Over the weekend, most of us were able to get onto Lord of the Rings Online & start doing starting zone quests. Soon, we formed our Kinship (that's LotRO talk for Guild.) The name chosen? Heren Lokion. According to people smarter than me (Amaeva & Nord) it's the Order of the Serpent. Althought, they also say it's more like people who pwn snakes (or dragons.) Fitting.
First impressions? That's all I really have. LotRO is both uniquely different & exactly the same as WoW. Longtime WoW players will recognize the basic UI framework and the general mechanics of the game. The initial combat pacing feels "slower" than WoW, but not in a bad way.
So, am I back into blogging about gaming? We'll see. The real topic I'm interested in is the state of our guild/kinship. The group has been playing WoW together for nearly 4 years & gaming together for over a decade (for some it's nearly 2 decades.) The dynamic of group gaming & how LotRO works for us will be my main focus. But, I'll also post about the game itself.
I'll try to get the others to post a bit about their experiences.
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While downloading the game proved nightmarish, (I lost track of the number of attempts, but it took four days of my free trial to finally get it.) it seems worth it. If you've played any MMO the UI is completely intuitive. Selling items seems a little clunky, but "sell all" and being able to equip an item without closing the vendor window are nice. The game is visually stunning. I've got an older system (a little over 2 years) that's a bit below the recommended specs. It still blows away anything from Wrath and I still haven't gotten out of the intro zones. The water effects are much better (though I still haven't figure out how to dive). The burning of Archet compared to the Culling of Strat in about the same way Backdraft compared to the Towering Inferno (effects-wise).
Combat does seem a little slower paced than WoW, but I'll take that as an improvement. Rather than having to pit my reflexes (which are getting dangerously close to middle-aged) against latency trying to take advantage of a proc or combo, I find I can think about my next move--particularly since you can queue up your next action.
And the folks at LotRO were snoozing when DAoC came up with the idea of dyeing your gear to match. I was a little worried about the Burning Clown effect, but one of the intro quests gives you 3 pots of dye in your choice of colors.
Thus far, epic win.
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