Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

I've had another week with Lord of the Rings Online and while the early afterglow of the honeymoon phase may have begun to wane, I'm still impressed and having fun. The new free content update, Volume II: Book 7: Leaves of Lórien went live today and like an untold number of players, I can't wait to hop in and check out all the changes when the servers come back up. Mainly, I want to see the differences in the beginning areas for elves, men and dwarves. Their introductions were fun, but there were definite areas prime for improvement.

I'll be doing the blood-sucking around here, thank you.

The first change I'm anxious to witness is an alteration in the distance dwarves have to run. Newly minted dwarfs will find themselves covering a significant amount of land during their "back and forth" travels while fulfilling the early quest lines. I'm not entirely positive the amount of time between locations doesn't feel longer due to our stubby little legs pumping just as fast as they'll go, but there were times it felt as though I was trying to run up an escalator. My legs were moving, but I wasn't getting too far. It'll be interesting to see whether they altered the landscape at all, or if they just moved the objectives of some quests closer to their point of origin. Enough of what may be though. Let's look at what I've discovered this week instead.

The Small Improvements Make Big Impressions

I finally figured out the words to explain one of the most impressive aspects I discovered last week that I meant to mention, but didn't. I'm not sure how they pulled it off, or how many ungodly hours they spent trying to perfect it, but Lord of the Rings Online has the most natural and organic-feeling outdoor areas of any game I've ever played. Throughout the years, I've had the opportunity to travel to many parts of the real world and (unfortunately) spend a lot of that time outside. It amazes me how *real* the various landscapes in LotRO feel. Sure, in real life you're not going to have all these animals just hanging out, waiting to get whacked by the crafting mob bosses, but the landscape itself is remarkably done. It may be a game, but this is one of those instances when you could really make the "video game as art" argument, it's that good.

What I haven't found good though is a particular goblin chieftain that's still kicking my tail at level 10 while he's a lowly level 7. I've always felt if a quest is almost to the point of giving you zero experience for completing it, then you should be able to solo the thing. Especially when I'm pretty sure the quest doesn't mention anything about needing to bring friends like some of the others have done so far. Now to be honest, it's quite possible that I just suck at playing a Rune-Keeper, and haven’t figured out some magical combo of skills to make the battle a little easier. I'm inclined to start thinking the class is meant to fill more of a support role instead of being a soloing powerhouse. Time will tell.

After respawning from the third ass-whipping my new goblin chieftain friend decided to hand out to me (oh, he *will* die one of these days), I decided what my Rune-Keeper really needed to do was take a break and get in touch with the land for some relaxation. What better way to do this than to do a little fishing? Yes, I was one of those weird players that spent countless hours sitting on the beaches in the Plane of Tranquility, content to fish and chat with friends. I enjoyed it and was looking forward to trying out a new fishing system. When I sauntered up to the fishing supply merchant I found near a bridge, I bought a rod, grabbed some bait, and hurried off in a rush, all excited to get some fishing in. Unfortunately, I discovered one tiny little problem. I didn't know how. I ran back to the merchant to see if there was a book or something I could buy to discover how, or ever better, perhaps he would tell me? I didn't find either and it surprised me because up until this point, I thought the developers had done a great job in at least giving me the basics to try anything I needed to. Not so with fishing.

Amazingly, it's the fact that after playing for two weeks and still being confused by various systems in the game that probably has more to do with still keeping me interested than anything else. I know it sounds strange, but bear with me for a minute while I try to explain. For anyone that's been reading my work for a while, you know I've never been hesitant to slam a team that does a horrible job of explaining how things work to their players. It's not that I believe everything should be explained in great detail, but that everything should at least be introduced. There's a huge difference between giving a player enough information to get them started than not even mentioning a particular game mechanic. Now while I'm a little disappointed in the fishing incident (which I'll go digging to rectify anyway), the LotRO team has done a great job of making me want to figure out more about the game. Traits, destiny points, deeds, and more; the list goes on and on. It's created an interesting dynamic and one I can't wait to explore further.