Questions Regarding LOTRO

[MehGerbil]

I'm considering jumping into LOTRO with my 14yr. old daughter. I've a couple of questions about the game and I'd like to get some answers from people who actually play it.

1: I know the game is quest based, but is there room in there for a good ole fashioned hack 'n slash dungeon crawl? Is there enough content for some random exploration?

2: Can two people 'solo' most of the content?

3: Is there much of a grind?

4: Is the game 'classy'? Does it attract 'classy' people?

I know #4 is hard to define so I'll take a shot at it:

One of the selling points of AOC was graphic decapitations. I don't consider blood splatter on my screen to be 'innovation' - I think of it is gratuitious and stupid.

One of the hot topics over at mortalonline is full nudity. I really don't care to be in a game that has a 'Sausage Lake' as I don't go to video games to engage is virtual sex. I don't care if other people engage in that sort of thing but I don't care to be around them when they are so occupied.

One of the newer features in Ultima Online is sunglasses. Ninjas and such were introduced several years ago, thereby blowing the whole medieval British theme right out the window. To me that is sign of developers who don't "get it".

To me things like graphic violence, graphic sex scenes, and anachronism create the sort of fanbase and virtual communities of which I'd rather not be a part. That probably offends some people - but I want to play a game with my kid without having to explain what the naked man is trying to do to her horse.

So is the game classy and does it attract a classier, more mature crowd?

[MehGerbil]

Oh, forgot to ask.

#1: Will the game play well on a 3.0Ghz (Pentinum 4) with 3GB RAM and a 128 MB video card?

#2: Will the game play well on a 64 bit machine (Windows 7)?

Disclosure: The older machine is mine, I cannot upgrade until this summer. The newer machine is what my daughter is getting for Christmas. It pains me to spend the dollars on her gaming rig but I'm willing to bite the bullet for a bit.

[Reoh]

I don't play this myself mate, but I'll try and round up someone from the LOTRO division to give you their thoughts.

[MehGerbil]

Originally Posted by Reoh

I don't play this myself mate, but I'll try and round up someone from the LOTRO division to give you their thoughts.

Many thanks.
You are my hero.

[unclemuzza]

[QUOTE=MehGerbil;2604194]I'm considering jumping into LOTRO with my 14yr. old daughter. I've a couple of questions about the game and I'd like to get some answers from people who actually play it.

1: I know the game is quest based, but is there room in there for a good ole fashioned hack 'n slash dungeon crawl? Is there enough content for some random exploration?

Yep, the game is vast and getting bigger... plenty of room for exploration. Dungeon crawls are pretty much catered for via instances.

2: Can two people 'solo' most of the content?

Yep, my wife and I regularly team up for sticking points and instances, otherwise its all soloable other than the highlighted Fellowship quests.

3: Is there much of a grind?

Not as much as Aion. Crafting and virtue trait gathering is grindy but not too bad. For example I just did 120 Misty Mountain Trolls for 10 Valour (a morale improvement) over 2 days

4: Is the game 'classy'? Does it attract 'classy' people?

Nope. All playable classes are equally valuable in this game.
However I understand what you are getting at. There's no nudity or gratuitous violence in this game that offends me. No blood spattered armour as in DAO (which I agree, looks ridiculous). Try the trial version first and see what you think. Its a fantastic game and my wife and I have been playing for over 2 years now

[unclemuzza]

Originally Posted by MehGerbil

Oh, forgot to ask.

#1: Will the game play well on a 3.0Ghz (Pentinum 4) with 3GB RAM and a 128 MB video card?

Graphics will struggle but the game will be playable if slowly. I sometimes run the game on my laptop with a similar vid card, its ok if I'm not fighting a lot of mobs.

#2: Will the game play well on a 64 bit machine (Windows 7)?

Yes.

Disclosure: The older machine is mine, I cannot upgrade until this summer. The newer machine is what my daughter is getting for Christmas. It pains me to spend the dollars on her gaming rig but I'm willing to bite the bullet for a bit.

You'll notice a huge difference with your daughters upgrade.

[Markan]

Actually I was passing anyway I've had a stab at answering, but feel free to ask more questions if you have them.

1. Not sure about this one. LOTRO has a LOT of quests - in fact many struggle with the fact that they will level faster than they can complete quests. There is nothing quite like say a Diablo dungeon, but there is plenty to kill in the landscape and there are instances that occur as part of the central story line. Also as of next week we have "skirmishes" which are small battles against computer opposition. They are designed for solo, 3 man, 6 man and 12 man but I know people have been 2 manning them by turning down the difficulty

2. You can get to the level cap entirely solo and having 2 makes it really easy. Like most MMO's though once you get to cap a lot of the harder stuff is designed for groups of 3, 6 or 12. We certainly have people who hardly ever group and have kept themselves busy for 2 .5 years though

3. There isnt much forced grind. If you want to max out reputation with every faction and get the best gear then it will take time.

4. I think so - although I may be a little biased! All of the avatars wear pretty modest underwear and they have stayed pretty true to Tolkiens work. Our biggest outrage has been the intro of something close to a traditional mage. The community is really mature and well behaved as well.

Sorry getting quicker now as laptop power is low

#1 It should be OK although LOTRO really shines graphically with DX10 and a good graphics card.

#2 No problem - lots of us are running Win 7 64 bit and have been for months.


Hope you give it a go. We have kinships on Elendilmir(NAOC) and Evernight(EU).

[MehGerbil]

Thank you for the detailed and excellent replies.
If anyone else has some contributions, feel free to chime in on this one.

Additional Questions:
1: Any word yet on a retail box that includes Mirkwood?
2: Recommendations for the makup of a 2 man team?

[unclemuzza]

Originally Posted by MehGerbil

Thank you for the detailed and excellent replies.
If anyone else has some contributions, feel free to chime in on this one.

Additional Questions:
1: Any word yet on a retail box that includes Mirkwood?

not yet, as far as I know it will be digital d/l only come 1 December. Haven't seen anything to indicate a retail version will become available. That may change.

2: Recommendations for the makup of a 2 man team?

Tank/healer, Crowd control/tank, DPS/tank, sorry I'm a little biassed.

Wardens can do everything and are the best class!!

my kin's gonna kill me when they read this.

[MehGerbil]

I was thinking about Loremaster for myself.
My daughter likes to tank.

I'd was looking into the Warden class but since joining this site I've received about a dozen emails warning me away from it. Most of them claimed they had never seen anyone play the class correctly and that they were a drag on the party.

I might have made that last part up.