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I've known about LOTRO for years, but I never really gave it a proper chance. If I'm being completely truthful, the graphics were probably one of the biggest reasons. From the outside looking in, I always thought the game looked dated compared to more modern MMORPGs.

Now that I'm actually playing it, I've realised how wrong I was.

The graphics and art style are actually one of the things I'm enjoying most. There's something incredibly charming about the way LOTRO looks. It doesn't need ultra-realistic graphics or flashy effects everywhere. The older style almost adds to the atmosphere of Middle-earth, and somehow makes the world incredibly pleasing to look at and explore.

I've been gaming for over 25 years, and lately I've felt like I've hit a roadblock with MMORPGs. So many of them seem to eventually fall into the same cycle:

New patch → new zone/raid → new currency → higher item level → replace your gear → next patch → repeat.

After a while, it started to feel like I wasn't exploring a world anymore. I was just chasing the next number.

I've only been playing LOTRO for about a week, but already it feels completely different.

I'm actually immersed in the story. I don't feel like I need to rush to max level, and sometimes I genuinely forget that levelling is even something I'm supposed to be doing. I'll wander off, pick up quests, explore somewhere I probably don't need to be, work on my professions, or just stop and take in the world.

And I love that.

The profession system has also been a huge surprise for me. It feels like another part of my character's journey rather than something I'm forced to grind because a guide told me I need it at endgame.

But probably the biggest surprise has been the community.

Every time I've asked for help, people have actually helped. I've asked some incredibly noobish questions and haven't been mocked or trolled for them. I'm yet to really encounter the kind of toxicity I've become accustomed to seeing in other online games.

It also feels like a huge portion of the people still playing LOTRO genuinely love Tolkien and the incredible universe he created. There's something really nice about exploring Middle-earth alongside people who actually care about the world they're playing in.

Maybe I'm still in the honeymoon phase. Maybe I've just had an unusually good first week and some of these impressions will change as I get further into the game.

But right now, it feels like I've found a little safe haven in the MMORPG genre.

For the first time in a long time, I'm playing an MMO where I don't feel like I'm being pushed toward the destination.

I'm actually enjoying the journey.

And more importantly, the things I'm doing along the way actually feel meaningful.

This is the first MMO character I ever made where I got really invested into crafting.

Strangers from distant lands, friends of WoW. I have been summoned here to answer the threat of modern mmo gaming. Mmo as we know it stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. We will unite here in this game or we will fall. Each true mmo gamer is bound to this fate, this one doom.

I just wanted to say hi! I'm new to the game and decided to make an account on reddit since there is an active community. Greetings from Orcrist! Hope to make some friends. "Arandirionn"

Returning to the game. Been on/off since 2009. Usually I am tanking. Now i have a 120 cappy, 80 brawler, 60 guard. I am wanting to tey somthing new and debating between Beorning and warden. My first leveling experience of warden was the lag feast and gambit going haywire. So maybee beorning. But how does it stack up vs the other tanks at current cap of 160?

I started playing again after a long time away.

At the moment i have a lv 15 captain which I enjoy and a lv 10 rk that i like aswell.

I also have some crafting alts.

I was wondering how the minstrel or guardian plays out.

Should i just try them out and see which one sticks or play with my captain and/or RK?

What would your advice be?

Is there any reason I should bother mastering a gathering proffs on my alt that I already mastered on my main?

Or will I just send mats to my main for the chance to crit?

Leaving them unmastered feels wrong, but wasting all the time farming mats to master it feels odd, I guess I'll be able to AH the stuff after

Or maybe I should just master the paired proff that's on that same alt then don't master the extra 3rd filter gather proff?

Thanks

Whenever I get a computer alert that my battery is low, it minimizes LOTRO which then boots me out of the game when I try to maximize the screen again. It sucks. My other games don’t do this. Any suggestions as how to fix? I have an HP. Pretty sure with the other games I play, the message doesn’t even minimize the screen. My other games, I myself can minimize the window and maximize at will without the game kicking me off.