LotRO is largely doable with just a duo. There are a few main-storyline quests here and there that yes you'll actually want more than that (if it's a "small fellowship" you can usually do okay with just two, especially if one of you has pets, but "large fellowship means at least 3, usually 4 or more). But usually those aren't too hard to pick up enough extras to do them.
You might poke around on the forums a bit first and see if there's any one server in particular that has more RPers on it than another. If you can find an existing kinship (household/group/guild/whatever you want to call it) that's fairly active, even better, because that's a ready pool to hopefully grab extras from for those fellowship-required quests now and then. One interesting thing about LotRO is that there's an "I'm an RPer!" flag you can set on yourself, that turns your name white (from the normal player-yellow). As a non-RPer, I can guarantee it means people tend to ignore, as opposed to abuse. :)
Russ and I have two level 60s idling over at the end-game content waiting for the Mirkwood expansion to come out, and we largely got there just as a duo. Mind you, we ARE stuck behind one of the epic storyline quests that requires a fellowship, but we also haven't done a great deal of looking for a third or fourth person to help us with that quest either.
Most of the "raid" stuff requires a full group of 6 or 8 or even 12 (depending on the raid), but those are entirely optional things, and I've never done one. In the Mirkwood expansion they're introducing "skirmishes", which are smaller-group battles in which you get to control some NPCs as well, which sounds interesting.
If you're looking for options, I recommend Guild Wars. For the longest time, I didn't think I'd like it, then I tried it and I enjoy it a lot better than I every enjoyed WoW. It's really good for casual play. You don't need to put up with asshats in any situation if you don't want to (especially if you turn off local channels in town). After the really easy prologue zones, you can flesh out your party with a NPCs if you don't have enough players, so there's no pressure to constantly find full groups (group size ranges from 2-8). Each class feels (to me) different and unique in ways that WoW didn't, and I think combat is more exciting to watch while you play -- some classes have different animations for almost every ability and the animations all look veeeeeeeeery smooth and clean. The lore is extremely rich and well-developed, especially for a setting made up just for this game. The game itself is gorgeous and doesn't use much in the way of computer resources for how good it looks. I'll put some screenshots below.
I know you said you're looking for something probably not RP oriented, but I don't know what the RP scene is like in GW. I also haven't actively sought out RP. I have heard there's a reasonable RP community. In any case, the game also allows good play with just a group of friends or a significant other.
It also has a really, really good story for an MMO, and it's built to put you, the players, front and center. Think the epic feel of Wrathgate, except that's how the whole main story of each Guild Wars campaign works. You go and do the mission and you get into a cutscene after, and some of the cutscenes are incredible. You flee to safety from hordes of enemies, reach places nobody else has reached, perform heroic feats -- it feels like you're a real part of the story in ways that WoW never did. The campaigns also run for a long time and there are enough quests and missions to give hours and hours of gameplay.
Here are a few screenshots I took from various zones so you can see some of the game.
Ooh that does look gorgeous. I'll put it on the list for "look at after LOTRO." I have a permanent account in LOTRO that I haven't even *touched* though (bought it in a fit of whimsy after the beta) so I kind of want to use it and explore that game.
Drop me a line if you guys do play :) I don't get much game time during the semester because of BUSY but I usually play a little every day during break seasons.
Brad's pretty good at finding other group members, too, so I'm fairly hopeful about getting to go through all of the book content. I've decided to settle on Vilya since the logrus peeps are there, and maybe make an alt or two on Landroval, the "unofficial" RP server. For my PVE fun, I'd rather hang out with friends which I know is possible, than try to arrange for RP in an MMO, which is always chancy at best.
You might poke around on the forums a bit first and see if there's any one server in particular that has more RPers on it than another. If you can find an existing kinship (household/group/guild/whatever you want to call it) that's fairly active, even better, because that's a ready pool to hopefully grab extras from for those fellowship-required quests now and then. One interesting thing about LotRO is that there's an "I'm an RPer!" flag you can set on yourself, that turns your name white (from the normal player-yellow). As a non-RPer, I can guarantee it means people tend to ignore, as opposed to abuse. :)
Russ and I have two level 60s idling over at the end-game content waiting for the Mirkwood expansion to come out, and we largely got there just as a duo. Mind you, we ARE stuck behind one of the epic storyline quests that requires a fellowship, but we also haven't done a great deal of looking for a third or fourth person to help us with that quest either.
Most of the "raid" stuff requires a full group of 6 or 8 or even 12 (depending on the raid), but those are entirely optional things, and I've never done one. In the Mirkwood expansion they're introducing "skirmishes", which are smaller-group battles in which you get to control some NPCs as well, which sounds interesting.
And it is GORGEOUS. :)
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I know you said you're looking for something probably not RP oriented, but I don't know what the RP scene is like in GW. I also haven't actively sought out RP. I have heard there's a reasonable RP community. In any case, the game also allows good play with just a group of friends or a significant other.
It also has a really, really good story for an MMO, and it's built to put you, the players, front and center. Think the epic feel of Wrathgate, except that's how the whole main story of each Guild Wars campaign works. You go and do the mission and you get into a cutscene after, and some of the cutscenes are incredible. You flee to safety from hordes of enemies, reach places nobody else has reached, perform heroic feats -- it feels like you're a real part of the story in ways that WoW never did. The campaigns also run for a long time and there are enough quests and missions to give hours and hours of gameplay.
Here are a few screenshots I took from various zones so you can see some of the game.
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw050.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw048.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw039.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw012.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw032.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw026.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw097.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw091.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw128.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw125.jpg
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i238/kaitou-kage/wowscreens/gw075.jpg
Also, most of the UI is movable so you can set it up however is most convenient for you. :)
Definitely worth a try (I know there's a free trial on the NCSoft site) and the no monthly fee is always a plus.
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