Jonathan

I too have been playing Beta for over a month now, and I have to say, this game is EXCELLENT! I played WoW for awhile, and the only part of it that really intrigued me was the PvP. I'm a big Warcraft fan, and Blizzard has done a great job, but WoW can only take a guy so far.

LotRO is different. This game is far more story and quest intensive than any other MMO I've played or heard about. On the surface it is, as some have stated, just another MMO. But if you stick to it for a little while and look past the user interface (which is very good) and the not totally perfect graphics (though very good, and better than WoW) you find you feel that you are really in Middle-Earth. Everytime I've run into someone I recognize from the books, and particularly when they're a more minor character (Barliman Butterbur, Nob, Bob, Tom Bombadil, Fredegar Bolger, Elrond's sons, etc.) I get excited. On top of it, this game REALLY encourages grouping and cooperating with other players. No player can master any realm of crafting, for example, and in order to make some of the things you want to, you have to get resources another player with another profession can supply you. There are "fellowship quests" which REQUIRE you to be in a fellowship (as groups are called in this game) in order to complete them.

I'll grant you, for PvPers, this game won't be the greatest. PvP is available through the PvMP system, but it really isn't the same as true PvP. That's my only complaint thus far. Sure, there are some glitches, there are some problems, but it's still beta. They're still doing stress tests to minimize the lag issue. Quest issues (regarding finding certain people, length, and rewards) are still all being tweaked still. Right now, it's beta, so cracking on such matters as lag or XP/treasure issues isn't a way to judge the game yet.

LotRO is the best MMO I've seen yet, and while it may not be able to take over WoW, I think it'll be a good competitor.