Hey guys and gals!

So after much deliberation and swearing off lotro back when Helm's Deep came out (newest lotro expansion), a good friend of mine suggested I try the game again and see how I like it.

I've got to say, it's not like the game is completely different, but it's certainly more fun on my champion, and my minstrel kicks royal dupa.

I'm hooked on the game again, to the point where I'm not playing much else, which I think is a testament to how well the changes introduced in HD are going for me.

I'd recommend to anyone who's tried the game, liked it but didn't stay with it, to go back and give it another try.

Also, I realize there's threads for lotro but no current ones that I found via Search, and I didn't feel like necroing.

~Leucius

I was really confused while reading the OP until I realized that this might not actually be a lotto thread.

Well, I'm playing LOTRO on-off for the last 5 years and I must say I saw the game evolve. Most of the evolutions are in the right directions, even if some are somewhat confusing at first (like the new skill tree they implemented with the last add-on).

I don't play competitive play, or high-level 12-characters raids, so I can't say a thing about these parts, which are the ones i think are the most criticized by "pro" players (if there's such a thing as a "pro" LOTRO player...)

Lastly, I found that with the rebalancing it was easier to solo the game, which is better for me as my guild is a rather small one and I don't live on the same timezone than my friends. But at least I can continue to enjoy the game!

My only gripes are only:
- seriously ? after 5 years of gaming we still haven't anything else than fishing? And the seller that sold special baits is gone for a long time? We could think that Turbine would have come up with some interesting ideas for entertain people when they don't want to run on adventures (yes, I might be a Hobbit at heart, there)

- the houses. Please overhaul the system. Create a system where we can, through effort and money (virtual please!) improve and enlarge our personal home and why not? the guild's home. For the moment, there is little interest for me to go there, because we already filled almost all the slots...

I played LOTRO for about a year, but my schedule shifted and I stopped having time to follow up. Haven't been in there for over a year. I owe so much rent on my house I may not ever go back...

Windfola, if I'm remembering right.

That's the beauty of it, you can technically play entirely for free :)

True.
And if you had any things in your house, it normally should have been backed up at a special NPC at the entrance of the house-zone where you had your house. So, basically, you can give up your house, take back your stuff and maybe save for a new house :)

I really want to try it, i love LOTR lore, but i heard a lot of bad things of the f2p model and that is pretty much the only reason that holding me back

Heh. I picked up a sealed "Mines of Moria Complete Pack" retail box the other day, and wasn't sure what to do with it. This might be of help to someone who's interested in the game... hrm.

What kind of bad things did you hear?

I played it for a couple of years enjoyed it at first but it just felt there was only so much you can do. I did enjoy exploring areas that i knew from the books. When the game went ftp i did go back for a week but the endless WOW is better than LOTR online arguments on general chat and people asking for free stuff all the time put me right off and i have never been back.

boring combat, only fetch quest and pay to win or progress after certain level something life that, very restricted f2p worse then swtor

Got to Lv 50 on a couple of characters back at release and got incredibly bored with it, couldn't face it again tbh.

Bah, it's only fetch quests if you don't read what the NPCs have to say. Frankly, the main interest of LOTRO is to expand the story of the books by offering a different view on it. I was like you, at first, i thought "oh no, another fetch quest!" until i actually read the text and followed the story. After that, it didn't matter to me if it was a fetch quest or not, because I was actually taking part to a story.

And frankly, are there ANY MMOs out there that don't have fetch quests? I'll say more: that don't almost entirely rely on Fetch quests?

It's not worse than SWTOR, they are very giving in awarding Turbine Points for stuff you do anyway, like exploration and killing certain monster types, to name a couple.

I am not especially good at MMOs, since mostly I like to explore and follow narratives, and I don't really care much about reaching the level cap or getting exalted gear. As such, LOTRO was a good match. I played for months and only hit level 30, because I spent more time exploring than mayheming.

As a Lord of the Rings fan, I found it beautiful and rewarding. The forum community took a major nosedive while I was there, going from a supportive and friendly group to a whining crowd of internet trash - it really only takes a few bad apples to ruin it for everyone - but I mostly ignore people I don't know in gameplay, unless I'm helping out strangers in need.

I don't play online regularly, and so I don't play games with monthly fees: just not worth it for me. But I like the idea that when I go back, my stuff will still be there. Even if I have to ransom my (minimal) house stuff out of mortgage storage.