Life in Middle Earth

As you know if you've been reading this blog for the last couple weeks, I've recently turned my attention to Lord of the Ring Online as my MMO of choice. I thought I'd talk a little about how its going and what I think was done extremely well.

I hadn't really read much of the patch information for the last couple updates, so I didn't know what to expect when I started up. I'm a huge fan of customization and role-playing content (even though I might not necessarily role-play myself). While some aspects aren't much better than WoW, such as character creation, for example, overall LotRO offers so much more RP content and customization.

I was surprised to stumble across a barber shop in The Prancing Pony the other day. Now I change my character's hair almost every day. Its fun and very affordable.

Things that I used to need a mod for in WoW are built right into the game. Most notably, if you type "/rp on" in LotRO, you go into "RP mode". Your character name appears differently to other players and when they mouse over you they are notified that you're role playing. In addition, in your character screen you can create a lineage for your character; a family tree, of sorts. You can also write a description of your character for other people to see.

What else? Instanced neighborhoods with player and guild housing. This is a big thing for me. It feels so much more like you're immersed in the game when you actually own a house and a piece of land - game real estate. In WoW, long before Burning Crusade was released, I used to be in a fairly high-end raiding guild. We all had a meeting spot in Ironforge that we would congregate in before and after raids, and during other times of the day. You'd often find guild members afk there and guild parties started there when we would clear a dungeon or down a boss for the first time. What if we had a guild hall to do those things in? Granted, the only thing lacking would be the public eye, but still, wouldn't it feel more like you were immersed in the game if you had a place to call yours to go hang out, meet before and after events and hold celebratory events?

The instanced neighborhoods in LotRO are very well designed. I have my heart set on owning a hobbit hole by a pond. When fishing is implemented in the next update, this will be an even more lucrative locale. And, I didn't even go into furnishing your house and yard, inviting others over, holding neighborhood events, etc.

I used to play Final Fantasy XI, it was my first MMO experience. While many things bothered me about that game, I really enjoyed their title system. You could get a title for many, many things in that game. Some were greatly coveted, as they were very difficult to obtain. I don't understand Blizzard's aversion to a more robust title system, especially considering they could still make very hard to get titles. But, at the same time, they could have many easier to get titles, to at least give the more casual player some benefit, as well.

LotRO has a very robust title system, much like FFXI, and I really appreciate that. To borrow a phrase from a rather popular, over-saturated Nintendo franchise, you get the sense that you "gotta catch 'em all", and that, to me, is fun.

One last thing I will touch on here is more game play-based than RP-based - the deed and trait system. It holds a way to progress your character without gear, and even after you hit the level cap. WoW's progression is almost 100% gear-based. That leads to the environment that is present now - raid, PVP or rep grind. What if you could progress your character - increase stats and improve their abilities - all without needing to worry about getting the best gear out there, and nearly 100% solo, if you wish? I'd be all over that. That's what LotRO offers with the deed and trait system.

The point of an MMO, in my opinion, is to immerse yourself in the world and to have content for players of every play style. From my perspective, LotRO does this much better than WoW. While WoW may have dedicated RP servers, Blizzard seems to have an aversion to adding any real RP content in favor of more of the same - raids, PVP and rep grinds. Will the upcoming expansion change that? I highly doubt it. LotRO is where its at for me, at least presently, but who knows what the future holds.