This concept of the journey beeing the game instead of just endgame and raid content is what made Vanilla WoW so amazing. Even as someone who was a very active raider until WoW Cataclysm i always missed that concept in WoW after it all changed when Burning Crusade came around and started to focus almost completely on endgame . Before that raiding in Vanilla WoW especially in the very early days with Onyxia and Molten Core felt more like a fun mass event. When it got more serious with time it at least for me felt like a weekly chore. I couldnt wait when the raid id was clear and i could go back lvling my alts for the journey. I still do it today sometimes... Maybe i should take a look at LotRO it looks like the entry is pretty easy for a WoW veteran in regards to interface and all.
That's why WoW Classic - Season of Discovery is sooo good imo. It has the Vanilla feel with the twist! It feels like it should have been there since the beginning.
@WarriorVVanaB old school runescape. Any level feels like you're contributing to the world. I've never been max level over 20 years. Participated in o ly 1 piece of "end game" content (although people do it at level 70), and I've had a blast. Best economy. Best questing. Most sociable (people always talking). Constant dopamine.
My wife and I started playing in beta. For our 1 year anniversary (dating back in 2007), I bought VIP Lifetime for us both. This game has always been there for me/us off and on. Only game ive ever played on and off for the past 17 years. Very Successful in my eyes. Cant wait for my boys to experience it with me/us just as you have!
Hi. VIP and Founder here, playing since closed beta. I have played and still do play other MMORPG games, and I agree with everything our RUclips friend Snow Fluff has supplied as opinion. I have not seen another that matches the love of the base lore, or the grandeur of LotRO. This game has come with me through 4 OS updates. So far. There will be more. LotRO forever, friends. There is another positive about this game: By and large, the player base is in the friendly/helpful range. All love. Barukh Khazad!
Really though? It has that archaic Q system where you have to collect 20 bear asses, then return there to get 20 bear claws and then return there again to collect 20 bear stomachs.. I just wish there was some kind of level scaling and could visit any zone at any level, so i can choose only quests i want and avoid the exhausting grind.
@@Andromedesthis is basically what made me return to classic world of warcraft, and because lotro combat doesn’t feel as good, too. it’s a shame because i really like the idea of this game and want to play it, but none of my friends care about lotr. i might still return in the future.
The game does indeed cater to a different type of player. While it is rather sad that the much-needed graphic overhaul won't happen, and the lore exposition through text-based questing is admittedly quite archaic now, the feature that drew me the most and prompted me to play again is the landscape difficulty mode. So, i grabbed a few buddies from my Dungeons and Dragons campaign who are also invested in Tolkien lore and we started levelling together at a higher difficulty. We don't feel like a party only in dungeons, we are a party all the time and it has given us the chance to play the roles we want in a fellowship from the get-go! MMO devs, take the hint please, not all of us want to just rush to the endgame and grind the same dungeons ad infinitum. Now the whole world is a dungeon crawl, in a sense. We are creating our own little story in Middle Earth, and this is just priceless, even if it only becomes true for a few hours a week. Haven't had so much fun in an MMO in a very long while.
oh yeah! 2007...2024 = 15++ years... Game is definitely dead. what is not dead game? wow.why? wow got new graphic. after 10 yers+ did u see it? "[4K] LotR: Conquest Reimagined looks absolutely stunning on RTX 4090 in Unreal Engine 5 -good ending"
The fact that the graphics are not updated in the game is a serious mistake and a loss for Lotro developers. I'm just tired of playing at the level of the origin of 3D graphics, there are solid games where graphics are completely indistinguishable from reality, what prevents them from doing this?
@@kerimalpaltuncu97 yeah it didn't feel very good. Game looks decent to be fair only the skills/spells felt clunky. I wouldn't say outdated since WoW classic feels pretty good to play.
I started day 1 and I’ve still never been past the base game. I’ll play, stop for months, then start over haha. I need to buckle down and actually progress.
Lotro is my favourite game, I have played since the early 2010’s and still it’s like being your own person in the world of Tolkien during a epic age of adventure 😊.
Never ended up playing it but it is nice to see some games not only stayed alive but kept delivering experiences long after the MMO rush of the late 2000s where so many would be pronounced DOA before even releasing. Side note: I know in the video you explain some of this lower level focused content might not work for WoW or FFXIV but being honest as someone who put thousands of hours into and now have moved on from both it would have been nice so see them try, after a while the whole idea of the game being about the destination gets old, no matter how good the destination is. That's why I still think vanilla WoW was a better experience than anything since, it wasn't treated the same way they treat the mainstream games now.
I’ve been playing less often since the Gundapad expansion, but it feels like a home I can always return too, and I’m so glad they keep adding. I do hope they get a big graphics and lag upgrade at some point, but I still think the environment and atmosphere go far beyond even most modern games. Plus there’s all the lore, and as so say, the sheer size. Plus all the content that has built up. If they were able to upgrade the UI and character models especially, and the lag, and put in some advertising, it would be rediscovered and be a game of the year all over again.
Hi There! I am a Tolkien & LOTRO RUclipsr myself. Your video popped up and I must say I really enjoyed it! I love that you pointed out the Goods in the game instead of the negative stuff, Since the good WAY outweighs it. LOTRO is in Fact the Biggest "scale" game in the world besides infinite games like Minecraft or no mans sky. Loved you pointed that out. Now personally, The "graphics art style" I love in lotro, I know some don't like older, But I mean, Lotro dose looks better then WoW. BUT, I don't think comparing there "graphics works" since they are both "art styles" more then anything else. I also am a WoW player in the past great game too. I agreed with Most your video! A few, small things, I won't go into all of them, But... I may be that guy that wants flying mounts since I started the game the first week it was out. lol. Now, hear me out... the other side of me is like NO, it will break things in the game, lore and feeling Like you said. I am torn on that, Also, when it comes to UI I think a lot of people just don't know how set it up, Being older. I think the UI has aged really well (besides a few skill icons). I have a guide video on how I setup my UI to look so good etc. Now, to finish up. Almost everything else you said I agree on! They are fixing the "lag issues" I almost never get them anymore myself, but others still do at times. You did a really good job putting this video together. I wanted to thank you and encourage you on how good this video was. It was balanced and fair points both the goods and bad. It was very refreshing to me to watch a video I was not cringing at knowing they did not do there research (happens way to much). But you DID do the research! I was impressed you even knew the stuff about amazon game and the worry that standing stones put to rest. Well done! Keep it up man! Maybe I will see you in game sometime! I play on the server CrickHollow mostly, but also on others too. Cheers! BARKH KHAZAD! P.S. They are planning on doing a scaling system to let you lower your personally level to help out a lower level ally with out needed to get on a different toon. This is new info and should be a welcome addition! :D
Been playing since 2008. Have 12 characters at level cap (one of each class). You are correct about the reasons people still play and love this game. One of my nightmares is that being an online game, eventually, one day it will close down, and all my characters will be gone. I am likely to try the Amazon game if/when it is released, but it is unlikely to become a substitute for LOTRO, just another game to also play, maybe.
Nice video. The scale of the world in particular is something I loved about LotRO as well. One thing worth noting about WoW, they scaled down all the levelling areas, presumably to streamline the levelling process even further (cause Blizzard). No idea when they did this, but it can be observed easily by going to an spot in WotLK Classic and going to the same spot in retail. Your character is much bigger in comparison to the environment in retail, perhaps 25% or so. I thought my memory had failed me when levelling a new alt, but no Blizzard really did make the world smaller.
This is the only game I have permanently installed ony my pc since 2007. I never know when the indescribable urge comes on me to play it again. Its wonderful, like coming home. :)
@@DAPPERPERFORMANCE very good in terms of lore depth options etc but not like lotro. The warcraft universe is wonderful but not somewhere near to lotr and especially Warhammer universe. Warhammer universe is something this world won't see again.
@@Manwu5 I've played Lotro and WoW for a while now...Still can't figure out which one I enjoy more. I end up coming back to both at different times of the year. But, I cant wait for future big changed for Lotro and its UI
@@Manwu5The same could be applied for the Warcraft universe. Never again will something similar appear. I've been hooked since 02 and i'm always interested in anything Warcraft related
The great thing about being able to set landscape difficulty is that you can really learn how to use your skills effectively. This way when you go to do the more difficult group content you're really well versed in how to use your class's skills.
Longer form is fantastic for your channel; important to have that tension/relief ratio just right throughout the content and you obviously killed it with that here lol, keep on keepin' on, bright future for ya!👍
I probably have more hours in WoW than I do in any other MMO, but I realized that I don't care for the endgame content in WoW at all. I've leveled so many alts because I just live questing through the different zones/expansions. Once I hit max level I end up creating a new character. I've finally gotten bored of it and started branching out to other MMOs. I really enjoy LOTRO so far, for many reasons, but mainly because the game feels so expansive. And it feels like the journey to max level has a great focus, unlike in WoW where it feels like they should just do away with levelling entirely at this point Lol
As a rabid Tolkien fan, I agree. LOTRO is about the most important thing in the Tolkien universe: LORE. Amazon clearly does not respect the lore, at all, and one has to look no further than "Rings of Power" to see that.
I just started playing as a free to play mmo gamer. LOTRO's shop system is like Helldivers 2 - play the game to earn credits which can be used to buy expansions. Its like WoW Classic but completely free and with a focus on storylines.
I still have my Shadows of Angmar box set sitting on my bookshelf beside me as I type this. I bought a Lifetime VIP membership back then and I still think it is perhaps the absolute best $200 I have ever spent.
I tried to logon and get "No subscription found for LORTO". Tried starting a new account just to play but can't because my email is already used. What a mess...
If you had a Turbine account the problem is at some point the way they added the acquisition of free currency required them to split the game accounts apart, but their still tied unfortunately to the same system. Unless you have a grandfathered e-mail/account that had both LotRO and DDO on the same e-mail, you have to have two different ones AFAIK. Hopefully someone can correct me if I misremember or got this wrong.
i played ddo (ssg's other game) for a decade since its release in 2006 and recently got back into it, but never touched lotro its really quite interesting how much they have in common but also where they differ
I played from 09-18 and spent so much money on content, took a break and the server was deleted so for years I was salty, came back about 2 weeks ago and I’m hooked again, the players that are still there are so friendly and helpful, still massive concerts on the weekends, the game looks crisp and fluid, just wish I had more money lol
Very nice in depth analysis 👍If they would have remade LOTRO to be up 2 date like other MMOS which did it, like WOW, i would have played LOTRO soo much more. I played it for 5 years.
Played LOTRO back in the Turbine days when end game was character level 95. I'm back now and really enjoying my Lvl 60 + RK. the one thing that hasnt changed is its hard finding groups for lower level fellowship instances. Part of this is my own level of confidence and understanding. Players tend to advertise on "/world" using shorthand (X for school need dps/support) and not mentioning character levels so I'm never sure if my lower level character is actually suitable or how to play the instance or even where the instance is. It will come in time I'm sure.
If you played in turbine days u might be happy to hear this month there is release of lotro from 2007 version old combat traits etc. Look up echoes of angmar
I liked this game back in the day. This, regnum, runescape with membership and the wow demo from cataclysm were my teenage yrs. Miss those days, miss the friend i had who introduced me to regnum and lotro. Have no means of contacting him any more.
It's fun, it's like my first MMO EverQuest Online Adventures in that it's all about that journey, not the destination. I prefer EQOA myself, as after that time it became mostly doing quests as opposed to grinding mobs in camps, which is how i was introduced to the genre. The old EverQuest formula. Wish it didn't have performance issues though. I still have my physical copies lol.
I played LOTRO a little about 12 years ago, but my hardware was really bad at that time. Really considering to play it today. It's definitely aged a bit, but still looks great.
Very cool video, thanks! I would love to love LOTRO but whenever I decide to give it yet another go... I just can't. Your video will be my another try. :)
I'm using 'reshade' to make the colors look more vibrant when I play LOTRO! There are quite a few Reddit threads and such on the LOTRO subreddit explaining how to install it if you're interested :)
@@SnowFluffGamesOk, so I was not imagining it. With your info, I was able to google it and find it. I think I can take it from here. Thank you for replying.
As a Tolkien fan, I loved being able to travel and see canonic places in the game. It also gave me my all time most favorate MMORPG gaming experiences in Monster Play, until it got too unbalanced as a result of level expansions and low server pop. Monster Play never got the attention it needed from the developers but had great end game potential IMO.
Difficulty option is wonderful. On normal difficulty it's a chore (bore?) to go through a new character from start. So very easy and aimed at a new player. I hadn't played a warden for years and when to try this more complex class again. I definitely don't recommend going heroic level 7 at level 2 but that's what I did and it was not Dark Souls but it was tough! I had to plan ahead and really makes my moves right instead of just running around pew pew willy nilly tagging every enemy. Amount of content the game has is its strong suit. If you don't like certain area, there's another one with similar level. However the grind is real. I have to remind myself that I can't do every quest and every deed in every area. Trying to do 100% in an area ends up with low to no experience points and grinding gets tedious to get that last 100 orc kills. Monetization is not the worst but you can really sink cash into really nothing so amazing. Waiting for a sale is common advice for new players. As one of the lucky who have a Lifetime VIP the quality of life being subscriber is a real thing that makes me think the game is better than our might be as a free to play. But the lore and stories and world and wholesome people and places and hardship and tragedy... It's a love letter to Tolkien. Even if he might have a few words about adaptation.
I'm actually playing lotro right now, I just returned to the game recently I'm like you where I revisit quite often I have been playing wow since 2007 and started first playing Lord of the rings online in 2010. Like you said in the video yes a little bit of it is outdated but there's something that keeps bringing me back to the game, I cannot see the Community just abandoning the Game and moving over to Amazon's Game it's gonna take amazon a long time to develop their game it won't be out for probably another 6 to 8 years at the earliest
I think, despite a lot of warts, LotRO still is engaging because the term "lovingly crafted world" shows in basically every part of the game. It's like that person you hang out with that's not really good looking in a conventional sense but so goddamned charming they grow on you. We all know pretty people that are stupid; that would be WoW. LotRO engages you at a deeper level.
interesting video - but you were standing ontop of another mountain in kun-lai instead of in the valley...while comparing it to a mountain in lotro from the perspective of standing in the valley...not really fair no?
Ive been playing ff14 and i love it. Saying that, LOTRO will always be my fave mmo, ive always loved the world and the grand scale of the game. I dont play it anymore as i enjoyed it most when playing with friends. Its a very relaxing game to play solo and this video has made me want to play it later. Thanks ☺️
VIP founder, and I honestly still like it a lot. I don't care about raids (only ever done the Rift and hated it with a fiery passion), I don't care about PvMP, and I very rarely group. It's a casual game I can hop in for 30 mins and accomplish something, and it's a game where I can craft my armour, my weapons, everything I need, without ever feeling "gimped".
ive been playing on and off for 12 years, since i was a young teenager, and honestly ive tried a LOT of mmos.basically i tried doenloading all the fantasy mmos that were free to play at some point and tried them out! but i never really got into any one of them. a big part of that was and is, that i have a short attention span and i dont want to have to read lore about a world i dont care about with characters i dont know and dont care about. thats the first bonus for lotro for me: i love the films, never read the books but i very much like the characters. i feel like i know them a little bit, and when i get to see and experience, for example, how balin got stuck and died in moria when the goblins attacked? that made me really fucking sad. or when you start as the race of men, and you immediately run into a "mysterious" ranger named "strider" its like. aaah. i see what yore doing. hi aragorn :)) its so fun, even for casual fans like me who are more invested into the characters than in the lore. but if you really love the lore....hooo boy theres lots and lots and lots of lore for you to read lmao. i myself am usually a filthy quest-text-skipper, however sometimes theyre written so well that even i am like "oh damn what happened then??" also, since lotro is so old, it is accessible to people like me who have a pc from like a trillion years ago. i cant even run lotro on ultra, which is sad because i personally think lotros art-style is super pretty and the environments look so beautiful and charming on max settings! but i think its important that people with older setups even have the possibilities to play the game. i cant play all the new, shiny games. baldurs gate 3?? lol my pc would probably explode if i tried opening that. and also, i personally think the landscape difficulty thing was genius. im a very very chilled out gamer, i dont want to be stressed, and lotro is perfect for that. however, i always seem to land being a smidge overlevelled most of the time, and so putting the difficulty on like, 3 or something, just makes fighting mobs that little bit more satisfying. also i could /actually/ die now if i dont pay attention lmao, thats new! anyway as you can tell, i really love this game and i hope it can keep going for lots and lots of more years, and im always trying to recruit my friends to play with me hehe
I suggest anyone who wanna try lotro or replay to look up echoes of angmar, its community made server that is supposed to re create game as it was in 2007. It releases this month
I love lotro universe, big fan of the books and movies - I started playing lotro when it released but didn't play it for very long (around 2 months). Since then i've been coming back to lotro many times but briefly and each time I quit feeling its a single player grindy chore that hides behind of facade of being a safe haven for people loving Tolkien work. I respect all the people that praise this game and love it for one reason or the other but personally I think this universe deserve a better, much, much better mmo. The only thing I like about this game is its landscape and scale, there is a certain charm to this Lineage 2 era graphics. Each time I came back to the game I got bored really quickly and just spent couple days just traveling and seeing places. Its very alluring but a niche entertainment that can last for a day or two. Even tho there is a lot of content for low, med, high level characters I have not experienced anything in the world that would incentivize me to play with other people. Nobody is whispering anybody "Hey you wanna do this or that? We potentially could use your class for this or this". Games, especially MMOs need to have gameplay loop that pushes people together across all levels - this is what wow classic nailed for example. Even today when you play this new wow season of discovery you get people that actively seek to play with each other.
I played during launch of LOTRO. I remember how many group quests there were and how hard content was. I did try the game again and was disappointed they dumbed down all those hard group quests to be soloable. But that is the fate of a game that has serious population drops over the years.
I’m a huge SWTOR fan. Been playing it since 2013. Love that I can make my own story in Star Wars. Like any MMO it can get very old, but its stories always brings me back. I did try WoW once and I must be blunt, it was probably the most boring video game I’ve ever played. It makes me nervous to play this, but I love the LOTR franchise. Just finished watching the extended editions for the first time. Think it’s worth the shot at least?
1:34 yea may i point out if a game is that old you end up with hard code. good example is WoW heared once a dev found a .PNG of a random coconut. it was put in the files early in the game devlopment the dev deleted the immage compiled the game and after that they went on a month of panic testing. just by deleting a image that wasnt linked to annything made the game crash. why? it was there for so long it became part of the hard code of the game. im not sure if i recall correct but its basicly the game engine refering back to a line of code as a waypoint to find its way. runescape also had this problem with rs2 lumbridge cobble bridge. they could not delete it. and changing objec file worked but never showed the object change in game XD. yes OSRS likley still cant change that bridge. wierd and intresting stuff i know a littlebit about. (i had a fall in techer at basic school dude was in his 60s had all caracters maxed out and knew GMs. thats how i got the WoW storie. i dit not play wow much but he also played cod mw2 he was a beast.) (and the one from RS i know because back in the day there were 3 dutch jagex moderators 1 for comunity and other 2 were devs. i knew them cause i hanged out in the same world as they did. yea.. the old times devs were loged into a mmo to chill with players while making the game. we need that back....
I remember when moria dlc first dropped, I actually bought a hard copy from GameStop back in the day, didn’t wanna be a Wow nerd so I became a Tolkien fan boy
If I had the free time I'd have a max lvl of all classes, but I play very infrequently. I really put in a lot of hours back in Moria and Mirkwood. I missed out on launch but did get to raid The Rift with my kin.
LOTRO is beautiful but shows it's age. What killed it for me was when I started realizing how building interiors did not match their exterior designs. In old games this was just how it was but for a modern gaming experience it is very immersion breaking. Sometimes, however, when riding through the Lands Between or relaxing in Whiterun I am reminded of what a magical experience this game was for me in it's time.
Unfortunately, I lost my lifetime account when the publisher changed. All the characters are gone and unfortunately I didn't feel like getting back in.
This is the only mmo ive seen where you can walk into a forest and NOT just see mobs everywhere like u have to actually search for the spiders in that one forest and that makes exploration in the game feel like a thing, u do not get that when theirs enemy's everywhere
@@Onb3k3nd3 not so much -_- i´m from Argentina and my english its pretty good but still rest point that the game its not translated, and the gameplay its too slow for me. I just dont have the patience to give it my time :/ Maybe in some future i'll give it another chance..
I want to come back, but won't until they rework the interface proper for high resolution monitors. Currently its a blurry mess with anything above 1080p. But... I heard they reworked the store. *rolls eyes*
I tired to play a few years back but I just couldn't with all the cosmetic items content etc. My inventory was just spammed with immersion breaking content.
Really enjoyed watching this. This makes me want to give LOTRO a try. As I've previously played WoW (Vanilla and BC mainly) and FFXIV as either a caster DPS/Healer or more two handed Ret Pally. I was curious what you might recommend for a first playthrough to experience LOTRO?
This concept of the journey beeing the game instead of just endgame and raid content is what made Vanilla WoW so amazing. Even as someone who was a very active raider until WoW Cataclysm i always missed that concept in WoW after it all changed when Burning Crusade came around and started to focus almost completely on endgame . Before that raiding in Vanilla WoW especially in the very early days with Onyxia and Molten Core felt more like a fun mass event. When it got more serious with time it at least for me felt like a weekly chore. I couldnt wait when the raid id was clear and i could go back lvling my alts for the journey. I still do it today sometimes... Maybe i should take a look at LotRO it looks like the entry is pretty easy for a WoW veteran in regards to interface and all.
That's why WoW Classic - Season of Discovery is sooo good imo. It has the Vanilla feel with the twist! It feels like it should have been there since the beginning.
@@zenithquasar9623yeah, until Blizz decided that new players will have a boost xp so they can catch the "old" players in the third season of SoD
Osrs is still the best mmo ever made because of this.
@@iabaca which mmo is that?
@WarriorVVanaB old school runescape. Any level feels like you're contributing to the world. I've never been max level over 20 years. Participated in o ly 1 piece of "end game" content (although people do it at level 70), and I've had a blast. Best economy. Best questing. Most sociable (people always talking). Constant dopamine.
Been there since Beta and I take breaks but I always come back. Love this game. Now playing with my son so it's crossed a generation. Very special. 💕
My wife and I started playing in beta. For our 1 year anniversary (dating back in 2007), I bought VIP Lifetime for us both. This game has always been there for me/us off and on. Only game ive ever played on and off for the past 17 years. Very Successful in my eyes. Cant wait for my boys to experience it with me/us just as you have!
Ok i will re download the game after 10 years. You've twisted my arm
Thats what I just did
I did it after 11-12 years too 😊
And how did it go?
@@rodney3297 honestly went well they added new classes unlocked old ones to f2p and still a good time to play
its been 17 years for me lol
Hi. VIP and Founder here, playing since closed beta. I have played and still do play other MMORPG games, and I agree with everything our RUclips friend Snow Fluff has supplied as opinion. I have not seen another that matches the love of the base lore, or the grandeur of LotRO. This game has come with me through 4 OS updates. So far. There will be more.
LotRO forever, friends. There is another positive about this game: By and large, the player base is in the friendly/helpful range. All love. Barukh Khazad!
Don’t forget the micro transactions! This does it best out of any mmo 😂
Barukh Khazad, Brother!
This is one of the MMORPG games that is aging like a fine wine.
Game is on life support for years. Thank god for Project Quarm
Project Quarm has literally nothing to do with LOTRO. Personally I like P99 more.
@@xzxxx-km4vywrong game, dipshit
Really though? It has that archaic Q system where you have to collect 20 bear asses, then return there to get 20 bear claws and then return there again to collect 20 bear stomachs.. I just wish there was some kind of level scaling and could visit any zone at any level, so i can choose only quests i want and avoid the exhausting grind.
@@Andromedesthis is basically what made me return to classic world of warcraft, and because lotro combat doesn’t feel as good, too. it’s a shame because i really like the idea of this game and want to play it, but none of my friends care about lotr. i might still return in the future.
from the clip youre showing the game visuals looks pretty good for something that came out in 2007
When you finally exit Moria for the first time, and see the starry night sky above. ❤
And the music and the area of lothlorien too 😊 especially caras galharon
Came back to lotro after 9 years. Never seem the game so populated. Feels like 2013
is it still? im thinking on giving it a try
Give It a try
@@tchevensky7802 You should Landroval is really active
This game holds a very special place in my heart. I’ve been playing for eight years now and appreciate this game more than any other game.
The game does indeed cater to a different type of player. While it is rather sad that the much-needed graphic overhaul won't happen, and the lore exposition through text-based questing is admittedly quite archaic now, the feature that drew me the most and prompted me to play again is the landscape difficulty mode. So, i grabbed a few buddies from my Dungeons and Dragons campaign who are also invested in Tolkien lore and we started levelling together at a higher difficulty. We don't feel like a party only in dungeons, we are a party all the time and it has given us the chance to play the roles we want in a fellowship from the get-go! MMO devs, take the hint please, not all of us want to just rush to the endgame and grind the same dungeons ad infinitum. Now the whole world is a dungeon crawl, in a sense. We are creating our own little story in Middle Earth, and this is just priceless, even if it only becomes true for a few hours a week. Haven't had so much fun in an MMO in a very long while.
oh yeah! 2007...2024 = 15++ years... Game is definitely dead. what is not dead game? wow.why? wow got new graphic. after 10 yers+
did u see it?
"[4K] LotR: Conquest Reimagined looks absolutely stunning on RTX 4090 in Unreal Engine 5 -good ending"
after this video - "Wotlk Trailer 'Journey' | Behind the Scenes | Official Blizzard Work"
maybe it's not so difficult?
The fact that the graphics are not updated in the game is a serious mistake and a loss for Lotro developers. I'm just tired of playing at the level of the origin of 3D graphics, there are solid games where graphics are completely indistinguishable from reality, what prevents them from doing this?
Its not needed at all
@@НиколайКроцен Its not that easy, and too expensive to do so. I would prefer the graphics get kept as they are than some half baked update.
The gameplay isn't my favorite but no other MMORPG has the Role Play like LOTRO does.
Great community of players.
Yes the combat feels clunky and outdated
@@kerimalpaltuncu97 yeah it didn't feel very good. Game looks decent to be fair only the skills/spells felt clunky. I wouldn't say outdated since WoW classic feels pretty good to play.
I started day 1 and I’ve still never been past the base game. I’ll play, stop for months, then start over haha. I need to buckle down and actually progress.
Lotro is my favourite game, I have played since the early 2010’s and still it’s like being your own person in the world of Tolkien during a epic age of adventure 😊.
Never ended up playing it but it is nice to see some games not only stayed alive but kept delivering experiences long after the MMO rush of the late 2000s where so many would be pronounced DOA before even releasing.
Side note: I know in the video you explain some of this lower level focused content might not work for WoW or FFXIV but being honest as someone who put thousands of hours into and now have moved on from both it would have been nice so see them try, after a while the whole idea of the game being about the destination gets old, no matter how good the destination is. That's why I still think vanilla WoW was a better experience than anything since, it wasn't treated the same way they treat the mainstream games now.
I will have to give this game a try! Thank You for the video :)
You wont regret it, it may take some time to get use to at the start. But take your time, and enjoy, and give it a chance.
Excellent video, well worth making and watching. Thank you! 😊
what's amazing about it, is that it still exists.
A testament to its quality!
The dlc is overpriced though like holy crap even on sale its like $150
@@pilsplease7561 it's like 30$ lol
@@pilsplease7561if I am not mistaken there are multiple editions to the dlc. Which one are you referring to that is $150?
I’ve been playing less often since the Gundapad expansion, but it feels like a home I can always return too, and I’m so glad they keep adding. I do hope they get a big graphics and lag upgrade at some point, but I still think the environment and atmosphere go far beyond even most modern games. Plus there’s all the lore, and as so say, the sheer size. Plus all the content that has built up. If they were able to upgrade the UI and character models especially, and the lag, and put in some advertising, it would be rediscovered and be a game of the year all over again.
Lotro feels like a vast world to be in and explore. With a really well written epic quest line.
It needs an UI overhaul
Indeed
Badly.
thats literally my only issue. the UI is horrid, but the game itself is definitely a gem.
I'm still on the fence.. I played it and enjoyed it but dropped it because of the UI@@silentslayergaming8469
The UI is Shocking! Its the main thing that puts me off from the game.
Hi There! I am a Tolkien & LOTRO RUclipsr myself. Your video popped up and I must say I really enjoyed it! I love that you pointed out the Goods in the game instead of the negative stuff, Since the good WAY outweighs it. LOTRO is in Fact the Biggest "scale" game in the world besides infinite games like Minecraft or no mans sky. Loved you pointed that out. Now personally, The "graphics art style" I love in lotro, I know some don't like older, But I mean, Lotro dose looks better then WoW. BUT, I don't think comparing there "graphics works" since they are both "art styles" more then anything else. I also am a WoW player in the past great game too.
I agreed with Most your video! A few, small things, I won't go into all of them, But... I may be that guy that wants flying mounts since I started the game the first week it was out. lol. Now, hear me out... the other side of me is like NO, it will break things in the game, lore and feeling Like you said. I am torn on that, Also, when it comes to UI I think a lot of people just don't know how set it up, Being older. I think the UI has aged really well (besides a few skill icons). I have a guide video on how I setup my UI to look so good etc.
Now, to finish up. Almost everything else you said I agree on! They are fixing the "lag issues" I almost never get them anymore myself, but others still do at times.
You did a really good job putting this video together. I wanted to thank you and encourage you on how good this video was. It was balanced and fair points both the goods and bad. It was very refreshing to me to watch a video I was not cringing at knowing they did not do there research (happens way to much). But you DID do the research! I was impressed you even knew the stuff about amazon game and the worry that standing stones put to rest. Well done!
Keep it up man! Maybe I will see you in game sometime! I play on the server CrickHollow mostly, but also on others too.
Cheers! BARKH KHAZAD!
P.S. They are planning on doing a scaling system to let you lower your personally level to help out a lower level ally with out needed to get on a different toon. This is new info and should be a welcome addition! :D
Been playing since 2008. Have 12 characters at level cap (one of each class). You are correct about the reasons people still play and love this game. One of my nightmares is that being an online game, eventually, one day it will close down, and all my characters will be gone. I am likely to try the Amazon game if/when it is released, but it is unlikely to become a substitute for LOTRO, just another game to also play, maybe.
Nice video. The scale of the world in particular is something I loved about LotRO as well.
One thing worth noting about WoW, they scaled down all the levelling areas, presumably to streamline the levelling process even further (cause Blizzard). No idea when they did this, but it can be observed easily by going to an spot in WotLK Classic and going to the same spot in retail. Your character is much bigger in comparison to the environment in retail, perhaps 25% or so. I thought my memory had failed me when levelling a new alt, but no Blizzard really did make the world smaller.
This is the only game I have permanently installed ony my pc since 2007. I never know when the indescribable urge comes on me to play it again. Its wonderful, like coming home. :)
So jealous lol.
Lotro will be amazing for ever! Why? Have played every single MMO out there but only Lotro speaks to my soul... can't describe it!
This!
Thoughts on wow?
@@DAPPERPERFORMANCE very good in terms of lore depth options etc but not like lotro. The warcraft universe is wonderful but not somewhere near to lotr and especially Warhammer universe. Warhammer universe is something this world won't see again.
@@Manwu5 I've played Lotro and WoW for a while now...Still can't figure out which one I enjoy more. I end up coming back to both at different times of the year. But, I cant wait for future big changed for Lotro and its UI
@@Manwu5The same could be applied for the Warcraft universe. Never again will something similar appear. I've been hooked since 02 and i'm always interested in anything Warcraft related
LOTRO is the most underrated mmo ever. I love it. Beautiful game.
17 years now!
The great thing about being able to set landscape difficulty is that you can really learn how to use your skills effectively. This way when you go to do the more difficult group content you're really well versed in how to use your class's skills.
Recently got back into LOTRO. This game is my go-to when I’m feeling nostalgic as I’ve played this game since alpha testing.
Longer form is fantastic for your channel; important to have that tension/relief ratio just right throughout the content and you obviously killed it with that here lol, keep on keepin' on, bright future for ya!👍
I probably have more hours in WoW than I do in any other MMO, but I realized that I don't care for the endgame content in WoW at all. I've leveled so many alts because I just live questing through the different zones/expansions. Once I hit max level I end up creating a new character. I've finally gotten bored of it and started branching out to other MMOs. I really enjoy LOTRO so far, for many reasons, but mainly because the game feels so expansive. And it feels like the journey to max level has a great focus, unlike in WoW where it feels like they should just do away with levelling entirely at this point Lol
Glad you are enjoying the game! There is so much fun content to explore at your own pace 🙂
As a rabid Tolkien fan, I agree. LOTRO is about the most important thing in the Tolkien universe: LORE. Amazon clearly does not respect the lore, at all, and one has to look no further than "Rings of Power" to see that.
These guys frankly don't respect it either.
Then don't watch it
I just started playing as a free to play mmo gamer. LOTRO's shop system is like Helldivers 2 - play the game to earn credits which can be used to buy expansions.
Its like WoW Classic but completely free and with a focus on storylines.
Good luck they nerfed the points so you can not get expansions that way anymore
@@pilsplease7561 did they? Mustve been recent because its been no problem during the short bit of time ive played
I still have my Shadows of Angmar box set sitting on my bookshelf beside me as I type this. I bought a Lifetime VIP membership back then and I still think it is perhaps the absolute best $200 I have ever spent.
A great video! I think this accurately captures why a lot of us continue to play.
I tried to logon and get "No subscription found for LORTO". Tried starting a new account just to play but can't because my email is already used. What a mess...
If you had a Turbine account the problem is at some point the way they added the acquisition of free currency required them to split the game accounts apart, but their still tied unfortunately to the same system. Unless you have a grandfathered e-mail/account that had both LotRO and DDO on the same e-mail, you have to have two different ones AFAIK. Hopefully someone can correct me if I misremember or got this wrong.
i played ddo (ssg's other game) for a decade since its release in 2006 and recently got back into it, but never touched lotro
its really quite interesting how much they have in common but also where they differ
I think both are great, having played both for periods of time here and there.
I played from 09-18 and spent so much money on content, took a break and the server was deleted so for years I was salty, came back about 2 weeks ago and I’m hooked again, the players that are still there are so friendly and helpful, still massive concerts on the weekends, the game looks crisp and fluid, just wish I had more money lol
Very nice in depth analysis 👍If they would have remade LOTRO to be up 2 date like other MMOS which did it, like WOW, i would have played LOTRO soo much more. I played it for 5 years.
I have had long pause from the game. Might check the new areas out as I do have some alts around! :)
Played LOTRO back in the Turbine days when end game was character level 95. I'm back now and really enjoying my Lvl 60 + RK. the one thing that hasnt changed is its hard finding groups for lower level fellowship instances. Part of this is my own level of confidence and understanding. Players tend to advertise on "/world" using shorthand (X for school need dps/support) and not mentioning character levels so I'm never sure if my lower level character is actually suitable or how to play the instance or even where the instance is. It will come in time I'm sure.
If you played in turbine days u might be happy to hear this month there is release of lotro from 2007 version old combat traits etc. Look up echoes of angmar
Great script, narration and summary of what Lotro brings to the table Snow Fluff. Extremely well done! :)
I liked this game back in the day. This, regnum, runescape with membership and the wow demo from cataclysm were my teenage yrs. Miss those days, miss the friend i had who introduced me to regnum and lotro. Have no means of contacting him any more.
This and star wars the old republic both epic even to this day
I would love to see this get a graphical overhaul and modernization
I just reinstalled for the first time in a couple of years. Been playing for a bit over 14 years, off and on, and it always draws me back.
This is the one of the only old MMORPG (Tibia too) that I still love even more nowadays.
There is no other MMO with as much detail or charm.
It's fun, it's like my first MMO EverQuest Online Adventures in that it's all about that journey, not the destination. I prefer EQOA myself, as after that time it became mostly doing quests as opposed to grinding mobs in camps, which is how i was introduced to the genre. The old EverQuest formula. Wish it didn't have performance issues though.
I still have my physical copies lol.
Great video mate, very professional and engaging. Hopefully the algorithm discovers you channel soon 🙏 keep it up (you earned a sub)
Thank you! :)
I've been playing since open Beta and will keep playing till the day it shuts down.
Your video made me download LOTRO again and give it one more chance.
The one game I always come back to and play to relax
I played LOTRO a little about 12 years ago, but my hardware was really bad at that time.
Really considering to play it today. It's definitely aged a bit, but still looks great.
I will totally give this game a try. Being a longtime fan of MMORPGs and LOTR, let's go! I will update here to tell you how it went.
Very cool video, thanks! I would love to love LOTRO but whenever I decide to give it yet another go... I just can't. Your video will be my another try. :)
You sir, have inspired me to reinstall and start over my journey in Middle Earth.
2:10 I can't be the only one who got scared by the popping lmao
Colors seem more vibrant in your video then in-game for me. Did you do something to either your video or in LOTRO itself to make that the case?
I'm using 'reshade' to make the colors look more vibrant when I play LOTRO! There are quite a few Reddit threads and such on the LOTRO subreddit explaining how to install it if you're interested :)
@@SnowFluffGamesOk, so I was not imagining it. With your info, I was able to google it and find it. I think I can take it from here. Thank you for replying.
If you have an Nvidia graphics card you can tune color balance for each game indivudually without "modding" from external sources
@@SnowFluffGames I was wondering too because I remembered this game looking so much duller and less contrasty!
@@SnowFluffGames good thing i read this comment.. i was watching the video and thinking "man, this looks like over-saturated shit though"
I was a founder when it first launched. The best £90 (I think it was) I've ever spent.
As a Tolkien fan, I loved being able to travel and see canonic places in the game. It also gave me my all time most favorate MMORPG gaming experiences in Monster Play, until it got too unbalanced as a result of level expansions and low server pop. Monster Play never got the attention it needed from the developers but had great end game potential IMO.
Difficulty option is wonderful. On normal difficulty it's a chore (bore?) to go through a new character from start. So very easy and aimed at a new player. I hadn't played a warden for years and when to try this more complex class again. I definitely don't recommend going heroic level 7 at level 2 but that's what I did and it was not Dark Souls but it was tough! I had to plan ahead and really makes my moves right instead of just running around pew pew willy nilly tagging every enemy.
Amount of content the game has is its strong suit. If you don't like certain area, there's another one with similar level.
However the grind is real. I have to remind myself that I can't do every quest and every deed in every area. Trying to do 100% in an area ends up with low to no experience points and grinding gets tedious to get that last 100 orc kills.
Monetization is not the worst but you can really sink cash into really nothing so amazing. Waiting for a sale is common advice for new players.
As one of the lucky who have a Lifetime VIP the quality of life being subscriber is a real thing that makes me think the game is better than our might be as a free to play. But the lore and stories and world and wholesome people and places and hardship and tragedy... It's a love letter to Tolkien. Even if he might have a few words about adaptation.
I'm actually playing lotro right now, I just returned to the game recently I'm like you where I revisit quite often I have been playing wow since 2007 and started first playing Lord of the rings online in 2010. Like you said in the video yes a little bit of it is outdated but there's something that keeps bringing me back to the game,
I cannot see the Community just abandoning the Game and moving over to Amazon's Game it's gonna take amazon a long time to develop their game it won't be out for probably another 6 to 8 years at the earliest
I think, despite a lot of warts, LotRO still is engaging because the term "lovingly crafted world" shows in basically every part of the game. It's like that person you hang out with that's not really good looking in a conventional sense but so goddamned charming they grow on you. We all know pretty people that are stupid; that would be WoW. LotRO engages you at a deeper level.
interesting video - but you were standing ontop of another mountain in kun-lai instead of in the valley...while comparing it to a mountain in lotro from the perspective of standing in the valley...not really fair no?
Ive been playing ff14 and i love it. Saying that, LOTRO will always be my fave mmo, ive always loved the world and the grand scale of the game. I dont play it anymore as i enjoyed it most when playing with friends. Its a very relaxing game to play solo and this video has made me want to play it later. Thanks ☺️
Wish LOTRO would get a graphical overhaul, that would make me play it.
VIP founder, and I honestly still like it a lot. I don't care about raids (only ever done the Rift and hated it with a fiery passion), I don't care about PvMP, and I very rarely group. It's a casual game I can hop in for 30 mins and accomplish something, and it's a game where I can craft my armour, my weapons, everything I need, without ever feeling "gimped".
LoTRO will always have a place in my heart, but yeah, the lag is a serious problem.
ive been playing on and off for 12 years, since i was a young teenager, and honestly ive tried a LOT of mmos.basically i tried doenloading all the fantasy mmos that were free to play at some point and tried them out! but i never really got into any one of them. a big part of that was and is, that i have a short attention span and i dont want to have to read lore about a world i dont care about with characters i dont know and dont care about.
thats the first bonus for lotro for me: i love the films, never read the books but i very much like the characters. i feel like i know them a little bit, and when i get to see and experience, for example, how balin got stuck and died in moria when the goblins attacked? that made me really fucking sad. or when you start as the race of men, and you immediately run into a "mysterious" ranger named "strider" its like. aaah. i see what yore doing. hi aragorn :)) its so fun, even for casual fans like me who are more invested into the characters than in the lore. but if you really love the lore....hooo boy theres lots and lots and lots of lore for you to read lmao. i myself am usually a filthy quest-text-skipper, however sometimes theyre written so well that even i am like "oh damn what happened then??"
also, since lotro is so old, it is accessible to people like me who have a pc from like a trillion years ago. i cant even run lotro on ultra, which is sad because i personally think lotros art-style is super pretty and the environments look so beautiful and charming on max settings! but i think its important that people with older setups even have the possibilities to play the game. i cant play all the new, shiny games. baldurs gate 3?? lol my pc would probably explode if i tried opening that.
and also, i personally think the landscape difficulty thing was genius. im a very very chilled out gamer, i dont want to be stressed, and lotro is perfect for that. however, i always seem to land being a smidge overlevelled most of the time, and so putting the difficulty on like, 3 or something, just makes fighting mobs that little bit more satisfying. also i could /actually/ die now if i dont pay attention lmao, thats new!
anyway as you can tell, i really love this game and i hope it can keep going for lots and lots of more years, and im always trying to recruit my friends to play with me hehe
I suggest anyone who wanna try lotro or replay to look up echoes of angmar, its community made server that is supposed to re create game as it was in 2007. It releases this month
I love lotro universe, big fan of the books and movies - I started playing lotro when it released but didn't play it for very long (around 2 months). Since then i've been coming back to lotro many times but briefly and each time I quit feeling its a single player grindy chore that hides behind of facade of being a safe haven for people loving Tolkien work. I respect all the people that praise this game and love it for one reason or the other but personally I think this universe deserve a better, much, much better mmo. The only thing I like about this game is its landscape and scale, there is a certain charm to this Lineage 2 era graphics. Each time I came back to the game I got bored really quickly and just spent couple days just traveling and seeing places. Its very alluring but a niche entertainment that can last for a day or two. Even tho there is a lot of content for low, med, high level characters I have not experienced anything in the world that would incentivize me to play with other people. Nobody is whispering anybody "Hey you wanna do this or that? We potentially could use your class for this or this". Games, especially MMOs need to have gameplay loop that pushes people together across all levels - this is what wow classic nailed for example. Even today when you play this new wow season of discovery you get people that actively seek to play with each other.
OSRS also focuses on content for early to mid game a lot of the time. I think more MMORPGs should do this.
I played during launch of LOTRO. I remember how many group quests there were and how hard content was. I did try the game again and was disappointed they dumbed down all those hard group quests to be soloable. But that is the fate of a game that has serious population drops over the years.
I am a simple man. I hear Tom Bombadil's Theme, I click like.
I’m a huge SWTOR fan. Been playing it since 2013. Love that I can make my own story in Star Wars. Like any MMO it can get very old, but its stories always brings me back. I did try WoW once and I must be blunt, it was probably the most boring video game I’ve ever played. It makes me nervous to play this, but I love the LOTR franchise. Just finished watching the extended editions for the first time. Think it’s worth the shot at least?
1:34 yea may i point out if a game is that old you end up with hard code. good example is WoW heared once a dev found a .PNG of a random coconut. it was put in the files early in the game devlopment the dev deleted the immage compiled the game and after that they went on a month of panic testing. just by deleting a image that wasnt linked to annything made the game crash. why? it was there for so long it became part of the hard code of the game. im not sure if i recall correct but its basicly the game engine refering back to a line of code as a waypoint to find its way. runescape also had this problem with rs2 lumbridge cobble bridge. they could not delete it. and changing objec file worked but never showed the object change in game XD. yes OSRS likley still cant change that bridge. wierd and intresting stuff i know a littlebit about. (i had a fall in techer at basic school dude was in his 60s had all caracters maxed out and knew GMs. thats how i got the WoW storie. i dit not play wow much but he also played cod mw2 he was a beast.) (and the one from RS i know because back in the day there were 3 dutch jagex moderators 1 for comunity and other 2 were devs. i knew them cause i hanged out in the same world as they did. yea.. the old times devs were loged into a mmo to chill with players while making the game. we need that back....
I remember when moria dlc first dropped, I actually bought a hard copy from GameStop back in the day, didn’t wanna be a Wow nerd so I became a Tolkien fan boy
If I had the free time I'd have a max lvl of all classes, but I play very infrequently. I really put in a lot of hours back in Moria and Mirkwood. I missed out on launch but did get to raid The Rift with my kin.
LOTRO is beautiful but shows it's age. What killed it for me was when I started realizing how building interiors did not match their exterior designs. In old games this was just how it was but for a modern gaming experience it is very immersion breaking. Sometimes, however, when riding through the Lands Between or relaxing in Whiterun I am reminded of what a magical experience this game was for me in it's time.
LotRO is the goat when it comes to games for me. that said, they really need to do something about the lag. That is its biggest threat by far.
The only thing that I would love to see right now is a complete UI overhaul, which I think is not that hard to do.
Unfortunately, I lost my lifetime account when the publisher changed. All the characters are gone and unfortunately I didn't feel like getting back in.
Why did you lose your lifetime account and characters? I just came back after a 10 year break and all my characters are still there.
OSRS, LOTRO, we need a re-release of the OG Guild Wars and a holy trinity will be complete
I thought it was gone.
I only played it once and used my trial mount to tour middle Earth and sight see.
I need to get a pc again…
Its the my #1 cozy game. And the music slaps.
This is the only mmo ive seen where you can walk into a forest and NOT just see mobs everywhere like u have to actually search for the spiders in that one forest and that makes exploration in the game feel like a thing, u do not get that when theirs enemy's everywhere
I´m installing the game rn, new player jaja, totally gotta give this a try! :D
and? you like it?
@@Onb3k3nd3 not so much -_- i´m from Argentina and my english its pretty good but still rest point that the game its not translated, and the gameplay its too slow for me. I just dont have the patience to give it my time :/ Maybe in some future i'll give it another chance..
@@emanuelestigarribia1081 sounds fair, thanks for letting me know xD
I want to come back, but won't until they rework the interface proper for high resolution monitors. Currently its a blurry mess with anything above 1080p. But... I heard they reworked the store. *rolls eyes*
I tired to play a few years back but I just couldn't with all the cosmetic items content etc. My inventory was just spammed with immersion breaking content.
This game only opens up in windowed mode for me lol I remember playing it close to when it first came out. DIdn't play much but it was fun.
Did you apply shaders in this one or just the default HD update of LOTRO graphics?
Need to get a voice ai quest addon for this game, id sink a few thousand hours for sure.
64 bit servers are going to help a lot
Really enjoyed watching this. This makes me want to give LOTRO a try. As I've previously played WoW (Vanilla and BC mainly) and FFXIV as either a caster DPS/Healer or more two handed Ret Pally. I was curious what you might recommend for a first playthrough to experience LOTRO?
Wish they would release it on console. Could breath some new life and audiences
They desperately need some graphical updates. I don't think it needs to be extreme, but it needs some love.
Visual Updates for Older Content are happening but slowly. All "Newer Content" uses the Latest Visuals that LOTRO offers.
Talks about live world 5:30 yet i havent seen a single enemy, boss nor player in the past 5.5 mins. Hmmmm..
I once had a colleague who played in a lotro band.
Are those still around?
Any fan of lord of the rings and wanting to explore its universe will never find a better place than LOTRO.
In 2024 new year's resolution forbifes me from computer games 😢 but LOTRO will be first game that i will choose when i come back in 2025 😇