Lord of the Rings Online
Lord of the Rings Online is the premier MMORPG set in J.R.R. Tolkien’s wondrous world of Middle-earth, brought to life through those most famous of books, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and wonderfully portrayed in Peter Jackson’s movies. LOTRO brings you into the timeline of the events of The Lord of the Rings story, and sets you on a path that parallels the Fellowship of the Ring, aiding them on their journey to Mordor by performing tasks and adventurous deeds surrounding their path across Middle-earth.
You choose your character from a selection of races: Man, Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, High Elf and Beorning. Ten classes are also available, inspired by famous characters from the books, such as Burglar (Bilbo Baggins, Champion (Gimli son of Glóin), Lore-Master (Elrond Halfelven), and others. In your exploits against the Shadow growing in the East, you’ll meet those extraordinary heroes, and many others, and be given tasks by them to support Frodo’s mission, quest, thing.
As in the books and the movies, LOTRO brings Middle-earth into vivid and spectacular detail, only this time you get to experience it all in first-person view! Hobbiton, the whole of The Shire, Bree, Weathertop, Rivendell, Mirkwood, the Mines of Moria, Lothlórien, and many other places may be traveled to and adventured in, solo or with your own loyal Fellowship.
With a consistently updated storyline by way of installments called ‘books’, a variety of special in game events throughout the year, Monster Play (PvP), quality roleplaying choices, player housing, and many other options, Standing Stone Games is keeping LOTRO one of the most impressive MMORPGs on the market today. Oh, and it can all be enjoyed for free!
RACES
- Man | The Race of Destiny, as Tolkien called them, more varied than the other races, from the Dunédain of the North, the Horse-lords of Rohan, the soldiers of Gondor, the Haradrim in the far East.
- Elf | The oldest race in Middle-earth, tall, graceful, and in the midst of leaving Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age, but not before lending their incredible skills to the defeat of Sauron.
- Dwarf | Excellent warriors and master craftsmen, but also very secretive, living in their deep underground homes, but now have come out into the open to stand with Middle-earth against the Shadow.
- Hobbit | Halflings of modest and simple bearing, very content with the quiet life, and yet who were destined to have the greatest impact of all the races in the fight to save Middle-earth.
- Beorning | The Beornings have a famous affinity with animals, which they foster and keep in their homes more as friends than as pets or livestock. Beorn, the former chief of the Beornings, was known to speak with animals and understand their own speech — many of his descendants have fostered this talent.This uncommon ability is supplanted by a greater gift; Beorn could change into the shape of a bear. This skill has been passed down through the generations, such that most if not all of the Beornings can muster the change
- High Elf | High Elves, who have beheld the beauty of Valinor, possess grace and strength beyond even their woodland kin.
Those few who remain yearn to see that Middle-earth is safe to bequeath to Men before they depart for the Undying Lands.
CLASSES
- Burglar | Inspired by Bilbo Baggins; masters of stealth, tricks, and startling attacks.
- Captain | Inspired by Eärnur, the last King of Gondor; armored melee fighters who inspire and lead others in battle, along with their Herald companions.
- Champion | Inspired by Gimli son of Glóin; consummate warriors, with unrelenting strength and combat prowess.
- Guardian | Inspired by that most loyal of hobbits, Samwise Gamgee; stout protectors, most proficient at shielding allies from harm.
- Hunter | Inspired by Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood; master survivalists in field and forest, and the most deadly fighters with bows, traps, and dual-weapons.
- Lore-Master | Inspired by Elrond Halfelven, Elf-lord and Master of Rivendell; masters of ancient lore, capable of using their vast knowledge and wisdom to call on the strength and powers of the natural world.
- Minstrel | Inspired by Lúthien Tinúviel, the Sindarin princess known as the Morning Star of the Elves; skilled at using the power of music for healing, and for channeling their Ballads, Anthems, and War-speech.
- Rune-keeper | Inspired by the master Elf-smith Celebrimbor, the one who forged the Rings of Power; masters of Angerthas and Tengwar runes, and their use in healing allies or attacking foes.
- Warden | inspired by Haldir, the marchwarden of Lothlórien, and his brothers Rúmil and Orophin; military-trained mobile melee warriors, masters of shield and javelin.
- Beorning | inspired by Beorn, who bravely stood with the Free Peoples during the Battle of Five Armies; Beornings are skin-changers that can change into the form of a bear in combat.
FEATURES
- Middle-earth | Simply put, the greatest fantasy world ever created.
- Deep, Balanced Gameplay | Play as one who is directly or indirectly fighting Sauron’s threatening influence, one who has joined the Shadow openly or secretly, or as one who is simply going about a daily life.
- Compelling Combat | Intense combat action, whether it’s out in the wilds of Middle-earth, or in Skirmishes, Instances, Raids, or Player vs. Monster Player (PvMP).
- Epic Advancement | Over 3,000 quests throughout Middle-earth, encompassing 65 levels and hundreds of available Deeds, Traits, and Titles.
- Skills and Professions | Seven vocations (Armourer, Armsman, Explorer, Historian, Tinker, Woodsman, Yoeman) with ten professions (Cook, Farmer, Tailor, Forester, Woodworker, Prospector, Jeweller, Scholar, Weaponsmith, Metalsmith) and seven tiers of proficiency each.
The Lord of the Rings Online Download and Reviews (2022)
The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) developed by Turbine, based on the books of J.R.R. Tolkien, with characters from the books and movies. The game is a formerly pay-to-play MMORPG that is now free-to-play! Players can can now join with millions of other adventurers as they explore the most complete and authentic recreation of Middle-earth ever created and participate in LOTRO’s award-winning story up to level 50 for free, in the fight against the forces of the Dark Lord Sauron.
Adventure as a Man, Elf, Dwarf or Hobbit. After choosing where your character hails from, select region-appropriate color palettes for skin, hair, eye color, and more. Equip yourself with items like sturdy Dwarven armor, intricate Elven mail, or weapons created with the knowledge of past Ages. Choose one of 9 classes: deal massive damage as a Champion, protect your fellowship as a Guardian, beguile your enemies as a Burglar, or try a Captain, Hunter, Minstrel, Rune-Keeper, Warden, or Lore-master.
With hundreds of hours of gameplay, there’s plenty to do in LOTRO as a solo player or in a fellowship. Follow the storyline on your own or form a fellowship with other players for epic battles against creatures like Orcs, Wights, and even Balrogs. Coordinated fellowships can use group combo moves to do incredible damage, heal their fellowship, or restore their energy – how they harness the power of a combo is entirely up to them to decide! LOTRO will also include a consensual Player vs.
Player combat system (details forthcoming), allowing players to fight against each other for glory and honor!
Turbine also publishes Dungeons & Dragons Online among other games.
Tags: Client Game, 3D Graphics, MMO, Fantasy, MMORPG, First Person View, Third Person View, Open World, PvE, PvP, Third Person View, Action.
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Additional Information
Title
The Lord of the Rings Online
Developer
Turbine, Inc.
Publisher
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Release Date
April 24, 2001
Genre
MMORPG
Platform
Windows (Client)
Please note this free-to-play game may or may not offer optional in-game purchases.
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Latest Updates
Minimum System Requirements (Windows)
OS
Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
Memory
1GB (2GB for Windows Vista)
Storage
12 GB (+3 GB for international clients)
Processor
Intel Pentium 4 3.
0GHz or AMD Equivalent
Graphics
at least 128MB Onboard graphics memory
Additional Notes
Specifications may change during development
All material on this page is copyrighted by ©Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and their respective licensors. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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MMO and MMORPG — what is the difference between these genres?
What are the differences between these genres? This is the same? How to distinguish such games? Which one am I playing now and what does it have to do with hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers?
We are sure that you have had such questions.
Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.
Quite simply: MMORPG is a type of MMO. But first you need to understand what an MMO game is!
What is an MMO? What is MMORPG?
Let’s start with the basics: what is an MMO? MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online Game) is a massively multiplayer online game.
Simply put, an MMO is a game that can be played by a large number of people at the same time. That is, you are not playing with a dozen, but with thousands, and sometimes even millions of allies or opponents at the same time.
MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Another unofficial definition is “a lot of men who pretend to be girls on the internet” (every joke has its share of a joke).
Some argue that MMORPGs are easily recognizable by their fantasy setting, but this is not at all the case. Most RPG games do indeed take place among elves, orcs and dragons, but many creators send players to discover other worlds like distant planets and post-apocalyptic ruins.
The most attentive might notice that the definitions of these two types of games are very similar, but still not identical. It’s time to deal with the main difference between MMO and MMORPG.
What is the difference between MMO and MMORPG?
Asking the question «What kind of game is this?», a person most often means its genre or subgenre. The game can «be» a first-person shooter, a survival game, or a role-playing game. The same can be said about MMOs.
No game can be just an MMO. With the same success, we can say that the game is “multiplayer”. This is true, but the definition says nothing about the game itself other than that it can be played with (or against) other people. The game must have a specific genre.
Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, or MMORPGs, are MMO games that belong to the RPG genre.
These are online role-playing games that can be played by multiple users at the same time.
The difference between MMOs and MMORPGs is that all MMORPGs are MMOs, but not all MMO games are necessarily MMORPGs.
An MMORPG is by definition an RPG, and an MMO can be anything from an action battle royale, a strategy game, or even a completely new interactive game that doesn’t fit into any existing genre.
This is a fine but essential line. You can sit in a puddle, telling another player about the new MMORPG, if in the end it turns out that in fact it is a hardcore multiplayer strategy with a complex system of customization, but without a single RPG element.
At first glance, this may seem like nonsense, but believe me: sometimes players attach great importance to such errors.
How to understand what is in front of you MMORPG
Let’s look at the key components of MMORPG: MMO and RPG. We have already defined what an MMO is. It’s time to find out what makes a good role-playing game successful.
RPG video games, often referred to as CRPGs (Computer Role-Playing Games), borrow a lot from their analog predecessors. For example, they have the same level of character customization.
Players can create and customize their characters, represented by a digital avatar. They can control everything from appearance, race and gender to profession and skills. As the game progresses, players can improve and develop their characters, making them more unique and powerful.
In most modern RPGs, players can control not only their characters, but also the world they inhabit. The actions of the players directly affect the development of history and the transformation of the surrounding world. Players can achieve this by simply following the story and watching the events unfold, or by making their own choices.
The best RPGs allow players to solve problems and progress through the story in a variety of ways to support different play styles. As a simple example, let’s take an encounter with a guard guarding a door. The player can decide whether to distract the guard with magic, fool him by pretending to be a celebrity, or draw his sword and attack. Each of these options should lead to different consequences.
You may run into the guardian you deceived later, but this time he will be a beggar on the street because he lost his job.
Of course, the creation of the RPG does not end there, but it would take us too long to cover everything. The key word to keep in mind when talking about RPGs is engagement. The more the player can influence the game’s world and characters, the better.
In addition, there are technical aspects: quests, experience points, trophies, skills and battles. They are directly related to the basic mechanisms of character customization, player engagement and a rich storyline.
If you take all these components and place them in an environment in which dozens or even hundreds of players interact simultaneously, you get an MMORPG.
Good examples of popular MMORPGs include World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, The Elder Scrolls Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic and EVE Online.
We hope you now know how to distinguish between MMO and MMORPG games, and how to understand that you are playing MMORPG.
And one more thing: most MMORPGs don’t have any hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers. Unless, of course, you’re playing a futuristic dystopia where magic has been replaced with high explosives. In general, this is almost the same thing, only explosives are much cooler.
The League of Legends MMO producer spoke about the approach to activities in the game
The creators of the MMORPG based on the League of Legends universe intend to reduce the number of mechanics that can artificially stretch the game and force gamers to spend a lot of time in it. Riot Games Vice President and MMO Executive Producer Greg Ghostcrawler Street spoke about the approach to creating the title on Twitter.
“We’ve seen a lot of comments [from players] about ‘artificial’ time dilation in MMOs. <...> This statement appears when the players do not enjoy, but feel that they can fall behind or let their friends down. It may be okay to experience this feeling a little. It’s like when you go to a party you didn’t want to go to and end up having a good time.:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/26783167/lotro.0.jpg)
<...>
The real problem, in my opinion, comes when players report boredom. They went through raids, upgraded additional characters, earned money and did everything they could. And they want to do something. This is especially true if players pay by the hour or per month. If you add too many activities, it will only force gamers who want to progress to play even more. And if you make them highly optional (like, «Hey, why don’t you do that low-level quest you didn’t do?»), it doesn’t feel like content.»
According to Ghostcrawler, Riot Games intends to create a great game that does not require constant online and time wasting. At the same time, he noted that those who wish to immerse themselves in the League of Legends MMORPG will still have opportunities for activities.
“That’s something we’ll have a lot of testing to do, but we’re likely to lean towards a situation where players have nothing to do. Yes, I’m serious. We don’t want this to be your only game. If a title comes out that you’re interested in or, God forbid, you play a few online games, you should have time for that! If you do not have such a game, great — read a book, watch a series.
