Lord of the Rings Online

[Asher]

You need to be online with both to invite. I can invite you later tonight.

There's 3 different distinct starting zones for quests, by the way.

The Shire (Hobbit) is known as the best by most, but there's also Man (Breeland) and Elf & Dwarf (Erid Luin -- elf and dwarf start off very distinct but then merge together). Should try them all. You can swift travel from all of the starting zones from eachother, so you can make a man then go quest in The Shire, etc. Definitely recommended.

[Asher]

Apparently the creator of Diablo worked on LOTRO for a while? Now he's heading up the new Marvel MMO it seems.

http://kotaku.com/5319887/diablo-creator-behind-new-marvel-mmo

And I bought a 1st age legendary weapon (Champion's Filikul Speer) off the auction house last night, it was a steal. Working on levelling it up at the moment. The new legacies are far more potent.

[vee4473]

You need to be online with both to invite. I can invite you later tonight.

There's 3 different distinct starting zones for quests, by the way.

The Shire (Hobbit) is known as the best by most, but there's also Man (Breeland) and Elf & Dwarf (Erid Luin -- elf and dwarf start off very distinct but then merge together). Should try them all. You can swift travel from all of the starting zones from eachother, so you can make a man then go quest in The Shire, etc. Definitely recommended.

I didn't really like the shire myself. Some of it is fun, but a bit too laid back for the most part. But that's still good as another option if you want that type of easy going fat and happy hobbit type thing going on for the first few levels.

Anyway, i've been 60 on my hunter for a while now and am a little bored since i'm not that big into the repeatable end game instances. I'm trying to get more deeds done and am doing more in Lothlorien (although gathering boar meat and picking berries is a little much too). Still don’t have a lot of my legendary traits. Always on the lookout for a better legendary bow too.

I'm not as down on the legendary item system as some are over at the main forums (do you post there Asher?), but some more customization would be nice instead of the lottery-like thing going on now. But, I still really like the idea and I think they have a gem in the rough with this one.

I still like the game alot. I'm having alot of fun running through the revamped early areas and playing alts. I also like the crafting system for the most part. I really like that, at least from 1-50, crafting has been structured to offer some of the best gear in the game. I love having my hunter make a club or hammer to send to my guardian (or staff to my lore master) that is one of the best weapons they can have at their level.

There is something about the "flavor" of this game that I really like. Can't put my finger on it, but it tastes good.

I just wish they would do more for pvmp. Whether it started as a side game or not, I think it has become popular enough to be taken more seriously by Turbine. I wouldn't mind some more structured, even instanced, battles that revolve around some of the more notable LOTR battles. As it is, pvmp is hit and miss at best.

If they did that, I would consider myself home as far as mmo’s go….until swtor comes out

[Asher]

I only browse the LOTRO forums, never really post in them.

I've actually never played a single round of PvMP...just not something I'm at all interested in. I'm happy playing the main and the alts. I'm just now starting to do the end-game instance runs, but so far they're much better than the WoW ones from back when I played. There's just more to it, it's not go room by room clearing them mindlessly.

Halls of Mirrors is fantastic. Looks great, too.

[vee4473]

I only browse the LOTRO forums, never really post in them.

I've actually never played a single round of PvMP...just not something I'm at all interested in. I'm happy playing the main and the alts. I'm just now starting to do the end-game instance runs, but so far they're much better than the WoW ones from back when I played. There's just more to it, it's not go room by room clearing them mindlessly.

Halls of Mirrors is fantastic. Looks great, too.

I'm pretty happy with doing pve too, but I always like some pvp and the LOTR world would be my world of choice for it.

Pvmp can be fun if you go in during a sweet spot where both sides are equally balanced and have a decent number of people. It's basically a bunch of keeps and camps scattered around a big map. You bascially need alot of organization on both sides to get anything going. Good luck with that. It needs the structure of some sort of instancing system if you ask me. The sandbox pvp thing sounds good on paper, but it never really works out in game. Basically, you wander into the zone through a free peoples camp and ask "anything going on in here?" Then you hope someone invites you to a battle raid somewhere or you leave.

Granted, you are on Brandywine which probably has a bigger population for it.

There are also pve quests to do, so it's also similar to a wow pvp server in that zone. The whole pvmp concept is very good since you never have any of the pve classes going up against each other. If there are imbalances in pvp they can just adjust the monster players to bring things in line. Theoretically that removes the nerf chain that affects pve which happens elsewhere.

Again, another diamond in the rough for Turbine.

[Asher]

I'll have to check it out some time. From what I'd heard, it's for ranged combat and casters only. I've heard it's not too great for Champions.

[vee4473]

Yeah, something i didn't mention. If it's just a handful of freeps versus a handful of creeps, then it's mostly a ranged standoff (unless neither side has ranged players). You can try as a champion, but unless they have no ranged monster players, it's pretty much a suicide run. Especially those dog gone spiders...

But, if there is a good battle raging with 15+ per side, then your champ has a decent chance of sneaking in through all the confusion and bashing some heads.

Don't get me wrong, if you have ALOT of in game friends and can coordinate it so a bunch of them log into their creeps and a bunch on their freeps, then it's a blast. I've been in a bunch of large battles that I lucked upon and it was pretty good. (the rez points stink though).

It's just that that's not as common as the opposite happening. (little to no action or it being so unorganized and scattered that it's a waste.) reminds me of warhammer.

[vee4473]

Oh, and one of the more memorable ones was when I lucked into the area when there was a raid of about 30-40 people. I joined in and they actually had some decent leaders.

I gotta say, it's pretty impressive to see 30+ players all mount up on their horses and storm across the landscape together towards a creep stronghold.

Horseclops and all sounding like a stampede. Good stuff when it happens. Zoom out a little and enjoy the movie.

[Asher]

I got my first piece of radiance gear last night (Blademaster's Boots).

[DrSpike]

I got my first piece of radiance gear last night (Blademaster's Boots).

Shamelessly ripping off Warcraft.

[Asher]

What?

[Asher]

That "long walk" (Hobbit walking across Middle Earth) thread I posted has finished.

Here's a YouTube slideshow of it.

[DrSpike]

What?

I'm quite surprised you didn't get it.

[Asher]

I'm not, considering you weren't clear. If you google Blademaster's Boots, all of the references are LOTRO.

AFAIK Radiance isn't a WoW concept either.

[Asher]

FYI...I've switched kins from Shades of Twilight to the Brandywine Brewing Company.

The old kin is still very much kickin' and the best fit for all of you guys, as the BBC is more end-game/L58+ focused while still keeping the emphasis on the fun and casual aspect (eg, no bull**** like DKP or mandatory raiding). But the Shades of Twilight are a better fit for all of you guys as they're mostly in the 10-50 range and very readily give out lots of leveling and quest help, and advice. The more personal nature of the Shades will help too.

So keep me on your friends list, I'll still pimp you guys with crafted gear and help whenever needed. Send me a /tell!