top= World of Warcraft ___ bottom= Lord of the Rings online
The three biggest differences between LOTRO and WOW are the graphics, Player Versus Player, and what they are based on. Apart from these three things, the games are very similar. The reality is that LOTRO has copied WOW, regardless of what any fan of the game says. Even the more advanced controls are the same in both games, and the quests, interfaces and and levelling are pretty much the same too. This isn't particularly a bad thing, and makes moving from WOW a much easier experience.
LOTRO is based on JRR Tolkin's series of books, NOT Peter Jackson's films. However, everything is so similar to how it is portrayed in the films, I didn't realise this for a few days until I read an FAQ. For fans of the original books, this obviously isn't a problem (and the game is based very carefully on the books, with every detail and location accounted for). But it may be a slight disappointment for fans of the films. However, as I said, there really isn't much difference, and I've rather have a good stand-alone game than a rubbish film spin-off any day.
It's slightly hard for me to judge LOTRO's player community, since many players tend to just keep to themselves, communicating with strangers only to complete team quests. Since words don't appear above player's heads, so players tend to talk directly. However I can safely say I haven't heard an aggressive comment or the word "noob" in my 7 days of playing, which is a positive sign.
Perhapse a slightly disappointing thing for me was the lack of things to do other than improve your character and complete quests. The game revolves around levelling and stats. I know this is normal for MMORPGS, but I would have liked some features like, I don't know, buying and improving a house or something. Another potentually disappointing thing was the lack of PvP (player vs. player). Because of the attitue of the book, and the fact is there aren't many evil individuals in LOTR, you can't play any evil races. One of the best parts of WOW was the ability to go into the other fraction's terratory and fight them, and never knowing when you may run into an enemy player. In LOTRO you can only "spar" (duel) with other players, or go on Monster Mode. Monster Mode is where you play as a level 50 monster, and try to kill players in the area. It's basically an answer to WOW's "battlegrounds". Oh and not forgetting that you can't explore all of Middle Earth. Just the north-west part, meaning Rohan, Gondor and Morder are not within your reach.
Overall, I would say that I prefer LOTRO, mostly because I'm a bigger fan of LOTR than Warcraft. I think that that's what it comes down to in the end; whichever you're a bigger fan of. To summarise:
Graphics- LOTRO
Gameplay- The same
PvP- WOW
Pricing- The same
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