Lord of the Rings Online has always lived in the shadow of World of Warcraft, its main competitor. Which is a shame, as LOTRO is an excellent game in its own right.
Mines of Moria is the latest addition, and like all expansion packs – especially ones for long-running MMOs – the content is geared towards more experienced players. Veterans now get the chance to raise their characters from level 50-60, as well as pocket a host of new goodies. But the obvious attraction is exploring the mines themselves.
And like the original game, Tolkien's world is brought beautifully to life. Huge staircases, looming statues, eerie lighting — LOTRO fans will love the exploration. But as you'd expect from content aimed at top players, this is a challenging environment with numerous enemies awaiting your sword. And ideally your friends too, as grouping up with one or more players is highly recommended.
Lord of the Rings Online is, of course, a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game based on the story of J.R.R. Tolkien's work, The Lord of the Rings. The game is true to the books, as much as the New Line Cinema motion pictures were, although not so much true to the movies (which it doesn't try to be). What I find impressive is that every little corner of Middle Earth that was mapped out in the books have in fact been mapped out here in LOTRO--and indeed the books were plentifully detailed in maps and in written descriptions of the fictional universe of Middle Earth. But, for the most part, the subtleties of what is described in the book have been referenced if not fully implemented in the game, particularly in the Shire, all the way from the Sackville-Bagginses to the former Baggins home on the top of the hill at Bag End to the shoeless hobbits' feet! Of course, most LOTRO players will put shoes on their hobbit feet since shoes add armor, but at least the NPCs (non-player characters) are true to the shoelessness.
One step into Michel Delving and you'll quickly notice the unique music system implemented in the game. People are often standing around holding their lutes playing Stairway to Heaven or Row, Row, Row Your Boat. The ability to play notes directly into the game world has been implemented, albeit not in any way comparable to MIDI-driven music software.
While the graphics and landscapes and sky effects ("ooohh, pretty rainbow!", "wow, look at that flock of birds in the sky!") are very impressive, I must concede that the animations such as those of wildlife and monsters are not flawless, particularly where the beasts are idle. But these animation deficiencies are made up for when in combat, with few exceptions. For example, one of the Mature Bear attacks is simply a deep inhale, followed by the loudest bear growl you ever heard, as your character's hair stands on end and the steam from the bear's lungs fills the screen. Or, witness the presence of a Black Rider, and suddenly the screen starts zoom-blinking (very cool effect) and you start to see flashes of The Eye. These are player experiences that go a long way toward immersion of playing agaisnt NPC enemies.
There is an adequately diverse crafting system that would seem interesting but for the fact that it is a money sink. During the betas, farming in the Shire was lucrative, but profitability was dropped by the developers after players showed up in droves to stand around the workbench processing seeds.
The quests are plentiful to keep you busy indefinitely, so long as you are willing to leave the local vicinity. By the time most of the basic quests are completed in Eriador (which will take at least a couple months for most casual gamers), a free expansion will be offered in June. The quests are not typically grinders. For example, in The Shire, some of the quests will involve sneaking past Nosey Hobbits or Hungry Hobbits to deliver the mail or a mushroom pie from one town to another. One quest involves sneaking past a rooster to pick up chicken eggs. Another quest is to simply catch a little kid at midnight pretending to be an evil monster. Of course, these are "safe" starter quests; otherwise, there are plenty of quests that, for example, involve fetching a stolen item from a monster encampent, or killing off a monster boss. (As with some other MMORPGs, one learns that in these dangerous types of quests it is best to find nearby players and create a fellowship, since the power of two is better than the power of one, and success of one typically means success for the other as well.)
One step into Michel Delving and you'll quickly notice the unique music system implemented in the game. People are often standing around holding their lutes playing Stairway to Heaven or Row, Row, Row Your Boat. The ability to play notes directly into the game world has been implemented, albeit not in any way comparable to MIDI-driven music software.
While the graphics and landscapes and sky effects ("ooohh, pretty rainbow!", "wow, look at that flock of birds in the sky!") are very impressive, I must concede that the animations such as those of wildlife and monsters are not flawless, particularly where the beasts are idle. But these animation deficiencies are made up for when in combat, with few exceptions. For example, one of the Mature Bear attacks is simply a deep inhale, followed by the loudest bear growl you ever heard, as your character's hair stands on end and the steam from the bear's lungs fills the screen. Or, witness the presence of a Black Rider, and suddenly the screen starts zoom-blinking (very cool effect) and you start to see flashes of The Eye. These are player experiences that go a long way toward immersion of playing agaisnt NPC enemies.
There is an adequately diverse crafting system that would seem interesting but for the fact that it is a money sink. During the betas, farming in the Shire was lucrative, but profitability was dropped by the developers after players showed up in droves to stand around the workbench processing seeds.
The quests are plentiful to keep you busy indefinitely, so long as you are willing to leave the local vicinity. By the time most of the basic quests are completed in Eriador (which will take at least a couple months for most casual gamers), a free expansion will be offered in June. The quests are not typically grinders. For example, in The Shire, some of the quests will involve sneaking past Nosey Hobbits or Hungry Hobbits to deliver the mail or a mushroom pie from one town to another. One quest involves sneaking past a rooster to pick up chicken eggs. Another quest is to simply catch a little kid at midnight pretending to be an evil monster. Of course, these are "safe" starter quests; otherwise, there are plenty of quests that, for example, involve fetching a stolen item from a monster encampent, or killing off a monster boss. (As with some other MMORPGs, one learns that in these dangerous types of quests it is best to find nearby players and create a fellowship, since the power of two is better than the power of one, and success of one typically means success for the other as well.)
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