The Beornings’ starting area

Well, well, well, Lord of the Rings Online. A game i liked very much- and still do, to some extent, despite there being changes i didn’t like much. I’m not talking about f2p here, but for instance how the old wood changed between 2008 and now. It used to be creepy and difficult. It isn’t, anymore. Still, Lotro has a world that’s really nice to explore, as well as great quest writing.

So i wanted to take some screenshots of the game and started up a new character. Might as well try the new class, the Beorning, since it somehow appeals to me (i always like playing hybrid characters that can do good damage while also being able to heal a little bit) and is the new shiny in the game. Also, i agree with those who say the character models look much better than those of the other races. I’m still dreading Moria and really want to make it as short a stay as possible, but for now, i went back in, this time even really reading quest text.

The other starting areas should be like the Beornings’

The starting area of the beornings looks gorgeous. Since i never went through Moria, i also never really got to see how the game looks nowadays, and i have to say, it really looks great.

 

It’s almost a pity that it’s over so quickly, but then again, after going through Archet for 100 times it’s good to see a starting area that focuses on the important things: story, a little bit immersion, getting a first feel of the class and admiring the landscape. This is by far the smallest starting area in the game, and all you really do is talk to some people, kill eight flies and some goblins, then talk some more and you’re done. All in all, maybe 15 minutes, if that. You get to level 2 by playing it and then get boosted to level 5 and sent to Archet (the real Archet, though).

 

After 7 years of mainly playing through Archet i think that this is a good way to go- teach the advanced basics- story and class gameplay- and send the player off. I’d like the other starting areas to be as quick (mind you, Archet is shorter than it used to be), although of course i know that this wouldn’t suit a player who’s new to the game.

Starter islands

Generally, i don’t like starter islands or zones. Everybody loves Age of Conan’s Tortage- i don’t like it. The same goes for Archet and the starting zones of Elves/Dwarves, the Isle of Dawn in Vanguard and others. World of Warcraft drops you right into the world and i think this is the way it should be done. All i really want when playing these zones is to leave them as fast as possible. So the Beornings’ starting area was a nice change of pace in this old game.

Tourism

While those who like the game know it, i think Lotro is really a great experience if you take your time while levelling. In this game, you shouldn’t hurry to reach the next level – although i wouldn’t use the XP stopper, either, and i wouldn’t do “grey” quests, but it’s really not a game to “skip quest text” and “reach the endgame”. I’d really like to see the newer landscapes, especially after seeing this starting area. It’s just Moria. Gandalf didn’t want to go through it, and i don’t want to, either. But we’ll see about that.

Goodbye Vanguard, welcome back FFXIV and nice to meet you, EQ2

Welcome back

So yeah, it’s been a while since i posted. I guess having a baby at home gets in the way of gaming and especially blogging about it. So what happened in the meantime? Not much, of course. Last year after my last posting i didn’t play much- i think Raptr counted 30 hours, mostly in SWTOR, if i remember correctly. This year i saw ESO and Wildstar coming and going (for me). I knew they weren’t games designed with me as a player in mind before going in, but i couldn’t resist. Needless to say, i dropped both of them. Also, we moved. New job and all that.

So here i am, still trying to figure out and find “my” MMO home. The three candidates that made me start this blog still haven’t released yet, so there’s still hope for me. A lot more of it, to be frank, because SOE dropped ProsiebenSat1, so EQN is on my radar once again.

On a side note: i stumbled across old (guild) friends of mine and rejoined a german guild because of them- the guild/community i joined last year is the best organized guild i ever encountered and they offer great community-related stuff, really great people, i can’t complain. The new, german one is a lot more casual in their together-ness, but they’re also very nice. One thing i miss is some structure- but honestly, i never was in a german guild that also had a good organization (maybe i’ll post about that another time).

Goodbye, Vanguard

When the year 2014 came, i had a bad feeling concerning Vanguard. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but some news coming from SOE made me think Vanguard might be nearing its end by the end of 2014. So i subbed, thinking i might spend 2014 with getting to know Telon in my own pace. One week after i subbed, SOE really broke the news about Vanguard closing. But much sooner than i thought. With a closure in the end of july, there was no hope for me to see as much of Telon as i’d liked, so i stopped playing. But that’s not the point.

A huge loss

The point is; i think Vanguard was the last of the more old-school, world-orientated MMORPGs out there. It had an open world, a great crafting system and diplomacy. There are other games with an open world, of course, but they also have that “zone”-feel. Go from Elwynn to Westfall in WoW and it isn’t a slow and steady but a sudden change of landscape. There’s only one game i know of that doesn’t have that as much- and that’s ArcheAge.

Also, character progression should take almost forever. That’s how i like MMOs- open world, a variety of activities, a good ingame economy, lots of opportunity to socialize. I’ve never been one to “finish” MMORPGs, Rift being the only game i maxleveled a character, but still…endgame is not for me. At least not the WoW-inspired raiding endgame.

So the loss of Vanguard made me think about that, and that’s why i knew ESO and WS wouldn’t be for me, but i didn’t know what else to play. Also, i wanted to make a “decision”, to stick it out with one MMORPG for quite some time. But which one. As it stands, i am now committed to two games.

Final Fantasy XIV

I liked FF14 very much when i visited it- there was one thing i didn’t like, though: i thought levelling crafting was a huge grind. What i didn’t know is that you can do these Levequests for gathering and crafting, as well. Those help with progress, a lot. Also, my new german guild is also actively playing it, so i am not alone. I’m really looking forward to playing this to level 50…and i will!

Everquest 2

News of the new expansion made me curious, once again. The player base seems to be very excited for the expansion coming 11/11. I don’t really know anything about EQ2, but the excitement carried over nonetheless. Everquest 2 is mentioned very often when it comes to full-featured themepark MMORPGs. The housing and crafting systems also get a lot of praise. Also, it is the successor of Everquest, to which Vanguard was the spiritual successor. Somehow i thought, maybe this is the game one would play if Vanguard was no longer available.

I decided to get All Access, as well. The perks SOE gives out aren’t that interesting for me, yet, but still…and now we are coming out of a member-double xp weekend that was so well-timed that SOE might have read my mind (went All Access one day before they announced the double xp).

I’m playing a Warden right now (Broshia), got to level 16 and just started levelling as an artisan. I haven’t decided on a crafting profession, yet, but i think it might be tailor.

In the case of EQ2, i plan to play it as “second” MMO. Soon there’ll be ArcheAge (my guess is a release in late september), so it’ll become third. I like it so far and think i should have looked into it much sooner. I can also see it being the “casual”, “fall back to” MMORPG that in reality gets the most of my available play time.