ZAM's Lord of the Rings ContestFollow

I have been playing LotRO now for over a year steadily and I am still amazed at the level of detail that has went into everything in the game. From the storyline which is engaging and compelling to the graphics and the little extras that the devs have thrown in. Like the hobbit stuck in the north wall of Bree-town, the sandcastle in Evendim, to the guy being extorted for money in the Prancing Pony. I have spent hours at times just wandering around exploring and taking screenies (if you don't believe me I have a picasa folder dedicated to some of my favorites here: http://picasaweb.google.com/thelizard114/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline# warning last count I had 342 in there ^^)

Besides that there is just the great community of players who are mature, respectful and creative; it is always a pleasure to login and read chat, even PUG. The devs have given us a community site to blog called my.lotro.com where the community has even more opportunities to get together and share their experiences, stories, etc. Having played a few MMOs already (EQ2, WAR, GW and tried even more) I can say easily, hands down that LotRO is the best!

I have been playing for almost 2 years. I have 7 toons, 6 are lvl 60 and one is lvl 58, so obviously I like the game. I the leader of a rank 10 kinship.
So what are my likes and dislikes?
I like the gaming style of play and unlike WoW I am not hit constantly with challenges from other players to spar. The gaming community seems for the most part to be helpful and courtious. There are exceptions of course ans you will have your know-it-alls and smart mouths. But as a general rule most people are willing to give advice when asked. Graphics are very good. Combat play is awesome.

My dislikes are starting to mount up lately. It seems the game progammers are constantly fixing what isnt broken and not fixing what is broken. Bugs in the game are a constant issue..example: unable to fight mobs because of anti-exploit modes, even though you are standing right next to the mob. As a hunter, this is not the way hunters fight. We are ranged attack. Dolven View has become a nightmare to try and kill something in. This is a fairly new bug for this area, yet it is the same bug that has persisted for a long time throughout Lotro land..starting with barghests in barrow downs way back when I was a noob.
Another issue they like to tinker with is crafting. Two times in two years they have changed the crit items to improve crafting and bag space. They could have done the same thing by combining the crit items and increasing the bag space. Example: Great claws were used in most master tier recipies but only stacked to 20. Now each craft has a different crit item for master tier so that didnt save space, however they did increase the amount of the stack from 20 to 100. So why did I now have to have pink rock salt as a crit item instead of a great claw? What space was saved? Before, I knew where to go and GET my crit items. Now I know where to go and HOPE for them.
Stcking with crafting, they also changed the levels for wearing some critted items. Lvl 48 medium armour is now lvl 50. Who is going to pay the price for critted lvl 50 armour when in 2 more lvls they will but new critted armour. They have shafted the crafters once again. Armour lvls were not broken, so why did they feel the need to "fix" it?
The drops for legendary pages has all but dried up. I can farm for hours without a single page for any class dropping. Yet this is an item that a player MUST have to complete the legendary slots. Second age legendary items have also become scarce, at least for me. I have not had a single second age item drop in over two months.
My biggest complaint is that they fix what isnt broken and cannot seem to fix what is broken.
I love the game itself or I wouldnt have 7 toons. However, I am really tired of the bugs and the inability to fix them.

I also wish that there can be crafted bags which would increase bag space.

I have loved LOTR online. it far exceeds the playability of WOW or Star wars, the other games I played. I enjoy living and playing in a world based on classic literature and I think, above all John Robert Ruel would be proud.

Edited, Jul 18th 2009 9:56pm by Hawkmoontoledo

I have been playing LOTRO on and off since launch. I love that the game client looks amazing in DX10 and also runs very well. There is content for soloers, RPers, raiders, quest junkies, pvp players and more. I love the well written story and quests. I enjoy the epic quest line and love the Middle Earth universe.

I recently switched over to this game from World of Warcraft and am very impressed by LotRO so far. The accuracy of the game with the LotR story is very impressive, and it is obvious that they spent a lot of time outside game development as well as in it. The ability to roam the places that we have all admired in the books and movies is a great experience and I am overwhelmed by the interactive main questline where your character makes a difference in the course of the game. Though I am a relatively low level character, I can see the distiction between the classes already and have grown to know their abilities. Also, despite my early level, I can see myself playing this game consistantly for a couple years at least.

I played lorto when it first came out and liked it, but was not drawn into the game as i had been with other mmo's. 2 years later i gave it another try and found that many of the small things that bothered me were gone, the player base was friendly and always willing to help and the story and questing are superb.

Hello everyone!

I have been playing Lotro for a year now. I have been playing MMO's on the net since the days of Sid Meiers Gettysburg. I'm not going to go on and on about how wonderful this game is with its game play and graphics. Everyone before has spoken of it quite eloquently. What I believe is Lotro's strongest point is its players and their attitudes towards others game play. Example..... A champ is fighting a warg near a pile of gold ore. The champ is 'engaged' and cannot mine till he is victorious over the warg. Another player rides up wanting that gold ore for crafting. The second player waits till the fight has concluded to see if the champ will take the ore. This is a common courtesy rarely seen in MMO game play outside of Lotro, and I have played a great number of them (MMO's). A new person will ask for help in the advice channel of chat, 4 or 5 people chat out the answer. The advice from other players freely flows in the game all the way to the end game.

Also, I would like to say the "down-time" or sever maintenance time is very minimal for a MMO. The Lotro engineers are some of the best in the MMO world. Also, GM or game master access in the game is also the best I have ever seen. You put in a trouble ticket, accessed 'in-game', and within minutes a GM will open a chat with you to correct an issue.

Lastly, this is a game I would let even my pre-teens play. Trash talk, sexual content, abusive people are a rarity in this game. This is governed by the players themselves, rude behavior is simply not tolerated and a player who doesn’t try to get along will quickly be isolated both in game play and chat.

I would like to thank Zam for opening this opportunity to share our thoughts on possibly the best MMO on the internet today.

Best Wishes,
Charles Sears, Retired US Navy A7 pilot
aka "Ukiah" Captain, level 41, Silverlode server

The game is great. The story was unique, but follows the storyline of the books in a way that lets you be a part of the books, without having to call yourself Grandalf or Borromir (even if some wanted to anyways)/

The one thing I am anticipating, from the begining, is to include a monster side (ala City of Evil). The creepside is fun and has kept me playing when the grinding gets a bit boring. I just would like the chance to grind from level one out of Mt. Doom. Let me earn my Weaver the mmo way! Let me do quests, craft, get equipment, and prepare to Battle on the Fields of Pelenor!

I'll buy the expansion, but make it please!

Hello, my name is Belle, and I am an Altaholic. I freely confess that I am unable to stick to one main character, and rarely ever play the same character for even one full day. This addiction has caused me to purchase three - yes, count them, one - two- three Lifetime Accounts for Lotro.

My last name for all my characters, as soon as they reach level 15 and are able to choose one, is Sybil. Why, you might ask? Some of you may remember the movie Sybil. It was based on a book written by Flora Rheta Shreiber in 1973 about a woman named Shirley Ardell Mason. She is referred to in the book as Sybil Dorsett. Sybil had multiple personality disorder. The movie starred Sally Field, and Joaan Woodward was her therapist. The movie was remade in 2007, so some of you younger people might remember that version, it starred Tammy Blanchard as Sybil and Jessica Lange as Dr. Wilbur.

I don’t have Multiple Personality Disorder, but Sybil was suggested to me as a second name because I tend to think of my alts as seperate personalities. So if you see anyone running around in LOTRO with the second name of Sybil, it’s probably one of me:)

I’ve suffered from Altitis for many years. I played Asheron’s Call from Dec. of 1999, and actually had twelve active accounts. I was best known as Taco Belle on the Leafcull server, where I was, at one time, Monarch of the largest monarchy on the server. I tried to create Taco Belle when I came here to LOTRO, but the powers that be wouldn’t let me use the name:( I don’t know why really, I don’t spell it the same as the company, and don’t sell taco’s!

I’m badly addicted to both playing alts and playing LOTRO. I normally log in at 8 am est and stay on until I can’t keep my eyes open, which is usually around 2 or 3 am.

One of my goals was to be GM in all crafts, now that’s been upgraded to be Supreme Master. Another was to have at least one of each class maxed at level 50, now I’ve had to upgrade that to 60. So for me, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day to achieve all my goals. I honestly think of of the reasons I enjoy playing low level characters as much as I do my level 60 is that they reach goals so quickly.

Altholics of LOTRO, stand up and be counted, don’t be ashamed or embarassed to admit your addiction.

Just started playing and I really enjoy it. I guess I am hooked. I can't seem to get enough time playing. I enjoy all of the quest and the crafting. It is cool using the mic to communicate to friends while playing and the ability to move things around, but I still have so much to learn.

It's a good time.

I started out my MMO gaming with the original Ultima Online, which I played for several years.
During that time EQ came out, which I played for quite a while even though it was frustrating.
Once my grades in College started to tank, I vowed never to play another MMO again.
Then... A buddy of mine encouraged me to play LOTRO when they were doing their free open beta.
Almost 2 years later I was still playing and enjoyed the game far more than any other MMO. Shortly before the MOM expansion was released I decided it was time to try something new. I tried WAR for a couple months; then AOC. I even went back to EQ for a while, haha. During this break from LOTRO I participated in a couple of the "welcome back" weekend sessions Turbine occasionally has.
Currently I'm not playing any MMO, but I always find myself checking the LOTRO forums for the latest content releases and thinking fondly back on my time playing.
I think since I've left, one of the nicest things they've added are the improvements to the quest tracker that allows you to see which direction you need to go (particularly useful when you don't remember where the guy is that you're supposed to deliver those hides to).
I always loved the 6-man instances (like Carn Dum and Evendim). Very fun encounters.
If I have one recommendation to anyone that is loving this game after the first month they play it... shell out the money for the lifetime subscription. I wish I did :)
Maybe one day I will come back.