ZAM's Lord of the Rings ContestFollow

It's been over two years since Turbine released their critically acclaimed Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. Since that time they've released an overwhelming amount of free content and the "Mines of Moria" expansion pack. With all the success that the game has had, we want to know, are you a Lord of the Rings?

Over the next couple of days we'd like to hear from you. Do you play? Have you tried the game? What do you like about it? What don't you like about it? We want to know! Of course, we value your opinion and as such, we’re giving away 14 copies of Lord of the Rings Online, several three month subscriptions and even a coveted collector's edition box set. Have you been dying to check out the game but you've been short on cash? Here's your chance.

To enter, simply chime in on this thread. Every valid post made will count as an entry and ZAM administrators will be selecting winners daily. Click here for the official rules.

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Day 1 Winners (randomly selected):

Game Winners (2): steadak, Miasarra

Winners will get an e-mail with what we need to get you your prizes. Make sure your email address on file is up to date! If you didn't win you still can! Check back tomorrow!

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Day 2 Winners (randomly selected):

Game Winners (2): bambubambu, Sunlir

Winners will get an e-mail with what we need to get you your prizes. Make sure your email address on file is up to date! If you didn't win you still can! Check back tomorrow!

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Day 3 Winners (randomly selected):

Game Winners (2): Iakimo, HighlordMograine

Winners will get an e-mail with what we need to get you your prizes. Make sure your email address on file is up to date! If you didn't win you still can! Check back tomorrow!

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Day 4 Winners (randomly selected):

Game Winners (2): Reinjin, Morarae

Winners will get an e-mail with what we need to get you your prizes. Make sure your email address on file is up to date! If you didn't win you still can! Check back tomorrow!

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Day 5 Winners (randomly selected):

Game Winners (2): Ukiah, AnwarOne

Winners will get an e-mail with what we need to get you your prizes. Make sure your email address on file is up to date! If you didn't win you still can! Check back tomorrow!

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Day 6 Winners (randomly selected):

Game Winners (2): Rugsalesman, sindelcee

Winners will get an e-mail with what we need to get you your prizes. Make sure your email address on file is up to date! If you didn't win you still can! Check back tomorrow!

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Day 7 Winners (randomly selected):

Collectors Edition & 3 Month Subscription Winner (1): judomany

3 Month Subscription (1): XeriousRajax

Game Winners (2): ChartreuseDog, ErionErichtho

Winners will get an e-mail with what we need to get you your prizes. Make sure your email address on file is up to date!

Edited, Jul 22nd 2009 12:20am by Tamat

Have played LOTR off and on-going on about 2 years now and I love the crafting! I do wish I could sneak into Moria without having to do quests but am almost there. I love the Tolkien ambiance to the game and having played all the top MMORPG's it still remains my favorite. Be careful about inviting players to Vilya though I wonder if the server goes on major overload.
Happy playing everyone!

I've been playing for a few months and I love the game. Turbine seems to have hit the Tolkien atmosphere dead on. The crafting system is fun and easy to use. My only dislike is the leveling speed.... but I may have been spoiled by WoW or SWG. There is a ton of content and the free updates seem to come along regularly. I have 7 toons on Arkenstone. 1 is at level 36, 4 at level 25, and 2 under 15. I have been trying to level them simultaneously so the slow leveling speed may be due to that.

As a noob to LOTRO and any MMORPG, I love the game - probably too much. I wouldn't have played except I love the Lord of the Rings books and movies, have been to NZ to see the film sites and am waiting patiently for the Hobbit movies. The game was very confusing at first, but the social aspect allowed me to learn from others and now I am hooked. I have added my friends and family in a kin and we talk more in the game than we did before!

The crafting is cool, the different races and classes are fun to play. The detail in the game is incredible. Oh yeah, I like it a lot! I must play the precious...

The irony of the ring and its effect on the ring bearers is not lost on me. I totally understand Gollum!

I really enjoy this game and would love to get some friends into this MMO along with me. I'm on the Nimrodel server and have both a 60 Hunter and 60 Rune Keeper. Turbine did a good job with this game!

I've played LOTRO since launch, the immense story, amazing graphics and friendly community is enough to keep anyone playing for over 2 years. The only issues I have with LOTRO is the unbalanced PvP and lack of PvE content, however Turbine do seem to be improving and rolling out the content more frequently. Due to the nature of PvMP it's very hard to balance the 'PvP' side of LOTRO and with the current system I do not think it will ever be completely balanced.

However, I am an addict and would recommend every MMO, Tolkien and LOTR fan to check it out!
Have fun in Middle Earth everyone!

I love LotRO and have been playing for two years. It has a great story and great, imaginative locations. It is also the perfect size customer base and the people are helpful and seem to share the love of the game. The game is updated regularly and is becoming more complex all the time... this can create a little bit of a headache for the developers but they seem to be generally on top of it and pushing improvements all the time. I would definitely recommend this to anyone - especially husband and wife duo gamers or anyone interested in Tolkien in general.

I essentially built my computer with LOTRO in mind so to say I've been excited about this game for awhile is an understatement. I was part of the original beta so I knew what to expect a bit but I have to say that 2 years down the line it has only gotten better and better. I'm not a social gamer, per se, so it may seem that I am not a typical MMO player but I find so much to enjoy from a single player perspective that it thoroughly amazes me. As a kept man (I love you hun!!) and a video game junkie I understandably don't have as much time to pour into this game as some others. Luckily I jumped on the anniversary special and am only paying 10 bucks a month so as long as I play it for a few hours a month I really feel like I'm getting my money's worth.

It's hard to pick just one thing that I enjoy as I feel it is so polished and continually getting better. I really enjoy just wandering around and the game is stunning. The environments look incredibly well done and polished, and I'm not playing at optimum settings!! The people playing the game are friendly and very willing to help a noob which is always a good thing. I'm just glad the game has enough outside of fellowship quests to keep me happy as I can't often play for hours at a time to complete some of those quests.

I played Lotr Online for the first 6 months when game out. I came to Lotr after getting burnt out in WOW. Then when Wows new content came out I was called back to the darkside( WOW) to help my friends get thru the content.

I am not again burnt out on WOW and I am looking forward to getting addicted to Lotr all over again.

I love Lotr basicly cause it is the Anti-WOW. :)

I've played LOTRO off and on since release. So far its been the second best MMORPG I've played. I love the lore and the world but I think the quest logs needs a revamp, quest objectives aren't very clear sometimes. I do like the deed and crafting systems though, you pretty much never run out of things to do between deeds, crafting and all the quests.

Hello,

I've been playing LotrO on and off for a year. It is the first graphical MMO I've stuck with, for any length of time, beyond a free trial or a beta. No that this automatically places it above other games but typically MMOs aren't my style. I am primarily a PC gamer and I tend towards RTS, RTT, and the occasional open world RPG like TES series.

In my opinion some of the pros of LotrO are as follows;

*It's Tolkien. That is usually enough to get me to take a look.
*If you can turn the graphics up to high it is a beautiful looking world.
*Immersion. The story line is compelling and there is more to it then following the Fellowship around. You get to experience the people and places of Middle-Earth.
*Crafting. The recent redesign has made the process a bit more manageable and crafted items are viable at lower tiers.
*Reputation. The various zones have factions within them that you can gain reputation with. Either by questing or by crafting or looting items for barter. Having a high reputation with a faction allows to barter for items from that faction.
*Legendary Items. What hero doesn't want to have their very own Orcrist or Glamdring!
* The Epic quest line. Do quests that place you directly into the action of the War of the Ring.

In my opinion some of the cons of Lotro are as follows;

*Crafting. It needs more. At upper tiers (Mines of Moria specifically.) crafted gear is significantly outdone by quest gear and raid gear.
*Legendary Items. The general consensus (at least by the tone of the forums) is that the system needs work.
*The Dread/Radiance mechanic. I'll admit to having a Tolkien fanatic bias here. I understand Dread is useful for increasing the difficulty of a situation. However, we're supposed to be the heroes of the 3rd Age. In our journey we have slaughtered goblins, orcs, trolls, and wargs by the hundreds if not thousands. Nothing short of A Nazgul, Dragon, Balrog, the Watcher, or a similar ancient being of evil should debilitate our characters by its presence. Radiance is an interesting concept for overcoming Dread. It should not be gear based.
*Gear gating. I hate this in any game.


This was a quick hit and run list. It is tailored to those familiar to the game. The great draw of LotrO can be summed up in story-line, visual attraction, and the focus on PvE experience. The downside is mostly with the implementation of some mechanics and the underdevelopment of some systems like crafting.

Just my 2 bits! Thanks for letting me stop by and post this.

I've played LotRO since beta.

The good: Turbine has done an excellent job attempting to remain loyal to the source material. The developers have a good feel for the Lord of the Rings material. Also, Fellowship Maneuvers or "FM's". These are an innovative combat maneuver in which all party members work in unison to erform a special attack.

The bad: Housing stinks. Very limited storage in cookie cutter homes. Only a few items can be displayed and only in "hook" locations.

The ugly: The game engine is mediocre at best. Very little innovation. Crafting is humdrum.

So, if you love Tolkien's works and can overlook a tired game engine, LotRO is a good game.

The Good:

* No other game has the setting or the lore that LOTRO does. You get a chill when you hunt for Gollum in the Trollshaws or enter Bag End. There are thousands of little easter eggs for you to discover.

* The population on Landroval may be the most mature and friendly I've seen in any game. If you are an RP'er there is no where better to RP than on this server in the game.

* Graphics are unmatched in any game out there. There are times when I just stop and stare in awe. A+ to the developers.

* One of the problems that I think Turbine is facing right now is that people truly dislike playing in Moria and Angmar. Why? Because the developers did such a fantastic job setting the mood that it is downright depressing. Why is this a good? Because when you realize why you dislike these two zones it makes you truly appreciate how special they are.

* I believe no other game as such a variety of instances, from skill level to the number of people per instance...this game has something for everyone.

* The Epic Story of Shadows of Angmar. Just brilliant. Epic Books 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 15 were absolutely fantasic. I've actually rolled alts just to enjoy those books again. The story is intriguing. The villains are classic. The quests and the instances are unique and fun to play.

* Annuminas is the best RP and Raiding/Questing zone in any MMORPG.

* The gameplay is really fun. I spend hours a night in end game, RP'ing or leveling alts. Best MMORPG out there in my opinion. Nothing is close.

The Bad:

* The Epic Story for Mines of Moria. Horrific story thus far. I've done the Epic line twice and I still can't tell you what is going on. Save the fact that I was forced to abandon a dwarf to evil orcs and then got chewed out by the elves for it. The quests are very blah, often using existing instances.

* The Hunter nerf. One massive nerf has made a class, which was meant to the be the DPS glass canon, a useless class. I would bet that over a quarter of the people that have bailed on this game in the last few months were hunters. Not only is the class squishy without a true secondary role, but it no longer has the damage output of other more useful classes. Few reasons to invite a hunter with you. ((Why give hunters all of that wonderful DPS with the Mines of Moria just to snatch it away Turbine?))

* Legendary Weapons are not what was advertised. We were told we were going to be given a weapon that levels with us. Instead we got a lottery system and a grind fest. Very poorly done.

* Housing is very poorly done.

* Radiance Gear are shaping up not to be uber equipment but a gate guarding system meant to drag out the end game. This is really upsetting because in SoA the End Game was amongst the best in MMORPGs. You could grind/raid the Rift, Annuminas or Helegard for comperable gear. Each were great raids that were PuG friendly. Now...unless you are in a raid kin you don't have a chance to see the new content.

* Crafting is busted. There are only a few items from crafting that are worth owning.

* Lorien. Lorien is maybe the most beautiful zone in the game. But the quests are so epically unoriginal and boring that the entire zone (save for RP'ers) is a throw away.

Edited, Jul 16th 2009 4:34pm by Valdikr