I've had another week with href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro" target="_blank">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, href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/65323" target="_blank">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.


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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 ( href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/65448" target="_blank">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.




Playing
the Monsters




I've always been fascinated with being able to play unconventional
characters in any game. While there were far too many issues with
Horizons to mention here, I was completely in love with that game for
one reason and one reason only; I got to play a dragon. Not only did I
get to play a dragon, but I also couldn't use any of the equipment I
found for the far more populated humanoid races on the planet. When
it's all said and done, there are a number reasons why Horizons was a
staggering failure, but that doesn't negate some of the innovations
they brought to the table and should be commended for.


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Since I'm also playing a spider, is it wrong to beat up on them now?

Once I found out I could play such a character in LotRO, even if it was
part of href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/65475" target="_blank">a
PvP landscape, I had to hurry up
and meet the necessary
requirements. Thanks to the members of our forums that commented on
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/65155" target="_blank">last
week's article and filled me in
on what it took to finally be
able
to play one of the game's monsters. To the complete surprise (and utter
confusion) of my wife, I chose to try out the spider first. I'll freely
admit I have problems with the creepy crawly creatures of the world,
but only if they're on me, trying to make their way into jumping range
so they can get on me, or blocking my path in an attempt to force me
into jumping range so they can get on me. Are you starting to see a
pattern here? That's right - all bugs of the world desire nothing more
than to get on you. Anyway... since it's a video game and there's no
chance of being pounced on by it, I chose the spider because when you
take out the creepiness factor, they're actually pretty fascinating
creatures. 



The spider in LotRO proved to be a lot of fun. I may not have
discovered any goodie two-shoes player characters wandering around, but
there is a small PvE portion to the Ettenmoors that I found enjoyable.
While you may be a monster, your screen is set up just like a
character. You have your quest section, various abilities on a hot bar,
and your own little mini-map. I really wish more companies would take
the time to do something like this. Crawling around the land, spitting
poison, and burrowing under the ground to hide was all a lot of fun. It
places you in a different mindset and allows you to explore aspects of
the game from a different perspective.



If you really analyze it, it's not much different from the normal
player experience in that you have skills and abilities, but none of
that matters. What matters is that I was playing an animal, with a
different set of objectives and reasons for existence. I can't stress
how much I recommend everyone to give it a try, even if it's not
something they stick with. It's an area of game design that I
personally feel should be looked at further. There was just one thing
that kind of drew me out of the fantasy while I was wandering around.
Since I am a spider, I really think I should be allowed to crawl up
walls. Sadly, the developers apparently failed to agree with me.



Once again, there’s far more to go over with LotRO than
what’s been presented here. I call that a good thing, really.
The game has far more to it than I had ever thought in the past.
I’m looking forward to continuing the journey and bringing
you future updates!





To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Lord of the Rings Online Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

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