Incline The Lord of the Rings Online - Corsairs of Umbar expansion out now

[Frank Capicoli]

The difficulty choices that were recently introduced to the new VIP servers aren't on the old F2P servers so difficulty wise it's a cakewalk until Mordor. The new difficulty choice servers don't make the gameplay good nothing can do that for an MMO, however it at least requires more attention.

This games design focus isn't really on forcing grouping.

 

[ADL]

I haven't done it but they recently added in a system that debuffs you in the open world so you can choose questing difficulty on legendary servers. Hopefully they add it onto normal servers because it's probably the best solution for difficulty I've seen in MMOs.
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Landscape_Difficulty

 

[Sinilevä]

I couldn't resist and installed the game. To my surprise I had 1800 points on my account. At first I thought I just get those quest packs and call it a day, but I kinda got sucked in to the game. Played as a dwarf guardian and a human captain. I don't really mind this slow old school mmo gameplay. Playing through the main quest line, reading all the quests. Feels good. As stated above monetization in this game however is some weird dumb fuckery. Why can't they just implement a hybrid model and include all the content in monthly subscription and if someone wants to continue free to play they could just buy everything in pieces? Also the game has an instance finder. Did it ruin the social part of the game? So far I've noticed there is still a lot of activity in the chat.

 

[Mangoose]

I wish they did more unique classes like the Warden.

Edit: Oohh what's this Beorning thing? Not a tank, noice.

Edit 2: Oh shit, a new class tomorrow? HMmmmm

 

[rusty_shackleford]

I wish they did more unique classes like the Warden.

Edit: Oohh what's this Beorning thing? Not a tank, noice.

Edit 2: Oh shit, a new class tomorrow? HMmmmm

beorning is all three roles

also, I hated the warden. Liked the idea, found the class itself unplayable. The combat is too unresponsive for what it tries to pull off, and even when it can be pulled off I just don't like that sort of DDR combat.
lotro probably has the most unique classes that don't feel like they're stepping on each other's toes though

 

[Mangoose]

I wish they did more unique classes like the Warden.

Edit: Oohh what's this Beorning thing? Not a tank, noice.

Edit 2: Oh shit, a new class tomorrow? HMmmmm

beorning is all three roles

also, I hated the warden. Liked the idea, found the class itself unplayable. The combat is too unresponsive for what it tries to pull off, and even when it can be pulled off I just don't like that sort of DDR combat.
lotro probably has the most unique classes that don't feel like they're stepping on each other's toes though

Yeah I remember having the same feeling. Got dull after awhile and eventually stopped playing. But I had already had my stint of WoW MMOness and I don't see myself playing MMOs in any hardcore fashion again. Once is enough. Now I just play for shits and giggles.

 

[Frank Capicoli]

Also the game has an instance finder. Did it ruin the social part of the game? So far I've noticed there is still a lot of activity in the chat.

I find that older, smaller, and niche MMOs have communities that are more resistant to the damaging effects of instance finders. I don't know if it ever improved either but there was a time that the instance finder didn't work out very well so a lot of people still use lff/world/kin.

 

[logrus]

I couldn't resist and installed the game. To my surprise I had 1800 points on my account. At first I thought I just get those quest packs and call it a day, but I kinda got sucked in to the game. Played as a dwarf guardian and a human captain. I don't really mind this slow old school mmo gameplay. Playing through the main quest line, reading all the quests. Feels good. As stated above monetization in this game however is some weird dumb fuckery. Why can't they just implement a hybrid model and include all the content in monthly subscription and if someone wants to continue free to play they could just buy everything in pieces? Also the game has an instance finder. Did it ruin the social part of the game? So far I've noticed there is still a lot of activity in the chat.

No one is using the group finder really. People just run with their guilds or try to form groups via LFG chat.

 

[Sinilevä]

Played during the past two weekends. What I don't like is how I outlevel the main story quest if I do all the side quests. I ended up abandoning all the side quests because of this. I remember Barrow Downs used to be a pretty scary place where you better not venture alone. Now I arrived there way too high level and had no problem bullying the barrow wights. Also abandoning the side quests doesn't let you fully explore the area. I really think they need to consolidate levels or something. It's pretty ridiculous that the game has 130 levels. The stats like hp are like 600k-700k for the chars. If only they could rework the leveling system and max at 50-60, then every level would matter more and maybe it wouldn't be so easy to level.I also don't like that they removed fog of war. It was nice to follow your discovery progress through the map, see the areas you already visited and those you still need to discover.
Despite all that the game still feels good. Bree was pretty nostalgic, absolutely terrible lag made me feel like I'm back in 2008. What do you think about legendary servers? I didn't even know they exist when I started to play. Are they worth a subscription?

 

[ADL]

The legendary servers have the landscape difficulty feature that would address 'outleveling the content' but personally I'm waiting for them to bring the landscape difficulty over to to standard servers. It's a great feature but not enough to justify leaving Landroval.

 

[someone else]

There is an XP limiter item in store if you want to restrict yourself.
The more I play the more I'm impressed by the monetization tricks this game has.

 

[Alphard]

There is an XP limiter item in store if you want to restrict yourself.
The more I play the more I'm impressed by the monetization tricks this game has.

please someone make the galaxy brain meme with the lowest level being the xp scrolls in a korean mmorpg, and the highest xp limiter in Lotro

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Half-assed scooping up points to at least get the Moria expansion (Sorta doubt I'll hit the instances for Rohan and Isengard in time, but I'll assume they're group dungeons so I'm not missing out) and I hit another part of LotRO that sends me into a spasm and that's the set bonuses for advancing down a talent tree is paywalled off. Every time I play a little I swear the game finds some new way to send me into a rage. Virtues being partially cockblocked didn't seem QUITE as annoying since bonus stats are whatever, but talents for your damn class set me off.

 

[someone else]

Best to read this:

https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Account_Types

 

[rusty_shackleford]

It would require an entire graduate school course to understand the monetization of LotRO.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Best to read this:

https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Account_Types

Except that doesn't mention getting cockblocked for the freebie talent passives if you dump enough points into a tree. Last night I had 4 alerts and every one of them was "You've used up/hit the limit on X Y and Z, but you can fix this with money!". And yet I still had a pleasant evening plodding around questing and when I came back to Bree to settle in for the night there was a group of players doing midi music with instruments while a hobbit in a pig costume danced which was the cherry on top.

Don't know if I'm just in a MMO mood (Which is unusual since I typically hate MMOs) or what but DDO and LotRO have been nice. Sadly I would like to get a mount in LotRO but it looks like that'll be some cash shop shenanigans too. I heard that Rohan came with a mount but as far as I can tell that's only if you bought it for $20 cash, buying it from the LotRO store for 99 points (Or whatever full price is) I guess doesn't include that, and unlike DDO I guess there's no keep on the borderlands to go get a horse from.

 

[Sinilevä]

Best to read this:

https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Account_Types

Except that doesn't mention getting cockblocked for the freebie talent passives if you dump enough points into a tree. Last night I had 4 alerts and every one of them was "You've used up/hit the limit on X Y and Z, but you can fix this with money!". And yet I still had a pleasant evening plodding around questing and when I came back to Bree to settle in for the night there was a group of players doing midi music with instruments while a hobbit in a pig costume danced which was the cherry on top.

Don't know if I'm just in a MMO mood (Which is unusual since I typically hate MMOs) or what but DDO and LotRO have been nice. Sadly I would like to get a mount in LotRO but it looks like that'll be some cash shop shenanigans too. I heard that Rohan came with a mount but as far as I can tell that's only if you bought it for $20 cash, buying it from the LotRO store for 99 points (Or whatever full price is) I guess doesn't include that, and unlike DDO I guess there's no keep on the borderlands to go get a horse from.

Do you mean an actual mount or a riding skill? A mount itself is pretty easy to get. You can just buy one at Hengstacer Farm in Bree or get a better one as a rep reward. Riding skill that's another story. That one is firmly locked behind a paywall.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Do you mean an actual mount or a riding skill? A mount itself is pretty easy to get. You can just buy one at Hengstacer Farm in Bree or get a better one as a rep reward. Riding skill that's another story. That one is firmly locked behind a paywall.

Both, since I haven't looked into it in great detail yet since it appeared points were going to be involved. 'spose it's nice if the mount itself can be bought in-game at least.

 

[Sinilevä]

Do you mean an actual mount or a riding skill? A mount itself is pretty easy to get. You can just buy one at Hengstacer Farm in Bree or get a better one as a rep reward. Riding skill that's another story. That one is firmly locked behind a paywall.

Both, since I haven't looked into it in great detail yet since it appeared points were going to be involved. 'spose it's nice if the mount itself can be bought in-game at least.

I got two mounts for free because I bought the game back in 2007, but I still need to buy riding skill for 95 good goy points per character. I think you can also buy it for the entire account but it's much more expensive. If you want to get a mount for the rep I think the best place is Lone Lands. You can get a mount there from Eglain once you max your rep with them. It's not hard to do because there are an abundance of quests there.

 

[Hellion]

The 95 TP required for the Riding Skill are ridiculously easy to collect anyway. You can also purchase one of the random starter packs that are available, like this one, which include the Riding Skill. Spending 7-8 dollars/euros to upgrade your account from F2P to Premium is more than worth it considering what the game has to offer.

 

[someone else]

Best to read this:

https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Account_Types

Except that doesn't mention getting cockblocked for the freebie talent passives if you dump enough points into a tree. Last night I had 4 alerts and every one of them was "You've used up/hit the limit on X Y and Z, but you can fix this with money!".

Do you mean the trait passives on the left of the trait trees, it is mentioned in the link:

VIP: All trait slots and class bonus skills available (mentioned twice)

Free player: 1 race slot and 2 virtue slots unlocked. Can purchase more slots and class bonus skills

More info on traits:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Traits

Don't know if I'm just in a MMO mood (Which is unusual since I typically hate MMOs) or what but DDO and LotRO have been nice. Sadly I would like to get a mount in LotRO but it looks like that'll be some cash shop shenanigans too. I heard that Rohan came with a mount but as far as I can tell that's only if you bought it for $20 cash, buying it from the LotRO store for 99 points (Or whatever full price is) I guess doesn't include that, and unlike DDO I guess there's no keep on the borderlands to go get a horse from.

Riding skill is also mentioned :

VIP: Can acquire the horse riding skill for free from a quest at level 20

More info on mounts:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Mounts

You can get a lot normal mounts with in game money. The quest that gives you riding skills also sells mounts.

Incase you missed it, craft guild levels, swift travel, currency cap is also locked behind a paywall which VIP also unlocks.

1. The game is designed for a player to subscribe to VIP at least once to get unlocks to their characters, who then get to keep some of the benefits when VIP expires. Characters who are not logged in or did not access the benefits like riding/crafting guilds levels do not keep access after VIP expires, traits and swift travel only require char to log in (maybe reach lvl 5 after beginning area).
So you need to plan.
You keep 5 chars after VIP expires so that is 5 riding skills & crafting guilds levels(crafting guild levels cannot be increased after VIP ends without paying). You can easily level chars to lvl 20 by crafting. They will be your crafting/storage alts with the ability to convert to adventuring in the future,

2. Then pay for the expansions.
3. The Premium wallet is the next purchase when your inventory is getting full.
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Wallet
You can earn LP in game to get the wallet.

Other QOL are the reduce cooldown for teleports for milestones and returns & extra inventory slots.
You can skip the shared vault by using mail and housing storage.

Bonus! VIPs can use this, there is a non-VIP version too:
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Itemremium_Ingredient_Crate

Just ask nicely in world chat for their locations or find one open-for-public-use yourself.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Do you mean the trait passives on the left of the trait trees, it is mentioned in the link:

Looks like WoW brain rot claimed me even though I only ever played vanilla and a tiny bit of the first expansion, since traits became talents.

As for the rest, still have doubts I'm going to want to spend money on LotRO but it looks like VIP can get the riding skill at level 8, not level 20, so I could theoretically subscribe for a month and get 5 characters to level 8 to snag riding skill. Which then I guess would open up talents and virtues on those characters. Still would have to get full wallet access if I want that, but that would be covered in the 500 points for the $15. Likely never going to do crafting because that WOULD send me into a murderous rage with the inventory while I can mostly keep it together if I'm ignoring it. Though VIP-into-premium characters get 75 inventory slots and uncapped money storage, it's just characters beyond that which would be hosed. And then the question would be if I'd REALLY play more than 5 characters when the only two MMOs I ever hit the level cap on were WoW and Star Trek Online. I guess I'll keep fucking around and think about it, then I might do the "Subscribe for a month and mad-dash 5 characters to riding skill" thing and let it lapse.

Thanks for the nudging though bro, feel dubious about spending money on it but if I keep fucking with it and enjoying it I guess running like a maniac on a month to get characters ready ain't too bad.

 

[someone else]

The wiki has conflicting info on the lvl requirements for riding.
google suggests 20 is right. Ppl ingame advices 20 too.

https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Riding_Skill
https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Quest:Proving_Your_Quality

The game is a major time sink, I'm won't recommend this unless you have the time to spend.

 

[Sykar]

This any fun?

 

[Sentinel]

It's a vista/landscape simulator. The gameplay is your typical MMO shit with filler quests and tab-based combat, but this time it's incredibly laggy (only has US servers and terrible netcode on top) and the engine is one of the worst you'll ever experience, with hitching and performance problems as the game loads assets on any set up imaginable.

It's good for checking out middle-earth because to be frank LOTRO has an absolutely wonderful version of it. Despite the dated graphics it manages to produce incredible vistas and the soundtrack is very nice as well.