Brand new to LOTRO...MMO vetFollow

First off, just reading through some of these posts I can already see that this is a very helpful board...and much more mature than WOW. I'm a vet of the MMO format..started with EQ, then EQ2, then WOW. While WOW is super addictive and can be a lot of fun, I'm tired of the immaturity of the players and the concentration on simply gearing up for end game. I'm a huge fan of the series and am looking forward to exploring slowly...concentrating on content...and really getting into the lore. That said...

I am currently waiting for the trial to finish downloading and have a few questions.

Does anyone know if the trial comes with the expansion built in? Interested to know because of the RK class.

There are plenty of posts regarding tanks and such...but I haven't seen many on Minstrels or Lore-Masters. I am partial towards wizards and warlocks so any info on these classes (and RK as well I guess) that would help out a noob would be greatly appreciated.

Is there an emphasis on grouping and are there many instances in the game?

Do you need to have a huge amount of currency in order to get the good items/weapons or are they primarily quest rewards and drops?

Are the "books" linear in nature....meaning do you have to complete each chapter/book before moving on to the next?

I know in WOW, you can have a level 20 warrior that has so much prime gear that they are basically "elite" and another 20 warrior who wouldn't be able to hold a candle to the "elite" guy of the same level. Is that a concern with LOTRO?

Ok...that seems like enough questions for now. I'm looking forward to the responses and to playing this game!

Trying to answer a few of you questions:

1) I'm pretty sure the new trial includes Moria, so you should be able to play the RK.

2) Minstrel is the main healing class in the game, but with the changes put in in the last update, they can put out some serious dps. Mora covered the Loremaster better than I could. Runekeeper is the traditional glass cannon, with a twist. They get to heal along with awesome dps. With RKs, the more you heal, the stronger heals become available to you, the more you dps the stronger dps skills you get. Its a neat dynamic from what little I've played the class.(Nothing against light-armor wearing classes, they just aren't usually my cup 'o tea)

3)You can solo all the way to the level cap if you want, or spend your time in groups. There are several instances for different levels throughout the game.

4)Quested gear, or crafted by your friends in a good kin, will carry you to the level cap. Most of the best gear in the game is bind on acquire. Your first toon is usually poor up to at least level 50. sorry:) Its easier on your alts though.

5)Some of the books need to be done in order, but others can be done as soon as you are high enough level to get the quest.

6)Not as much a concern as it is in WoW. From level 1-59, most everyone is going to be in quested or crafted gear and be pretty equal. A level 42 Guardian who can get all critted level 42 gear will have a slight advantage over a 42 Guardian in quested gear, but the guy with quested gear isn't going to be gimped by any stretch of the imagination.


Hope that helps!

If you created a character on the Meneldor server and want to join There is No Fifth Star just post your character name and some of us will add you to our friends list and keep an eye out to toss you an invite.

As an experienced MMO player you're going to find levelling up a character pretty familiar, I'd say give a few different classes a try and see which one trips your trigger. You may surprise yourself.