Skip to main content

Planet MMORPG turns sloooowly

Re-installed Lotro on Sunday. I don't really intend to start playing seriously but as the holder of a life time subscription I thought I may as well install it on the new computer.

I spend a couple of hours in game trying to remember how to play my level 43 loremaster.  After months of playing single player games it was a shock to remember how sloowly everything happens in an mmorpg. Picking up a quest, travelling to the quest location, finding the mobs, killing (all ten of) them, looting, travelling back handing in, selling stuff and re-organising loot and gear all take forever. Remind me why people do this again? Its the multi-player part isn't it? Trouble is the game is a lot quieter  than I remember it and not having a level capped toon more or less condemns me to playing solo. My kinmates are all doing end gamey stuff. I did check out the new skirmish system - a kind of instant "pick an instance" form of game play that you can play solo or in groups that offers an alternative form of advancement to questing. The tutorial was easy enough so I jumped into my first real skirmish with plenty of confidence. With my pet soldier and a helpful archer we had to hold off a bunch of ghosts who were assaulting our camp.  I was doing pretty well until the big bad boss arrives and kills my archer helper ending the skirmish and booting me out. Say what you want about Lotro but the solo gameplay is far from facerolling.

Comments

Anton said…
I've played 20-30 levels of LOTRO and I think it is slower with less eye-candy than most mmo's. I can't imagine playing it single player, either. The story is supposed to carry it, but with all the side-quests you have to do to be strong enough to progress, the story is utterly lost in the shuffle.
Tesh said…
The biggest reason I'll reinstall it when they make the "free play" conversion is to look around and take pretty screenshots. The trial I played ages ago agreed with your thoughts, Anton.

And yet, it's pretty, so it's worth looking around a little.
mbp said…
You have to admit there is a compelling quality about this type of game though. I really don't intend to get stuck back in but I can feel myself slipping back into the old "just go to do one more quest" mindset.

Popular posts from this blog

Portal 2 two screen coop on one PC.

I mentioned before that I intended to try Portal 2 in "unofficial split screen co-op mode. Well split screen on a small computer monitor is a recipe for a headache especially when the game defies gravity as much as portal. However a minor bit of extra fiddling allowed us to drive two seperate screens from one PC. The Steam forums describes a complicated method of doing this that I couldn't get working so this simpler method which worked for me might be of use to someone. 1. First I followed the instructions in this post to get split screen multi-player working: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1847904 A minor issue not mentioned is that you need to enable the console from the keyboard/mouse options menu I am using keyboard and one wired Xbox360 controller as suggested. Getting the controller to switch to channel 2 was tricky at first but as Chameleon8 mentions plugging it out and in again during loading works. The trick for me was to do the plug / p

Return to New Eden and a Secret Confession

I feel a growing temptation to return to EVE but having been away from mmos for quite a while I am not quite ready to resubscribe.  Instead I started a disposable character on a free trial to test my resolve.  Knowing that this character will be thrown in the bin in a couple of weeks is actually quite liberating. Freed from the fear of gimping my character I feet no necessity to min max anything. I picked a Gallente because I think they have cool looking spaceships and went from there. First obvious change since I last played is being able to walk around my Captain's quarters. Its a nice idea but hardly a game changer. Can you decorate your quarters I wonder and if so do these home improvements move around with you wherever you go? The second obvious change is the much improved tutorial. I managed to make it through the first steps introduction without having to resort to on-line help or the  chat channel which is a first for me in EVE. Even better once you have finis

Lotro: The Forgotten Treasury

Throg joined a Kinship group for the Forgotten Treasury instance last night. It was an enjoyable change from the solo questing that the now level 55 dwarf champion has been mostly doing so far in Moria. Some members of the group had tried and failed to clear the Treasury before so we knew it would be challenging but we were lucky enough to have a well balanced group with Guardian, Minstrel, Lore Master, Hunter, Burglar and Champion (Throg). Throg (level 55) and the minstrel (53) were both below the 56ish level of the instance but the others were all higher so it more or less balanced out. [SPOILERs ahead] It is a well designed enjoyable instance set in a circular chamber with balcony around. As you enter, a boss absconds to a locked side chamber with his treasure leaving the fellowship to clear trash ringed around the balcony. Once the trash are cleared you have access to a puzzle which must be solved in order to open the locked door. Clearing the (including six mini bosses) also get