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[Mojojo]

Not much traffic in this thread lately. I just started playing today and I'm level 10 already. I'm having a bunch of fun tooling around in the Shire.

So is there a guide out there for newbies? I'm not used to MMOs at all, I'd really benefit from some kind of LOTRO guide for new MMO players. I was invited to a Fellowship once, but the guys just kinda scattered, so I didn't see any point to it.

Also, are there any essential items to buy in the LOTRO store? Your bags fill up super quickly with stuff you can't sell (and really seem quite pointless) so bags seem to be a no-brainer. I'm really early in the game right now so I'm not yet interested in expansions or the advanced classes.

Thanks to anyone who replies!

I would suggest not buying anything in the store until level 20+, even more if it's your first char.
The only thing that could be useful to a lowbie are mounts , but its linked to your char and not your account so it could be a waste if at level 20 you don't like your char anymore.

I can recommend this site to maximise points for the store with deed completion :
http://lotro.mmorsel.com/p/tpfinder.html#tab2 .
But for a first char it's better to avoid guides altogether .. For gameplay questions, I found people very helpful on the advice channel in-game (I play on laurelyn EU rp server).

Can a mod put this thread in the community forum btw, thanks

 

[GDJustin]

Not much traffic in this thread lately. I just started playing today and I'm level 10 already. I'm having a bunch of fun tooling around in the Shire.

So is there a guide out there for newbies? I'm not used to MMOs at all, I'd really benefit from some kind of LOTRO guide for new MMO players. I was invited to a Fellowship once, but the guys just kinda scattered, so I didn't see any point to it.

Also, are there any essential items to buy in the LOTRO store? Your bags fill up super quickly with stuff you can't sell (and really seem quite pointless) so bags seem to be a no-brainer. I'm really early in the game right now so I'm not yet interested in expansions or the advanced classes.

Thanks to anyone who replies!

Inventory space and the quest packs (once you run out of free ones) are must-haves. Other than that, it's really up to the player. The in-game store sells things that give players shortcuts. XP boosters, health potions (so they don't need to spend in-game gold), etc. If you want to "stretch" your Turbine Points, just avoid those items.

Only spend TP on things that can't be obtained in-game normally. The XP boosters are especially sad. People are paying real money to rush through... the game itself. The game IS the point.

Maybe people with lots of TP are buying them to level alts, or something...

 

[Htown]

turbine has been linking a few newbie guides in the game launcher's news feed for the last few weeks. take a look at those.

as stated, the most important thing you can buy from the store is the quest pack stuff. the quests and storylines are the best part of the game. don't rush to the level cap. then buy inventory space and bank slots. skirmishes are good, too, but i don't know if they come with the quest packs or not.

 

[Gaaraz]

Girlfriend hates video games but for some reason really wants to try this out, problem is we only have 1 PC capable of doing the job:

Acer Revo with non existent graphics (out!)
Old Toshiba laptop running Windows XP and integrated graphics (out!)
Brand new Macbook running OSX (out!)
i7 Desktop with good graphics card, 8GB RAM and two monitors.

What is the best solution for this? Is there a chance I could run two instances (one on each monitor) on the desktop? Is she going to have to get bootcamp or something and buy a copy of Windows for her Macbook? Would it even run it properly?

Cheers

 

[Haeleos]

 

[Haeleos]

Girlfriend hates video games but for some reason really wants to try this out, problem is we only have 1 PC capable of doing the job:

Acer Revo with non existent graphics (out!)
Old Toshiba laptop running Windows XP and integrated graphics (out!)
Brand new Macbook running OSX (out!)
i7 Desktop with good graphics card, 8GB RAM and two monitors.

What is the best solution for this? Is there a chance I could run two instances (one on each monitor) on the desktop? Is she going to have to get bootcamp or something and buy a copy of Windows for her Macbook? Would it even run it properly?

Cheers

It's possible to play the game on Mac, but I've done research into it for a friend and it looks like a huge hassle to get it working. It might be your only choice, though. I have an i7 with a Radeon 4770 and 4gb of RAM and I was getting a pretty big fps drop, but I was also running both clients at max while in a capital city.

The game does allow two clients to play on the same PC though. No harm in trying though because the game is F2P, so it's not like you have anything to lose.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

I hate when posters ask questions like these, but I have to do it.

I'm thinking about giving LOTR online or D&D online a shot. I have 0 experience with MMO's, and I like both licenses equally. Seeing as they're both free figure no harm in dabbling in one or the other for a little bit. Any recommendations which one I should go with? Thanks.

 

[TheExodu5]

LOTRO, easily.

 

[gabe90]

I hate when posters ask questions like these, but I have to do it.

I'm thinking about giving LOTR online or D&D online a shot. I have 0 experience with MMO's, and I like both licenses equally. Seeing as they're both free figure no harm in dabbling in one or the other for a little bit. Any recommendations which one I should go with? Thanks.

LOTRO is the newer game and has been getting constant updates from Turbine, recently with new introductory levels. I would definitely go LOTRO.

 

[WillyFive]

LOTRO is fun and interesting as well.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Sounds like LOTR it is, thanks guys.

 

[BattleMonkey]

Try both, they are very different styles of MMO. LOTRO will probably appeal more being newer and easier for a person to get into. I liked DnD though as it has lot of unique gameplay elements that set it apart, and it also gets frequent updates. They are both free, no harm in trying them both

 

[D23]

downloading the client right now! cant wait to play it.
what server are you guys playing it on?

 

[TheExodu5]

screenshots

Damn son.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Finally got a chance to play this last night and absolutely loving it so far. Only just got out of the tutorial area but I can definitely see myself putting in a bunch of hours into it.

Windfola server (just went with recommended) Lv. 6 guardian Jayromur.

Any general gameplay tips for an MMO noob? My first one ever. I have a solid grasp of gameplay as of right now, but still getting my head around the MMO staples, chat channels, servers, grouping, etc

Also, I know this has been discussed but it looks like pricing has changed a little bit. I'm currently F2P and plan on playing casually a few hours a week. Lets say the game gets its hooks in and I wanted to spend about the price of a new game, $50 - $60 for more options, what would get me the most bang for my buck? Sounds like getting a 3 month subscription and then buying the expansions seems popular, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[AndyD]

Finally got a chance to play this last night and absolutely loving it so far. Only just got out of the tutorial area but I can definitely see myself putting in a bunch of hours into it.

Windfola server (just went with recommended) Lv. 6 guardian Jayromur.

Any general gameplay tips for an MMO noob? My first one ever. I have a solid grasp of gameplay as of right now, but still getting my head around the MMO staples, chat channels, servers, grouping, etc

Also, I know this has been discussed but it looks like pricing has changed a little bit. I'm currently F2P and plan on playing casually a few hours a week. Lets say the game gets its hooks in and I wanted to spend about the price of a new game, $50 - $60 for more options, what would get me the most bang for my buck? Sounds like getting a 3 month subscription and then buying the expansions seems popular, but any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

My version of best for the buck is this:
- see if you can find a copy of the expansions to buy online for cheap. It comes with a 30 day free trial (which gets you VIP status) and the expansion. I got Moria for 6 dollars shipped.
- If not, play around to level 20 on f2p.
- then get VIP for 1-3 months. This will let you get your riding skill for free and let you play through a lot of zones for free before you go back to Premium.
- at that point you should have some TP you can spend on whatever areas you are in or are coming up.

ALso, zones go on mega sale every month or so, for about 50-80% off. So wait until a mega sale to spend TP on a zone.

Excellent game.

 

[BattleMonkey]

I enjoyed the game for a while but about halfway through and it just stopped being fun, I dunno. It seemed to get grindy to me with very boring quests.... kill more bears? Again? Really?

What should I be doing to get back into this?

 

[Haeleos]

I enjoyed the game for a while but about halfway through and it just stopped being fun, I dunno. It seemed to get grindy to me with very boring quests.... kill more bears? Again? Really?

What should I be doing to get back into this?

Have you tried skirmishes? I usually do them to break up the quests.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

My version of best for the buck is this:
- see if you can find a copy of the expansions to buy online for cheap. It comes with a 30 day free trial (which gets you VIP status) and the expansion. I got Moria for 6 dollars shipped.
- If not, play around to level 20 on f2p.
- then get VIP for 1-3 months. This will let you get your riding skill for free and let you play through a lot of zones for free before you go back to Premium.
- at that point you should have some TP you can spend on whatever areas you are in or are coming up.

ALso, zones go on mega sale every month or so, for about 50-80% off. So wait until a mega sale to spend TP on a zone.

Excellent game.

Awesome, thanks for the insight. I have to keep an eye out for those sales, STEAM style.

 

[Haeleos]

Awesome, thanks for the insight. I have to keep an eye out for those sales, STEAM style.

http://www.lotro.com/lotrostoresale

 

[Keikaku]

Downloaded the client and installed it. About to start a Dwarf Guardian (generic perhaps, but I wanted something basic to ease myself into the game)

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Downloaded the client and installed it. About to start a Dwarf Guardian (generic perhaps, but I wanted something basic to ease myself into the game)

I've been playing a human guardian, like you said relatively strait forward but still fun. Just hit level 11.

 

[DiscoJer]

I enjoyed the game for a while but about halfway through and it just stopped being fun, I dunno. It seemed to get grindy to me with very boring quests.... kill more bears? Again? Really?

What should I be doing to get back into this?

The game is fun from 1-32 or so, and from 48 to 65. But the middle part is just awful.

And yeah, they repeat a lot of the same quests over and over and over (kill x boar/bear/wolf, though sometimes it will be a lynx/or a cat). There are some really fun and imaginative quests in the game. But they are few and far between.

I can only suggest skirmishes, like the other poster. They are actually just grind, but it's better than killing boars/bears over and over and over. If not for them, I would have quit the game for good (instead of taking a 9 month break - and I have a lifetime sub, too)

Unfortunately, there haven't been any new of those in a year and I guess no plans to add any (haven't heard any mention of them). So I'm getting close to quitting again.

How a company can have so many employees and yet make so little new content is beyond me. It's still almost a year to the next XP, and that's only going to be a small one like Mirkwood was (and that at least introduced the skirmish system. Isengard apparently adds nothing...)

 

[Diatribe1974]

I forget what package I'd be listed under, but if I were to go back to LotRO, I'd be whatever had the basic game & all the expansion packs (plus like 1 or 2 of the quest packs). Game is fun, as long as you've got a Fellowship to belong to, otherwise the soloing gets a little old after awhile.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

I forget what package I'd be listed under, but if I were to go back to LotRO, I'd be whatever had the basic game & all the expansion packs (plus like 1 or 2 of the quest packs). Game is fun, as long as you've got a Fellowship to belong to, otherwise the soloing gets a little old after awhile.

If you've ever subscribed then you'd be a premium player, which gets a few small perks above a free player like an extra character slot.

VIP is a standard subscriber.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Sorry for the double post but are there any Gaffers on Winfola? About to hit level 20 and wondering if anyone would be interested in some instances / skirmishes at some point.

 

[Gaaraz]

I'm thinking of buying Bootcamp Windows 7 just to play this... do I do that, or do I just get World of Warcarft? (although 2x£10 a month would quickly cost a lot more than the former!)

 

[Sir Garbageman]

I'm thinking of buying Bootcamp Windows 7 just to play this... do I do that, or do I just get World of Warcarft? (although 2x£10 a month would quickly cost a lot more than the former!)

Try both. WoW has a free 10 day trial and LOTR Online is F2P and there is really no need to buy anything in game til you hit level 20 or so.

Personally, I gave both a try and liked LOTR Online better for a variety of reasons.

 

[Gaaraz]

Thanks Garbage, that's what I was planning but unfortunately for us both to try the free version of LotrO I'd need to splash out on bootcamp/windows 7

 

[gabe90]

Thanks Garbage, that's what I was planning but unfortunately for us both to try the free version of LotrO I'd need to splash out on bootcamp/windows 7

If the cost of Windows is the problem, then yeah.

But otherwise, I have this running on Windows through BootCamp and it runs great on my Macbook. Not as beautiful as those screen above, but still it works nicely.

 

[NemesisPrime]

How a company can have so many employees and yet make so little new content is beyond me. It's still almost a year to the next XP, and that's only going to be a small one like Mirkwood was (and that at least introduced the skirmish system. Isengard apparently adds nothing...)

I think ATM there are just collecting some hard earned cash while keeping the game running on minimum burn. A lot of people love LOTRO (me included) and once the unwashed masses start to revolt will Turbine announce a new big expansion IMHO.

To be fair, there is a serious amount of content for new players. Enough to keep you busy for quite some months.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Did this game see a giant boost in revenue and subscriptions like DDO when it went free to play?

Going F2P definitely worked in my case, about to hit level 20 and I'm going to go ahead and subscribe for three months. First MMO subscription ever for me. Hopefully the game has some legs.

 

[NemesisPrime]

Did this game see a giant boost in revenue and subscriptions like DDO when it went free to play?

Going F2P definitely worked in my case, about to hit level 20 and I'm going to go ahead and subscribe for three months. First MMO subscription ever for me. Hopefully the game has some legs.

Yes it did.

That is probably why Turbine is sitting back a bit now enjoying the money. Not everybody can generate money like WoW

 

[Koomaster]

I think ATM there are just collecting some hard earned cash while keeping the game running on minimum burn. A lot of people love LOTRO (me included) and once the unwashed masses start to revolt will Turbine announce a new big expansion IMHO.

To be fair, there is a serious amount of content for new players. Enough to keep you busy for quite some months.

I started around October sometime and there are still 2 zones I haven't even touched yet. So there is loads of content to explore.

It's my first mmo and I've really been enjoying it; almost don't need other games because of it. ^___^;

 

[Gaaraz]

Thanks Gab! We're going to give it a test run on my PC (since it's already installed) and if my gf likes it I'll get bootcamp on her Mac Cheers!

 

[DrXym]

The game is fun from 1-32 or so, and from 48 to 65. But the middle part is just awful.

And yeah, they repeat a lot of the same quests over and over and over (kill x boar/bear/wolf, though sometimes it will be a lynx/or a cat). There are some really fun and imaginative quests in the game. But they are few and far between.

I'm level 40 and it's really becoming a bit of a grind at the minute. There is so much travel involved that even with teleporting / fast travel it's a bit of a bind.

I do think LOTRO has a lot of great quests but there is no denying that the meat and potatoes quests are a bit dull. There is also way too much repetition in the wildlife. Must be 20+ variants of wolves, bears, crows etc.

 

[Haeleos]

I'm level 40 and it's really becoming a bit of a grind at the minute. There is so much travel involved that even with teleporting / fast travel it's a bit of a bind.

I do think LOTRO has a lot of great quests but there is no denying that the meat and potatoes quests are a bit dull. There is also way too much repetition in the wildlife. Must be 20+ variants of wolves, bears, crows etc.

A lot of the classes and factions also grant abilities that let you fast travel to specific places or other players (like Captains, which can muster people to them, and most of the factions have "Return to" skills that unlock at high reputation).

If you're trying to do instances as well, you can now use the skirmish menu to join them from anywhere so there isn't a wait time once you get a group together for instances. While not as "instant" as WoW's dungeon finder, I think LotRO has a lot more ways of getting to where you're trying to go without losing the sense that you are in a giant world.

But I agree with you on the lack of enemy variation through the mid game.

 

[BattleMonkey]

I think ATM there are just collecting some hard earned cash while keeping the game running on minimum burn. A lot of people love LOTRO (me included) and once the unwashed masses start to revolt will Turbine announce a new big expansion IMHO.

To be fair, there is a serious amount of content for new players. Enough to keep you busy for quite some months.

I just don't find it to really have that much content since it all feels so padded. There is a lot of repetition and I suppose because of fluff limitations, you get the same damn quests over and over again. The game really milks the whole destroy 20 X creatures type of thing and I'm having a hard time in the mid levels caring to play every time I log on. Other games at least mask it by having you do slighty different things in quests or at least having more enemy variety, but here they just keep repeating enemy types.... kill 30 bears... kill 20 wolves... kill 20 more bears.... now more wolves... bears again!

 

[WillyFive]

Other games at least mask it by having you do slighty different things in quests or at least having more enemy variety, but here they just keep repeating enemy types.... kill 30 bears... kill 20 wolves... kill 20 more bears.... now more wolves... bears again!

Yeah, this gets on my nerves.

 

[Druz]

Lack of enemy variety is what happens when you aren't allowed to deviate from the intellectual property its based off of.

 

[GDJustin]

*Finally* was able to properly dive into LOTRO this weekend. Got a new Mac with bootcamp set up. First thing I did in the Windows environment was download the high-res LOTRO client overnight :lol.

Overall, as an occasional WoW player, LOTRO is really great. It's basically WoW but with a gorgeous, more realistic at style, better writing, more mature player base, and a game universe I actually care about.

Just about the only thing marring my experience is some shenanigans with my MoM key. I won a sealed MoM Collector's Edition in a contest some time back. It's been sitting in my closet, waiting for the day I would get into LOTRO. I tried to register the key this weekend, but it shows up as already in use. I *MIGHT* have used the key a year or two ago, when I DLed the lotro free trial and messed around in it. I honestly do not remember. But if that's the case, I should have access to the Moria classes and other perks (premium status, etc) which I don't.

Lastly, the F2P stuff seems... a little pricey. I thought points were 1:1 with dollars. So 100 points was $1, and so on. But seeing that one point is actually $1.2 - $1.5 changes things. This means each bag slot is about $7.50, quest packs are over $9, etc.

I was looking at the store history, and in Turbine's defense it does seem I just missed a mega-sale. One nice thing about sales is that you can actually hit a double sale. Buy points themselves on sale, and then buy sale items with those points. Def. wish I could have nabbed some quest packs for 149 points.

I'm probably going to subscribe, because buying both bag slots is already more $$ than just subbing for a whole month. But does anyone have a guide to what you get to *keep* when you're no longer a VIP? That element still confuses me. I know some stuff you get to keep even if you downgrade from VIP, but some you lose...

Edit: Answered my own VIP question (somewhat):

If I decide to downgrade from VIP to Premium player, what will happen to the gold I have earned through gameplay? Will I lose the gold beyond the 5 gold cap that Premium players have by default?
If you downgrade from VIP to Premium player, you will not lose any of the gold that you have earned through the game. Because you were a VIP, you will not be subject to the gold limit of Premium players.

If I decide to downgrade from VIP to Premium player status, what will happen to my inventory bags?
If you downgrade from VIP to Premium player, you will not lose any of the inventory bags that you had as a VIP. Because you were a VIP, you will not be subject to the inventory bag limit of Premium players.

So, it seems like there's really no reason to buy certain things, like the bag slots. Buying two bag slots would be $15. A month-long sub is also $15, and comes with the bag slots as a permanent side-effect...

 

[Affeinvasion]

There is a pretty sizable update coming (hopefully) pretty soon, that among other things adds about 100+ quests to Evendim (the place with the huge lake). I'm mad I missed out on the double points sale, but hopefully they have something like that for their anniversary which I believe is in April.

I'm at 40 right now, and it'll be an unfun grind without being able to go to Angmar or the Misty Mountains to do some quests. So I'll probably take a break until points go on sale.

Subscribing for a month is the best thing to do and doing it off of a boxed Mines of Moria expansion means you get the two extra classes which are pretty cool and a bunch of other stuff (including an extra 2 character slots...I have 5 now).

As for what gets downgraded when you go from VIP to Premium:

http://lotro.mmorsel.com/2010/09/best-lotro-account-type.html

(It has more info than the Turbine website)

 

[GDJustin]

There is a pretty sizable update coming (hopefully) pretty soon, that among other things adds about 100+ quests to Evendim (the place with the huge lake). I'm mad I missed out on the double points sale, but hopefully they have something like that for their anniversary which I believe is in April.

I'm at 40 right now, and it'll be an unfun grind without being able to go to Angmar or the Misty Mountains to do some quests. So I'll probably take a break until points go on sale.

Subscribing for a month is the best thing to do and doing it off of a boxed Mines of Moria expansion means you get the two extra classes which are pretty cool and a bunch of other stuff (including an extra 2 character slots...I have 5 now).

As for what gets downgraded when you go from VIP to Premium:

http://lotro.mmorsel.com/2010/09/best-lotro-account-type.html

(It has more info than the Turbine website)

Yeah. I mean I subbed to WoW for about 12 months, and then resubbed for a few months with each expansion. So I'm not opposed to it. Most guides advise waiting to lvl 20 to get the free mount, but I'm tired of my bags being constantly filled. I made it to lvl 12 this weekend, and once the issue with my Moria product key is sorted I'll probably subscribe for a bit and see where that gets me.

 

[dragonfart28]

Dumb question for you guys... do you think I could play this game with a mini-pc? I'd like to hook it up to my TV and take up very minimal space..

 

[AndyD]

Dumb question for you guys... do you think I could play this game with a mini-pc? I'd like to hook it up to my TV and take up very minimal space..

If its strong enough sure. I play it on my laptop along with my desktop. It does not look as good on the laptop, but its still enjoyable. The biggest issue might be the size of text if you sit too far away.

I am also thinking of setting up a small HTPC to play games on my PC, but I think I will try for something good enough to play semi-modern STEAM games as well.

 

[Stahsky]

Nice pics

Is this max settings or something? Pardon the ignorance. I've only played a few days of this game back before it launched.

 

[Kapura]

Just installed and patched, gonna go in blindly. Let's see how it stands up to the other RPG juggernauts I've sampled.

 

[Izayoi]

Just installed and patched, gonna go in blindly. Let's see how it stands up to the other RPG juggernauts I've sampled.

It's very pretty.

 

[The Elite]

Just installed and patched, gonna go in blindly. Let's see how it stands up to the other RPG juggernauts I've sampled.

Just downloaded this myself. Will dive in tomorrow.

 

[DiscoJer]

Dumb question for you guys... do you think I could play this game with a mini-pc? I'd like to hook it up to my TV and take up very minimal space..

I run it on an 8 year old desktop PC on medium settings, 1440x900, and get 30-40 fps...

Whatever else my problems with the game, it's not how it runs (which is pretty amazing, considering how good the landscapes look).

That said, you really need at least 2 gigs of ram. But otherwise, heck yes. Though as mentioned, since it seems to be designed for older hardware, the UI can be kind of well, small. I sometimes have to lean closer to the monitor to see my inventory...