Why isn't LotRO more popular?

[Aut0mat1c]

The log in servers for LotRO are currently experiencing issues (Yes I see the irony in this post) so I'm writing this.

Why isn't the game more popular? I came back about a week ago and it truly is a real MMORPG.

I know the store is a turn off but you can earn store points in game via deed accomplishments. And if you're a completionist like me, there is so much to do. Every zone has tons of deeds to complete. Mostly exploring, killing mobs, and helping quest givers but the grind feels meaningful. Like you're working toward becoming more powerful slowly. Deeds give Virtue points that increase Virtue levels. Virtues give bonuses to your character.

The community has been amazing. People helping every time I ask. High levels helping with instances, people getting on alts to send mats if you ask for help with crafting, one guy even bought a stack of 500 leather off the AH for me and just sent me what I needed. I see a lot of new players like myself running around as well. It's been a ton of fun and your name feels meaningful in the community. Reading world chat it became apparent there were rivalries and friends and people who knew each other.

And the lore is Lord of the Rings. You can literally walk into the Prancing Pony and see Gandalf. You can walk the Shire. Go to Mordor. See Mount Doom. It's really cool.

I feel like this game got a bad rap in the beginning (and rightfully so I think...) and now it's actually really damn good. It scratches that old school MMO itch while still feeling modern enough so it's not like playing original EQ or Classic WoW.

The graphics aren't the greatest but the gameplay more than makes up for it.

Anyway, if anyone is looking for a solid old school-ish MMORPG that is truly an RPG and not an action game or arcade style game, give it another try (once the servers are back up). I think it definitely deserves a second chance.

[Dakhath]

The game was rough when I tried playing it probably nearly a decade ago, the lore and world building is fantastic of course, but it just wasn't enjoyable for me to play, and I really REALLY wanted to love it.

[Loveliest]

I haven't played Lotro in a while, but I remember I really liked a lot of their features. Crafting, housing, those little missions you could go into with your followers. Also I enjoyed their holidays. But I do remember the shop being very intrusive, putting even access to some group content under paywall. Or at least those little missions I recall I liked were pay to play.

So basically, for me, two things: I play wow which already takes much of my time and the shop style. I am they type who does pay in games and buys stuff, but not if it feels overly intrusive or over the top with the pricing of every little feature.
Also, I never play alone. So even if I pay for stuff myself, my friends have to pay too and they usually don't.

[Logwyn]

LotRO came out in the heyday of WOW. If it comes out before things might have been different.

[Aut0mat1c]

The game was rough when I tried playing it probably nearly a decade ago, the lore and world building is fantastic of course, but it just wasn't enjoyable for me to play, and I really REALLY wanted to love it.

I felt the same way, trust me.

When I came back again after all these years later, it's definitely improved. It reminds me of when WoW was great. When they fix the server issues, it's worth looking into.

[dlld]

I never tried lotro beyond playing like 30 minutes aages ago in some free trial, it just at that time at-least just felt like a worse version of wow so might as well just stick to wow eh. Now it just feels way too old and outdated to even try and return to, same with DDO. (I had no desire to play classic wow either, been there done that).

[Tekko]

The world is great, but combat is poor.

[Ealyssa]

It scratches that old school MMO itch while still feeling modern enough

Does it tho ? I think it's actually its main problem, it doesn't feel modern at all. It released years after WoW yet looks really dated, feels really dated and really doesn't offer a modern experience at all.

If we are honest it's impressive that they are still alive, thanks to their somewhat functioning F2P model. Being alive and running is already the accomplishment. Asking for a huge success on top is way too much.

[Erous]

The combat and movement fluidity were the deal breakers for us if I recall correctly. IMO I also think it's very difficult to get into as a new player vs being there from the start.

[Jastall]

It looked and felt dated to play when I tried it in, what, 2013? The cash shop was also quite in your face as I recall.

[Twdft]

The combat and movement fluidity were the deal breakers for us if I recall correctly. IMO I also think it's very difficult to get into as a new player vs being there from the start.

I've tried it a couple weeks ago and even moving about feels strange. Servers seem to be potatoes so it might be to do with that but if you let go of the forward key you don't stop but slide a little bit. Combat feels off too.

[Cosmic Janitor]

It had some cool features, but the LotR settings is sadly a rather low magic setting which is total turn-off for me. I remember back then the cloest you could get to a proper wizard was the gandalf knock-off class, and that was more than underwhelming tbh, staff and sword ain't gonna counter that.

[Munson85]

Gameplay is awful. Better question would be who is playing this game? Surprised it didn't go the way of that Matrix MMO

[quras]

There are a number of things wrong with LotRO but one of the biggest for me was how the questing worked.

While it started out like most games LotRO turned questing into a near complete time waste. The amount of time I wasted in travel getting to and from a quest area vs actually playing killed this game for me.

Far to many times I spent 5 mins in travel getting to a quest area only to deliver a quest item or to kill a few things in 1 min or 2 and then have to travel back to where I was in another 5 min travel. A complete waste of game time. I don't mind a little travel but LotRO turned travel into a complete waste. Fast travel helps a little bit and in some areas but most of the time you will be "off the beaten path" for a quest area and you will ride a horse into the middle of nowhere.

That happens far to much and turned out to be such a poor design, I couldn't bring myself to play anymore. There are other things I have Issues with but their travel design / Questing setup was unbearable.

[Fencers]

Honestly, because the gameplay was largely boring and/or unremarkable. At the end of the day, every single video game is fundamentally about gameplay.

It's nice to have lore, stories, graphics, et cetera. But video games exist for and only are about gameplay.

[ONCHEhap]

The log in servers for LotRO are currently experiencing issues (Yes I see the irony in this post) so I'm writing this.

Why isn't the game more popular? I came back about a week ago and it truly is a real MMORPG.

I know the store is a turn off but you can earn store points in game via deed accomplishments. And if you're a completionist like me, there is so much to do. Every zone has tons of deeds to complete. Mostly exploring, killing mobs, and helping quest givers but the grind feels meaningful. Like you're working toward becoming more powerful slowly. Deeds give Virtue points that increase Virtue levels. Virtues give bonuses to your character.

The community has been amazing. People helping every time I ask. High levels helping with instances, people getting on alts to send mats if you ask for help with crafting, one guy even bought a stack of 500 leather off the AH for me and just sent me what I needed. I see a lot of new players like myself running around as well. It's been a ton of fun and your name feels meaningful in the community. Reading world chat it became apparent there were rivalries and friends and people who knew each other.

And the lore is Lord of the Rings. You can literally walk into the Prancing Pony and see Gandalf. You can walk the Shire. Go to Mordor. See Mount Doom. It's really cool.

I feel like this game got a bad rap in the beginning (and rightfully so I think...) and now it's actually really damn good. It scratches that old school MMO itch while still feeling modern enough so it's not like playing original EQ or Classic WoW.

The graphics aren't the greatest but the gameplay more than makes up for it.

Anyway, if anyone is looking for a solid old school-ish MMORPG that is truly an RPG and not an action game or arcade style game, give it another try (once the servers are back up). I think it definitely deserves a second chance.

LotRO was possibly the best MMO around back in its glory days (Shadows of Angmar and Mines of Moria),but at that point WoW was an absolute colossus that prevented it from ever growing to the size it deserved.
And after that it had a quick and sharp decline in quality along with an ever increasing presence of in game monetisation that crushed every last bit of potential the game had.

It's a shame, it had everything it needed to be the gold standard for MMOs. Everything except timing, it came out at the worst possible time. Would have helped if the dev team had what it takes to properly exploit the potential of their game too.

But yeah, LotRO makes me sad because I'm keenly aware of both what it used to be, and what it could have been. We're not like to get a MMO that's nearly as good as early LotRO. I wish things went differently

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Why isn't the game more popular?

The game exclusively appeals to people who are fans of the books (not the franchise IP like the movies or the assassin's creed video game). The LotR books haven't been mainstream for decades so that means there is a dwindling audience for the game. People who saw the movies or played the warner bros game might try out LotRO but they will be very disappointed to find out how completely different book LotR is from the hollywood stuff. The game also does not have much mainstream appeal as it is an antiquated MMO with not very exciting MMO combat, and is visually dated. There is also a barrier to entry in that you have to wait for the expansions to go on sale to get them all for cheap.

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Always wish LotRO had been the 'popular MMO' instead of WoW, that or Warhammer Online.

Both are based on far better source material.

Anything that is faithful to the LotR source material is unlikely to have a chance at mainstream popularity nowadays. The franchise movies and games are all about cool violence and action scenes, but the books are anything but that, with the battles being a footnote.

Warhammer wasn't very popular in the USA. Games Workshop repeatedly passed up opportunities to grow their brand. Warcraft came and filled the void that Warhammer could have filled and by the time Age of Reckoning came out, it was far too late.

- - - Updated - - -

It had some cool features, but the LotR settings is sadly a rather low magic setting which is total turn-off for me. I remember back then the cloest you could get to a proper wizard was the gandalf knock-off class, and that was more than underwhelming tbh, staff and sword ain't gonna counter that.

I think this ties into the problem of trying to focus on combat, which yes is a thing in LotR but isn't the focus. Making things is a big deal in LotR, so crafting gameplay could be involved. FFXIV and Atelier are two RPGs that have experimented with crafting a big part of their gameplay and narrative loop.

If a LotR video game really must focus on combat as its main core gameplay loop, then it should borrow from other low fantasy video games that made their combat fun. Mount & Blade Warband had the directional attacks/blocking, and had tactics with you positioning your warband. You played more as a captain than a warrior. Such gameplay would fit quite well in LotR if you played as a captain of a small force of one of the nations.

Also, as low fantasy as LotRO is, there are a few cool playable classes. Playing a Warden with a spear and shield is cool. And there is the Beorning who can transform into a bear. Also the Bard who can inspire people.

[Linkedblade]

The log in servers for LotRO are currently experiencing issues (Yes I see the irony in this post) so I'm writing this.

Why isn't the game more popular? I came back about a week ago and it truly is a real MMORPG.

I know the store is a turn off but you can earn store points in game via deed accomplishments. And if you're a completionist like me, there is so much to do. Every zone has tons of deeds to complete. Mostly exploring, killing mobs, and helping quest givers but the grind feels meaningful. Like you're working toward becoming more powerful slowly. Deeds give Virtue points that increase Virtue levels. Virtues give bonuses to your character.

The community has been amazing. People helping every time I ask. High levels helping with instances, people getting on alts to send mats if you ask for help with crafting, one guy even bought a stack of 500 leather off the AH for me and just sent me what I needed. I see a lot of new players like myself running around as well. It's been a ton of fun and your name feels meaningful in the community. Reading world chat it became apparent there were rivalries and friends and people who knew each other.

And the lore is Lord of the Rings. You can literally walk into the Prancing Pony and see Gandalf. You can walk the Shire. Go to Mordor. See Mount Doom. It's really cool.

I feel like this game got a bad rap in the beginning (and rightfully so I think...) and now it's actually really damn good. It scratches that old school MMO itch while still feeling modern enough so it's not like playing original EQ or Classic WoW.

The graphics aren't the greatest but the gameplay more than makes up for it.

Anyway, if anyone is looking for a solid old school-ish MMORPG that is truly an RPG and not an action game or arcade style game, give it another try (once the servers are back up). I think it definitely deserves a second chance.

All of the licensed IPs that are turned into mmo's do poorly. LOTR, SWTOR, STO, sure there's others. Iirc there's a harry potter one coming soon.

They focus on building the world and gameplay suffers. Wow did it the other way, focus on gameplay then slowly fold in story over time.

[Chumahki]

At least your friends aren't fucking idiots, why do they hang with you?

Because they'd rather hang with their friend whom they enjoy than to hang with a corn-shit-eating asshole like you. Just my guess.

[potis]

LOTRO suffered from a few things.

1)Dated graphics even when it came out, it took them too long i guess?

2)Released very close to WoW TBC release and people werent done with TBC yet.

3)It had the problem of actually being all about Fellowship, and by this i mean, you had to either grind out 1-2 levels every 10 levels because you were supposed to do the story/dungeons and there was no other way to gain those levels to go to the next area cause the quests had run out, which wouldnt be a problem, but the game didnt have that many players overall.

I did play it yearsss after for a bit, and it had the exactly same problem then, you were stuck EXP wise and had to do the dungeons in the area to move past those levels.

And then when we tried starting all together, to play the game, the graphics just were too dated for 2015 + game.