The Lord of the Rings Online™ Reviews

After playing this game, I found that it really does have a good story line to follow and you can easily get sidetracked by the additional stories in the game. I would recommend to those based on, "you can do 30 minutes in game, a couple quest,s and log off, if that is your play style." Depending on the server, you will find many people are friendly and helpful to those in the game. Like any MMO, "you might find the player who is negative or not helpful". Don't let that defer you, engage the groups or players who will answer your questions, or even help you along the way.

Lotro's graphics maybe somewhat dated at the moment and mechanically it does not stand out to much from other mmos using the same model, but the game does justice to the breadth and scope of Middle Earth and Tolkien's deep lore. I recommend this game to people who value small ambient touches in a game over wow factor and of course to any readers of the Professor.

10 years and still fascinating millions of people world wide. Lotro is right behind WoW and Everquest in long time popularity. For good reasons. The community loves Tolkiens world and they treat eachother with respect and open arms. The most important game in my long history of gaming - an MMO legend you should not miss if you are interested in Middle Earth and its tales. What Peter JAckson did for the books in the movie world, Turbine the developer did for the gaming world. A beautiful and surprisingly accurate depiction of the books and scriptures of JRR Tolkien. A timeless Art Direction makes the game still look relevant today. Join the greatest Fantasy Universe ever imagined.

Played this game for year and now over the past year this game is getting better. Would recommend it to anyone who loves Tolkien or MMOs in general.

This is probably one of my favorite things to review...as you can tell by my hours..198.8 hours total, BUT I have 64.9 Hours just in two weeks, thats how addicting this game can be, that is with no sitting around, no afking or etc..it's a very fun game..But with the fanboying aside lets get to what you guys came for and give my Pros and Cons Pros: Great Community (very helpful no matter what server your on) Beautiful Atmosphere Never breaks the tolkien universe feeling (which means always feels like your really in the Tolkien Universe) Great Variety in Weapons, skill sets, and armors, you will rarely find someone with the same kind of armor and or weapon as you or even close for that matter Very Unique in its own way, personally I love the cosmetic system, it adds this feeling to kind of drive you into the universe more so you can kinda be more in character, feel like your there (Cosmetic system, allows you to equip armor and weapons that you would personally think suits you, so for man it would be ranger armor and etc, dwarves heavy dwarven armor and etc...Personally it a great feature as it gives a better feeling to it) Teams still working on the game, making it much better with every update! Added a new race called Beorning with the class (their like druids, for WoW players you turn into a bear pretty much lol) But also hard to get on free to play..but possible! Has own servers for Roleplayers (so if your into kind of the Tolkien universe for LOTR that you know a lot about roleplaying and stuff give it a shot, people are very forgiving on Laurelin (the EU and US RP server) along with other servers as well. Has some wonderfu crafting mechanics that could very much benefit you if you are in a Kinship (kind of like a clan) you can help each other have the gear you need to FIGHT For middle earth! Cons: Sadly, helps the VIP a lot, with all expansions and etc unlocked F2P's have to "farm" all their points in order to level F2P's have a huge grind Sometimes you could be looked down upon from being a f2p by VIP's (more my personal experience but still, something to be careful about) Time Consuming farming (not too much of a complaint as that's how its suppose to be XD) Graphics for character are out of date (expected of course from 2009) Some areas can be depressing yes, but that DOESN'T mean its still not beautiful, you could be taken away by the beautiful areas around Angmar, or the huge mountains in Moria or just in the Misty Mountains great places to go (harder to get to if your F2P, trust me..I farmed the points, tough but worth it) These are of course my personal Pros and Cons, as you would expect, but most of them were based off of other people's reactions to the game and stuff like that, so it is not just me spewing a bunch of stuff out for someone to read :P I hoped you loved the review, and trust me I'd gladly give it a 10/10 course it has its flaws but it is still beautiful, fun, and interesting. And always remember....Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu! (which means...Axes of the Dwarves! The Dwarves are upon you!) Sorry i'm a dwarf Junkie myself! :P I love dwarves and their history in the Tolkien universe.

I have been playing this game from Alpha stage, granted it is older graphics but not the worst out there. Many many hours of gameplay to be head with fantastic content if your a fan of the Movies, Books, etc. then give it a try. I personally love the game and the community is one of the best I have seen.

Still one of the most most immersive and fun MMORPGs. Also the most gentle freemium model that I have seen. Older graphics. Great music. Fellowships. Kinships. Houses. Dungeons and quests.

Love this game. Been playing it for many years. It's really remarkable. Definitely the best 'escape' game out there. Music is really chill, the world and art is beautiful and the gameplay is fairly easy going. My only complaint about it is that after so many years, it can get a little repetitive but that's mostly my fault for playing it so much. There is quite a bit of grinding involved, but it's mostly enjoyable and there's so much variety in the game that you can change gears all the time and keep yourself engaged in countless activities.

The steam client is trash. [b] BUT [/b] The game is amazing, It looks stunning for a game that came out when it did and the newer areas show the love the developers have put into the game, I dont use the steam client though because it has caused me some issues. PROS: [list] [*] Follows LOTR lore almost perfectly [*] Classes are varied [*] Community is always friendly [*] THE MUSIC SYSTEM! Its so good. You can either play by hand or use .abc & .midi files to play instruments in game! [/list] CONS: [list] [*] Quests are boring if you dont read the quest text, They seem to have no point unless you dive into the story [*] Difficult to start if your not a "VIP" member. Dont let this put you off! you can get everything legitimatley without paying a dime! [/list]

2023 Update: First major concern a lot of people have about LOTRO - is it dead? (Still) No. It still has a very healthy playerbase, big enough that the even the RP servers feel populated. So don't let your worries about population turn you away. The numbers online are not always accurate, so I'd be wary of trusting outside reporting. This is a classic MMORPG. It's going to be familiar to anyone that has played Everquest, DAoC, WoW, etc. While it means you're not getting any particularly amazing new mechanics, the perk is that LOTRO has figured out how to get the best out of those systems. Leveling feels well-progressed, classes are (mostly) balanced, and there is a lot of variety even within the classes to provide lots of replay value and ways to mitigate strengths and weaknesses. LOTRO might have the best soundtrack I've ever heard. I recommend turning off battle music and just enjoying the compositions. Bree, as well as the various Inns and Halls located therein, have some fantastic scores attached to them. Let's be honest though - if you play LOTRO you're probably here because it's Lord of the Rings. And in that regard, you will not be disappointed. The game is steeped in the lore - books and films - and has little nods to it scattered everywhere that are rewarding for someone that is really into their Tolkien scholarship. This is not a LotR skin thrown over a MMORPG framework - this is Middle Earth proper. Even with dated graphics (updates are coming soon, as of this writing) it's still a joy to look at. If you're rolling through some place like the Shire, you'll be able to soak in that sleepy, bucolic atmosphere that the movies portrayed so well. This is a great MMO experience, and I usually find MMOs tedious. Moreover, it's free - so it's a low-commit to try it out for yourself.