For a limited time, the lifetime membership to Lord of the Rings Online has returned. I'm wondering if I should play the game. I like Guild Wars because it has no monthly fees. Heh, this $199 lifetime plan for LOTRO is somewhat similiar. The offer is set to expire by the end of the month. So, are guild members interested in starting up in the lands of Middle-earth?

http://www.lotro.com/anniversarypromo

Here's what I'm thinking...


Reasons for me to play:

• Guild Wars 2 is delayed. It would be fun to have a game to play in the meantime.
• I heard this game is a lot like World of Warcraft. I liked WoW, before the game was ruined on me.
• We could start a kinship (That's like a guild.)
• I could start a fansite.
• I wouldn't have to worry about monthly fees.

Reasons for me not to play:

• $199 + the game is a lot of money. I could spend that on something else.
• I don't have the free time required to run a guild, fansite or play a new MMORPG.
• Would ArenaNet get jealous?
• I'm working on a "project" and I should probably focus on that.

Just as a wild card, I've been thinking about starting a Freelancer server or something similiar. I had a lot of fun administrating rogueBATTLE. The main reason why I'd play LOTRO is because it would be something to help make this site active again. Yet, there are many other ways to accomplish the same thing.

What do you think?

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Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com

I wasn't overly impressed when I played the open beta.. plus it didn't run very well on my outdated computer (P4 2GHz; 1GB RAM; GeForce FX 5200)

the $200 for life sounds like a pretty good deal, but I wouldn't bother with it (I don't really have the time to play it anyway)

If you're hurting for a new game to play, it might be worth your while .. but I'm voting no.. be patient till GW2

I got a trial from LOTRO with my videocard (3870) but haven't tried it because of all the updates.... and the announcement of Diablo III ofcourse.

I played the open beta, and like Nemisari, I wasn't too impressed with it. Most of the bugs I encountered were probably just because it was still in the beta phase, but the game didn't interest me like Guild Wars did.

That's no reason not to play LoTRO, we won't be seeing Diablo III until 2009 at the earliest.

I say, work on your project, then decide what to spend the money on. Also, a few questions:

*How would that make Anet jealous?
*Do Anet know you well enough to become jealous if you do that
*How did WoW ruin on you?

I think it's too late. I think that the $199 offer expired. I don't really have time to play anyway. I'm gearing up for Guild Wars 2.

I've seen it before. ArenaNet doesn't like it when I focus on other games. They don't stop me, but I know they're not pleased. If you want hard proof, read the Fansite Program. They reward exclusivity.

A man should be exclusive to his woman, not his video games. I can't be exclusive to just one video game. It burned me out. I like discussing other things. Guild Wars is probably the main attraction of this website. But if I feel like chatting about Wii Sports, I'm going to do that. Here's the difference that exists today... Photics.com is not a Wii fansite. It's not a WoW fansite. The only fansite here is for Guild Wars. The rest is just fun discussion.

I was one-pixel away from Commander, but then Blizzard changed the way Battlegrounds worked. I didn't like the new system. I didn't like the idea behind the first expansion. With no lofty goals to motivate me, I lost interest in the game. Playing a Rogue was great fun. I was very good at it too.

Anyway, I was considering running a Lord of the Rings Fansite. Yet, the love here is for Guild Wars. So, I'm preparing for the sequel. I'm planning to lead the guild to victory once again!

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Michael Garofalo
Webmaster - http://photics.com

That's pretty cool, but with Anet deadlines their gonna be done when their done, and not a second sooner. Don't play LoTRo, it sucks, I played the open beta with my gameinformer magazine, and its just World of Warcraft with a music minigame and better storyline. Might I suggest Stargate Worlds beta?

With you being torn this way and that with arenanet, I think you should try a game that doesn't completely compete with Guild Wars. Stargate Worlds is going into a free beta in september, and theres really no harm in it. I remember you got into Guild Wars in free alpha, and look where that turned out. Although the Stargate alpha is friends and family of workers only, you should check out their beta, to see what a twitch-based combat plus RPG equals. No harm in dipping your toes in the water right? And why not start a command? (Thats Stargate worlds Guild system) It seems interesting don't you think? This is the official site: http://stargateworlds.com/

And this is the wiki with most of the information released on the game itself: http://www.stargateworldswiki.com/wiki/Main_Page


While I'm not currently a member of the Guild, I was a member of the alliance once, and I can tell you I am looking forward to joining you guys in guildwars 2. I hope you set up a command on StarGate worlds beta and not a game where we have to pay 10-15 bucks a month to play. (Although after beta stargate worlds is monthly of 10 dollars. )