how many of the hz veterans are playing now another MMORPG?

[Frith-Rae]

Been closed beta testing spellborn for about a year now...

Been in Second life for awhile, but its kinda lost interest for me with nothing much to do but shop heh, though I enjoy shopping there .

Been in WoW for the past two years, enjoying the expansion right now so no plans on leaving. Also got the boyfriend into it so we game there together.

Keeping my eye on Spellborn for release, probably go live with that too.

Still in Horizons, technically, though I only log in once every couple of weeks and work on my lair for an hour. But I'm still there, haven't yet left.

[Tantalyr]

Now that the NDA has been lifted I can say that I've been in the LoTRO closed beta for three months now and it has blown me away. Unless PME does something dramatic to turn Hz around by March 30--the start of Open Beta leading toward the April 24 launch--I will be cancelling my accounts here and taking up residence in the Shire.

[Nosdracir]

(What Tantalyr said.) I've been running Ingo around LOTRO since September. (If anyone's on Meneldor - say hi!) DDO was a disappointment, and I came back to Horizons for a while, but just could not stay interested after the sale removed all hope of development. I love LOTRO. The landscape is gorgeous. The Old Forest is a beautifully designed maze that truly evokes the feel of the trees shifting to herd you toward the Withywindle. Thorin's Hall in the Ered Luin is stunning. I've been having a blast for months in beta, and I've already preordered for release.

[LOVWYRM]

(off topic- Vliss, will you pls give me your newest- e-mail adress? got 4 of them- need 5 for the trophy-hunter^^)

[Poppi]

Ditto what Tant and Nos said lol. Been closed beta testing the Euro version since Jan, its a beautiful quest-driven world and has me hooked too

ps Vanguard got removed from my PC 2 days after launch.

[Kwinn]

march 30 I will be in LoTR. I'll play hz on LoTR maintenance day

[Sarus]

Playing Vanguard and enjoying it. I will try LOTR open beta if I can, but not having a true caster class may keep me away.Otherwise I will be waiting for Spellborn to start in America since thats the game that really has my attention.

[Tokoz]

There's nothing like Horizons was out there. I play WoW now, mostly because that's what my family moved too.

If you don't see me here, try looking up Tebbata on the horde side of Sentinals.

[Uro]

... because i turned back to SRPG atm.

I found that "Dark Messiah of M&M" was really funny. It showed me what was possible in Graphics and Gameplay (man, the Physics engine of that game is AWESOME!)

Trying to get my hands on Gothic 3 now - i loved part 1 and 2 of that - to keep myself busy until (end of) march. If Unitas isn't up by that time i'll drop a tear for HZ and turn to another MMORPG - maybe Vanguard.

Played Gothic 3 myself, and unfortunatly I have to say it's probarbly the worst bugged game I ever experienced in my entire life. It has the same feel as the two old gothic games, but the new combat system is horribly broken with stun locks that means 1 mistake and the angry boar will kill you is just 1 eksample. The history in the game and the option to choose side is really nice, just be very carefull about choosing side in the beginning, beacus again the game is bugged so that you potentially have a show stopper on your hands. If you loved the 2 first gothic games then try it, but don't get your hopes to high, bring a healthy dose of patience, and if you are a person that easyly get's frustrated then don't touch this game at all.

[Dremora]

Horizons is still the one and only for me.. for now. If any other MMORPG ever has playable dragons in it, though, you can count me in.

[Cobal]

I'm in vanguard, and loving it.
Performance is as smooth as WoW for me, except when in a craft area, so many players there that I slow to 5-10 fps.
It has everything I want from a mmorpg; housing, fun and meaningfull crafting, sailing, flight, player economy, the works basicly.
It's missing one thing, I can't play a dragon.
I can get my dragon fix, in a way, through a Wyrm mount and styling my characters a bit draconic.
Rolled a Kojani human, they are based on a mix between feudal japan and china. Named him Kobal Quinglong (chinese for blue dragon)
Going to roll a dark elf alt. Takora told me they can summon dragon helpers and worship a dragon god.

I got a few hours of lotro beta in at a friends place.
It's not a vision of tolkiens works I want to play in.
It feels to cramped and for some reason I feel it's to cartoony.
This is a bit weird since I can't say it really does look very cartoony and I have no problem with wow's cartoon style.
Yeah, I'm weird that way apparently.

[Takora Drakan]

Here some Dwaggie pics :P

http://vgplayers.station.sony.com/me...d=111669183918

http://vgplayers.station.sony.com/me...d=111669183918

[Varangaard]

I have been in Lord of the Rings Online beta (European) since January, and enjoying my time greatly. Since NDA was lifted a little while ago, I can speak about it openly now. I'm in another beta too, but that one is still closed and under NDA, so no more about that.

LotRO is quite interesting a game. It has tons of quests available, and you're pretty much guaranteed (at least up to lvl 25 where I have played to) to have multiple quests in your log at all times. There's crafting, though items are not customizable like in HZ (one form, one item, no teching). Graphics are qutie amazing if you have power to run them. Because pictures are worth a thousand words, here's a scenic shot from Michel Delving, in the Shire: http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/723...ot00078vj4.jpg.

There's also the Monster Play aka PvMP, where you can control one of the monsters. A region of the map has been set aside as PvMP zone, where player-controlled level 50 monsters can roam, and players that feel they can take onthe challenge can come and fight. Monsters have their own quests too, and gather Destiny points to buy abilities, but they get no exp as they are capped out already (at least 50 is the cap at the moment).

After the fumble that was DDO, Turbine may have gotten the clue in LotRO.

[Thamoris]

I have been in Lord of the Rings Online beta (European) since January, and enjoying my time greatly. Since NDA was lifted a little while ago, I can speak about it openly now. I'm in another beta too, but that one is still closed and under NDA, so no more about that.

LotRO is quite interesting a game. It has tons of quests available, and you're pretty much guaranteed (at least up to lvl 25 where I have played to) to have multiple quests in your log at all times. There's crafting, though items are not customizable like in HZ (one form, one item, no teching). Graphics are qutie amazing if you have power to run them. Because pictures are worth a thousand words, here's a scenic shot from Michel Delving, in the Shire: http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/723...ot00078vj4.jpg.

There's also the Monster Play aka PvMP, where you can control one of the monsters. A region of the map has been set aside as PvMP zone, where player-controlled level 50 monsters can roam, and players that feel they can take onthe challenge can come and fight. Monsters have their own quests too, and gather Destiny points to buy abilities, but they get no exp as they are capped out already (at least 50 is the cap at the moment).

After the fumble that was DDO, Turbine may have gotten the clue in LotRO.

You have burned through half the levels in Lotr beta while beta testing another game on top of that?Doesn't sound a bit fast? At this rate you will be max level or close to it before the game even launches. Unless you are playing it 10 hours a day..everyday..I think that is way too fast . People are going to chew through Lotr in mere weeks and then go " now what?".
I have no doubt its a fun game, based on all that I have read, but it also seems really small and way too easy. Liscense issues will likely hinder expansion due to the strict rules they will have to adhere too in order to maintain the integrity of the liscense....complicated by the fact that it's 3rd party development. Turbine goofed up D&D so bad and now it looks to me that they really watered down Lotr.

The monster pvp thing is a cool idea though and Ive read the game is well polished.

[Varangaard]

I should have been a bit more specific. I got selected into the other game's closed beta only recently, so LotRO has had my undivided attention until now. But still, I have been watching my level progression with some concern. While I do have spent long hours ingame during some days, the progression does feel bit too fast. The problem are not mob kills, as the experience they award is a pittance compared to quest completion experience. There's no doubt about my total exp being at least two-thirds made of quest awards, perhaps as much as 75%.

Another concern this creates is the speed your equipment gets obsolete. Getting enough metal or leather for a full armor set is not a quick task, so it may not feel worth your while as, few levels later, you have to dump them because you can buy or craft a superior suit. While they have stated the level cap will go up with expansions, current cap of 50 looms rather close.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'small'. Even though the beta features only one area of the world map, Eriador, it has plenty of places to explore. Of course, I wasn't high enough level to be able to own a horse, so it migth feel smaller once you can travel faster. Looking at the world map though, I suppose they eventually aim to cover everything between the Grey Havens and Mordor. That's a lot of land though, and I've no idea what their progress status is - or even, if they plan releasing any additional areas beyond Eriador when they go gold.

As for gameplay, I can only repeat that I'm enjoying the quests that always tend to have heavy story elements to them - there's always a good reason why someone wants you to do something. There's also the Epic Quest, which you can follow from level 1 onwards, and it will tangle you with the journey of the One Ring and the Fellowship. Not directly at least up to level ~25 but in the shadows, where for example you have to go kill a Mordor spy before she can send out a message that the Ring has passed east through Bree-town.

The classes I've tested so far also have distinct fighting styles. Champion depends on racking up fervor with basic attacks, then expending it to massively damaging single or AoE blows. Burglars excel at sneaking, with some of the attacks available only from sneak mode, and they have follow-up attacks that work only after critical strikes or successful distraction moves. Lore-Masters are mages but can also heal and summon animal companions, and buff them.

As for easy... well some things are easy, like getting to places. Mobs are not placed too thick, and I think you could travel to most places quite easily even if the mobs massively outrank you. I haven't been around this beta build too much to know if there have been changes, but previous one suffered from heavy 'elite-itis', that is elite-classed monsters by the dozens in certain places. In the Old Forest where Tom Bombadil lives, all the Oaks are elite which made attempts to explore and survive a frustrating experience. Ditto for the Great Barrow, where most of the spiders you encountered were elite - and they came at you in groups a lot. Places like those more or less require a full fellowship of six players if you want to survive.

Hm, I think I wrote a bit longer than I originally intended...

[Tantalyr]

Indeed, LoTRO is heavily quest driven and, thus, heavily immersive as there are two types of quests--main story arc quests (which involve you on the periphery of the mission of the Fellowship of the Ring), and side quests (which while not germain to the main story arc, are there for you to make Middle Earth a better place to live).

The graphics are breath-taking in my view (just wait til you see Rivendell for the first time), the quests plentiful (I've been in beta for three months now and I'll wager I haven't done half the quests so far), and the combat system quite involved.

The crafting system still needs work (it's still being tweaked now), and there is no housing yet as the devs are still working on it (as in instanced vs in the rest of the game world).

[Varangaard]

I feel I've flapped enough about LotRO, but there's one thing I intended t mention prviously, but forgot about. That would be "accomplishments". The game tracks some of your activities. For example, in every region it keeps count of your completed quests. Depending on region, it also might track the number of elven ruins, dunedain ruins or Shire farmlands you have discovered. Under the proper gauge the progress bar will slowly fill as you complete more of these duties. Once you have filled the bar, you might get a trait or a title for your use. Traits are little modifications, perhaps a Wisdom trait that adds a point or two to your Will, or maybe something else that adds oe percent to your common damage (melee and range) mitigation. Titles are just that, titles. Kill enough goblins in dwarf area and you will can make yourself known as the Protector of the Halls. Kill enough orc-kin in North Downs and you can declare yourself the Hero of North Downs. And so on and so forth. Additionally, at level 15 you can present yourself to a Notary and issue yourself a surname should you so desire.

The crafting system still needs work

Tell me about it. The craftables seem pretty basic overall (and uncustomizable). Previously the problem was the massive amounts of "phat lewt" mobs dropped, but since that has been radically cut back, it is less of a problem... nevertheless, quest rewards seem routinely to outclass anything you can craft. Some touch-up is definitely needed there.

As for what changes they are planning, I've no idea. One quite permanent whine (and a just one) on EU beta board is Turbine's almost complete lack of interaction with us. Certain people go as far as suspecting they don't even read our bug reports, or that our existence is not acknowledged beyond our potential ability to fork out cash. In contrast the EU host - Codemasters - has been quite helpful. Their ingame GMs are never too far away if you PM them about some game-stopping bug.

[Vengeance]

I purchased my Pre-order for lotr. I played VG from the prelaunch and have already quit. It just wasn't for me. Good hunting/crafting to all in which ever game you play .

[Crysith]

My name has changed alot but I am a vet. Been playing Horizons since release, but not recently. Tried Ryzom for about a week, couldnt do WoW, but currently into Vanguard until something else comes out with playable dragons, or by some miracle, Horizons is saved from the ever sinking tar pit...
Good hunting and crafting too all, where ever you call home now!

[Kulamata]

I am still subscribing, although I have not played seriously for a long time. But while we have even one guild member still playing....

I went to EVE; very different, but extremely well designed and run. The economy is very complex, and the tracking and tweaking of the economy is a model of what it takes to do it right. Supporting 30,000+ players on the single server simultaneously is an extraordinary technical feat. Not only are they doing it, but performance continues to improve.

Got bored with EVE; I'm not PvP, and did not get deeply involved with manufacturing and trading. Did a lot of mission running.

Tried WoW. OK, fun for a while, got bored at about level 28.

Beta'd Vanguard, just not turning out to be fun for me.

Still have muzzle pressed against the LotRO glass. But pre-ordered, and will be in the open stress. Tantalyr's tantalizing posts are something of a factor; everything I see indicates that it will likely be the closest to a Hz replacement for me.