Many thanks to Tobold for refocusing on LOTRO; better him than me is sort of the attitude I’m adopting. As someone around the ’sphere said recently, since I’m not preordering I’m basically never going to play. That cheaper rate would be awesome, and I couldn’t ever pay a higher one knowing that others are paying less. It’s cool though, because one of my favorite MMOGbloggers is taking on Bree and the Shire for me.

With the Beta not even over yet, his commentary on monster play already has me looking forward to further adventures.

Now this being the beta, and there being no level 50 player characters around, I couldn’t really test the PvP. But that doesn’t mean there is nothing to do in the Ettenmoors, the PvP zone. There are numerous PvE, or should I say MvE, quests that have you kill mobs or NPC guards. Each quest rewards you with some destiny points. But it quickly becomes obvious that the most points could be gained in a raid on one of the numerous castles on the map. That is where most of the PvP action will take place later. The castles are defended by NPC guards, but with players from both sides around it would be more fun. 

I still wish you could play ‘evil side’ as a matter of course, but this sounds like an interesting substitute.