I played when the game first released and most of the world map was closed off. How much of the world map today can you travel? Also how is the lower lvl population and how hard is it to get groups at lower lvls?

Two large areas, Evendim and Forochel have been added since release, check out the Google Map, it's pretty cool http://www.arda-online.com/map/ .

And with the expansion, we will get Moria and Lorien of course.

That is pretty sweet. So compared to other MMOs todays LOTRO is right up there in size eh?

Originally posted by mbg1411

That is pretty sweet. So compared to other MMOs todays LOTRO is right up there in size eh?

It's getting there. Turbine has been good about getting out new content. They just released book 14, which has a new area (Eregion) that is not accessible until enough ring lore turn-ins are done on a given server (think AQ opening in WoW). As already mentioned, the expansion will introduce even more new areas.

If you look at the actual world map, only Eriador is really playable at the moment. There is a LOT more that they can add, but it will take years.

LotrO is kind of layered 2 times in mass. You have the physical land mass, and then the content mass, so I always think of it as  (mass) x 2 = lotro

Yes, content is important and there is a lot of it. If you are just comparing land sizes then something like SWG is much bigger, but it's a whole lot of empty.

To answer you question about lower level groups. I have several characters in LotRO and never had trouble getting a fellowship for group quests.

My opinion is that it's harder to get good quality fellowships at the higher levels. But hopefully you will have found a good Kinship to help you at that time.

Thanks for the responses everyone. I finally got the game up and running and have another question. Will try and post here before making new topic.

I'm running the game on ultra high and get about 60-80 fps. Only thing is I get these weird fps drops out of nowhere that will run at 5-6 fps for about 5 sec then jump back up to 60-80. I read a guide about how to get the best fps while running on Ultra High but it said something about keeping "AA" turned off. What is this?

Originally posted by Orodruin

To answer you question about lower level groups. I have several characters in LotRO and never had trouble getting a fellowship for group quests.

My opinion is that it's harder to get good quality fellowships at the higher levels. But hopefully you will have found a good Kinship to help you at that time.

Kinships can be a key, although I feel that this is the case in virtually any mmog. I recall that my first experiences in lotro were with a trial account, and I had a very difficult time getting groups then. Since I couldn't send tells, I could not really reply to anyone broadcasting in LFG. But that all changes once you upgrade to the full account: since there are so many fellowship quests, you will find others in the same situation as you. Just don't be shy about it, and you can get the job(s) done.

Originally posted by mbg1411

Thanks for the responses everyone. I finally got the game up and running and have another question. Will try and post here before making new topic.

I'm running the game on ultra high and get about 60-80 fps. Only thing is I get these weird fps drops out of nowhere that will run at 5-6 fps for about 5 sec then jump back up to 60-80. I read a guide about how to get the best fps while running on Ultra High but it said something about keeping "AA" turned off. What is this?

What are the circumstances where you get a fps drop? Is it anything that you can put your finger on that happens? AA is probably anti-aliasing, unless I am mistaken, though I am admittedly of little help in this matter, lol.

AA means antialiasing - you should check that in your graphics card drivers antialiasing is set to "application contolled" and in LotRO it's set to something which gives you the best framerate.

You'r problem doesn't sound antialiasing related though, as the framerate hit with it should be about constant if any can be noticed. One thing you might try is setting textures to high from the game and checking if the problem persists - I can run the game maxed out on my computer with AGP and only 256 megs of video card memory, but using the highest res textures causes just the same symptoms you are seeing.

Originally posted by mbg1411

Thanks for the responses everyone. I finally got the game up and running and have another question. Will try and post here before making new topic.

I'm running the game on ultra high and get about 60-80 fps. Only thing is I get these weird fps drops out of nowhere that will run at 5-6 fps for about 5 sec then jump back up to 60-80. I read a guide about how to get the best fps while running on Ultra High but it said something about keeping "AA" turned off. What is this?

The game tends to pause to 1-5 sec when entering crowded areas like Bree. This is usually due to loading of new textures (armor of players etc). It has nothing to do with AA.

A troubleshooting option for this (worked for some) is to reduce engine speed from maximum to about 90%. Let us know if it worked or not!

DB