Lord of the Rings Beta

[Dracis]

As I told Gunwounds, I got an invite to the Lord of the Rings Online beta. So far I am fairly impressed.

As opposed to Vanguard, there seems to be a definate stroy line to Lord of the Rings. You are part of the story being told. While this is still the Alpha 3/ early beta, it definately exceeeds my expectations.

It is very similar to Vanguard in some respects. Character creation, graphical details, and so on are very similar. Also the skills also seem to be very linear, just like Vanguard.

One thing I will mention about the graphics, in LotR, the scenery is a big part of of the game. Quest NPC's and mobs actually use the underbrush to hide and jump out at you. I'm sure, that once PvP is in place, you can also use it to your advantage.

The quests definately follow a story line. There are a huge amount of quests. Some of them are side quests, not involved with the main story, but there is a main story line to follow.

I also like the fact that in the very beginning there is kind of a mini tutorial, that gets you familiar with the controls and combat. Vanguard did not have this.

On to the problems. So far lag is a big deal in some areas. I haven't had any lag in comba yet, but definately in the main town areas there is some lag.

Instances, like DDO, LotR has alot of instances, but they are only for buildings and certain quests. There is a large open area to walk around in, but I think there is way to many instances for my liking.

There is no crafting in the game yet as far as I have seen, but it is included in the skills menu. Also there seems to be no PvP. I'm not sure of their plans on this, but I hope it will be added.

Once again, like Vanguard, there are alot of items looted and/or quest items. While there are vendors to buy thigs from, you can get most of your armor and weapons from quests.

So in closing, I'll list the positives and negatives:

Positives:

1) Quest driven storyline

2) Graphical detail to little things

3) Tutorial

4) Sense of being invloved in the world and storyline/ almost a sense of urgency

5) UI layout is nice

Negatives:

1) Too may instances

2) No crafting found yet - I haven't found this yet, it may be there

3) No PvP yet - I haven't found this yet, it may be there

4) Lag

5) Camera - there didn't seems to be any way to rotate the camera in combat

I'll report more later as I find it.

[Nuvollari]

is it better than WOW

[Dracis]

That depends. What do you like about WoW? Is it the PvP? The raids? The quests?

As far as an MMO, no probably not as good as WoW. It seems more like a single player game in some respects. As I haven't found a single reason to group with anyone yet. I'm also a PvP'er and from reading up on the subject, they haven't even put pvp in yet, as they are trying to find away to add it to Tolkien's vision.

I like it more than Vanguard, but that isn't saying much either.

[Nuvollari]

I liked the raids in wow..but i can admit that i love questing also:)

[Dracis]

Well, then you'll probably like LotR. It's got loads of quests, and so far, not one of them I have tried has been bugged. Which is pretty good for Alpha 3/Beta 1.

Your best bet is to try and get into the beta and play it before it comes out.

[bryorama]

I liked the raids in wow..

LOL.

Yeah, I liked mobbing bosses spamming sinister strike, too.*

/yawn

*For the record, I played a 6/8 BF, 2/5 DD combat swords rogue.

[gunner154]

Wait... what's an "instance"?

[Cyborg]

An instance is when you (and sometimes your party) are separated from the main game world into your own little world.

Many dungeons in many MMORPGs are instances, so that many parties can play in the dungeon without interfering with each other.