First of all, it took me FOREVER to figure out where the screen shots for LoTRO go. I checked in the game folder, and there was nothing there. I ended up doing a search on my computer for ‘screenshot’ and found it way off in it’s own little folder some place completely different where I’d never have found it without doing that search. I realize I’m not the most computer savy person out there, but experience tells me that most of the time, the screen shots are within a screen shot folder that is typically located some where in the game folder. Not so this time around.
I still haven’t had a whole lot of time to play, but I’m hoping this weekend I’ll get some time in. I’ll be honest, I read people’s write ups and experiences about their games of choice and what I remember most are not the mechanics of a game but how they enjoyed it and what their personal views were. That being said, I know almost nothing about LoTRO. I don’t know anything specific about the classes, I didn’t know there was housing, I don’t know anything about crafting. In a way it’s almost refreshing. It’s also scary, because I typically pride myself on what I DO know about a game.
So my hobbit minstrel is level 3 now, and let me mention that it took a good 10 minutes for me to try to fit my chubby (and cute might I add) frame through the doorway pictured above. I honestly thought I was going to have to re-create just in order to fit, it took that long. Something new I learned, when you log off in the middle of an instance (quest?) you start back at the beginning when you log on. Or such was my experience. I’d already killed a spider and gotten a pack with a knife in it, but when I logged back in there I was at the inn (again) headed back out to speak with Bounder Boffin. Deja Vu or what.
I’m also sporting a new pair of gloves (I think they were gloves, it was a slight blur as I was distracted by a chicken) and have a few coin to my name. I trained in my first skill. The UI is very easy to understand, although EQ2’s maps have spoiled me over the past few years. Once I was dumped off in the little starting village I ran around looking at things and poking random people to see what they’d do. I saw a few others also running around. I haven’t quite gotten the hang of my quest journal yet, and I’ve got a way to go before I can remember what hotkey does what. At least attacking is exactly the same as what I’m used to, so I’ve got that taken care of and just need to figure out the other aspects.
I feel a little like an awkward teenager fumbling my way around, but it’s enjoyable and hopefully I don’t mess up too much. Look for me in game as Petites, my impressions are still pretty favourable in the mean time – not that I can justify them since I’v barely stuck my little baby toe into middle-earth.
Happy gaming!
That’s odd about the screenshots thing, as mine were definitely easy to find. LotRO put a folder called Lord of the Rings Online in my My Documents, and inside that were the screenshots. I’m glad you found yours, in any case.
Nice that you enjoy it. I had to get used to a whole bunch of things, too, and I remember my first hours in the Shire was just running around lost and confused, talking to people and getting quests and having absolutely no idea where things were. It would have been frustrating but I forced myself to relax, slow down, and really read the quest text I was given. I knew that at first I would suffer acutely from the whole ‘lack of knowledge/familiarity’ that I would’ve had if I were playing a previous MMO, and I really wanted to give LotRO a chance so I pushed through the mental ‘where in the hell is everything?! AAAAAAGHHHH!!’ moments. :)
You may want to go to your Options menu (CTRL-O) and go to UI Settings, and kind of look down the list to see if there’s anything you want to enable. Item Names are disabled by default and I tend to turn them on again, as it’s easier to see things that way. I also have Chat Bubbles enabled because I find that I miss some people’s /says when I’m not actively looking at the chatbox and have no idea they’re saying something to me. I did leave Loot All off for a few levels, but eventually turned it on.
I LOVE Vista and the setup to centralize data. I know where to go to find all my downloads, with zero issues, where saves are, screenies..
As long as the game plays good with Vista, I am always impressed with how things work out (Witcher worked really well in Vista, and any game made for the 360 that you buy for the PC also works well, like Devil May Cry 4…)
Hooray for centralization.
No no, I appreciate it I really do!
This is all great info for me!
I think they might have to do it in order to comply and get that “Games for Windows” branding… not sure about that, though.
BTW, it probably isn’t obvious, but you’re still in an instance. The character starting process in LOTRO is first, a solo, scripted tutorial instance (which it sounds like you’ve completed), then a larger, communal instance with other characters (don’t worry, you won’t have to restart this bit!!) then another short solo instance, then finally out into the general world.
I just mention it because at first blush the world can seem pretty desolate when you’re in that starter instance, but think of it like the newbie islands in EQ2.
OK now I’m sounding like a granddad droning on and on about his experiences for the umpteenth time, so I’ll shut my yap….
Thanks for the technical info about that Pete, I didn’t have the faintest idea what the reasoning behind it was. I’m such a newb. ;)
Putting game data into your “My Documents” (XP) or “Documents” (Vista) folder is the new Microsoft-sanctioned way of doing things, I think. All of a sudden games started doing it. Sometimes in the docs folder, and sometimes in doc/my games. But still not *all* games do it, so it can get really confusing. I rather found the old way was much neater, but I guess the idea is that if everything did this, you could just do a daily backup of your documents folder and have all your data safe.