Before I began playing an MMO seriously, I could never understand why people would want to keep up multiple characters on one account. While it seemed cool to explore different classes or races, the amount of time required to get five level seventy characters in a game like World of Warcraft seemed ridiculous. It just didn’t seem wise to spend all your time on one game. However, I soon learned that there may be a more moderate way to experience a different race and class. Alternate characters could have other uses.

I was surprised when my Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO) buddy suggested that I make an alternate character. I was quite satisfied with my initial multiplayer experience as an elf lore-master, and I didn’t understand why I would need to build up a new character. However, the crafting system is quite extensive in LotRO, so it made sense to spread out crafting trades among characters to maximize resources. Also, there were times where I wanted to play but couldn’t without getting ahead of my friend, so an alternate character would provide a way for me to play when I felt like it.

I created a woman captain for my new character. I chose to play as a captain because I could summon a human companion similar to the “pet” I summoned as a lore-master. Just the idea of having another person beside me as I fought was comforting, even if I knew that he was just a simple minion.

One of my favorite aspects of LotRO is the fantastic opening instances. When I began playing as the woman, I got to see the beginning instance for human characters. It included some fun gameplay, such as setting things on fire. I loved how I was thrown into the action instantly, not babied through a tutorial. I felt that the town I was in desperately needed my help. The scripted events that I experienced alone made it feel all the more personal. This adventure was truly my own, and I had begun a new adventure.

Playing solo was a fun challenge for me. There was no waiting around for other players and I could complete quests however I wanted. I had to develop new strategies, especially in crowded areas. Unfortunately, as I progressed to higher levels, I realized that LotRO is a game that encourages fellowships. The sense of freedom I had was replaced by a sense of limitation – without a fellowship, I couldn’t complete certain quests. LotRO does have a great chat system and a strong network of people willing to help, but you can’t always find someone to help you with every quest at any given time of day.

I have enjoyed my experiences as a solo player, but it does seem that the game is much more rewarding to those who take the effort to quest in fellowships. Fellowship quests have fantastic rewards, such as great armor or weapons. With a fellowship, you can work through quests faster but experience from fighting enemies is split among your allies. Solo progress seems much slower, since experience is gained faster when completing quests than when defeating enemies. The game does have certain ways of balancing this, such as weapon and armor crafting systems and the relative ease of finding random fellowships through the “Looking for Fellowship” chat channel. I still enjoy LotRO as a single-player experience, but I feel that, as an MMO, it is truly most rewarding in the company of friends.