leveled a hunter to mid 40's, a mini to mid 40's, and then a warden to mid 40's over my flirts with the game. Part of it was my focus on crafting and traveling around, part of it was lack of content due to not buying questing areas, but I really lost focus.

I made the decision to buy the quad pack prior to HD launching because I wanted to make a commitment that I would see this game's content. I started that journey about a week or so ago, whenever I started 'actively' posting here. Let me tell you, I have been thoroughly enjoying myself. I know this is several years late and some of the content has been revamped, including the class mechanics, but I just finished Moria and it was rather well done. I'm actually conflicted because there are soooo many more quests to do in there, but I'm exalted with both factions, already level 61, and my home of Mirkwood is calling my name.

I know it's easy to get caught up in what changes you dislike, how the game has moved away from what you enjoy, but as someone completely apart from all the 'drama' this game has taken in its changes I have to say it's a grand adventure. Other than having way too much backtracking, especially in the story quests, LotRO is the MMO equivalent of reading a really good book. It makes you want to live inside the world, visiting your favorite parts over and over.

While a lot of people will write this off as a 'LotRO is Fun' thread, I mean this more to be an outsiders experience. Perhaps some people have forgotten that they could feel this way about the game? Maybe you have taken time away and forgotten what it could be. Or maybe you really have done all there is to do. For me, my adventure has just started and I hope that I can be as steadfast as Sam and see it all to the end. There are many deeds and accomplishments, not to mention several festivals and lots of pie to eat ahead of me.

It's easy for a community to devour itself, which I do see happen on here a little, but maybe we could all remember that we're here for a reason. Whether it's the first time we ran through the Shire, when we looked out over Weathertop, when we had that sense of dread approaching Moria knowing the Watcher was in the lake (maybe we even swam through it trying not to pee our hobbit pants)....whatever it is...I promise you it is still there. A lot of changes, possibly for the worse, have happened by necessity to generate revenue but please don't get too caught up in that.

This sounds naïve, way too cheery (especially for me), but honestly I am very glad that the people still working at Turbine are trying to make our dream come true. I'm sure it's a struggle to balance what you want to do, what we ask you to do, and what the execs want to do to make money, but above all thank you for bringing this word to life. I know you have until 2017, but I hope to still be playing LotRO when we ring in a new decade.

To anyone reading this - feel free to blast me out of the water, feel free to say everything you hate about the game, or simply remember what you love even if it has passed you by. You may find that there is another adventure waiting for you just outside the door, if you could only remember how to put one foot on the road and let it carry you ever on. Not all who wander are lost...

The low to mid game IS pretty awesome. Moria especially is fantastic, I feel its the high point of the game. After that, especially past Mirkwood, you can clearly see the quality and commitment to the game dropping off sharply, along with many of the original developers. I think if Turbine had been able to put as much time, money and effort into Rohan as they did into Moria, the game would be utterly amazing all the way to 95.

Part of me kinda hopes that somehow Turby gets their stuff together and blows us away with Gondor. They could really redeem themselves with a large, deep, quality expansion in 2015. Will they do that? I just dont know.

[Pluck]

@ Kittyvicious - Understand this, those of us that have been with the game for 7 years couldn't agree with you more. It has been a fantastic game, a ~fabulous~ journey. Personally, I am nothing but grateful for it, never had so much fun. A challenge all along the way, till lately.

The lack of challenge and the lack of a need to group IS the reason why many are standing on the sidelines now, waiting and watching which direction Turbine is really taking the game. IF it is more towards a 'solo casual' direction, as has been the case now for some time, than the more dedicated MMOer, hardcore or those players with more time looking to be challenged will look elsewhere for a new one. Life. The only bummer is we did wanted to get to Mordor, however long it took, BUT challenged along the way, in a social (group) setting. That's it in a nutshell.

Keep in mind also that after 7 years, we have seen the game, I wish it was totally new to me also, but isn't. Perhaps the more veteran players are harder and harder to please (challenged) and costly to please (new challenging instances are not easy to produce I am sure), and there may lie the real reason behind the direction Turbine is taking now with the game. Totally understandable.

I envy you and do wish you the best of journeys.

Wonderful summary of the core issues. Challenge, and social incentive, are what made this game fun in the beginning, and the lack of which that make it a shallow, unsatisfying experience now. But we DO hold out hope for Gondor!!!

[frickinmuck]

Great post, Kitty. I love this game, and I think people sometimes lose sight of how great it really is. I think for those who are frustrated, roll up a few alts and just meander through the old content. A lot of it has been revamped, and even for those of us who've done the content dozens of times, there are still ways to enjoy this game if you look for them.

[Ioci]

Like you I have never made it to 95. I have a squad of characters ranging from 40-80 and I have all content up to RoR much of it I haven't done. I'm running around in Lanuch doing old quests. I've just recently unlocked Mirkwood to where I can explore it all. I'm more than happy to go back to Lothlorien and do dailies with my 81 Cap just for the Lothlorian branches. It's never a burden to go get Dwarf Iron or head to Moria and get a compendium from a daily. I just do stuff.

I find if the game is not min maxed in to oblivion and you play it with undefined objectives the fun factor goes up quite a bit. My end game? Figuring out how to have fun with my Burg. She is also my Jeweler and I love her to death but I hate Burg class. Squishy,never crits when I need her to, can't pull. When I have that character figured out I will feel the game has peaked for me.

[Kittyvicious]

Great post, Kitty. I love this game, and I think people sometimes lose sight of how great it really is. I think for those who are frustrated, roll up a few alts and just meander through the old content. A lot of it has been revamped, and even for those of us who've done the content dozens of times, there are still ways to enjoy this game if you look for them.

It's definitely easier to play a game that has years of content ahead of you. I've played WoW since it released and while I feel like I could always do something in the game, it doesn't feel very fulfilling. I guess I should say I feel a stronger need for a sense of purpose after all these years. It may be hard for older players to remember that the point of the game is just to play it. Whether that means to rediscover some old content or go out and complete a lot of deeds unfinished, there's probably something for you.

I know the recent hubub is all about lack of group/raid content, but there's a lot more to the game than that. Personal progression is important, but this game has a lot of progression in a lot of areas. I'm naive, I know, but trying to show an outsider's perspective on what is going on. Perhaps when I reach level cap I will max out gear and feel stymied, but I feel there are a lot of goals for me to achieve. I look forward to seeing for myself if I feel like others do.

[Nymphonic]

Perhaps when I reach level cap I will max out gear and feel stymied, but I feel there are a lot of goals for me to achieve. I look forward to seeing for myself if I feel like others do.

I've been here for 7 years next month and don't feel stymied at all. I still have as much fun as I did April 2007.

[FromgalTheMinstrel]

My wife has more than 20 alts all over several servers. She loves leveling alts.
Somehow, she find it harder and harder to stick to a character once it reaches around level 66. Then she starts another one. For a time neither she or I understood why.
However, the more I talk to other people, the more convinced I am of the reason: quests and character progression.

There has always been many many many fetch and coffee quests. In my opinion, calling "quest" to most of the menial tasks in this game is denigrating to the word "quest" itself.
But there were always the grand scheme of things happening in the background. You were doing menial tasks to make room for the bigger things to happen. From the quest to find Narchuil, to the quest to retrieve Zigilburk, the one about bringing Gorothul to justice, or the epic trip thru Mirkwood exchange prisoners... They weren't passtimes, but necessary pieces in the greater puzzle to solve. Or at least they gave the impression of you doing something important.

After that, it goes downhill, everything limiting itself to bringing coffee to NPCs that drag their feet all the way from Eriador to Dunland, or from Lorien to West Rohan. There isn't anymore a Quest. Just a succession of go gather X or swords, go talk to that NPC that is 10 meters away, stay here using clickies while the big stuff happens off-scene.

My feeling is 100% with that minstrel NPC in Edoras that mocks the hero for spending his life doing repetitive stuff. The devs tried to end it in a positive way by trying to shoehorn the morale that keeping an old lady's hands busy while she is carted from Edoras to Dunharrow is as important if not more than actually helping Theoden win the battle for the Fords of Isen against Saruman. I dropped my jaw while reading those last lines from the quest dialog. Sorry? Why don't we put Aragorn and Gimli to knit warm whool underpants for all the soldiers that will be sent to die at the Pelennor fields if that is so?

On character progression, you used to keep getting new stuff unlocked all thru Angmar and Moria. First the virtues, racials and class traits. Then the legendary books. Then the several unique class quests. The unlocking of legendary items. Skirmishes and soldier. There was always something totally new coming next. Something to look forward.
However the last class quests are in Moria level 55 or around that. The LI are unlocked at level 45 and no meaninful changes happen all the way to 95. The skirmishes are got now at level 20, but there is just so many time you can repeat some instance before it grows totally stale, and the problem of skirmishes is that they are all the same, only changing scenery and final boss. From Mirkwood and on, our characters just get one trait point every other level. They stop growing after Moria. After that they just keep on "scaling up". Mounted combat and Battle Promotions would have been good welcome additions if the devs wouldn't have put so much effort on making them either irrelevant, inconsequential or painful with most classes.
What I was hoping to become the best thing since sliced bread in order to bring more people from my kinship to do stuff together, characting scaling to 95 during battles, turned out to be the biggest disappointment ever. Scaled character are not just underpowered. They are ridiculously so. If they get any aggro, they die in one hit. While level 95 people hit by the thousands, scaled people hit by the hundreds. If you couldn't do better, then why bother making most secondary missions during battles be DPS races when a scaled character deals less than 1/10 the damage they would deal if they were really 95?

[Kittyvicious]

I've been here for 7 years next month and don't feel stymied at all. I still have as much fun as I did April 2007.

If you don't mind me asking, are you in an active kin? I have avoided social aspects of MMOs for a long time, but something tells me I may want that environment in the future. One thing I am afraid of is that I rolled on a less than populated server, as I've always heard good things about Brandywine and Landroval, but I'm on Elendilmir because a friend from years ago played there. I wouldn't be opposed to rerolling or transferring if I enjoyed the game that much, but I'm curious to the people still playing and enjoying it to that level what impact their friends play.

Personally I went through the phase of a close guild into mostly solo play in WoW and it has not deterred my enjoyment of that game at all. In fact, I think the way the game is designed I enjoy it more mostly alone. I will admit in LotRO I will probably miss out on some experiences without grouping, but without an active group to be around it's not something I am used to seeking out on my own.

I feel the game works incredibly well solo, which is why I have played over the years, but I wouldn't mind seeing what else it has to offer eventually.

[Rainothon]

If you don't mind me asking, are you in an active kin? I have avoided social aspects of MMOs for a long time, but something tells me I may want that environment in the future. One thing I am afraid of is that I rolled on a less than populated server, as I've always heard good things about Brandywine and Landroval, but I'm on Elendilmir because a friend from years ago played there. I wouldn't be opposed to rerolling or transferring if I enjoyed the game that much, but I'm curious to the people still playing and enjoying it to that level what impact their friends play.

Personally I went through the phase of a close guild into mostly solo play in WoW and it has not deterred my enjoyment of that game at all. In fact, I think the way the game is designed I enjoy it more mostly alone. I will admit in LotRO I will probably miss out on some experiences without grouping, but without an active group to be around it's not something I am used to seeking out on my own.

I feel the game works incredibly well solo, which is why I have played over the years, but I wouldn't mind seeing what else it has to offer eventually.

Levelling is indeed incredibly well solo. You can take your own time to do things, take them slow and at a relaxed pace. Maximize the storytelling entertainment.

Group content is a wholly different beast. You have to adjust to the pace of others (speed up or slow down, depending on dynamics), things appear much more chaotic, it takes a while before you grasp what other players are doing (like that shing shing champions brag about) and when they are in trouble or not. You would do well to learn a few roles your character would have in a group and learn jargon like RAT, tank, DPS, CC (and everyone forget the healer).

Add the subtleties of PvMP (mobs are no longer silly, but rather cunning and skilled veteran human players) to the mix and you get the ultimate fray that is Moors raiding. Group content and player versus player, it can't get more dynamic and unscripted than that.

The focus changes immensely from solo to group play.

Solo you are mostly in charge of the pace, and the story of what you are doing can be explored fully. It only ever becomes a challenge if you deliberately set yourself up for one, for example by pulling a whole room of mobs on purpose or fighting them with ... a frying pan. And even then it's very often a controlled situation that you've purposefully put yourself in.

Grouping you are much more gaming the game, striving for the best effort and to overcome challenges, and other players actions will change the situation outside of your scope of control.

[Dotlbeme]

My take after 7 years...

I have played pretty steady through out with a few breaks but never more than a couple months away.

Plainly and obviously the game has changed. Some for better, and some not so much.

When I first started, I was with a group of gun-ho gamers but more importantly social interneters. We enjoyed hanging and playing MMOs. MMOs at that time were group oriented, subscription, and LoTRO was created as such. You excelled if you had a group, and the highpoint (SOA) was to run Carn Dum with a full fellowship at level cap. It was tough and fun. Most of the content you would be hard pressed to do solo. Even the epic required groups for much of it.

When Moria was released, we had great fun running the instances with the 6-man (needed!) and close to if not at level 60. Mind you I DO NOT MISS radiance!

With every update things changed, some little, some big. One real big one was the switch to Free to Play. The latest change was also very big, moving to trait trees.

Now you can thrive solo on just about all the content. F2P is the order of the day. Different business plan, different game. New character development model (trees).

I had hit level/content cap with a couple characters pre-trees, but now I find myself starting over (by choice). Now my focus is solo, but also duoing/3-manning when my partners are available. Cannot remember the last time I was in a full group for anything, actually I just thought about it and it was probably over a year ago doing the dragon in Enedwaith with a 12-person group (one time), but before that...nope.

At the end of the day though, you are IN MIDDLE EARTH, with hobbits, elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins and everything else. That is the main constant, and that is why I spend time here. Game mechanics, good, bad, ugly, matter, but are not the end all for me.

[Kittyvicious]

At the end of the day though, you are IN MIDDLE EARTH, with hobbits, elves, dwarves, orcs, goblins and everything else. That is the main constant, and that is why I spend time here. Game mechanics, good, bad, ugly, matter, but are not the end all for me.

And I think this is something that a lot of MMOs just can't capture. No matter how artistically vivid (GW2) or how many years of creating lore for a world (WoW) there's just something about LotRO that is a step above in regards to the world. As many changes that people have disagreed with, it was Turbine that has created this world to live in. Whether it is people who have come and gone or people still manning the fort, they shape the world that feels so 'right' to play in.

Like many a book, I have put it down and picked it back up again. This time will likely be no different, but I'm going to try and keep 'reading' because it really hits me in the 'feels' more than other games. It really sounds too emotional, it's not like I'm over here crying at a sunset, but there's something psychologically resonating about their representation of Middle Earth that I think carries the game through all these years. Maybe that's idealistic, but other than ES games I can't think of one where I just stop and look around all.the.time. because of how awesome everything looks.

All these years later and I still giggle with nerd glee when I step into the Prancing Pony or run through fields in the Shire. Being in Lothlorien I almost never want to leave. I have 'cheated' and traveled out to Rohan and that was equally amazing. I just can't say enough good things about the world you get to play in. All faults aside, it's what keeps me wanting to play. I'm adventuring in Middle Earth. Writing my story in this age. Hopefully to see it through to the end.

[EtherDragon]

Oh this is me in a nutshell. I'm not here to raid or go into instances, they are not my thing. With that being said, I do feel that not bringing in new raids is not healthy for the game and should have been made a priority.

I'm here to be in Middle Earth and to be a part of that world, and in that regard, Turbine has made my dream come true. Yes, there are issues, like zone soundtracks not working, difficulty level being too low, Lis are boring for me and so on.

But there is just something "magical" for lack of a better term, that keeps me coming back here for more after trying other games.

I agree on all counts, actually.

While I, personally, most likely won't take part in any raid content - I do recognize the value of it. There are several play styles, of which I am only one of - maybe a common style, but I also recognize that my particular play style isn't all that great for "community".

Communities, guilds, regular raid groups, or just groups of friends who get together in LotRO are an important part of the stable core that keeps the game interesting (income coming in). Although I don't participate in RAID content, seeing lots of people online doing that kind of stuff, makes me want to spend more money on the stuff that I like to do.