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Reader Comments (52)

Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:22PM xFenixKnightx said

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Is LOTRO kinda like WoW? I don't play MMO's so I don't know...

Also, wouldn't that be a sweet exclusive for MS? I hear these things are addicting.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:24PM (Unverified) said

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As far as MMO's go, apparently it's quite different from WoW. Me, I haven't played it.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:54PM xFenixKnightx said

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Thanks.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:07PM Misfit Toy said

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I've played both and I prefer LOTRO. I've gone back to WOW after trying LOTRO and I just can't do it. I hope this is a reality because I would prefer to play on my 360, even though I have a nice PC.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 7:08PM Cal said

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In shares a lot of mechanics with WoW, and based on my little experience with both games, it just seems to be a slower and more lore heavy, especially given the linear storyline that is included alongside all of the other quests.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 7:45PM Johnnynumber5 is powered by cell said

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I'm sure it's on its way right behind the 360 version of Age Of Conan. You know, the one that hasn't ever released.

If you want a sweet looking 360 exclusive MMO do yourself a favor and wait for Champions Online.

I'm kind of surprised we are seeing all these console exclusive MMOs (PS3: Agency, DC Universe Online & Free Realms 360: Conan, Champions, Huxley & LOTR) dropping this and next year. The game would have to be really good to get me to pony up for a monthly subscription fee. I don't think 360 owners would have much of an issue paying, though.
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Posted: Apr 3rd 2009 12:09AM (Unverified) said

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From my experience, LOTRO is overall played more by adults than WoW.
WoW is a bit easier to get into, and is dedicated mainly to endgame (Arenas, best gear, etc) while LOTRO is more about questing. Also, group play is rewarded much more in LOTRO. Also also, LOTRO is almost no grind (leveling is pretty much from quest completion only).
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:26PM xFenixKnightx said

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Which leads to another question. Why can't they make WoW on consoles? The graphics don't necessarily need to be all that good. I see my brother in law on that game and they look fairly crappy but hes still plugin away everyday after work.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:47PM JCarpio said

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Do you think that hardcore group would actually want to get away from the comfort of their computer to play that on a console?

Plus why would Blizzard want to waste money developing a game for a console port where they won't have nearly the same audience?
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:54PM Serious Table said

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From what the creator of WoW said, it was because they didn't support input devices, or something along those lines. I'm wondering what kind of input devices they're talking about, since I was able to play WoW with a 360 controller using a piece of software and several UI changes, and it was pretty comfortable. But who knows; maybe Blizzard will make their own console MMO that designed just for them.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:53PM xFenixKnightx said

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"Do you think that hardcore group would actually want to *get away from the comfort of their computer* to play that on a console?"

Sarcasm?

From what others are saying I guess it's the controls. Keyboard update would fix that and PS3 wouldn't have a problem since its already compat. Also, I'm just asking here I'm not desperate for console MMOs or anything.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:54PM (Unverified) said

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Well, you saw what happened with SC: Ghost. By the time Blizz actually finished porting WoW, the life cycles for those consoles would be over, and probably the next 2 as well. :D
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:14PM Negatron said

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Yes, Descender
You might have used a 360 controller for WoW(not practical IMO) but its more to it than that.
Macros, spells, emotes, skills, trades...all on hotkeys and other tabs/box which make up the interface. I really don't even want to get into dumbing down an MMO to support controllers only. Or even worse, use a controller for certain actions and a keyboard for others lol which is just madness. WoW looks simple graphically but there is alot going on and the game is robust.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:21PM Erluti said

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360s can use USB keyboards too.
I'm sad they didn't put that on the box or whatever, because people talk like it's a big deal for the PS3. And I feel like it's not a big deal at all and it's not something the other doesn't have.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:28PM Serious Table said

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@Lord Negatron-

You're very right in that aspect. Trying to do all of those things at the same time on only a controller is taxing, frustrating, and imporactical. Fortunately, the software I used (switchblade, I think) allowed me to use my controller as if it were a mouse with a few keyboard commands, so a lot of the actions I could still do as if I were using a click mouse (for instance, the right bumper was the right click option, so I could click a character and select if I wanted to trade or invite him). Macros I could assign to one of the four buttons (which turned into twelves total by pulling the left or right triggers), and the other less important macros I placed on action bars nearby. Map, bag, and targeting controls took place either by point-and-click or the d-pad buttons.

It was an interesting experience, honestly, but it quickly turned into me discarding the controller and going back to the mouse and keyboard set-up, just because it was faster, and trying to be a Pally Tank without being able to click on allies nearby quickly was not something I could do. While it was impractical for WoW, it is still POSSIBLE, if nothing else.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:26PM The Kong said

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I haven't played it but I would DEFINITELY play it on 360, I love LOTR :D
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:27PM (Unverified) said

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We've yet to see a console MMO succeed on the 360 (not counting the Final Fantasy MMO). It just seems anytime we hear of a console MMO, my first thought is "Really Now!? Let's wait a few months before the game is inexplicitly cancelled"

Either way, I don't want to see a studio fail. Plus Lord of the Rings is a viable franchise with appeal to a lot of gamers (Myself included). So if they were to pull this off, it could have a lot of potential.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:31PM (Unverified) said

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Not counting FF? Thats the ONLY 360 MMO.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:34PM (Unverified) said

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@ ChewyDogg

There's Phantasy Star. Although I don't blame you for forgetting about it.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:43PM (Unverified) said

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Test Drive Unlimited and Phantasy Sat Universe both came out for the 360, but most of them came out highly unnoticed, and obviously by the fact you only remember the Final Fantasy MMO shows that both titles have faded into obscurity
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:01PM Serious Table said

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As much as I loved the game, Phantasy Star Universe doesn't count as an MMO. It's more of just an Online Multiplayer RPG, since it lacks the... well, "massive" scale to it of encountering hundreds of players all in the same area as you, fighting the same monsters. It's more party based.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:09PM (Unverified) said

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Agreed, I almost think if they could port WoW to consoles. It'd be like the break the market needs.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:34PM Kyammi said

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I think the next MMO success story will be something that's on consoles (probably will be on PC as well), and it will carve out a market and diminish WoW.

Consoles aren't as open so MMO makers have to work heavily with the console maker. Games must be installed, patches can't be certified by the console maker (probably would take too long). Game must use networks outside of the console's network more extensively than other games.

Both 360 and PS3 support keyboards so that isn't a problem. But there will be a smaller market of people that know to hook a USB keyboard to 360 or PS3.

Still, I think the domination of WoW of the PC space makes a console MMO necessary right now.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:46PM (Unverified) said

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I think the one thing that will always keep mainstream MMO's from reaching consoles isn't keyboards or anything like that, it's updates. MMO's need constant updating, and I doubt Microsofts beauracratic process of releasing title updates would be very efficient for the devs. Look how hard it is for almost any 360 game to be patched through an update, stupid certification processes.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:53PM Kyammi said

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Well, FF11 on 360 already had an open patching system. If MS has already allowed developers to use a different patching system, I don't see why they'd deny that to another developer.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:34PM TheyDidItFirst said

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@ Kurt88

seeing as how every single major WoW patch when I used to play made the game almost unplayable for a few days, a better certification process might not be such a bad thing.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:36PM (Unverified) said

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Seriously, Joystiq, your very source says they're actively working with Microsoft AND Sony. So why don't you include that news in the title instead of pretending like the 360 is the only one that's rumored to get it.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:00PM Shmil said

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Joystiq is tobias!
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:40PM (Unverified) said

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I'm a LOTRO player and an Xbox 360 owner, so this is quite exciting! The big question on my mind are about the integration (or lack thereof) that they plan between the platforms. While I doubt it will be the case, it would be amazing if PC and Xbox users could be on the same servers and even better if I could switch to Xbox 360 without losing my characters!

Controls will the other big question here. On the PC, LOTRO (and most MMO's) have pretty much everye key on the keyboard mapped to one command or another . . . I'm wondering how they can pull something like that off on the Xbox . . .
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:53PM Misfit Toy said

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Too true. Although Square Enix proved years ago that an MMO can translate to console (I've played it) AND that you can play with players from other platforms (and other countries). FFXI has PC, 360, and PS2 players all playing together no problems.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:55PM Misfit Toy said

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Also I was able to use my USB keyboard with the game which was good for chatting, and for keymapping extra controls. USB keyboards are a cheap investment, or you can get the chat textpad that hooks up to your controller. My keyboard was wireless and was only $30.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:41PM Anticrawl said

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Hrm, I didn't care for LOTR Online. Warhammer Online for the 360 would be nice, especially if I didn't have to create a new account and I could use my PC account to play with my 360 buddies.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:42PM (Unverified) said

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I play Lotro casually on the PC. It's a great game, but I can't imagine how they would make the game playable on a console without drastically changing the way the game works. There is too much to manage in realtime for a controller to work well I think.

Looking forward to seeing what the come up with though.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:48PM shimrra74 said

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OMG OMG OMG...I dont really care

MMO are best played on the PC because of the amount of information you need access at a moments notice I find it hard for any MMO to make it on a console because of the controller and dont tell me "Well you can always use a keyboard and mouse" if that is the case then I'll play it on the PC. If it works great if it doesn't oh well.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:55PM Kyammi said

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Personally I'd probably play LOTRO or Age of Conan if they had 360 or PS3 versions. I tried the LOTRO beta on PC and my PC didn't get enough performance really. I have no desire to build a new PC for the small handful of exclusive games I'd play on it though. There are other MMOs coming out too which I'd try on console (Star Trek Online and the 2 Superhero MMOs coming out seem cool).
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:06PM Serious Table said

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@Shimrra, they could well try and redesign the MMO and "dumb it down" a bit to provide less information. An example of this working out in a different genre is Halo Wars. It's an RTS that feels like an RTS, but a lot easier to manage than on a console, because of how it was designed. I would have continued playing it if I didn't have a moment on the demo where I said "This... is it, isn't it."

So, in theory, it's possible. It'll just take a lot of work to make it work WELL.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:37PM shimrra74 said

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@Descender
"Dumb down" I take it you never played Too Human...If I were you go sit down and put some time into a PC MMO and see how the gameplay feels. From there think about how that experience can be done on the console. Its one tall wall to climb and console gamers are very critical reviewers.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 4:49PM JCarpio said

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Fun question then.. So would the Sony and Xbox users be able to play with one another then?
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:00PM sm4k said

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Would be sweet if it was free to play if you had Live Gold. Paying the PC monthly fee on top of the Live price (even though the Live Gold price is substantially lower than the PC monthly fee) would be annoying.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:03PM Kyammi said

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You don't have to have Live Gold to play subscription based games on 360, just the subscription fee.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:04PM Snowblind said

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You don't need to be a Gold member to play Final Fantasy, and I assume it'll be the same for this. There's no way the 360 version just won't have a subscription, unfortunately.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:03PM Dr Stabbingworth said

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Do MMOs on the 360 require a separate fee in addition to Live? That is a deal-breaker for sure if that is true.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:15PM Misfit Toy said

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MMOs are on their own servers. So what you're paying for is the existing persistent world on that server, which has nothing to do with XBOX Live other than your gamertag being associated with the character you create. And as you know, a gamertag is free to create (i.e. - Silver account).

The good thing about Lord of the Rings online is that if you REALLY end up liking and, if you're like me, don't like monthly fees you can make a one-time lifetime membership fee for $199. Yeah, its a lot of money. But to be able to drop in and out of the game (a game which will probably last a good decade) it ends up being cheaper and less stressful. I just wish other MMOs would follow this model. But LOTRO is the only one I know that does that. Even D&D Online (who is also from Turbine) doesn't do that.

My question, because I have that membership on PC, is will that carry over to my 360 version of the game...or do I have to have a separate account for my 360? Hopefully they'll answer that at E3.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 5:44PM Emophia said

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I run out of space on my keyboard for macros for abilities in WoW and WAR.

Good luck porting it...
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 6:25PM Misfit Toy said

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That's some serious micro-managing...
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 6:32PM chispito said

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And yet, with WoW, anyway, plenty of people enjoy the game just fine without using macros. I don't really think you could get by in an MMO without a keyboard because forcing people to use voice is not a good idea. But I don't think macros are really the issue.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 6:07PM (Unverified) said

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Why does this say only Xbox when the article CLEARLY says Microsoft AND Sony?
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 6:22PM (Unverified) said

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LOTRO is a Wow clone, regardless it'll be nice to have something other than FFXI and PSU on the Xbox 360.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 6:26PM Misfit Toy said

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LOTRO is not a WOW clone. It is derived from some of the WOW formula, but it is not a clone. I found it to be a deeper gaming experience...easily.
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Posted: Apr 2nd 2009 6:26PM (Unverified) said

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...Holy crap!

Yeah it's a WoW clone...

But like Diablo clones, they are fun anyway (and some cases moreso) than the original.

If they pull this off I'm signing up...played a trial of it and I was pretty impressed.
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