It took perhaps three combat rounds to notice very obviously that this is still the old-school turn-based combat, it’s just making me press 1,2,3 more often (button mashing). I’m not seeing any strategy there, it’s more like “Simon Says: mob is not blocking left” so I hit him on the left with either a combo or single blow, then wait for the next combat round to see if the mob changes which direction he blocks. The rounds are fast, I’ll give it that much, but it’s not nearly fast enough to be considered ‘twitch’ by a long shot.

Best part of AoC has been the music; the tracks are among the most cinematic feeling I’ve heard in a game in a long time.

“I also tried Lotro for a month more or less. Although the game looked great, it wasn’t appealing. i couldn’t put my finger what was the reason”

I do not know how many times I keep reading this sentence over and over about this game from people..
And it is true…
It looks beautiful…except for the models and the UI. The quest progression system is awesome…yet seems to lack any real excitement..
Maybe it is that…everything is mediocre at best…
I know some avidly love the game and it’s “precious lore” (see what I did there.?..hehe)
…but, as a game, it lacks…
Also returning for the free weekend…at most I lasted 2 hours and went back to AoC Open Beta which was a blast…
Age of Conan is refreshing and does it a little different, and is more exciting to play overall (you had to actually pay attention in combat)…
Innovation was key to me for AoC, and hopefully Moria will help Turbine and make them innovate as well
Good luck Turbine!

Had another LoTRO pug last night, this time through Fornost. We rolled through it in 3 hours (which was about double my planned play time, and I took a bit of slack for it), with the only death being on an accidental 8 pull, and that was only one person down, while the rest of us fought. My only complaint of it was how we decided to pass on the armor at the end and decide who got it, but the one person Needed it. Grrr. However, getting through that instance, quests and faction completed, was worth the small frustration that was.

One thing (of many) I love about the game is its in-game community. I PUG just about every day, and I’ve only had one iffy experience in the past year. WoW (and perhaps GW) gives PUGs a bad name. Every other MMO (and I’m becoming notorious for MMOADD) I have a great time in PUGs and meet some great people.

Two classes to duo? There’s the obvious cornerstone duo of Guardian and Minstrel. You’re guaranteed to get groups that way too. Otherwise, Minstrel and Minstrel… hehe! Captain and Lore-master make a fantastic duo as well, especially once the Lore-master gets Share the Power at level 24. Captains burn through their power like crazy, so we Lore-master’s get to play the role of Energizer Bunny and keep them recharged. You’d think Minstrels would need recharging the most, but I’m recharging Captains at *least* 2-3 times as often as a Minstrel. Some hunters burn through their power too but I think they’re just blowing their wad on max dps and not paying attention to aggro so I only recharge them if no one more important needs power at the moment.

One thing I notice in LOTRO is there is an incredible synergy between the classes. Solo is solo is solo in every MMO, but grouping in LOTRO just has a nice comfy feel and all the classes really seem to round each other out compared to other games.