Mines of Moria gets a November 18th release date

And the loading everywhere.... when you enter a house when you come out of the house or walk into a zone aaaarg

Having played EQ, WOW, AC, AC2, SWG, DDO, Planetside, and GW, LOTRO is my personal favorite MMO. Of course this is only one person's opinion. I am actually glad that negative juvenile whiners don't seem to like LOTRO, it makes the game so much more pleasant for the rest of us!

LoTRO is the best MMORPG I have played so far. I am focused on mmorpg's for like 5 years, have tried many of them. LoTRO have the best community I have seen, great game content, great graphics...

@Ray Hayes "It is a shallow MMO, with a horrible UI"

I think you have played different game. Horrible UI??? You can freely move almost ANYthing in the UI to suit your best without downloading any addons or similar things.

As was mentioned above, this game is focused towards more causal players. You can progress in end-game instaces and raids just by playing few hours per day/week (well slowly then more active players, but you CAN. You don't have to spend countless hours preparing for it and 4 days per week in raid to get something).

"it makes it "acceptable" to the few hardcore lore freaks" - I am by no mean hardcore lore freak, I don't even care much about the lore. I like LoTRO for the gameplay it offers. I don't like the flashy animations and BIG hits as are in 90% of the childish asian-like wannabe mmorpg's.

But I am just happy that people like you don't play this game, because it will ruin it. And if you question its success, this is a chart from April 9th, 2008 > http://www.mmogchart.com/Chart1.html. If being in the top 13 in the world isn't a success, what is?

Is there a trial disc for this game, like the FFXI trial that comes with a full month and only costs $2? 14 days isn't enough for me since I can only play on the weekends and I definitely can't clear 10 gigs for it in that time.

I'd like to thank everyone that posted constructive comments and thoughtful opinions instead of clearly immature rant. I've been playing LOTRO since launch and I've enjoyed every minute of the experience. Like many have said before, the community is amazing and perhaps the most mature of them all. The game is filled with excellent content for everyone to enjoy in Middle Earth. The graphics are beautifully rendered and it can be played by an average pc and a powerful one, you will have a great time in it with either.

I believe that people that come into these forums to bash games that they don't like or claim to despise only gives a hint of ignorance and envy for a game they will never understand.

Tell me this, does a game need pop-corn flashy lights and movements to make it interesting? I feel bad for players that need seizure-like adrenaline rush to enjoy a game. I'm too happy that LOTRO doesn't have a massive community of players, that makes the game interesting and still be profitable. I'm very happy with it.

So please, acknowledge that there are MANY people that enjoy the game for its content, graphics, storyline-driven gameplay, community and lore.

That being said, I will move into something else (something underground), as maybe should you if you don't like LOTRO.

Conquer the World Beneath...

Definately preordering this. LOTRO is an awsome game and it has hobbits. Hobbits, people!!! Yay for hobbits!! :)

Excellent game - the negative comments are strange, Not sure why someone that does not currently play the game would even bother to comment.

Has the best story line of any Morph I have played. the main story envolves "epic" quests that place you in the center of the war of the ring. Every couple of months Turbine releases a new "book" which gives an additional epic quest that advances the story line. The story moves in parrellel with the tolkien books. Once MoM is out the fellowship is just past the Mines.

Played the game since launch and have a lifetime account. The Intellectual Property is locked up with Tolkien until 2014 (for the person that said would not be around long - wrong)

However, this is a more "casual" game and it geared toward the person that can play after a days work.

Its sad, really. This prevailing notion that an MMOG has to have WoW type numbers to be successful is only going to hurt the industry. It is absolutely necessary for there to be a market for smaller, more modest games, that attract different kinds of players. Lotro is the perfect example of this. Is it the perfect game? No. But it delivers the kind of content its players want, and it does what it wants to do really well.

As a result, Lotro has what I would have to describe as one of the best player communities I have been a part of. Compared to many of the other player communities I have been a part of over the years the Lotro community is like a breath of fresh air.

This may be why people are, rightfully, defending the game so much... the games ability to create a good community is commendable, and that community alone is testament enough to the games success.

I like this game. I've played a lot of MMOs and have played EQ, EQ2, PS, SWG, DAoC, HZ, RoE, CoH/V, WoW, AC, AC2 and SB all for three months or more. LotRO is just the right mix of several different elements IMO. It's just hard enough and intricate enough to keep me interested but not a pointless treadmill grindfest or total easy mode like most of the games I have tried. I am very much looking forward to MoM!

Quote: Ray Hayes said...
I do find it amusing that you get so "angry" over a simple post. Almost as if you believe what is said.

If I had to base an opinion on all previous material released by Tolkien. Approved art books, written research, I still see Tolkien turning in his grave.

Sorry, but 150-200k population does not "a popular game" make. It makes it "acceptable" to the few hardcore lore freaks who because they recognize a name or two think that LOTRO is the TRUE game.

It is a shallow MMO, with a horrible UI, badly done animations and character visuals, boring quest lines with enough extinction of boars and bears quests to kill any normal human.

All I see here are temperamental fanbois whining cause their "Favorite MMO" is being discussed in a less than admirable light.
end quote.

I am not going to get into the proverbial "peeing match" with you.

But I do find it quite funny to have someone that is a WoW player, knock any other game for it's graphics. WoW is graphically one of the worst games I have ever seen. LOTRO on the "low" setting is better and for those of us who have good machines, on Very High it it just down right amazing. I cannot tell you how many times I have stopped and taken screenshots of things like a rainbow breaking through the clouds while looking over the shire, or something along those lines.

To this day AFAIK (Warhammer might be an exception) it is still the only MMO out there that utilizes DX10 and it is amazing. AoC claims DX10 but it does not, anyone that has played it knows they cannot turn it on in the options menu (or at least couldn't as of like 2 months ago)

Interesting comments. Do you play? I can see why you would not want to discuss the game in a "match". As your sound like a tempermental fanboi yourself.

Enjoy your game, We will enjoy ours. But don't speak for Tolkien, you are clueless. Tolkien's opinion is left to those people that actually have the responsibility to maintain it.

I truly love having many MMO's at our disposal. I currently have LotRO and WAR accounts. I really don't like PvP very much and I also love having a lot of Lore and Story elements so I have gravitated towards LotRO and I have been loving every minute of it. I can't wait for MoM expansion! LotRO is an exciting and vibrant world to be in and now it's going to get a little darker :)

More then leveling up - I love the adventures and stories that help me to level up.

I find when I play other MMO's it's more about just leveling up and playing lots of PvP - but the sense of story and being THE hero doesn't exist. The quests are bland and seem to exist more for leveling then for being an integrated part of an epic story.

I just feel like I'm a one person in a large war (which can be fun) but I prefer feeling like the fate of the world is dependent on me and my actions. Like everything I do greatly influences the story and that's what I get from LotRO. If I just want to level up and feel powerful stomping monsters I'll play WAR - but mostly I play LotRO.

Bring on MoM!!

Well, nevermind the nay-sayers. Although they have the right to have an opinion, they obviously have made up their mind already and there is no point in trying to convert them. That train has already left the station.

I have played alot of MMORPG's over time, and all of them have had something to make them fun, some for a longer time than others. EQ was great with all the diverse races and starting locations. EQ2 was beautiful and massive, but in the end too hard for one who mostly like to solo and just occasionally group with others for raids and really hard quests. WoW was great for a while, until the timesinks became all too obvious, and the repetitive gameplay with endless grinds too tedious. Conan was fantastic until lvl 20 and then died a sudden death due to poor gamedesign. Warhammer, although it had good intentions, became frustrating and actually pretty boring when it became obvious that as soon as all had left the area, there were no way to actually complete the public quests that for me was a wonderful design, and all one was left with was a very mediocre questing routine and endless repetitions of the same scenarios, over and over again. At least the questing was made easy due to utterly dumbed down enemies and a great way to find the needed area on the map. No need to read the quest texts, but if one did, the text was actually rewarding and fun.
Then there is LOTRO, the game I always come back to for comfort, after having tried a new one with great expectations only to let me down.
You see, LOTRO has Soul. And before you write me off as a deluded nincompoop, I would like to explain.
Middle earth is so thoroughly designed by master Tolkien himself, It is a living and working world, with layers upon layers of kulture, languages, geographical landmarks, a living history, and tales upon tales to be told in the Prancing Pony over a froothing jug of ale, If a bard group is present, that oftenly enough draws a crowd and soon it becomes irresistible not to join in,
All the people one meet are mostly friendly, and if they are not, they most likely have a good reason for it.
If one manages to get into a bit of trouble, one can count on getting help from people one does not even know, That is what a great community makes!

About the questing, Yeah, I can agree up to a point. It has more than its fair share of The Wolves, The Tigers, The Bears, Oh my! At least until one passes lvl 20, when stuff actually leave kindergarten and becomes a fully involved epic RPG.

This games lives different lives. It is stunning enough to make it good enough to just wander around to explore.
It seriously shines in the Epic Quest chains. Who havent played through Book 1 final chapters, entered Othrongroth and liked it everytime, even if it just were for helping some nood to complete it. That book still gives me a rush, to see those 3 seriously heavy badgys in the same place, and praying to not having to fight them.

And one more thing, Fellowship maneuvers! It is just reward enough to be able to actually complete a 6-parter in a battle. No matter if one wins or looses, the talk and memory will surround that maneuver, guaranteed.

The graphics is in a league of its own. Just look at the trees. They are marvellous, and with all on max, even the textures, and your system can take it, with DX10 turned on... well, nothing comes close.

All mmorpg have great music, but LOTRO have the best, hands down. Just take the song from inside Tom Bombadils cabin - infectius, or any of the dwarven themes, especielly the evil dwarves. That music if sensational! A great feat for a young composer to pull this off.

So, LOTRO have the visuals, the background, or lore if you will, and well written quests with a fair share of mundane quests in the pile. Epic gamelay due to the different 'Book' quests (up to 16 now with Mines Of Moria if I am not mistaken) and now weapons that can level, making endgame grinds all the more rewarding.

LOTRO is not a game for everyone, just for those who likes high fantasy, loves the best fantasy work ever written, For a Tolkienist, just the mere posibility of being able to actually walk around in Bree, see Forochel, or enter the Halls of Moria or the the Blacksmiths of Eregion where it all started and rings were forged by Celebrandil and his students. To be able to enter Lorien and se its wonders, and maybe get snared by the horrible enchantress that lives there, or so it is said.

You think such a game could be playable, or should one go back to WoW with its wonderful community, preaceful gameplay with no rush to get the latest items and to level up NOW to get just that little edge in the endgame.

Naaahh.... I'll stay in Middle Earth, on Laurelin RP Server. There I have my house with that nice pond just outside. The sun is shining and it is a wonderful morning. I dip my bait, hoping to catch a fisk, but equally satisfied with just standing here in the grass.

I hear a sharp horn and see a horserider coming towards me haistily. Although out of breath, the young man tells me that he was told to send for me. Weathertop is about to be taken by the Free Folk and I was asked to lead the assault. I accept and puts down my rod, reluctantly, in the grass. I pray to Yavanna that I will se my haven again soon, but that is nothing I can count on. I will be back though, maybe not tomorrow, or next week, but I will come back.

To each Ones own!