[PC] The Lord of the Rings Online

Link to the official website here.

GamingForce Character Listing :

Server - Character Name - GF Member
Meneldor - Ozvorn - DarkMageOzzie
Brandywine - Cyan - BucPride

Since I just installed the game, and will be in the open-beta to try it out, I was curious to see if anyone else will be giving it the benefit of the doubt before just deferring to World of Warcraft. Since I've always enjoyed LotR, I'd try it as an MMO before some of the others on the market.

If you pre-order it and jump into the open-beta (which I believe starts April 6th?), you'll get a discount on the monthly subscription. Since my love for WoW has waned recently, I figured I'd give this one a try and see if its worth my time and money.

List of game features below.

Spoiler:

Create a unique character: Adventure as a Man, Elf, Dwarf or Hobbit. After choosing where your character hails from, select region-appropriate color palettes for skin, hair, eye color, and more. Equip yourself with items like sturdy Dwarven armor, intricate Elven mail, or weapons created with the knowledge of past Ages. Choose one of seven classes: deal massive damage as a Champion, protect your fellowship as a Guardian, beguile your enemies as a Burglar, or try a Captain, Hunter, Minstrel, or Lore-master.

As your character advances and grows, customize it using Traits – interchangeable abilities which modify your character's skills to give you greater control over its specializations. Gain new Trait slots by leveling, and unlock new Traits by completing Accomplishments.

Fight alone or with other players: With hundreds of hours of gameplay, there's plenty to do in LOTRO as a solo player or in a fellowship. Follow the storyline on your own or form a fellowship with other players for epic battles against creatures like Orcs, Wights, and even Balrogs. Coordinated fellowships can use group combo moves to do incredible damage, heal their fellowship, or restore their energy – how they harness the power of a combo is entirely up to them to decide! LOTRO will also include a consensual Player vs. Player combat system (details forthcoming), allowing players to fight against each other for glory and honor!

Create items both legendary and mundane: Farm in the Shire or forge weapons and armor in Thorin's Halls. Players can craft arms for the fight against the Dark Lord Sauron, or enjoy more peaceful activities like cooking and farming. Those who dedicate themselves to becoming master crafters can create legendary items of unsurpassed quality.

Dramatic sequences: LOTRO offers an expansive, open world, and incorporates cinematic technology to present the player with movie-like sequences which further the storyline. Experience epic challenges like the depths of the Great Barrow, the siege of Fornost and the battle to retake Weathertop.

Interact with others: Meet and socialize with thousands of other players and fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. Relax at the Prancing Pony in Bree, the Green Dragon Inn in the Shire, or any of the many other social centers throughout the land. Express yourself through emotes and chat – wave hello, bow, or dance with a friend!

Journey through Middle-earth: Experience an epic storyline through hundreds of quests created as a companion to The Lord of the Rings. Adventure in familiar areas as well as new ones, created for the game, which were only briefly touched on by J.R.R. Tolkien in his master works. Experience Middle-earth as never before as you swim the Brandywine River or make your way through the mists of the Old Forest. Turbine, working closely with Tolkien Enterprises, has created what Gamedaily calls "...a must have title for fans of Tolkien lore."

Classes
Taken from the pages on LotRO.com

Champion

Spoiler:

Available to: Man, Elf, Dwarf

A true master of arms, the Champion excels at combat, focusing on little other than destroying her foes. The Champion's whirling blades can strike fear into the heart of even the foulest orc, cutting down swaths of their numbers at once. While a Champion's training and armor grants her some survivability, it is not her focus, and a Champion can quickly find herself in trouble when facing several foes on her own.

The Champion is the class of choice for players that enjoy fast-paced combat with multiple options available at any given moment. Champions can use various weapon styles, but focus on using two weapons simultaneously. With their active play-style Champions are able to consistently cause large amounts of damage to both single and multiple opponents in combat. Their style of combat revolves around the idea that the best defense is a good offense.

Skills of the Champion

Wild Attack: A damaging attack. This increases fervor, allowing the use of other Champion skills.

Flurry: An attack that increases the Champion's attack speed and fervor.

Blade Storm: A 360-degree area-of-effect attack.

Champion's Challenge: A taunting cry that forces the target to face and attack the Champion.

Savage Strikes: A double attack.

Blade Wall: A frontal area-of-effect attack.

Bracing Attack: An attack which allows the Champion to brace herself against counterattack, increasing her morale by a small amount.

Battle-frenzy: Instantly increases Fervour.

Dire Need: Transfers half the Champion's morale to power.


Traits of the Champion
Here are some of the Class-specific Traits the Champion can obtain while adventuring in Middle-earth.

Call of the Wild: The Champion's Wild Attack generates additional threat and she gains a small amount of natural armour.

At the Ready: The Champion's base block rate is increased and she gains a small amount of natural armour.

Guardian

Spoiler:

Available to: Man, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit

A doughty fighter and protector of the weak, a skilled Guardian can face even the toughest foes and survive. The Guardian is one of the few classes willing and able to try to draw more blows onto themselves, so they can retaliate with devastating maneuvers in response.



The Guardian will be the class of choice for players that enjoy drawing the attention of their foes in combat and taking advantage of their missteps. Masters of the defensive arts, Guardians use taxing attacks and irksome taunts to draw and hold opponents' attention, relying on their shield and weapon to turn aside incoming attacks with blocks and parries. A Guardian's combat style depends on creating openings during an opponent's attack to provide the opportunity for their own counter attack.

Skills of the Guardian

Challenge: The Guardian knows how to goad his enemies into attacking, leaving his allies free to maneuver.

Shield Swipe: After successfully blocking an enemy's blow, the Guardian may attack with both weapon and shield.

Bash: After a successful Shield Swipe agaist an enemy, the Guardian may bash it again with his shield, possibly stunning it.

Vexing Blow: The Guardian is capable of drawing an enemy's attention to himself with this attack.

Protection: When wielding a shield, the Guardian may protect one of his allies, improving his ally's defense and allowing the Guardian to react to attacks made against him.

Stamp: Enables the Guardian to break his enemy's concentration, interrupting its actions.

Deep Breath: The Guardian is able to gather his wits and prepare his attacks more quickly than normal.

Guardian's Pledge: The Guardian's great skill enables him to strengthen his defenses for a short time.

Guardian's Defense: The Guardian focuses his defenses on blocking attacks.



Traits of the Guardian
Here are some of the Class-specific Traits the Guardian can obtain while adventuring in Middle-earth.

Guardian's Ward: Guardian's Ward increases the Guardian's natural damage mitigation. All of his special attacks also more strongly direct his enemy's ire towards him.

Selfless Defense: The Guardian's Protection skill makes his target less threatening, while drawing the enemy's ire towards him. All of his special attacks also more strongly direct his enemy's ire towards him.

Captain

Spoiler:

Available to: Man

Bearing her banner into battle, a Captain provides hope and leadership to her fellows, inspiring them to greater deeds. A skilled Captain can rally a party back from the brink of defeat, or seal a victory against many foes. While a Captain is a respected fighter on her own accord, she is primarily driven by her powerful sense of leadership to those fighting around her.

The Captain is the class of choice for players who enjoy supporting their fellows while participating in melee combat. Her battle cries allow her to take advantage of certain events in combat to aid the morale or combat ability of her fellows. A Captain's style of combat focuses on inspiring those around her to glory.

Skills of the Captain

Rallying Cry: When the Captain's enemy is defeated, her cry boosts her fellowship's morale.

War-cry: When the Captain's enemy is defeated, she lets out a cry which rallies her nearby companions to attack with greater speed and determination.

Command: Make Haste: Inspires the Captain's fellowship to greater haste, both in and out of battle.

Defensive Strike: The Captain attacks defensively, causing light damage but recovering quickly to protect herself from returned attacks.

Enraged Shout: A fearsome shout which strikes terror into the hearts of enemies and puts the Captain into a battle-readied state.

Pressing Attack: Allows the Captain to swing twice at her enemy, inflicting medium damage.

Routing Cry: When an enemy is defeated, the Captain lets out a fearsome Cry which slightly demoralizes all other foes nearby.

In Harm's Way: The Captain puts herself in harm's way to defend nearby companions, taking all damage dealt to them upon her.

Intimidating Shout: A Shout which threatens the enemy, increasing the chance that it will attack the Captain.



Traits of the Captain
Here are some of the Class-specific Traits the Captain can obtain while adventuring in Middle-earth.

Captain's Valour: The Captain's Banner of War evokes greater effects upon her allies.

Captain's Hope: The Captain's Banner of Hope evokes greater effects upon her allies.

Burgler

Spoiler:

Available to: Man, Hobbit

A stealthy trickster, the Burglar can dart in and out of the shadows to befuddle, weaken, or damage foes. An unexpected strike from behind by a burglar can stun or trip enemies, allowing others in his party to combine their efforts for a devastating attack. Unassuming on his own, a burglar would be wise to not be caught alone.

The Burglar is the class of choice for players that enjoy using cunning and tricks to defeat their opponents. Using concealment, a Burglar can strike from the shadows, taking his opponents unawares. With his wit, a Burglar can show his allies where a foe's weakness lies -- or trap someone in a riddle. A Burglar's combat style hinges on his ability to outmaneuver and outwit opponents while hitting them where it hurts.

Skills of the Burglar

Sneak: Allows the Burglar to move about unseen, though there is a chance of detection.

Surprise Strike: An attack in which the Burglar inflicts more damage when attacking from behind or while sneaking.

Burglar's Advantage: Execute another attack after a critical hit, inflicting more damage when the Burglar attacks from behind.

Diversion: When in stealth, the Burglar can divert an enemy's attention away from himself for a short time.

Trip: Knock an opponent down, opening up a conjunction opportunity if the Burglar is in a fellowship. Only usable while sneaking.

Cunning Attack: The Burglar's formidable cunning allows a darting attack which continues to deal damage after he strikes, dealing even more damage if the attack is made while sneaking.

Exploit Opening: Stun a target, opening up a conjunction opportunity if the Burglar is in a fellowship.

Riddle: The Burglar is capable of posing riddles to enemies which may momentarily distract them, dazing them for 30 seconds or until damaged. Will not work on Beasts, Insects, or Creatures of Nature.

Addle: Confuse an enemy so thoroughly he fails any inductions in progress, and any subsequent inductions for a short time take much longer to execute.



Traits of the Burglar
Here are some of the Class-specific Traits the Burglar can obtain while adventuring in Middle-earth.

Hidden Danger: The Burglar's attacks while using Stealth are far more accurate, reducing the chances that he may miss or that his enemy may somehow avoid them.

Footpad: The Burglar's ability to move about with Stealth has developed beyond his natural aptitude.

Hunter

Spoiler:

Available to: Man, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit

Woodsman, pathfinder, and master of the bow, the keen-eyed Hunter can use his arrows to devastating effect from a distance. Archery is not the only thing the Hunter excels at, for he can lead his companions through the forest at greater speed than they could on their own, and can set up traps to ambush enemies. The archer is no close-quarters fighter, however, and would generally rather let his bow do the work than resort to his sword.

The Hunter is the class of choice for players who enjoy striking a target at range. Clever by nature, the Hunter is known to lure his targets into traps to hinder them, giving him time to use his bow to deadly effect. A Hunter's knowledge of nature also provides skills that help him and his fellows survive in the wild. A Hunter's combat style depends on the ability to injure a foe while staying out of harm's way.

Skills of the Hunter

Quick Shot: Allows the Hunter to nock and loose an arrow quickly.

Set Trap: The Hunter's survival skills enable him to lay traps to ensnare enemies.

Purge Poison: The Hunter's survival lore allows him to use naturally-occurring medicines to purge poisons from an ally.

Barbed Arrow: The Hunter's arrow causes a wound that bleeds and slightly slows movement speed.

Swift Bow: Loose two missiles in rapid succession.

Rain of Arrows: The Hunter rains five arrows down upon his enemies, allowing him to hit multiple targets.

Scourging Blow: This attack wounds the Hunter's foe, dealing additional damage if the enemy is suffering from Barbed Arrow, but stops the bleeding.

Blindside: Divert an enemy's attention with a single melee strike and follow it with a single bow attack at close range.

Low Cut: The Hunter makes a low cut in front of himself which can temporarily slow the movement speed of up to two enemies.



Traits of the Hunter
Here are some of the Class-specific Traits the Hunter can obtain while adventuring in Middle-earth.

True Shot: The Hunter's Penetrating Shot pierces more deeply through an enemy's armour, ignoring more of the armour's damage mitigation.

Hail of Arrows: The Hunter has a greater chance of landing Critical Hits with his Rain of Arrows.

Minstrel

Spoiler:

Available to: Man, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit

With song and tale, a Minstrel brings hope to places thick with gloom. She can inspire those with desperate minds and heavy hearts to great deeds. In battle, she can turn the tide with songs that strengthen her allies and dirges which strike fear into the hearts of enemies.

The Minstrel is the class of choice for players who want to aid their friends, inspiring them to keep going through the darkest of times. With a vast repertoire of tales both fair and foul, a Minstrel restores the morale of her fellows, as well as causing enemies to despair. Though able to wield weapons, she prefers to let her words, rather than her sword, speak for her. A Minstrel's style of combat is based on maintaining hope no matter what the odds.

Skills of the Minstrel

Raise the Spirit: The Minstrel's words of encouragement renew the morale of a companion.

Clarion of the Valar: Calling upon the name of the Valar can send evil foes fleeing in terror for a short time.

Tale of Heroism: Increases the Will and Fate of the Minstrel's fellowship.

Inspire Fellows: Words of encouragement renew the morale of the Minstrel's fellowship and increase its vigour.

Soothing Song: Decreases the Minstrel's threat in the eyes of her enemy target and all adjacent enemies.

Noble Cause: The next three Herald's Strikes that the Minstrel executes do extra damage and return part of that as morale to her group.

Song of Distraction: A song that can make the Minstrel's target become drowsy and not detect players until they are much closer than normal. This does not work against monsters already engaged in combat.

Song of the Dead: This song causes undead to freeze in fear.

Herald's Strike: A melee attack that does extra damage.





Traits of the Minstrel
Here are some of the Class-specific Traits the Minstrel can obtain while adventuring in Middle-earth.

Life-singer: The Power costs for the Minstrel's morale-renewing skills are reduced.

Harmonious Melody: The Minstrel has a longer window of opportunity in which to perform her next tier of Ballads.

Lore-Master

Spoiler:

Available to: Man, Elf

A keeper of ancient lore and otherwise lost knowledge, the Lore-master uses his knowledge of the lesser and greater powers of the world around him to stave off the advances of the shadow for a time, and to treat the wounds and suffering of his companions. In dire need he can use this knowledge to hurt his foes; but this task being extremely difficult, a wise Lore-master would rarely attempt it.

The Lore-master will be the class of choice for the player that enjoys using the power of ancient lore to aid their allies and hinder their foes. Steeped in the histories of Middle-earth Lore-masters are able to aid their fellows in recovering from maladies caused by the forces of the Dark Lord. They can also use their knowledge to daze, harm, or hinder their enemies, as well as give of themselves to strengthen another. Some Lore-masters are even said to be able to communicate with animals and request their aid. A Lore-master's combat style is anchored in the power of knowledge and using it intelligently to defeat evil.

Skills of the Lore-master

Raven-lore: An understanding of the speech of ravens allows the Lore-master to call upon one.

Beacon of Hope: Transfers morale to an ally or pet.

Blinding Flash: A blinding flash accompanied by a loud crack and the smell of gunpowder causes the target to stop all action. Any damage caused to the target will break its stupor.

Cracked Earth: The ground cracks beneath a target's feet, doing damage and hampering their movement.

Burning Embers: Red-hot embers swirl around the target, causing damage over time.

Gust of Wind: Air swirls around the target, kicking up debris and other objects that can cause damage to enemies.

Leech craft: Removes wounds suffered by the target.

Share the Power: Transfers a portion of the Lore-master's power to the target.

Inner Flame: Self power to morale transfer.





Traits of the Lore-master
Here are some of the Class-specific Traits the Lore-master can obtain while adventuring in Middle-earth.

Dúnadan-learning: The Lore-master's knowledge of the lore of the Dúnedain grants bonuses to his Signs of Vigilance and Righteousness.

Master of Beasts: The Lore-master's knowledge of the Signs of Animals gives him greater control over them.

When the game starts up, I can throw together a list that I can continually update of characters who are playing, with server, class, level, etc. in this opening post. Please, feel free to post all your credentials when the open-beta begins.

How ya doing, buddy?

A couple of friends and I played the stress test and really enjoyed it, so we convinced our whole circle of friends to buy it. I haven't made my preorder yet, since I'm going to get the collector's edition and I've been looking for stuff around the house to trade in.

I don't know what the endgame stuff is like, but there was enough about the game that I really enjoyed (not the least of which is that it's LOTR) to try it out. And as long as my friends play with me, I don't see myself quitting anytime soon.

I have to admit, the founder's pricing of $9.99 is enticing also.

So yeah, basically I'm already sold on it. I just hope there's enough variety later down the line to keep our fellowship interested.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Is this game similar to WOW?

Hope to hear some more impressions from people who are betaing.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I'm in open beta. I'm on Meneldor with my character named Ozvorn. I would have posted this alot sooner but the site has been down so long...

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Kairi Li

Is this game similar to WOW?

Hope to hear some more impressions from people who are betaing.

Its extremely similar to WoW. The only problem is, for me, I don't really want another WoW, I'd like to do something deeper and with less tedious things to do at the end. I'll stick with the game for a little while longer and I may even go after a month of play after the game is released, but I'm not yet sold on the game whatsoever.

I was speaking idiomatically.

The only similarities I really see to WoW is combat, resource gathering, and the UI. But the UI originates from Asheron's Call which is also made by Turbine and came before WoW. I mean if it's not broke... don't fix it.

This game just really does something for me though. I don't wanna stop playing. I think it's because the other MMOs based off stuff I liked were so bad(Matrix and SWG) that I'm enjoying it sooooo much to play a Lord of the Rings MMO that is actually good.

Also, what servers are you guys playing on? I'm trying to start up a kinship on Meneldor.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

For me it's a lot slower paced than wow. I feel like I can take my time to do all the quests I damn well please.

Of course it's a smaller gameworld at the moment than wow, but I guess what I like about it the most so far is that many of the organized players seem more mature than the wow community.

On the other hand, no one's been openly helpful to me, either, and there's been a couple of occasions when a bad spawn screwed me, and the two or three guys running around just ignored me. That's the benefit of the Horde vs Alliance model, I guess, because along with the random acts of violence, it encourages player solidarity.

So, like I said, for me it's mostly the feel of the game that has me hooked. Plus it's a nice showcase for my new 8800 gts card and 5200+ AMD processor.


Most amazing jew boots

Originally Posted by DarkMageOzzie

The only similarities I really see to WoW is combat, resource gathering, and the UI. But the UI originates from Asheron's Call which is also made by Turbine and came before WoW. I mean if it's not broke... don't fix it.

I don't disagree, but thats kinda the thing. I really like the game and all, but I just got done playing a game for the last year and a half with almost the same UI and combat system. Not that its broken or bad by any means, but I just would like something a bit different.

That said, the champion class is awesome, especially with the racial benefits from being a human. You can do some painful amount of damage with em, essentially a slightly steroid'd version of the Rogue class from WoW. If I do end up playing this over FF11 (I can safely rule out WoW until the next expansion), then I'll definitely take up this class.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

They need to stop ruining one of the few things which put New Zealand on the map.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm on Silverlode.

Pre-ordered it after logging onto a buddy's account and trying it out. If you want a WoW-clone, look no further than Vanguard. I mean Jesus, it's 80% WoW & 20% EQ2. This has its similarities but LOTRO feels quite different.

I'm capped at 15, and at present, I'm getting and wrapping up boatloads of deeds. I admit, I miss capping out skills (ie: swordsmanship, etc) but the deed system is quite nifty. I wish there were more slots though... Or that they would automatically equip and remain passive as soon as you get them. I find myself debating over which to pick.

The crafting is nifty. However, it isn't perfect IMHO. I was hoping for crafting that'd allow for you to anchor down and grind away on it without worries of needing to trek out and squash some monsters.

It was why I enjoyed UO & FFXI so much -- you could literally build the game itself off of just crafting. In FFXI, I played it for years but never levelled a character past level 40 or so because I was so intensely focused on the economy and what-not. UO was the same -- I made a mule character who could do anything and everything involving crafting. If I wasn't making millions as him, I was harvesting and what-not. What was really cool about that is if I ever broke my tools, I could build another right on the spot given what he always had with him.

But as games progress nowadays, they focus on players specializing into ONLY one field just about. LOTRO lets you pick from some pre-set profession groupings, each one holding three tradeskills. They're okay and all, but either you need to hunt for your shit or you will be paying out your ass to the NPCs. I'm told that originally, the skill of Farming was profitable -- maybe a little too much. If they made it a little profitable, I'd see it as a worthy venture to spend money on. But whenever I farm, I find that my wallet drains very VERY quickly. Kinda kills the fun and enjoyment when you can only do it so much '~' I've been backing off yesterday and today from playing because I'm not in the mood to grind for an hour or two just to rake in the cash to craft for 20 minutes.

But I will leave credit where it's due -- this is quite a nice game. I doubt I'll play longer than a month or two after release, but we'll see.

There's nowhere I can't reach.