f13.net

I am NOT a dick.

I had hundreds of responses. Some people have two accounts. It was a mess. Every single person that sent me a PM or email had names submitted. Well, almost everyone (like all but 2 because people are dicks). People from f13 are now being admitted in waves. Apologies if your name is lower in the list, i went in the order of people arriving.

In all fairness, my previous falling out with F13 was less being a dick and more being the recipient of dick-like behavior from certain now banned individuals.

Well, no wonder I haven't been let in! I'm a particle!

is it worth whining for?

Do you have a strong desire to see all the possible ways you can spell Frodo, Gandalf, and Legolas?

=article&pagebuilder[display_item]=144]HOBBIGEDDON: SLAUGHTER AT BAG END (http://lotro.turbine.com/index.php?page_id=20&pagebuilder[module)

I think that most of the posters here have got it right in regards to the lore. Your general, run-of-the-mill Orc (or goblin to be more specific) such as those found in Moria and the ones that harrassed Bilbo and Co. in The Hobbit are on the lowest end of the scale when it comes to sun resistance. They suffer severely when out in the sun (majo reductions to dmg, AC, to-hit, etc...) and hate it intensely. Orcs from Mordor and other places in direct control of the Shadow are a step up from that due to both years of selective, controlled breeding as well as strengthening from Sauron. They still hate the sun, but only suffer minor penalties in its light. The Uruk-hai, being a crossbreed of orcs and men (I think, may have to check on that) contain the best elements of both therefore suffer the least in the sunlight (no penalties) and have the least hatreds towards it. What this could mean in game terms is that each type of orc could have different activity cycles; goblins would come out at night and if present during the day would stay in shadowy areas and be significantly weaker, while orcs and Uruk-hai could both be out and about during the day with varying levels of penalty.

so any naked elves? or :nda:

Dildo Teabaggins

Am I right in saying that I am at the bottom of said list?

I bet there will be 100 of those.

I wasn't very hopefull when I PM'ed him because I have just been a lurker for a while, but apparently everyone who PMed got added to the list so we just have to wait our turns...

Wait a sec, are you telling me that I am not getting into the beta?

P.S. Stop worrying about whether you're a dick or not. If you have the ability to post you're not a dick.

P.S. Stop worrying about whether you're a dick or not. If you have the ability to post you're not a dick.

P.S. Stop worrying about whether you're a dick or not. If you have the ability to post you're not a dick.

There's this fabulous hidden scavenger hunt that takes place on the MMOG Discussion forum that you  must first pass before getting into LOTR beta.  Though it taxxed my brain cells unmercilously, I managed to solve that scavenger hunt.  However, I didn't submit the winning entry because I can't see myself having time for a beta right now.  So, my conviction that people are calling me dicks who may, in fact, not be doing so isn't my reason for not being in LOTR beta right now.  I just thought I'd be helpful and mention the existance of this event for those who were unaware of it but hoping to get in.

If you were a real dick, you'd not apologize for being a dick.

Dicks often apologize for being dicks by saying "Just kidding."

Geldon, If you were a "dick by trade", you'd be a rent boy and someone around here would have noticed you hanging around the Senate offices.

I am in the beta, now. ;)

If you have gotten into the beta and have not told me, please do so.

The email they send you mentions that as part of the NDA you are not allowed to tell anyone you are in the Beta.

This might be pure speculation on my part, as I am unable to remember if I have or have not ever recieved such an email myself.

I'm in the beta.  Furthermore, I'm going to shit on the NDA and spill the complete story right here on F13.

A)  Okay, first off the camera controls suck.  I'm perpetually looking down on the action from somewhere up in the sky, with the net result that my range of vision extends only a few yards.  Nothing I do seems to change the perspective one bit.

B)  Character creation is horribly shallow.  There aren't that many classes, and they don't seem to have any races besides human implemented yet.  You can't tinker with your stats prior to starting, and gender seems to be autoselected based upon class for some reason.  What the hell?

C)  The combat system is pretty good, with lots of fast-paced running around and chopping the crap out of dozens of monsters at a time.  You can even dodge projectiles by running out of the way.

D)  The loot system is positively awesome, but for some reason all items seem to drop to the ground where anyone can grab them.  Is this working as intended?

E)  Half of the game appears to be plagiarized from WoW.  I mean, casters doing Frost Novas?  Warriors doing shouts?  For some reason they gave Charge to paladins.  I bet this will be ridculously imbalanced, and furthermore I think Blizzard might sue them.

F)  It pisses all over established Tolkien lore.  Like in the first zone, they give me a quest to go to a town called Tristram and rescue a guy named Cain.  What the hell?  Where's Frodo?  The fanboys are going to flip out.

Yeah, big thumbs down so far.

F)  It pisses all over established Tolkien lore.  Like in the first zone, they give me a quest to go to a town called Tristram and rescue a guy named Cain.  What the hell?  Where's Frodo?  The fanboys are going to flip out.

I'm in the beta.  Furthermore, I'm going to shit on the NDA and spill the complete story right here on F13.

A)  Okay, first off the camera controls suck.  I'm perpetually looking down on the action from somewhere up in the sky, with the net result that my range of vision extends only a few yards.  Nothing I do seems to change the perspective one bit.

B)  Character creation is horribly shallow.  There aren't that many classes, and they don't seem to have any races besides human implemented yet.  You can't tinker with your stats prior to starting, and gender seems to be autoselected based upon class for some reason.  What the hell?

C)  The combat system is pretty good, with lots of fast-paced running around and chopping the crap out of dozens of monsters at a time.  You can even dodge projectiles by running out of the way.

D)  The loot system is positively awesome, but for some reason all items seem to drop to the ground where anyone can grab them.  Is this working as intended?

E)  Half of the game appears to be plagiarized from WoW.  I mean, casters doing Frost Novas?  Warriors doing shouts?  For some reason they gave Charge to paladins.  I bet this will be ridculously imbalanced, and furthermore I think Blizzard might sue them.

F)  It pisses all over established Tolkien lore.  Like in the first zone, they give me a quest to go to a town called Tristram and rescue a guy named Cain.  What the hell?  Where's Frodo?  The fanboys are going to flip out.

Yeah, big thumbs down so far.

I like to judge the interest in a beta by seeing how many people are looking at the secret beta board.  The more people doing "Nothing, or nothing you can see..." (http://forums.f13.net/index.php?action=who) the more active the beta is.

I'm in the beta.  Furthermore, I'm going to shit on the NDA and spill the complete story right here on F13.

B)  Character creation is horribly shallow.  There aren't that many classes, and they don't seem to have any races besides human implemented yet.  You can't tinker with your stats prior to starting, and gender seems to be autoselected based upon class for some reason.  What the hell?

E)  Half of the game appears to be plagiarized from WoW.  I mean, casters doing Frost Novas?  Warriors doing shouts?  For some reason they gave Charge to paladins.  I bet this will be ridiculously imbalanced, and furthermore I think Blizzard might sue them.

F)  It pisses all over established Tolkien lore. 

The more people doing "Nothing, or nothing you can see..." (http://forums.f13.net/index.php?action=who)

The fact that people (me included) believed A and B were actually possible design aspects of LotR says a lot about the low expectations for a Turbine game. A helluva lot.

I'm in the beta.  Furthermore, I'm going to shit on the NDA and spill the complete story right here on F13.

I also didn't get the joke, but since I'd never played Diablo or Diablo 2, I have an excuse.

I also wouldn't be surprised if his predictions were spot on anyway.

So, if we're still not in should we be getting anxious yet?

No.

WAAH  :cry:

I want in.

Did you sign up for the beta?  Did you follow the instructions in the sticky post?  I see good things ahead if you did!   8-)

Not for a long while.

So the rumoured release date is false?

Gamespot Video Interview with Jeff Anderson (http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/middleearthonline/news.html?sid=6161040&autoplay=6161056&tag=topslot;action;2)

I did, and they said "hohoho, little European, there is nothing for you here..."

I can't see Schild giving this game an honest testing effort - there aren't any paladins  8-)

Apocalypse Pony

Dude, don't break the NDA.

If you have received confirmation of getting into the beta, please tell me.

Necromancy!

I got into the beta via random stress test invite. Is there a board to discuss in game happenings?

Necromancy!

I got into the beta via random stress test invite. Is there a board to discuss in game happenings?

Me too. And I am surprised so far.
Maybe my expectations were too low. But hey, it was Turbine, I thought.

Me too. And I am surprised so far.
Maybe my expectations were too low. But hey, it was Turbine, I thought.

Edit- Whether the source is from your or your 'friend', the NDA is still in place, so discussion of any elements of how the beta works or plays is off limits kthx. - WAP

NDA-covered stuff...

And then over in the Vanguard thread you complain about not getting beta invites!

Either, "When it's done" or "When our investors force us to release it."

I would appreciate an invite. I should have a lot of free time again starting next week.

Who needs an invite? I can get at least one person in.

Shame! You can't say that!
A plague o' both (your and Margalis') your houses!!

"Sore wa himitsu desu"!!!

Oh no thanks, no need. I have windows based peristent cars (http://www.testdriveunlimited.com/) now. I am fine for the nex two years.

http://www.ataricommunity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=551939

---
Im sure lots of you met some annoying people out there. Untill now i can find noone i can just cruise with. They either keep making donuts, or bumping into one another and sounding thier horns. I know some of those idiots are gonna reply here too.
---

Lately, yes, theres nothing left to do.
At first, everyone was friendly and talked to each other, now theyre a bunch of silent hunters stalking you to surprise ram you at high speed.
its annoying.
When I go by someone, I can look at GPS and see them whip around to come after me, not to talk and cruise with me, but to ram or P.I.T. me.

I as most of my friends have moved on to other games having had enough of tdu servers and bugs.

Ah, the beauty of the online experience:

For those who don't know, Kynapse is an A.I. engine offered by Kynogon which allows NPCs (or Non Player Characters) to move around in any 3D dynamic world and understand their environment in an uncannily realistic way. And with this deal with major MMORPG publisher Turbine, not only will this rake in tons of cash for Kynogon, it'll also help Turbine improve their games a lot by having an intelligent AI system.

Chris Dyl, Turbine's CTO, says:
 

Choosing Kynapse was a strategic decision for Turbine. We required an AI middleware solution that could be easily integrated into Turbine's state of the art MMO game engine. The solution needed to be flexible enough to support both the large, seamless landscapes found in The Lord of the Rings Online and the fast-paced, action-combat of Dungeons and Dragons Online.

Well there ya have it folks, so you can say goodbye to NPC AI woes with the knowledge that two of your favorite MMORPGs are in good hands with Kynapse. We will keep you posted for more LOTRO and DDO updates so stay tuned.

We required an AI middleware solution that could be easily integrated into Turbine's state of the art MMO game engine.

Actually, I was pretty impressed that their engine is well-enough designed that they can apparently slot in a major piece of functionality like this, post-design phase (and for DDO, as part of the Live team's work).

I think you broke her.

Heh.  I am beginning to understand the pain Schild must have felt with Lord Beta. 

How many lurkers are applying?

Hmm...it didn't even occur to me you had more than one game available...

I have 5 or 6 lurkers so far on the list.  The hard part is dealing with people pm'ing without specification as to what beta they want along with their e-mail address.  Ironically almost every lurker (under 20 posts) has followed directions, whereas maybe 1 regular poster has. 

Yay for them!  :wink:

PM me your e-mail.  No promises.

That's all you said to me when I PM'd you, and I did include an email address. I didn't include LOTRO but you didn't ask for it at that point. I followed the instructions to the letter!

I have an beta invite; send me a PM with your email addy if you want to partake before the new submissions list goes through.

What?

As soon as "shop" is open, i'd definitely like a Beta key.

I've been following this game for months, not beta key.

I would REALLY appreciate it if someone would email me the beta code.  I really think I can make this game better with my vast understanding of tolkien lore (;p, ego)

-thanks.

... he made an account here, an hour ago, expressly to try to get into some Betas.

We don't care about your posts, nor do we have the means of giving out betas. And even if we did, you still wouldn't get one.

Go away.

Wha...?

Look, I'll admit a beta chance was the reason I got here, but it is certainly not the reason I'm staying.  what's wrong with me posting on a forum?

And even if I don't get a beta spot, I'm not going to leave, because this does honestly seem like a nice forum.

I don't want to mooch off any "real" member's beta chance...

Wha...?

Look, I'll admit a beta chance was the reason I got here, but it is certainly not the reason I'm staying.  what's wrong with me posting on a forum?

And even if I don't get a beta spot, I'm not going to leave, because this does honestly seem like a nice forum.

I don't want to mooch off any "real" member's beta chance...

I'll introduce myself, then.  I'm sorry for causing all this trouble.

....

So wait, who was the one who told my to intoduce myself?  Signe?

hihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi

makes sense in some ways

We're very welcoming to newbiews. We're just not giving out free shit. This isn't Costco or the Gaming Soup Kitchen.

I hereby claim "Gaming Soup Kitchen" for a future site name.

Nothing  wrong with not wanting to give things to new members, especially if the things in question are in short supply- then it makes a lot of sense to give priority to the regulars. But there are various ways of saying that. as far as l "very friendly to newbies" goes, your responses today aren't.

As long as I get to be this guy.

(http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:If5D9KvUaS6j8M:http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/9/9e/250px-Sein_soup_nazi.jpg)

though I did say that the remarks haven't really seemed friendly

We're very welcoming to newbies. We're just not giving out free shit. This isn't Costco or the Gaming Soup Kitchen.

I have always found the phrase, "rub you the wrong way", to be kind of exciting.  (in that squirmy in your seat sort of way)

The key is Reading First. Yes, I know some of the threads are a bit lengthy...but we've all been (more or less) keeping up with them since they began, so don't get too offended when someone barks at you for being a jackass - and by jackass I mean just jumping into a running conversation and saying something that just isn't appropriate.

But, Venom aside, Stray is correct. It's not like the mods hand out prizes to people who post the most or anything. There is a process for stuff like this around here.

It's the New Year in Scotland, already.  You're drunk.  I hope you didn't set anything on fire.

Does 0.0021 posts per day since Sept 2004 (and reading just about every forum thread since f13.net went up) make me a newbie, a lurker - or both? ;P

Anyone here have a spare account or one they will lend out? Seems like people with the MEO beta are dime a dozen now. I'd like to give my wife a shot at this so I can start deciding what I need to build her a PC for it or not. I'd like to have it ready as a present by release.


I have been posting longer at Warhammer Alliance than here, my post history there: http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/search.php?searchid=106892

Posts I've started: http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/search.php?searchid=106894

Anyways, if anyone wants to go out on a wing and chance it on me, I'd be grateful for the kindness.

As for MEO vs LotRO, game will always be MEO to me.  Which is easier to say than LotRO - a lame acronym changed only because of Tolkien Entrprises asshattery.  'Middle Earth Online is too broadly encompassing, you can't call it that'.  Frankly, MEO is a hell of a lot easier to say than LotRO, so you can just damned well get used to it  :evil:

The natives are friendly around here, arent' they?  *looks down at the pot of boiling water*

I notice you make a big deal that I prefer to call it MEO.  I also noticed that Mark Jacobs called it MEO as about a week ago, but nobody gave a shit.

I understand my post and opinion may not be popular, and it's a plenty good reason to fling boogers at me - but not because I prefer avoiding stupid acronyms.  I'm an American.  Make it 1 syllable or it's too damned much effort.

The natives are friendly around here, arent' they?  *looks down at the pot of boiling water*

I notice you make a big deal that I prefer to call it MEO.  I also noticed that Mark Jacobs called it MEO as about a week ago, but nobody gave a shit.

I understand my post and opinion may not be popular, and it's a plenty good reason to fling boogers at me - but not because I prefer avoiding stupid acronyms.  I'm an American.  Make it 1 syllable or it's too damned much effort.

Course if you love a game a lot, doing everything possible to see it succeed is within your best interest.

Don't be a fag.

I am pretty sure the Thing To Do is get a job in some other industry that pays well and just buy a lot of games... then heckle the designers from the bleachers.  Loads of fun.

Anyone here have a spare account or one they will lend out?  Seems like people with the MEO beta are dime a dozen now.  I'd like to give my wife a shot at this so I can start deciding what I need to build her a PC for it or not.  I'd like to have it ready as a present by release.


I have been posting longer at Warhammer Alliance than here, my post history there: http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/search.php?searchid=106892

Posts I've started: http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/search.php?searchid=106894

Anyways, if anyone wants to go out on a wing and chance it on me, I'd be grateful for the kindness.

What are you saying?

What are you saying?

I don't know why everyone is so into betas anyway.  I've never done any.  The average MMO is a such a sucky unfinished pile of shit even upon release that the idea of trying to play one still in beta fills me with dread.

That goes for any asshole who expects handouts in their first post.

Woo, someone forgot to take their pills today. I didn't ask for "special treatment," just asked (via private message) to be put on a waiiting list. And I didn't say that anyone was  "mean to newbies," though I did say that the remarks haven't really seemed friendly.  And that was before your ever-so-gracious remarks. Sorry I rubbed people here the wrong way.

You better stop.

In 1955, shortly after “The Lord of the Rings” was published, J. R. R. Tolkien began to worry his creation had become a “vast game” for some readers. This was not good, he wrote, even “for me, who find that kind of thing only too fatally attractive.”

Now, Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” and the imaginary setting he painstakingly built, Middle-earth, has become that “vast game.”

Tomorrow in Las Vegas, Turbine Inc. of Westwood, Mass., is to announce an April 24 release date for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, the year’s most anticipated massively multiplayer online game, or M.M.O. A digital Middle-earth will open its gates to thousands of virtual characters embarking on quests, plumbing subterranean realms and slaughtering plenty of goblins and trolls.

“Expectations are fairly high for this game,” said Michael Goodman, digital entertainment program manager for the consumer research division of the Yankee Group, a consulting firm. “This is literally a franchise with a brand that spans the globe. There aren’t a lot of those around.”

Some 200 million copies of “The Lord of the Rings” have been published in 39 languages. The 2001-2003 Peter Jackson film trilogy amassed gross revenues of more than $3 billion worldwide.

Yet for the online “Rings” to succeed, Turbine cannot depend on existing gamers alone. It also needs to lure Tolkien devotees who don’t play video games by making it “accessible to just about anyone,” Andrew Park, senior editor at GameSpot, an online gaming news and review site, said in an e-mail interview.

“From what I gather, Turbine is targeting two different audiences for this game: hard-core online game players,” Mr. Park said, “and more-casual or nongame-players who are fans of Tolkien’s works.”

But visualizing hobbit villages and evil armies for Tolkien’s Middle-earth, an already meticulously detailed and plotted world, is complicated. Fans expect its parameters — the languages, geographies, histories, races, nomenclature, mythologies and what Tolkien called the legendarium — to be strictly obeyed.

“Basically, the main challenge of creating an authentic Tolkien experience is building something that won’t make Tolkien’s many fans angry by straying too far away from the original works,” Mr. Park said. Sticklers for detail will be quick to point out any inconsistencies. Even a character’s eye color, Mr. Park said, can’t be off, not by a “nanometer.”

A further challenge is that immersive M.M.O. worlds must entertain for hours, days, even years of play. They have to be infinitely detailed and vast enough that tens of thousands of players can interact with one another at the same time.

Since September some 300,000 users have beta-tested the fates of elvish lore masters and hobbit burglars in a 50-million-square-acre Middle-earth still under construction (and giving the game great advance word of mouth). Most players expect “creative leaps” to adapt a reading experience into compelling play, said Larry Curtis of TheOneRing.net, a Tolkien fan site.

“You’ve got to have a good game,” he added. “It’s not an easy balance.”

Many readers of the novels feared their dumbing-down when the films were first released, Mr. Curtis said. To head off such criticism of the game, Turbine hired “Rings” experts to ensure that any ideas or inventions were consistent with the rules of Middle-earth.

The consultants “would write back with notes on a script: ‘an elf might not do that,’ or, ‘if you’re looking for a more dwarven name, this might work as a family tree,’ ” recounted Jeffrey Anderson, Turbine’s chief executive. His team also worked closely with Tolkien Enterprises, which manages “Ring” merchandising and film rights, seeking its approval for any major departure from the books.

Turbine created Asheron’s Call, its first online role-playing game, in 1999. Last year, the company released Dungeons & Dragons Online, based on the original pen-and-paper role-playing game. (Loosely based on Tolkien’s milieu, D & D was credited with establishing the fantasy gaming genre.) And this isn’t the first time “Rings” has gone digital: Tolkien-esque computer games — some authorized, some not — have been around since the early 1980s.

But Turbine’s is the first Tolkien-based M.M.O. Like the immensely popular World of Warcraft, it will allow anyone — anyone willing to pay about $50 for the software and a monthly subscription fee of up to $15, that is — to not only battle monsters, but also increase virtual skills, wealth and renown. The game makes provisions for the peaceful: Some gamers may be content with their characters weaving and talking (via voice-chat technology), jamming in bands at the local tavern (using an in-game music system) or raising crops and families.

A game this size is bound to invite some dissent among the dedicated. On the lotro.com forum, one observer, Draeconea, grumbled that character movements appeared “unnatural ...They run as if having a sore back, and got several planks of wood underneath their clothes.” In another thread, players argued about whether their avatars, or online beings, should be as powerful as a main Tolkien character like Aragorn.

Concerning these and other details, Mr. Anderson said that “there’s been lots of debate about it.” He added, “We’re going to continue to listen to the community about these topics.”

Until recently, the job of interpreting Tolkien has fallen to Tolkien experts, not film or video-game directors. While many scholars are tolerant of the blockbuster adaptations, a few would prefer that “Rings” remain a reading experience, not a virtual playground.

An online game “may indeed trivialize Tolkien’s legacy,” Wayne G. Hammond, co-author of the “J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide,” said in an e-mail interview, “if one comes to view ‘The Lord of the Rings’ as popular culture more than as a work of literature, or feels that it cannot be a serious work of literature if it has outgrowths in popular culture.”

The game may signal “democratization,” he said, “but it isn’t Tolkien.”

So far, reviews on sites like mmorpg.com and GameSpot.com have been positive. Tolkien’s United States publisher, Houghton Mifflin, also is enthusiastic. “Our hope for the new game is the same hope we held during the time of the films,” said Webster Younce, senior editor at Houghton Mifflin, “that people who might not have read Tolkien will want to go directly to the source.”

The game makes provisions for the peaceful: Some gamers may be content with their characters weaving and talking (via voice-chat technology), jamming in bands at the local tavern (using an in-game music system) or raising crops and families.

http://www.lotro.com/preorder

Preorder benefits: $9.99 a month or $199 for a lifetime. Misc other items...

April 24th Release date (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/24/arts/design/24ring.html?_r=3&ref=design&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin)

That $199 is actually a pretty decent deal, actually for something you know you'll like.

I'd actually do that if WoW offered it. Unfortunately the drawback with the LoTRO deal is that they're asking people to pony up that much for a game-sight-unseen pre-order.  :|

I agree. I think the $199 for a lifetime may be a mistake if a lot of the subscriber base takes advantage of it. It seems to me that they can offer in-game rewards and still get the same number of takers. Although, there may be some industry information about lifetime subscribers and actual rate of play. I took advantage of the lifetime sub to Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates, but I only pop on there once every couple of months. Even if every other lifetime subscriber were to act in the same manner, this is not necessarily advantageous to a game that should be promoting players, community and interaction. ......
 how many subscriptions are people going to maintain at this point? What is the critical mass of $ per month? Is there one?

Lifetime fees are basically for those that believe the game is worth it forever. That's putting a lot of faith into a particular developer, publisher and business plan that quite honestly this genre has yet to prove it deserves. This genre as a whole could be a lifetime fulfilling thing for us. But asking for that of one game is going too far in my opinion.

That is the business dilemma of offering a lifetime pricing scheme. A player that KNOWS they will play LotRO until the lights go out will jump on the $199, thereby costing Turbine monthly subscriptions since the player is getting the service for free from month 11 onward. Is the $199 low enough to get LotR fanatics who haven't played an MMO before (do they even exist?) to pony up sight unseen? Launching with a lifetime pricing plan seems shaky to me. Better to offer one after a solid year of play when the diehards are hooked.

A Google Maps version of Middle-earth will be accessible to subscribers. Each character you create will get his or her own page on the game's official website, and you'll be able to blog it. Minigames on the website will affect your real progression in (currently unspecified) ways. The site will also feature an online Wiki encyclopedia of info about the LOTR Online universe

The minigames thing for out-of-game advancement is pretty insane. The maps and blogs and whatnot are also pretty unique, though appear in a few other games (SB, PS, EQ2Players), but that doesn't make them derivative. It just means individually they've been done before but Midway brings them all under one roof.

Interesting they go with the $9.99/mo model (now that it's public). This couldn't have been a cheap game to make, but perhaps they consider it a competitive advantage?

Regardless, I do think LoTRO will do pretty well. It'll launch just as a fair chunk of people are hitting or close to 70 in WoW, looking into the same abyss of raiding or BGs or just-for-the-ubers Arenas and wondering what else they could be doing instead of trying to go from fun to hardcore.

Yes. Selling a lifetime subscription does not guarantee the game will be around for even a week. Caveat Emptor.

Are you suggesting that buying a lifetime subscription to E&B was a bad idea?

I was being sarcastical.