This game is a wonderful place for fans of Lord of the Rings so long as you don’t mind polluting the wonderful world Tolkien created with a Dungeons and Dragons/World of Warcraft aesthetic and can cope with variations to the actual flavor of the original book. That said if you can distance yourself from actual Middle Earth, and see this as a separate but similar place, this is one of the most enjoyable online massive multi-player role play universes to explore. The first release Shadows of Angmar contains twelve epic quests called ‘Books’, and with each expansion or update more Books are added. Thus the recently released Mines of Moria which has received awards for best PC Game expansion, contains two new Books or quests with another five expected in updates.

With less races than similar games, only having Elf, Dwarf, Human and Hobbit, and a standard range of classes albeit with less emphasis on magic classes; Burglar, Captain, Champion, Guardian, Hunter, Lore-master, and Minstrel. (the expansion Mines of Moria adds Rune-Keeper and Warden). LOTRO relies on a less intricate and quite original character development system than traditional DnD type role playing PC games, to bring variety and individuality to this role playing PC game and a texture which is more Tolkienesque. In some ways the game is a simplification of the kind of traditional skills and feats systems as found in DnD and a game like Neverwinter Nights, but within the simplicity there emerges a great variety of less structured options.

Having chosen a class, players then develop a vocation, where each vocation incorporates three professions. For example if you are learning to be a Woodsman you are able to learn the professional skills of forestry, farming and wood crafting. Another point of difference is that when a character has gained enough experience to go up a level in expertise, they don’t just click a button but must go to non-player characters in the game to ‘purchase’ skills. For example at the blacksmith, this represents having been regularly to the blacksmith to train. One great idea that has no bonus value for you character but adds an interesting layer to the way role play evolves is the character naming system. While you get to create your own name, the game engine adds prefixes and suffixes based on things you have achieved in game, such as ‘Spider-Foe’ if you have slain a great number of spiders. Thus Howlin (a Dwarf) would become ‘Howlin Spider-Foe’, or perhaps even ‘High Warden Howlin Spider-Foe’.

World of Warcraft was created by Blizzard Games and is the fourth game in the “Warcraft” series.  The series started with the original Warcraft which was a real time strategy game (RTS) – not a role playing game. Warcraft II and Warcraft III followed and both exhibited the RTS style of play – typically top down, resource and army management types of play. It was World of Warcraft that broke the mold and took blizzard fully into the RPG game world. Although Diablo I and II are also produced by Blizzard, and can be classed as RPG, they are not what purists would consider a full immersive RPG as the options for  character development are somewhat limited by comparison.

Although World Of Warcrawft is PC based it is important to note that the game requires an internet connection to be played and that the environment is not based on the users PC but in teh perpetual world controlled by the server. In this way the game developers can create new regions in the virtual perpetual world, putting in new challenges for role players to overcome and new treaures and bounty for the gamers to find. For many players the World Of Warcraft has become an addictive  second life – some even claiming it is preferable to the real world!

A key part of any roleplaying game is “Leveling” you character but this can be difficult and extremely time consuming. Obviously for many this is all part of the fun but for those who want fast track their progress a MMORPG Leveling Guide can help.