Be Excellent To Each Other :: View topic - Lord of the Rings Online

It can vanish it if you want.
Also - people you don't like.

Shewolf plays Lord of the Rings. She's on Evernight EU, I'm told.

I have an account, but it's lapsed in favour of EvE. Yes.

Of future MMO's, only Warhammer Online looks promising, but seems doomed to tragically inherit WoW's griping, childish playerbase.

I'd been thinking about giving this a go. I gave up on WoW because I like games to be friendly and nice and not try to steal my entire life away.

I'd also been thinking about giving that Pirate-y one a go, whatever it's called. Is that any good?

WoW was awesome when I first started so, so, so long ago - but only being a casual player (or read - shit) who enjoyed exploring rather than grinding, I soon felt at a disadvantage.

I remember being hugely tempted by Ultima Online, being a big U7 fan. Is it any good? Is it actually still running?

Isometric rpgs ftw!

Mr Chris wrote:

I remember being hugely tempted by Ultima Online, being a big U7 fan. Is it any good? Is it actually still running?

Isometric rpgs ftw!

Oh yes, it's still there chugging away with a pretty established player base. From what I hear however it's a scarey place to go...very scarey.

Rock Paper Shotguns revisit to the UO Game can be found here:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/08 ... -hard-way/

I’m about to give up, when I meander in front of the bank for about the eight time. Bigger Boys have come. Bigger Boys sitting imperiously astride polar bears and colossal beetles. Bigger Boys with so much cash in their immaculately-armoured pockets that selling new loot is just a huge hassle to them these days. Their solution to this inventory space versus effort conundrum is a bizzare form of philanthropy. Far easier is to just dump all their unwanted stuff on the ground in the middle of town, then wait near it. When wide-eyed newbies like me happen along and start picking through the shiny pile with excited disbelief, the Bigger Boys watch with a wry glare, knowing gods observing pathetic humanity going about its futile existence. Essentially, they’re throwing me pennies to dance for their entertainment. And so I do. I frantically cram as much as I can into my bags, behaving as exactly the desperate little wretch they were hoping would turn up and rifle through their trashcans.

It’s a treasure trove. Armour, weapons, magic talismans, mysterious keys and, best of all, a complete, joyously humiliating jester outfit, which I duly don and prance about in for the benefit of my silent patrons.

Well it has now arrived and the install has commenced.

PS Strikethrough text, how does that work then

Craster wrote:

Play EvE, foo'.

I mean, fucking spaceships man. With lasers that go PEW PEW PEW.

Yaargh! Stop tempting me with Eve: Online, I haven't enjoyed a trial yet. Though it does look beautiful. And I do love the setting. And I was playing alone, true, and it might be different with bezzies.

Also, their payment plans hate Maestro/Switch.

Someone mentioned Pirates of the Burning Sea. Seems they are offering a free trial period.

http://www.burningsea.com/pages/trialKeys/

Potbs, I played the beta and the bought the 2 week trial, what a great idea for a game. The sailing was awsome, you did actually care for your ship. The land battles, just mash keys ain any order, that worked too

Still looking for something for the casula player, so far I have CoH, BF2142, and Medal of honour warchest (£9 in hmv)..

Medal of honour warchest (£9 in hmv)..

I haven't really had time for Eve this week, and my trial period is 2/3rds through. Feel a bit guitly I am so tardy with it, but I just balk at the idea of spending years on a character, and it just doesn't grip me like it should.

Author:	NervousPete [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 14:02 ]
Post subject:	Lord of the Rings Online
MMO's eh? The genre has become somewhat devalued of late. World of Warcraft is highly accomplished but tragically a victim of its own success and crack-addict mechanic, populated by brats who cry out 'noob!' and play the same instance again and again with fanatical devotion to harvest pointless trinkets. Age of Conan proved itself to be a buggy mess with a world where only the beginning stages were properly fleshed out. Tabula Rasa severely lacked in content and has only months to live. Star Wars: Galaxies managed to destroy itself with every new bugged and conceptually terrible expansion. Eve Online, the one unique MMO, is a cold, glittering but awesome creation that terrifies all who are not already locked in its chill but compelling embrace. Of future MMO's, only Warhammer Online looks promising, but seems doomed to tragically inherit WoW's griping, childish playerbase. So what of Lord of the Rings Online, the only relatively unhyped MMO? The one magazines tend to gloss over in side-column soundbites? The one that consistently fails to get comments flowing in Eurogamer talkbacks? The supposed remora fish in the teeth of the giant shark that is World of Warcraft? The fact is that it's pretty damn good. You see, if you spend more than a few hours every week on an MMO, say at most an hour a night on average, then you are utterly wasting your life. But the majority of MMO's are designed to cunningly hoodwink you into thinking that you are achieving things. That time invested equals some sort of tangible reward in lieu of fun that makes it all worthwhile. It's why MMO players get so bitter and hateful in teams, as if you rob them of a chance of a shiny-coloured bauble, you're robbing them of the single item that says, "this is worth your time." Lord of the Rings Online basically says, 'here's a nicely crafted story, a beautiful world, a polished interface and some things to beat up. Go explore.' It then adds, 'if you're here to do raiding for items, you're a fucking idiot.' And then, just to be sure, it further goes on to say, 'and if you measure your dick by how quickly you're able to kill off other players, or how shiny your armour is, or how quickly you can get to the top level, then get to fucking fuck.' The most frequent criticism of LotR:O by idiots is that it doesn't have a proper endgame. An 'endgame' apparently is a bundle of big pointless caverns where you hit things repeatedly in the hope you'll get lucky on a tiny percentage chance that the big bad thing you're whaling on for hours at a time will deign to drop a new shiny thing. This is akin to wishing that a Star Trek movie or (ironically!) super-long Lord of the Rings had another half hour bit at the end which you sit through pressing a random combination of buttons on the remote control which might or might not unlock an easter egg involving an image of Captain Picard or Ian McKellen wearing one of a variety of unusual hats. Curiously, MMO players seem to enjoy this, and will happily wait ages for an interesting new storyline or expansion pack if they can have ten or so caverns of hitting things and snarling at each other. LotR:O is an attempt to get away from that. Though it shares practically the same interface and play mechanics as Warcraft (press numbered buttons in right order to kill big things, stab numbered buttons randomly while reading newspaper to kill little things) it differs markedly on execution. Lordy Lordy Online is about the journey. In most MMO's, bragging rights are over how many level 50's you have. Lordy Lordy begs you not to burn through the world but to savour the journey. Of all MMO's it's the only one with quest descriptions that I actually enjoy reading. True, the quests nearly all revolve around the 'kill x number of beasties, escort idiot child, pull lever, deliver message' quartet, but the game wraps these up in little stories, an epic scope and breezy manner. And for once the lore works in the game's favour. Scary ghosts turn out to be haunted oathbreaker spirits that aid you against fleshy enemies. A nightmarish rumour of a creature snatching babies from cradles and devouring them, after a bit of spying, turns out to be Gollum. ("Back from Thailand I hear," - the Express) Hobbits are fat and stupid and have you delivering pies against the clock, forcing you to try short-cuts and sneak past corpulent pie-thiefs. And the world looks beautiful. On first assessment, Bree and the Shire feel vast. On second glance, it seems a little too small. With Buckleberry Ferry a stroll-for-a-piss away from the bridge, Frodo and company should have been by rights trampelled to death on the other bank or singing falsetto in Barad-Balls. But pretty quickly you realise the world is just the right size, conveying a sense of the Shire and Bree being far away from the war and a thriving community, whilst having quickly managable distances and an undercurrent of dark rumours and stealthy evil. If you're a fan of the books, seeing locations such as Bag-End and the Barrowdowns is a real pleasure. If not, then the art design is enough to win you over. The first glimpse of Weathertop, a vast hill with a ruined fort atop it, is genuinely impressive. Likewise is the massive Thorin's Hall with the faces of short bearded people carved out of rock on a massive scale. Old towers loom over you. Bodies impaled on spikes and rotting leather tents form feculent goblin encampments. There's a room entirely full of cats, for some reason. Probably the best moment was walking past some trees in the old forest in all innocence, only to leap out of my chair when they suddenly stand up and chase after me. "We get it," you say. "They've put a lot of time into the world, but its still about collecting loot and dealing with idiots." Well, not really. Because there's no endgame or (gngh) 'uber-loot' there's no swathe of twats that you get in WoW. Everyone is pretty nice to each other and newcomers, and there's an equal footing. Better still, instead of end-game content, the developers regularily at the rate of every few months release big new zones to explore with new quests, new monsters and new stories. These new zones are well thought out, introduce new elements both graphical and gameplay wise and extend the epic story. Ah yes, epic story. As well as normal quests you get big quests. This is the big plot that contains all the best scripted adventures. Through these you get to team up with characters from the books, do a more gripping and varied diet of killing and running away and link your efforts in closely with those of the fellowship. The Epic Story is a thread that will see you progress naturally from the Shire to Rivendell, defeat the evil Witch King's army, and eventually move on to Moria. It's a satisfying experience. And though you can buy things such as houses, have a kinship, craft (another thing I've never understood the attraction of, but hey, you can ignore it to no loss whatsoever), go fishing and learn to play any tune you want on an instrument through a rather toppo in game music-mode, its the story and exploration and nice people you meet that you'll play through for. Not for any nebulous sense of 'achievement'. Y'see, the pretence of achievement in MMO's fails because just by grinding anyone can get there. The closest Lordy Lordy comes is through the - agh - 'Achievements' system. Basically find a string of themed places and unlock a slightly better stat with a shiny name. Kill so many creatures or complete so many quests and do the same. The names are quite nice to have hovering over you, if actually as pointless as the minor stat increases. What makes it acceptable is that it stays in the background. You're out slaying in the pursuit of a quest and suddenly the game informs you that you are the North Down's 'Raper of Wargs' or something and you feel cheery for a spell. Of course, you can track your progress and grind for them, but then you'd be a hateful idiot. It's all gravy to the feeling of advancing through a world and living a story. And because this emphasis is on experiencing rather than achieving, the game works. Because frankly, a game that has to rely on repeated endless number key pressing is pretty terrible. So essentially what I'm saying is that Lordy Lordy masks the flaws of the medium so well that it is the best MMO. Played as it should be, in spurts of an hour or two throughout the week, it becomes a real pleasure to amble through the world. If you rush through it, or grind it, or spend ages at the end faffing about obsessing about uber-loot you're spitting at the spirit of the game. So if you must play an MMO, Lordy Lordy is the one to play. Because it has far fewer cretins. And isn't about hateful collecting. And keeps giving you new huge and mysterious places to explore. And is rather pretty and immersive and the story, dialogue, settings and atmospherics fool you into forgetting that you're pressing buttons in a set order again and again to win. Verdict: Eve Online remains the only MMO to reward cunning, intelligence and offer a true sense of achievemnt. However, Eve Online will also destroy your life. So try Lordy Lordy if you want a life, but still want online vast-o-world fun. 9/10 (for an MMO) 8/10 (in the grander scheme of things)

Author:	ElephantBanjoGnome [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 14:05 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
MMOs are for LOSERS.

Author:	myp [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 14:06 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
There's also Star Trek Online. Yikes!

Author:	NervousPete [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 14:07 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Agh! I posted this in the main forum? Stupid distracting customers! I meant only to PM it to myself. I got confused. I got confused! Gagh. GAGH. GAGGH! (Cue Rain Man)

Author:	Grim... [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 14:24 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
It can vanish it if you want. Also - people you don't like.

Be Excellent To Each Other https://www.beexcellenttoeachother.com/forum/

Lord of the Rings Online https://www.beexcellenttoeachother.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1819	Page 1 of 1

Author:	Doctor Glyndwr [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 14:29 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
No spaceships == no sale. The only MMO I could see taking me away from EVE is the eventual release of a WH40K one.

Author:	Sheepeh [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 14:30 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Shewolf plays Lord of the Rings. She's on Evernight EU, I'm told. I have an account, but it's lapsed in favour of EvE. Yes.

Author:	NervousPete [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 15:00 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Grim... wrote: It can vanish it if you want. Also - people you don't like. That's okay ta, Grim... if y'all scroll back up you'll see the finished-ish effort. Though it's a work in proggy still, sort of, its a decent rough at least. Any comments would be cheerfully absorbed, then secretively revenged against accordingly.

Author:	NervousPete [ Wed Sep 10, 2008 15:30 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Sheepeh wrote: Shewolf plays Lord of the Rings. She's on Evernight EU, I'm told. I have an account, but it's lapsed in favour of EvE. Yes. Hmm, that's the server I'm on.

Author:	The Egg [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 9:58 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
nervouspete wrote: Of future MMO's, only Warhammer Online looks promising, but seems doomed to tragically inherit WoW's griping, childish playerbase. Well WAR is released today . . is anyone planning on giving it a go? I'm tempted. Is it worth identifying a preferred BEEX server (realm?) for those who may be considering giving it a go? Also, Hi! I have lurked for quite some time, but I have now come out of the closet. Or something.

Author:	NervousPete [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:16 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Hullo, The Egg! Soz, but I have to finish LotR:O first, plus my inty connection is a bit funny for MMO's at home. Let us know how WAR is if you buy it, though! Pity those poor souls who bought Age of Conan however.

Author:	Zardoz [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:19 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Don't let Malc see The Egg! Hi The Egg!

Author:	Zio [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:55 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
I'd been thinking about giving this a go. I gave up on WoW because I like games to be friendly and nice and not try to steal my entire life away. I'd also been thinking about giving that Pirate-y one a go, whatever it's called. Is that any good?

Author:	NervousPete [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:11 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Zio wrote: I'd been thinking about giving this a go. I gave up on WoW because I like games to be friendly and nice and not try to steal my entire life away. I'd also been thinking about giving that Pirate-y one a go, whatever it's called. Is that any good? Yes, and no. Pirates of the Burning Sea is really annoying me, because of all settings the age of sail is my favourite. Firstly, the good things: The ship combat is superb, and probably the bestest and most indepth and easy to use and skillful MMO combat system yet. You really get attached to your ships and even killing NPC 'rats' is fun. The community seems pretty nice. The at-sea graphics are very good. The economy seems to work well. Bad things: The on land/boarding combat is pretty dreadful, and doesn't feel at all intuitive or natural. It's still pressing keys, but you don't feel much cause and effect. The player avatars a bit mannequin like. The graphics on land are a bit Playmobile shiny. There aren't enough varities of instances and there isn't much land to explore. Might be low server populations. I played the beta and enjoyed it, and some of the above issues may have been addressed, though I doubt it. The land side of things is basically inferior, but the ship to ship combat is an excellent game in itself. As ever, trial before you buy. Basically I hope that another developer with a bigger budget steals the ships bit and makes the ultimate Eve: Online but at sea in a Hayao Miyazaki/Patrick O'Brien setting. But none of them will, because copying WoW with a few tweaks is more profitable. Gngh.

Author:	Morte [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:12 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
The 'Burning Sea' one? Supposedly it's a bit pants from the people I've spoken to about it. Allegedly Warhammer should be delivered today...but there is scant evidence of that so far. I'll play for the inital month and then decide whether or not to continue with it.

Author:	The Egg [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:32 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Well, I think that I'll stroll to Game at lunchtime and grab a copy. Hopefully I'll get a chance to install and roll a character this evening. I'll let you know which server and char name in due course, and possibly my first thoughts. Although I am very lazy so this may not happen. I hope WAR is not shit. WoW was awesome when I first started so, so, so long ago - but only being a casual player (or read - shit) who enjoyed exploring rather than grinding, I soon felt at a disadvantage.

Author:	Morte [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:34 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Well it has now arrived and the install has commenced.

Author:	Zio [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:37 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
The Egg wrote: WoW was awesome when I first started so, so, so long ago - but only being a casual player (or read - shit) who enjoyed exploring rather than grinding, I soon felt at a disadvantage. This is exactly my experience of the game. I think the most fun I ever had was getting my level twentysomething character within spitting distance of the Dark Portal and persuading about 20 high level players to essentially rescue me and escort me to an area where I wasn't faced with insta-death every time I took a few steps anywhere. I just loved exploring the place. The actual game itself got pretty dull, pretty quickly for me.

Author:	MrChris [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:44 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
I remember being hugely tempted by Ultima Online, being a big U7 fan. Is it any good? Is it actually still running? Isometric rpgs ftw!

Author:	Morte [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:46 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Mr Chris wrote: I remember being hugely tempted by Ultima Online, being a big U7 fan. Is it any good? Is it actually still running? Isometric rpgs ftw! Oh yes, it's still there chugging away with a pretty established player base. From what I hear however it's a scarey place to go...very scarey. Rock Paper Shotguns revisit to the UO Game can be found here: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/08 ... -hard-way/

Author:	myp [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:46 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
I tend to shy away from most RPGs, but thought I'd drop in here to say hello to the Egg. I hope you're not poached by another forum at some point.

Author:	MrChris [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:56 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Morte wrote: Mr Chris wrote: I remember being hugely tempted by Ultima Online, being a big U7 fan. Is it any good? Is it actually still running? Isometric rpgs ftw! Oh yes, it's still there chugging away with a pretty established player base. From what I hear however it's a scarey place to go...very scarey. Rock Paper Shotguns revisit to the UO Game can be found here: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2007/08 ... -hard-way/ Oh my. This bit sounds awesomes, though: Quote: I’m about to give up, when I meander in front of the bank for about the eight time. Bigger Boys have come. Bigger Boys sitting imperiously astride polar bears and colossal beetles. Bigger Boys with so much cash in their immaculately-armoured pockets that selling new loot is just a huge hassle to them these days. Their solution to this inventory space versus effort conundrum is a bizzare form of philanthropy. Far easier is to just dump all their unwanted stuff on the ground in the middle of town, then wait near it. When wide-eyed newbies like me happen along and start picking through the shiny pile with excited disbelief, the Bigger Boys watch with a wry glare, knowing gods observing pathetic humanity going about its futile existence. Essentially, they’re throwing me pennies to dance for their entertainment. And so I do. I frantically cram as much as I can into my bags, behaving as exactly the desperate little wretch they were hoping would turn up and rifle through their trashcans. It’s a treasure trove. Armour, weapons, magic talismans, mysterious keys and, best of all, a complete, joyously humiliating jester outfit, which I duly don and prance about in for the benefit of my silent patrons.

Author:	The Egg [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:30 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Morte wrote: Well it has now arrived and the install has commenced. Let us know which server you choose and of course whether you've rolled Horde or Alliance erm . . . . I mean Chaos or Empire. PS Strikethrough text, how does that work then

Author:	Zardoz [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:31 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
The 'S' next to the 'spoiler' tag.

Author:	Morte [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 12:54 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Installing is STILL ongoing...bugger me it's slow. Or perhaps this is actually the game.

Author:	Morte [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 13:26 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
...and it's still going on! Don't install the Spanish videos you arsing arse of a game...I'm not spanish, I've already told you that you wanker.

Author:	Doctor Glyndwr [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 13:58 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Hey! The Ultima Online writeup on Rock Paper Shotgun has a comment (on part 4) from our very own Pod!

Author:	myp [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 14:01 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
The Egg wrote: PS Strikethrough text, how does that work then [ s ] Like that [ /s ] without the spaces.

Author:	Morte [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 14:15 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
This game had better give out free blowjobs and coke, it's still not finished installing and we are approaching the 3 hour mark...it'll probably require a fucking 3 gig patch once it's installed as well. Not feeling all happy and warm inside at the moment.

Author:	Sheepeh [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 14:16 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
How much bloody space is it using to be installing for 3 hours?!

Author:	MrChris [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 15:06 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
I can't find where to buy UO from, or, indeed, what bloody version it's supposed to be. I'm falling at the first hurdle, here. GAH. Maybe it wasn't meant to be.

Author:	Cras [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 15:40 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Rocket science, it ain't.

Author:	MrChris [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 15:51 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
The homepage doesn't exactly help yopu find that. Ta.

Author:	Cras [ Thu Sep 18, 2008 15:55 ]
Post subject:	Re: Lord of the Rings Online
Play EvE, foo'.