This is a video I've been wanting to make for a LONG time. See you all at the Prancing Pony! ZYGOR: The ULTIMATE WoW Addon (Leveling, Achievements, Mounts and More): jo.my/zygor_nixxiom Check Out Our Merchandise: Nixxiom.myspreadshop.com/ Join Our Community Discord: discord.gg/EfKwBhHxG2 And Lastly, Consider Becoming a Channel Member to Earn Rewards: tinyurl.com/5n738rsb
@@raysmith5723 What if I told you that women already have facial hair (most of it is just a very faint blonde), and that there is a history of women with beards in our own society through having Hirsutism.
I was in the beta test and ended up buying the $200 lifetime subscription. I met my husband in this game and still play 16 years later. Best game ever ❤.
one of my highlights playing lotro was when i got stuck in the middle of Annuminas with another player. we were doing quests together and needed to get one done at an angmarim camp near the pier, and there was a Roving Threat spawned in that camp. us, being squishy with our levels, reached out in the WC for help from higher level players to take on the RT. we sat on one of the roofs watching this lvl140 Captain swoop in and take out the entire camp at RT. that moment felt so immersive as though i was truly within the world watching a great warrior help some beginner adventurers :)
Yep...how about a groupt doing the Rift RAID back in the "old days" on the second boss and looking at a total wipe with just three of us left (Guard, Burg, and LM). The three of us took that boss down....epic.
Oh man LOTRO will always have a special place in my heart. I paid $$$ to become a lifetime subber back when the game was sub-based and then a month later it went F2P. Codemasters did a great job on the game, but I feel like it's UI was always its weakest point. They did a great job of creating an MMO without making the lore characters the focus.
Played this game for a little while back last year and was blown away by how good the game felt to just be in. The community is honestly just amazing, I would catch bands playing in front of the prancing pony and it was really a great experience!
Really enjoy a LOTRO video that doesn’t slam the game for being old. It doesn’t need an overhaul or an update. The game is fun. Plus, the LOTRO community is welcoming & there’s plenty of content to enjoy.
LotRO is my second home, a haven that I escape into, forgetting what's troubling me in real life. The attention to detail, the respect towards the source material, the love and soul poured into this well crafted world, it makes me filled with joy. Thank you for this video Nixxiom!
There certainly is something to the scale of the zones. Maybe I'm misremembering but LOTRO zones were huge and had a lot of empty space along the roads so you really do have to explore to find stuff. WoW zones have a lot to offer but it's all very utilitarian and they don't waste a single inch. LOTRO zones really let you breath and the fact you can see so far and not see the next zone helps it feel more like a world.
@@CrabCrow Dragonflight is the retail model of "look busy but be empty". Most of the zones is one and done disposable theme park sidequests. They've added more random crap to pickup off the ground but if you're not a herb/miner, empty is all you see.
The ambience of this game is utterly flawless. There is an indescribable feeling when I'm playing this game.. the music, the background sounds.. It immediately immerses you. It's also UNDOUBTEDLY the best MMO community I have ever encountered. Hands down.
I just picked this game up and actually cannot put it down. What was supposed to be a casual mmo for me quickly turned into my main game. Also, with the optional HD files and DX11, the game looks pretty decent. The community is so so excellent, kind, and helpful. Anyone who wants a new yet classic mmo experience with rich RP mechanics should give this game a try.
Now is a really good time to get into it too. Last year they lifted a lot of the f2p restrictions, so now you can play all of the base game and the first 5 expansions on sign-up. And there's no rush to get to end-game content, if you are worried about that. As Nixxiom said, the real reward of the game is the world and the stories in it (and the levelling is well paced for you to experience it). The main story from the get-go is a fun experience. I do have a bit of complaint with the crafting system, as it can be very grindy the further you get in the game (my main is a couple crafting tiers behind where he should be for his level). In so far as roleplay in the game is concerned, you encouraged to think up a story for your character from creation when the game has you pick an origin, then even moreso when they have a built-in tab for a character bio. I will say that the aesthetic of the game is relatively low fantasy, at least with the weapons and armor, so if you're more a fan of WoW's aesthetic of massive pauldrons, crazy massive swords, and overall over-the-top designs, you will be disappointed going through the game.
Quick question for you, if you don't mind. Do previous players like myself get the f2p restrictions lifted as well? Or if I want to get that bonus would I have to sign up again? Apologies for giving you a random notifications. Thanks!! :D
@@BentoBox487 All accounts have restrictions lifted. You could have made the account today or all the way back in 2007, either way, you have access to the new benefits and systems
The art style could definitely be said to be traditional almost to a fault. As garish as most MMOs artstyle and immersion breaking all the glory tech stuff can be, it certainly pops off the screen and stands out as different. Maybe it's just me but the basic medieval look gets old fast and harder to differentiate gear, races/classes and even monsters looking generic. Understandable if they had to stick to Tolkien only rules though.
Its also the most infuriating mmos of the modern era when the obscene lag kicks in. I enjoy this game but when the lag kicks in as it often does it negates all of its strengths. The lag in this game isnt losing a few seconds on gcds NOOOOOo when this game lags u wait for a min to load environment, you hit entire walls and freeze for a minute at a time.I MEAN if you like the lore read the books if you like to play games this game is a nightmare. Id equate the lag that u can encounter in this game to playing Everquest 1 on bad dial up during the first mins of a new expack drop, except much worse and at random times. Absolutely inexcusable in 2023.
How can you not mention the instruments and ability to form a band and play midi files? One of the most amazing features waaay back in the day, and it still holds up last I checked. Also the ability to get feats from killing every single mob enough times gives the game so much more content. Some of the feats are gamechanging for sure.
For the crafting Part, different Styles are actually changing some stats, mostly based on wich race it belongs to and wich classes are related to that (like dwarfen armour often gives you more mitigations, elven armours instead often have better crit ratings and such). Community in this game is great, as you said -its like a family. The Story is one of the best ive ever have seen. It is so true to the lore, and even made up stories are somewhat related to the sources. Even the most stupid quest would even have an interesting story belonging to it.
I really enjoed LotRO for a while. My main character was a hobbit minstrel, and singing my enemies to death was pretty fun. I also had a human burglar that was pretty complex to play.
Honestly, this was a really nice video to watch. I'm 22 now, but I did grow up playing this game a lot with my mom and I've been ranting and raving about this game for years to my boyfriend for years and he decided to google if it was still active and found this. This was incredibly nostalgic for me and made me remember a lot of fond memories I spent with my mom. Maybe I'll redownload it again and see if my Guardian is the same as I remember
I taught myself English with this game, I was 11 years old when I started playing, 26 now time fucking flies 😢 but this game is like a timecapsule for me even though alot has changed in-game, remember when skirmishes were new, or when Mines Of Moria expansion came out wow I’m just reminiscing at this point
I will have to make house for myself. This was the first mmo I got into and it was super addictive cuz of it being LOTR. The team element is more meaningful. Tuns of things to do also outside main story. I need to get the expansions when I go back in. I just got out of the Misty Mountains in my main.
Hey Nixxiom, there's also a difficulty slider for world content coming soon in the next update (known as Update 36). It was originally only available on subscription based legendary servers like Treebeard, for instance. But now it's finally coming for regular free servers very soon! So if you find the general landscape content to be too easy, that won't be a problem for you in the next oncoming update..!
Im just happy to see that this game still exists. I remember when I tried this game for the first time and only played as a free-to-play player when it was still new. Heck I played this game before I tried WoW for the first time as an undead hunter, so to see you make a video of this makes me glad :)
Having been in this since closed beta, I still play off and on. It's fun, it's immersive, there's so much to explore, no matter what level you're at... it just keeps on giving. Not only all that, but the community is amazing, and always has been. There is still RP, there are still community events, charity events, and other things that make it a true gem.
You forgot a big negative point - the group/raid content is irrelevant if there is nobody at your level to play with . Let us be honest - if there is a new player to start Lotro today , he better be ready to go alone all the way from level 1 to 120 + . It is true, the community is great but you will not meet a living soul between Shire and Mordor. And let's face it - being alone in the magnificently crafted Moria for 10-15 levels gets pretty depressing rather fast.
bro im playing lotro since they made most expansions free and bigger ones for 1 dollar. Its been 6 motnhs plus and im still at lvl 103 (current cap is 140). The journey is so much fun, exploring every nook and cranny etc is the highlight of the game :)
I wouldn't call the combat fast paced - it's slower than most MMOs IMO, but it's very smooth. Great animations and you do feel better connected than a lot of other MMOs like EQ2. It's a very good game if you want to enjoy the journey and don't much care about the destination.
Great animations? I mean the game itself is subjective for sure, but one thing which is not worth mentioning is the animations. no movement in this game feels good to watch
@@climatixseuche Hard disagree on this one, but maybe its just your class? I main cappy, and with every other MMO I play, the animations just feel bad compared to it. LM is pretty slick too, better then most MMOs.
The only thing you have to get past is the dated graphics and the all present server latency issues. I took the leap a couple of months ago and felt right at home, realizing what i've missed playing all the more "contemporary" titles. The last time I felt this kind of awe and joy was during vanilla wow, EQ - generally titles around the 2k mark. Yes, the quest design is repetitive - but the writing is exellent! Just "mildly force" yourself to take a less endgame oriented pushy playstyle and start enjoying the journey, actually read and appreciate the story and lore. Make every aspect and every day your endgame ... and have a blast!
I enjoys LOTRO way more than wow tbh ❤ chill and relaxing questing, huge open world, nice community, no go rush mode like how in wow, im enjoying my adventures !!! I play a whole game, not a patch.
Man the nostalgia is so real. That's why I fell so in love with this game as a kid, the community was so amazing my guild was so kind to me as a young kid it blew my mind, it was my WOW but man words can't describe tbh
LotRO is really a fun game to play. Although currently I am more focused on WoW, I still have LotRO installed and do stuff with my kinship (my guild). But right now, I'm mainly waiting for the next Legacy Servers. When it comes to Legacy Servers, SSG (Standing Stone Games) took a different route. They start with a normal classic server where you can level up to level 50. But after some time, they raise the level cap to the next expansion until they reach the current expansion (and current level cap). At this point, you can transfer your characters to a normal realm or let the character be deleted once the servers get wiped.
It's so sad that this game got so overshadowed by WoW. I jumped into it back in the days. Played it every now and then. The world exploring as a LOTR fan is amazing, I still to this day go back into this game and continue with the journy
Love the game. This has been my home for 12+ years. I come and go, but always return, and buying the lifetime sub back then was the best video game investment ever.
LEDGENDARY. Didn't talk about ledgendary weapons. I need to get my computer fixed but I haven't played in a while medical condition is keeping me from working. Need something to fill my time. It was the best part of the game when I got to start using Legendary weapons.
After i watched this Video yesterday i'd gave it a shot..and damn .. im lvl 15 and have the time of my gaming life. Its So relaxing and exciting at the same time
I love the dwarf starting questline because at the time there was very little in the way of LoTR dwarven content. I think LoTRO managed to capture the essence of the universe really well but I only wish they didn't make the leveling easier. I love being able to die when leveling in MMOs, I've never been a fan of how easy they normally are. Reply
Good news! They'll include Landscape Difficulty in the next patch! It's effectively a debuff on your character, that will make the game as hard as you want!
@@Geologese It's more like a debuff on yourself. Here's an excerpt from the wiki: When completing a Difficulty quest, the character will gain a Difficulty debuff. This debuff has the following effects on the character: Decreases outgoing damage Increases incoming damage Increases XP and Virtue XP gain Triggers additional effects on enemy targets The higher the Difficulty selected, the more pronounced these effects will be.
I played this game back in the day (2008 or so) but stopped shortly after. I'm installing it again right now and wanting to find friends to play with. reply to this if you'd like to team up!
One of The best highlights was when I was playing Pvp I was a spider and burrowed in the ground while 12 people were waiting for me to kill me! And right on CUE…. KORN-Freak on a Leash playa and the Cavalry came with 20 monster players and Slayed the players! It was EPIC! I played this back in 2007 I still really miss this game so much and the friendships I formed
I played back in the day, I remember I thought the combat was a lot like dragon age origins, where you que'd up your spells and they just activated as they were off a cooldown. But one thing I do remember liking was the crafting system in this game. it's probably different now but back in the day I enjoyed it. One thing thou I remember hating was the language font they used in the game.
You didn't go into much detail with the housing but the part I love the most is the neighborhood you live in, me and my friends would always get houses next to each other haha. And the guild islands also! 🎉
as a teenager, i wasnt very social in the real world so not many friends. Here in the lotro world would make temporary friends, join or create fellowship, etc. It has been years, the last expantion i was on was Riders of Rohan. Lvl 95 was the highest player level in the game. Mounted combat was the game changer. I have no idea what all has changed.
A bunch of stuff has changed since that time. Like the corrasirs of umbar expansion is out and the last homely house in rivendel changed and the new legendaries are there and the relics for legendaries are replaced with traceries (shopping for traceries in the library in the last homely house)
Game slapps. Once people figure out they can queue stuff up during combat, it really starts to flow. Been playing off and on since the start. There is a reason we keep going back.
I've ironically been thinking about picking back up either EQ or LotRO I vaguely remember role playing on there with a group of Dwarves and Men when me and an old pal were Hobbits... So seeing this pop up and hearing just positives compared to the typical "oh... it's very paywalled" is very refreshing. Might need to swing back in!!! Great video :)
The only thing i want this game to have is an option like in the Treebeard server where you can toggle a story mode where you make significantly less XP so you can level slowly and experience every zone's story. Theyre already transferring the landscape difficulty toggles in the next update so i dont see any harm in transferring this in as an optional toggle. Treebeard's XP is toggled down to 40% so you have to quest alot but with a few XP boost items (if you're into that) you can get up to 110% XP gain so the boost isnt as ridiculous as it is on live right now. This more of an older player issue rather than a new player issue so if youre jumping in now then don't worry about this bit
This game is unique and community is great. One game to rule them all. This is the only game i always return to and now actually just play still. Whoever dont know it, should go play asap.
i remember trying LOTRO very briefly like 12 years ago. i enjoyed it but i just didnt stick with it for some reason. this video has sold me on trying it again
The biggest difference between dragonflight and games like this/classic wow, is that every inch of DF's zones have a purpose. It's very immersion breaking. There's also the fact that nothing you get in those chests has meaningful advantages to your character. When you find a chest in classic wow you are excited for that chance at a green drop or some much needed food/water. Besides that, zone design a huge factor. Retail zones for a long time have looked "pretty", but have been stuck in this "mountainous island zone #4" vibe. No more open zones like mulgore etc. No variety. Everything is too cluttered, and not believable. Also, you never have to TRAVEL anymore. No more traveling to the other side of the world. Retail feels... small? Classic felt HUGE.
This came out when WoW released Naxxaramas in Vanilla. I switched to play the hell out of it.. It was SO much fun and everything about being immersed in LOTR world is spot on. Originally, they really did try to make raids and boss mechanics. Not sure how well it is now.
For a casual player it's worth playing, for anybody looking for a challenge or endgame it's not. Also, note that even though the game is free to play it restricts you quite a bit as a free player. One of the big downsides is not being able to use swift travel (teleport) from town to town meaning you have to watch your character ride a horse all the way. Traveling from one side of the world to another like that can take a long time. The good thing is that if you buy VIP for 1 month you get a permanent unlock for fast travel on characters that logged in while VIP. The other thing is quest packs. As a VIP (monthly subscriber) you get all the quest packs, as a free/premium player you get quest packs up to lvl 95 for free from 140 levels available. You can earn lotro tokens in game to buy new quest pack though it's grindy since you need to complete deeds (side quests, discovery, mob kills) to earn them. Housing is simple to get but premium housing costs premium in game currency to buy and maintain.
Been playing for more then 14 years now. Kinda my go to game. Sometimes just riding through the landscape can even be nice. It is also less over the top then WoW, wich I personally prefer. You always are an adventurer, never the commander, general, chosen one or whatever. Also no annoying loud motorcycles. Btw, did they ever gave you that t-shirt, Nixxiom?
Nice video! After I stopped playing EQ2 some years ago I was always looking for some classic MMO and since I doubt Pantheon will ever release I guess I'm playing Lotro now. My main char is only lvl 20 and I enjoy the slow pace and dense atmosphere
Have always been curious about this game and actually really enjoyed and appreciate this video, Nixxiom! Personally I started playing WoW back in 2004 & 5 and played till Burning Crusade. Then I redownloaded for Wotlk for a 2/3 mo stint. Then also had a lapse for Battle for Azeroth. Just before each of my WoW returns (or.. relapse 😅) I was staring at LOTR-O and was about to click and then the MMO gods moved my cursor over 😂. Now I am (sort of) in that position again, but this time trying to decide between LOTR and WoW Classic/Vanilla . Also, Nix (can I call you that? For some reason I feel like we know each other- maybe bc I love your videos)- so also I am so broke I cannot breathe (have been temp. disabled) and have been consistently dreaming about somehow getting paid to play MMOs [by offering some kind of value, still figuring (EVERYTHING) out]! If ya think you can help (or we can help one another) plz feel free to reach out as I would be genuinely happy to meet you. Hey thanks again, you are greatly appreciated! P.S. Night Elves, beware of the Wetlands, stay on your path 🐊
I've been playing since launch day. Absolutely love this game. There is so much content and places to go, it's ridiculous. And some of the storylines are just incredible.
If you want a RPG with over 29,000 total quests and players who actually role play for events, this is your game. It's big enough there are 247 ride points to save you time traversing it all. I can say that just Manually riding the fastest mount from ride point to ride point and touching them ALL takes 119 hours. Let that sink in. While The Bounders of the Shire guild is much smaller than it was 16 years ago, it still exists and they still do "walking the Shire" events weekly, basically a patrol of the Shire helping people.
Love Love Love this game. Have a few qualms with it but over all wonderfull game. Its not as sweaty as WoW and they really focus on the story in this game. The physics for jumping are scuffed though😂 Fun game. Captian for life!
as a 10+ Year vet, I would say that I agree with what you said. LOTRO isnt unique, but the story telling of this game is really good, everyone is very welcoming and willing to help. its just is an experience
Couldn't agree more with almost everything you said! I've played on and off since beta, and have always loved coming back to it. By far some of the best class design and balance I've seen in any MMO, and fairly unique to boot! Appreciate the video my dude
I used to play this game about 8 years where the cap wad at 65. I have so many good and bad memories about it… kinda want to return, give it another chance but i dont think i will have fun playing it anymore.. :(
the mention of group content was good because i've played and always had trouble figuring out what is group content and what to do with it in this game
