Lord of the Rings Online (sometimes abbreviated to LotRO) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game that takes place in the Middle-earth of J. R. Tolkien. Players can explore the land during the time of the books. It is an excellent way to immerse yourself in the world of the famous novels. It is free to play, and it can be a great way to spend your spare time.
When did Lord of the Rings Online Debut?
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The Lord of the Rings Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The open beta was launched in April 6, 2007 and has gone through many developers. At the moment, the game is managed by Standing Stone Games, who created the world and characters of Middle-earth. Unlike other fantasy games, The Lord of the Rings Online allows players to choose from three different professions.
The game was initially based on monthly subscriptions but later on in 2010, it has become free to play. However, Steam made the game available on their platform in 2012.
The Lord of the Rings Online is similar to other fantasy games, but it differs in several ways. First of all, you can create different groups. For example, a party of three people can have three different levels. You can make each group a faction by defeating monsters and completing quests. Then, you can use Reputation items to gain reputation. Moreover, some factions favor repeatable quests and collecting Reputation items. Depending on the faction, you will be rewarded with various rewards, from cosmetic pets to armour and weapons.
Secondly, the Lord of the Rings Online has many ways to customize your character. You can even customize your character’s appearance and play style to match the character’s race and profession. You can select from among ten professions and choose a class that suits you best. If you don’t know which one to choose, you can always try some of them to see which one suits you best. There are some unique professions in the Lord of the Rings Online, which include a variety of other professions.
The Lord of the Rings Online Races and Classes
Lord of the Rings Online started as a subscription-based MMORPG. However, the players can now have free access to this fictional world. The LotRO world has seen a lot of expansion over the years, with constant updates. Thanks to the constant expansions, you can find the winding Moria depths, wide plains and Rohan, thickets, Mirkwood, as well as many other features. LOTRO offers free races in order for you to create your character. However, Monster Play is a PvP mode that allows players to take control of powerful monsters and engage in large-scale arena combats. Lord of the Rings Online has also various classes to choose from.
- Beorning – This class descend from ancient of Men and can “skin-change” into bears when they get furious. These can only be unlocked by the Beorning Race through the Cash Shop.
- Burglar – The Burglar is a sneaky and deceitful creature, and is great at weakening its enemies and attacking from the shadows. Burglar profession is exclusive for Hobbits and Humans.
- Captain – Capitols are leaders who encourage their allies by their presence. In order to strengthen their allies as well as to weaken their enemies, they use battle cries, banners of war and such. They are exclusively for Humans.
- Champion – Champions are highly skilled in melee combat and can deal unimaginable damage, while also being able to tank. They are available for Dwarves and Elves as well as Humans.
- Guardian – As their name suggests, Guardians protect and defend the ones who need. You can see Guardians on the frontlines where they can see their enemies’ white eyes. They are exclusive to Dwarves and Elves, Humans, and Hobbits.
- Hunter – Hunters show themselves in the forest where they trap their prey with their bows. They are brilliant and strong fighters. Therefore, they can take down the most terrifying enemies when they go out there. They are available for wide range of characters such as Dwarves and Elves, Hobbits and Humans.
- Lore-master – The Lore-masters are wisdom seekers, and can easily baffle their enemies with their strong boons upon their allies. They are exclusive to both Elves and Humans.
- Minstrel – Minstrels inspire, renew and bring hope to their fellows by singing ancient songs. This gives them the spirit to fight the dark forces. They are available for Dwarves and Elves, Hobbits, as well as Humans.
- Rune Keeper – rune-keepers study ancient languages and runes. They have been able to heal and destroy through their studies. These can be unlocked via the cash shop and are available to Dwarves and Elves.
- Warden – Wardens can be fighters and they basically use a spear to defend themselves against angered enemies. These are great and they can be unlocked via the cash shop. They are exclusive to Elves, Hobbits and Humans.
How many GB is Lord of the Rings Online?
Because we are talking about a relatively old game here, the system requirements for Lord of the Rings online is pretty reasonable and decent. Luckily, you won’t need a proper gaming computer to actually play this game.
- OS: Windows 7 (64bit recommended for high resolution)
- Processor: Core 2 Duo / AMD Athlon II or better.
- Memory: 2GB.
- Hard Disk Space: 32GB for high resolution* …
- Video Card: GeForce 7XXX / ATI Radeon HD 3000 series. …
- DirectX®: 9.0c.
- Internet Connection: Cable or DSL Connection.
Some bugs of Lord of the Rings Online
Bugs are not foreign in the gaming world and unfortunately they are very common with Online games such as this one. Here are some of the common bugs that players of Lord of the Rings have face over the course of time.
- Unusual falling bug: This usually happens when you are at the edge of the map. Once you jump over the wall like creation where the map seems like it is ending, your character starts falling down the slope. And it never ends.
- Ticketing System issues – wildwood bug: This issues started with Wildwood patch expansion and they appear as tweaking and such.
- System collapse: Many players noted that the system collapsed when they are creating their character. As a result, they had to restart the game. They also observed that certain buttons started to disappear on the same page while they were optimizing their character.
- In the very beginning, the game asks you to choose a race such as Man, Hobbit and Elf. However, if you opt for Elf and start your game as one, some players noted that after the first mission, the mission mark has disappeared in the duties for Elf race. the other races didn’t have such problem. Luckily, nowadays most of these problems do not occur anymore.
- Disappearing of Mission NPC’s: Another bug that was annoying the players of LOTRO was that mission indicators on the map kept disappearing. It is one of the problems that does not occur anymore. However, we thought it was worth mentioning.
Last thoughts from the Author
Before we end our article, we’d like say that It is questionable that this game is worth your time in 2022. Our two cents is that it is pretty outdated and we don’t really recommend you bother yourselves with this 15 year old game. It is highly unappealing if we are being honest. However, if you are a fan of Lord of the Rings in general and enjoy being a part of such world, you can as well give it a go, considering it is now free of charge.