Well, the open beta has started, at least for those of us who have preordered. Everyone else gets to wait until April 6, 2007.
For those of you who aren't quite sure what's going on, Open Beta lasts until sometime around April 24, 2007 (probably April 20th or so), and characters are capped at level 15. For those who preorder, all characters will be ported over to the live servers at launch, and Turbine is looking at handing out nearly a million CD keys for open beta, starting with seven servers to play in.
I created an Elven Champion on Landroval to play with some friends, and because I haven't played an elf yet. The intro for the elves is really nice, and takes place hundreds of years before the actual game does, showcasing a younger Elrond as you see the destruction of Edhelion. Once you go through the intro, which shows off the snow troll as well, you flash forward to 'present time' in the ruins of Edhelion for the newbie area. Apparently, this is the newbie area for elves, dwarves and hobbits, as I saw a number of all of them. While everyone clusters around the opening monsters for a level or two, it's easy to spread out after that, and even in the starting few feet, there's trainers, shops and a number of quests to work with. There's even an instance not far away, which has a very nice visual of another troll turned to stone with a shaft of sunlight shining upon it.
Response on the beta forums have been solidly in favor of this game. Queues are mentioned (although I haven't seen any yet), but that's really a reality now thanks to World of Warcraft. From what I've seen (on a low end machine), the game runs rather well at medium settings, although there's some definite lag here and there, which I attribute to my system. Personally, once I get my new system set up (hopefully sometime in May or so, still need to buy parts), I'll really be able to see this thing for how pretty it really is. After all, I'm currently running a system which BARELY beats minimum requirements.
Got anything you want me to check out? Lemme know!
Showing posts with label Lord of the Rings Online. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lord of the Rings Online. Show all posts
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Lord of the Rings Online Beta Impressions
Yes, I'm in the beta. Actually, I was in the beta just after it came out of Alpha, so was part of the second group to get in. Stepping back a few months, however....
When news came out that a Lord of the Rings MMO was in development, if you put a group of fantasy MMO fans in a room and told them that, you could have visually measured the excitement levels.
If you then told them that Turbine was doing the developing, you could almost watch them deflate with disappointment. After all, it was Turbine that had two MMOs go south in a hurry, with Asheron's Call 2 growing stagnant then dying less than two years after going live, and then the much-awaited Dungeons and Dragons Online opening to tepid reviews, especially as the power gamers hit max level (of 10) within a week of the game hitting shelves. No PVP (at the time, now fixed), no crafting, nothing to do but (for the most part) dungeon crawl over and over and over again..
Well, I have some good news for everyone. Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar is more of what Turbine was when Asheron's Call was new, as opposed to what they seemed when D&D Online went live. The game, quite simply, rocks.
You have four base races: Dwarf, Elf, Hobbit and Man (broken into I believe three different groups based on where in Middle Earth you're from (I recall Dalelands, Gondor and the Horselords off the top of my head). Each race has its own classes: Champion (DPS Deluxe), Captain (Alt tank / party buffs), Guardian (Main tank), Hunter (ranged attack / debuff), Minstrel (buff/debuff), Burgler (debuff and stealth, DoT), and Lore-Master (pet class / DD spells / stuns).
As with any post-WoW game, LOTR Online has a metric crapton of quests, both standard ones (denoted by a golden ring above the target's head) and Main Storyline quests (which have the One Ring above).
The game also features PvP, of a sort, as players can play as monsters (once they reach level 10). Granted, the monsters are rather limited as of yet, but generally are made to challenge higher level PCs. There's a lot of tradeskilling in the game, but each group of tradeskills is very heavily dependent upon the other groups in order to make their items.
The game also allows for player music, with the keyboard acting as the keys (or strings) of the instrument you play, with every class capable of learning at least one musical instrument. In the beta forums, there's a heavy thread on how to import actual songs into the game, which is really quite nice. The controls are complex enough that it allows for two-note chords, which is really nice.
Also one of the interesting things is Achievements, which is similar to EQ2's system, except it's quite a bit more advanced. You also have a Virtue system, which allows you to slot extra abilities that you can gain along the way.
Want more? How about Kinships, where you can actually adopt other characters as your children, as far down as 20 generations? Marriage, also, is in the game.
I'll be doing a preview for Gaming Trend here in a few weeks, but really, the only thing that can really kill LOTR right now is the pre-order package, which allows players to get into the Open Beta, and keep their characters when the game goes live, as long as they pay for the retail game within 30 days of launch.
Specifically, the problem with this is that the uber guilds will all pre-order, be max level by the time the game comes out....and then that's that.
But....give it a shot when open beta comes around, you might just find something worth playing for a good while.
When news came out that a Lord of the Rings MMO was in development, if you put a group of fantasy MMO fans in a room and told them that, you could have visually measured the excitement levels.
If you then told them that Turbine was doing the developing, you could almost watch them deflate with disappointment. After all, it was Turbine that had two MMOs go south in a hurry, with Asheron's Call 2 growing stagnant then dying less than two years after going live, and then the much-awaited Dungeons and Dragons Online opening to tepid reviews, especially as the power gamers hit max level (of 10) within a week of the game hitting shelves. No PVP (at the time, now fixed), no crafting, nothing to do but (for the most part) dungeon crawl over and over and over again..
Well, I have some good news for everyone. Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar is more of what Turbine was when Asheron's Call was new, as opposed to what they seemed when D&D Online went live. The game, quite simply, rocks.
You have four base races: Dwarf, Elf, Hobbit and Man (broken into I believe three different groups based on where in Middle Earth you're from (I recall Dalelands, Gondor and the Horselords off the top of my head). Each race has its own classes: Champion (DPS Deluxe), Captain (Alt tank / party buffs), Guardian (Main tank), Hunter (ranged attack / debuff), Minstrel (buff/debuff), Burgler (debuff and stealth, DoT), and Lore-Master (pet class / DD spells / stuns).
As with any post-WoW game, LOTR Online has a metric crapton of quests, both standard ones (denoted by a golden ring above the target's head) and Main Storyline quests (which have the One Ring above).
The game also features PvP, of a sort, as players can play as monsters (once they reach level 10). Granted, the monsters are rather limited as of yet, but generally are made to challenge higher level PCs. There's a lot of tradeskilling in the game, but each group of tradeskills is very heavily dependent upon the other groups in order to make their items.
The game also allows for player music, with the keyboard acting as the keys (or strings) of the instrument you play, with every class capable of learning at least one musical instrument. In the beta forums, there's a heavy thread on how to import actual songs into the game, which is really quite nice. The controls are complex enough that it allows for two-note chords, which is really nice.
Also one of the interesting things is Achievements, which is similar to EQ2's system, except it's quite a bit more advanced. You also have a Virtue system, which allows you to slot extra abilities that you can gain along the way.
Want more? How about Kinships, where you can actually adopt other characters as your children, as far down as 20 generations? Marriage, also, is in the game.
I'll be doing a preview for Gaming Trend here in a few weeks, but really, the only thing that can really kill LOTR right now is the pre-order package, which allows players to get into the Open Beta, and keep their characters when the game goes live, as long as they pay for the retail game within 30 days of launch.
Specifically, the problem with this is that the uber guilds will all pre-order, be max level by the time the game comes out....and then that's that.
But....give it a shot when open beta comes around, you might just find something worth playing for a good while.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Lord of the Rings Online Pre-Orders
Well, as we just posted over on Gaming Trend, Midway and Turbine have just announed their pre-order program. The press release is on the main site, but I wanted to talk about a few of the things I'm thinking on reading this.
First off, I'm in the beta (and have been since they went from alpha to beta), but haven't been in much lately due to other things. This'll change, and soon, especially when the NDA drops. Speaking of, also, I've got a key still for this weekend's stress test. No one's emailed. So...is no one reading, or does no one want it? :)
Anyway, here's the list of what you get for pre-ordering:
It really makes you wonder if either Turbine is having money issues, or if Midway is seriously pushing for this game to Hurry Up And Get Out. Not that the game looks bad (which is all I'm saying right now, understand), it's just what jumped into my head on reading the press release. Still, locking in a $10 subscription rate for what's aiming to be a AAA title....isn't a bad deal. And the $200, if LOTRO goes for 5-7 years, that's a sweet deal, but if it only lasts a year....ow.
The Open Beta and Character Rollover really catch the attention. For those not paying attention, this means that if you pre-order and purchase the game (within 30 days of launch), you effectively get a month's head start. You can believe that the UBAR guilds will be all over this one, since it lets them grind grind grind to their hearts content and unlock as many things as possible before the game even launches. Look for a large number of strategy websites and such to hit pre-launch. Also, look for a crapload of patching and nerfing to happen Launch Day.
Honestly, though, if you're even remotely interested in LOTRO, it's worth the pre-order (which many places is only like $5) just to get into the open beta, and then if you like what you see, buy the game and get the $10 subscription fee and keep your same character.
More on LOTRO when the NDA drops, which will probably be within the next few weeks.
First off, I'm in the beta (and have been since they went from alpha to beta), but haven't been in much lately due to other things. This'll change, and soon, especially when the NDA drops. Speaking of, also, I've got a key still for this weekend's stress test. No one's emailed. So...is no one reading, or does no one want it? :)
Anyway, here's the list of what you get for pre-ordering:
So. The big thing here is the pricing. $14.99 (presumably) for subscription, or, if you pre-order, either $9.99 or a one-time fee of $199.99. There is a catch on the $9.99, which is if you cancel, presumably it knocks you to $14.99 or whatever. It's interesting to see a flat fee for a lifetime subscription. On one hand, it's aimed at getting as many boxes in the hands of players Day One as possible for that quick influx of money. On the other hand, the $200 lifetime membership gives the same message, but much, much more strongly.The Lord of the Rings Online Founder's Program(a) offers players two different membership options:
Only $9.99 per month subscription price! OR
Just $199 for a Lifetime Membership! In addition to these special pricing options, The Lord of the Rings Online Founders receive:
- Open Beta: Guaranteed access provides Founders the first opportunity to create a character and enter Middle-earth currently planned for March 30, 2007
- Character Roll-Over: Moves the character that you created during the Open Beta into the live service --along with the stats, levels, items, and experience that character earned prior to launch!
- Bonus Items: Two special in-game items that are only available to those who pre-order:
-- Enchanted Cloak of Regeneration
-- Ring of Agility
It really makes you wonder if either Turbine is having money issues, or if Midway is seriously pushing for this game to Hurry Up And Get Out. Not that the game looks bad (which is all I'm saying right now, understand), it's just what jumped into my head on reading the press release. Still, locking in a $10 subscription rate for what's aiming to be a AAA title....isn't a bad deal. And the $200, if LOTRO goes for 5-7 years, that's a sweet deal, but if it only lasts a year....ow.
The Open Beta and Character Rollover really catch the attention. For those not paying attention, this means that if you pre-order and purchase the game (within 30 days of launch), you effectively get a month's head start. You can believe that the UBAR guilds will be all over this one, since it lets them grind grind grind to their hearts content and unlock as many things as possible before the game even launches. Look for a large number of strategy websites and such to hit pre-launch. Also, look for a crapload of patching and nerfing to happen Launch Day.
Honestly, though, if you're even remotely interested in LOTRO, it's worth the pre-order (which many places is only like $5) just to get into the open beta, and then if you like what you see, buy the game and get the $10 subscription fee and keep your same character.
More on LOTRO when the NDA drops, which will probably be within the next few weeks.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Lord of the Rings Online Stress Test
I have word through various sources that a stress test scheduled this weekend for Lord of the Rings Online .
Me, I have a key for said stress test. (Not anymore!)
First person to email me at ballew@gamingtrend.com can have it with one condition: post impressions in a comment to this thread next week, please.
Enjoy!
Me, I have a key for said stress test. (Not anymore!)
First person to email me at ballew@gamingtrend.com can have it with one condition: post impressions in a comment to this thread next week, please.
Enjoy!
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