Lord of the Rings Online

[econ21]

Where have you got up to, Mouzafphaerre? What level/questing region?

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Main man champion is still in Eriador. Went to the Forsaken Inn but those quests are still high level for his 20. Then decided to do low level stuff for fun (& loot) and completed the Shire prologue & quests. After that I removed him to the Blue Mountains doing the Elves prologue &c. He's been resting for now...

Just because I liked how the Dwarven halls were conceived and modelled very much, I made a Dwarf guardian and had him start over at Thorin's Gate. He's level 9 and still completing the prologue.

The poor captain is still mining around Combe, fending off an occasional spider or two, to supply the champion with bronze ingots.
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[econ21]

Excellent - you are making me nostalgic. A dwarven guardian sounds splendid. Don't burn out on the low level stuff though - at level 20, your adventuring has scarcely begun. One nice thing about the game is that there's typically a choice of where to level and exploration is a fun part of the experience, especially if you are a Tolkien fan. The landscapes and atmosphere of the different zones are usually well done. Of the low level areas, I liked the Old Forest the best. Later on, the Misty Mountains were impressive. Both places were rather disorienting and wild, which was part of the fun. But you must eventually head into Moria - that's still the standout to me, with Lothlorien a wonderful repose.

[Mouzafphaerre]

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A solo guardian's life is tough at lower levels. In my lucky days I can find somebody to duo with, but hardly any fellowships are available for beginners.

I did the Old Forest with my champ. Truly well done!
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[econ21]

I can't remember what you get when, but sooner or later Guardians become rather good at soloing. That said, I typically level as a tank, so I may be used to a slightly slower pace than dps players. However, it is one of the fun things when soloing as a tank to see how many weak mobs you can pull simultaneously or how tough an elite you can kill unaided. Overpower style is supposed to be best for soloing, but I always went for sword and board - partly to practice for instances, but also because I like the aesthetic better.

Tanks are very reliant on their gear, though - so it would be wise if your guardian or another alt could craft armour. The crafted armour in LOTR is very good (by contrast, crafted weapons get useless later on as they are replaced by legendaries.)

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Yes, I like its slower pace too, and yes, he's an armourer and recently began to wear his home made armour. It's yseful for practical purposes and entertaining in role-playing term, him being a Dwarf. Exchanging raw materials and demi-products with fellow kinsfolk and sometimes among alts is helpful and fun. Also in our kinship giving away really useful stuff for others' benefit is somewhat of a tradition.
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[Mouzafphaerre]

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Took my boldest step so far and created a Hobbit/Burglar character. Let's see how he fares...
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[Martok]

By the way, have you continued to play mostly solo? (And if so, has that been working out okay for you so far?)

[Mouzafphaerre]

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About 70% -I guess- is solo, but I've been in great (and not so great) fellowships.

Main fighting classes (Champ & Guard) can do almost anything on their own. The growing up Hunter and Burglar will provide the real challenge I guess.
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[Graphic]

So is this really free to play or is it a glorified unlimited trial?

[econ21]

So is this really free to play or is it a glorified unlimited trial?

You will ultimately have to buy some zone packs to get the full experience. You can play up to level mid-20s no problem but thereafter, you can't get the regular quests. You could rely on grinding mobs, daily quests and the epic story quest, but that would be a pretty miserable experience. You can earn points to pay for zones without real money, but again that will be a grindy thing to do. Your best bet is likely to be buying a few zones (especially the Moria expansion) - you would not need to buy them all.

F2P does also have some irritating restrictions - gold cap, trait cap etc.

Consequently, if you really get into the game, my recommendation - as I said to Mousafphaerre - is to subscribe for a month or so. Quickly level through all the zones you wish and any characters played in that period will be free of the irritating caps even when you return to F2P.

I know less about the end game but again suspect you might want to buy some zones to get access to the dungeons/raid end game players focus on. However, for me the strength of LOTRO, like SWTOR, is the story/levelling experience. The LOTRO endgame looks ridiculously complex and messy compared to say WoW, for example. (Working out what the dungeons/raids are, how to get gear etc. left me bemused, although this is partly because the smaller player base means there is less web material available.)

[Graphic]

I think I'll pass then. STO has really spoiled me. All the content is free to everyone, you just pay for fluff, xp boosts, etc

[Mouzafphaerre]

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To supplement what econ said, I don't know if a monthly subscription is possible. You become 3-month VIP for about 30 bucks.

Reading a lot of praise for STO. It might be my next target.
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[Mouzafphaerre]

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So, Anduin is 7 regions: http://www.lotro.com/gameinfo/1775 Apparently things are going well.
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[Mouzafphaerre]

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Interesting no Orgah showed any interest in this one, now that Rohan expansion is released and all. I've been deep into it ever since. It's terribly good and getting better!

Now I have six toons and a freshly created creep.
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[HopAlongBunny]

I should have been all over this one.

I used to read "Silmarillion" => "Return of the King" (including appendices) as an annual ritual. I started on line gaming with The Realm when it was released, switching to EQ then WoW. I should be playing this but I think I'm MMORPG'ed out.

Enjoy! I hope it still exists if/when I get the "itch" again :)

[Mouzafphaerre]

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Haha, my yearly Lotr + Silmarillion ritual persists! As a matter of fact I'm in the middle of this year's

Be at ease! It seems it will be around for quite a long time. Just about half of the world has been rendered yet (the Rohan expansion includes only the eastern half of Rohan) and they're definitely not rushing out stuff.
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[Mouzafphaerre]

Fast forward 4 years

The golden age of LOTRO is a memory (arguably already so when I first dipped in but I don't essentially agree with that). Nevertheless, Mouza the ultimate noob has grown to become an incurable altoholic, a kin leader (albeit that of a semi-dead pocket one), his main a raiding tank, with toons spread over 2 servers.

I took a very long (for me) break during the summer, but the beta of Update 19 (which essentially extends the story towards North Ithilien) is out and I'm getting ready to go back (already reinstated my sub).

In the meanwhile, as far as the main story is concerned, we defended the Hornburg, crossed the Paths of the Dead in the wake of Aragorn, fought in the western regions of Gondor, which, as far as I know, had never been featured in any other adaptation before (save the TLD mod for M&B), witnessed the siege of Minas Tirith and fought on the Pelennor Fields.

A 12-man raid was released earlier this year and 6 classical instances before that.

The old game, enthusiastically praised earlier in this thread, and which felt too tough in the beginning for Mouza the noob is gone. Landscape questing and most T1 (easy-mode) runs are annoyingly easy, but still there's decent challenge in group content and the community is still -mostly- praiseworthy. World building and story telling for the most part are still top notch.

If any ORGAHs are out there, my LOTRO (official) and LOTRO Community (unofficial, highly critical) forum name is Urwendil. My main character is Kibilturg on Landroval server (where I'm the leader of Watchers of Elendil) and his juniour dopplegänger namesake on Crickhollow.

[Monk]

Fast forward 4 years

The golden age of LOTRO is a memory (arguably already so when I first dipped in but I don't essentially agree with that). Nevertheless, Mouza the ultimate noob has grown to become an incurable altoholic, a kin leader (albeit that of a semi-dead pocket one), his main a raiding tank, with toons spread over 2 servers.

I took a very long (for me) break during the summer, but the beta of Update 19 (which essentially extends the story towards North Ithilien) is out and I'm getting ready to go back (already reinstated my sub).

In the meanwhile, as far as the main story is concerned, we defended the Hornburg, crossed the Paths of the Dead in the wake of Aragorn, fought in the western regions of Gondor, which, as far as I know, had never been featured in any other adaptation before (save the TLD mod for M&B), witnessed the siege of Minas Tirith and fought on the Pelennor Fields.

A 12-man raid was released earlier this year and 6 classical instances before that.

The old game, enthusiastically praised earlier in this thread, and which felt too tough in the beginning for Mouza the noob is gone. Landscape questing and most T1 (easy-mode) runs are annoyingly easy, but still there's decent challenge in group content and the community is still -mostly- praiseworthy. World building and story telling for the most part are still top notch.

If any ORGAHs are out there, my LOTRO (official) and LOTRO Community (unofficial, highly critical) forum name is Urwendil. My main character is Kibilturg on Landroval server (where I'm the leader of Watchers of Elendil) and his juniour dopplegänger namesake on Crickhollow.

thats wild dude. I had no idea LOTRO was even still around! Any chance we can get a few shots your your current character?

[Mouzafphaerre]

Always happy showing off

This is good ol' Kibi in daily garb:



in tanking outfit:



There's always a Mouzafphaere in... Mouza's games