f13.net

I played Lotro at release (and a bit of beta) and liked it, until I got burned out having my minstrel run pies all around the damn shire.  In beta I played something melee oriented (been too long to remember what exactly) to 10 and enjoyed it.

Either way, reading about all the stuff they've been adding (both to regular and monster play) I'm thinking of playing again.  I'm thinking of playing a Lore-Master as from what I read they seem interesting to play, and I enjoy classes that require me to do a lot while playing.  I'll probably be playing solo most of the time.

How is this game if I could only get 2-3 hours max a night?  I wouldn't be playing for the end game, but more playing for the ride there.

I don't even play that much even when I'm not having computer issues and it's okay.  Once I get motivated or bored enough to log in, I seem to have fun.  I do a couple of quests, a wee bit of crafting and admire the scenery.  I'm only looking for light entertainment at the moment and it satisfies that. 

Quite fun actually. Thats how I play. You can either do a few quests or work on some traits. Gather things for for tradeskills or just go sightseeing. There is so much to do that there is a good chance you get something done in the few hours. I always get drunk at my house and do something wherever I wake up with a headache (there was a quest barrel of alcohol that made you drunk and effectively teleported you randomly to some inn or campsite in any zone).

That is probably the best feature I've heard of in an MMO  :awesome_for_real:

You are the target audience.

*ding*

Grats!

Despite my perhaps opposite appearance on these boards, I'm a very casual player myself, normally not playing more than a few hours here and there. I think it works great and I'm possibly having more fun now than six months ago when I was far more "hardcore".

Personally I find that large, anonymous blob of people called community rather (rather) charming in LotRO, if you switch off OOC and other channels for inflated egos. I do all my questing with randoms and am finding that it works out pretty good. The low level of direct e-peen makes people friendlier and less cut-throat, less driven to reach a goal than to enjoy the ride.

/dance1

I downloaded the trial, and managed to get to level 7 as a Human Captain before being horribly bored. The combat is just dull, even when fighting for your life.

I don't get how/why people say this. Care to provide some reasons?

In my own experience, the feeling is generated by a noticeable lag in response between when a skill is selected, and when it's performed. Compared to WoW or CoH, that lag can make combat feel unresponsive and clunky.

For myself, I prefer it as it helps me establish a rhythm with my actions. I don't feel like I'm spamming number keys which is great in CoH, but rather a slightly more carefully selected order that syncs up with my character's actions on screen. Not for everyone, but I enjoy it.

Well, it has two reasons really.

The first is simple - animation. LotRO uses animation triggers, meaning you need to reach a certain time marker in the animation before the actual "spell" is cast. It's not inherit sluggishness of the code, it's how they've decided to do it. WoW does this the slightly more crudely (but seemingly more responsive) way, by applying the effect and then playing the animation for as long as possible until global cooldown is up. (This animation lag also makes it possible for people to kill eachother at the same time. :awesome_for_real:)

Second, it's a factor in the used skills. Skills in LotRO got individual global cooldowns. Meaning, certain skills (normally buffs and various special moves) have a very long global cooldown which makes even quick skills (like Sting) seem like they take forever to execute - it's in fact your own fault for executing a "slow" skill before it. The green rotating border is an indicator of this, it's not until that goes away that you can use -any- other skill.

I'm not saying this is a better system in any way, but it has its benefits as well as drawbacks. It was probably a design mistake, yes, but an intentional one. I like them both for different reasons, I suppose. The instant gratification of a Mortal Strike is nice, but I've also found that queueing is much easier on my already strained hands.

Yarg.

Game took like 45 minutes to install and now I"m patching >.<

yay for games expanding.

*edit* holy jesus could this take any longer T_T

Once my computer is functional I will be playing.  Will start a thread once that happens. 

I was bored so picked up the LOTR books - started with the Hobbit, almost finished with the Two Towers.  Man, it really has me excited!

...I almost understand this. Let me give you some new vocabulary and see if it helps.

Animation time: Time that the client displays the power animation after you press the button.

Cast time: Delay after you press the button before the power takes effect.

Activation time: Delay after you press the button before you can activate any other powers.

Recharge time: Delay after you press the button before you can use the power again.

I think what you're saying is that certain skills have a long activation time, but not a long animation time, so you have to wait for the activation time to pass, but it seems like you might be able to use another power since your character isn't doing anything.

All of that adds up to "feels squishy."

I dont really know, I only played a few hours total. It just didnt feel exciting. It felt slow. I felt like I was playing wack-a-mole with my cooldown abilities, and nothing really going on screen had any real meaning. Almost like a MUD just with a pretty picture to go along with it. Maybe its cause I played a rogue for my whole WoW carrier, but it really felt slow and dull.

I intentionally didn't invent terminology as marketing new terms is something people just love doing on message boards. :-P But yes, roughly so.

Schemantically, it goes something like this;

[button press] => cast time > lead-up animation > skill effect applied > decay animation > release time > (repeat)

Combat IS slow and unexciting and the animations aren't particularly inspired.  I go in now and then and fish in a different location.  I'll probably do this until my sub runs out or I max out fishing.  I've been bored with games recently.

I guess i just don't agree. Especially when i sit and watch my warrior do the same animation over and over again for the 10 skills in Wow. *spins*

The game plays just like world of warcrafts combat (But with more animations, smother animations, more variance in animations and effects IMO, and from what i can see)... so i guess i will be eternally confused by people saying this.

Also to add, there is an animation review (http://www.lotro.com/book13) (last part of the page) slated for book 13, what the details of this are, i don't know.

I don't like WoW's combat much, either, although it seems speedier, and the animations are even less inspired.  I can't stay subbed to that game for more than a month or so, either.

I wasn't really responding directly to you. I have seen the same comments around other places. But its good to know that you know that the animations in wow are even worse, lol.

I guess I got used to it, because I enjoy 'stacking' my abilities.

Why not try an LM?  Mine is now 25 and has a wealth of skills.  It's a class that can take some skill to master.

Really, the only thing that has annoyed me so far is how it seems like there is one second delay between when I press a movement key (wasd) and when it actually moves.

That was the class i played the most. Loremaster is really cool.

Is anyone actively playing or looking to restart? I just resubbed and am enjoying it my 21 Captain, though I think I'm going to reroll an LM or something.

Me - I should have my computer up and running early this week.  I have a couple characters - a Captain and a Burglar.  Captain is mid 20's if I remember correctly - Burglar is 30's.  I will start beating the drums soon to try and get other f13 tards into the mix!

What server?

I'm playing on the Arkenstone server and have a good guild (Rank 10) Flame Imperishable.

If you'd like to join us give me a holler!

Imrahan 50 Minstrel
Tannhauser 27 Lore Master

I just rolled up a guardian on Arkenstone by the name of Toha. It's a class I haven't tried yet, but looks more enjoyable than my warrior days of EQ.

I have several characters on Brandywine, but my play schedule often includes multiple month absences. I still manage to have a lv 40 hunter, a 19 burglar and a minstrel and a champion parked at 15.

I've been playing recently, but for maybe two hours max. It turns out that you can get some fun stuff done in that timeframe.

When do you guys play? Anyone playing daytime?

So I'm thinking of installing LOTRO again, I haven't played it since launch, but I remember I enjoyed it back then. Now after playing AoC, how is the leveling curve ? How fun is it while leveling ?

Its fun, but will feel extremely slow after playing AoC.  Movement, levelling, combat, etc.  Slooooow.

Some friends and i have started up recently, and so far we're finding it very fun. It is however a bit problematic in that the game tends to require grouped levelling later on, and that questing is pretty much the only real way to gain levels. Also, don't play a Capitain if you can help it.

Everything is slow after AOC.

My brother and I have been playing together, once or twice a week for a few months now. We just reached level 41.

I recall that starting in the 20s and going all through the 30s, there are quite a large number of grouped quests and questlines. But, we have been able to get leveled up, just from solo and small-group questing (and the associated mayhem) almost all the way up till now.

We did hit a lull during level 40. This was mainly because we didn't go back to Angmar right away -- it turns out there are a big pile of level 40 appropriate quests there. We filled out this lull by grinding deeds, and working on a couple of rep quests that we found, so at least we did have something goal-oriented to do.

Then we returned to Angmar and found the quests there. Good lord they have a lot to do. Between Angmar, Forochel, and the Misty Mountains, I imagine we'll have plenty to do from here out.

And I fully expect that Turbine will keep adding solo and small-group content for the 20s and 30s. There are still blank spots on the world map for them to fill in.

Yea, i was quite surprised at the amount of content they've packed into what at first glance looks like a very small game-world. Here's to hoping that they broaden the perspectives for mid-game single and duo play.

20-30 should be quick, or, always have been for me atleast. Early on you can do western Lone-lands (Forsaken Inn mostly) then move on to Ost Guruth and Trestlebridge in North Downs. Late 20's can be done mostly east of Esteldin (quests picked up in Esteldin itself). Plus you got a number of quests of various nature in Bree, instance quests in Great Barrows and Big/Giant problems from the ranger behind the Prancing Pony and all that.

30 to 35 are likely the slowest levels currently in the game. Being after North Downs and before Evendim opens up, you may need to spend a few nights looking for groups to do Dol Dinen in North Downs and Agamaur in Lone-lands to slug through. I think both those areas are really cool though so you should go there atleast once just to check it out anyways. There are also some early quests in western Trollshaws around those levels. These increase in level as you go farther east, with Tâl Bruinen being late 30's.

40-50 is probably the most quest-packed level band in the entire game. Misty Mountains is a bit of a mix between solo and grouped, while Forochel is almost purely solo and Angmar has a fairly heavy focus on grouping.

Oh, remember that crafting (gaining proficiency levels) aswell as deeds both yield experience.

And yes, it is slow. It was slow even for its time. :-)