Jaxtherogue

It all looks good, but how to you pull off any of what they are describing while maintaining a persistent world unmarred by layers of instances? That is my primary concern.

Why does endgame have to equal endgame instances? I think of things to do when I am at max level. Skirmishes definitely fit the bill as does leveling legendaries and continuing the epic storyline in new content patches.

Lotro has a great endgame, it's just not focused on you getting a bigger sword than the everyone else.

I like the hump on the back. It makes it look more stable and I like ports on the back of my machine where things can be out of the way and not crowding my workspace. I'd also be interested to see how it performs business tasks before getting too up in arms about the very slightly slower CPU (vs the Air). This kind of machine is not what I am after in a laptop, but I do like its looks- I don't want a PC that looks like a 1950s version of future (the MBA).

The feel of the game world is my favorite thing about Lotro. The lore and romanticism of the books can't be replicated in total- but Turbine has built a world, within the idiom of an mmo where players can do more than bake bread, that captures a part of that.

Amazon, Emusic, iTunes and (large chunks of) Zune Markplace all offer DRM free music. Can you guys find something else to whine about?

Lotro players were still enjoying lotro at midnight of the Moria release. :)

..and..you could buy a downloadable version from day one.

..and..is being lumped in with midnight expac shoppers a good thing? At that point one has to question their judgement and ability to judge a good expac from Crap In A Box.

I'm not beating on WoW really; LK is entertaining, what I have played of it. I like the changes and zones, but Moria takes you to a very different and awe-inspiring world. And the legendary system is a very welcome addition.

My real point is that popularity has little to do with quality and it's embarrassing to Massively's journalistic integrity that it was a criteria.

If Apple was smart they would introduce 'new' iPods with a flanged base so when the fanboys inevitably slip them up their backsides they can at least do so safely.