Had two friends convince me to join them on this adventure. This was my first MMORPG and I was always reluctant to try them. Probably reverence for addiction, which my parents hammered into my brain from the start. Anyway, the combat really did suck, and I don't think I'll ever really enjoy this kind of MMORPG combat. Probably didn't help that I chose the bard class, playing the same melodies on repeat, to my rapidly decreasing sanity. We played for a hundred or so hours, then we hit a wall with this "Heading West" quest where we just got wiped time and again, and didn't specifically know where else to go. How fortunate, for I was itching to quit from the beginning.

Played on and off since I was a kid, my favorite MMO and it probably always will be. Most recently began again on Steam and play it as a relaxing de-stresser and it works wonders. Middle Earth is gorgeous, lovingly crafted, the quests while simple are just the perfect LOTR hero fantasy, the distinct races and beginning locations help switch things up too, and there are some memorable highs here, especially in expansions.

Playtime here is just the Steam version, many more hours were spent by younger me on this game.