What is Digg?133 Comments
- Suspected, on 10/12/2007, -4/+30I recommend everyone digg down the first three comments considering that they seem to be fake accounts. I thought so many people praising the game so quickly was a bit odd, and thus I decided to check out their profiles. Tbarney and Wfuicefire both have only commented on this story only, while atheistp3ace has only commented in very few stories. Jrr and jaws both seem to be legit accounts, though.
- spiderland, on 10/12/2007, -2/+21Direct link to information: http://www.lotro.com/stresstest
Just say no to paraphrase/click-through spam. - BaxterK, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13Windows Only??
- Sengara, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10I really don't know what people are talking about. Unless I missed something, this game isn't that great. I mean it does have a good story, a MUCH better story then other MMO's out there... but the game play isn't fluid at all. The classes are very basic with little or no innovation. Every member of a class is almost exactly like every other member of that class. Pathing is bad. I play WoW/CoX/GW for the good game play... I read books (Like LotR) for story.
- eskay, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10It's worth the reboot.
- turrican, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9///Don't slashies belong over at fark?
- NikoKun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6It looks like a nice game... O_o i'm not sure why so many people praising it are getting dugg down... lol
Although... as much as I really want to play it... and really want the special items and lower price... I just can't comit myself to an online game that requires a monthly fee... @_@ especially not the way my life is right now... I wouldn't be able to play it enough... =/
but man... i really wanna play it... XD oh well... not like i couldn't play it later... Still looks really good... I hope it kicks WoWs arse... that game has been too popular for far to long now... we need more competition to 1up WoW and make even better games. lol - damentz, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8.....dumbass
- turrican, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8"Most of them are fake, look at their accounts. Created: Feb. 22, 2007"
"Also notice how all the positive posts are from members who joined today just to comment on this story."
They're probably beta players; I'm sure there was a post in their forums about this story. - MourningZoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7This is kind of inaccurate. It's been free (the beta). The stresstest's are just scheduled for certain dates.
- GnomeTank, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I've rather enjoyed my time in the beta. If you go in to it with an open mind, understanding that it is very much an action-oriented game set in Tolkien's world, it can be extremely fun. There are always going to be people like LightofArmor who think that a Tolkien MMO should be a stuffy RP heavy sort of affair, and that's fine, they are entitled to their opinion.
Honestly, the game runs extremely well for a beta. Of course there are bugged quests and the client has a memory leak or two, but for the most part, it's better currently than many released MMO's (can we say Vanguard? What a disaster that is turning out to be).
The lore is spot on. Even for someone who has read the books and seen the movies numerous times, like myself, there is plenty to discover. Even "familiar" places can be breath taking the first time you see. For instance, the first time you look out over Bree-land from atop Weathertop. Was a breath taking vista.
Speaking of the vistas in the game, that's one thing I haven't heard many people talk about. LOTR:O uses some of the same terrain technology as Oblivion and it draws mountains, hills, villages and other objects far far in the distance, giving the world an incredible since of scale. While having a smaller land mass than the original World of Warcraft world (currently, only about 20% of Middle-Earth is actually in the game right now), LOTR:O feels much, much larger than pre-TBC WoW. Touches like the light sway of grass, leaves rustling in the wind and beautiful reflections from the water, LOTR:O has a gorgeous engine, while not requiring a super computer to play (see EQ2 and Vanguard).
Does it have it's problems? Yah, it's a beta. Do the developers need to work on some systems, like the trait system and character individualization? Yah, no doubt. The game has potential though, and it's extremely fun in it's current state. You have to go in to it understanding what your getting yourself in to. It's very much an fast paced, action combat MMO. Combat is fast and furious, generally against large groups of enemies. The story is extremely well put together, but can be completely ignored if you so choose. If you choose to follow the lore of the quests and read the stories, there is a rich story line there as well, which intertwines with the original LOTR:O story, while still allowing you to act out your own part in that story. I think anyone who says they out and out despised this game either didn't give it a chance, or simply isn't in to this kind of game. It's no WoW killer to be sure, but it's going to be fun, and I hope, successful. - praisethelard, on 06/06/2008, -3/+8Also notice how all the positive posts are from members who joined today just to comment on this story.
- WiJO, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I've played or beta'd a lot of MMORPGs (AC1, AC2, EQ, DAOC, WOW, EVE, E&B, COH/V, FFXI, Horizons, DDO and a few others) and I've been in LOTRO since beta 1. So, here's my take on the game. Take it for what it's worth.
Overall, it's pretty good. The beta client is a bit unstable at times and has had crashing problems since beta 2 started, but they're fixing those issues with each update. The graphics are pretty decent, especially when you play the game on Very High or Ultra High. It's really cool to see the night sky reflected (accurately!) in the shimmering pools and lakes. Currently, the only client released is the medium res client. There's supposed to be a high res client available before release which will have truly extraordinary graphics.
There's a lot of content in the game. You will probably never finish every quest in the starting areas with one character. You'll end up out-leveling the area before you run out of quests. Later in the game, there isn't as much content that can be completed either solo or with a two or three person group. I would imagine this will be remedied as beta continues and into release. The leveling in the game is very quest dependent. You get far more experience for finishing a quest than you will for grinding through mobs.
There are three starting zones for the four character races. Humans start in Bree-land. Hobbits start in the Shire. Elves and Dwarves start on opposite ends of Ered Luin. Each zone has a different feel to it. Quests involving hobbits tend be less action oriented and more collection/delivery. Dwarf and human quests tend to be more action oriented. Elf quests are usually a balance of action vs. collection/delivery. I think Turbine captured the feel of the Shire best of all.
Characters are customized in two ways: equipment and traits. Equipment is pretty obvious, so lets go over the traits. Traits are similar to badges from COH/V. Traits modify skills, abilities, stats and even add new abilities. You can only have a limited number of traits active at any one time, so there's a lot of picking and choosing that gets done when you visit the bard. There are four types of traits: Accomplishment traits, racial traits, class traits and legendary traits. Accomplishment traits tend to be passive and are generic to all character classes and races. You earn them by exploring related areas or killing x number of a type of mob. Racial traits are earned by killing racial enemies. For example, Hobbits earn racial traits by killing spiders, wolves and goblins. The first trait that's generally earned is one that alleviates the primary racial stat penalty. Hobbits start with -8 to their Might stat, so the one of the first traits adds 18 (I think) to the Might stat. Other traits give you the ability to stealth or a short ranged attack or other passive skills. Class traits are earned by using your class skills. If, as a Guardian, you block attacks often enough, you'll get a trait that can make your block do damage. I haven't earned any legendary traits, yet, but from what I hear, they're pretty amazing.
So, all in all, the game is pretty solid. It does a decent job of capturing Tolkien's world within the limits imposed by a MMORPG. The game world isn't as big as is described in the novels. You can run from Rivendell to the Shire in an hour, but I don't think anyone wants to spend a game week going from Hobbiton to Bree. Superficially, it may seem similar to WoW, but it's a fantasy world. There are a lot of conventions to which nearly every fantasy game subscribes. However, LOTRO plays very differently from WoW. You can't get anywhere in WoW without grinding through thousands of mobs. You can't get anywhere in LOTRO without finishing a lot of quests. - TwiNCannoN, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Ah, stress tests... I love the smell of burning server racks in the morning.
- idontnoah, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I was really excited to play this game as a beta tester. I was really let down by a few things. A lot of the characters look the same or similar the interface didn't do if for me with all these random rainbow colors for text and the icons look silly. I don't think that the game is a waste and I'm sure a lot of people will convince themselves that it's the best game ever because it's LOTR but you'd probably be better off sticking to WOW. I also play Guild Wars a lot and the graphics are a lot better than this game. I would recommend trying it for free if you have the chance just don't get your hopes up.
- Rodalli, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I was in the beta and was very unimpressed. I was very hopeful for this game, I figured a company like Turbine would take this license and make an awesome game as Middle-Earth is a world that screams out loud to be fleshed out into an MMO. But what was delivered is just a mediocre MMORPG much like the last few pieces of trash to hit the market since WoW. But don't take my word for it, try it yourself.
Here's hoping Conan or Warhammer have what it takes to dethrone WoW. My druid is 67, my warrior's 65 and I'm going to need a new drug by the end of the year. - kingofrap, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I have been playin the beta, and I like it quite a lot. it is more advanced than WoW, less than Vanguard. the point of this whole thing is instead of relying on the comments of one clown or another on here, try the thing and out decide for yourself. that said, I have not yet decided if I will pre-order, but I do not see another game out there that looks more interesting.
- Reese268, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I didn't just join today to comment on the story, and you ***** dig down all my comments simply because I say the game is good.
Who cares if they are new users? I highly doubt there is some guy out there creating 20 digg accounts and making random positive comments about the game. They are probably all legitimate new accounts. - cprincipe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5YOU SHALL NOT PASS!
- Artifez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I was all set to be unimpressed and I have to say, any game with a hobbit pie eating contest gets my money. The lore is spot on and the combat system is familliar to anyone who has played a recent MMO. My only gripe is the HORRIBLE quest directions and the almost useless map.
- SharkyTech, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I'd have to say that the lack of casting is completely faithful to the books.
I mean, there was no widespread use of obvious loud flash and bang kind of magic in the books, only the wizards and other particular characters had that. For the rest of the population, such as the elves, it was more subtle magic, i'm assuming that magic will only really be in the form of enchanted items.
As much as you might like casting in WoW, to just make this game exactly WoW, but with LOTR characters and monsters, would have been lame. - bergur1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Most people who talk smack about this game have never played it. It is very much like WoW interface wise but offers more in the beta than WoW did when the game was released. I am a hobbit in the shire and the area is HUGE and for those that say they didn't like WoW because of the kiddie look they can give this a try.
BTW There was a "FREE STRESS TEST" about a month ago for everyone who wanted to be in the beta. Those who played over eight hours got into the closed beta. - Tyrion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It's actually great fun. I didn't know what to think of the game, but I was a long time player of Asheron's Call 1, and enjoyed that over the 4 years I played it, so I gave this a shot and am loving it.
Social system is pretty damn good
More monsters than you can shake a stick (or staff) at
Pretty good transport system
It's frikking huge
I like the skill system too, it's really different to how I thought it'd be
It's not an endless monster kill fest to level, XP and also achievements are rewarded on completion of quests
There's oodles of quests, OODLES!!!
Edit: Oh and you can get drunk :P - jshanman, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8I'm in the Beta and will be pre-ordering 2 copies (one for my wife :) It is a very beautiful game and Turbine is working hard to keep it consistent with the lore.
I am building an online database for this game as well. Currently only the in-game map is available.
This is built using the Google Maps API: www.arda-online.com - Artifez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Vanguard may be "advanced" but it is so unendingly boring that id rather play solitare.
- praisethelard, on 06/06/2008, -1/+4Dude, I got an FX-57 processor and a single 7800GTX and can run on all high settings.
- flagg1209, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4It's interesting to see some of the comments. If you like MMO's, this will probably suit. If you are expecting a faithful reproduction of the Lord of the Rings, forget it. The environment is well rendered, the npc's are interesting. The crafting system is less complicated than Vanguard's new system, and significantly better than Turbine's previous offering, Dungeons & Dragons Online (which does not feature crafting, in case you were interested). The quest system is simple and very similar to almost every mmo I have played and the storylines are fairly well-thought and, for the most part, engaging.
Now the problems, there is a major memory leak that causes almost everyone to crash at some point during their playing session. I know Turbine are working on it, and will hopefully have a fix, but it is an annoyance. There are still some bugged quests (well, it is still in Beta) that may leave you floundering halfway along a quest chain and there are some visual and audio bugs (the random bear sound is quite disturbing the first few times... hehe).
On balance, the game is a major improvement on many MMO's I have played (AC, DAOC, EQ, EQ2, WOW) and is so significantly different to Turbines previous release, DDO, that to compare the two would be unfair. I have even played Vanguard recently and LOTRO would have to win.
To be honest, I was hoping that this would not be as successful as I believe it will be... I play DDO regularly, and I can envisage many of my friends switching to this... (perhaps even me...) - nibble128, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I play it free right now... Viva La Beta Testa!
- WiJO, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Also, if you choose to get into the stress test, get a download manager. The client is over the normal size allowed by most web browsers, so you'll end up with a corrupt download.
- Angmar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4That is the purpose of the stress test, to crash the servers to see how well the servers respond to high demand.
- thisissayantan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Just curious how this game will compare to established MMOs like WoW, DND and GW.. I have played WOW and GW extensively and have loved them both.
What I am little concerned about is the lack of caster classes in this game. I play casters usually; this game doesnt seem to give as much option to be a caster.
Also, @evilcheesewedge.. i do not think you have played WOW beyond ZG; and you definitely have not played TBC. None of the high end raid encounters in WOW is the typical tank-and-spank fights that you seem to think they are. There is a lot of strat, and a high amount of teamwork and coordination is required to prevent a wipe-fest.
Being a huge fan of LOTR, i am looking forward to this game. Just curious as to how imaginative the designers have been with the game structure and playing experience. - Artifez, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Lore master is the most caster-like class, overall magic is understated like in the books.
- cankillar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Die.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Turbine developed this game and after playing the original Asheron's Call -- I strongly dislike Turbine's work. Me and lots of others actually loved Asheron's Call, but that's mainly because it was the first MMORPG that we played and certainly not because of production quality.
I just don't think Turbine has what it takes to make a huge, successful online RPG and I won't believe it until they prove me wrong, if ever. - MemoryDump, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3this is an amazing game, however during the last stress test the lag was horrible and nobody could actually test it.
I'm hoping this test goes a little better.
I still prefer WoW over this though. - daofma, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3How's one person going to crash the servers on his own? Of course it's a "we."
- foooey, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5the customer mistreatment from AC1 and AC2 was mostly because of Microsoft's involvement
Turbine itself was a very friendly, customer oriented company
I've never played other mainstream games where the developers were so public and accessible - Hamma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Excellent game, lots of atmosphere, and great Immersion. I suggest if you have time time give it a shot! :D
- coyo7e, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That's the point of a stress test. Get as many people as possible into a small area, doing the same thing, and then record at what point this begins to crash the servers. What's you THINK a stress test was for - shouting insults at each other until someone breaks down and cries?
- jshanman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4FYI : This is digg page is linked to in the Beta forums as well as the lotro.com community forums, so many of the new people commenting are coming here because they are fans of the game, they are not 'fake' accounts.
- Rodalli, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Your casters consist of Loremasters (think Gandalf) and Minstrels (think...I have no ***** clue where this class came from, maybe Tom Bombadil). Loremasters are your magic DPS class whereas Minstrels are your healers (although they can do some decent damage as well).
- gekkotron, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6@inbred
Man, if D&D online is better than this, LOTRO must come to your house and drive spikes through your knees. I played the beta of D&D and it was painful. - DyDx, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Free, sure, but it's a CLOSED beta.
- Artifez, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Hitting the escape button worked for me.
- Laylow, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4We always crash the servers during a stress test, so be prepared for downtime.
Some lag is also to be expected. I'll see everyone in game this weekend. - SirNoobius, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5I played it for couple of hours and wasn't very impressed. graphics aren't all that great compared to something like GuildWars. the physics leaves much to be desired controls are a bit awkward and aren't very responsive. I couldn't even get the first quest, I couldn't find the damn guy. oh I am an elf. (can anyone help with taht) lvl 2 or 3 i can't remember. I kept killing damn goblins they are all ***** hostile.
i haven't played wow but i will definitely give this game another try. - juicebag, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3And now that this is on digg servers are gonna be down all day.
- Reese268, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Yeah, the download can take some time simply because it is a huge download, but I find their servers to be incredibly fast... both for the client download and for patches.... i've never played a game where the patches download so quickly as this one. If you don't use bittorrent (I didn't, the torrent was going rather slow for me) just make sure you use a download manager so you can resume the download if something happens.
- EvilCheeseWedge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No, I have played past ZG, I'm almost level 68 right now, and I've played plenty of the new dungeons =D I think the new dungeons and raid content are different than most Azeroth 5-man dungeons, which is what I was talking about in my post. I forgot to clarify it by noting that I meant mostly the older dungeons. And this is true, there is a lot of strategy involved. But not for stuff like SM and the pre level 60 dungeons, of which there are many. I mean, seriously, if you have trouble with those dungeons... well, I don't even know what to say. Who would want a dungeon they could totally master on their first pass though? That doesn't sound very fun to me.
- Hulapop, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5If you loved the books and like a traditional style RPG, this game scores high in all areas. This is the first RPG I've ever played that has not crashed on me once(currently at level 8). I do have problems starting it sometimes. The download can be very long, I highly recommend taking the bit torrent option. The normal download process can go on indefinitely if there are any CRC errors. Depending on your system, the graphics are stunning and the quests are immersive and surprising. Death is not the end of the world here as you lose no possessions or experience. The code has not been optimized yet as its still in beta so even with 2 7950 GTX cards(1 GB total RAM), and twin AMD processors i can only run it at medium settings. Check this game out!
Garthe of Bree (Brandywine). -
Show 51 - 100 of 131 discussions
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is