LOTRO - State of the game

[Booner]

Also, hobbits in any kind of armor look silly.

Hobbits just look silly. The lil guys just freak me out when I'm grouping with them...don't know why.

[Blackjack]

Maybe, but if I show you some of the ridiculous helms I've had (one looked like a big, ornate, upside down teapot), I think clearly you wouldn't think they looked appealing on a Dwarf, a Hobbit, an Elf, a Man or even a boar.  I'll try to share my "worst helms" pics later if I can track the images down.

It's not unique to LOTRO. AoC has some interesting helms later on, but most early ones basically make you look like Johnny Carson-as-Floyd R. Turbo (you'll probably have to be at least 40 years old to understand that comparison ). 

I'm sure Turbine would argue they "fit Tolkien Lore," but I'll bet Tolkien didn't envision people running around with upside down teapots and broom-heads and feather-dusters sticking out of the top of their skulls.  In the end, it's not a big deal. I just kinda missed the excitement I've felt in other games (even Diablo II and its clones) when I got a new helm and couldn't wait to wear it. Now the "helm excitement" in lotro is strictly about improved stats, and I keep helm visual disabled on basically all my characters.

I do like that they added a fairly affordable "barbershop" feature while I was away and you can fairly painlessly change hairstyles as the mood fits ya.

[Xmann]

ok, got it working...thanks

now, got some character build questions i really need help with.    i'm playing a Dwarf Champion and i've got him up to lvl 12 now.   however, all that i've done character build wise is trained all my skills up to my level....other than a weapon style.    i haven't spent anything on my trait or anything else.

anyone give me some pointers on what type of weapon style to train in and some general direction on how to start my build?

[TiLT]

ok, got it working...thanks

now, got some character build questions i really need help with.    i'm playing a Dwarf Champion and i've got him up to lvl 12 now.   however, all that i've done character build wise is trained all my skills up to my level....other than a weapon style.    i haven't spent anything on my trait or anything else.

anyone give me some pointers on what type of weapon style to train in and some general direction on how to start my build?

It's not important enough to give advice about. Whatever you feel works best for you is good enough. LOTRO is very casual in its approach to these things, at least until you get close to level 50. Train everything and use the best item that fits the style you want. Just keep in mind that if you're going for DPS, you should use a two-handed weapon or dual-wield, and if you want to off-tank, you should use a shield. Not that any of those options matter at low levels anyway.

There aren't really any "builds" to speak of, at least not before Moria. You can influence your character progression through traits, but you won't have a big enough selection of those for a build to make any kind of sense for a long while.

If you still insist on reading a champion guide, refer to this thread on the official forums for a list of handy discussions: http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=147553

[Booner]

Hey guys, how much coin did you have when in your upper 20s?

I've just hit 28 so I'm thinking ahead to purchasing my steed....and it seems a long way off. After training up I'm currently sitting on about 2.5 gold. I do not craft, collect and sell everything, and resist the temptation of the auction house.

Think I'll be in good shape come 35...or should I look into grinding out some coin carrying humanoids?

[The Grue]

Hey guys, how much coin did you have when in your upper 20s?

I've just hit 28 so I'm thinking ahead to purchasing my steed....and it seems a long way off. After training up I'm currently sitting on about 2.5 gold. I do not craft, collect and sell everything, and resist the temptation of the auction house.

Think I'll be in good shape come 35...or should I look into grinding out some coin carrying humanoids?

I got my horse money finally collected at 37.  I don't remember what I was at near 28, but that sounds like maybe it was ahead of where I was and I am thinking you might be good for 35.

[TiLT]

Hey guys, how much coin did you have when in your upper 20s?

I've just hit 28 so I'm thinking ahead to purchasing my steed....and it seems a long way off. After training up I'm currently sitting on about 2.5 gold. I do not craft, collect and sell everything, and resist the temptation of the auction house.

Think I'll be in good shape come 35...or should I look into grinding out some coin carrying humanoids?

As long as you don't go on a spending spree, you should have enough gold by level 35, or even before that. Your earnings will increase considerably after level 30. Even so, money is hard to come by and hard to keep in this game, especially if you want to reach Grand Master in some kind of crafting skill. I've probably spent around 100 gold just on my Metalsmith skill, and right now I'm at 6 gold after having gone through almost all the high-level content multiple times.

I sold an item for around 5 gold recently, which was extremely satisfying.

[Booner]

Ahhh...that make me feel much better about not crafting so far.

Eventually I'll get into it...but first I want a mount, then a home with a few trinkets.

[TiLT]

Ahhh...that make me feel much better about not crafting so far.

Eventually I'll get into it...but first I want a mount, then a home with a few trinkets.

Once you get a house, you won't stop at "a few trinkets".

My garden is filled with huge banners and markers from the Lossoth of Forochel, who consider me their kindred. Inside my house, you can find trophies from bears, wolves, lizards, and even some fish. A huge moose head looms over one of my storage chests. I have a nice bed to sleep in, two fireplaces, and a comfy chair and couch. I've also got a collection of boss trophies, of which the Mirror of Mordrith (the steward of Angmar) is the most valuable and sought after.

[Blackjack]

Cripes if you have 2.5 Gold, you're in far better shape and have far more willpower than I ever was/had.  We dont' have a smiley that indicates "jealousy." 

After some grueling group instances, my 48 Captain finally had about 1.3 gold. But rather than be nice and mail it back to my horse-less 36 Hunter, I blew it all on probably the most expensive 2-handed weapon in the auction house (worth it, but my Hunter cried "foul"  ) I even sent a thank you in-game mail to the guy who crafted it.

My experience (limited) is most people want to just race their crafting skill to the max and then make high-end stuff. I've tried auctioning lower-end stuff I've crafted and generally there's no interest in them (you'll generally get better quest reward stuff). At the high end though (esp. with unique or one-use recipes) are some really special things. My Captain stumbled on a rash of nice high end bow recipes in Angmar and I've been mailing those to my Hunter (who has woodworking) in hopes I can make those eventually.

There's an L50 guardian in my kin with the highest end woodworking, and he apparently can craft one-shot "acorn summoner whistles" that anyone can use to summon a fellowship member to their side (if the summonee has travel rations). Or at least I think it's woodworking (the "wood carving" animation appears when he's making an acorn).

I am not really "good" at any sort of crafting aside from Prospecting yet, but fwiw I find the crafting easier to grasp and understand in LOTRO than in many other MMOs I've tried. Auto Assault and Tabula Rasa to me had utterly baffling crafting systems. AoC I had a better handle on than those, but I didn't really find it worth my time to pursue much.

LOTRO's crafting I have a better understanding of, and some of the crafting animations (while understandably repetitive) I do find kinda fun to watch/listen to. Although, when I'm trying to catch up on a skill, I invariably have to make 25-30-35 of something at a time, and then it's time to go watch TV while I'm at the forge...

[Blackjack]

As promised, helm wise...

Helm as Broom Head... or is it a sheep head growing out of my head? Or is it the kind of wig some poor lady doling out food at the school cafeteria might wear? 


Helm as... upside down teapot?... or is it, upside down goblet? Or maybe a goblet someone mashed through a giant insect?


Thus this gal Just Says No to visible helms...

[Destructor]

I believe helms as an item that NOBODY has EVER gotten right in an MMO. All I know is that if there's an option to not display helms, I ALWAYS use it. Of course, there's also the theory that you've spent all that time customizing your face, and then you can't display it for the world to see.

[Booner]

Hell...I've gotten to the point where I usually turn off my cloak as well.

It has a useful purpose in a fellowship... with all the cloaks so similar looking, I can pick my character out of the visual cacophony of a fight.

[Blackjack]

Yeah I don't usually display my cloak either. I think really what's lacking is some ability to customize. I wouldn't expect them to go to the lengths they do in City of Heroes (where cape customization is so detailed, it's practically a fun little game in itself), some ability to change the cape style, trim, put some sort of logo on it etc. would be nice and give us a little more ability to feel unique.

I know though they have to focus on Moria and updates, and such. I wouldn't expect them to prioritize "helms being unappealing" and "cloaks being uncustomizable" high on the "to do" list. It still feels better to get it off my chest, so to speak.

It's a small beef, it's just they obviously have talented artists (lots of environs in the game still take my breath away). You'd like to see a few helms that people actually want to make visible, and the artists can have their work enjoyed instead of hidden.

[Blackjack]

Welcome Back to LOTRO Weekend with Bonus XP!
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?&postid=2256115#post2256115

Make sure you're ready to take advantage of everything that Mines of Moria™ has to offer by participating in a Welcome Back Weekend which includes bonus experience for all!

From October 2-6, 2008, we're offering free LOTRO access to our former players, and +25% bonus experience gain for everyone who logs in and plays. Returning players are invited to patch up, jump in, and start playing on their old characters to get them ready for Moria!

Prepare your characters for the wonder and dread of Moria by taking advantage of these bonus XP days! Tell your friends to log in and play, level your mains and alts, and get ready to Conquer the World Beneath™!

There, I've told my friends. You guys are my friends, right? Oh don't answer that question. 

Note: The 25% bonus experience is for everybody, as they say, and not just returning players. 

[Razgon]

I believe helms as an item that NOBODY has EVER gotten right in an MMO. All I know is that if there's an option to not display helms, I ALWAYS use it. Of course, there's also the theory that you've spent all that time customizing your face, and then you can't display it for the world to see.

Warhammer (sorry to butt in with that game here, just think it fits the current topic) actually have a pretty interesting view on both shoulders and helmets. They are not "normal, generic" helmets and shoulders, but based on the class. Shadowwarriors for instance, their shoulders are a sort of hoodlike thing, slung over the shoulders, and covering half the face as well, a sort of bandit mask, but *very* cool looking.  I got my first helmet for my warrior priest last night, and what it added to my character, was actually a headband, a a cross hanging down the front of his chest. quite nice, actually...

[Jeff]

Welcome Back to LOTRO Weekend with Bonus XP!

I got that email yesterday as well. I may install the game and log in this weekend, just to see what the game looks like and how it's changed. My last login to LOTRO was in August of '07.

[TiLT]

I don't really get the bonus xp stunt. If this was WoW, I'd understand, but in LOTRO, the entire point is to enjoy the leveling process, not to zoom past it. It's not like getting to level 50 is a hard task these days anyway if you really want to, considering the additions of Forochel, Evendim and the High Pass in the Misty Mountains.

[The Grue]

I don't really get the bonus xp stunt. If this was WoW, I'd understand, but in LOTRO, the entire point is to enjoy the leveling process, not to zoom past it. It's not like getting to level 50 is a hard task these days anyway if you really want to, considering the additions of Forochel, Evendim and the High Pass in the Misty Mountains.

I think it is because if you want to do the Moria stuff, you need to be 50.  Any XP bonus will help get you there.  I started playing a character and still haven't reached 50...I think I am 43 and this XP bonus will be great to get me the rest of the way.  Of course, it would help if I would stop logging into Warhammer.

[Destructor]

I don't really get the bonus xp stunt. If this was WoW, I'd understand, but in LOTRO, the entire point is to enjoy the leveling process, not to zoom past it. It's not like getting to level 50 is a hard task these days anyway if you really want to, considering the additions of Forochel, Evendim and the High Pass in the Misty Mountains.

They're doing the same thing in EQ2 (next major patch they're decreasing the amount of experience you need to level from 20 to 70), and like LotRO, you're supposed to experience the world and enjoy it, not race to the end. Needless to say, the forum playerbase is NOT happy.

And as far as Warhammer goes - I hope the helmets look good. There's no way that I've seen to turn them off (unlike most MMOs where you at least have that option).

Finally - I may have to give LotRO another try. Nothing like a freeplay weekend to do that.

[The Grue]

And as far as Warhammer goes - I hope the helmets look good. There's no way that I've seen to turn them off (unlike most MMOs where you at least have that option).

You can turn them off.  Bring up your inventory screen and hover over the helm slot.  You will see a little check box.

[Alefroth]

I don't really get the bonus xp stunt. If this was WoW, I'd understand, but in LOTRO, the entire point is to enjoy the leveling process, not to zoom past it. It's not like getting to level 50 is a hard task these days anyway if you really want to, considering the additions of Forochel, Evendim and the High Pass in the Misty Mountains.

I think it is because if you want to do the Moria stuff, you need to be 50.  Any XP bonus will help get you there.  I started playing a character and still haven't reached 50...I think I am 43 and this XP bonus will be great to get me the rest of the way.  Of course, it would help if I would stop logging into Warhammer.

I could have written that exact sentence.

Ale

[Xmann]

well looks like i'm going to cut my time really short and might only play out the rest of my free 30 days sparingly.   

i'm 15 now and finally moved over to Bree over the weekend in an attempt to find more players to group and adventure with.   however, that attempt has been completely futile.   i have tried and tried to find other players to quest with and haven't found a single group yet.   i send out tells, put my character up in the social group panel, and search players looking for groups and nothing.    i have solo'd completely at this point and i want a change....anything.

i really like the game alot.   i enjoy the quests and being able to solo.   however, i'd really like to occasionally find a fellowship and join other players in the adventure.   i spent a couple hours last night and a couple the night before and ended up soloing.   i'm tired of that for now and would like some companionship....but there is nothing to be found.

not sure what i'm gonna do long-term, but for now i'm frustrated and have no desire to log in.

[Jaddison]

Alefroth what server are you on?  My brother and I are about to start, me again, he for the first time.  We haven't picked a server yet.

On a side note, right now I could see giving up WoW and jsut playing Warhammer and LOTRO.  I enjoy the atmosphere of both much more than WoW when i really look hard at where my dollars go.  I enjoy WoW no doubt but I will never be able to keep up with enugh people to be able to experience most of the instances or special content....mostly because I am an alt-aholic.

[wonton]

Well, sometime next month I'll probably be resubbing, (unless I can find an extra $15 this month... unlikely   ) and I play on Landroval.  My main is Sylviel, a lvl 20 champion.  So if you're on that server I'm always up for grouping.  My suggestion would be to look for a large guild to join, that's always worked well for me in other MMOs.

[Blackjack]

I got to do that "Nerd-gasm" inducing quest in Tal Bruinen last night. It was a real treat, in fact it was totally...

Spoiler for Hiden:

precious...

I dunno, I have very inconsistent luck finding teammates but it is really as group-encouraging MMO as there is. But a lot of people get very attached to their higher level characters (I've got 41 and 48 characters now and don't play much else) and I think that contributes to certain lower level ranges often not having many people to team with.

I'm in a good-size kinship but they're almost all from Australia so we don't team much except on weekends. It is invaluable in terms of having people you can ask to craft items for you, or to ask questions of. If I was starting over though I'd probably try to somehow find an East Coast kinship so at least I would know we'd all generally be on around the same time.

And lot of us are just bashful. I'm not really comfortable basically spamming chat channels to try to get a group quest done, although sometimes I will. Sometimes I'll resort to cheesy humor and sometimes I'll get some interest just by being a little different (it doesn't always work though).

I don't know how Moria's going to affect things. I'm sure it'll bring a lot of players back but whether it brings back mostly people who had L50 characters and were out of things to do, or people who want to come back and restart (which would help fill up the 1-20 areas and make it easier to team up in those ranges), who can say. Only the Watcher knows...

[Blackjack]

So, up in Misty Mountains the tokens you can find in loot and turn in for gifts seem to drop fast and furious. I finally got a fairly cool "short Ranger robe" cosmetic costume to drop (twice event). I really dig the look, esp. with an Elven quiver cosmetic. 



Finally got a nasty (58-92) bow, the one at right, from one of the tougher quests in Tal Bruinen. It's just, I finally reached the high end of Woodworking, and I can't make a bow that's usable at 42 that can match this kind of thing. Note that the L50 guy's nice crafted bow left has an L47 requirement, but mine (quest reward) doesn't.

So, well, I may start finally selling some bows at AH but the hope I had of making bows for my own character seem pointless (when quests give substantially better stuff as rewards). In retrospect, I think I should've done whatever it is that lets you make custom traps cause those I'm sure I would always find a use for.

[Blackjack]

Have any veteran Hunters here ever gotten to complete the "Rain of Thorn Arrows" Legendary trait? It's the kind that requires you have the "book" and then all the pages for it. I've got all but about 4 pages of it, and I'm probably going to have to burn a lot of dough at the auction house to complete it.

It says it "pins down" targets, and I was just curious how it works in practice. I also have to figure out how I'm going to hotkey it cause I've got more than I can remember or reach with my fingers as it is. 

Oh, I did find one official forum mention in a player's Hunter's Guide at:
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=153022&highlight=rain+thorn+arrows
Sounds cool, though a collosal Focus-Consumer.

[TiLT]

Have any veteran Hunters here ever gotten to complete the "Rain of Thorn Arrows" Legendary trait? It's the kind that requires you have the "book" and then all the pages for it. I've got all but about 4 pages of it, and I'm probably going to have to burn a lot of dough at the auction house to complete it.

Finding pages is really easy these days compared to how it used to be, so the prices at the AH have followed suit. HOWEVER, as a hunter, you might find some of the prices are still quite high. This is because hunter is the most popular class in the game, which leads to more demand for the books and pages. Just go do quests in Angmar or the Misty Mountains, and you'll eventually get all your pages. Roughly half of the pages drop in one of the regions, and half drop in the other, so you can't get them all from doing quests in just one of the regions.

[Blackjack]

Maybe what I need to do is work up some other classes into the 40s (I just have Captain at 48, Hunter at 45). Because - Murphy's Law in effect - I always get drops of the pages for *other* classes' books, never the character that I'm playing at the time. My kinship's kin house has a chest full of pages, but very few are from the hunter's books.

[TiLT]

My kinship's kin house has a chest full of pages, but very few are from the hunter's books.

Exactly! Hunters are numerous, so their pages are harder to come by. Pretty much anything directly related to the hunter class is expensive, including class items like the pages or the ones you need for your level 50 equipment quests.

[Blackjack]

I appreciate your empathy even if isn't cheering me up.

I have finally reached the point at 45 where I can pile up a lot of money without going out of my way *trying* to pile up a lot of money (i.e., selling my bundles of wood at the auction house constantly), so it looks like I can at least get one or two more pages soon.

[Blackjack]

Momentous occasion for me in wee hours last night - my hunter finally crafted an Uber "light" bow, with a little help from a kinmate (ingot) and from the reward token "gifts" (a precious Beryl Shard):




Ta da! I just need to edge up one more level to 47 to use it. I can't wait. 

[Blackadar]

Well, I played quite a bit this weekend and my love/hate relationship with LOTRO has turned to love again.  First of all, I finally did some research on my minstrel and I have a much better idea on how to play her (yes, "her", since the male elves all look like transvestites).  I'm more comfortable in hopping in and out of war-speech and the order in which to cast damage spells, which makes a huge difference in damage output.  My war-cries went from critting 350 to 500 almost instantly.  Also, after leveling a zealot in WAR, leveling a minnie in LOTRO didn't seem so tedious after all. 

But it wasn't just damage.  I've often criticized LOTRO for a lack of atmosphere.  I think places like Bree-Land, the North Downs, Ered Luin and (from what I've seen) the Misty Mountains all lacked any real sense of wonder.  You're killing the same mobs - birds, wolves, cats, goblins and orcs - over and over and over again.  I found places like Weathertop - which I had greatly anticipated - anticlimatic.  I liked Evendim and I thought it showed more imagination on the part of Turbine, but the big lake in the zone made getting around tedious and I think that helped move me away from LOTRO the last time.  My favorite zone was the Shire and I think it's a lovingly crafted zone, but the rest of the zones didn't live up to that standard.

However, I hit Angmar this weekend and it's really neat looking.  I love the black obsidion rock, the swamp and the great brooding dark castles.  I also managed to poke my nose in Forochel and it is flat-out beautiful.  This gives me hope that they've managed to craft a great gameworld in Moria - a place where danger should lurk around every corner while offering unexpected beauty in dark places.  Quests seems to have gotten a bit better too.  There's a lot more quests in Angmar and the series where you get your gear in Aughaire is really fun to play with some great rewards.  Having rest experience to get from 39 to 44 rather quickly didn't hurt either...

It looks like, for the first time, I'll be running 2 MMOs....WAR for PvP and LOTRO for PvE.

[Blackjack]

Yeah, if you're out for blood, Angmar is the place to be.  And it has pretty cool variety in environment, mobs and things to do. I just need a break sometimes from the red sky, and the areas there where mobs are so thick, you can't ride a mount 10 feet without getting knocked off.

So my Hunter keeps one "pathfinding bind" on a campfire in northern Misty Mountains for quick trips there. And Reputation NPCs in the 40s will send you to all sorts of "higher level instances in lower level zones" for an occasional change of pace.

Hey I did finally get to buy the last couple of pages for the Hunter's "Rain of Thorn Arrows" Legendary Trait. It's pretty awesome, and I think it's useful solo for certain situations. Basically, it's like being able to rain a bunch of traps down (along with arrow damage) while in combat - although there's no guarantee all the "thorn traps" will clamp targets down. I've found it useful in Angmar sometimes when groups of spiders snag me - I can use the Rain of Thorn Arrows to clamp 'em down and then make a retreat (if I don't feel like messing with 'em). And you can use it back-to-back with a normally dropped trap to buy a little time before a target starts whomping on you in melee. A couple of hunters coordinating to alternate the Rain's use could be pretty devastating on large groups I imagine.  But the cooldown is pretty long.

[Blackjack]

I used Rain of Thorn Arrows quite a bit to clean up on a fairly tough "Goblin fire pots" quest in Misty Mountains. The problem there solo is the goblins clump up quite a bit (often 2 others will aggro when you attack one), and the respawn rates along that trail are pretty fast.

So what I sometimes did was drop a Rain of Thorn Arrows attack to trap all 3, and then focus on one target while the others remained trapped. Other times, if I was confident, I'd follow up with a regular Rain of Arrows (you can use it back to back with Rain of Thorn Arrows), and then just attack everything. And it's nice to effectively be able to drop traps in-combat with it -- there are also hand-made traps that work that way, but I haven't bothered to shop for them, per se.

[Blackjack]

fwiw, got my Hunter to 48 doing a lot of Goblin Town stuff tonight. Also fwiw, that ties me for highest level hunter in my kin (the other 48 seemed to stop playing almost a month ago), so I feel Special^TM, even if my fading kinship never seems to get groups together anymore. It's odd. I thought Moria would bring people back or more people would be trying to hit 50 in prep for it but in my weird Aussie-focused kin it's having the opposite effect. 

[ericb]

I think it will get empty until Moria hits...people are still playing Warhammer, others getting ready for the Lich King and then plenty of LOTRO players at 50 waiting until they can start leveling again.  I think it will be very busy again in mid November especially in low level areas as people try out the new classes.  I just wish it was coming out in a week instead of three.

[Huw the Poo]

I suppose this is as good a place as any to think aloud about my experience of LOTRO so far.

In a nutshell - good, but with a major caveat, which I'll get to later.  In general I think it's a really good game.  The crafting isn't the most comprehensive I've ever seen but it works well enough.  Skills and power management are great; it's the first time I've ever played a melee class (captain) and it's nowhere near as boring as I assumed it would be.  The quests are nicely-scripted (for an MMO) and there are shitloads of them.  Indeed, there's just an insane amount of stuff to do altogether, helped along nicely by the bewildering array of deeds and their rewards.  I particularly like the fact that I can pursue most deeds without having to do so specifically - I just play as I normally would and the deeds are slowly fulfilled.

The titles are a fun diversion and help you to feel like you're accomplishing stuff even at low levels.  I've joined a really decent kinship which, like any MMO, definitely helps.  And I haven't had too much trouble finding fellowships to complete the tougher quests.  In fact, last night I played for about an hour and a half with a couple of other guys and we did loads of the story quests as well as some side quests, and it was the best fun I've had in an MMO for ages.  I've heard it said that the playerbase in LOTRO is more mature and helpful than average, and so far I'd have to agree.  The graphics, of course, speak for themselves.  LOTRO is even prettier than Guild Wars, which I still think looks great today despite its age.

I could go on, but that's the gist of it.  Generally I like pretty much every aspect of the game.  It'd probably help if I enjoyed the films/books, but I think being technically new to the lore is no bad thing either; it's a whole new world to me and I'm enjoying exploring it.

So, the one negative.  Well, two really.  I can't shake the feeling that LOTRO is, in fact, a WoW clone.  Some of the similarities are astonishing.  A lot of LOTRO is not just similar, it's exactly the same.  Like the way crafting works, for instance.  Combat mechanics are extremely similar.  Most of the bloody game is similar.  Why is that a problem?  Well, it means that if I'm enjoying LOTRO I may as well just be playing WoW to enjoy the larger playerbase, right?

There are arguments for and against that, of course, and I'm in no danger yet of switching to WoW.  But the similarities are always there at the back of my mind when I play.  There's no doubt that Middle Earth is a fantastic land, but for obvious reasons Blizzard have been able to be a lot more creative with their world.  Take travel as one example.  I prefer soaring out of the Undercity on an enormous bat to riding about on a horse wherever I go.  Ah well.

Whether the similarities between the two games will eventually get the better of me remains to be seen, but I have to say that I'm absolutely enjoying LOTRO at the moment.  It's beautiful, it's polished, it's stuffed with lore and loads of things to do, and there's a decent if rather small playerbase.  I said in another thread that it'd probably last me until the end of the year at least and, after a week of play, I stand by that.  Can't wait to play again!

[TiLT]

LOTRO eases you into its game by pretending to be much like WoW at the beginning, then it slowly turns into something a bit more unique after a while. At the max level, the two games feel very different.