I have been playing LOTRO since its original inception. What I love about playing this game is that you can and go as you please, and it always feels great of just to travel and immerse into the world ... and being an adult with many other things going on, it gives a great sense of a genuine escape. The simple task of just resource gathering can be great. The great aspect of this game is the lore.
i used to play it in its prime, but i play wow now and coming back to lotro, i cant get past that laggy, wonky movement and delay due to crap servers and outdated engine, also the combat is very outdated as well as animations and zero mod support. I guess its good for nostalgia, but if you want to progress in PvE in an MMO, lotro aint it anymore
@regidon6816 why would that be a bad thing? I think an influx of newcomers to this amazing world is always a positive, personally. Now they get to explore Tolkien too.
You really hit the nail on the head. This game does feel like home. I remember spending countless hours as a kid playing with my parents in this game before they split up. I got a lot of happy memories tied up in this game's world.
I played LOTRO back in the early 2010s. It was my main mmo back in the day. Now after feeling burned out from heroic / mythic raiding in wow, I hopped back in the legendary LOTRO servers and haven't looked back since. Having a blast so far.
I played lotro from beta and I adored every second of the world they built and have had countless hours with old friends and new. I remember just being awed and immersed in Moria when it came out, and making it to the other side and seeing Lothlorien made me feel like I was part of the fellowship. The new starting zones and difficulty options have made this game relatable all over again. They did the lore justice which is more than I can say for some others... And the community is the best, always there to help!
I think one honorable mention should go to the composer of LotRo, Chance Thomas! He plays a great part in the epicness and immersiveness of the game - like Howard Shore did in the best movies ever made, the "Lord of the Rings"-trilogy!
To be remembered after all these years... what a gift! I loved composing that music SO MUCH. I became such a fan of JRR Tolkien's literature while researching for the music, and LOTRO reflects a love for his literature at every level - art, lore, gameplay. I always hoped to match that with music. Thank you for your generous comment. Made my day!
@@HUGEchance What do you think I should feel?!?!?! To be answered by the REAL DEAL made MY DAY ... and the next ... and the next ... and the next! 🥰 Once in our life-time we may get the chance (pun not intended) to thank someone like you who ment so much to ourselves! LotRo saved my life because it helped me through many difficult phases and YOU were a big part of that! Just riding through the placid starting areas with your tunes taking me away brought me so much peace in hurtfull times! I still have all your pieces on my MP3-player and I still hear them whenever I read fantasy-books! So, to make it short: Thank you for all the craft and love you put into your work and brought into these worlds! ❤❤❤ I always come back to the online realms of Tolkien and you (!) because it is home, a fantastic, colourful, fair world where everything can be solved with an honest deed and a sharp axe! 😘 ... and now I have to go into LotRO to hunt some orcs! 🪓🗡🏹🛡
LOTRO is such a chill game that does capture that adventure feeling. Is the combat great? No, but its find. is the graphics good? Nope But when I play.. I feel like I am in an adventure. That feeling is missing in alot of MMOs
@@lincolnjohnson4428agreed, GW2 did not feel like an adventure to me as a new player and the world does not feel as natural. It’s a good game, but it doesn’t beat LOTRO, for me.
I played Lotro from 2008 when the game's servers were opened in russia until 2015 (or so) when they were closed. This game is forever in my heart. It was an incredible experience. And it's nice that the game is still alive and new updates are released. Maybe someday I'll come back.
I'm loving this new surge of interest in lotro. A lot of people were craving that classic mmorpg feeling. I feel like lotro needs better marketing, the game is hella good in its premisses and even combat once you get used to is actually enjoyable. My only negative feedback is how the classes are a bit unbalanced. For example i leveled a red cap to 25 on landscape 3. It was hard as mentioned, I could only gather 2 mobs and 3 is the death of me, my dps at 25 is like 80-100 . Then I made a loremaster, landscape 3 on the LM feels like normal gameplay. I'm melting everything, i can pull 3 4 mobs and obliterate them. My dps at lv 12 is higher than my captain.
only in the lower levels, though. my level 92 LM had to go from +3 difficulty to normal recently bc i kept dying as soon as i had to get into a camp, even though i do big damage to single targets. i mean its possible that im just bad at combat, i would own that, but i dont have that problem with for example my lvl 70 RK. but i think thats why the difficulty levels are such a nice addition to this game! if you find anything to hard or too easy, you can just adjust. i like it.
I nvr even knew this game existed until I literally stumbled on it goggle scrolling 3 years ago looking for online games to play. It actually made me furious cause I'm in my mid 30s absolutely love Lotr over most known franchises an I woulda played tf out of it in high school when it released lol.
I can't believe nobody is recognizing lotro's player generated music system. The music community in this game is HUGE. The sub-culture of musicians and player created social events in game on every server is a severely underrated aspect that warrants more attention.
I've been playing lotro on and off for like 13 years or something, and I never once made it to end game level cap because I kept making new characters, going through the levelling zones, getting a bit distracted by other games or real life stuff, coming back, starting over and just that over and over again. And I love it. Other mmo's want to rush you through that levelling process, but here I love walking around the world and taking in the sights, cooking in the shire or visiting the dwarven kingdoms etc... truly a wonderful mmo!
Another thing I would add to the list is Customer Support. I had an issue in game and contacted support, within 6 hours they got back to me and even apologized for the slow response.
I have played since 2007 and it is the only MMO that I come back to after all these years. The lore and beauty of exploring makes me feel like I am in the books. Truly the best MMO I have ever played, if more were like this then the MMO scene wouldn't be so bleak.
It feels like there is more depth to the game. Not just combat or lore, but like characters mobs, story lines. All of them just are beautifully done imo
Thank you for this awesome video! I first played this game 2010 and I have always returned for a few months of playing each year. It is one of the very few mmos I have ever played where just traveling around is a relaxing and enjoyable experience. With the addition of the “world difficulty” settings it means you can explore any location at any level as many times as you want. They have not fully recreated all the lands of Tolkien’s fiction and the writing and stories throughout the game as so well done in the spirit of Tolkien. Highly recommended game. I could not agree more that if you have not tried it year you will definitely NOT regret trying it now!
I just jumped back in VIP to play on the legendary server which does an expansion reset. It’s level capped at 50 but over time the levels will raise and expansions will continue.
For Graphics & Visuals a lot of "Early LOTRO" has "Older Visuals". Newer Content being added receives the "Latest Visuals" that they are using and are "different" to what one sees in places like Bree or the Shire. Slowly over time Older Content are receiving Visual Updates to bring them up to par with whatever the "Latest Visuals" are at that time.
@@giligamesh It all depends on the individual. When looking at "Early LOTRO" there are regions which visually aren't much different than when they were added. A fairly common comment is "LOTRO's Playstation 2 Graphics" for how X amount of people describe LOTRO's Graphics. A big thing to note is this is in videos that generally show off only "Early LOTRO" which does easily look like something from the PS2 era of gaming.
A note on Legendary servers, it does not work like Classic WoW or normal TLP servers. It keeps the exact same mechanics as live Lotro and the only change is the expansions are time locked.
Since this game was made back when the PJ adaptions weren't even a decade old, the fact it is considered one of the best adaptations of Tolkien's original work couldn't be understated. And that fact of being one of the few adaptations that understand Tolkien's writing style and narrative themes is only more important today with unspeakable things like Amazon's abomination. Indeed you do not need to be a deep fan of the books to understand LOTRO, but it is one of those adaptations that makes you want to go back and read up on details from the source material, something that PJ's adaptations - while masterpieces in terms of cinematography - sadly doesn't because it tries to "trim the fat" to the point of removing context that is needed for important plot and lore points to make sense. And I suspect the reason LOTRo isn't given constant major updates and expansion packs like it used to is a fairly simple one: They've since long run out of LOTR. Once they got to the end of LOTR's story, I suspect they've been stuck in a "Well, what do we do now?" in terms of story, which is why they try to fill in the big blanks Tolkien's notes and timelines left, where they only say minor summaries of "this and that happened at x or y point after LOTR" As Tolkien's big magnum opus that he kept working on for most of his life were the history of Middle-earth before LOTR, works that became posthumous publications like The Silmarillion, and he always described LOTR as being "at the end" of his "story".
I think lotro is the only game that can not be replaced and not in terms of graphics or smth else.... It is connected with my life somehow and it is calming and beautiful. Great video buddy!
I've been playing off an on since release and totally agree with all you have said. One of the additional features I would mention is the way that new features are implemented as you progress thru the game/levels. It keeps the game fresh as you move through the game. Also the music is stunning, finding beautiful scenery is fun. Something you MUST do is read the lore / quests - don't just skim through them - you will enjoy the game more. Also - even though I've been playing for umpteen yrs - I've only just reached the Black gates. One of the iconic moments that literally had me (an old dude) crying with emotion (the only computer game that has ever done that! ) , was riding along with the Rohirrim into the Battle of Pelennor fields, and thru to Eowyn's battle with the Nazgul and rider. Please give it a go - onky recommendation is to register as a VIP for at least 1 month - as it makes travelling a lot easier - even after you drop back to FTP
2004 was a good year for games. Bioware game out with my 2nd all time fav NeverWinter Nights in 2002. That game and that era of gaming was very special to me. I love the gfx from that era. Sure compared to now its not aged well at all, but i love it. Sure these old games seem to run on an ancient code of honour, refusing to change with the times, but i like that. That's where i come from as a gamer, my happiest moments as a gamer. LOTRO brings me back to those times where care, love and craftsmanship were poured into games. I like that the old skool games repel modern gamers who only know the triple A gaming industry's constant churning of flashy (but utterly souless) games. In our corner, we remember the times of slow paced plays. We remember when games required us to use our brains, rather than constantly flashing arrows and shiny markers, spoonfeeding us on HOW to play the game. We remember how game immersion wasn't influenced by shiny graphics. We spent time reading books in game, we spent time listening to music in game, and we loved it. Lotro is absolutely wonderful. The devs have kept to Tolkien's vision and made it a reality in the gaming world. The Devs have stuck to the source material vigorously and that's where the charm comes from. Sure it's an old game with "archiac" mechanics and graphics, but don't let that deter you, as the magick lies within. This is the beautiful of old school MMORPGs, or RPGS in general. As a WoW (hoping you have tried classic or even Turtle WoW) player you will appreciate the spell mechanics/queue system in combat, which follows the traditional tried and tested format. Each area in the game is expertly hand crafted with precision and love. The writing, the voice acting, the narrative and pacing of the story is very well done. The music is phenomenal! You may find yourself completely immersed in the beautiful music whilst wandering Middle Earth. I recently made my way to Bree (i'm a new player) and ended up spending about 40mins just chilling there, not doing anything, relaxing to the music in the Tavern, whilst i was smoking a bowl of pipe weed in real life at my computer desk. I can only ever remember my three all time fav games (Fallout New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights and Kingdom Come Deliverance) giving me this relaxation and vibe. LOTRO has quickly become my 4th all time fav game. In speaking about immersion, this game does it VERY WELL. You will feel it as you slowly pace through the game, doing each quest, getting to know the story and the world, which has very little inconsistencies. I find myself caring about the world, even the trivial things. Actually just yesterday I ended up in a small town called Staddle, and found a questgiver by a Hobbit called Himloc. Well...his whole quest line is about how his pipe-weed has been stolen by local brazen fools that must be dealt with. As a pipe tobacco smoker in real life, this quest was important to me as you do not mess with a man's pipe and his pipe weed. These are some of the small pleasures i find. The community, whether you decide to play on the free servers or legendary VIP servers (I wholesomely recommend you get on the VIP servers, you will NOT regret it), the community is just amazing. It's a mature community of old school adult non toxic players, who care about the world of Middle Earth, who care about Tolkien's legacy, and who want to be part of it. Also we want to find Frodo in game, to give him some lembas if we can. So that's it. Now stop reading and get on LOTRO!
Thanks for the video. I am "a bit" older than you. My only interaction, originally, with LOTR was the books. Read them 19 times with last time being out loud to my oldest kid. Then the movies came along and they were perfect (lore and timing issues aside). I purposefully refused to engage with this game when it came out (I have been a gamer since the early 80s) because the online aspect did not fit with my play style. To be honest, I was also concerned that such a game would minimize my love of the subject matter. Fast forward to 2024 and I finally tried it by joining the Angmar server. What an idiot I have been! Should have been in this world all along!!! 120+ hours in and don't see me ending this adventure anytime soon.
In my 2018 review, I mentioned graphics a little bit as a downside, mostly the polish of textures. But honestly I take that back cause graphics in LotRO don't matter. It's great. I still play it. Been playing for 6 years! And even with newer mmorpg titles, LoTRO competes easily in terms of world design, engaging solo and group content, f2p friendly, music, you name it. It's incredible that we get to play it.
Been playing off and on since Beta. I have characters on every server but only one capped. Been having a lot of fun on Angmar for the past couple of week.
I played LotRO in beta and purchased 2 lifetime accounts. I played for many years until I switched to GW2 as my main MMO. I always loved the way they stick to the story. And I especially appreciated that everyone plays their own character instead of everyone playing Aragorn and Legolas lol (although you did still see a lot of Legollasss names around). This video brings back good memories 👍
I recently came back to play on the legendary server and I'm loving it! I've never gotten a character above 46 in my 15 years of having an account, but this time it will be different. 60, here I come! Currently running a Lore-master, red line, diff. 3 and loving it. I never played a LM before so it's fresh experience for me. I had a mariner but I died before 20 so I lost interest, I want that title damn it! Lol
Yes the graphics are dated but theres something special about it the environments are still breath taking, the first time I seen rivendell or the shire I just didn't want to leave. Im not sure specifically what it is, maybe the density , the landscapes, the scale or maybe Im just old 😂
I'm getting ready to play the game for the first time. I like what people like you are saying about the game. The 15 bucks I have no problem with like back in the days when I played EQ, UO, EVE and other older games.
10:42 Out of all MMOs available these days (at least those that I personally experienced), LOTRO and FF XIV are probably the only ones offering the laid back approach. That's why I've been on and off with LOTRO since the day it was released.
i love mmos but sadly missed out on lotro during its earlier years. I tried getting into it a few times but i was so overwhelmed so the legendary servers have been really nice for me to get used to the game. At level 22 now :D
Yeah, it's dated, but as a LOTR nerd it's amazing. It definitely feels like the most RPG of the MMORPG's now and I will contend that it has the most realistic water I have ever seen in a game like this. Not sure why the last is important, but it stood out. I have not played it in quite some time, but I hop in from time to time. The only thing that turned me off was the cash shop, but it's not as bad as others (looking at you ESO). Another I remember negatively was the horse mechanics, but I think they may have addressed that.
Love the vid. I am enjoying this game as well. I'm on Arkenstone. Just wondering if the cosmetic rewards from the legendary servers are usable on the regular servers?
Played a month or two here and there over the first four years of the game less than six months total and was playing a bunch of other games so I never progressed very far. For $15 a month I am now able to play the expansions in order on the legendary server which does not lag almost at all and nowhere near the rubber band that plague this game forever . The graphics are still solid there’s nothing else I feel I need to spend money on and the things I’ve considered purchasing are all reasonable price Turn the difficulty up and it becomes a small to moderate challenge or a tiny bit of a struggle
honestly what i would recommend instead of going into a paid subscription immediately if youve never played this game, is first trying it for free. i mean, basically all the content up to level 95-100 or something is all free. like, thats crazy. ive been playing for 12 years, slowly but surely with countless alts, and my highest level toon is level 92 lol. there are some really fun and unique classes and concepts in this game. however, when youve played the game for a bit and you like it, i very very much recommend paying the 13,00€ for VIP for ONE month! then, you can try all the classes, but more importantly, youre gonna get fast travel. believe me, that becomes CRUCIAL later lmao. but the cool thing is: just create as many characters as you can imagine you want to ever play in that one month. bc every character you have logged into while being VIP will have fast travel forEVER. and honestly everything else you get for being a vip is not that important. like the first 7 years i played this game, the only money i ever spent on it was when they had the 5-year-anniversary, bc some gaming magazine here had a code for the evendim expansion (thats now free) and the rune-keeper (thats also now free) back in the day. that was like, 3,99€ or something around there.
I tried several times to get into this MMO. Hell, I even still own the boxed copy of Shadows of Angmar from back when it first launched. But it never really stuck for me. It's not the dated graphics or the mid-2000's class and quests design, I played and raided WoW Classic pretty extensively and it has all of those. The cash shop can be a bit overbearing but it's free to play so I don't mind too much. It's mainly the horrible UI and big lag problems that keep me from getting into this. I'm sure the people who play this game have learned to live and look past those problems but for me it's just a barrier to entry. Every once in a while I check in on LotRO, because I'm a huge Tolkien fan, to see if those problems have been attended to so I can give it another shot, and sadly the devs have yet to get there.
I have been aware of LOTRO for years and everey few years go and give it a go but have never been able to get far into it despite enjoying middle earth stuff in general. What I always found kind of humorous though that DDO is the mmo that I always end up going back to no matter how many years pass. If you didnt know DDO is an mmo that was made roughly around the same time, with roughly the same graphics/combat, by the same company, and also still continues to today. Biggest difference obviously being that one is LOTR and one is D&D
LOTRO is "Top Heavy" for it's Playerbase, there is a lot of players at max level content. Angmar & Mordor, the 2 latest Legendary Servers, were & are "very" lively with how many Players one will see in the Eriador section of the game world. The main servers is where this will vary & right now the "Players" are shifted around with a lot during August & September playing on those 2 above mentioned Legendary Servers.
If you play on legacy servers then yeah. LOTRO is HUUUUGE, and 95% of playerbase are already at level cap which is an entire new continent. So you may not see many people at lower levels.
yea that is the biggest downside i have seen worse but not a lot of people are playing nit a lot of people want to try it since its based on a movie and old it just looks bad from the outside
@@harvain731 yea but they wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for the movies. or it would have looked quite differently. but most games based on books are also not good unless the book was very old and didn't have a lot of hype before the game. but the movies were still recent but the books are older than any video game but you know what I mean. You got games like the Witcher that are good but there was no Witcher movie. and the books were obscure and old.
I know. I have played LOTRO 15 years ago (Siege of Mirkwood), and I returned not long ago. Unlike WoW retail, LOTRO did not dissapoint. Back in my day it was subscription based game, but I am fine with free2play.
My only qualms about lotro is that theres way too much monetization in the game, but over all its a great mmo. ngl i'll be sticking with it until a new mmo comes out, i think that lotro will never fix its monetization, thats just the sad reality of things.
Well they offer the game as a free to play but yeah many perks and cosmetics are behind said pay wall but it doesn't impact gameplay so it's fair for me
I play LOTRO, ESO and GW2 and all three are great in its own aspect. LOTRO has definitely the most immersive huge world that looks like a legit world. ESO world looks artificial and GW2 is too instanced. In LOTRO you get a real very vast open world
To be fair when it comes to graphics, I have always preferred lower quality styles of graphics. To me it is what makes all of it much more charming and have this "classic" vibe that feels much more heartwarming. There's nothing wrong with small graphical updates to keep things clean and more accessible, but when visuals become too realistic and advanced, that is when games lose their charm and appeal in my humble opinion.
I've been playing Lotro for 8 years now. This past year they have had quite a few updates that haven't worked right for me. As a Lore Master I have 20 plus animals, many that I purchased with money. the latest update erased all my pets and I cannot get them back. I conceded that too many changes have tarnished the game. Your characters become almost real and I will miss them but I don't like the changes I'm seeing. I resigned from VIP status and put game in hybernation...maybe someday I'll check it out again but for now it is too sad.
I don't know how you feel about Star Trek, but Star Trek Online is free to play now too. Being someone who prefers Trek to Star Wars, I got a lifetime sub many years ago. Now I log in to play the various events they put on, BUT, If you like Trek, going through the story while you level is really, really good and very true to the TV series. The Scenery is pretty nice and the ship designs are, frankly amazing. If I can get into the Discord I'll post some pictures if you like?
They've been promising performance improvements for over a decade. I'll jump back in when they finally do what they said they would and fix all the networking issues.
I'd really like to give this game a chance, but one of the main reasons I can't is... the interface. It may seem like a minor issue, but it really puts me off the game. It reminds me of those MMO clone-of-a-clone games from 20 years ago, and I just can't stand it. The game probably doesn't make enough money anymore to justify a complete overhaul (which is something I really like about the latest two expansions for World of Warcraft), and it will likely be hard for me to warm up to this game.
Nah thats fair. Most of the issues that people have with the game is the UI. It is dated and it shows. Personally it's not my favorite but I do enjoy the game more
I'd been hearing bits and bobs online and wondering how the new wraith mechanic worked, so thank you for explaining that. I've read LOTR and understand why some people are unhappy that Amazon changed minor bits of prehistory from their Atlantis, Numenour. But why would someone who's yet to read the Silmarillian or get into the weeds care about something so technical?
It's about respect mostly and for many people Amazon & the Rings of Power TV Series doesn't respect even the Lore Rights they have. But what they do matters little to LOTRO, this MMO doesn't get itself involved with what's going on with the rest of the LOTR Franchise.
There are some critical things LOTRO needs to really start popping again...64 bit servers, localization, server merges, craft guild farm reduction, etc. I can't even get a friend to play because of the craft guilds. "It's going to take you a couple months to max your guild." "Oh and then I can craft good items?" "No, then you max another craft guild." Our whole fellowship quit within a couple days of having this explained to them during their first playthrough with me.
Just to comment on a few things based on what the SSG LOTRO Team have discussed: - 64-bit Servers are available with Angmar & Mordor Legendary Servers. There is no ETA for when the Main Servers will become 64-bit. The Developers also acknowledge & want to make sure players know that 64-bit Servers will not likely see a massive boost in Performance for the Main & Older Servers. - Localization is likely to only remain as English, French, and German for the Official Languages. They only have so many Employees, limited resources, and have never really discussed anything about expanding LOTRO to other Languages that they would officially support. - Server Merges at least as of 2024 are not planned and have no plans to do such anytime soon. This could change in the future but would basically mean LOTRO is "losing Players, Money, etc." and they are cutting out expenses. This would also likely mean the Development Team would decrease in size. Server Merges basically should not be hoped for. - Crafting in general still has more work planned but 2024 will only be getting so much and their main focus now is the Fall 2024 Expansion. Maybe 2025 & beyond will see more done with Crafting.
I tried to come go back to LotRO but the expansion prices are out of hand. I had played it since release then slowly dropping in and out until 2 years ago.
but is the legendary server better than the orginal one that was finished? i remember playing this 10 years ago and it was terrible ima download it and look again but are legendary servers more impactfull?
My only issue and the only thig that keeps me from playing it is the User Interface. The font, the colors , buttons, maps, everything is so unclear and distracting. I know i should get used to it (i played to like level 20 something) but i couldn't.
EAT! my son, eat! ;) You may be running old footage, but I don't see COOKED food, or TRAIL food or FORTIFYING food on your buffbar, do I? HEH, it really does help. I'm back after almost a 10 year break for the 64-bit lag-freedom, and the fact that LOTRO gets so much right as an MMO. Crafting, cosmetics, housing, leveling (a bit slow, but that's a good thing on Legendary) all hit just right now. And I've always loved the graphics. Well, except for the hobbit character models. :/ They all still look like Chucky The Serial Killer Doll (Good Guy) clones to me. Can't have it all. Keep up the vids please. And EAT something!
man i do like the vibe of the game , but the monetisation turns me off from it , i cant go 3 seconds ingame without seeing an iterface element that sends me to the chash shop , there`s a cash shop button in pretti much every ui element , its ludacrous , like, bro if i buy your xpac and pay subscription i feel like im paying enough money and i want to be left the fk alone, its extremly greedy and makes me not want to play it almost on principle and i dont see why more people dont talk about it
I just started playing, game feels nice and all, the story is amazing, BUT I can’t help but feel some anxiety trying to manage my inventory. I mean, I’m like 5 hours in, level 10 and I can’t go on a single quest without exceeding the capacity of my bags. I started as an elf hunter and I’m like at the 4th city and there is no bank (vault) in sight. This is the only thing that is kinda bugging me out of playing.
I might go make a new character to play, because If I where to hop on one of my old characters I would have no clue where to go or what to do. I do still wish the movement would be fixed though, riding horses or any war mount just feels so off even after all these years.
I only started playing this last year after trying out many mmos after quitting wow most mmos were either too modern linear or fast paced or tried too hard to be old school but ended up grindy and not fun. out of all the games i tried this one turned out to be my favourite and i quitted the others after a few months. it has the right balance of old school mmo design with some modern features the landscape difficulty really is perfect since its hard for mmos to please both hardcore and casual players i wish more games had this feature its very refreshing playing most modern mmos that are too easy .so i usually put the difficulty high but sometimes it gets annoying so i lower the difficulty and then put it higher again when i feel like it. i am having a hard time convincing people to try this game. most people including myself a few years ago think its bad because it has a few red flags. like it being based on a movie and it being a free to play mmo that started out as a full price game that came out in a time when the market got flooded with many mmos. i also thought the game was published by ea but i was wrong they were not involved. i just thought they did because they made some other lord of the rings games and had exclusive rights. but its all irrelevant because the game is good despite the odds
I was a fan of the books from a young age, and when I heard there was a LotR MMO out there, it was like a dream come true. I'd been reading about this incredible world for about 20 years; but now I'd get to run around in it?!? I was not disappointed. There are times when the in-game dialogue doesn't quite sound like Tolkien's writing, but they are few. But I think LotRO really shines in its landscape. They really studied the maps and the books when they designed the cartography. As far as aesthetics are concerned, I think WoW looks like shit. It's SO cartoony! LotRO is much more realistic-looking. I've been playing off-and-on since 2009 and I will be there as long as the servers are up.
Would you recommend legendary or regular servers for a new player? I dont care about fast combat like in WoW Retail. I just searching for a more challenging questing and leveling experience (not in terms of time consuming, more in difficutly).
I think regardless which way you go you can. Use the landscape difficulty and scale it to being fairly difficult in open world. The legendary servers are more if you want to just play the game from the start versus the standard servers which have the whole game. Legendary servers also cost the 15 a month
ill definitely play once they upgrade free servers to 64bit along with the wraiths. i dont mind paying for example 150 euros for the game, but i never pay for subs when it comes to games. pretty crazy that this old game is still kicking and people are playing it...i suppose i could already start playing now for free but, im playing from linux so i need that extra 64bit juice... wraiths and the 64bit servers are the perfect things basically that ive been waiting for. better performance and then something to make the advenrtuses on your own a little bit more exciting. either way i think ill have to start playing if i keep on seeing these new updates and praises about the game...
I enjoy the game well enough but I can only play on controller so that makes things a little cumbersome at times just due to the game not having as good controller support as Final Fantasy XIV or ConsolePort on WoW. Though from the amount that I have played it is quite nice.
I don't understand why Amazon doesn't just buy the copy of LotRO and just remake it with their own engine. It will be extremely difficult to make it better. I mean, there are areas that could use a new polish, but the world is rock solid lore wise.
@@CaffeinatedDad Ohh wooow O.O I´m a graphic enthusiast and play every thing in 4K and 144Hz. And the thing, when you have a 4K and lower down the resulution, it will be much more blury then you have a standad FullHD monitor. Guild Wars 2, which I started playing thanks to you and your amazing videos, is doing a great job. However, Lord of the Rings Online, which I also started because of you, only manages to do this about 50% well. While you can enlarge some parts of the UI, the bags and text fields, for example, remain very small. Especially the text fields, which are crucial in a game that relies so heavily on reading, are just not playable like this. Unfortunately. Thank you so much for your effort and the truly great videos you make. Greetings from Central Europe!
You can! I do play in 8k on a 4k screen and it's worth it. If you can't change to 4k ingame, just change your desktop resolution to 4k (use nvidia DLDSR or windows custom resolution if necessary). You need to do this in age of empires 2 and starcraft 2 as they won't show higher resolutions if you don't change the default windows desktop resolution
@@marcosyy87 Thank you for your explanation. However, as I mentioned, I can already set the game to 4K. Overall, it looks quite acceptable for how old the game is, but I can only scale a few UI elements, like the map or the bottom bar. The text fields do not scale, so they are so tiny that I can hardly read them.
Is it still possible to earn all the content in game? I was going to get into the game years ago, because the idea of the grind to unlock everything appealed to me in a sick twisted way lol
Yes, there are "LOTRO Points" which one can earn from finish Deeds. A lot of Content is also Free to Everyone so there is tons of Deeds + LP to earn before anyone would require Content to be unlocked.
I love LOTR, and remember buying a copy of LOTRO back in 2007. However, the GUI is convoluted, the content is overwhelming, and the graphics, when compared to GW2 or other older MMO's, and especially by today's standards, are.... well... horrible. Love the idea of a LOTR MMO. but they need to make some 2024 changes, not 2008 changes (especially with that price subscription).
I loved the game, but I slowly stopped playing when they started to overhaul and dumb down the open world and instances, introduced daily login rewards, and introduced microtransactions. Many of the later class redesigns didn't convince me either. Killing the European servers was then the last straw and I even stopped coming back for the expansions. The game wasn't too performant to begin with, as could be seen in the "Sliding Horses of Rohan" expansion, but now it's just painful to play it on US servers in the EU. So, I must disagree: In my opinion the game was in its best state pre-Moria, though some aspects of the changes that Moria brought were quite good. - Not the stupid legendary weapons and items though. Real shame, since I loved the game.
If I want to feel like I'm adventuring around Middle Earth nothing better than LoTRO has come along. (If I want to feel like I have a rocket strapped to my back? That's what GW2 is for.)
two things that keeps me from playing lotro as my main mmo (wow CLASSIC ERA player): #1: The controlls feel so much worse then in other games. its so "spongy" and clunky. #2: the lag...since forever people complaining about the game being just not playable some hrs of the day cause lag spikes keep killing you. If the´d fix those two things, i´m sure i´m not the only one who will make this game their forever home. Regardless of a "Bad expansion".
there is minimum lag on new legendary servers, only on peak times during weekends it starts to lag a bit and during world boss event, thats a shit show for now.
@@Ludydobry i´m about the regular servers, where all my characters are. Only the 2(?)new 64bit subscription based progression servers have less lag. Nothing to do with the regular allready proegressed game. So there is still lag.
@@beddospecht8381 thats fine, maybe you should try the Legendary Server as well, im having a blast playing on it, lagg is now stabilising as less people play
its in its best state if your VIP or paying alot of money for stuff - bags are limited to 45 slots which gets very clutterd VERY quickly - mounts are worse - less quests to do overal - and many other restrictions.
I will say that they've made the leveling experience too damn easy compared to the earlier expansions/eras. It feels kind of low stakes. I hate the trend of balancing towards casuals to not scare them away during the level grind.
Say what you will about Rings of Power, but it has gotten my friends and family into Lord of the Rings so I consider that a win (also I enjoy watching it).
I need a new legendary now. Slow one. Treebeard is already too far and I missed the flow when it started EDIT wait Mordor is level 50 capped now? Why dont I play there?
It's such a great game.. I pretty much main Guild Wars 2 & LOTRO. GW2 is modern MMORPG & LOTRO as you said.. Is Classic but bcus i'm a fan of Tolkien's work it adds another level of enjoyment. :) It has a really strong future as in the near future... Lag is gunna be largely fixed due to the improved framework of 64-bit. :) And with that.. Perhaps the devs may be more daring to develop bigger scale content? I hope so!
I have been playing LOTRO since its original inception. What I love about playing this game is that you can and go as you please, and it always feels great of just to travel and immerse into the world ... and being an adult with many other things going on, it gives a great sense of a genuine escape. The simple task of just resource gathering can be great. The great aspect of this game is the lore.
I just started 3 days sto on mordor server. Its awesome! A lot of players, living cities, many social activities. 100% recommend to start now
i used to play it in its prime, but i play wow now and coming back to lotro, i cant get past that laggy, wonky movement and delay due to crap servers and outdated engine, also the combat is very outdated as well as animations and zero mod support. I guess its good for nostalgia, but if you want to progress in PvE in an MMO, lotro aint it anymore
Mordor is eu. Angmar is us. Don't forget that anyone watching this!
bet u had no interest in this game before ring of power was out hahahahahahahaha
@regidon6816 why would that be a bad thing? I think an influx of newcomers to this amazing world is always a positive, personally. Now they get to explore Tolkien too.
Same! Its awesome to dive this deep into middle earth
You really hit the nail on the head. This game does feel like home. I remember spending countless hours as a kid playing with my parents in this game before they split up. I got a lot of happy memories tied up in this game's world.
I played for 4 years when the game came out, but after all these years I still hop back in from time to time
It's really really good for that in my mind. I like to pick at it here and there still
@@CaffeinatedDad bro u only picking at it coz of ring of power smh people r weird man
I played LOTRO back in the early 2010s. It was my main mmo back in the day. Now after feeling burned out from heroic / mythic raiding in wow, I hopped back in the legendary LOTRO servers and haven't looked back since. Having a blast so far.
I played lotro from beta and I adored every second of the world they built and have had countless hours with old friends and new. I remember just being awed and immersed in Moria when it came out, and making it to the other side and seeing Lothlorien made me feel like I was part of the fellowship. The new starting zones and difficulty options have made this game relatable all over again. They did the lore justice which is more than I can say for some others... And the community is the best, always there to help!
I think one honorable mention should go to the composer of LotRo, Chance Thomas! He plays a great part in the epicness and immersiveness of the game - like Howard Shore did in the best movies ever made, the "Lord of the Rings"-trilogy!
I referenced him in one of my lotro play videos!
Especially the music of the riders of Rohan expansion. My favorite is learning to ride.
To be remembered after all these years... what a gift! I loved composing that music SO MUCH. I became such a fan of JRR Tolkien's literature while researching for the music, and LOTRO reflects a love for his literature at every level - art, lore, gameplay. I always hoped to match that with music. Thank you for your generous comment. Made my day!
@@HUGEchance dude your the real chance Thomas. Great music you made 😁
@@HUGEchance What do you think I should feel?!?!?! To be answered by the REAL DEAL made MY DAY ... and the next ... and the next ... and the next! 🥰
Once in our life-time we may get the chance (pun not intended) to thank someone like you who ment so much to ourselves! LotRo saved my life because it helped me through many difficult phases and YOU were a big part of that! Just riding through the placid starting areas with your tunes taking me away brought me so much peace in hurtfull times! I still have all your pieces on my MP3-player and I still hear them whenever I read fantasy-books!
So, to make it short:
Thank you for all the craft and love you put into your work and brought into these worlds! ❤❤❤
I always come back to the online realms of Tolkien and you (!) because it is home, a fantastic, colourful, fair world where everything can be solved with an honest deed and a sharp axe! 😘
... and now I have to go into LotRO to hunt some orcs! 🪓🗡🏹🛡
LOTRO is such a chill game that does capture that adventure feeling.
Is the combat great? No, but its find.
is the graphics good? Nope
But when I play.. I feel like I am in an adventure. That feeling is missing in alot of MMOs
Gw2 gives me that feeling in a more complete package
@@michaelslaughter7361 Meh, I thought GW2 was not even close. Just no feeling to it.
@@michaelslaughter7361 in gw2 you can just teleport everywhere and the game feels small
@@lincolnjohnson4428agreed, GW2 did not feel like an adventure to me as a new player and the world does not feel as natural. It’s a good game, but it doesn’t beat LOTRO, for me.
Alot of the adventure in mmos is growing in power, not simply hitting end game as quickly as possible
I played Lotro from 2008 when the game's servers were opened in russia until 2015 (or so) when they were closed. This game is forever in my heart. It was an incredible experience. And it's nice that the game is still alive and new updates are released. Maybe someday I'll come back.
I'm loving this new surge of interest in lotro. A lot of people were craving that classic mmorpg feeling. I feel like lotro needs better marketing, the game is hella good in its premisses and even combat once you get used to is actually enjoyable.
My only negative feedback is how the classes are a bit unbalanced.
For example i leveled a red cap to 25 on landscape 3. It was hard as mentioned, I could only gather 2 mobs and 3 is the death of me, my dps at 25 is like 80-100 . Then I made a loremaster, landscape 3 on the LM feels like normal gameplay. I'm melting everything, i can pull 3 4 mobs and obliterate them. My dps at lv 12 is higher than my captain.
only in the lower levels, though. my level 92 LM had to go from +3 difficulty to normal recently bc i kept dying as soon as i had to get into a camp, even though i do big damage to single targets. i mean its possible that im just bad at combat, i would own that, but i dont have that problem with for example my lvl 70 RK. but i think thats why the difficulty levels are such a nice addition to this game! if you find anything to hard or too easy, you can just adjust. i like it.
@@jannecapelle_art I've found the LM rework made red line a bit of a glass cannon.
@@williamgeorge2580 felt like that for me too. like, i still love playing my LM
It's crazy, I had one moment where I changed from red guard to blue guard and like doubled my dps and survivability lol
I nvr even knew this game existed until I literally stumbled on it goggle scrolling 3 years ago looking for online games to play. It actually made me furious cause I'm in my mid 30s absolutely love Lotr over most known franchises an I woulda played tf out of it in high school when it released lol.
I can't believe nobody is recognizing lotro's player generated music system. The music community in this game is HUGE. The sub-culture of musicians and player created social events in game on every server is a severely underrated aspect that warrants more attention.
Oh really? Do you have a link?
1:59
Tolkien warned against taking Tom Bombadil as a symbol or allegory for God, and instead advised against over-philosophizing about the character.
interesting where's your evidence.
@@TheLotroNerd Letter 153
@@TheLotroNerd called out by TheLotroNerd. LoL
“The Incarnation of God is an infinitely greater thing than anything I would dare to write.” Letter 181
I did not know this! That's a great little piece of information
I've been playing lotro on and off for like 13 years or something, and I never once made it to end game level cap because I kept making new characters, going through the levelling zones, getting a bit distracted by other games or real life stuff, coming back, starting over and just that over and over again. And I love it. Other mmo's want to rush you through that levelling process, but here I love walking around the world and taking in the sights, cooking in the shire or visiting the dwarven kingdoms etc... truly a wonderful mmo!
Another thing I would add to the list is Customer Support. I had an issue in game and contacted support, within 6 hours they got back to me and even apologized for the slow response.
I have played since 2007 and it is the only MMO that I come back to after all these years. The lore and beauty of exploring makes me feel like I am in the books. Truly the best MMO I have ever played, if more were like this then the MMO scene wouldn't be so bleak.
It feels like there is more depth to the game. Not just combat or lore, but like characters mobs, story lines. All of them just are beautifully done imo
I had no idea LOTRO was still going, that's a really pleasant surprise.
Surprisingly still going strong
@@CaffeinatedDad "strong" hahahahahaha
@@regidon6816you react a lot to a game you seem to despise
the graphics being "old" is the part that i love the most
Thank you for this awesome video!
I first played this game 2010 and I have always returned for a few months of playing each year.
It is one of the very few mmos I have ever played where just traveling around is a relaxing and enjoyable experience. With the addition of the “world difficulty” settings it means you can explore any location at any level as many times as you want.
They have not fully recreated all the lands of Tolkien’s fiction and the writing and stories throughout the game as so well done in the spirit of Tolkien.
Highly recommended game. I could not agree more that if you have not tried it year you will definitely NOT regret trying it now!
LOTRO is a love letter to Tolkien fans, and it is beautiful every time you read it.
I started playing in 2010, and I’m still here 14 years later. Have tried other MMO’s, but nothing keeps me coming back like LOTRO!
I just jumped back in VIP to play on the legendary server which does an expansion reset. It’s level capped at 50 but over time the levels will raise and expansions will continue.
For Graphics & Visuals a lot of "Early LOTRO" has "Older Visuals". Newer Content being added receives the "Latest Visuals" that they are using and are "different" to what one sees in places like Bree or the Shire.
Slowly over time Older Content are receiving Visual Updates to bring them up to par with whatever the "Latest Visuals" are at that time.
I remember hearing this as their primary focus to eventually create the same experience to all servers similar to the legendary server
@@CaffeinatedDad Yeah but it's an extremely slow process. They only can do so much per year.
There's nothing wrong with the graphics, y'all just picky. I still play and enjoy Ultima online. Graphics don't make the game good, content does.
@@giligamesh It all depends on the individual. When looking at "Early LOTRO" there are regions which visually aren't much different than when they were added.
A fairly common comment is "LOTRO's Playstation 2 Graphics" for how X amount of people describe LOTRO's Graphics.
A big thing to note is this is in videos that generally show off only "Early LOTRO" which does easily look like something from the PS2 era of gaming.
A note on Legendary servers, it does not work like Classic WoW or normal TLP servers. It keeps the exact same mechanics as live Lotro and the only change is the expansions are time locked.
Well that's a huge negative?? Original LOTR fellowship system is what made the game good and things like traits
Since this game was made back when the PJ adaptions weren't even a decade old, the fact it is considered one of the best adaptations of Tolkien's original work couldn't be understated.
And that fact of being one of the few adaptations that understand Tolkien's writing style and narrative themes is only more important today with unspeakable things like Amazon's abomination.
Indeed you do not need to be a deep fan of the books to understand LOTRO, but it is one of those adaptations that makes you want to go back and read up on details from the source material, something that PJ's adaptations - while masterpieces in terms of cinematography - sadly doesn't because it tries to "trim the fat" to the point of removing context that is needed for important plot and lore points to make sense.
And I suspect the reason LOTRo isn't given constant major updates and expansion packs like it used to is a fairly simple one: They've since long run out of LOTR. Once they got to the end of LOTR's story, I suspect they've been stuck in a "Well, what do we do now?" in terms of story, which is why they try to fill in the big blanks Tolkien's notes and timelines left, where they only say minor summaries of "this and that happened at x or y point after LOTR" As Tolkien's big magnum opus that he kept working on for most of his life were the history of Middle-earth before LOTR, works that became posthumous publications like The Silmarillion, and he always described LOTR as being "at the end" of his "story".
new expansion coming soon into the deserts of Harad :D
Interesting!
I should have paid more attention and hit up the LS. A bit late ATM being knee-deep in the WoW Xpac. Glad you are having a good time.
I think lotro is the only game that can not be replaced and not in terms of graphics or smth else.... It is connected with my life somehow and it is calming and beautiful. Great video buddy!
I've been playing off an on since release and totally agree with all you have said. One of the additional features I would mention is the way that new features are implemented as you progress thru the game/levels. It keeps the game fresh as you move through the game. Also the music is stunning, finding beautiful scenery is fun. Something you MUST do is read the lore / quests - don't just skim through them - you will enjoy the game more. Also - even though I've been playing for umpteen yrs - I've only just reached the Black gates. One of the iconic moments that literally had me (an old dude) crying with emotion (the only computer game that has ever done that! ) , was riding along with the Rohirrim into the Battle of Pelennor fields, and thru to Eowyn's battle with the Nazgul and rider. Please give it a go - onky recommendation is to register as a VIP for at least 1 month - as it makes travelling a lot easier - even after you drop back to FTP
2004 was a good year for games. Bioware game out with my 2nd all time fav NeverWinter Nights in 2002. That game and that era of gaming was very special to me.
I love the gfx from that era. Sure compared to now its not aged well at all, but i love it. Sure these old games seem to run on an ancient code of honour, refusing to change with the times, but i like that. That's where i come from as a gamer, my happiest moments as a gamer.
LOTRO brings me back to those times where care, love and craftsmanship were poured into games. I like that the old skool games repel modern gamers who only know the triple A gaming industry's constant churning of flashy (but utterly souless) games.
In our corner, we remember the times of slow paced plays. We remember when games required us to use our brains, rather than constantly flashing arrows and shiny markers, spoonfeeding us on HOW to play the game. We remember how game immersion wasn't influenced by shiny graphics. We spent time reading books in game, we spent time listening to music in game, and we loved it.
Lotro is absolutely wonderful.
The devs have kept to Tolkien's vision and made it a reality in the gaming world. The Devs have stuck to the source material vigorously and that's where the charm comes from.
Sure it's an old game with "archiac" mechanics and graphics, but don't let that deter you, as the magick lies within. This is the beautiful of old school MMORPGs, or RPGS in general. As a WoW (hoping you have tried classic or even Turtle WoW) player you will appreciate the spell mechanics/queue system in combat, which follows the traditional tried and tested format.
Each area in the game is expertly hand crafted with precision and love. The writing, the voice acting, the narrative and pacing of the story is very well done.
The music is phenomenal! You may find yourself completely immersed in the beautiful music whilst wandering Middle Earth. I recently made my way to Bree (i'm a new player) and ended up spending about 40mins just chilling there, not doing anything, relaxing to the music in the Tavern, whilst i was smoking a bowl of pipe weed in real life at my computer desk. I can only ever remember my three all time fav games (Fallout New Vegas, Neverwinter Nights and Kingdom Come Deliverance) giving me this relaxation and vibe. LOTRO has quickly become my 4th all time fav game.
In speaking about immersion, this game does it VERY WELL. You will feel it as you slowly pace through the game, doing each quest, getting to know the story and the world, which has very little inconsistencies. I find myself caring about the world, even the trivial things. Actually just yesterday I ended up in a small town called Staddle, and found a questgiver by a Hobbit called Himloc. Well...his whole quest line is about how his pipe-weed has been stolen by local brazen fools that must be dealt with. As a pipe tobacco smoker in real life, this quest was important to me as you do not mess with a man's pipe and his pipe weed. These are some of the small pleasures i find.
The community, whether you decide to play on the free servers or legendary VIP servers (I wholesomely recommend you get on the VIP servers, you will NOT regret it), the community is just amazing. It's a mature community of old school adult non toxic players, who care about the world of Middle Earth, who care about Tolkien's legacy, and who want to be part of it. Also we want to find Frodo in game, to give him some lembas if we can.
So that's it. Now stop reading and get on LOTRO!
Thanks for the video. I am "a bit" older than you. My only interaction, originally, with LOTR was the books. Read them 19 times with last time being out loud to my oldest kid. Then the movies came along and they were perfect (lore and timing issues aside). I purposefully refused to engage with this game when it came out (I have been a gamer since the early 80s) because the online aspect did not fit with my play style. To be honest, I was also concerned that such a game would minimize my love of the subject matter. Fast forward to 2024 and I finally tried it by joining the Angmar server. What an idiot I have been! Should have been in this world all along!!! 120+ hours in and don't see me ending this adventure anytime soon.
It's so good for that classic adventure feel tbh. Something many mmos miss I think
In my 2018 review, I mentioned graphics a little bit as a downside, mostly the polish of textures. But honestly I take that back cause graphics in LotRO don't matter. It's great. I still play it. Been playing for 6 years! And even with newer mmorpg titles, LoTRO competes easily in terms of world design, engaging solo and group content, f2p friendly, music, you name it. It's incredible that we get to play it.
If it updated its UI and graphics, animations etc, it would be great
Been playing off and on since Beta. I have characters on every server but only one capped. Been having a lot of fun on Angmar for the past couple of week.
Same! It's a fun little adventure I've been taking too!
I played LotRO in beta and purchased 2 lifetime accounts. I played for many years until I switched to GW2 as my main MMO. I always loved the way they stick to the story. And I especially appreciated that everyone plays their own character instead of everyone playing Aragorn and Legolas lol (although you did still see a lot of Legollasss names around). This video brings back good memories 👍
I recently came back to play on the legendary server and I'm loving it! I've never gotten a character above 46 in my 15 years of having an account, but this time it will be different. 60, here I come! Currently running a Lore-master, red line, diff. 3 and loving it. I never played a LM before so it's fresh experience for me. I had a mariner but I died before 20 so I lost interest, I want that title damn it! Lol
Yes the graphics are dated but theres something special about it the environments are still breath taking, the first time I seen rivendell or the shire I just didn't want to leave. Im not sure specifically what it is, maybe the density , the landscapes, the scale or maybe Im just old 😂
Hahaha you and me both then. I love the older stuff I don't know why but they are just fantastic
I'm getting ready to play the game for the first time. I like what people like you are saying about the game. The 15 bucks I have no problem with like back in the days when I played EQ, UO, EVE and other older games.
10:42 Out of all MMOs available these days (at least those that I personally experienced), LOTRO and FF XIV are probably the only ones offering the laid back approach. That's why I've been on and off with LOTRO since the day it was released.
Lotro is such a relaxing game imo. It's so damn comfy!
i love mmos but sadly missed out on lotro during its earlier years. I tried getting into it a few times but i was so overwhelmed so the legendary servers have been really nice for me to get used to the game. At level 22 now :D
Yeah, it's dated, but as a LOTR nerd it's amazing. It definitely feels like the most RPG of the MMORPG's now and I will contend that it has the most realistic water I have ever seen in a game like this. Not sure why the last is important, but it stood out. I have not played it in quite some time, but I hop in from time to time. The only thing that turned me off was the cash shop, but it's not as bad as others (looking at you ESO). Another I remember negatively was the horse mechanics, but I think they may have addressed that.
Love the vid. I am enjoying this game as well. I'm on Arkenstone. Just wondering if the cosmetic rewards from the legendary servers are usable on the regular servers?
I believe they carry over if I'm not mistaken!
@@CaffeinatedDad Great to know!
Played a month or two here and there over the first four years of the game less than six months total and was playing a bunch of other games so I never progressed very far.
For $15 a month I am now able to play the expansions in order on the legendary server which does not lag almost at all and nowhere near the rubber band that plague this game forever . The graphics are still solid there’s nothing else I feel I need to spend money on and the things I’ve considered purchasing are all reasonable price
Turn the difficulty up and it becomes a small to moderate challenge or a tiny bit of a struggle
I m hyped to get back into lotro again but I ll be playing shadows of angmar version on private server
honestly what i would recommend instead of going into a paid subscription immediately if youve never played this game, is first trying it for free. i mean, basically all the content up to level 95-100 or something is all free. like, thats crazy. ive been playing for 12 years, slowly but surely with countless alts, and my highest level toon is level 92 lol. there are some really fun and unique classes and concepts in this game.
however, when youve played the game for a bit and you like it, i very very much recommend paying the 13,00€ for VIP for ONE month! then, you can try all the classes, but more importantly, youre gonna get fast travel. believe me, that becomes CRUCIAL later lmao. but the cool thing is: just create as many characters as you can imagine you want to ever play in that one month. bc every character you have logged into while being VIP will have fast travel forEVER. and honestly everything else you get for being a vip is not that important. like the first 7 years i played this game, the only money i ever spent on it was when they had the 5-year-anniversary, bc some gaming magazine here had a code for the evendim expansion (thats now free) and the rune-keeper (thats also now free) back in the day. that was like, 3,99€ or something around there.
I tried several times to get into this MMO. Hell, I even still own the boxed copy of Shadows of Angmar from back when it first launched. But it never really stuck for me. It's not the dated graphics or the mid-2000's class and quests design, I played and raided WoW Classic pretty extensively and it has all of those. The cash shop can be a bit overbearing but it's free to play so I don't mind too much. It's mainly the horrible UI and big lag problems that keep me from getting into this. I'm sure the people who play this game have learned to live and look past those problems but for me it's just a barrier to entry. Every once in a while I check in on LotRO, because I'm a huge Tolkien fan, to see if those problems have been attended to so I can give it another shot, and sadly the devs have yet to get there.
there is no lag on legendary servers, only when Nazgul spawns but they are sorting that out. Many people are playing and the world feels alive.
I have been aware of LOTRO for years and everey few years go and give it a go but have never been able to get far into it despite enjoying middle earth stuff in general. What I always found kind of humorous though that DDO is the mmo that I always end up going back to no matter how many years pass. If you didnt know DDO is an mmo that was made roughly around the same time, with roughly the same graphics/combat, by the same company, and also still continues to today. Biggest difference obviously being that one is LOTR and one is D&D
I met my wife on this game, we still will play once a year for a couple of months
This dude is from the Delaware Valley and I love it
The only downside of the legendary servers is it is disruptive to social networks on established and busy servers like Landroval.
Steady player base? Then why does it feel like i am playing a single player game in this mmorpg?
LOTRO is "Top Heavy" for it's Playerbase, there is a lot of players at max level content.
Angmar & Mordor, the 2 latest Legendary Servers, were & are "very" lively with how many Players one will see in the Eriador section of the game world.
The main servers is where this will vary & right now the "Players" are shifted around with a lot during August & September playing on those 2 above mentioned Legendary Servers.
If you play on legacy servers then yeah. LOTRO is HUUUUGE, and 95% of playerbase are already at level cap which is an entire new continent.
So you may not see many people at lower levels.
yea that is the biggest downside i have seen worse but not a lot of people are playing nit a lot of people want to try it since its based on a movie and old it just looks bad from the outside
@@belstar1128 LOTRO is based on the Hobbit & Lord of the Rings Books for the license it uses not the movies.
@@harvain731 yea but they wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for the movies. or it would have looked quite differently. but most games based on books are also not good unless the book was very old and didn't have a lot of hype before the game. but the movies were still recent but the books are older than any video game but you know what I mean. You got games like the Witcher that are good but there was no Witcher movie. and the books were obscure and old.
I know. I have played LOTRO 15 years ago (Siege of Mirkwood), and I returned not long ago. Unlike WoW retail, LOTRO did not dissapoint.
Back in my day it was subscription based game, but I am fine with free2play.
My only qualms about lotro is that theres way too much monetization in the game, but over all its a great mmo.
ngl i'll be sticking with it until a new mmo comes out, i think that lotro will never fix its monetization, thats just the sad reality of things.
Well they offer the game as a free to play but yeah many perks and cosmetics are behind said pay wall but it doesn't impact gameplay so it's fair for me
I play LOTRO, ESO and GW2 and all three are great in its own aspect. LOTRO has definitely the most immersive huge world that looks like a legit world. ESO world looks artificial and GW2 is too instanced. In LOTRO you get a real very vast open world
To be fair when it comes to graphics, I have always preferred lower quality styles of graphics. To me it is what makes all of it much more charming and have this "classic" vibe that feels much more heartwarming. There's nothing wrong with small graphical updates to keep things clean and more accessible, but when visuals become too realistic and advanced, that is when games lose their charm and appeal in my humble opinion.
I've been playing Lotro for 8 years now. This past year they have had quite a few updates that haven't worked right for me. As a Lore Master I have 20 plus animals, many that I purchased with money. the latest update erased all my pets and I cannot get them back. I conceded that too many changes have tarnished the game. Your characters become almost real and I will miss them but I don't like the changes I'm seeing. I resigned from VIP status and put game in hybernation...maybe someday I'll check it out again but for now it is too sad.
I don't know how you feel about Star Trek, but Star Trek Online is free to play now too. Being someone who prefers Trek to Star Wars, I got a lifetime sub many years ago. Now I log in to play the various events they put on, BUT, If you like Trek, going through the story while you level is really, really good and very true to the TV series.
The Scenery is pretty nice and the ship designs are, frankly amazing. If I can get into the Discord I'll post some pictures if you like?
I've heard of the star trek online mmo. I'll be frank and say that the story nor the universe really piqued my interest unfortunately. :O
@@CaffeinatedDad That's fine, it's something a Trek fan enjoys immensely, but non-trek-nerd just go "eh?'
World building is great! love feeling alive inside Tolkien's books. Just wish they didn't screw up class balance as much as they have
I hope someday they can update the engine for this game for more modern graphics. But even now its still pretty dope.
They've been promising performance improvements for over a decade. I'll jump back in when they finally do what they said they would and fix all the networking issues.
I'd really like to give this game a chance, but one of the main reasons I can't is... the interface. It may seem like a minor issue, but it really puts me off the game. It reminds me of those MMO clone-of-a-clone games from 20 years ago, and I just can't stand it. The game probably doesn't make enough money anymore to justify a complete overhaul (which is something I really like about the latest two expansions for World of Warcraft), and it will likely be hard for me to warm up to this game.
Nah thats fair. Most of the issues that people have with the game is the UI. It is dated and it shows.
Personally it's not my favorite but I do enjoy the game more
I'd been hearing bits and bobs online and wondering how the new wraith mechanic worked, so thank you for explaining that. I've read LOTR and understand why some people are unhappy that Amazon changed minor bits of prehistory from their Atlantis, Numenour. But why would someone who's yet to read the Silmarillian or get into the weeds care about something so technical?
It's about respect mostly and for many people Amazon & the Rings of Power TV Series doesn't respect even the Lore Rights they have.
But what they do matters little to LOTRO, this MMO doesn't get itself involved with what's going on with the rest of the LOTR Franchise.
There are some critical things LOTRO needs to really start popping again...64 bit servers, localization, server merges, craft guild farm reduction, etc. I can't even get a friend to play because of the craft guilds. "It's going to take you a couple months to max your guild." "Oh and then I can craft good items?" "No, then you max another craft guild." Our whole fellowship quit within a couple days of having this explained to them during their first playthrough with me.
Just to comment on a few things based on what the SSG LOTRO Team have discussed:
- 64-bit Servers are available with Angmar & Mordor Legendary Servers. There is no ETA for when the Main Servers will become 64-bit. The Developers also acknowledge & want to make sure players know that 64-bit Servers will not likely see a massive boost in Performance for the Main & Older Servers.
- Localization is likely to only remain as English, French, and German for the Official Languages. They only have so many Employees, limited resources, and have never really discussed anything about expanding LOTRO to other Languages that they would officially support.
- Server Merges at least as of 2024 are not planned and have no plans to do such anytime soon. This could change in the future but would basically mean LOTRO is "losing Players, Money, etc." and they are cutting out expenses. This would also likely mean the Development Team would decrease in size. Server Merges basically should not be hoped for.
- Crafting in general still has more work planned but 2024 will only be getting so much and their main focus now is the Fall 2024 Expansion. Maybe 2025 & beyond will see more done with Crafting.
I tried to come go back to LotRO but the expansion prices are out of hand. I had played it since release then slowly dropping in and out until 2 years ago.
To put it out there you can always get just the Base Edition for any Expansion. Any higher priced bundles is merely for extras & fluff.
but is the legendary server better than the orginal one that was finished? i remember playing this 10 years ago and it was terrible ima download it and look again but are legendary servers more impactfull?
In short yes, I have a video coming out in a few days talking about the legendary servers
The legendary servers are 64 bit. Regular servers are 32 but. Mines of moria revamped is there.
My only issue and the only thig that keeps me from playing it is the User Interface. The font, the colors , buttons, maps, everything is so unclear and distracting. I know i should get used to it (i played to like level 20 something) but i couldn't.
The user interface is definitely a sticking point for most but overall I found that it's least bothersome to me
EAT! my son, eat! ;)
You may be running old footage, but I don't see COOKED food, or TRAIL food or FORTIFYING food on your buffbar, do I? HEH, it really does help.
I'm back after almost a 10 year break for the 64-bit lag-freedom, and the fact that LOTRO gets so much right as an MMO. Crafting, cosmetics, housing, leveling (a bit slow, but that's a good thing on Legendary) all hit just right now. And I've always loved the graphics. Well, except for the hobbit character models. :/ They all still look like Chucky The Serial Killer Doll (Good Guy) clones to me. Can't have it all.
Keep up the vids please. And EAT something!
Lol it was older footage and I've focused on trying to keep food in my inventory at all times
man i do like the vibe of the game , but the monetisation turns me off from it , i cant go 3 seconds ingame without seeing an iterface element that sends me to the chash shop , there`s a cash shop button in pretti much every ui element , its ludacrous , like, bro if i buy your xpac and pay subscription i feel like im paying enough money and i want to be left the fk alone, its extremly greedy and makes me not want to play it almost on principle and i dont see why more people dont talk about it
how long has the fresh server been running kinda tempted to get back in but if its been going for months already not too sure
Only for about a month now!
Guess it's too late now .. best part of mmo is launch sux joining late
I just loaded it through steam Am having fun , bit lost at times but I like it.
I just started playing, game feels nice and all, the story is amazing, BUT I can’t help but feel some anxiety trying to manage my inventory. I mean, I’m like 5 hours in, level 10 and I can’t go on a single quest without exceeding the capacity of my bags. I started as an elf hunter and I’m like at the 4th city and there is no bank (vault) in sight. This is the only thing that is kinda bugging me out of playing.
I might go make a new character to play, because If I where to hop on one of my old characters I would have no clue where to go or what to do. I do still wish the movement would be fixed though, riding horses or any war mount just feels so off even after all these years.
I only started playing this last year after trying out many mmos after quitting wow most mmos were either too modern linear or fast paced or tried too hard to be old school but ended up grindy and not fun. out of all the games i tried this one turned out to be my favourite and i quitted the others after a few months. it has the right balance of old school mmo design with some modern features the landscape difficulty really is perfect since its hard for mmos to please both hardcore and casual players i wish more games had this feature its very refreshing playing most modern mmos that are too easy .so i usually put the difficulty high but sometimes it gets annoying so i lower the difficulty and then put it higher again when i feel like it.
i am having a hard time convincing people to try this game. most people including myself a few years ago think its bad because it has a few red flags. like it being based on a movie and it being a free to play mmo that started out as a full price game that came out in a time when the market got flooded with many mmos. i also thought the game was published by ea but i was wrong they were not involved. i just thought they did because they made some other lord of the rings games and had exclusive rights. but its all irrelevant because the game is good despite the odds
I was a fan of the books from a young age, and when I heard there was a LotR MMO out there, it was like a dream come true. I'd been reading about this incredible world for about 20 years; but now I'd get to run around in it?!? I was not disappointed. There are times when the in-game dialogue doesn't quite sound like Tolkien's writing, but they are few. But I think LotRO really shines in its landscape. They really studied the maps and the books when they designed the cartography. As far as aesthetics are concerned, I think WoW looks like shit. It's SO cartoony! LotRO is much more realistic-looking. I've been playing off-and-on since 2009 and I will be there as long as the servers are up.
If I ever get it to work...much of the tex on tiems and such get "String or thread errors
Would you recommend legendary or regular servers for a new player? I dont care about fast combat like in WoW Retail. I just searching for a more challenging questing and leveling experience (not in terms of time consuming, more in difficutly).
I think regardless which way you go you can. Use the landscape difficulty and scale it to being fairly difficult in open world.
The legendary servers are more if you want to just play the game from the start versus the standard servers which have the whole game.
Legendary servers also cost the 15 a month
@@CaffeinatedDad thank you. The normal Server costs nothing? Did I have some bonuses with a subscription?
Except I can't figure out how to get places.
What like different zones?
ill definitely play once they upgrade free servers to 64bit along with the wraiths. i dont mind paying for example 150 euros for the game, but i never pay for subs when it comes to games.
pretty crazy that this old game is still kicking and people are playing it...i suppose i could already start playing now for free but, im playing from linux so i need that extra 64bit juice...
wraiths and the 64bit servers are the perfect things basically that ive been waiting for. better performance and then something to make the advenrtuses on your own a little bit more exciting.
either way i think ill have to start playing if i keep on seeing these new updates and praises about the game...
I enjoy the game well enough but I can only play on controller so that makes things a little cumbersome at times just due to the game not having as good controller support as Final Fantasy XIV or ConsolePort on WoW. Though from the amount that I have played it is quite nice.
I had no idea there was a Lotr tv series
I don't understand why Amazon doesn't just buy the copy of LotRO and just remake it with their own engine. It will be extremely difficult to make it better. I mean, there are areas that could use a new polish, but the world is rock solid lore wise.
I love lotro but still has a lag problem for me. and legendary servers cost sub. GW2 is really fun too
is there any 4K support? i really can´t play it in FullHD with my 4K display...?! :-)
Honestly I don't know! I only ever do 1080p :O
@@CaffeinatedDad Ohh wooow O.O I´m a graphic enthusiast and play every thing in 4K and 144Hz. And the thing, when you have a 4K and lower down the resulution, it will be much more blury then you have a standad FullHD monitor.
Guild Wars 2, which I started playing thanks to you and your amazing videos, is doing a great job. However, Lord of the Rings Online, which I also started because of you, only manages to do this about 50% well. While you can enlarge some parts of the UI, the bags and text fields, for example, remain very small. Especially the text fields, which are crucial in a game that relies so heavily on reading, are just not playable like this. Unfortunately. Thank you so much for your effort and the truly great videos you make. Greetings from Central Europe!
You can! I do play in 8k on a 4k screen and it's worth it. If you can't change to 4k ingame, just change your desktop resolution to 4k (use nvidia DLDSR or windows custom resolution if necessary). You need to do this in age of empires 2 and starcraft 2 as they won't show higher resolutions if you don't change the default windows desktop resolution
@@marcosyy87 Thank you for your explanation. However, as I mentioned, I can already set the game to 4K. Overall, it looks quite acceptable for how old the game is, but I can only scale a few UI elements, like the map or the bottom bar. The text fields do not scale, so they are so tiny that I can hardly read them.
@@marcosyy87 How do you do that in 8K?
Is it still possible to earn all the content in game? I was going to get into the game years ago, because the idea of the grind to unlock everything appealed to me in a sick twisted way lol
Yes, there are "LOTRO Points" which one can earn from finish Deeds. A lot of Content is also Free to Everyone so there is tons of Deeds + LP to earn before anyone would require Content to be unlocked.
Im having problems loggin in the game crashes or won't start with steam can someone help?
I don’t know if it’s in its best state, but the legendary servers are busier than I can remember
I love LOTR, and remember buying a copy of LOTRO back in 2007. However, the GUI is convoluted, the content is overwhelming, and the graphics, when compared to GW2 or other older MMO's, and especially by today's standards, are.... well... horrible. Love the idea of a LOTR MMO. but they need to make some 2024 changes, not 2008 changes (especially with that price subscription).
True I can see that. I'm actually interested in seeing what Amazon is plan ING on doing
What class is he playing as here
All true, right now big discounts! its awesome!
I loved the game, but I slowly stopped playing when they started to overhaul and dumb down the open world and instances, introduced daily login rewards, and introduced microtransactions.
Many of the later class redesigns didn't convince me either.
Killing the European servers was then the last straw and I even stopped coming back for the expansions.
The game wasn't too performant to begin with, as could be seen in the "Sliding Horses of Rohan" expansion, but now it's just painful to play it on US servers in the EU.
So, I must disagree: In my opinion the game was in its best state pre-Moria, though some aspects of the changes that Moria brought were quite good. - Not the stupid legendary weapons and items though.
Real shame, since I loved the game.
is there any pvp?
If I want to feel like I'm adventuring around Middle Earth nothing better than LoTRO has come along.
(If I want to feel like I have a rocket strapped to my back? That's what GW2 is for.)
is the fighting better?
two things that keeps me from playing lotro as my main mmo (wow CLASSIC ERA player):
#1: The controlls feel so much worse then in other games. its so "spongy" and clunky.
#2: the lag...since forever people complaining about the game being just not playable some hrs of the day cause lag spikes keep killing you.
If the´d fix those two things, i´m sure i´m not the only one who will make this game their forever home. Regardless of a "Bad expansion".
there is minimum lag on new legendary servers, only on peak times during weekends it starts to lag a bit and during world boss event, thats a shit show for now.
@@Ludydobry i´m about the regular servers, where all my characters are. Only the 2(?)new 64bit subscription based progression servers have less lag. Nothing to do with the regular allready proegressed game. So there is still lag.
i haven't noticed a lot of lag and the combat is very similar to classic wow
@@beddospecht8381 thats fine, maybe you should try the Legendary Server as well, im having a blast playing on it, lagg is now stabilising as less people play
its in its best state if your VIP or paying alot of money for stuff
- bags are limited to 45 slots which gets very clutterd VERY quickly
- mounts are worse
- less quests to do overal
- and many other restrictions.
Yea well they need to make some money too, so don't be greedy
the graphic looks good but the menu and icons are from 1994 ...it was to low res on release and its still the same....
if they could fix the jittery gameplay id be all over it, the lagging is too much for me and eventually just pisses me off
I will say that they've made the leveling experience too damn easy compared to the earlier expansions/eras. It feels kind of low stakes. I hate the trend of balancing towards casuals to not scare them away during the level grind.
Say what you will about Rings of Power, but it has gotten my friends and family into Lord of the Rings so I consider that a win (also I enjoy watching it).
I need a new legendary now. Slow one. Treebeard is already too far and I missed the flow when it started
EDIT wait Mordor is level 50 capped now? Why dont I play there?
It's such a great game.. I pretty much main Guild Wars 2 & LOTRO. GW2 is modern MMORPG & LOTRO as you said.. Is Classic but bcus i'm a fan of Tolkien's work it adds another level of enjoyment. :) It has a really strong future as in the near future... Lag is gunna be largely fixed due to the improved framework of 64-bit. :) And with that.. Perhaps the devs may be more daring to develop bigger scale content? I hope so!
It's held its own for so long it's actually impressive. Sure they could eventually modernize and grow from there but it would lose its charm imo
GW2 is hardly modern. The graphics haven't changed since the start, there's no new weapons, classes or controller support.