It has been a long time since I have played Lord of the Rings Online. I started playing on launch day and made it into the late 30′s until my friends and I moved on to other things. With my return, I was curious to see how things have changed from the way I remember them. I recently completed the first ten levels, and from what I can tell, the changes have been subtle.
I decided to begin with a new character, so my human started life in the town of Archet. I ran every quest that was available to me in that area and I did not notice any new quests at all. It is true that my memory could be a bit hazy due to my long absence from the game, but I noticed nothing different in the quests or the rewards. That was a disappointment to me, but starting areas rarely get big overhauls.
I did notice that the experience gained from killing NPC’s and from quests has been increased. I sailed through to level 10 with the greatest of ease. This is good for old-timers like myself who have gone through these areas before and just want to get through them as quickly as possible. I have no complaints with experience gained so far.
Even though I had done the quests several times in the past, I still found them to be interesting and enjoyable. There are a few of the “kill 10 foozle’s” quests, but overall, the stories pull you in and set the mood. I particularly enjoyed the spider-themed quest line that lead me into the tunnels beneath a farm to kill a spider queen.
The biggest change that I noticed is in how the difficulty of the quests has been lowered. I breezed through all the quests without even the remote chance of dying. This also includes the spider queen battle that was certainly more difficult back during the launch days. Turbine, in my opinion, has completely removed the fear of dying from the first 10 levels of the game. I think this is a bad idea, as I find the accomplishment of surviving most exhilarating. A dose of fear makes things fun, and I was never in fear of dying.
Going forward, I am interested in seeing if this trend continues. Does the leveling speed continue apace? Will I be able to continue my solo career (none of my friends play the game anymore) and find meaningful advancement? Will I have to find someone who needs the exact same portion of the quest I do in order to get things done? Time will tell.
–Wolfen