Page 6 • The Lord of the Rings Online • Gaming • MMO • Eurogamer.net

evilidler 5 May 2007 16:28:00 11 posts
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I entered a 7-day buddy code yesterday, after spending the evening trying
to download the client, the patch, and then wrestling with the right config
file to patch the last few bits (13 files!). The game set me up with some
very high settings, which is nice, as my 7600GS(!) could actually handle it
at 1680x1050. Yes, that's huge for the slow memory on this card.

If you are having framerate trouble, especially at non-widescreen and NOT
using the hires textures (they're still downloading here), your system is at
faulty. Faulty, I tell ya! Go tweak those settings. View distance defaulted to
the highest, and I had to adjust my mouse sensitivity down many notches.

CaptianFitz 7 May 2007 15:36:27 8 posts
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disussedgenius wrote:
And you can wander freely everywhere?!? Even Mordor and places from the Hobbit (Dale, The Wood Elve's place etc)? How about the Prancing Pony, and those woods where Tom Bombidil live? (as you can see I can carry on naming places forever, so I'll stop there!)

Fuck me that's some stonking gameworld they've gone and made there!

You can only travel in Eriador in this version but i think that they will realease expansion packs - in the vein of Guild Wars- thank open up other areas.

mugwump 7 May 2007 23:54:42 654 posts
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Any more buddy codes available? Dying to try this but am wary of it being too similar to WoW

Stickman 10 May 2007 22:58:59 29,986 posts
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Mine's P4 2.4, 2G RAM and a 9800 pro. It runs fine whilst looking quite pretty.

FWB 11 May 2007 00:51:52 56,369 posts
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That setup will be fine, spongebob. Any issues right now are lag based and those only pop up in cities at busy times.

MrSensible 11 May 2007 01:27:49 26,517 posts
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Stickman wrote:
Mine's P4 2.4, 2G RAM and a 9800 pro. It runs fine whilst looking quite pretty.

What about if I have the exact same setup, but only 1gb of RAM? I really want to play this game, but the specs on boxes usually lie to me. LIE!

ProfessorLesser 11 May 2007 01:30:47 19,693 posts
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I must say, this sounds really fucking cool. Might give it a bash over the Summer.

FWB 11 May 2007 01:49:28 56,369 posts
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thefilthandthefury wrote:
What about if I have the exact same setup, but only 1gb of RAM? I really want to play this game, but the specs on boxes usually lie to me. LIE!

Fine. I have it on my iMac... 2.0Ghz Core 2 Duo 1 Gig Ram and ATI Radeon 1600 128Mb.

I haven't played many MMORPGs before (Neocron beta and dabbled with EVE for a bit) but LOTRO is pretty cool. Aside from the gameplay I just enjoy exploring the wondrous sites.

Edited by FWB at 01:52:27 11-05-2007

MrSensible 11 May 2007 01:50:52 26,517 posts
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Ah good, thanks

Probably pick this up tomorrow then.

FWB 11 May 2007 01:58:08 56,369 posts
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I think it is a beautiful game regardless as to whether it reflects Middle-Earth correctly or not (I have read the books and watched the movies). Doesn't offend me either way.

FWB 11 May 2007 02:06:35 56,369 posts
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Having never played WoW probably helps me. Feels pretty much like a more complicated Diablo set in a permanent world. It might be down to me concentrating on quests, but I do hope the community makes something of it . Not done monsterplay yet tho. Perhaps the RPG servers have more of an living world "environment".

Edited by FWB at 02:11:32 11-05-2007

hoof 11 May 2007 08:07:10 823 posts
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I am curious otto, were you in the human starting bit? By far the most uninspiring area of the game is Bree and Breeland, I was pretty unconvinced at first, but places like the Old Forest and Barrow Downs completely blew me away, exactly how I pictured from the books.

magicpanda 11 May 2007 09:40:00 15,130 posts
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The've done a cracking job on the game to be fair considering the limitations, I've read the books more than a few times and wasn't disappointed. The shire is lovely to look at, they've captured the essence of it really well.

Also Bree as a town is excellent and the lone lands are spookily close to how I imagined them in my head with weathertop always looming where ever you go. (I've yet to venture to the top)

My favourite moment in game by far and away has been in Bree. There were some bad problems with the game server which meant that people were stuck in certain areas this resulted in me and a fair sized group being stuck in the Prancing Pony.

People ended up roleplaying to a certain extent but not over the top. (Some Dwarf went afk in the fire place and some jokes were made about how dwarf fat can burn for days and we had an interesting discussion on the merrits of burning hobbitses and rounds of booze were bought from Butterbur)

There were dwarves, hobbits, elves and men all sat round the massive fire place then some guy (Who it later turns out is a real life Musician) pulls his guitar out and pulls off a note perfect version of House of the Rising sun.... It was just incredible to hear and watch. He did and impromptu concert, which ended with a few people getting some instruments out and jamming at the end.

As for the gameplay, it's all put together just as well as WoW from my point of view (played wow for 2 years) with some definite improvements, The deed system is inspired, along with the heavy story element running throughout the game. PvE class balance is pretty much spot on as well.

It's early days for it yet, but its far ahead of the game in terms of where wow was in its first few months.

Edited by Magic Panda at 09:51:09 11-05-2007

MrSensible 11 May 2007 09:40:42 26,517 posts
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Is soloing actually doable in this game? I found it was in WoW, up to a point, but soon got too difficult as any of the classes I enjoyed. Can it be done in this? I only really like groups at certain times.

Sorry if this has been asked before as well. I've only really got interested in this the last two days.

magicpanda 11 May 2007 09:45:04 15,130 posts
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I've soloed all the way so far with a few odd moments where I've grouped for nice quest rewards or with fellow EGers or continuing the epic storyline.

Saying that Ive only made lvl 22, I hear it get harder to solo further up but its something they are addressing in a June update.

MrSensible 11 May 2007 09:46:27 26,517 posts
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Ah perfect, sounds more suited to me than WoW then. I got a bit bored of WoW quite quickly, especially the way it all seems geared towards either huge raids or making you do PvP, which I'm also not interested in.

This one sounds more more style.

StarchildHypocrethes 11 May 2007 09:49:02 33,974 posts
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Magic Panda hit the nail on the head with his post. The game is put together very well (bar the wierd stuttering some of us are getting), with the stronger emphasis on story telling being a real change.

The gameplay is just as well done as WoW with a few changes. The real advantage is the community though, in which I have yet to meet a a single person who baffled me with an unrelenting torrent of l33t sp34k l00olZZ and is always willing to group or help out.

I think I may start up another character this weekend though as I don't really like my Lore Master.

Edited by StarchildHypocrethes at 09:49:33 11-05-2007

MrSensible 11 May 2007 09:54:26 26,517 posts
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FluffyTucker wrote:

thefilthandthefury wrote:
Ah perfect, sounds more suited to me than WoW then. I got a bit bored of WoW quite quickly, especially the way it all seems geared towards either huge raids or making you do PvP, which I'm also not interested in.

This one sounds more more style.

If you don't raid or PvP at endgame, what else is there to do exactly? In WoW you can craft at end game now as a viable alternative to raiding, what do you do in LOTR, play instruments?

Yeah but the game seems designed to push you towards it from the very start, IMO. I'd rather they just added fun new quests and some decent storylines (something WoW seriously lacks) from time to time. I'm a bigger fan of Guild Wars than WoW, if that helps explain.

magicpanda 11 May 2007 09:55:27 15,130 posts
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Cratfting as a viable alternative to raiding? All the very best craftable items are only available to raiders in WOW.

Its raid or die unfortunately, Im speaking from bitter experience. Pvp is so incredibly broken right now its not worth the bother.

Edited by Magic Panda at 09:56:59 11-05-2007

Pike 11 May 2007 10:01:06 13,459 posts
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Well, isn't it a bit wierd to compare WoW's endgame to LotRO's at this point, seeing as the latter doesn't even have an end game yet, as I understand it?

MrSensible 11 May 2007 10:06:26 26,517 posts
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Pike wrote:
Well, isn't it a bit wierd to compare WoW's endgame to LotRO's at this point, seeing as the latter doesn't even have an end game yet, as I understand it?

Definitely, but I was just interested in knowing if this game was already trying to push you in that direction and it seems it doesn't. Maybe it doesn't have a direction yet, I'm not sure. WoW seems to be gearing you up for PvP and only PvP from almost the start of the game and I'm just not keen on that.

What I'd like is for them to add new storylines from time to time to keep the main game fresh... quests with proper stories = me very happy

WoW seems to lack that. Sure they did the expansion pack, but I'm not talking about it on that scale. I'd just be happy if they stuck up a quest or two every couple of weeks for us when the endgame inevitably comes.

Edited by thefilthandthefury at 10:06:52 11-05-2007

warlockuk 11 May 2007 10:19:07 19,519 posts
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Pike wrote:
Well, isn't it a bit wierd to compare WoW's endgame to LotRO's at this point, seeing as the latter doesn't even have an end game yet, as I understand it?

Aye, though in fairness to LOTRO WoW didn't really have an endgame when it launched.

Pike 11 May 2007 10:23:55 13,459 posts
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thefilthandthefury wrote:
I'd just be happy if they stuck up a quest or two every couple of weeks for us when the endgame inevitably comes.

Well, patch 2.1.0 will bring plenty of solo and five man content for casual end game players in WoW, so at least they are trying.

LoRO might turn out to be a better end game experience in all respects than WoW, but it's still far too early too tell.

However I have to admit that the five man and raiding aspects is what I enjoy in WoW. The leveling and questing is just an obstacle on the way.

magicpanda 11 May 2007 10:50:52 15,130 posts
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I hear Turbine have a fairly good track record with regards to updating content frequently.

As far as the raiding goes, the first raid content is arriving in June for Lotro. I think wow released with Onyxia (big dragon for 40 people to kill)

Probably not something I'll get heavily involved in when it arrives in lotro unless its a fairly casual endeavour. I cant get into that hardcore mindset any more, I'm getting too old for that sheeit.

Blizzard made some heavy mistakes in what they did with BC, they alienated a massive portion of the old hardcore community by making old content and items completely obsolete within a few days of the expansion (in some cases mere hours), however those coming into it more recently will have a blast and, like Pike says, the incoming patch has some really nice additions.

Anyway.. 2 different beasts imo. Both have their merits but at the moment lotro edges out in front as its all new and fresh and the world itself is very immersive and very pretty. (proper mountains reflected in mile-wide lakes for the win) I'm sure in a couple of months ill be bitching, moaning about the game and having ridiculous arguments about hobbits and mathematical equations involved in punching them in the face.

Edited by Magic Panda at 10:51:55 11-05-2007

Pike 11 May 2007 10:55:05 13,459 posts
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Magic Panda wrote:
Both have their merits but at the moment lotro edges out in front as its all new and fresh...

I can absolutely understand that argument. I mean I'm not too interested in switching, but then I've played WoW for less than a year, so things like raiding is still fresh and new too me. If I, like a lot of others, were on my third year of WoW I would probably be looking for something new as well.

Laserbream 11 May 2007 10:55:05 545 posts
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Been a bit put off this game by reading the forums. I had been under the impression that turbine had done away with the devoted healer class but from what I've read, bards are pretty much required to do a lot of the higher level stuff.

Whizzo 11 May 2007 11:05:28 44,810 posts
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Captains can do some heals as well plus rez. The only group heal my captain has at the moment can only be used when an enemy dies though so it's a good idea to take down weak enemies if you're fighting a cluster.

Of course if you're fighting a signature/elite creature and your Fellowship breaks its defences then it's conjunction time and do a good "hand" at that and you'll do lots of damage, heal, power up and scare the shit out of yourself when you conjure something you've never seen before.

Conjunctions rock.

magicpanda 11 May 2007 11:11:42 15,130 posts
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I'm loving my 'desperate flight' ability at the moment, its the ultimate in escaping when pick up groups go horribly wrong.

In the middle of combat when everyone is dying around me I can hit a button and warp back to the nearest rally point/graveyard without a scratch and no horrific repair costs.

I can have the campfire already set up when the dead start arriving.

The Lord of the Rings Online • Page 6