Ten days with Mines of Moria

by Shawn Schuster Feb 23rd 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Opinion, Hands-on

Last week, Zubon at Kill Ten Rats had taken a comprehensive look at Lord of the Rings Online's Mines of Moria as more and more people are rediscovering the Turbine fantasy MMO. This 10-day exploration touches on many aspects of the game beyond simple back-of-the-box facts and features. It's an experienced and opinionated journal that points out the good and bad, which may be quite helpful to those looking to spend the extra cash for that expansion.

Not only does Zubon touch on the experiences with Book quests, his impressions of the Rune-keeper and the mines themselves, but there's also a helpful "Seven Favorites" post which gives a no-nonsense look at what he enjoys most from the game. Check back through the entire series of posts, and take heed to his closing thought: "I have not nearly seen it all."

Tags: journal, kill-ten-rats, lotro, mines-of-moria, opinion, turbine, zubon

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Tony said on 1:43PM 2-23-2009

It's been a good write-up and it's definitely been fair.

There's good and bad.There's things that I think we're all hoping Turbine fixes with the next Book 7 update... I guess we'll find out.

Ethic said on 3:38PM 2-23-2009

Thanks for linking to our site, Shawn. One thing to note, your link to the Seven Favorites is not correct. It should go here: http://www.killtenrats.com/2009/02/16/seven-favorites-lotro/

Thanks again!

Tom said on 4:36PM 2-23-2009

I enjoyed the review, and I enjoy LotRO.

My own list of LotRO seven features, best and worst, would be...

Seven worst features:
(1) Dull character models, both player characters and NPCs. They are pretty lifeless mannequins, for the most part.
(2) Overlong travel times to just about everywhere (porting hunters being the exception to the rule)
(3) Unclear quest directions
(4) Poorly designed LFG/chat interface
(5) Weak mount system -- getting knocked off a mount by a "green-level" bat is just ... wrong
(6) Absolutely awful pet AI (for Lore-Masters and Captains)
(7) Clunky AH and mail system

Seven best features:
(1) Epic quest line -- very fun (assuming you can find a group when you need one)
(2) World design -- It's beautiful. It's just too bad the characters don't looks as good and as real as the trees, rocks, ruins, and flowers...
(3) Community -- LotRO has the best player I've ever encountered in any MMO. This game is a joy to PUG in.
(4) Armors -- They look, for the most part, very good.
(5) Class variety/combat -- I am very pleased by the way each class brings different and useful abilities to the table.
(6) Trait system -- I really like the way this feature was implemented.
(7) Tolkein. :) He laid the groundwork for a rich and believable world and Turbine did a great job of implementing it. What other MMO has that?