So, after tiring of the pain of Vanguard, growing weary of the same old, same old of WOW, and having run Oblivion, Dark Messiah, and Gothic 3 into the ground, one would think Lord of the Rings Online would be just the medicine a grizzled old, bored MMO vet would need.
As Lee Corso would say on College Gameday, not so fast! I briefly tried LOTRO out during beta, and while the game looked pretty, and seemed to be true to the Tolkien mythos, to me it was like a very well made sandwich.. without the Miracle Whip. Tasty looking, but missing that special ingredient.
Let me explain:
First, let me say this game should and apparently is selling well. I'm sure it will flesh out to be a nice alternative to WOW and EQ2. Also, I am an avid Tolkien fan, and would love a shot of leading an Oblivion or WOW style Mines of Moria raid someday.
However, after playing umpteen MMOs and loads more single player MMOs, I can honestly say there is not one single original idea implemented in LOTRO. The classes are rather bland copies of other games, obviously derived from AD&D but without the depth or appeal that other games currently have. The combat is boring and generic. The levelling is likewise stale and on par with the last dozen fantasy MMOs out there. The questing is a combination of other games, with a bit of Tolkien love put in, but it does not stand out at all.
In closing, this game is a great change of pace for those who started MMOing during the WOW days, or are somewhat new to Online RPGs. For those of us who have been around the block, this is simply Lord of the very generic Rings Online with no actual hook or reason to play.
I'll stick to rereading Tolkien when I want to visit Middle Earth. I prefer my adventures there without tinges of Norrath or Kalimdor.
