Piece 1:

This alpha is truly amazing. Last night I loved every minute of the 8 hours straight I played it! Right off the bat, the graphics felt like they came right out of the head of Tolkien himself. The animations of the alpha are very smooth and well designed. It?s very interesting how the characters of each race end up in Archet in a very unique way; and the story of Archet itself is very captivating.

Speaking of Archet, for as crowded as the place was, the server stability was terrific. The quests in Archet set a good pace to learn some of the environment, fight enemies, and gather plants and other items. After leaving Archet and going back to the Shire with my Hobbit burglar (great class design so far, by the way), I did some quests for the Bounders. The quests may not have been epic, but you felt like you were doing something great for those who live in the Shire. The Shire has a great feel to it. The music is superb and fits the area well. I?d continue to write more praise about the game, but I?m afraid I?ve been away from it to long writing this to begin with!

Piece 2:

Today was my first day testing LOTRO and I just can?t believe how much fun I?m having! It?s almost ridiculous to call LOTRO just a game after experiencing such a vast and interesting world that responds and shapes itself to my character. I have never played a game that does this so well and this is just the Alpha 3 phase! I can only imagine how wonderful LOTRO will be upon release.

When I first entered the game, after creating my first character, I was quickly swept up in a very interesting and exciting quest. Amazingly enough, while completely immersed in this quest, I also learned several functions important to playing the game, such as: how to fight, how to open a container, how to equip items, where to find my quests and lore and how to interact with NPC?s.

Arriving at my starting town, I quickly found my first contact to begin yet another series of quests. Each quest was fun as well as interesting and believable for my character. Unlike many games that have you run around and do things for no apparent reason, LOTRO quests make sense and really make you feel like you are a part of the story. You can imagine my surprise when after fighting to save a certain town, I discovered that the Inn had burned down and that it was to remain that way for the rest of my game play! I was, and still am, very impressed and fascinated by this.

Overall, LOTRO is smooth, intuitive, immersive, interesting, challenging and fun. I can tell this game is loved by those who are creating it and that it will continue to grow and benefit from that love. Having Turbine staff members in game to answer questions as soon as they were asked was a great help to me on my first night when I had tons of newbie questions.

Piece 3:

Neither rain nor sleet nor nosey hobbits...

I must begin this entry by first stating a personal bias – quite simply, I love the shire as Turbine has created it for Lord of the Rings Online. From the gently rolling hills and lush farmsteads to the low stone walls and fields of flowers; from the quaint round hobbit-holes to the cobbled paths that wind their way across the land - the shire is beautifully and appropriately rendered at every turn. And at no time is that statement truer then when one considers the substance and nature of the quests that are presented to a fledgling hobbit adventurer in The Lord of the Rings Online. 

From the very beginning, an aspiring hobbit is challenged with all manner of grave issues that have befallen the peaceful, idyllic towns of the little folk. There are pies to be delivered, hiders to be found (at the bequest of lazy seekers), chickens to be rescued from the clutches of hungry wolves and even (for the more martially inclined) bandits hiding in the marshlands. The quests are appropriate to the lore and feel of the Shire and THAT is what sets them apart and truly makes them wonderful to experience. Certainly hidden behind the whys and the wherefores of these endeavors are elements to which one can assign standard classifications – FedEx, Kill, Collection and the like. But it is the manner in which these quests are implemented, the story written around them and the fashion in which they have been crafted that truly will set Lord of the Rings Online apart from its competitors. 

I constantly find myself enthralled by the simplest of tasks – such as delivering mail between towns in the shire, rushing to avoid nosey hobbits by streaking behind hobbit-holes and hedgerows. I enjoy it because it?s appropriate, because it?s well conceived and most importantly – because it feels like Middle Earth.