LOTRO Curiousity...
- Thread starter Velaphor
- Start date
I played it briefly a while back but it didn't really catch my attention.
There are around 10 good MMO games that people play, LOTRO is defintely one of them and is rated very well by its players. However nothing can beat the current incredibly large proportion of subscribers that WoW has compared to the rest. This months PC gamer describes WoW as "starting to look dated" when talking about the new add on pack to be realeased at the end of the year, which I think is a good strategic time, from a Blizzard perspective.
Next month Star trek online is coming out, in the summer the new Star wars MMO game will also hit our hard drives.
Blizzard are clever bringing out the next add on pack after people have been given a chance to get used to the "new attempts at MMO" and hopefully will miss/be curious about WoW again and go back to it.
thatbloke
Junior Administrator
Unfortunately when an MMO like this happens, you get a load of WoW players that go and try it (myself included - I have a LOTRO, WAR and Aion account), and then they realise that they miss some aspect of WoW that isn't in the new game, regardless of what new stuff that game has, after the free time you get with the game expires they are back playing WoW.
That's not to say that these other games are bad, it's just the stranglehold that WoW has on the MMO market
That's not to say that these other games are bad, it's just the stranglehold that WoW has on the MMO market
It almost makes me wonder if a game could succeed by saying "WoW players: just don't bother". Preparing for the initial rush on a game has to be a huge load and when you know that 50% of your initial subscription is actually disillusioned WoW players who are not going to stay then you could just let them know at the door, so to speak.
That said, I think games are starting to learn that lesson. For example, Fallen Earth with its "no elves" statement, or EVE with its total lack of pandering to anyone except those people who are ideally suited to play EVE. Maybe they get a free leg up being sci-fi in nature.
That said, plenty of room for a "no elves" fantasy environment...!
I think that's mostly right. If an MMO were to launch with no excessive marketing, and rely on word of mouth instead, it wouldn't see the huge influx of trial accounts at the start. But (assuming it's actually a fun game) would see steady growth throughout its life. There are hundreds of (often Korean developed) MMOs that follow this idea and seem to do quite well for themselves, but they lack the triple-A production values of the major MMOs and will likely never have such critical success.
Ahey, 
Actually, I played the LotRO beta and the only reason I didn't stick with it is because they never did ship the damn pre-purchase. After much fuss, they gave me my money back, which is silly seeing as I wanted the game, but by that time, I had enough game time to realize that the game just didn't capture that Middle Earth feeling I got from, say, Elendor, which means, when push comes to shove, it really is just another MMO, and WoW is quite simply good enough. Thus, I just gave up on trying to re-buy it...
Cheers,
J.
Actually, I played the LotRO beta and the only reason I didn't stick with it is because they never did ship the damn pre-purchase. After much fuss, they gave me my money back, which is silly seeing as I wanted the game, but by that time, I had enough game time to realize that the game just didn't capture that Middle Earth feeling I got from, say, Elendor, which means, when push comes to shove, it really is just another MMO, and WoW is quite simply good enough. Thus, I just gave up on trying to re-buy it...
Cheers,
J.
Angelic
Active Member
Really well said. That is how I felt with both WAR and Aion and anything else, really.
Ghostwolf67
Well-Known Member
Noooobody dooooooeeeeees it better...
makes me feeeeeel saaaaaaaad for the rest...
Nobody doooooooooeeeees it half as well as you do...
Baaaaaaaaaaby your the best.
makes me feeeeeel saaaaaaaad for the rest...
Nobody doooooooooeeeees it half as well as you do...
Baaaaaaaaaaby your the best.
You can play it free for 10 days if u wish at
http://www.lotro.com/
If they are confident to give it away free for 10 days it must have something good about it. Also a new expansion pack is on the way.
This guys gives a pretty comprehensive review at
http://thatmmoguy.blogspot.com/2009/07/lord-of-rings-online-pc-88100.html
Looking at the stats on xfires (if they are reliable)
http://www.xfire.com/genre/mmo/massively_multiplayer_online/
well you can judge for yourself...WOW simply swallows everything up making anything else pale into insignificance.
I somethimes ponder how different the MMO world would be without WOW.
http://www.lotro.com/
If they are confident to give it away free for 10 days it must have something good about it. Also a new expansion pack is on the way.
This guys gives a pretty comprehensive review at
http://thatmmoguy.blogspot.com/2009/07/lord-of-rings-online-pc-88100.html
Looking at the stats on xfires (if they are reliable)
http://www.xfire.com/genre/mmo/massively_multiplayer_online/
well you can judge for yourself...WOW simply swallows everything up making anything else pale into insignificance.
I somethimes ponder how different the MMO world would be without WOW.
The market would still be a relatively small niche dominated by grind mechanics that would make you go grey before you make level 20.
The WoW boom is only bad for short to medium term business (next 2 to 5 years) and then only in the MMORPG marketplace. The benefits to the market in the long term will be enormous, and that'll be true across the entire games industry.
WoW taught the market that accessible games are a good thing, that bright colours and flashing pointy arrows to tell you where to go are beneficial to the 99% of people who don't have an intuitive understanding of game UI and mechanics.
Even I, who gets bored with games pretty easily, played WoW 'til level 49 or so.
thatbloke
Junior Administrator
And that was before it got as easy as it is now
We have a guy in the guild who got to 80 a couple of weeks ago and now according to various rating websites he's the 2nd best geared player in the guild even though he's been level 80 for just a couple of weeks.
Makes me wonder if it's too easy now...
I presume you are trying out the trial Angelic, I do hope u will keep us updated with your thoughts on the game. May just encourage some of us to join u.
Angelic
Active Member
Yes, I am. I mean, I downloaded it this morning and don't have much time to play it (not until Wednesday, in the very least), plus it's 10day only and I expect some limitations like a level cap or somesuch. So, keep your hopes to a minimum
I will keep you posted Dare say its worth the download - the trial is free and hey, you get one more notch on your "games tried" list
K
Kev
Guest
I heard people still play the new mirkwood, expansion ?
G
Gombol
Guest
Tempted to reactivate my account somtimes, but then i remember: I have nobody to play with, and ill just get bored fast.