I'm Too Old for LotRO

[Loulit01]

I've played Lord of the Rings Online for many years. It's huge. I mean it's HUGE, huge. It's complicated. It's expensive. They keep changing things I've spent a lot of time and money on. It's become too much.

I wanted a more basic city or castle builder that you buy once and get the whole game. So I tried Stronghold: The Definitive Edition on Steam. It's okay, but it's broken up into missions or campaigns. You start all over every time.

I'm looking for a city or castle builder where you start from scratch then keep building and expanding from where you started. I tried Forge of Empires but it's very repetitive and it's old looking. I don't want a browser game.

Looking for an open-ended strategy PC game that I don't constantly need to pour money into. After I buy it I might be okay with a monthly fee like LotTRO,, but not a pay to win thing.

I've been researching but there's a zillion games out there,

 

[OrphanSlug]

That is a tough one, so many are free to play but pay to win type games that it very well may be repeats of your experience with Lord of the Rings Online. If you find one, share it with us as I may join you.

 

[Redress]

I've played Lord of the Rings Online for many years. It's huge. I mean it's HUGE, huge. It's complicated. It's expensive. They keep changing things I've spent a lot of time and money on. It's become too much.

I wanted a more basic city or castle builder that you buy once and get the whole game. So I tried Stronghold: The Definitive Edition on Steam. It's okay, but it's broken up into missions or campaigns. You start all over every time.

I'm looking for a city or castle builder where you start from scratch then keep building and expanding from where you started. I tried Forge of Empires but it's very repetitive and it's old looking. I don't want a browser game.

Looking for an open-ended strategy PC game that I don't constantly need to pour money into. After I buy it I might be okay with a monthly fee like LotTRO,, but not a pay to win thing.

I've been researching but there's a zillion games out there,

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™

Embark on an epic adventure in Middle-earth's Fourth Age with 'The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™' game. Join a company of Dwarves to reclaim the lost treasures of Khazad-dûm. Explore, craft, and survive in a procedurally generated Dwarven realm. Immerse yourself in J.R.R. Tolkien's rich...

www.returntomoria.com

 

[Ug make hammer]

Pay to Win is just the most obscene example of Pay to Play. In either case, you're parting with money for the illusion that you're good at the game, just because you devote time to it.

Play chess. It's brutally fair: you win if you're good, you lose if you're bad.

 

[Loulit01]

Pay to Win is just the most obscene example of Pay to Play. In either case, you're parting with money for the illusion that you're good at the game, just because you devote time to it.

Play chess. It's brutally fair: you win if you're good, you lose if you're bad.

I play on Chess.com

 

[Loulit01]

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™

Embark on an epic adventure in Middle-earth's Fourth Age with 'The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™' game. Join a company of Dwarves to reclaim the lost treasures of Khazad-dûm. Explore, craft, and survive in a procedurally generated Dwarven realm. Immerse yourself in J.R.R. Tolkien's rich...

www.returntomoria.com

All underground and dark...

 

[Loulit01]

Civ VI looks good but expensive. Wow.

I can get the Civ VI Platinum bundle for $79. That's not bad if there's no monthly fee.

 

[Superfly]

Nothing turns me off a game quicker than being forced to pay to play, or play to win.

 

[OrphanSlug]

Civ VI looks good but expensive. Wow.

I can get the Civ VI Platinum bundle for $79. That's not bad if there's no monthly fee.

Civ VI is expansive and involved and a longer term game to play but I would not consider it open world, there are expansion packs for the game but there is no monthly fee nor a pay to win set up.

 

[Loulit01]

Civ VI is expansive and involved and a longer term game to play but I would not consider it open world, there are expansion packs for the game but there is no monthly fee nor a pay to win set up.

Oh, good. Civ VII will be out in a few months so I'll wait for a deal on VI. The reviews are great.

 

[jmotivator]

I've played Lord of the Rings Online for many years. It's huge. I mean it's HUGE, huge. It's complicated. It's expensive. They keep changing things I've spent a lot of time and money on. It's become too much.

I wanted a more basic city or castle builder that you buy once and get the whole game. So I tried Stronghold: The Definitive Edition on Steam. It's okay, but it's broken up into missions or campaigns. You start all over every time.

I'm looking for a city or castle builder where you start from scratch then keep building and expanding from where you started. I tried Forge of Empires but it's very repetitive and it's old looking. I don't want a browser game.

Looking for an open-ended strategy PC game that I don't constantly need to pour money into. After I buy it I might be okay with a monthly fee like LotTRO,, but not a pay to win thing.

I've been researching but there's a zillion games out there,

Have you tried any of the newer games in the line of building management? There is/was an old game that pretty much started the genre called Dwarf Fortress (DF), but I think the graphics of DF would be a turn off... so here are a few in the genre that you may find enjoyable:

- Rimworld - A science fiction settlement manager where your random squad of humans is marooned on a planet filled with waring factions. Your goal is to build a base and defend it as well as raid neighboring settlements for gear. Difficulty almost guarantees you will eventually lose, but in the best way possible.
- Prison Architect - You build and maintain a prison, earn money, grow your prison, and try to keep all the prisoners alive... that deserve it.

Other than that, you might be interested in some of the games in the survival genre. These games drop you into a large unexplored map with the goal of finding food, gathering resources and building a base. My top three:

- Subnautica - Marooned on an ocean planet, you gather resources and build a sea base while you try to find a way off the planet. Not just a good game, it's one of the best games ever made.
- Conan Exiles - You take the role of a barbarian in the world of Conan. The goal is to gather resources, build a base and ... well.. "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women." (this game can be played multiplayer)
- Ark: Survival Evolved - Stranded on a planet dominated by dinosaurs your goal is to stay alive by building a defensible base and tame dinosaurs to work and fight along side you. (this game can be played multiplayer)

If CIV 4 looks good to you might I also suggest:

- Age of Wonders 4 - A Civ style game in a Lord of the Rings style fantasy world.

 

[Loulit01]

Thanks! Im' trying Civ VI now. We'll see how it goes.

 

[OlNate]

Have you tried any of the newer games in the line of building management? There is/was an old game that pretty much started the genre called Dwarf Fortress (DF), but I think the graphics of DF would be a turn off... so here are a few in the genre that you may find enjoyable:

- Rimworld - A science fiction settlement manager where your random squad of humans is marooned on a planet filled with waring factions. Your goal is to build a base and defend it as well as raid neighboring settlements for gear. Difficulty almost guarantees you will eventually lose, but in the best way possible.
- Prison Architect - You build and maintain a prison, earn money, grow your prison, and try to keep all the prisoners alive... that deserve it.

Other than that, you might be interested in some of the games in the survival genre. These games drop you into a large unexplored map with the goal of finding food, gathering resources and building a base. My top three:

- Subnautica - Marooned on an ocean planet, you gather resources and build a sea base while you try to find a way off the planet. Not just a good game, it's one of the best games ever made.
- Conan Exiles - You take the role of a barbarian in the world of Conan. The goal is to gather resources, build a base and ... well.. "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women." (this game can be played multiplayer)
- Ark: Survival Evolved - Stranded on a planet dominated by dinosaurs your goal is to stay alive by building a defensible base and tame dinosaurs to work and fight along side you. (this game can be played multiplayer)

If CIV 4 looks good to you might I also suggest:

- Age of Wonders 4 - A Civ style game in a Lord of the Rings style fantasy world.

Oh man... you actually recommend ark? What did this person ever do to you?? Lol

(I have around 9k hours in ark pvp... I've never loved a game i hate so much... lol)

 

[jmotivator]

Oh man... you actually recommend ark? What did this person ever do to you?? Lol

(I have around 9k hours in ark pvp... I've never loved a game i hate so much... lol)

Hahah! I've never played Ark in pvp, I can only imagine the frustration... and it was the imagining the frustration that kept me from playing Ark pvp.

I did play Atlas a bit, which is basically Ark, but massively multiplayer and with sailing and pirates. It's one of my favorite tales of woe in gaming.

 

[Peter]

Pay to Win is just the most obscene example of Pay to Play. In either case, you're parting with money for the illusion that you're good at the game, just because you devote time to it.

Play chess. It's brutally fair: you win if you're good, you lose if you're bad.

Yep, pay to win mechanics are the worst aspect of gaming.
One of the reason Baldurs Gate 3 has been so well received is the total lack of microtransactions and DLC.

You just buy the game and that's it.
It's odd that such a simple premise has become unusual.

 

[OlNate]

Hahah! I've never played Ark in pvp, I can only imagine the frustration... and it was the imagining the frustration that kept me from playing Ark pvp.

I did play Atlas a bit, which is basically Ark, but massively multiplayer and with sailing and pirates. It's one of my favorite tales of woe in gaming.

Lmao... yeah, the pvp survival life isn't for everyone. I got lucky and got in with a very competent crew, who taught me a lot.

Our biggest raid lasted three weeks, constant raiding between our clan and another. We had people in different time zones, so it literally was constant - we all worked, but there was always someone on somewhere around the world. We got em in the end... but it was definitely an emotional rollercoaster, not to mention a marathon of endurance, and we all needed a break from the game after that... lol

Still, it was pretty awesome being part of a raid of that magnitude, seeing every aspect of the game utilized, the planning it took, the back and forth. As much as Ark is a broken toxic game, I've never found another that offered the same experience.

 

[jmotivator]

Lmao... yeah, the pvp survival life isn't for everyone. I got lucky and got in with a very competent crew, who taught me a lot.

Our biggest raid lasted three weeks, constant raiding between our clan and another. We had people in different time zones, so it literally was constant - we all worked, but there was always someone on somewhere around the world. We got em in the end... but it was definitely an emotional rollercoaster, not to mention a marathon of endurance, and we all needed a break from the game after that... lol

Still, it was pretty awesome being part of a raid of that magnitude, seeing every aspect of the game utilized, the planning it took, the back and forth. As much as Ark is a broken toxic game, I've never found another that offered the same experience.

I played Atlas for a a short time. I joined a Twitch streaming-group-run clan. I started on a far away island, played basically solo for a few hours while I collected the materials to build a raft. I then sailed for a few hours to get to the clan's claimed island.

At one point I set ashore on a small island to gather food since I hadn't brought enough and when I came back out of the forest there was a small sail on the horizon.

I ran to my raft and got in back into the open sea but the other raft had the angle and the wind and he eventually caught up to me. The player shouted "China #1" in broken English and shot me.

That was the extent of my player experience in Atlas.

The other funny story is that the Streamer clan that I joined up with were a group of avowed Communists on Twitch who were stoked for weeks leading up to game launch about how they were going to establish a true communist system in the game. Ironically, while the Communist streamers in capitalist countries were trying to build a communist utopia in Atlas, the biggest faction on the server was the "China #1" clan who was actively claiming islands and selling them for real world money online... so the chief opponents were capitalists living in a communist country.

I found it all too entertaining to watch the Stream Clan fall apart. By the time I left, the streamers had named themselves the leaders of the group and had built a vault in the middle of the fortress that only they had access to where they kept all of the supplies. They then started adding quotas to all the non-streamer players for stone and thatch and ore, etc. etc. etc. to help them build the compound.. which you couldn't build in. While the fans all toiled on the island mining and cutting thatch the Streamer-leaders were off actually playing the game and storing all of their looted weapons in the vault when they returned.

It was truly the perfect micro study in communism!

 

[Loulit01]

Got a really good deal on Civ VI through Steam. I remember playiing the 1st Civ game on Playstation... it was like kindergarten compared to this. Addicting as hell.

I have the map set on the whole globe, the lowest possible levels, and I learned a bunch of stuff the hard way. The frustrating part is they won't let me declare war on anybody I want. They say I will suffer egregious penalties. I don't know what they penalties are, but I have Greece surrounded and am scared to attack. LoL

 

[Redress]

Got a really good deal on Civ VI through Steam. I remember playiing the 1st Civ game on Playstation... it was like kindergarten compared to this. Addicting as hell.

I have the map set on the whole globe, the lowest possible levels, and I learned a bunch of stuff the hard way. The frustrating part is they won't let me declare war on anybody I want. They say I will suffer egregious penalties. I don't know what they penalties are, but I have Greece surrounded and am scared to attack. LoL

This series of videos is by possibly the best Civ 6 player, as he explains a ton about the strategies of the game: