MMORPG readers choose Lord of the Rings Online as best MMO of 2008
by Seraphina Brennan 
Jan 17th 2009 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, News items
LotRO was named MMO of the year, while The Mines of Moria were awarded the best expansion of the year award, beating out Wrath of the Lich King for the top spot. Also, the readers named Turbine as their favorite MMO studio of the year -- all high praise indeed.
The final results in the voting for best expansion and favorite studio weren't even close -- giving Turbine a landslide victory over Blizzard in both cases. In the best expansion category Moria won with 48% of the vote over Wrath's 25%, and for the favorite studio category Turbine achieved 46% of the vote compared to Blizzard's 14%.
Turbine has released a press statement which thanks the many fans and players of LotRO, as well as the readers of MMORPG.com. For the full release, check it out at the LotRO main website.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Gemski said on 12:37PM 1-17-2009
::shiver:: You linked to the horror that is mmorpg.com
It's cool that LotRO won, I'm surprised WoW ranked so high. I didn't think mmorpg.com had much of a WoW community. They've always seemed more like a "hardcore" bunch. A very EvE/Darkfall/1st Gen MMO audience, maybe WAR but that might be too popular for them. :P
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Holgar said on 1:00PM 1-17-2009
You took the words right out of my mouth.......
MeowCat said on 2:28PM 1-17-2009
I'm loving LOTRO right now. I had canceled my account a while back but with Mines of Moria this is really a deep and fun game.
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Zaniac said on 2:34PM 1-17-2009
I hesitate to call outright shenanigans, but I would like to point out that the website for LotRO has linked directly to the voting for some time.
- The website for WoW has done no such thing.
This cannot help but have had a huge impact on the voting demographics.
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Holgar said on 3:04PM 1-17-2009
Ya that could easily have a massive effect on the vote.
Iokthemonkey said on 2:58PM 1-17-2009
Or maybe people just recognised that LOTRO *is* a better game.
I certainly think it is.
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Holgar said on 3:08PM 1-17-2009
Not having played Lotro I can't say for sure I've heard lots of positive and lots of negative about it. It all depends on what you want in a game.
However as I don't see outpouring hordes leaving wow I'd say it has more to do with MMORPG.com's community which is very anti wow, and the above mentioned fact that Lotro had the voting linked on their site.
UltimateQ said on 3:48PM 1-17-2009
I agree. While I don't play Lotro (currently), I do recognize that their service and support has been amazing. The game is pretty well polished. I would agree that this game is 2008's best MMO.
Jess said on 4:19PM 1-17-2009
I know that Moria has caused and massive influx of players for various reasons. It has completely reinigorated the game, almost like a second launch. The game's quality and those who are coming to appreciate it only seem to be going up up up.
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DFG said on 4:46PM 1-17-2009
I am feeling rather high today so I will give a big duh to Holgar.
Why would hordes of WoW players abandon their game and go to Lotro?
Especially just because of a vote? That doesn't make any sense.
Of course it's the community. That's why it says at the top of this
page "MMORPG readers choose Lord of the Rings Online as best MMO of
2008." It was an MMORPG.com vote, so it's going to be a reflection of
the MMORPG.com community.
Doh!
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Barakah said on 5:42PM 1-17-2009
I for one could not stand LOTRO when it first came out. The pie running quests in the Shire killed it for me. However, I recently resubbed after the release of Moria and was quickly hooked. I plan on buying the lifetime membership once my initiol 6 moths is up.
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blindside044 said on 6:13PM 1-17-2009
You're lucky you wrote that second part, Barakah, or else I would of... probably done nothing, but nontheless! First time I tried the game I was also turned off by all the boring pie delivering, running around for no reason, quests. (though to the people that do enjoy those quests, more power to you). But checked the game out a second time about 9 months ago and have been hooked since. (played a different race, which means different starting area... which means a lot more fun :D )
LoTRO is definitely deserving of the award.
...and anyone else notice their other awards? I'm mostly referring to Best New Game. Warhammer barely beat out 'None of the Above'. For a game with so much hype around it, I found it a little funny.
Utakata said on 7:43PM 1-17-2009
Anyone know the player demographics for LoTRO compaired to WoW?
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Jack said on 8:44PM 1-17-2009
LOTR did cheat they link the voting page on there site!! LOTR is better them Warhammer on the pve but sorry but I not like to loss a lot of time in in a vast underground dungeon....
I am a sucker for for cold, frozen fantasy landscapes. Much more than forests and plains. Blizz, does superb atmospheres, Im there as well. :)
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The_MMO_Elite said on 9:36PM 1-17-2009
Oh, please.
It's reader-based Most Popular list a game that's *not even out yet* (delayed until February) as the #1 most popular game, indicating that it's specific votership is looking for the "next big thing".
#2 and #3 are WHO, and LotRO. Betting on anything else besides those 2 games for that site's GotY would be betting against the odds.
MMORPG.com offers token. obligatory content for WoW players. The biggest surprise is that WoW managed 11% of the vote for 2nd place despite it hovering at #8-9 on their Popularity list.
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Evi said on 11:42AM 1-20-2009
I loved the Lord of the Rings books. I loved the movies. For some reason, I didn't love the game. I'm not sure why. *shrugs*
And yeah, I take everything on MMORPG.com with a grain of salt. A very big grain, at that.
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