In what way is LOTRO special compared to other MMOs?

[Dunford]

In addition to the reasons listed by other posters, I have to add the LotRO PvMP system. Most other MMO titles force the players to enter PvP content at some point in the character progression, if the player wants to advance deeper into the game.
Not only does LotRO not force players into PvP, it developed a PvP system that can maintain the PvE game experience without the usual changes associated with PvP play. While players can criticize the PvMP system for lack of updates and content, there is no denying that it is a unique way of approaching player vs. player gameplay.

[Sam6284]

For me, it's the landscape, the mounts, the cosmetics. The fluff basically. I'm a solo quester most of the time, but I've been in the same kin for...3 1/2 years now. Most of us have left, but those that have stayed are the ones I enjoyed talking the most to anyway.

I also like the fact that, as a female gamer playing a female elf or human most of the time, my characters are not forced to wear armor that you can't figure out how it's going to protect your character. I like my character covered up when the orcs or goblins or whatever are trying to kill me thankyouverymuch. :P

Plus...it's Tolkien. That alone keeps me here some days.

[Nymphonic]

. The atmosphere and graphics are not really better than other MMO's. It's still quite good, but nothing special.
.

I thought about this thread while playing tonight(I finally got internet thank God), and I was thinking about the part about what was said about the graphics. Yeah, maybe the poly count is not as high as newer games, but the art direction is still nice to look at. Warcraft 2 is 20 years old with 800 resolution graphics and that game still looks good. So do the landscapes in Morrowind and Oblivion.

My point is there are a lot of older games with lower poly counts than modern games, and still look good. I just think it's inaccurate to judge the cosmetic appeal of a game by it's poly count. I still play Warcraft 2 to this day and enjoy how nice it looks.


OFF TOPIC: I hated Warcraft 3, art direction and gameplay totally turned me off.

[Wardrat]

Thank you all for the replies. Obviously I can't reply to all, so picked the following quote as I found that one particularly interesting.

What makes LOTRO special and different is that this game could exist without single quest, epic book, raid, or bone-head class addition, and people would continue to play it forever. It is a home, a place made real by the deeds and sentiments of the community. [...] I will never regret what time I’ve spent here and I know I will take much away into the real world for having been part of this.

I think I might be a bit wrong with my first post. Simply the fact that you can wander through Middle-Earth is special enough. You are right, even without quests and raids, I would still enjoy exploring new areas. I didn't realise it earlier, but that's indeed something that no other MMO could possibly have. All other MMO's need quests or raids to make exploring fun. LOTRO doesn't need that and in that sense it's still special.

Community wise the game is probably still amazing compared to other MMO's, but the kinship I used to be part of for many years, disbanded and each kinship I tried next didn't feel the same. So for me, in that aspect, the community has gone downhill.

[pvdtheking]

Lotro is the only mmo I know that DISCOURAGES group play and doesn't bring new dungeons/raids out....so in that respect its unique x

[Adatfin]

Other than the fact that LOTRO is the only MMO based on JRRT, I would suggest that the one unique feature is the landscape in comparison to other MMOs, or at least the ones I've tried or seen.

Yes as you say the graphics are no better than any other game, there are no features in the game that cannot be found elsewhere, etc. but the attention to detail in recreating a 'believable' Middle Earth landscape is IMHO second to none.

I've played SWTOR and Neverwinter amongst others, and while those games are visually as good (if not better) the world somehow feels flat in comparison to LOTRO.

yes!

i have tried a lot of mmos in the last 3 years... But so unique One never found.. Middle Earth in this game is so much Wonderfull... I tried others mmos to Stay there.. But im coming back all the time. This is the One and only game Where i find Myself... This only One thing makes Lotro a Unique game for me.

[Runesi_EU]

6. I believe the "raids" and "instances" in this game are well done... for the most part. Each "raid" does a very good job of telling the story of what you are encountering... whether you are storming Carn Dum, Isengard, or defending Helms Deep... again, the mechanics involved you may or may not always like... but the attempt at conveying the "epicness" of those encounters is certainly there and often well done.

I agree, historically raid and instances have been of a very good quality and fun to run though, I've enjoyed most traditional group content in LotRO. It is such a shame that they have decided to pause on the more traditional instance content for the time being as it is something they have done well in the past.

[Stockton67]

Greetings-
As I have mentioned in other threads this is my First mmo experience and first online gaming experience of any kind, celebrating one year in lotro as of March.
Over the past year I have tried a couple other games. I lost interest after about a week. Its not that they weren't good games, its that they were not lotro. Living in Professor Tolkien's world has been a very unique experience. And thats the rub. Lotro isn't so much a game for me but like being an actor in a stage play, with a game included as a bonus. I just dont feel that way about the other mmo's I've tried. And no, I'm not RP, but being there is just as good.
Plus I have sort of a bias because this is my first mmo. I have a friend who plays Everquest. He will always love that game above all others because it was his first game,dated as it is. People never forget their first love, I suppose.
Lotro is good value for the money as well. Im a premium player, but own all the quest packs and expansions, have no gold cap, 78% speed mounts, ect. If I want a new character I just go grind enough TP to buy it. Doing that right now to buy a blackarrow btw.
The folks in game are pretty good people, and have always got help when I have a question.
I don't raid much, and I'm glad groupe content is optional. Givin the performance of both my computer and my ISP, thats probably for the best.
And lastly, to end this rambling, lotro is a finite story. It will end one day. Nothing puts it in better perspective than that, IMHO.

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Therissa the Lore Master and other various freeps and creeps on Nimrodel server. Kin All Shall Fade.

[smeg7000]

I've been playing The Elder Scrolls a bit since release, IMO the graphics in LOTRO are better! I've given up on the Elder Scrolls now and am back playing LOTRO. I just love it.

[Widoch]

The actual gameplay of LOTRO and the Epic story line have gotten pretty boring in my opinion so I've been taking a break and trying out a few other MMOs, the main one being Elder Scrolls Online. Haveing been playing with a few other MMOs, I can offer that in perspective.

LOTRO, while having an older and less flexible graphics engine than say, Elder Scrolls Online, they've managed to still build very detailed and interesting worlds to explore. They are no longer the only MMO that does this well, as ESO has build an absolutely beautiful world, but LOTRO has built and is building a world every Tolkien fan wants to see. The lore and the world of ESO doesn't really pull at the heart strings like LOTRO does with their world building. So, that will always be the main reason I keep coming back to LOTRO hoping they get some of their mechanics figured out. They have great source material from which to work for their world building, and they put a lot of detail into it. We don't just play in random areas, we play in areas that we all wish could be real.

As a side note to this, I really like LOTRO's commitment to being able to run from one end of the world to the other with very minimal cut scenes. I wish Rohan could connect to the rest of Middle Earth, but I understand the limitations in needing to tell a story.

The only other obvious advantage LOTRO has at the moment over other games is the community. This is still a helpful, friendly and mature group of people. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that you need to be able to read at a higher than 2nd grade level to fall in love with the world Tolkien built. ESO's community is your normal cesspool of slack jawed droolers who think the absolute peak of human intelligence and debate is screaming, "LoLOLL!!11!! U SO GAY!!! LolOLLOLLZZZ!111!!".

Really, the community in ESO and Neverwinter Nights is horrible.

LOTRO is the only MMO I've played where I actually enjoy most of the forum discussion, and zone/global chats. Yes, we have our own turds in GLFF who enjoy talking about women and the things they'll never get to do with them because they're losers, but they're the minority, really.

Sadly, outside of those two areas through, I've noticed LOTRO is starting to fall behind the pack. They've flatlined somehow on some of the parts of the game that in the past we're quite good.

1. Crafting hasn't mattered for over a year, and it used to be an awesome part of the game.
2. We haven't seen a challenging and difficult exploration zone east of Moria, and in the past year, the end came content has been less than thrilling.
3. The Big Battles I'm sure sounded good on paper, and I don't hold it agains LOTRO for trying it, but they kind of flopped. This most recent addition of Hytbold 2.0 in Fangorn was what pushed me to take a break and come back in a few months.

A few things they have done in the past year or so show me that there's life to be had in the game yet.

1. Mounted Combat, while the technology maybe doesn't allow it to be as awesome as it could be, can be interesting and it's pretty unique to LOTRO. I wish it worked better with less lag, but it's not a horrible idea.
2. Their community efforts are somewhat unique to LOTRO. ESO and NWN don't have the festivals and community events that LOTRO has. ESO's community is just too vile to get along well enough to do anything, and NWN developers just don't seem interested in that sort of thing.
3. Willingness to change. There have been several quality of life improvements that show LOTRO are willing to try stuff. They aren't going to be popular with everyone, and they never will produce anything that is 100% accepted, but at least they're trying. Landscape mail access, inventory improvements, the trait trees love 'em or hate 'em show change, Beornings (sorry...puked in my mouth a bit) show they're doing stuff, and other such things.

I just hope that LOTRO kind of gets back a bit to some of the things they did really well before they got distracted with trying a couple of new ideas. LOTRO has had some great story based instances, raids and group content that if returned, the game would be pretty darn cool again.

[Minquinn]

In addition to the reasons listed by other posters, I have to add the LotRO PvMP system. Most other MMO titles force the players to enter PvP content at some point in the character progression, if the player wants to advance deeper into the game.
Not only does LotRO not force players into PvP, it developed a PvP system that can maintain the PvE game experience without the usual changes associated with PvP play. While players can criticize the PvMP system for lack of updates and content, there is no denying that it is a unique way of approaching player vs. player gameplay.

I don't think I've ever played a classic MMO that has forced PVP. If I use PVP at all it is dabbling.
I played WOW for 5 years and never once was I forced to PVP.
I have played Rift for 6 months (2 level 52 toons) and not once used the PVP options.
While there may be games that force PVP, Lotro is no more unique in those aspects from the games I listed. PVP has always had a separate stat associated to it because of this.

The only place I have seen character building, progression and growth gated behind a feature was when 2 trait points were gated behind EB's. And before that legendary skills behind solo questing and group instances. When we had the trait system this worked ok. Now that we have a tree not so much.
The only real uniqueness I see is that Lotro gates abilities and skills behind grinds and other MMO's just give them to you for reaching a new level.

[Dunford]

I don't think I've ever played a classic MMO that has forced PVP. If I use PVP at all it is dabbling.
I played WOW for 5 years and never once was I forced to PVP.
I have played Rift for 6 months (2 level 52 toons) and not once used the PVP options.
While there may be games that force PVP, Lotro is no more unique in those aspects from the games I listed. PVP has always had a separate stat associated to it because of this.

The only place I have seen character building, progression and growth gated behind a feature was when 2 trait points were gated behind EB's. And before that legendary skills behind solo questing and group instances. When we had the trait system this worked ok. Now that we have a tree not so much.
The only real uniqueness I see is that Lotro gates abilities and skills behind grinds and other MMO's just give them to you for reaching a new level.

Perhaps 'Forced' PvP is not quite accurate, I agree. In all other MMO's I have played (Asheron Call, Dark Age of Camelot, WoW being the foremost), PvE and PvP were not two separate activities but were common in the sense that changes to character classes were performed for PvP purposes and adversely affected the PvE game play. Whether you wanted to participate in PvP or not, you were exposed to it. Dark Age of Camelot required PvE players to go into PvP zones to complete PvE quests, although you could of course decide not to complete those quests.

So in the sense that LotRO does not expose PvE players to PvP gameplay and has a mechanism to modify and adjust the Pv(M)P game play without changes to the PvE environment, LotRO is the only MMO I have played that has this separation.

[maartena]

The Tolkien Lore.

Quite frankly, it is what most other MMO's are based on. Look at everquest from 1999, a lot of the things in that game are directly from the Tolkien descriptions from the books. Elves on platforms in trees. Halflings with hairy feet. Dwarves in caverns and caves. The graphical representation of Orcs and Goblins. All of that came originally from the works of Tolkien.

That is what makes this game interesting, it is trying its best to stay true to the lore.

[Dernudan]

If insulting others' opinions is indicative of a special aspect of Lotro, yikes.



Au contraire, it's a matter of time and budget. Games I've developed wouldn't pass beta test were I to submit some things that exist in Lotro.



Actually generally lots of mistakes are an attribute of poor products, it's kind of in the definition. ;-) Anyone is free to overlook them obviously, but other games don't have such flaws or rectify them in beta. The example I gave isn't limited, years ago during a Lotro beta was the first time I saw and reported a similar design mistake.



Oh how ironic! LOL



Check all the closed threads from a week ago (Monday) through last Friday. There were serious discussions not involving leaving, however the shrinking player base was mentioned in the closed threads in relation to the main discussions. It's almost like they are just running searches for phrases that relate and arbitrarily are closing resulting threads. None of them contravened published reasons for closures or indicated why the thread was closed (a basic element of respect and education that improves community behavior usually provided in other forums).



Access now compared to years before, as I explained in my original post, there was flexibility at quest hubs, which has been eliminated in favor of one quest ring funneling you through a tedious quest chain rather than being surrounded by choices. This relates to the psychological concept of "Flow", choice and a feeling of being in control is a key element of what is perceived as fun.



In a thread asking for comparisons to other online multiuser environments, considering how many use both, and considering some respondents here were claiming other online environments didn't have as much of a cosmetic system as here, of course! As for those who care, well we know one who is disparaging, heh!

The poster you quoted was correct in pretty much everything he said.

The graphics in this game are a thousand times better than many games, especially in beta.
You can not compare a MMORPG with a game like Second Life, a completely different field than this.
And pretty much everything else is self explanatory.

[Polymachos]

(shuts Torchlight II down after a grind from level 40something to 53 because of exhaustion) well, I still like it. This game has its own pace, maybe a bit slower than others that I have tried, and I wouldn't want it to be any faster. It would spoil the gameplay, because you wouldn't get the time to look at this ingenious landscape that offers really breathtaking views (just look at the Postcards from Middle Earth thread)

For me it is this state of mind that is displayed by the NPCs when they are talking to you, that makes me love the game. You don't get yelled at like a new recruit, you don't get told that you are now entering a path of enlightenment and power, or to become the greatest hero of all; instead you are greeted as if you were following an invitation to a cup of tea. Hobbits insist that you should behave properly, elves indicate in a benevolent way that you are a bit young in their eyes, dwarves talk about their jobs. It is as if you have moved to a village and are now getting acquainted with the folk. Which other game offers such an atmosphere? If you are told to help them with some problem, you don't say: 'get done with your blurb, I want to make more XP', you say 'well, it is a bit tedious, but you are asking so nicely, that I can't refuse it. Good that I can get something out of this myself'.

This kind of interaction might exist in other games, but I haven't seen it in another MMO yet. Yes, at the moment I am as tired as many others, with nothing to do on my mains than tending trees. But if that game died, it would make my heart bleed. It is just so special.


Greetings, Polymachos

[Ravynne]

Yes, the game has changed over the years. Some were good changes and others were not-so-good. There are still some very special aspects of this game to appreciate if you are tired of levelling and grinding.


The Developers are definitely open to change and read these forums looking for topics to improve the game. You just have to offer a suggestion (not just a complaint, but an actual change for them to make) and they will look into seeing if it is possible to implement. Unfortunately, there are limitations, just like any other game. The point is that they are passionate enough to try.


We have a community manager who goes out of his way to not only keep us in the loop, but is willing to use his own time to run server events, like Take the hobbit to Isengard. Sure, it's not a quest. Sure, there are no prizes other than bragging rights, but no one can deny that it is FUN and SILLY and totally unique to LOTRO and its community.


No one has mentioned the amazing music system. It allows players to do something fun that other MMORPGs would not bother with. If you want proof, go to Landroval. I believe that server is the home of the Lonely Mountain Band, which won a special award last year. I've heard rumors that they are far from the only band on the server (okay more than rumors since they are famous for Weatherstock). This is yet more proof of how great our community is.


Am I claiming that LOTRO is perfect? No, definitely not. BUT we do have a community that is very unique, and for the most part, very mature. That is a HUGE thing. I know for a fact that there are teenagers who play the game, but you would never know it by the way they talk and act. They know how to form complete sentences. I am glad that we do not have to see posts like another posted showed.


For a lot of us, LOTRO is not just another game. The people we play with are part of our family. They are not just another name on the screen. We have played with some of them for YEARS. I talk to most of my kin members more than I talk with my own family (and I love my family and communicate often). I've met numerous other players over the years IRL. Some LOTRO members came to my wedding. I've stayed at their house, they have stayed at mine. Would YOU let another player from one of those other MMORPGs do the same?


I realize that my post has very little mention of the game itself, but that is kind of my point. There is more to community than just what you see on the forums. LOTRO is MORE than just a bunch of pixels on a screen. It is MORE than a quest-chain, new landscape, bugs, and raids/instances (even though all of this is also important). No other MMORPG could ever hope to compare to our community.

I apologize if this all comes across as "mushy" or "lovey-dovey", but it is the truth as *I* see it.

[CookieArtisan]

I also like the fact that, as a female gamer playing a female elf or human most of the time, my characters are not forced to wear armor that you can't figure out how it's going to protect your character. I like my character covered up when the orcs or goblins or whatever are trying to kill me thankyouverymuch. :P

omg yes! As a female player i also too appreciate the practical ARMOR for females in this game. Well done, Turbine *round of applause*. Too many games feature practical armor for the men and nothing but strings for the women. (Yeah, I know they're designed by men. DUH.)

[StrideColossus]

The poster you quoted was correct in pretty much everything he said.

The graphics in this game are a thousand times better than many games, especially in beta.
You can not compare a MMORPG with a game like Second Life, a completely different field than this.
And pretty much everything else is self explanatory.

Thank you, I was beginning to think I was losing my mind.

The number of posts in this thread applauding the landscape, quests, and general feel of of the game pretty much bear out the fact that the developers have done - and have continued to do - a wonderful job of realizing JRRT's world. Yes of course there are issues, some of them quite major IMHO, but that doesn't make LOTRO second rate.

[Widoch]

Thank you, I was beginning to think I was losing my mind.

The number of posts in this thread applauding the landscape, quests, and general feel of of the game pretty much bear out the fact that the developers have done - and have continued to do - a wonderful job of realizing JRRT's world. Yes of course there are issues, some of them quite major IMHO, but that doesn't make LOTRO second rate.

I would say that the world building is well done, and they've done a lot to hide their outdated graphics engine, but one only needs to pop up Neverwinter or Elder Scrolls Online, then go back to LOTRO to realize the technology they're working with is from a previous generation. Now, I don't mean to say the game looks bad, it doesn't. But in the next year as more titles come out, it's going to fall pretty far behind.

[Comstrike]

I would say that the world building is well done, and they've done a lot to hide their outdated graphics engine, but one only needs to pop up Neverwinter or Elder Scrolls Online, then go back to LOTRO to realize the technology they're working with is from a previous generation. Now, I don't mean to say the game looks bad, it doesn't. But in the next year as more titles come out, it's going to fall pretty far behind.

I can respect the comment, but it misses the point. This game remains special, as it will continue to do even after yet more newer games come out. This is because while we can rate games against each other based on technology, or subjective views on what is "better" none of it matters to those for whom the game is special. One has to remove the habit of just falling into comparing specs and such. The truth is that the basic premise of this question means it can only be answered by those for whom it is special. Anybody else is just saying they don't like the game or like it less.

[Widoch]

I can respect the comment, but it misses the point. This game remains special, as it will continue to do even after yet more newer games come out. This is because while we can rate games against each other based on technology, or subjective views on what is "better" none of it matters to those for whom the game is special. One has to remove the habit of just falling into comparing specs and such. The truth is that the basic premise of this question means it can only be answered by those for whom it is special. Anybody else is just saying they don't like the game or like it less.

I wasn't trying to imply that the game wasn't special, I made an original post in this thread with several reasons why I think the game is unique and the world building is one of them. My comment was in response to the idea that LOTRO's graphic engine looks as good or better than other games out there, and while Turbine has done a wonderful job with what they have, the graphics are a bit dated. That's all.

I still play Age of Empires II because it's an awesome game, I don't care about the graphics. Same with LOTRO.

[Larkin_coel]

In what way is LOTRO special compared to other MMOs?

In my opinion the answer is the single player content.
I used to like team playing now I'm a soloer. Well I know this is a multiplayer game and the point is to play together but I tried several mmo I'm 34 so I can say I have experience and what I saw in multiplayer content was more annoying thing than the joy I was hoping when I started play with these games.

Guilds, clans, kinships name it whatever you want can be a small tight community or a large one when nobody knows each other and to be honest not even care.

The small tight ones are too small to really enjoy group content in a guild level. There are lvl, rewarding, difficulty difference problems. Not everybody enjoys babysitting the lowbies etc. They usually formed around real life relationships. There are less drama in these groups but if you are an outsider it's very hard to fit in. 1 or 2 leading members absence can mean the dissolve of the whole group.

The larger ones are usually formed around a leader personality in the better case. A celebrity personnel or a one who really knows how to lead. They are doing well until the leader decide to quit playing and the whole community starts to decay. In the worst case the players are grouped around a nice title, a group name and they have nothing in common. They collect new members by recruiting. Usually they don't care about who joins them the more the merrier and quantity over quality. The leaders are the ones who are the oldest members or the ones who are the most active. Drama are very common in these groups because they have so many different personalities and they can't manage it.

I tried several of these from each type and in the end I decided I'm better on my own. I can still enjoy group content by filling my friend list and occasionally joining PUG's. I don't have to deal with others problem or behaviour if I don't have the mood and if I met somebody I don't like I can just ignore them without any drama or befriend them if I think I want to play with them later again.

So I needed to find an mmo where solo play is rewarded and not punished or at least it's not ignored by the developers and I found it.
Moreover It has a good economy system so I can get everything from the market and I can craft and what I can craft is useful and it's not just a goldsink. Just look at the price of the raw materials on the market! All this after 7 years of fighting against gold farming, boting, multiboxing!!! The economy is still intact and your work putting in crafting is still rewarding. I had good experience with turbine in D&D online the reason I quit that game was the grind fest at end game and because it was mostly group based and heavily instanced. I like the systems helping solo play in lotro and I think this is the one thing wich is unique and placing it on the top among recent mmo's. The second thing is Turbine's neverending care, frequent updates, maintances, fixes, patches, the lot of things you can spend your turbine points (It's not only helps maintaining it's rate of return but It give us new goals something to fight for beside the xp). Turbine players got used to this and think it's normal but I witnessed other mmo's close downs, abandoned servers etc.

Lotro can still evolve but I looked around the mmo market and I found it the best for my personal taste.

[RJFerret]

The poster you quoted was correct...

An opinion can't be correct or incorrect. I expressed my view. The poster I quoted was disparaging of my opinion. I provided examples why I feel the way I do in areas they highlighted.

Plenty disagree with my view obviously, which is why I was expressing it, as many have expressed not knowing of other options, which are out there.

You can not compare a MMORPG with a game like Second Life, a completely different field than this.

Why?

I learned of Lotro from friends there. The experience of using both has been practically identical, although Second Life offers more beyond just games. Obviously the technology of how the client is structured is radically different too, streaming versus local storage which obviously limits what can be provided here.

[Dernudan]

An opinion can't be correct or incorrect. I expressed my view. The poster I quoted was disparaging of my opinion. I provided examples why I feel the way I do in areas they highlighted.

Plenty disagree with my view obviously, which is why I was expressing it, as many have expressed not knowing of other options, which are out there.



Why?

I learned of Lotro from friends there. The experience of using both has been practically identical, although Second Life offers more beyond just games. Obviously the technology of how the client is structured is radically different too, streaming versus local storage which obviously limits what can be provided here.

1. Ya, I should not have said it that way. I should have said I disagree ir something to that affect. Sorry.
2. Second Life is a game built entirely around social life, relaxing and partying, stuff like that. LOTRO is a game that is built around vanquishing foes. These are entirely different things.

[Sapience]

An opinion can't be correct or incorrect.

This is not always true. An opinion based on erroneous information will result in the opinion being flawed and, bluntly, 'wrong' due to the inaccuracy of the information used to arrive at said opinion. Matters of taste are another issue.

Now, back on topic. No more opinions on each other's opinions.