Lord of the Rings Online
Lord of the Rings Online currently has a stress test going on, though there’s about a 4gb client download and it ends tomorrow so you’ll need to hurry if you think you’d like to try it out. It also looks like there’s a bigger beta program you can sign up for, but I don’t know if signing up for that guarantees you a spot.
I played the game for an hour this afternoon and my impression so far is that it seems like a pretty straight-forward World of Warcraft knockoff set in Middle Earth. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since WoW + Tolkien seems like a winning combination but, even though an hours worth of play gives me a pretty limited view of the game, even their “Features” page doesn’t do a great job of explaining what – aside from the setting – sets LotRO apart from other online RPGs.
The setting could also prove to be a mixed blessing since, while the chance to explore The Shire or Mirkwood is something that most Tolkien fans would jump at, any in-game rendering of those locations has to compete with what people have always imagined themselves. What little I’ve seen so far seemed pretty generic RPG fare, though some of the screenshots of more famous locations look pretty good.
Popularity also sort of wrecks the mood, since one of the aspects of Middle Earth that always stuck with me was that it was so vast and empty aside from the relatively few disconnected cities and settlements. Having hundreds of players running around in the confined spaces of the game areas sort of dispels any sense of being a lonely adventurer in an untamed world.
I’m hoping to get some more exploration time in before the stress test ends (or maybe I can get in on the beta), but I need some more convincing before I cough up $60 + $15/month (or whatever the pricing ends up as). If I decide I need to scratch an online RPG itch, I’d currently be more inclined it grab The Burning Crusade and revisit my long-neglected WoW characters.