Invitation To LOTRO-BETA

[Lirandel]

I would like to invite all Thorns and friends to join in the beta testing of the LOTRO.
You can find the Beta on http://www.fileplanet.com/

This is some of the RP features that are present currently in the game.

Double as many emotes - Including mood emotes that changes your characters appearance
constantly if you choose this.

Constant walk emote if you choose this feature, and it looks awesome. And a smoking emote
which, according to the specific weed you are smoking creates different smoke clouds!

Chat bubbles so you can engage in conversation more IC.

Almost the same game mechanics as in DDO, due to the fact that it is Turbine who created it.

1st person view/3rd person view whatever you feel like doing.

A Family tree, a more detailed bio, which enhances the bacdrop of your character.

A more diverse character creation. Including different nationalities which changes
the options on your hair, eyes and general demeanor. As well as your stats.

Clothing is adverse and beautifully detailed and you got cloaks!

The traits you have are focused on three separate crafting skills
ex: Woodsman: 1) woodscrafting 2) Forester 3) Farmer.

There is a Title system which operates on what you do, which skills you use, either in combat or
non offensive trades and which quests you take.

There is a special reward system that functions as reputation, where you will get rewards,
when you reach a sufficient point pool. the reward are not items but based on your character
like +1 wisdom or a specific skill that enhances your damage output on ex: bows, swords
and the like...

The scenery will stun you and the music will enchant you!

A huge world with 15 different zones, each zone is divided in 5 or 6 lesser zones.

Great storylines, whether you solo or are in a group. Stories that are true to Tolkien
every step of the way!

And much, much more not RP oriented!

Download the Beta and come join us brothers and sisters...

At least try it out and tell me I am wrong or I will moan under your bed at night,; Every night!

Your Brother

L

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Clickable

EDIT: Sorry Lirandel, but that large imaged screwed up even my screen... and I'm running at 1600x1200

/Sayvara, Chaotic Neutral Wifey

[Adjanah]

Been trying it a bit, and while the character creation as usual disappoints me horribly, the game does seem to have a lot of good things going for it. Here are my impressions after playing Adjanah to lvl 7:

Character creation is as I said very bleh. Hard to make a character that doesn't look like everyone else, much like in DDO. The graphics have improved since DDO however, so at least we're talking more polygons and faces that can be animated. There also is a slider to control bodytype, and while it is far from enough, it is better than nothing.

As Ana have pointed out earlier, the combat so far is a bit weak...it's seems to me very loose, the feedback isn't very good and it generally lacks "oomph". Basically they've taken the combat system from WoW, but it just isn't as refined.

The design in the game is obviously done by the same people that designed DDO. The designs aren't very strong, but it is a great relief to see some "standard" fantasy (which I prefer), rather than the deliberately odd designs in Eberron. Everything looks a bit cartoony and blocky, but the colors are nice and the landscapes are in general rather pretty.

HOWEVER...and this is the important bit...Lira is quite correct when he emphasises the RP aspects of the game. It does indeed seem like Turbine want this to attract roleplayers. We have titles, family tree, lots of emotes, moods, walk-mode, diverse armor (and a dressing room to try it out before wearing it!), heavily story-driven quests and so forth...all things that make someone like me give the product a look more.

I'll keep testing it some more and try and get a more full impression of it.

[Lirandel]

When you begin in the starting zone there is a plot you have to go through. This plot differs from,
which race you play, which class you play and, where you start off from in Middle earth.
When you finish this plot however and at some point come back...
Things have changed. The things you did at the beginning counts! I dont know how
they did this, but damn its good! And we are not just talking about one person,
who is nice to you because you helped him with a quest, the whole zone is different,
the persons who dies are not there anymore, those who took control of the area
,but lost the battle, are gone, replaced by another faction.

I will test some more to find out if this continues because if it does I am in total awe of the game. And will give my soul to Morgoth...

Yours

L

[Sayvara]

Character creation is as I said very bleh. Hard to make a character that doesn't look like everyone else, much like in DDO. The graphics have improved since DDO however, so at least we're talking more polygons and faces that can be animated. There also is a slider to control bodytype, and while it is far from enough, it is better than nothing.

Could have been worse... could have been NWN2 character creation.

Seriously though... yes, LotRO has the same problem as DDO: every character looks like every other character. But... there has been great improvements. The face is now animated... eyes and mouth particulary. The extra polygons have been used well. And you have regional differences between people. If you for instance run into a darkskinned human, then you can be pretty certain he/she is from Gondor... because only they have such dark skin. So the character creation is still not perfect... but it's well on its way.


The game so far I think is a cross between WoW and DDO. Now that I have tried WoW I can see that Turbine has kept a very close eye on Blizzard's gold mine, even when they made DDO. LotRO is a serious flirt with the WoW'ers while still trying to capture the somewhat more mature roleplayers out there. There is a huge recognition factor between WoW and LotRO in terms of user interface and several of the game concepts.

As for the roleplaying... well this still remains to be seen. People are probably still adjusting to the culture shock of getting into a new game. And so far I have only been in the starter area. But I am very hopeful so far. I seems to have much better potential for roleplaying than DDO did.

/S

[Volgh]

OK... Ready to play. Servers are down atm though so I keep my fingers crossed. Could I have your char names? Mine will probably be Eraleas.

[Sayvara]

Servers are up. We made a bunch of dwarves... just to try a bit... plus the dwarf intro is great.

/S

[Volgh]

Put Eraleas in your Friends List alright and tell me in game.

[Adjanah]

Friendlist isn't working at the moment sadly.

[Adjanah]

Been playing a bit more, and while many of the points made in Ana's and Lommy's review post are valid, I am getting more and more turned on RP-wise by this game. We did some small-time rp in the world today, and I must say that the HUGE open spaces really makes you feel like you're there. RP-questing is very much possible, and the Thorn seems to fit right in. I remain very positive so far, and while the HUGE distances make for cumbersome meeting-up, I personally prefer that 100% to instantly being teleported to my friends. I want to be in a WORLD, not a tiny box with tubes leading places sticking out of it. If I choose to travel, I want to TRAVEL, not to pop from one end of the world to another in a second. Having played WoW for nigh on two years have accustomed me to the open world, and I have hated the restrictiveness of DDO since the start. If DDO is dying on some of us, I say this or Sayv's Arelith server is the way to go for now.

My bottom line is this: I'm willing to overlook the faults of a sucky combat system and limited minmaxing opportunities if I get an RP setting that is good enough. And this one seems to be. Stat-hunting leaves me as cold now as ever, and I must say that a game that places so little emphasis on them as LotRO seems to do, is much more my cup of tea. Everyone looks the same, gear-wise? Well hooray for the option for rp outfits when not in the field (although they are not fully implemented yet >_> ).

[Volgh]

I tried to play, and I cannot disagree on both views. It reminded me of WoW indeed (well WoW and DDO are my only MMOs so far) but I believe I am sticking to WoW atm (well I am not RPing atm though, since I dunno where you people are and under what names).

However, I am not comparing WoW to LotRO; WoW has been around for several years, went under several fixes and even has an expansion atm. LotRO is still in beta and perhaps at the same point, it will prove even better than WoW on some aspects.

Also, I don't really think I have the courage to study Tolkien Lore for the game in order to RP. It took me several months to learn about Eberron and I have only started on WoW, and no, i know nothing about LotRO but what I saw in the movies.

I am disappointed at Turbine; since they could do things like those, why not do them for DDO anyway? Was DDO their monthly income only to work on LotRO? Their "test" in order to see the likes and dislikes of the players so that their "true" game comes out?

In any case, I am waiting to hear more about the game as there is nothing so far that actually attracts me, and since I cannot find you in game (been looking in Social for over half an hour for any of your names), there is no real point in me jjust questing and testing the game mechanics, which totally disinterest me atm.

"We will have Justice!"
Be well all.

[Anaya]

Both Lommy and me are willing to start over in Ryzom if you guys are interested. A Mercenary company in Ryzom would be.... well, a most interesting thing.

[Tharynien]

Soo, as Sayv asked, I'd like to give my little opinion about LOTRO

After comparing the game with other MMO's I've played (SWG, EQ2, CoH, Lineage II, Guildwars..,Dark and Light,WoW,DDO, Vanguards..) I think that LOTRO has potential and appeals me greatly.

Lets start first with what I think is a good game. Or more accurately; there is no perfect MMO
What I seek in the game is the RP possibilities. DDO is ultimately sooo lacking these aspects. What I like to play, for example in SWG now, is a dancer who dances in the cantina (its a profession) and I chat (rp) with people. That's my cup of tea I don't really care for the combating too much. As long as it serves its purpose, ok.

Last night was really nice in LOTRO. We stumbled randomly into a tavern in Shire (was it?) and there were roleplayers there, chatting away. They noticed us entering, etc. It was really nice atmosphere in there.

I like the fact that the world is Big. I like to go to explore and run run run. I like that. You can get a horse, but I want to enjoy the views be a wanderer.

I like the quests in LOTRO. Especially the starter one. So all in all, this game gets a thumbs up from me, shortly put it. It is so green still. Seeing how DDO developed in a year, I am excited to see what happens in LOTRO.

See ya

[Willau]

So far I hate the controls to the N'th degree. No mouse movement really is nasty..Maybe am missing something?

[Sayvara]

So far I hate the controls to the N'th degree. No mouse movement really is nasty..Maybe am missing something?

Takes a bit getting used to. It's modelled after WoW. Hold right button for turning. Both buttons for running... or ASWD for controls.

/S

[Willau]

Thanks! will try it..What server you people on btw?