Exactly my feelings, as i have stated before. I am far less addicted to LOTRO than i was to WoW. I wouldn't still be playing WoW if not for the guild i am in and the friends i have made.

When i got WoW, it sucked me in straight away, and didn't let go of me for months. LOTRO never did that, and already i have gone days without playing it, but it has made the time i do spend in the game alot more enjoyable. There is no rush to level and no feeling that i am missing out if im not playing constantly. I do not even feel any pressure to level up one character before playing alts.

Having finally got my hunter to 20 (5 skills at 40s each == ouch) i feel like the game grows on you, rather than providing the instant pull that WoW provided.

I am having a great time going at my own pace again, no doubt helped by my kinship being made up of current and ex WoW guildies with the same kind of idea.
 

Gah blogger needs an edit function on comments.

I find my play hours have not gone down, but they are now split between WoW and LOTRO, with LOTRO slightly behind WoW in over all time played.
 

I cut down on WOW hours before LOTRO, starting with BC. I was in no particular hurry to reach 70. Now, that I am 70 with my main and raid/instance less than before, I feel more relaxed. In between I weave hours of LOTRO for the fun of it. My relaxed attitude comes partly because I know there is no "endgame" yet for LOTRO as in BC, as it is clear that the world is not "at an end" yet. With WOW Classic you knew that the world was finished somewhat. With LOTRO I *know* that new regions will pop up, so there will always be a flow of new content which I can discover at my convenience, being a founder.

So, in total I play less, as the current raid scheme (my guild goes to Karazhan, up to Shade of Aran and I start some raids on Gruul now) is very relaxed and we intedn to keep it that way. LOTRO is purely played for fun, I sense no intention for "achievement" here. I pity the players who started LOTRO as bein AKES (Achiever, Killer, Explorer, Socializer).

Maybe worth some investigation which Bartle type preferres which game. My guess would be AKES for WOW and ESAK for LOTRO. WAR I think will attract KASE players, and AoC KSAE. What do you think?
 

LOTRO is not meth for WoW.

Here's how it works.

You always freak out with your first mmorpg, but not so much with future games. WoW was the first mmorpg for a lot of players, and they're simply not going to get hooked into LOTRO the same way they got hooked into WoW, because the shine has worn off.
 

Its possible that its true, that is only because we are all somewhat jaded with mmorpgs and as such play them differently.

Fact is I now also have a much more healthy and enjoyable addiction now. I play Lotro and I enjoy it. But I also have no problem playing some Football manager 07, every other night or so.

And if that being jaded, im all for it!

Although it will be fun to see what happens when Wow sucks me back in at some future point - will the frenzy return?

-zut, minstrel 18, laurelin
 

You always freak out with your first mmorpg, but not so much with future games. WoW was the first mmorpg for a lot of players, and they're simply not going to get hooked into LOTRO the same way they got hooked into WoW, because the shine has worn off.

This is how I think it is in general. Then it's of course depending largely on the players personality.
 

My WoW time was heavily reduced before LOTRO came out. Once I hit 70 I found I had no taste for starting the old raid slog again. I play less frequently and was considering quitting WoW altogether.

LOTRO came along like a breath of fresh air. I hadn't been looking forward to it as I thought my gaming buddies were not interested. But I decided to give the open beta a go (thanks to the client being on a magazine cover dvd) and found I really enjoyed it! Others in my gaming group also found the same and now we have a cozy little kinship in Middle Earth.

My play times are back up again, to about the same level as when I first started WoW (but less than when I was raiding all the time). I've got a level 35 Loremaster and am really having a great time...and when you have a good time you tend to play more.
 

I played my first character on WOW the same way that you seem to play LotR, Tobold.
I used to play maybe 3 or 4 times a week, I didn't join a guild because there was so much to do solo, and I wanted to explore and learn on my own. It took me nearly a year to lvl that character to 60.
Now I'm sure if I wanted to I could level the same character in a few weeks.
I think once you've seen all the content for LotR, you will join a Raid Guild (whether hardcore or casual, doesn't matter at this point), level alts while skipping all the mundane stuff, and feel the same pressure to acheive whatever atttunements/rep grinds they will impose for end-game.
Enjoy the new world in the meantime!
*Vlad*
 

I am spending fewer hours playing LOTRO than I did WoW. But then I spent even fewer hours playing WoW than I did EQ. I think it's a combination of my interest in the games themselves and myself getting more into a relaxed mode about gaming as the years go by.
 

I'm also spending less hours in LOTRO but that's intentional. I don't know if I was "hardcore" my last year in WoW, but I did raid with three characters. There were a few times I even agreed to complete a raid with one character then switch to another for a different raid. I was very active beta-testing TBC during the day on my days off if I had no other pressing issues then raiding at night. When I decided to go ahead and subscribe to LOTRO, it was with a more casual mindset. The Lifetime Membership actually does help, not having that constant monthly fee nagging you to get your money's worth. The game is new, more content will be added every few months, and I'm in no hurry to powerlevel through it all. It's a beautiful world Turbine has created, and I'd rather "stop and smell the roses" than rush to level cap then stand around wondering what to do next.
 

I'm also playing a lot less LotRO than WoW, but I was also playing a lot less WoW towards the end of my time there as well.

I think the reason for both is that the two games are so similar. Knowing how rushing in WoW got me to burn out, I find myself taking my time in LotRO.

It's a great game, but I'm almost glad that it hasn't latched its hooks into me too greatly yet. I want to enjoy it more and feel pressured less.

I fear though, that games like PotBS and G&H, as well as Conan... will bring out that addict in me again. :)
 

Oh, and another reason for me is that I've already been playing LotRO since last August, so it's not "new" anymore either. The double-edged sword of beta, as it were.
 

I've played CoH back before CoV came out. I was soooo into that game that when a friend suggested that I try WoW, I thought it was a silly idea. Then I tried WoW. I was hooked for about two years, playing 7 days a week for 2-3 hours a night.

Now I'm playing LoTRO. I still play about two hours a night, but sometimes I don't feel like logging in and I'll read or watch TV or interact with people. I can't pinpoint what it is that is so addictive (and frenzied) about WoW that doesn't seem to apply much to LoTRO. Maybe it's because the world in LoTRO is so detailed I can't just fly past things without taking a second to look at it.
 

They say that there is going to be a huge Raid in the new patch... so I imagine we will start to see a lot of racing to level then. One thing I have noticed with LOTRO is that I stay quite content and happy without grinding or feeling like I have to do an instance. The quests are really varied, and I even spend a lot of time exploring and farming. I never liked crafting in WOW. Once fishing and brewing are added, LOTRO will have infinite options to spend time without grinding. I often felt as if I had to play WOW longer to get things accomplished... like I had to wait for ever to get a PUG because I HAD to do an instance if I wanted to stay competitive or level or get decent gear...
 

Now I'm playing LoTRO. I still play about two hours a night, but sometimes I don't feel like logging in and I'll read or watch TV or interact with people. I can't pinpoint what it is that is so addictive (and frenzied) about WoW that doesn't seem to apply much to LoTRO. Maybe it's because the world in LoTRO is so detailed I can't just fly past things without taking a second to look at it.

I am in a similar situation. I have a very addictive personality (check out my gaming addiction post if you like) and have had many addictions over the years some bad, some not so bad. WoW was the worst. It was a mental addiction. The problem with WoW was that it seemed to rule my life. I was a very hardcore raider back in the day (we would complete MC, move straight into BWL, and then kill Ony all in the same day). Once some of the content became more difficult we backed off, but not much. Going into TBC I still had that very hardcore mindset (leveled to 70 in under week) and was attuned for KZ 2 days after 70. After doing all of this, I realized well into raiding KZ and Gruul, that the game was utterly running my life. It determined when I ate, when I slept, and when I did other activities with my friends and wife.

LotRO has been an amazing newness that I am currently loving. No real pressure to level to 50. I play or don't play as my choice. I can do a bit of soloing, maybe a touch of mineral farming, or run an instance with my kinship. I have my life back and I know it sounds silly that a game can take over your life. But that is what WoW did. The shine definitely has not worn off for an older (21+) gamer who has had his days of raiding and had his long nights of wiping.

Great post again, Tobold. Good comments everyone.
 

I don't think that LoTR is the new cure-all for WoW players. I think it is for people who now realize that they don't have to log in and raid for several hours. I used to raid AQ40/Naxx, but after I completely rerolled with the fiance, it has been a relaxed leveling atmosphere. We log in, kill a couple of mobs, finish a few quests and log off. Once in awhile, if we have a few hours, we'll run an instance. I play a lot less, but enjoy it more.

(On a side note, I tried the LoTR beta, the UI was too small, the text was too "scriptic" and it gave me a headache after 30 minutes)
 

Tbh I have no intention of switching to lotro as I think it could get me just as bad as wow. I like your blog btw and have linked to it from my wow blog - World of Wacraft Guru If you like mine I would greatly appreciate being added to your blogroll :) Thanks
Samownall
 

Yes, most definitely, I can't put my finger on the exact reason, but it is more relaxed, the pace of the game is just slower or something.
 

A couple of other commenters have pinpointed it for me: I don't feel compelled in LoTRO to do certain things like instances, unlike WoW. Also, with the lifetime membership, it's far easier to just enjoy the world - no real pressure to level unless you want to do that. That fits with my Bartle profile, which is primarily Explorer.

I'm really not sure how much of the general population in-game feels this way, however. The Shire is far less crowded than it was in open beta. I assume the bulk of players are in higher level areas.

This is a real surprise to me: I've had a few more encounters with "leet"ness and rudeness in LoTRO than I would have expected. I don't know if this is just coincidence, or may be due to the far smaller number of servers in LoTRO. I played on an RP server in WoW, and in the US, none of the LoTRO servers are officially designated RP.
 

Its not just a coincidence IMHO. LotRO appeals to an older age group I think. Noone in the current kinship I am in is under 18 and most of us are 25 and older. I rarely see l33t speak in ooc and "most" people if they see you going for a mine, branch, or other resource don't try to be rude and take it though it has happened to me a couple of times.

I decided to pay 6 months at a time and still feel its less of a burden due to it only being less than 8 bucks a month (founders fee).
 

My first MMO was Everquest, and I played it incessantly, for years. With each successive MMO, I've played fewer hours/week, and for shorter overall periods of time. The first is just so new and different and shiny, that any later game isn't going to have the same addictive quality, simply because it isn't the first.
 

I went from 2-4 hours of WoW to 1-2 hours of LOTRO to (right now) nothing. Take that as you will.
 

LOTRO is as hardcore as you make it. That's the difference right there. WOW forced you to be hardcore to be competitive. LOTRO gives you wiggle room and allows for you to spend your time how you wish to spend it. You can plan an hour a day and still accomplish something. You can play 10 hours a day and still have things to accomplish. It was designed that way.
 

I think it's a combination of a methadone effect, and a more relaxed game, with less pressure to level, min/max and hunt for that extra 2% advantage in gear needed to beat the next encounter.

But I'm certainly enjoying the transition from WoW -> lotro + more rl activities.
 

Typically one spends a bit more time in an MMOG initially when starting to play it; also the very first MMOG tends to get a bit of extra time.
I'm not sure how it seems many people felt a pressure to level up quickly in WoW, I can't say that I have felt any perticular pressure to do that - not in WoW or in general. Although I do wish that MMOGs in general would better accomodate that people might level/progress at different speed and still
want to play with each other.
So far only CoV/CoH has handled it quite well, of those games that have levels. EQ2 has mentoring, but that is not quite as good.

I see people level up quickly in LoTRO as well as in WoW. While I can't say I understand it, I think it is perfectly ok if people find that enjoyable.

As for hours spent - I probably spend just as much time as I spent in WoW on CoV/CoH+LoTRO - it depends more on what is going on in RL than what particular MMOG I might be playing.
 

For some, one of the reasons could be that there is no pvp in LoTRO like there is in WoW.

And last year, with the end of insane pvp ranking and High Warlord exclusivity, everyone who did not get Tier 1/2/3 could pvp and get comparable gear easily.

Maybe that broke much of the spell WoW had.
 

LOTRO is as hardcore as you make it. That's the difference right there. WOW forced you to be hardcore to be competitive. LOTRO gives you wiggle room and allows for you to spend your time how you wish to spend it. You can plan an hour a day and still accomplish something. You can play 10 hours a day and still have things to accomplish. It was designed that way.

Don't forget that WoW was pretty much like that while leveling 1-60 right after release too. That's what makes me wonder if LOTRO will be like WoW once you get to 50 also. Maybe all those traits will be a must to be competitive in PvMP so you have to grind them? Maybe you will have to grind some instances to get gear the same way WoW did/does it?

I don't know much about LOTRO's end game atm. But I'm just hoping that it will NOT be like WoW raiding at 50.
 

I remember the first time I played WOW 2 years ago. I played that game for 24 hours non-stop after I installed it. In 20 years of PC gaming, no game has ever hooked me like that.

The thing that really kept me going most was those new spells every 2 levels. The spells for the WOW classes early in the game are all varied and fun. Each new spell you get changed the way you played and added a powerful new weapon or fun new utility spell to your bag of tricks. And all of WOW's classes were completely different to play and they were all lots of fun.

Lotro I played for 3 hours the first time, then I went back to Catan on Xbox live. I play Lotro now for 1 or 2 hours maybe 4 nights a week.

Lotro's classes and skills are pretty boring for the most part. I was hard pressed to pick a class at first. Melee, Melee, more Melee, or Arrows..or a lute. None of the skills seemed very fun or exciting and none of the future skills down the line seem very fun at all. I guess they have their uses, but they all seem kinda lame. The Minstrel wil get a new song that slightly increases this or that. The Hunter will get a new stance that makes you not miss as much...woo hoo. The Champion gets a slightly more powerful swing of the sword. Etc. Etc.

I'm at the end of the free month, and I'm still playing if only because I like running around in Middle-earth. It's a really gorgeous game visually. It's soothing. But I really don't care about leveling because I don't care that much about the new skills. The change to the gameplay is usually so slight that it's not worth rushing to get it. Even after I ding (or "whoosh" in LOTRO) I don't really feel like rushing to go train.

Sticking religiously to Tolkien's lore is a double edged sword for Turbine. LOTRO's classes remain faithful to the books, but they just aren't as fun or addictive to play as WOW's toons. No crazy magic powers = no fun.
 

sorry to reply this late, but i think lotro is our rebound-girlfriend/boyfriend after having an intense relationship with WoW. we didn't expect Lotro to be the next-big-thing. it ain't revolutionary, new at all, and we are just getting a rest before the next addiction. so dunno if it's meth, more like rebound ;)
 

Well it's many things. WoW just demanded a lot of time if you wanted to raid sensibly. With the extension it became worse. So for me it was either spending even more time in the game (and get little reward for doing so) or do something else.

I actually didn't want to spend as much time on WoW as I did. It was over the edge for a good while, but it was managable.

For my current schedule I actually wanted to relax my time investment anyway, but with TBC going the other direction WoW just wasn't an option anymore. There was just not much casual-friendly stuff in endgame and almost no casual-accessible but full-fledged raiding to be had.

LOTRo is surprisingly entertaining, has leveling-style rewards and can be enjoyed little at a time.

But in the end there certainly is that coming off an addiction feel as well. I remember the day I decided to cancel my WoW subscription and it was a breath of fresh air. Finally relaxed shopping instead of rushing to the next scheduled raid with junk food on the side.

I think the TBC design and end-game woes (that might only this week be somewhat helped with a patch) helped a lot of folks recover.

The fact that LOTRo turns out to be actual fun while leveling only helps here. But I have to say I am still waiting for a real substitute, maybe Hellgate London, maybe the Red 5 MMO, but the latter doesn't even have a name yet.

And I hope that they are interesting yet made in a way that people with a life can still enjoy almost all of it. That isn't really true for WoW TBC, even after the upcoming patch.
 

Very interesting question. I think the "you never feel the same way about your 2nd (3rd, 4th, etc) MMO" has some truth to it, because I'm experiencing the same thing, except my hardcore addicted MMO was City of Heroes, not WoW.

I'm loving LoTR and don't miss CoH, but I am also nowhere near as compulsive about playing every day as I was with CoH.
 

I played WoW from its first release till last night. It was a very nice feeling leveling my first char to 60. Mainly soloing (hunter). At first year Wow was really nice, community in game was helpfull, no farmers.. But when the game got overcrowded, and those holy Barrens wars are disbanded, people more likely began to play the game for just greed, Greed to get more items more money, to show people how powerfull they were, to show people how noobs they were... I could not resist to take Burning Crusade, but after 3 months, game started to feel boring.. You were just playing to reach level 70 or just playing to grind money or item in instances, with no fun at all if you make a little mistake in party. No Chuck Norris chats, no Leeroys. Now I purchased (in shipment) LOTRO to see if i could get that first year glimpse of Wow. Will see..
 

Theres a pretty simple observation. WoW has a majority of its progress revolving around wasting a but-load of your time. Whereas in LOTRO you can jump in, make progress, feel like you've made progress, and logoff. Theres not the sense of 1200 things you need to get done and having to level up to enjoy playing. You enjoy playing and just level as you play.

I really wish someone would have told me how much better LOTRO was for wasting time than WoW a long time ago.
 

I think the PvP aspect makes a big difference because there is less of a need to be "leet". That is, you aren't getting your ass kicked by other "leet" players who have nothing better to do than to attack the non-"leet". That said, maybe things will change if I venture into the PvP aspect of the game as my char is only at level 35 now.
 

Cool blog - LOTRO was my 1st MMO and im totally hooked - im in a great guild, made heaps of friends and sooo feel the pressure to reach the level cap - close now :) My guild loves a good rift raid and you cant really join it if lower than lv 50 - so the pressure is there - but if you are not as competitive as me then there is heaps to do besides raid!

Every1 is so helpful on LOTRO - thats what I love and helping others, rather than hold you back, makes the game so much more enjoyable i think :)

Lv 43 Loremaster, Eldar
 

When I first started LoTRO I was crazy about lvling my champion. I felt that the lvling system was a lot smoother a nicer then wow. So I was happy to ignore a lot of the things i didn't understand and follow the 'kill 20 boars' quests. When I hit 40 the quests were either very tough and I couldn't get a group for, or were just too boring. Then I started a hunter and all of a sudden I enjoyed the game so much more. For the fist time I started to do deeds and do all the quests, not just the ones I was interested in.
Deeds helped tremendously as they were relaxing and often rewarding. I lvled a lot quicker then my champion and felt that I had experienced more. Even when I got to the tougher regions I was a lot more relaxed and did deeds while waiting for a group.
I think LoTRO worked really well in emersing you into the world so much so that you wanted to experience every facet of the game.
 

I used to play WoW, but I quit as it was getting a bit boring and dull and there felt like somthing was missing. I have noticed though since I started playing LOTRO as an altenative that I don't need to play for as long to feel I'm satisfied by it. In Lotro, the game makes you feel like you've acheived somthing in a shorter space of time and its alot more relaxed than WoW. I often find myself looking at scenery in lotro while i travel and it feels alot more immersive than WoW. It dosn't draw you in as much.
 

I used to play WoW, had 1 lvl 70, 1 lvl 55, and loads of lvl 30-45s...my play time was ridiculous. Me and my RL friends were hooked. i eventually saw how pathetic it was to even bother playing anymore, as end game raiding had gotten very dull and so had lvling.

i started playing lotro, was never pushed by anything or anyone to rush to the lvl cap and was able to take it slow and enjoy everything as it came.

I've tried to tell my RL friends this, but they still claim they aren't addicted to WoW... ^^
 

LOTRO whas my first MMO. I'm 22 and I wanted to play WoW to check what the fuss whas all about, but then heard of LOTRO since i'm a LotR fanboy i decided to wait for that. I bought it on release day and whas hooked. However it whas still very controllable but still felt great need to lvl. After few months of LOTRO i thought let's give the WoW trial account a try. I've only spent 1 hour playing after i thought my god even if you play this game 24/24 I still don't feel satisfied. So my thought is idd the seconde MMO has less addiction potential. But overal i still really felt WoW to be a hardcoreplay or noplay game.
 

The main differnece is that LOTRO has content (story, legends, places, history, legends,....) thanks to Tolkien) which gives you satisfaction and fun even if you are not ultra-mega lvl. If you like Tolkien and his books you will be amazed just by visiting Old Forest, Amon Sul, Rivendal ore one day Helm's Deep.
LOTRO can be interesting even for older generations.

WoW is pure competitive game which makes you pleasure just if you are stronger, better equipped or trained than others - it is whole motive there. It has very thin background, normal for the game but poor to the Tolkien world, to keep you interested in anything than just leveling.

I do want to say that on is better, just there is different approach.