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LoTRO info, for those that want it

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 9:11
by Wiggy
There were some rumblings about people maybe wanting to play this in the 5punkcraft thread, so here's some info about it, for the people that can't be arsed to look it up (people like me then)

Sub: about £8-ish a month, similar to the other MMOs, I think there's a trial you can get as well.

Classes: As far as I can remember there's seven...
Champion - Damage dealer, uses Heavy armour and 1H or 2H blades/axes/clubs
Guardian - Tank, uses sword/axe/mace and shield
Captain - Heavy armour wearing buff machine. Has a pet that gives more buffs. Polearms/2H weapons. Not many ranged attacks.
Minstrel - Healing class. Uses a lute to play healing songs, also has a sword and light shield.
Burglar - Sneaky bastard class. Similar to Rogue in WoW.
Lore-master - Think Gandalf with a pet and you're pretty much there.
Hunter - Ranged DPS class, has bow or crossbow and two 1H melee weapons.

Areas to explore - It's the first part of the books, basically. The Shire, areas round Bree, Lone Lands, Rivendell, Misty Mountains, Angmar. All of these areas are PvE (as everyone plays the good guys) but there is a PvP area in the Ettenmoors where you can play as a Monster (warg, uruk etc) or as your own character. IIRC, Moria and Rohan are getting opened up in the next big expansion.

Recommended server: I know me and FJ have got characters on Gilrain, but personally I think Snowbourn might be a good choice as we can all make a fresh start :)

The story is basically that in the first part of the books, up to the characters leaving Rivendell. There is a lot of stuff in the game that wasn't in the movies, as it is based more on the books, so some things may not be instantly recognisable (the Old Forest and Barrow-downs, for example). There is a long chain of quests that you can dip into and out of called Books. Each book is a quest line of about 10-14 chapters each, and you get a nice reward at the end of it. Book one is about level 10-12, and I think by the time you hit Book 9 you're at level 50. Obviously there's other quests too, but it's a good way to get some nice rewards.

Level cap is 50, but I think this is due to be raised to 60 in the next expansion. Mount comes at level 35. Cash is worked on 1Gold = 1000 silver, 1 silver = 100 copper. You might not get 1 gold till level 20 then :D

Anything I've missed?

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 10:07
by Dog Pants
I've heard it's very team based. How soloable is it? I'd like to give this a go, but my game time's pretty limited for the time being.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 10:20
by Wiggy
Dog Pants wrote:I've heard it's very team based. How soloable is it? I'd like to give this a go, but my game time's pretty limited for the time being.
I pretty much soloed it all the way to 50. The books are very team-based though, quite a lot of those quests can't be done without a full team of five.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 10:24
by Dog Pants
That doesn't sound too bad for those of us who can stay a similar level. What's the team system like? What kind of level difference can there be? Also, how individual are characters? That's a big one for me.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 10:45
by Sheriff Fatman
Wiggy wrote: I pretty much soloed it all the way to 50. The books are very team-based though, quite a lot of those quests can't be done without a full team of five.
:above:

You can quite happily solo for much of the game but there is also loads of team content, much of which are the main plot quests, which you will need to group up for. Grouping in LotRO is a lot less painful than some other MMO's. Generally, the players are quite sensible and people tend to make good use of the excellent chat system for finding/organising groups.

There is a depth of story in LotRO that is peerless among MMO's in my opinion. Obviously it has a leg up because of all the work Tolkien put into the lore, but it has been very well realised in the game and makes for a compelling experience.
Dog Pants wrote:That doesn't sound too bad for those of us who can stay a similar level. What's the team system like? What kind of level difference can there be? Also, how individual are characters? That's a big one for me.
The team system is your standard fare, there's no side-kicking but there is no limit either way with regard to who you can group with. I haven't the foggiest how level/xp capping works if you are grouped with higher/lower levels.

As for individual, I take it you mean appearance-wise? There is loads of gear and it's all dye-able so you very rarely see 2 people who look the same.

btw, I'm on Snowbourn. It's nice and busy, I can make you any weapon you want and I have loads of gold, so if anyone fancies a try, hop on and I'll sort you out :)

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:23
by Dog Pants
Sounds like it's worth a go. I'm just getting back into Warcraft again, which I'm not finished with yet by a long shot, and my time's limited, but seeing as I'm not short of cash at the moment I might give it a whirl.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:24
by Dr. kitteny berk
I assume lotro europe?

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:31
by Sheriff Fatman
Jep.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:33
by Dog Pants
Christ. Anyone know where I could buy it? Both Amazon and Play don't have it and I'm fucked if I'm dumb enough to buy a second hand copy on marketplace. I reckon if I buy it online I'll be downloading it until tuesday.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:36
by Dr. kitteny berk
Dog Pants wrote:Christ. Anyone know where I could buy it? Both Amazon and Play don't have it and I'm fucked if I'm dumb enough to buy a second hand copy on marketplace. I reckon if I buy it online I'll be downloading it until tuesday.
you wish, it's over 9000, or 8.2GB.

Gameplay have it in stock.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:39
by Sheriff Fatman
Go and see the men in purple shirts? Maybe the local supermarkets, but I suspect it's a little old for them to keep it in stock.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:41
by Dog Pants
I can't see it. There's Battle for Middle Earth, but no Online.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:44
by Dog Pants
ASDA are selling it online for £13

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:51
by Dr. kitteny berk
so they are. also. :lol:
Choose Your Delivery Address

Use your favourite address:

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:54
by Dog Pants
Dr. kitteny berk wrote:so they are. also. :lol:
Choose Your Banana Delivery Address

Use your favourite ear:
Fix'd

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:56
by Roman Totale
I may be tempted by this given that Fairyland is the only thing I'm currently subscribed to. May try and wring the last few drops of enjoyment out of Rage of Conan then get this.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 11:56
by Wiggy
Dog Pants wrote:Choose Your Banana Delivery Address

Use your favourite ear:
HEY CHAAAARRLIIIEEEE

WAT

BLBLBLBLBLBLBL

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 14:30
by shot2bits
it does appear that there is a 14 day trial available from here http://www.codemasters.com/trylotro/englishuk/index.php if anyone else is interested in that

edit:signed up and downloading the game now, its only gonna take me 2 hours download the client

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 15:46
by spoodie
I signed up for the trial, downloaded the client and then failed to persevere. I'll stick with one MMO for now.

Posted: July 5th, 2008, 16:28
by Dr. kitteny berk
LOTRO - Doing percent wrong.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitteny_berk/2638738213/" title="lotro by Kitteny Berk, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3262/263 ... 5033_o.gif" width="366" height="225" alt="lotro"></a>