Post by Gilvan Blight on Feb 19, 2007 9:03:26 GMT -5
I got my invite for LOTRO this weekend and thought I would post my first thoughts.
First off it takes forver to download the client. This won't be an issue for anyone getting the retail copy, but man it was hours and hours. I couldn't tell you the exact amount as I ran it overnight, but it was more then 6 hours to download.
The first thing that made this beta beter then any I have ever been in before is the fact you get a permanent character. Every other beta, you get to try the game out, comment on how it is, report bugs and generally have a good time leveling up a character or two. Often you end up really liking one of the characters only to have them Wipped when the game goes live. Every other beta, they have totally formatted the servers before going live, causing everyone to start fresh. Not LOTRO. You can keep your beta charcter, and that is awesome!
Actually overall it's the most polished beta I have tried. I don't expect it to be much different from the release.
Alright onto the actual game.
Making a character was typical with one cool notable: you pick your characters starting homeland (which varies per race). This changes the range of colours you get for skin hair and eyes. I just thought that was very cool and very pen and paper fantasy like. This also means that players of the same race from different areas of Middle Earth actually look different. The races are typical (Human, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit). The classis are typical as well.
Odly charcater summaries contained what I would almost call 1337. They used common MMO terms, which just didn't fit Lord of the rings. I don't think of an Elven Archer as a "Nuker". Yes it actually said "Nuker" My Dwarf Defender is listed as a "Tank". Sure pretty much all MMO players know the terms, but it's just wrong to use them, especially in a game like Lord of the Rings.
Another odd one was the fact that the class selection didn't really vary by race. Elves couldn't be burglers and Humans had the most options, but there weren't any race specific classes, just a few ones different races couldn't be.
Once you get your character and jump in you should be immediately impressed by the graphics and the lack of lag. I am running this on the highest graphics setting my card can handle (which is alot now, Radeon X1650 450Mhz 256MG) with absolutely no lag. The Graphics remind me of the beauty of Guild Wars. I'm plaing in Dwarven halls and snowy mountains and I am impressed. I can't wait to see something like Minas Tirith, or Elven lands (though while playing I will be grumbling alot about the shoddy construction and the oppressive life).
The movement controlls are excellent using mouselook and walk or your standard wads. The skill use is typical as well utilizing the number pad.
For some reason though all the menus, pop ups, text boxes, chat, and interface look horrible. They look like something out of an old Ultima game, and they really stick out against the beautiful game graphics. Maybe this is due to the beta, something they are going to work on last. Whatever it is, it isn't pretty.
The biggest problem thus far though, is the fact that it's just another MMO. Nothing has really made it stand out. The quests seem typical, the fighting system is identical to WoW (right click, move in, use skills). Buffs and Debuffs work the same. Skill refresh rate is the same as other games. Everything lasts for a very short time, including buffs, making combat control like WoW but feel like guild wars as you will be constantly hitting those skills. As you level up you see class trainers that teach you new skills and abilities. So far pretty typical.
There are some cool Lord of the Rings like things though. For exmample you have a heritage, you can set how many generations it goes back, you can have parents and children. You have a spot to enter your character history so anyone who wishes can see it. Another nice touch is the renown system. You start the game with a heritage. As you complete quests you can become renouned for other things. A quick menu lets you select what you wish to be known for. So if you click on your Heritage renoun, your title will change to something like "Gelpo of silverpeak mines". If you click on a different renoun, for say killing trolls your name title will change again to something like "Gelpo Slayer of Trolls". This could be a lot of fun and would have me completing tasts and quests just for the renown.
The background feels like its there. The way the NPCs talk, the way the world looks while you walk around, the statues, ruins, temples, styles of dress are all very Lord of the Rings. You can feel the rich history. Walking around Lonely Mountain NPCs talk about Smog the Dragon and old king Thorin Oakenshield as the good old days. (you actually start in the past and get to meet Gandalf as he is trying to convince Thorin to head to the Shire to hire the Burglar they will need for their coming quest).
So far overall:
I'm impressed by what they have done to make this a Lord of the Rings game. The heritage, the titles, the fact that different regions have different looking people. I'm impressed by the graphics, one of the prettiest MMOs out there. I'm not so impressed by the rest. It seems like well dressed standard fare.
It will be interesting to try their version of PvP, though I don't know if I will get a chance in the beta. They went for a unique way of doing PVP. Supposedly you can posses the mobs. You can take control of an evil race and attack the PCs. This isn't like a Horde/Alliance thing. You don't actually get an evil charcter which you keep and level up. You just take control of an enemy. It's a really cool concept, but I will have to try it out before I know how cool.
First off it takes forver to download the client. This won't be an issue for anyone getting the retail copy, but man it was hours and hours. I couldn't tell you the exact amount as I ran it overnight, but it was more then 6 hours to download.
The first thing that made this beta beter then any I have ever been in before is the fact you get a permanent character. Every other beta, you get to try the game out, comment on how it is, report bugs and generally have a good time leveling up a character or two. Often you end up really liking one of the characters only to have them Wipped when the game goes live. Every other beta, they have totally formatted the servers before going live, causing everyone to start fresh. Not LOTRO. You can keep your beta charcter, and that is awesome!
Actually overall it's the most polished beta I have tried. I don't expect it to be much different from the release.
Alright onto the actual game.
Making a character was typical with one cool notable: you pick your characters starting homeland (which varies per race). This changes the range of colours you get for skin hair and eyes. I just thought that was very cool and very pen and paper fantasy like. This also means that players of the same race from different areas of Middle Earth actually look different. The races are typical (Human, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit). The classis are typical as well.
Odly charcater summaries contained what I would almost call 1337. They used common MMO terms, which just didn't fit Lord of the rings. I don't think of an Elven Archer as a "Nuker". Yes it actually said "Nuker" My Dwarf Defender is listed as a "Tank". Sure pretty much all MMO players know the terms, but it's just wrong to use them, especially in a game like Lord of the Rings.
Another odd one was the fact that the class selection didn't really vary by race. Elves couldn't be burglers and Humans had the most options, but there weren't any race specific classes, just a few ones different races couldn't be.
Once you get your character and jump in you should be immediately impressed by the graphics and the lack of lag. I am running this on the highest graphics setting my card can handle (which is alot now, Radeon X1650 450Mhz 256MG) with absolutely no lag. The Graphics remind me of the beauty of Guild Wars. I'm plaing in Dwarven halls and snowy mountains and I am impressed. I can't wait to see something like Minas Tirith, or Elven lands (though while playing I will be grumbling alot about the shoddy construction and the oppressive life).
The movement controlls are excellent using mouselook and walk or your standard wads. The skill use is typical as well utilizing the number pad.
For some reason though all the menus, pop ups, text boxes, chat, and interface look horrible. They look like something out of an old Ultima game, and they really stick out against the beautiful game graphics. Maybe this is due to the beta, something they are going to work on last. Whatever it is, it isn't pretty.
The biggest problem thus far though, is the fact that it's just another MMO. Nothing has really made it stand out. The quests seem typical, the fighting system is identical to WoW (right click, move in, use skills). Buffs and Debuffs work the same. Skill refresh rate is the same as other games. Everything lasts for a very short time, including buffs, making combat control like WoW but feel like guild wars as you will be constantly hitting those skills. As you level up you see class trainers that teach you new skills and abilities. So far pretty typical.
There are some cool Lord of the Rings like things though. For exmample you have a heritage, you can set how many generations it goes back, you can have parents and children. You have a spot to enter your character history so anyone who wishes can see it. Another nice touch is the renown system. You start the game with a heritage. As you complete quests you can become renouned for other things. A quick menu lets you select what you wish to be known for. So if you click on your Heritage renoun, your title will change to something like "Gelpo of silverpeak mines". If you click on a different renoun, for say killing trolls your name title will change again to something like "Gelpo Slayer of Trolls". This could be a lot of fun and would have me completing tasts and quests just for the renown.
The background feels like its there. The way the NPCs talk, the way the world looks while you walk around, the statues, ruins, temples, styles of dress are all very Lord of the Rings. You can feel the rich history. Walking around Lonely Mountain NPCs talk about Smog the Dragon and old king Thorin Oakenshield as the good old days. (you actually start in the past and get to meet Gandalf as he is trying to convince Thorin to head to the Shire to hire the Burglar they will need for their coming quest).
So far overall:
I'm impressed by what they have done to make this a Lord of the Rings game. The heritage, the titles, the fact that different regions have different looking people. I'm impressed by the graphics, one of the prettiest MMOs out there. I'm not so impressed by the rest. It seems like well dressed standard fare.
It will be interesting to try their version of PvP, though I don't know if I will get a chance in the beta. They went for a unique way of doing PVP. Supposedly you can posses the mobs. You can take control of an evil race and attack the PCs. This isn't like a Horde/Alliance thing. You don't actually get an evil charcter which you keep and level up. You just take control of an enemy. It's a really cool concept, but I will have to try it out before I know how cool.
