Level 40+ content?

[Redwolf]

Unfortunately I ended up at a crossroads where I might continue LOTRO or not and I'd like to milk you guys for some information on things I haven't seen yet.

I played many parallel characters, mainly because I like the crafting. Now I got my Champ to 40 and tried some Ettenmoors, and of course crafting changes. It's harder to get materials now but on the other hand my highest level characters get quest reward that are as good as crit weapons and armour so that's OK and I could continue with single characters.

So I didn't see Forochel and Eregion yet, and of course neither Moria nor anything east of the Misty Mountains.

Now, the problem I see here is that I see people state that the original pre-Moria/Eregion LOTRO was the best, that they screwed up legendary weapons (aka they aren't fun) and that deed grind increases beyond reason.

What's your take on it? Did I see the best parts? Keep going? Do you do PvMP?

I was really looking forward to Moria in particular. Hmmm....

[Michael Dorosh]

Keep going, if you promise to stop whining on the forum.

I was looking forward to Moria, but kind of find the dank underground a bit depressing and navigating is actually hard, despite the guides. However, the introductory quests outside the mines are fun, and some of the deeper regions in the mines itself are neat - particularly the waterworks, and I recently got sucked into some subsidiary quests just north of the Waterworks which were kind of immersive. And finding the outdoor region where the Balrog falls out of the mountain is a neat sidetrip too.

Forochel is actually one of my favourite regions; it takes some getting used to but there is a ton to see and do up there, but maybe it is the Canadian in me that sees the appeal in the frozen north. It is sparesly populated, and I mean by real life players who don't tend to venture up there and get in your way. And there is amazingly quite a lot of variety of things to encounter and experience once you dig in.

[Redwolf]

Well, I guess I should get at least into Moria's door in the next weeks.

I kind of expected that Moria itself sounds better than it plays. In 3D computer games tunnels are tunnels are everything turns into Quake2, most of the time.

The forum whining seemed to have been more justified than I thought now that Turbine's pattern becomes clear. But alas even if I get banned from their forums I still have prepayed game time.

[Michael Dorosh]

Well, I guess I should get at least into Moria's door in the next weeks.

I kind of expected that Moria itself sounds better than it plays. In 3D computer games tunnels are tunnels are everything turns into Quake2, most of the time.

The forum whining seemed to have been more justified than I thought now that Turbine's pattern becomes clear. But alas even if I get banned from their forums I still have prepayed game time.

I can't predict how you will respond to Moria, but I definitely think you should try it. I am glad I did, and I still enjoy the experience there. It's just not my favourite place. Your experience may be different. Of course, I also thought you should have tried F2P before throwing the baby out with the bathwater too.

For my money, Forochel was definitely worth the money too, but like all different areas, perhaps an acquired taste.

Either way, let us know what your reaction is - always interested in your perspective on things.

[Palantir]

What's your take on it? Did I see the best parts? Keep going? Do you do PvMP?I was really looking forward to Moria in particular. Hmmm....

Sadly the SoA areas are not what they once were- extremely deadly & giving players a sense of real accomplishment. But- they are still the best parts of the game. As I've said before DO NOT do the Epic quests the first time thru using the "Superman" stone. They are fun, suspenseful, great challenges and fit perfectly into the whole feeling of Sauron's power taking over M.E.. Using the superman stone makes them boring and a walk.

Even now all areas of SoA are worth spending time in from the happy Shire to the dread & gloom of Angmar. It's hard to suggest which areas to skip if any.

Some areas (Note- there will soon be no reason to "hang out" in any area any more when anything you could have earned with Rep deed grinding you will be able to buy in the store.)

Evendim- my favorite, the long lake shore & only City action is a great area to quest in.

Misty Mts- a huge area, wide variety of quests and mobs make it a great place to explore & level. Plus you get to kill tons of evil men & Goblins. Goblin-town is a maze and worth the trip, they did a good job on the atmosphere & "cavern" appearance- getting to see Gollums pool is a "reward."

Forochel, as MD said, is a fun place once you get used to the whiteness. You see very few players so you feel like you're on your own special missions. I'd have said to go there just to get Kindred Reputation & all the cool stuff they have. But now with the wonderful "buy anything" store soon coming the long work to get there may not be your idea of fun. I did it and never felt bored- although the huge running back & forth across the area was time consuming.

Eregion is nothing special as far as looks go or when compared to other areas in my book. But with large open areas (sky), plentiful resource nodes & wonderful money making possibilities make up for some of it. I just did the quests quickly & moved on to Moria when I could.

Moria- it's interesting as every area is different from the next, I enjoyed some parts which were challenging but others were depressing to grind. I was disappointed that Turbine made every "chamber" big then bigger, then huge. I know they wanted to make it grand looking but they really over did. I expected at any moment for the mountain to collapse into one big sinkhole called Moria. Those poor dwarves must have really liked 500' tall ceilings: when I would have preferred some tighter dwarf sized corridors & quarters.

Lorien - I find it to be a lot of fun even with the limited number of quests. But with the various deeds you can do it can keep you hopping. I have no problems taking any character there & grinding for stuff, plus I like the surreal look they gave the area.

Mirkwood- lives up to its name. But unlike other areas I have no urge to repeatedly explore or return there. After doing @3/4 of the area I stopped and haven't taken my lvl 64/65 characters back. I didn't find it fun or compelling and did the quests just because. So far I've avoid taking my Burg/Warden there & if I have the option I'll skip it (minus the Epic's) & head to Enedwaith instead.

Legendary weapons are a complete mess- complete mess!
The best weapon you will probably every get as far as legacies will be your starting LI. unless... you enjoy the skirmish system so you can "buy" upgrades to your weapon & even then you will likely 90% chance have a weapon with just ok legacies. If you have any illusions as to finding or crafting a good LI forget it now. You can literally go thru 500 weapons & never find a decent weapon with the legacies of your starting weapon- I know I've found/had my hands on at least 300 with just my Hunter. I'm now constantly looking for lvl 60+ LI weapons for all my lvl 30' alts on the off chance I find a decent one.

They just need to allow players to select the legacies they want & have the weapon level as you do. Turbine has said they are re-looking at the LI issue- everyone hopes they do.

PvMP- if you really want to PvP WoW is the way to go.
In LotRO it's just an afterthought no matter how much some players say they like it in that small nonchanging area. For others it's just something different to do for a few hours besides questing.

Edit- Besides you want to keep seeing how they keep depicting locations like this in the game don't you.

[Palantir]

Since they announced the next Epic Story Quests are all Solo I guess there's going to be plenty to do past 40 for you.

"Epic Book 2 is essentially a “road trip” experience, and consists of fifteen soloable chapters that explore the first leg of the Grey Company’s journey."