"world of warhammer of the rings on line" Topic

Hi all

My son is keen to get one of the online games such as World of warcraft etc.

I have to confess I know very little about these although we both play plenty of PC games.

His personal preference [based on nothing at all other than liking GW] is for Warhammer online.

What do others think…The Lord of the Rings online game sounds like a good game too but as I said I know nothing about any of them really…what's good/bad about any or all of them??

[I still haven't worked out how he thinks he's going to fund this mind you!!]

Conan one it pretty cool, but it seems to have a memory leak, so you have to reload the game every four hours. Unless they fixed that since I played it last year.

What age is he?

They are all pretty much the same. You generate a character and spend hours grinding for experience. The games are designed to suck time, they're not the kind of thing you can sit down with for 30-40 minutes or an hour, or even two. So expect to put a lot of evenings into it.

The differences come in the background of the game, do you want to play in the Lord of the Rings universe, or D&D, or one of the various fantasy worlds like Asheron's Call, Warcraft, or Everquest. (Or any of the superhero or sci-fi games) And even there most of the games play the same. You start in a town with some low level monsters or dungeons nearby and work your way through progressively more difficult encounters.

You also want to consider player-vs-player versus player-vs-environment games. Some dont give you a choice and you'll find your low level fighter getting ganked every time he steps out of town. Some separate it by server. Some give you an in-game 'switch' you can change (usually with difficulty, at higher level).

The biggest difference I find among games is in the level of activity available to you in-game. All of them require you to fight monsters to level up. Some of them have better options than others for non-fighting skills or crafts you can develop in game. These are things like crafting or repairing armor and weapons, making your own spells or potions or upgrading magic items. I find that these extra skills and abilities help develop a character and enhance the game experience. Sitting in combat mode grinding on monsters gets boring after a while.

Most games add new content on a regular basis. This might be once a month, or it might be once a year. Some of the games do this for 'free' as part of the monthly fee you pay, some charge for expansion packs. I think World of Warcraft is something like $90 USD for the base game and 2 expansions, plus the monthly fee.

A lot of people play for the social aspects of the game. Some games are better at this than others. I tried D&D Online and found there was virtually nowhere for players to stand around and talk and trade game tips in-game. That may have changed in recent expansions but it turned me off the game right away. Because dungeons are instanced (created just for you or your party) you never encounter other people unless you pick them up through the LFG (looking for group) channel first. The game I play doesn't do that and I've met a lot of people at random because they happen to come into the same hole I'm hunting in. Sometimes they're s and sometimes I've made new friends in-game. But at least the opportunity is there to interact --which I think is the whole point of *multiplayer* games.

Also, your son may want to play in a game where he has friends who already play. IMO this is the biggest factor when it comes to choosing a game.

Two things I suggest: browse the web for the game websites and read their chat forums. You can tell a lot about the game by what the players talk about there, and what they complain about. The game website may also have a Trial Version of the game you can download free and try out for a week or ten days. Try the different games you might be interested in, and see what you think. It may also be worth your time to look for reviews of the game, especially ones that talk about actual content and gameplay. Don't just pick a game based on how pretty it is.

Age of Conan has reports of bad longetivity after the initial levels.

Lord fo the Rings Online is the only one I play.

It is Player versus Environment. Player versus Player is hived off to a separate area, the Ettenmoors.

It is set up for both solo and co-operative play and by b eing loTR based seems to avoid the more idiotic types of people you hear about in other online games.

You can get a 14 day trial here

link

Just my opinion, but I think WOW has a particular knack for bringing out bad behavior in people… it seems to promote a very greedy, needy, compulsive mindset.
I never really experienced the same level of this in games like City Of Heroes/Villains or in LOTR.
Bad behavior happens here and there in all the MMO's… but WOW seems to encourage/breed it.

Also, if play time is an issue, I'd say that City Of Heroes is one of the MMO's that I've found most conducive to short term play… you can get on, do a couple missions, and log off in just an hour or so.
In WOW everything seems to eat up the hours.

Thanks folks.

He's 12 and I'm trying to find one that is, if not child-friendly, then is at least receptive to having kids that play.

No one seems to have mentioned Warhammer online…does anyone play it??

I recommend EVE Online, as it lacks the XP grind asscoiated with the games mentioned here. One could earn currency by fighting, mining or trading and the missions are designed for one or all of the above, depending on the NPC agent. Unless in self defense, one wouldn't have to even PVE/PVP, and for the latter one could rely on PC bodyguards or corp members. Purchased skills take time to train, higher ones at least 45 days, but the character continues to train even when logged off. Short of group activity or complex missions, I've only ever logged in for about 30-45 minutes.

Being 12 I can say that Age of Conan is NOT the game you would be looking the rating on the game is your first clue. As for World of Warcraft is like any other MMORPG's you have good people and A**holes all of them can be time sinks.

Player Vs Player is not an issue for Everquest Everquest 2 or WoW unless you start on a PvP server or on a PvE server you elect to enter a PvP zone or agree to dual someone.

All most all of them have a monthly fee depending on what your sons interests may be in and what sort of system he has available to him (some games require a bleeding edge system to run) WoW seems to have the largest player base and you should be able to find a server in your time zone to your liking.

I know people who play various MMOs

never met a Warhammer Online player

I do know they are reducing servers due to lack of takeup

My son briefly experimented with Runescape, which is free, but lost interest. Fantasy isn't really his thing, though. He does have friends who like it a lot (which is why he tried it out to begin with).
It's got some decent controls in place to handle problems.
runescape.com

There's a free-to-play sci-fi one: Anarchy Online (same folks as Conan). It's one of the oldest of the MMOs and is somewhat complex. It's the only one I'm still paying for after all these years (some of the expansions require the normal MMO monthly fee). The graphics engine is supposed to get a complete re-work this year. It is sometimes difficult to get the client d/led, installed, and working the first time. I'm not sure why.

Also, not an RPG, but a simple 3rd-person, giant-robot shooter that's free-to-play is Exteel (same folks as City Of Heroes). About half of my Canadian cohorts on there have children in the 8 – 10 year old range that also play. You shouldn't have any install issues with this one. At one point it wasn't working on everyone's Vista machines, but I think they have that sorted out now. It does not work on the most recent build of Windows 7 with the most recent DirectX installed.

Thanks again.

It sounds like there isn't a huge amount going on with Warhammer.. to be honest now he's heard about LOTR online he's far more interested in that

Parsival..we've explored Runescape in the past but it didn't seem to catch his [or my] interest..seemed to be a lot of chopping trees!

For a beginning MMO player I would recommend City of Heroes. It's easy to learn and play, and the PvP element is strictly voluntary: There are areas of the game world that are clearly labeled as PvP, and any mission that your hero is assigned do not REQUIRE you to go there. Also, the character creation system is one fo the most flexible I've ever seen!

Then by all means go the LOTRO route. :) Genrally speaking it has a better class of player, encourages cooperative play and is "family friendly". Plus you get to travel in (Turbine's version of) Middle-Earth. :)