The Angry Raider

Last night my fiancee decided to log in to Lord of the Rings Online and run her Loremaster to Rohan, a zone in the game that figures prominently in the book. Things didn’t work out the way she had hoped, and this is what she had to say:

I’ve been playing Lord of the Rings Online casually for about 5 months. There is a lot to like about the game and when I get into it, I really enjoy it.

One of the things I love about it is how immersing and huge it is. I’d open the map and see all the different zones in the game, and think about how I couldn’t wait to be high enough level to get to some of them. My favorite area in The Lord of the Rings books and movies is that of Rohan. I love the people from there, I love the way it looks. I’d open my map in the game and dream about when I’d be high enough level to go there. I wondered if all the characters that I know and love would be there, like Theoden, Wormtongue, Eowyn. I wondered if it would be as beautiful as it is in the movies; perched up high, overlooking the rolling hills, the beautiful snow-capped mountains in the back. I couldn’t wait.

So tonight I asked my kinship if it would be possible for me to run from Bree to Rohan. I thought I might die a few times, but I wouldn’t mind. Instead, they told me that the zone isn’t even open yet; that they’re saving zones to make into new expansions. My heart just sunk, and I had to turn the game off. I don’t think I even want to play it anymore. People in my kin thought that it might be out by next November, an entire year from now; they’re just preparing to release the Moria expansion, and that if it follows the logical order of the books/movies, Rohan might be available next year. I just feel so sad and let down. I had no idea that those zones weren’t open. I have no desire to play the game at this point.

People find different things disappointing. Some folks leave because of nerfs to their class. Others quit because they didn’t get an item they had been grinding for. And still others leave because what they want most from the game is not offered to them.

What makes you leave an MMO?