mesiah

June 20, 2009 at 2:45am

I haven't played lotro since its beta days, but back then it smacked of a WoW clone with the lotr logo plastered all over it. It sounds like it has grown and come into its own though, and that is a good thing. Seems like mmo articles always ruffle a few feathers no matter what your talking about and always contain a reference to wow. There is a reason for that though, wow is the standard. Love it or hate it, you would be hard pressed to find someone between the ages of 12 and 39 who haven't heard of world of warcraft. Even people who aren't into mmos or rpgs have given it a shot, just because their friend asked them to. Wow isn't the best game out there, but its a juggernaut in the industry which means thats what all other mmos are compared against.

 

I play wow, but I also play an mmo that most of you would turn your nose up at, but one that is a testament to the fact that you don't have to beat wow to be succesful. That mmo is final fantasy 11. Most people who have tried it have walked away saying it was either too hard or too grindy for their taste, but it established a hard core loyal fan base that has been going strong for 7 years. Even with the release of a new mmo from SE on the horizon the general consensus of players is that they aren't willing to part with the world of final fantasy xi.

 

I like wow, and I like ffxi, for entirely different reasons. No matter what mmo you play, you shouldn't hate your competition. Its  the competition that drives creation. Every time a new game comes out with a great idea it forces all the other to evolve a little if they want to keep users. So, I am glad for wow and ffxi, and I am glad for lotro and war and eve and all of the other mmos that bread creation and make eachother better.