The Mines of Moria was the first LotRO expansion and it introduced two more classes to the game, bringing the total to nine playable classes.  Visually, LotRO is very stunning; it shows a magical world that gives life to the books.  In my opinion, the music in the game is as good as other MMOs. My favorite music in an MMO? Age of Conan.

My favorite class in the game? The Minstrel.  This class is the equivalent of a Priest, it heals or damage people with instruments, kinda like a Bard.  Skills needed to be linked in order to access other tiers. A very unique feature (I remember Asheron’s Call 2 had something similar) is the music system.  After level 5, players can learn to play different instruments that can be played in real time.  It was very impressive to see player-created bands playing real music.

The lore was good, great quests with the exception of those typical “kill x creature”; the storyline revolved around the fellowship and “you”, the player, needed to help them.  This made me feel part of the book, part of the story.  So, what went wrong?  There were several things that made the game unappealing but in my case it was the way Turbine handled PvP. The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings provided great material for amazing battles but everything was broke down into a simple Player vs Monster Player (PvMP) system.

Players could create monster, known as Creeps, to fight heroes.  You could complete quests, titles and deeds for your Monster but all the fight took place in Ettenmoors for the control of keeps.  This system was created to allow players a kind of PvP mechanic, because playing as the “Bad Guy” was lore breaking according to Turbine.  So many ways to implement a good  PvP faction based game that would not interfere with the lore, after all the game is based in a book that was all about good vs evil.  So much potential.  Again, what went wrong? Nothing really.  The game had a good, stable release and players can enjoy new content regularl; the MvP just wasn’t for me.

For those looking for more PvE, a break or just another game to pass time by until Cataclysm, please download the trial. Lord of the Rings Online is a memorable game with impressive visuals, music and quests.  The new Siege of Mirkwood expansion looks amazing.