Lord of the Rings Online

[Asher]

Got in the beta and played for a few hours last night.

Initial impressions:
1) It is way prettier than Vanguard
2) It runs way smoother than Vanguard
3) The interface is way better than Vanguard
4) The quest system is way better than Vanguard
5) Combat is more fun than Vanguard

LOTRO may compete with WoW in terms of popularity...

[ZargonX]

I am in the beta is well, and I find it to be rather "blah." It is very pretty, that's for sure, but it just feels like WoW wrapped in Tolkein so far. Granted, that by itself will probably get it a lot of users, but I don't think I'll be signing up.

[Asher]

It's good for me, I loved WoW but after a couple years it got stale for me. I unsubscribed back in October, and was looking for a new MMORPG...

[ZargonX]

Yeah, I left WoW a couple years ago, and have been checking out new ones now and then to see if anything grabs my interest. Nothing yet, unfortunately! (or is that fortunately?)

[Jon Miller]

I still love EVE.

A good LOTR game is something I would play though!

When does it come out?

JM
(not playing Vanguard)

[Vesayen]

This game is the end of Turbine. It is ALL flash, NO content. Turbine had an incredible thing with Asherons Call... not very popular but a good game. AC2 was crap and went under immediatly. DnD online is also unpopular. LOTRO is not goint to keep its player base.... are they going to be able to afford to release a fourth flop in a row, after LOTRO?

[Harovan]

Jeez, do you really not get, that this thread is not an information pro LOTRO, but a troll anti Vanguard? Meant for the few people who give a sheit about Ashers opinion, that is.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Vesayen
This game is the end of Turbine. It is ALL flash, NO content. Turbine had an incredible thing with Asherons Call... not very popular but a good game. AC2 was crap and went under immediatly. DnD online is also unpopular. LOTRO is not goint to keep its player base.... are they going to be able to afford to release a fourth flop in a row, after LOTRO?

I strongly disagree, I think LOTRO is going to be fairly popular.

AC2 was crap, and DnD is a niche game.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Asher

DnD is a niche game.

i.e. it's a flop and no one plays it.

[Asher]

I consider a flop something that falls short of expectations, and for DnD I don't think that's the case.

[Kuciwalker]

DnDO is stupid because, by all accounts, it has nothing to actually appeal to DnD fans, it's just a WoW clone with a bit of DnD setting.

[Bosh]

Castrated PvP

*yawn*

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Asher
I consider a flop something that falls short of expectations, and for DnD I don't think that's the case.

So it's not a flop because it was obvious late on in the beta that it wasn't going to be a success? A very odd criterion indeed.

Expectations for this game were high before people got sight of it. It was and is a flop.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
DnDO is stupid because, by all accounts, it has nothing to actually appeal to DnD fans, it's just a WoW clone with a bit of DnD setting.

One can level lots of criticisms at DDO, but being a WoW close is not one of them.

[Asher]

Originally posted by DrSpike
So it's not a flop because it was obvious late on in the beta that it wasn't going to be a success? A very odd criterion indeed.

What the hell is this?

I don't think it's a flop because I don't think anyone thought this could be a mass-market game like WoW. I think they knew it was a niche game to start with, and so it is. As long as they make some money on it, which I'm sure they will given that their game engine is basically the same as AC2/LOTRO, then it's not a flop.

A flop is a game like Vanguard, since their own expectations were enormous and it falls somewhat under DnD in terms of fun.