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Negativity?
The Middle-Earth Adventurer — ... about the Mines of Moria last month, having completed most of the Moria content. I think I ran a bit negative despite overall positive impressions of the expansion. Zubon posts over at Kill Ten Rats a Moria retrospective, being generally negative. So, did Moria really screw up a good game? It might have, it might not. We're in the tumultuous teen years of LOTRO. We learned to crawl, then walk. We were happy. Then came the hormones and things got a little rattled. With the next expansion, let's call it the twenty something. Should be good as Turbine finds its stride. Hopefully ...

Incentives to Skip Entire Expansions?
Player Versus Developer — ... it's been the requisite six months since the expansion. In Syp's study of MMO-latecomers, I'm the rare person who actually took the "wait 6 months" advice. Meanwhile, prices have never been better - $40 will get me an expansion key AND three months' subscription. So, why am I considering throwing my hands in the air and waiting for the forthcoming Rohan expansion? Case Study: LOTRO Moria Zubon of Kill Ten Rats just wrote a less than flattering retrospective of the expansion, in particular its endgame. I can already hear ...

One Man's Ceiling is Another Man's Floor
NecroRogIcon — After reading Zubon's, Suzina's and Sweet Cherrie's posts about Legendary Items, I'm reminded that one person's idea of joyful progression can be another's grind. 'Grind' is probably the biggest and most common complaint about MMORPGs. That must drive designers a bit nuts, because progression (real and illusory) are an important aspect of any RPG. An MMO without progression is likely to be criticized as a bore, but you cannot escape that someone will inevitably call your game's progression a grind. The Legendary grind is an ...