Compare Lotro VS Swtor.

[Bloodstealer]

Are you unable to form your own opinion?

 

Two different types of MMO. Two different ages of development. Thus can not equally compare the two.

 

I think the OP stated his opinion.. you just never read it properly

 

2 different ages of development... I am confused here... what is your point exactly?

Lotro was in development a little while earlier yeah I am sure, but not really by that much I would guess.. difference is the Turbine team obviously had their eye on the industry and didnt just take a game engine on a freinds handshake then lock out the experts on it. They also chose to develop a game with just as wider known and endeared brand, with a deeper route into gaming and MMO's in general than Star Wars, but more importantly they ensured what they released incorporated basic MMO features and tweaks as well as a good entry of content and a plan of future expansions, which they have maintained prety well, especially since its inception of the F2P model and Microtransaction - btw their launch wasnt too bad either.

Is it the best MMO out there.. to me NO but to some probably ... I have a tendacy to call it Lord of the Banannas cos of the need to keep running back and forth just to complete quests.. sound familiar , its certainly not bug free and has its own issues.. i always found grouping and raiding to a little tedious compared to how its other title DDO was sooo much better, but each game has its own likes and diislikes, so I chose to play LOTRO very casually in between other MMO releasing content.

 

But what BW have done has taken their Single Player expertise and added a few bits of ball fluff to call it an MMO and then rushed out release (a very good release imo )but one that brought us an already dated experience, which 6months in is now in fire fighting mode and lacking any real ideas and direction... which has seen the playerbase become discontent, tired, lonely and bored of the game and also the lack of interaction from BW themselves.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Bloodstealer

[Alavastre]

The comparison I'm going to make is that LotRO is terrible and there is no comparison.

[Leggomy]

I can tell none of you guys played lotro at launch. It was a buggy mess. It launched with no raids and a shoe horned in pvp system that still is unpopular with most people on both sides. When the game launched even tho the level cap was 50 my hunter only had skills to 35. We didnt get the rest of our skills for months. They sold 1 million copies at launch and a year later were down to about 500k subs.

 

Now yes with f2p it making somewhat of a come back. Also it has had 5 years and numerous updates to get to the point it is now.

[Drewes]

I can tell none of you guys played lotro at launch. It was a buggy mess. It launched with no raids and a shoe horned in pvp system that still is unpopular with most people on both sides. When the game launched even tho the level cap was 50 my hunter only had skills to 35. We didnt get the rest of our skills for months. They sold 1 million copies at launch and a year later were down to about 500k subs.

 

Now yes with f2p it making somewhat of a come back. Also it has had 5 years and numerous updates to get to the point it is now.

 

That sound an awfull lot like SWTOR. They apparently didn't learn a lot from the mistakes of LOTRO. Releasing a game with no endgame depth, no World PvP, a couple of warzones that feel show horned in, awfull class balance, really curious performance "bugs", and i could go on and on and on....

 

And SWTOR also had a good launch, selling almost 2.4 mill copies and my optimistic guess is 500k subs a year after.

[Leggomy]

That sound an awfull lot like SWTOR. They apparently didn't learn a lot from the mistakes of LOTRO. Releasing a game with no endgame depth, no World PvP, a couple of warzones that feel show horned in, awfull class balance, really curious performance "bugs", and i could go on and on and on....

 

And SWTOR also had a good launch, selling almost 2.4 mill copies and my optimistic guess is 500k subs a year after.

 

It will go back up once they put in server transfers and 1.3 comes out. You will see a flood of people come back burn through the content and split again lol. I think a lot of people like me are kind of bored having leveled a couple chars already. Id like to know more about how server transfers and legacy levels work before banking on moving some of my chars.

[TheAincient]

I can tell none of you guys played lotro at launch. It was a buggy mess. It launched with no raids and a shoe horned in pvp system that still is unpopular with most people on both sides. When the game launched even tho the level cap was 50 my hunter only had skills to 35. We didnt get the rest of our skills for months. They sold 1 million copies at launch and a year later were down to about 500k subs.

 

Now yes with f2p it making somewhat of a come back. Also it has had 5 years and numerous updates to get to the point it is now.

 

Actually I played since beta, but I agree it had a shaky start, but for whatever reason, I was prepared to give it a chance, I found the epic story engaging and could see where Turbine wanted to go.

 

As for SWTOR, I really don't like where this game seems to be heading, I will return to play more of the stories once they are released, but cant think of another reason to resub.

[Nyla]

I like both, different pros and cons, both missing owPvP.

 

I hope TOR's devs would look a bit to the class design of LOTRO and also to the group interactions.

I really liked Warden/Champion/Runekeeper/Loremaster/Minstrel there.

By group interactions, I meant mainly aggro management. TOR reduces too much what each role must take into account in group content, while LOTRO, when I played it the most, involved more each member of the group into aggro management, removing debuffs, ...

[DiabloDoom]

I can tell none of you guys played lotro at launch. It was a buggy mess. It launched with no raids and a shoe horned in pvp system that still is unpopular with most people on both sides. When the game launched even tho the level cap was 50 my hunter only had skills to 35. We didnt get the rest of our skills for months. They sold 1 million copies at launch and a year later were down to about 500k subs.

 

Now yes with f2p it making somewhat of a come back. Also it has had 5 years and numerous updates to get to the point it is now.

LOTRO has never had that many players. It peaked to just over 250k mid '09, then started to drop. Then they released F2P which within a year made the player base increase to just over 550k, and has been dropping since. It's now back where it started before F2P.

[MilitiaMasterV]

I played LOTRO for a paid year from like 1 1/2 months before it went F2P...

 

I actually burnt myself out by doing all of the crafting guilds at once, so I didn't even get a character past I think level 42. I actually quit like 8-9 months in on my year and never went back.

 

With the F2P microtransactions and the paid VIP member's getting a steady amount of Turbine Points to use, I spent a lot of my points on deals they had for that cross-character bank and the cross character wardrobe and multiple extra character slots and the expansions (But I never even got to see Mines of Moria...much less the expansion after it.)

 

The scenery was great, but there was lots of things left to be desired for the rest of the game. (Like having to fight over kills for getting completion).

 

Also, the Barrows was almost stupid...exploding poisonous worms that gas the whole room and kill everyone...or a zombie/skeleton necromancer guy that can stun-lock most of the 'fellowship' (group).

 

The housing and the different holiday event items were fun for awhile, but it was poorly implemented and I doubt many people even visit the houses unless they are buying the next door one.

 

Basically, the group content I've seen over here on SWTOR is much more intriguing and the VO stuff is great (Except when your character starts to repeat the same lines..)

 

I'm really enjoying the crafting system and hunting down schematics...(Except for that whole augment system...I think they should just fold it into something else/get rid of it and change slicing so it actually has a decent chance to find something else other than credit boxes from boxes in the field since they've nerfed it so you basically break even/lose money from missions now.)

 

If the servers would liven up and I was able to learn some of the FP's and more of the heroics and get to the endgame stuff, I'd probably have a few more opinions on this game, but overall, I quite enjoy it.

 

I enjoyed both of these games to an extent, but each has their ups and their downs.

[Lurchy]

Not that I have ever played LOTRO.. But to the best of my knowledge it dose'nt have LIGHTSABERRZZZ

[IPaq]

Lorto has a lot of what id love to see in Swtor. the graphics are amazing on Lotro from the water to the snow. Come if Lotro can do it then BW should be able to it just as good. The housing would be simple on swtor if they did it like lortro. I did see that Lortro has done better going F2P and I dont mind microshops at all. An the next Lotro exp coming out you can fight while mounted 'sweet'

 

ok, in before it gets closed

 

Yeah LotRO is the opposite of SWTOR.

 

Award winning software developer, meh graphic (loved their last xpac pre going F2P).

 

When SWTOR is all voice/graphic/environment with meh software platform.

[amnie]

I really really loved lots of things in LotRo that are seriously lacking in TOR, for example the crafting and yes - the housing. apart from those things I can really say that there's not much were comparing the two would even make any sense as they play in completely different universes (heh) and have a completely different over all game setting (not just the universe, but also how it's presented, for example with the graphics)

 

what I do see 'similar' is that both games managed to have unique classes. I had immense fun with my minstrel because it wasn't just simple button mashing, but I enjoy healing on my scoundrel just as much because that too is definitely a system I haven't seen before... and comparing my warden with a vanguard might also work, as both of these classes are also 'uncommon' as far as tanking mechanics go (ok, you can argue that the vanguard probably still plays similar in the long run, but the idea of a ranged tank is pretty awesome to begin with)

[NasherUK]

SWTOR is the better game now. But LOTRO had a lot of features that most new MMOs lack :/

[erictlewis]

I was in the alfa and beta for lotro, I was also in the alfa for meo (middle earth online) before turbine took it over.

 

SWTOR is nothing like LOTRO, as far as playability. Now some of the artwork does compare. However LOTRO is now free to play, despite me having a lifetime sub and not having played since it went free to play.

 

Things that lotro had going for it. I played the game for 2 years before I became disenfranchised with it. I played SWTOR for 4 months before I had reached total disgust. So Lotro was more of a game than SWTOR.

 

Things that SWOTR missed one were end game content. Leveling was way to quick, atl playing then became the game. After a while you got very board with it. This happened in lotro after it released SOM (shadows of Mirkwood) but that 2was 2.5 years in. I call it dev's being lazy. When you start reusing the same layouts over and over. Then the cookie cutter approach set it. We got that in SWTOR right of the bat everybody looks the same once they hit 50 and start running em or hm ops, and the same problem the outfits are hideous and are not iconic looking.

 

Lotro also had a dedicated healer. It was called a mini, I could healer or dps or do both depending on the points I spent in the trees. Then we had the captain as an off healer. In this game we have sorcerers and they heal but boy howdy are they gimp as healing goes. I played combat medic in swg, I played a defiler in eq2, and I can say the healers in this game are way limited.

 

Character creation was close to the same, as in your very limited to hairstyle, scars and all that kind of thing thats the only thing that I would say was close to the sam.e

 

Comparing lotro to swtor is like comparing apples to oranges. They are not even close to the same product. Even thought I canceled my sub I still will not go back to lotro, the cash store is way too intrusive from my likes. I am going back to eq2, al least we have tons of classes and different races to choose from. Not being able to play a rodian or a wookie for me was just pure stupid.

[ZideZwipe]

It's simple. LOTRO is better in every way, and here's why:

 

 

LOTRO has an immersive, all encompassing environment, scenery, classes and gameplay.

 

TOR is just a lens flare visual generator attached to a children's Star Wars story.

 

 

Let me give you an example. In LOTRO there is a region called Forochel. It's way up north and is a frozen tundra wasteland. Often when you are running around a blizzard will set in, dropping visibility to no more than 10 feet. There are places where you NEED special equipment and foods to survive the environment.

 

In TOR on Hoth, was there ever a minute where I felt like the landscape was desolate, harsh, unforgiving or at least "Alive"? No. Not for one second. Not once has a slight snow storm set in, even if it's just something visual and has no damage effects. Not once have I gotten caught out during the night and been in trouble. NOT ONCE HAS THE SUN EVEN FREAKING SET. It's just blue skies and sun 24/7. And the ground is white, but that doesn't matter much.

 

And the same applies for other planets as well. I've never seen a sandstorm on Tattoine. I've never been in trouble in that huge "dangerous" Dune Sea.

 

 

LOTRO has been around for 5 years, and it is superior in every single way. Even in the graphics department. It's sad that TOR is 5 years newer, yet doesn't even have better graphics.

[Blackardin]

What do u thing guys?

As far till now , i can say Lotro is completly Setup MMo than Swtor..

 

i wait for opinions..

 

I don't care. ;p Could care less about any comparison. Its a game, not an alternate reality. I'm making nothing on their success or failure. I'm playing this game and having fun.

 

Ats all that matters to me.

[Galbatorrix]

I played a Captain up to maybe level 17 in LoTRO back before it went F2P and it just never took hold of me. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. At the time, WOW just felt so much better to me.

 

 

Honestly, since I started playing WOW 7 years ago, I've tried most MMOs that came out and not one could ever pull me away. Until TOR, of course. Now, I can't bring myself to log back into WOW even though I have to pay for it due to the AP.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Galbatorrix

[oaceen]

swtor has better pvp. mostly because lotro pvp is really really awful, but swtor pvp has been pretty fun lately (when i can get actually get a queue that is)

 

i like lotro end-game content a bit more than swtor's, but i like leveling up in swtor a lot more.

i hate questing in lotro. and i also feel like my intelligence is insulted every time i do an epic quest.

daily quests in swtor are really grindy and tedious, but lotro's deeding system is the worst thing ever invented. even worse that you can pay loads of money so you don't have to do it.

 

lotro's cosmetic system and general variety of cosmetics is really nice. swtor's cosmetics are.... well, painfully bad. and given the trend of the new gear in swtor, i don't think having a few more years to churn out new gear is going to help things.

on that note, lotro has personality. you have cosmetic clothing, a myriad of mounts, special emotes, player housing... swtor has nothing. everyone's ship looks the same. everyone in end-game gear looks the same. you can have different vehicles and a pet to follow you around.... but that's about it.

 

 

the festivals are really fun in lotro. i generally enjoy them (except the trite winter festival quests, probably written by the same people who wrote the epic quests).

swtor's one event so far was fun.... for a day until it got a bit old. i have hopes they can do better in the future though.

 

 

over the past few months, i've been playing lotro less and playing swtor more. i only get on a few times a week (if that) on lotro to raid, but that's it.

the last couple weeks though, my server on swtor has died out a lot. i'm literally the only person selling any spaceship parts on the GTN. i don't even bother to queue for WZs unless it's between 7-12 at night. if i wasn't leveling an alt, i probably wouldn't be playing that much on swtor either.

[KennethHoover]

Hungry Hobbits were kinda cool.

[Dreossk]

I liked the immersion in LotRO, you really felt like you were living in the Middle-Earth, unlike SWTOR and its complete lack of immersion and frozen worlds, but I couldn't stand the awful combat system, which is even worse than SWTOR's if that's possible. I guess it's going to be hard to find a good combat system after playing Age of Conan and Champions Online. Edited May 25, 2012 by Dreossk

[amnie]

I was in the alfa and beta for lotro, I was also in the alfa for meo (middle earth online) before turbine took it over.

 

SWTOR is nothing like LOTRO, as far as playability. Now some of the artwork does compare. However LOTRO is now free to play, despite me having a lifetime sub and not having played since it went free to play.

 

Things that lotro had going for it. I played the game for 2 years before I became disenfranchised with it. I played SWTOR for 4 months before I had reached total disgust. So Lotro was more of a game than SWTOR.

 

Things that SWOTR missed one were end game content. Leveling was way to quick, atl playing then became the game. After a while you got very board with it. This happened in lotro after it released SOM (shadows of Mirkwood) but that 2was 2.5 years in. I call it dev's being lazy. When you start reusing the same layouts over and over. Then the cookie cutter approach set it. We got that in SWTOR right of the bat everybody looks the same once they hit 50 and start running em or hm ops, and the same problem the outfits are hideous and are not iconic looking.

 

Lotro also had a dedicated healer. It was called a mini, I could healer or dps or do both depending on the points I spent in the trees. Then we had the captain as an off healer. In this game we have sorcerers and they heal but boy howdy are they gimp as healing goes. I played combat medic in swg, I played a defiler in eq2, and I can say the healers in this game are way limited.

 

Character creation was close to the same, as in your very limited to hairstyle, scars and all that kind of thing thats the only thing that I would say was close to the sam.e

 

Comparing lotro to swtor is like comparing apples to oranges. They are not even close to the same product. Even thought I canceled my sub I still will not go back to lotro, the cash store is way too intrusive from my likes. I am going back to eq2, al least we have tons of classes and different races to choose from. Not being able to play a rodian or a wookie for me was just pure stupid.

 

as someone who played a minstrel for 4 years - and now a scoundrel... I can say: BOOOOY are you wrong.

 

but hey, opinions are opinions, you aparently like neither games anymore, and that's fine.

Edited May 25, 2012 by amnie

[dandamanno]

Turbine created an online world when they created Middle Earth. When you log in to LotRO you feel like you are entering into a real living breathing world.

 

BW created a disjointed series of planets (or chunks of planets) that never change, never have weather, sunrises or sunsets, interactive environments and very little ambiance. When I log into swtor I feel like I am entering into an unfinished replica of the Star Wars universe. I can't believe how little went into the world design and how they thought in 2012 it would be acceptable to leave out such important touches that bring a world to life.

 

In other ways swtor is better. Combat feels more "tight" in swtor, like you are really hitting the mob (LotRO always felt a bit "floaty", like you don't actually make contact with the enemy),

 

Voice overs are great in swtor but BW has shown that voiceovers are merely another nice "touch", not something to base your whole game premise around.

 

LotRO is more grindy for sure. At high level you have to grind out your deeds, your legendary items, your reputation, end game tokens for gear, etc. swtor has imo very little grind right now. I need to say though, that grind actually gives you something to do, so there is a balance there that is somewhere in between the 2 games.

 

Another thing I like better about LotRO is that there are towns and settlements with people just doing their business. In swtor it is mainly outposts with military personnel.

 

I could probably go on forever, but my first point is what swings the balance for me. I can't just take a moment in swtor to look around and enjoy the scenery, like a rainbow in the sky after a rainshower in the Shire. That immersion is just not here.

[DiabloDoom]

I played a Captain up to maybe level 17 in LoTRO back before it went F2P and it just never took hold of me. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. At the time, WOW just felt so much better to me.

 

 

Honestly, since I started playing WOW 7 years ago, I've tried most MMOs that came out and not one could ever pull me away. Until TOR, of course. Now, I can't bring myself to log back into WOW even though I have to pay for it due to the AP.

 

You know that there's been a thousand of 2 MMO's that have been released in the last 7 years?

[Dawgtide]

Enjoy both games. Lotro has a more immersive world as others have pointed out. Swtor has companions that are better implemented than Lotro. Both have great stories. Both are good games in their own way, so really no need for a comparison. I say play both some and that way someone doesn't rush through content too fast.

[Timadan]

Lifetime founding member of LOTRO, I got my money's worth and then some from that game.

 

Swtor, I mostly feel like I bought a lemon. Certainly do not feel as though it was money well spent.