5+ year player here, with about a year in the middle where I didn't play. Mostly solo, though I did alot of FS quests back in the SoA days when several quests required that. No raiding...I left WoW back then because that became too much of a chore for me. LOTRO doesn't require that (though it seems it's there for those who want it). I'd call myself a solo hardcore player now. 3 toons at 75+ with one fairly deep into Rohan and 2 in the 50's.
This game is TERRIFIC. It pushed all of my buttons on Day One with the Shire, and kept doing it through MoM and RoI. RoR has reinforced my opinion. Turbine keeps enhancing the game while still being true to the source material. I like war steed combat, and soaring over the landscape of Rohan. I like how Rohan is split up into different factions since there is no strong central leadership at this point. This is what I envisioned Rohan as being. I like reconnecting with the Fellowship in the epic quest. And crafting has evolved in a good way.
Yeah, I wish housing would get an upgrade. Yeah, there were bugs with each expansion. But so what. This game gets way more right than wrong. I still think its portrayal of several locations are better than in the movies (i.e., Weathertop, Caras Galadhon, and even Rohan with respect to scale). I'm still the kid in the 1970's who read the books (and who re-read them with my children) and wanted to visit that world. And I think Turbine has done an excellent job of making that possible. I'm looking forward to Edoras and Helm's Deep.
This game is TERRIFIC. It pushed all of my buttons on Day One with the Shire, and kept doing it through MoM and RoI. RoR has reinforced my opinion. Turbine keeps enhancing the game while still being true to the source material. I like war steed combat, and soaring over the landscape of Rohan. I like how Rohan is split up into different factions since there is no strong central leadership at this point. This is what I envisioned Rohan as being. I like reconnecting with the Fellowship in the epic quest. And crafting has evolved in a good way.
Yeah, I wish housing would get an upgrade. Yeah, there were bugs with each expansion. But so what. This game gets way more right than wrong. I still think its portrayal of several locations are better than in the movies (i.e., Weathertop, Caras Galadhon, and even Rohan with respect to scale). I'm still the kid in the 1970's who read the books (and who re-read them with my children) and wanted to visit that world. And I think Turbine has done an excellent job of making that possible. I'm looking forward to Edoras and Helm's Deep.