Customer Reviews

The Lord of the Rings: Mines of Moria Collector's Edition

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Apparently my first review was either too harsh or had some bad keywords. Here's a second try:

Please Note: I'm reviewing the Collector's Edition vs. the Standard Edition of the Mines of Moria. I'm *NOT* reviewing the actual Game-Play as I've barely had any time in game with this Upgrade to Lord Of The Rings Online (LOTRO) and everything so far seems to be toward bettering of gameplay and addressing many long running desires for players.

On to the review of the Collectors Edition:
The box itself is decent: It has a magnetic clasp to keep it shut and it almost looks like an oldish leather book on your shelf. But not quite.

The "collectibles" are the reason anyone would buy this over the standard edition, so let's get to them, shall we? And yes, I'm making air quotes for anyone keeping track. Oh man... awfulness doesn't even begin to describe it. The One Ring is mass produced on the cheapest of equipment. Mine has a rather large bump in one spot, probably left from the casting and not milled smooth. The script on the side leaves much to be desired. It does have text on the outside as well as inside, but the forging process which created it leaves the text looking blocky and amateurish. The "gold plate" was laughable and I'm sure it's the lightest of coatings. Don't even consider being able to wear it (Ummm... I wasn't going to, I swear!) because it's far too small for all but the tiniest of fingers and I'm willing to bet it cant be resized. The chain it came with was thin and cheap. At BEST, the overall feeling of this is as a clunky ornament that you won after playing $10 worth of skeeball at the carnival. Strike that... carny's usually produce better than this.

I don't know what I was thinking by paying more money than the standard edition, but I at LEAST thought they might come through on the map. Wow! I couldn't have been more wrong. Instead of a nice aged feeling map of Moria or Middle Earth on thick linen or similar material, you get a super-cheap ultra-thin piece of nylon cloth (like the cheapest bandanna at a discount store). It's so thin and the threads are so loose, you can literally see through it. Top that off with a modern feeling map of the Mines of Moria (not Middle Earth) silk screened on this thing, and you begin to feel my pain.

The ONLY, and I do me ONLY redeeming factor in this forsaken pile of fail is the artwork/Audio Combo. The artwork is actually pretty cool. It includes concept work from texture artists as well as paintings and sketches of Tolkien-inspired scenery and creatures. Maybe someone else will be more impressed with the audio. It's interesting, though.

The game itself I'll leave for reviewers who have been hammering LOTRO's new addition 8+ hours a day. But whatever you do, don't bother with this version. Unless you want about 30 pieces of artwork that are the same size as a CD Jewel box and some audio from the game, and are willing to part with your hard earned cash for the privilege, stay clear.

By the way, I've been playing since Beta, am a Lifetime Member and Founder. This isn't coming from some disgruntled Warcraft groupie. I truly hope that someone at Turbine reads this and reconsiders what it takes to make something worthwhile. If the quality and attention to detail put into the artwork, music and the case itself were used on the map and ring, I think I'd be a satisfied customer. As it is, I'm wishing I had waited.

I am a refugee from Lineage II. Loved that game but was more interested in crafting and questing and it just didn't offer enough of that. Then my Fiance introduced me to LOTRO.........can I say WOW! It's beautiful, detailed, and FULL of non-stop quests for every level character! Plus....I am in crafting HEAVEN! The Lord of the Rings story is by far my favorite, along with The Hobbit, so, needless to say, this new world is a welcome escape for me.

Now for the but......In the Collector's Edition box you get several free items to make the role-playing experience even better. It includes 2 maps - one is a poster, of Middle Earth, and the other is cloth. I was expecting a wonderfully realistic cloth map of Middle Earth, with great details, etc. However, what I got was a map of the Moria area, not very detailed or collector item worthy. Was very disappointed with it. The other items include: "The Ring" - gold-toned, chain included, fairly realistic, inside a small black velvet pouch; a Music & Art Collection book, with cd and pictures - small, hard back, pretty cool; a Starter Guide - small, paper back, and a MUST for the first-timers; the actual game download cd's - 2 discs sturdily incased in a cd sized set of sleeves; a poster of Conquer The World Beneath - approximately 13" x 30" in size, featuring a very large Balrog with a tiny back view of Gandalph making his stand against the monster, very colorful and detailed; your Product Key with 3 Buddy Keys - so your friends can try it for 14 days free; a Quick Reference Card - a guide to all the keyboard and mouse commands; and finally, it all comes in a sturdy, texturized box to keep all your goodies together.

Please, whomever put this collector box together, REDO the cloth map!! Make it of all Middle Earth with more detail and more realistic of a map from Middle Earth. Then send them out to all of us who purchased the box.

Thanks all for enduring my long review. It was a pretty satisfying buy on the whole. So if you don't mind a mediocre cloth map, and especially if you've never played the game, BUY IT!

I'll make this short. Lotro is probably one of the best MMO's I've played in years. All be the game somewhat of a collection of stuff from various mmos (allot from WoW), it does so and brings you the world of middle earth in a way LoTR fans have never seen before. As far as the box set is concerned, I would say that for the price it is great. You get a cloth map of the new region, a replica of "the one ring", an art book with soundtrack, and an additional in game token to turn in for unique items. I have seen mmo special editions that have cost much more and given you far less... Vanguard anyone?

(Note: This review is directed more towards gamers looking forward to the free-to-play transition of LOTRO, since long-standing players and registered paying members alike will very likely already have this expansion. If by some chance you have a subscription to LOTRO and don't yet have Moria, the points made below should still convince you to grab it!)

Having beta tested Lord of the Rings Online 3 years ago, I was excited to hear they were going to be adopting the same free to play model as Dungeons and Dragons Online this fall, with a similar 'tiering' scheme (VIP/Premium/Regular member). Looking at the LOTRO tiering scheme, however, I was rather disappointed to learn that regular players would only be granted ONE and only one character slot, though, like in DDO, you can purchase more for about $20 a slot (far too much imo). This led me to read more about the free-to-play system in LOTRO where I learned that Mines of Moria owners are granted 2 additional character slots permanently as well as access to all the moria content and legendary weapons. Additionally, amazon was now selling the collector's edition for $10 bucks which comes with 30 days free play, a somewhat okay Ring of Doom, a canvas map of Middle Earth and a cd soundtrack for the Mines of Moria expansion. Considering that when the game goes free I'll have 3 character slots and access to all the Moria content, the rest of the Collector's Edition was merely a bonus.

The Moria content also greatly expands the world of LOTRO and allows players to finally experience the result of the Dwarves 'digging too greedily and too deep'. From the dark staircase to Durin's Bane, the quests will add many hours to your LOTRO experience, so if you're like me and looking forward to playing LOTRO when it becomes free, this is the one expansion you'll want to have -- and with a trial account you'll get 40 days of play ahead of schedule and 5 14-day free play codes to give to your friends as well!

If you're looking forward to playing LOTRO when it goes free then don't hesitate!

I haven't seen a review of this game lately so for anyone that might be wondering, I'm happy to report that Lord of the Rings Online is alive and well and it just keeps getting BETTER! I'm not a LOTRO fanboy but I did come into this game with a love of the Lord of the Rings books and movies. I've played a number of MMOs including the wildly popular and massively populated WOW but I want to reassure anyone who might be on the fence about whether or not to try LOTRO to "come on in" the water is fine. In fact, graphically and storywise everything in this Tolkien inspired world is fine. The folks at Turbine have worked very hard both technically and creatively to make your stay in Middle Earth an exciting and rewarding experience. When you purchase the Mines of Moria Collectors Edition you are getting the original game Shadows of Angmar, the Mines of Moria expansion, and a number of extras including a cloth map of Middle Earth, 3 helpful in-game items, and a soundtrack CD. The price of admission for this opportunity to experience first hand the hills and dales of the Shire and all of Middle Earth is a pittance. Really, unbelievably cheap for a Collector's Edition box game. Buy 2! Then you need only add the recently released award winning Siege of Mirkwood expansion to bring your game experience up to date. Be ye a quester, jester, crafter, or bard there is something in this game for just about everyone to love and best of all Turbine continues to supply LOTRO players with new and tasty content. For those who care about the longevity of their MMOs I believe LOTRO has long legs with a long and exciting road ahead. Another plus to consider when choosing this MMO is the LOTRO players themselves. I've found them to be quite a friendly and helpful fellowship of hobbits, elves, dwarves and humans. A couple of things to keep in mind if you are thinking about playing this game. There is a downloadable 10 day free trial available on the LOTRO website so you can try before you buy. Also, the game world is large and quite visually stunning which requires some computing horsepower to run at its highest settings. LOTRO was made to run on a host of differently configured PCs so for the best look and playabilty you will want to tweek the game's graphics settings to your own tastes. One last thought, if you do play LOTRO and fall in love with the game like I did, Turbine offers a lifetime subscription option. Take that Blizzard!

T.Hassler has it right. This special edition was a waste of a lot of money I could have put towards something more important. Like school. And when I would rather pay for school than a Collector's Edition of something, you know it has to be bad.

My ring was ok, not great, mind you. I got similar quality rings during the LOTR craze when the movies were released.

The map was a total disappointment. The only thing it will be good for is as a liner to the box it came in.

The art book was the biggest problem for me. It was TERRIBLE. Art books are the whole reason I order special edition ANYTHING. The book was the same size as a DVD case, and only had about the width of a jewel case worth of actual pictures. The other part was a disc of pictures. When I want an artbook, I'm talking something the size of a Dungeons and Dragons game book, not a manual for a PS2 game.

Lastly, the fancy little box that the "regular" edition came in was not included. The DVDs were in paper sleeves and loose in the box. Half the collector's edition box was filled with a cardboard insert to hold everything in place. Some of that space could have been used by including the whole box rather than just the discs.

I have a Life Time membership, but I've been playing other games rather than this one, not because I don't like the game, but because I was so disappointed by wasting $80 on a cardboard insert and some Made In China toys that I am not motivated to play anymore.

When I ordered this package, Amazon was offering them at $[...] each. This was a good deal, as the package includes a 30 day pre-paid game time. With LOTRO going Free-to-Play (F2P), this became a 30-day period as a VIP player, which allows you to avoid some of the limits on a normal F2P account. And it gave you permanent access to Moria, a major section of LOTRO that would otherwise have a cost to buy. Note that the Moria content itself is Level 50 and above, so it's not beginner or front-end content - and most folks will not get to Level 50 in 30 days (a real hard-core MMO player could)! I later ordered 2 more of these packages at $[...] - unfortunately for me, Amazon told me they could not get the $[...] packages and they cancelled my order. After over a month of waiting. And while other possible sources dried up. I was not amused.

At $[...], I'm not sure this represents much (if any) savings from buying the Moria content in-game. If having a 'ring' and a nice box has special value to you, go for it. If not, check out the options to buy the content in-game - it's possibly cheaper than buying this package at the current price plus shipping. The CD is worthless - you'll have to download so many patches to the version in the box (circa 2008 or so) it'll be about as quick to download the entire game.

The game itself is a blast. There are so many different levels to get involved with, after almost 3 years in-game, I'm still finding new things. LOTRO is an entrancing graphic experience and a complex, multi-layer gaming experience that you can enjoy in many different ways. You can enjoy it as a direct combat game in a lush graphic environment or delve into crafting, the Auction House (saved me a bundle versus eBay!) and other nuances of the game as deeply as you'd like. I can highly recommend Lord of the Rings Online as an excellent MMO.

Ordered this from Amazon over a month ago. They had a very long delivery schedule, but OK. I'm willing to wait. I had 3 copies on order for myself, a friend, and my wife. We waited while our other friends simply bought theirs from other distributors or in brick and mortars. Today (around the time it was supposed to have arrived) I get notified that the order has been canceled due to a "lack of availability from our suppliers." Funny, it seems to be in stock, just at a MUCH higher price than it was when I ordered it over a month ago. Amazon if you have a pricing error, just TELL ME UP FRONT so I'm not sitting around like an idiot waiting for you to never come through.

The game is okay for an MMO. Way more fun than trying to get anything from Amazon.

The game is fun to play, the graphics are appealing enough for an MMO and the sound/music are above par but the extras in the collectors edition were rather lack luster - even the box itself screams "cheaply made".

Turbine got it right with Lord of the Rings Online. This is a highly polished game that makes excellent use of the LOTR license. If you're looking for an alternative to WoW, or just want to try something different, give this game a shot. It is now available as Free-to-Play, so you don't need to pay anything to get started.