[BETA] LotR Online - Shadows Of Angmar

[Omniel]

For those intrested, or the LOTR-fans like i once was it might be intresting to actually be part of Tolkiens world and interact. Now i dont have any clue of the quality of the game but thats what beta's are for arent they.

Anyways i brought it to ur attention do with it what u like
Oh and if u do sign up please do step2 aswell and fill out the part of the online gaming community (and fill in RL details ofc:D) that way we'd have a better chance.

Linky:
europeans: http://www.lotro-europe.com/

North americans: http://lotro.turbine.com

[Hovis]

I have a beta key already, will be checking this out for a preview this month.

[GuardianAnge1]

have the beta key too, but don't have a computer to play it on :(

will wait for sportlov (holiday) next week to play

[WiGgLr]

I didn't bother, heard it's a WoW clone

[Derekian]

applied for beta long time ago but didn't get any mail or something

[Ludicrouse]

Ripped from one of my posts on another forum

Been in the beta for a while...

All i shall say is typical Codemasters MMO. Style > Content. Also has nowt to do with the movies and tries to make its own path eskew from the Books too...

5/10 for effort
4/10 for content
6/10 for graphics

[Hovis]

If you get to stab up loads of orcs it's worth a punt IMHO.

[Maurgrim]

Thing is, you don't. You stab boars, neekerbeekers (bugs), giant Flies, Wargs, Wolves, Bears, bats and what not and the rare goblin and orc.

[Ludicrouse]

Thing is, you don't. You stab boars, neekerbeekers (bugs), giant Flies, Wargs, Wolves, Bears, bats and what not and the rare goblin and orc.

What he said... i think i saw One troll, 5 Goblins and no Orc's throughout my playtime... twas pants.

[Omniel]

Thing is, you don't. You stab boars, neekerbeekers (bugs), giant Flies, Wargs, Wolves, Bears, bats and what not and the rare goblin and orc.

heard u could like actually fight Sauron as one of the goody tissues, or even play it from the evil perspective... that'd be rather cool. And if Codemastars fucked up then im sending em a complaint letter of the quality posted in the other thread just for fucking up something that couldve been uber.

[WiGgLr]

heard u could like actually fight Sauron as one of the goody tissues, or even play it from the evil perspective... that'd be rather cool. And if Codemastars fucked up then im sending em a complaint letter of the quality posted in the other thread just for fucking up something that couldve been uber.

it's goody two shoes :)


there isn't a decent Codesmasters MMORPG out yet btw, I don't see why this one should be any different

[Ludicrouse]

heard u could like actually fight Sauron as one of the goody tissues, or even play it from the evil perspective... that'd be rather cool. And if Codemastars fucked up then im sending em a complaint letter of the quality posted in the other thread just for fucking up something that couldve been uber.

I highly doubt you could fight Sauron as the game world encompasses just a very, very small portion of Middle Earth.

Sauron is actually MILES away. Most likely you can take on the Witch King, but then he is really just a poor substitute.

So far the game world is from the Shire to Angmar, there is no Gondor, nor Rohan and no Isengard to be seen.

[Maurgrim]

Their idea of PvP is, that from lvl 10 on you can fight as an Orc (lvl 40 or so can't remember right now), by doing quests you gain some points, which in turn allow you to upgrade either your character or your PvP Orc. That said, they might as well just have made Mordor as a playable faction and not this halfassed try at "Play a Monster" which EQ1 did so much better.

I've seen a lot of orcs and trolls actually, but they look shit imo. Could have been way better a game than it is.

[Hovis]

Disappointing. All it needed to be was a massive online orc stab fest based around a middle earth theme and I would run ten accounts at once. Fucking orcs want stabbing. Sounds a bit feeble. I'll give it a run though. MMOs are all the same these days anyway.

[Daymare]

it's goody two shoes :)


there isn't a decent Codesmasters MMORPG out yet btw, I don't see why this one should be any different

imo turbine and codemasters released a good game in Dungeons and Dragons online, but that is hardly an mmo, it's more like a diablo style game with an mmo group browser :p

[Omniel]

so dissapointed atm :(
bet Tolkien would turn arround in his grave.

[Hovis]

Installing now. All it needs is for melee combat to look good. That's all I ask.

[Maurgrim]

Last time I played a few weeks ago, all weapons still used the same animation while dual-wielding. Poking stuff with a blunt part of my axes, yay!

[Hovis]

Well I gave it a spin. Basically it's a WoW clone with much better graphics (system allowing), much better setting (obviously) and what looks to be pretty good potential for it to work as an actual RPG, rather than just an MMO. It's bland though, very bland. It'll need to shape up.

[WiGgLr]

pretty good potential for it to work as an actual RPG, rather than just an MMO. It's bland though, very bland. It'll need to shape up.

Sadly, that seems to be the case for most beta MMORPGs and more often than not, most release MMORPGs

[Hovis]

Sadly, that seems to be the case for most beta MMORPGs and more often than not, most release MMORPGs

I'll give the devil his due on this, when Blizzard give a game a style they give it style in buckets. WoW, Diablo 1&2, Starcraft, they all had a look. Lineage 2 did as well, although what was cool and alien to a western audience is probably pretty standard fare in the far east. LorR though, Vanguard, EQ2, even Guild Wars to an extent, all seem to really lack any flair in visual style.

Conan can't get here soon enough in that regard, I'd trade my left nut for a balls to the wall combat heavy MMO.

That said I'm going to keep an eye on LotR because firstly it looks like the party system has potential, second low level combat always looks a bit ropey, and third to really enjoy an MMO you need to be in on day one, or beta, or both, and I intend to be there for LotR in this regard.

My chief hope is that it's enough like WoW that it won't take any WoW players and instead there might be a chance of there being actual RP on the servers.

[Maurgrim]

My chars aren't low level though Hovis. Or were, before there was a charwipe :p

What I like is the trade skill system. That was done really well imo.

[WiGgLr]

I'll give the devil his due on this, when Blizzard give a game a style they give it style in buckets. WoW, Diablo 1&2, Starcraft, they all had a look. Lineage 2 did as well, although what was cool and alien to a western audience is probably pretty standard fare in the far east. LorR though, Vanguard, EQ2, even Guild Wars to an extent, all seem to really lack any flair in visual style.

Blizzard are very good at polishing their games. They seem to be better at releasing a product that is a lot closer to being finished (or ready) than other companies.

The same can't quite be said for NCSoft, as much of the content (quests, equipment, skillsets and mobs to kill) for Lineage 2 has been added over time. My clan and our main opposing clan played Lineage 2 a little too hardcore and as such we were always ahead of the content by a good 10 or so levels until the game had been out for approximately 1 year. Edit: the only reason the content caught up was because they introduced the subclass system. We were all max level, but subclassing made us able to start at level 40 again and switch between two classes.

The looks were OK, but there were many bugs as far as 6 months into release and a lot of textures for equipment didn't arrive until 6 months in and then again 9 months in.

I agree though, the overall look and feel of Lineage 2 has a lot going for it, but I think that is also because it was the first Korean MMO to really get going in North America and Europe. It could have easily been another Korean MMO in it's place, although with it's popularity in Korea I highly doubt it.