The Lord of the Rings Online: The Re-Review In Progress

mmorpg.com:

It’s hard to approach a game you’ve largely enjoyed for almost two decades from the perspective of a new player, yet that is exactly what I’ve been trying to do now since July as I embarked on this project to re-review The Lord of the Rings Online. An MMO that has been around since 2007, The Lord of the Rings Online has had its ups and downs over the years, yet it’s stood the test of time when other MMOs have come and gone rather quickly.

It’s huge world that takes players from the slopes of the Ered Luin in the West, up to the frozen north of Forochel, under the Misty Mountains in Moria, and even down into the deserts of Harad and Umbar, the developers at Standing Stone Games (and formerly Turbine) have crafted one of the best realizations of the world JRR Tolkien created. 

Yet it’s not without its faults. Seventeen years on, LotRO can look both beautiful and decidedly aged. Its combat can feel dated, a throwback to MMOs of yesteryear in an age where action combat MMOs dominate the newer releases. And it still struggles with massive lag that makes playing the MMORPG a slog in places. 

This re-review is meant to portray what it is like playing The Lord of the Rings Online today, especially if you’re aiming to jump into the long-running MMO for the first time in 2024. While I’ve been playing for the last seventeen years and have gone on record multiple times stating that this is my favorite MMO, that doesn’t blind me to the issues players might face jumping into Middle-earth in 2024. So come with us on this journey, culminating with our final score with the latest expansion, Legacy of Morgoth. 

Choose Your Own Adventure

Originally launched as The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, LotRO has seen quite a few transformations since then, most notably its shift to a free-to-play model in 2010. Throughout its seventeen-year history, The Lord of the Rings Online has multiple expansions, from 2009’sMines of Moria to last year’s Corsairs of Umbar, and countless