Can anyone please give me a comparisom: WoW or LOTRO?Follow

It's so subjective, that no one can really tell you if you'll like it but you.

So try it. =) It's free.

I quit WoW for LOTRO about 2 months ago. I can't say I know absolutley everything about WoW, but I had 3 lv 70s, and was most of the way through T5 content (we were working on Vashj and Kael).

1) Community. LOTRO has the most amazingly friendly community I have ever encountered in a MMO. When I first made the switch, it was a bit surreal. People congratulating me on a job well done, no stupid bickering in general channels, people that were happy to help you out if needed. You really have to experience it to understand.

2) Questing. Questing is questing. I'd like if I said that the fundamental quest objectives are any different than WoW. However, LOTRO follows the books. But instead of it just being you escorting Frodo to Mount Doom or whatever, it keeps touching on the main plot, and the delving deeper into the lore. I find it fascinating. Instead of just skipping quests and waiting for the "Collected 0/10 thingamabobs" to pop up on my tracker, the quest text is actually interesting. I realize this is highly subjective, some folks might not be into the story, which is fine. The XP rewards from quests are phenominal, as well, much like 20-60 in WoW is now.

3) Graphics. I'm a sucker for eye candy, and LOTR delivers. Sometimes you see things that just look funky, but instead of attributing that to poor design, I think it's a matter of the rest of the game being so breathtaking, that strange things really pop out at you when you notice them.

4) Grouping. Grouping in WoW is basically that someone tanks, someone heals, and the other people just beat the crap out of whatever it is that needs killing. I play a lore master, and I find the grouping to require a much higher degree of strategy and individual contribution. Perhaps it is just like WoW with other classes, with which I have little experience.

5) Extremely geared towards casual players. Maybe this is what you mean by WoW being easy. I dunno, WoW is easy in that any idiot can solo to 70 and still know very little about the game. I can't say that LOTRO is a whole lot different than that, but I find solo play quite fun. The rested XP bonus is VERY nice, and there are always a TON of active quests to be had (you can have 40 active instead of 20, and there are a crapload of them).

In summary, the game is less about spamming your highest DPS skill and hoping the mob dies before you do. It's more about planning out a fight, and figuring out what next move to execute for best results. I can't really explain it better than that. Your initial impression will be that the cooldowns are just punishing and gameplay is slow, but once you have more skills, you'll see what I mean.

If you want to race to level 50 (the current level cap) and spend your time raiding, this is probably not the game for you. Currently, "end game" isn't very involved, from what I hear. WoW's raid progression seems to have LOTRO beat hands down. However, this is a very new game.

If you want PvP, I'd say the same. The PvP system is limited, and if you are a hardcore PvPer, it's just not going to cut it.

However, if you want a nice, relaxing, fun game, with a nice customizable interface and familiar gameplay mechanics, this might be for you.

I have tried now for the past hour to sit here and tell you about the differences between these games and why after 2 weeks, I'm enjoying myself on LoTRO as I never have before in 3 years of playing WoW (3 lvl 70's and a 68. All classes to at least 30).

I can't do it without making this more than 16 pages.

So here are my bottom line items:

1. WoW has more PvP. LoTRO has PvP too, but you can take it or leave it. You don't have to worry about that 70 Undead Rogue ganking your quest NPCs, or that 68 hunter feign-deathing his way into your noob starting zones to kill dozens of people with his snake trap.

2. The buildings don't look cartoonish. Walk into Bree and you can almost smell the place. Walk into Stormwind and you have to wonder who polishes the white marble every day. "Teleport" into Darnassus and you have to wonder where all this water is coming from if it's all just flowing over one side of the place in a giant waterfall.

2a. Cartoonish characters and skills. Say no to Gnomish helicopters and chicken-death-rays. Also say no to scoped out gyro-rifles. Finally, say no to moonfire spam and the infamous pally bubble-hearth.

3. LORE. Blizzard would like you to believe that names like "Archimonde" and "Menethil" should mean something to you. They don't mean anything to me. It's a video game series. It's like the opening of a Final Fantasy game where you get a beautiful movie sequence and you're expected to ooh and aahh over the fact that some city is getting attacked and some queen you've never heard of is being kidnapped. Oh, but that's so-and-so, and they're important.

WRONG!

There is lore to Tolkien. There is lore to Star Wars. There is lore to Narnia. But there is not lore to a 10-15 year old video game series. There is only lore in the minds of people who want there to be, who have played these games and pride themselves on how much they know. Tolkien wrote languages. He created timelines and lineages that spanned thousands of years. When you meet Tom Bombadil, a minor character in the story, you feel something. When you meet Gandalf or Strider, you almost want to sit back in your chair, light up a pipe with some Southern Star pipeleaf, and think about that.

Graphically, and as far as longevity go - WoW is the gold standard. But I can't stress enough that LoTRO is a better game and deserves a place at the top. I hope you buy it, and enjoy it.