Playing a new game can be tough. For most of us Warriors, LOTRO was our first MMO. While there are countless guides and resources available for new players to turn to, sometimes the amount of information available can be overwhelming.
Now that we’ve all grown accustomed to the game, we reflect on some of the things we wish we’d known in our early LOTRO days.
ALICE
After several year of The Sims, I decided to play LOTRO and I asked to my nerd BFF to help me during the first steps. But LOTRO is a very complex game, in my opinion, and I felt completely lost during my first levels.
I think it would’ve helped me to know about the reputation system and how the crafting quests work (well, I still have to discover it), and how to gain marks and medallions. The skirmish camps are very useful if you own tons of marks to barter and I had no idea that I could buy stronger armours and beautiful cosmetics.
Another thing that would’ve helped me to know is the existence of the Tasks Bulletin Boards, I could sound stupid, but I didn’t see them at the beginning and I had no idea of what they were!
During the last few months my knowledge increased a lot, but I have the feeling that I will never stop to learn new things in LOTRO!
BRITTA
I have been playing LOTRO for five years now, so I have a hard time remembering my very early days. One thing I do remember is not checking in with my class trainer every time I levelled up; I remember hitting level 24 on my captain on Vilya and being confused as to why I only had a few skills.
The best advice I can offer to a new or overwhelmed player is: visit the LOTRO forums, check out some well-known guides, and don’t be afraid ask questions in public areas like Twitter (I’ve done this numerous times, and the responses are generally very quick and helpful!).
MARIA
There are a few things I wish I’d known when I first started playing LOTRO. As I once wrote, I’ve never played an MMORPG before (and not too many video games to begin with) so everything was new to me. I think if I had some prior knowledge in this type of gaming, I probably would have made less mistakes or understood things better early on.
Looking back, I think it would’ve helped me a lot to know about the reputation system. It took me a while to understand that I could increase my character’s reputation, so I’ve probably sold numerous reputation items, such as mathoms, without knowing how useful they are. It is not too long ago that I’ve started to increase my main’s reputation with the Mathom Society and the Men of Bree. There are so many other regions’ reputations I have to catch up with.
Another thing I wish I’d known when I first started is the fact that I have to increase the level of my armour as well. This might seem rather obvious to many, but as I said I’ve started from scratch. Similar to my main’s reputation, it took me far too long to admit before I realized that the level of my armour and weapons was as important as my character’s level. I’d probably died a lot less if I knew early on.
MYLA
When I started playing LOTRO for the very first time I didn’t even know how to assign skills to the slots. I was that clueless. After a while I slowly learned the ways of the game, and I was pretty proud of myself. I’m not much of a gamer, so the fact that I could actually not die in a fight is a big accomplishment.
My advice to new players is to make sure you know how reputations work and what tasks are. I didn’t, and I just kept selling all of my items not knowing that they could be useful in other ways. I could have gotten my Mathom Society Steed much sooner if I knew how to gain rep!
Crafting was also something I wasn’t familiar with, and I’m still not. Not really. I just haven’t gotten around to actually learning how to craft, but I plan to one day. I want to give my guardian some awesome new armor and weapons!
If you’re new to LOTRO, take advantage of forums and sites dedicated to the game, they can help you A LOT! Also don’t be afraid to ask for help. I’m usually too nervous to ask people for advice and I still have a lot to learn.
What are some things you wish you’d known when you first started playing LOTRO? We’d love to hear your tips and experiences in a comment below!
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