LOTRO: Are Beornings Justifiable as a Class?

OK, so I thought I was through with talking about beornings, but I keep seeing enough negative comments that I had to follow up. This will be the end of it until the class is actually released. I promise. Unless I change my mind. Anyway...

Many comments have focused on the fact that beornings are a seemingly small group and that they are a subset of the race or men, possibly even a distinct race altogether. Further, many of them assert that the beornings would not have been near the areas currently available in LOTRO and that all of this constitutes large holes being torn in the lore by the development team at Turbine.

Are the Criticisms Accurate?
In a word, yes. The beornings would seem to a be a specific population descended from Beorn, a notable character from The Hobbit, who are given some passing mentions in The Lord of the Rings. The available references would indicate the following about the beornings:

• they are excellent bakers, notable for their twice baked cakes made with honey
• Beorn was a "skin changer" able to change into a bear at will
• the shifting ability may or may not have been lost to his descendants
• they are busy defending the area between Carrock and Mirkwood 
• they are vicious enemies of the forces of Mordor

Anything Else?
Yes. In The Hobbit Beorn seems to have a meeting, while in bear form, with a large number of other bears. These may or may not be natural bears or other "skin changers" like himself. While the immediate inference may be that Beorn has the ability to summon and communicate with bears, it could just as easily be that he has summoned others like him, who may naturally be known according to the best known of their kind, Beorn. Thus beornings may not simply include his descendants, but perhaps an entire family of which Beorn himself was only the most notorious member.

What About the Geography Problem?
That's a good question. The beornings are said to be busy in the North between Carrock and Mirkwood and this is a long ways from the action in LOTRO. However, let's look at the other problems already present in the game:

Hobbits

• the hobbits are preoccupied with regular life in and around the Shire, until after the rangers have all left and dark forces begin to slowly filter in around the bounds. They don't begin to Take up arms as a group until The Scouring of the Shire well after the events of the War of the Ring. 
• there are exactly four hobbits (not counting Bilbo or Gollum) who are active in the War of the Ring; Frodo, Samwise, Meriadoc and Peregrin
• there are seemingly thousands of hobbit characters active in LOTRO

Dwarves

• the dwarven populations of Middle-earth are focused in Ered Luin, Erebor and the Iron Hills, with some further South in the Ered Nimrais, and would not be found in the central lands of the West of Middle-earth unless travelling
• while the dwarves of Erebor and the Iron Hills are drawn into confrontation with forces of Sauron there is only one directly involved in the events being followed in LOTRO; Gimli
• it would seem that dwarves are more popular than hobbits and have far more characters representing their race

Elves

• there are only four Elven populations left in Middle-earth that seem to be worth mentioning; Mithlond, or the grey Havens under Cirdan, Rivendell under Elrond, Lothlorien under Celeborn and Mirkwood under Thanduil. While Mirkwood seems to have ongoing issues, and Lothlorien repulses some attacks by the orcs during the War, no major force of elves is active in fighting the forces of darkness outside of their own lands
• Elves are a dwindling group in Middle-earth, with many of their number sailing into the West
• the sum total of elves active outside of their own lands: 3; Elladan and Elrohir (the sons of Elrond who travel with the rangers) and Legolas
• Elves are abundant in LOTRO

Your Point Being?
So what was I hoping to prove with all that? Simply this: Yes, beornings may represent come incongruities with the "lore", but no more than the other races (not to mention classes) already found in LOTRO.

The Reality is...
If the developers were to stick solely to the in-book-continuity, without any deviations whatsoever, the game would be a flop. Oh sure, there would be a lot of people who would come for the experience, but as a MMO it would be terrible. The only playable race would be men (unless you confined elves or dwarves to specific areas) and would be limited to only those events and places mentioned by Tolkien. If I'm not mistaken, there have been other games where you effectively play through as a member of the fellowship, alternating between characters depending on where you are.

The Other Thing...
I'm sorry to say this, but if you're so anally retentive about what's in the game then just don't play it. Don't comment in all the forums just trying to convince everyone how terrible the game is. Go write something better or design a better game if you like, or go even further and create something totally new. Enough with the endless criticisms about how Turbine continually fails to meet up to your stringent standards, either play it and make constructive remarks about plausible improvements to the game.

In the End...
Someone is always going to be unhappy about the state of just about anything. Maybe there's a good reason and maybe there isn't. Either way, Turbine makes the game to make money and that means making a game that's popular, not just geared to the hardcore purists. Those who aren't happy can either send detailed and well thought out imput to the developer team via email or just vote with their (metaphorical) feet and leave the game. As for teh rest of us, we will continue to enjoy a game that has been thoughtfully and meticulously put together to provide maximum appeal to both Tolkienites and the un-initiated alike.

LOTRO Upcoming Content for 2014-15

Today I want to continue looking at some of the announced new content from the letter from Aaron Campbell. If you missed it yesterday, or haven't seen it yet, here's the link: A-letter-From-Executive-Producer-Aaron-Campbell-April-2014

Yesterday I talked a bit about my thoughts regarding the newly announced beorning class, today I want to look at some of the new playable content, or "zones" of the game.

First off, props to Turbine for deciding to try and stick with the timing of the LOTR story rather than inserting a lot of extra content. Personally I think this will have two major positive effects, though there may certainly be others as well.

1. Tolkien fans should be happy as we will be progressing towards the truly epic portions of the war of the ring. Helm's Deep behind us, we now press forward through the paths of the dead and eventually the Pelennor Fields. We always knew (or at least assumed) that eventually we would be heading towards Mordor and now we have some confirmation that we are heading in that direction. After three expansions (Rise of Isengard, Riders of Rohan and Helm's Deep) and now three content updates (Great River, Wildermore and now Fangorn) focused on the story within Rohan, it will be nice to see some of Gondor at long last.

2. Those who have been doomsaying the end of the game should be reconsidering their prophecies. If we hit Minas Tirith in 2015, we will likely be seeing the Black Gate in either 2016 or 2017. Not only does that give us at least 3 more solid years of new story and content, but it leaves a number of undeveloped portions of the map left for post-Mordor adventuring.

Wouldn't that go outside of the lore of Middle-earth?
No. Those familiar with LOTR know that following Sauron's defeat with the destruction of the ring (I'm assuming I'm not spoiling anything for people here!) there is a number of events that tie up most of the hanging plot threads and the story is mostly peaceful (until the return to the Shire anyway). However, anyone who's ever taken the time to read the appendices in The Return of the King knows that King Elessar spends most of his reign rebuilding his kingdom and setting things right, which includes a lot of battles with remnants and rebels throughout the re-established realms of Gondor and Arnor.

This will open the possibilities of not only going to Northern Mirkwood and Wilderland, as well as (I hope) Erebor and Dale, but possibly even returning to places like Evendim and the North Downs. It would be amazing to see the sort of technology that allowed us to transform Hytbold letting us see a return to grandeur of these realms of the North.

3. We will be seeing either a new map system or a new map showing Gondor, Umbar and (possibly) Mordor. Personally, I always love to see new pieces of the map being filled in; and the LOTRO game world has become truly expansive. A few years ago I read somewhere that to ride (a standard steed) from Thorin's Hall to the Gates of Moria took around 45 minutes. I've never tried this, but I may someday soon try a ride from TH to Parth Galen. Middle-earth is getting to be a very big place in LOTRO.

The other stuff is what we would expect to see; lots with the army of the dead, a tour of West Gondor leading up to Osgiliath, etc, etc. and I'm prepared to wait until it's out before making any comments on that content.

We've just seen our first of three planned updates for the year, which means Middle-earth is going to be a busy place in 2014. Hope you're all set to enjoy it!

A Quick Note on Playing in Tolkien's World...

Alright, we get it. You consider yourself a Tolkien purist. You get offended at the slightest retouching of the LOTR story, you don't like any of the art that's been produced over the years and you're thoroughly ticked off at any "Middle-earth" game like LOTRO, Battle for Middle-earth, and others. And you absolutely hate it when someone adds to the world in some way. You have bought and read every volume of The History of Middle-earth in addition to The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and The Children of Hurin. As far as you're concerned, there is nothing else. Tolkien's world should be left in stasis, just the way it's creator left it.

The question is, have you actually read Tolkien's letters?

For example, in "A Letter by J.R.R. Tolkien to Milton Waldman, 1951", Tolkien states, "I had a mind to make a body of more or less connected legend, ranging from the large and cosmogonic, to the level of romantic fairy-story...I would draw some of the great tales in fullness, and leave many only placed in the scheme, and sketched. The cycles should be linked to a majestic whole, and yet leave scope for other minds and hands, wielding paint and music and drama." (emphasis mine)

It would seem that the man himself was in favour of having others add to his work, bringing many  of the seeds he planted to fruition in their own time.

Now, there are two groups of people who play in Tolkien's world; those who add to his world and those who edit his story, I'll give a few brief thoughts on both below.

First, to those who add to Tolkien's world: This would seem to be in keeping with the man's most profound desire for his world. From the artists who have shaped and sculpted Middle-earth and its many denizens into being over the decades, to those who have written fan fiction attempting to add subtle things to the world, Tolkien s' world has grown and I believe he would have been deeply flattered to see the great homage that has been paid to his work.

Secondly, those who seek to edit, to reinvent and twist what Tolkien created. These are people who are willing to take what has been made and remake it in their own image, so to speak. The end result is a product which is not Tolkien, although it may at times resemble it.

I will be blunt in my own opinion here. I put Peter Jackson's work, first in his Lord of the Rings film trilogy and then, more recently, in his film adaptations of The Hobbit, firmly in the second category. While I was willing to forgive much of the license he took in LOTR, his work on the Hobbit has been somewhere between insulting and disgusting and should not even bear the same name. For the sake of space I will not go into details on this further, but I suspect most of you know what I mean. The work, and indeed the world, is no longer Tolkien's, but Jackson's, and the gulf between them has grown wide.

Lord of the Rings Online, or LOTRO, is a very different animal in this regards. It has sought to be as accurate as possible in it's portrayal of the War of the Ring storyline, while making adjustments to the world to allow an assortment of diverse classes to exist in the game in such a manner as to allow players to interact with that central story, but without altering it, at least more than would be necessary.

In short, I believe that LOTRO has been quite faithful to the world Tolkien created, at least as much as can be expected of a Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game, and while I may not agree with every decision which the game developers and producers have decided upon, when I play I get the feeling that I'm in Tolkien's Middle-earth, not Turbine's and certainly not Peter Jackson's!

So while being a purist isn't a bad thing, per se, maybe it's time to draw a line between the purists and the obstinate, inflexible Fundamentalists who refuse to allow Tolkien's vision for his own world to exist. If you happen to be in that crowd, maybe it's time for you to move on to other games that you're a bit less...sensitive...about and let the rest of us continue to play in Tolkien's world.

LOTRO New Class Revealed!

So the not-so-long wait to discover the new LOTRO class is over; and the news is: Beornings!
Read the whole letter here: A-letter-From-Executive-Producer-Aaron-Campbell-April-2014

Am I surprised? Not really. In fact a few years ago, while I was musing on the current classes (and in the process of discovering the rune keeper and warden) it occurred to me that beorning would be perhaps the most obvious class to create.

Am I disappointed? A little. I suppose there's always a bit of disappointment when you've waited for something and then you finally get to find out what it is. But I guess I'm more apprehensive than disappointed, but its only my own fault. I have certain preconceived notions as to what a beorning would be like, and of course now the test will be to see how well the LOTRO reality matches with my own thoughts.

I am a bit disappointed though, and I mentioned this in an earlier posting back in March, with the fact that the beorning will only be playable by the race of man. This will give Men 9 playable classes while Elves have 7 and hobbits and dwarves will both be stuck at 5 out of 10. Oh well, I knew it was going to happen and all  can do is hope that maybe the next new class (if there is such a thing) will give me new reasons to play hobbits or dwarves.

Am I excited? Absolutely, and for a few reasons.

The game has seen a ton of new content over the past few years with Rise of Isengard, Riders of Rohan and Helm's Deep being released in successive years and with additional content being added intermittently with those. But as the levels and the content have been flowing in, Turbine has been working to streamline the classes a bit and to reduce the number of skills learned. This means that by the time you're level 85 there's really nothing new to look forward to other than some new gear. If you're one of those players who's run a number of classes up to a high level, well, things can feel a bit stagnant after a while. A new class every few years certainly helps freshen things up a bit.

Turbine has done an amazing job of having every class have it's own unique combat system; fervour for champions, battle ready and defeat response for cappys, gambits for wards, etc. So far the beorning has been described as "a light armor casting class with a focus on control of the battlefield. When a Beorning gathers sufficient rage, they may transform into a mighty bear" is somewhat exciting. Not only are shapeshifters almost always a fun class to play, but it sounds like the beorning will be a bit of a different take on the shapeshifter.

This may in turn bring some new excitement to tailoring, assuming that the beorning is a light armour class that has something other than will as it's prime stat. So far all of the light armour classes pretty much want the same thing, but hey, we'll have to see.

Of course this all means we'll be waiting with baited breath to see some concept art, and developed diaries and so on, ultimately waiting until we can play the beorning. Expect to pay a bit extra for the class though. It may be free for VIPs, but I doubt it, and definitely F2Ps and premium accounts will have to purchase it separately.
Will it flood the game with beornings? Yes, but only for a while and only in the starter zones. It will be exciting for most players to try out the new class, but most will want to keep up with their mains and the new content which will likely be released with the class, and of course there are a lot of toons who never make it into the Trollshaws, let alone Moria and beyond.

That said, we can expect to see some more action in EL, Bree and the Shire than we have in a while, so even if you don't decide to play a beorning (which, of course, you will) it might be a good time to catch up on some low level group play and relive your early days of LOTRO.

Am I Going to Play a Beorning? Does a beorning crap in the woods? (don't answer that) Probably. I have played every class to a fair degree and I find they all have something unique and desirable. The beorning is very likely to continue that tradition. Unless I feel it's overpriced I will likely get it as soon as possible. How much I play the beorning will in part depend on how much time I'm spending on my other toons to play new content at the time.

*Update*

I've been doing s a bit of reading on the forums and finally saw the comment I knew I would, basically calling the beorning a rip off of World of Warcraft. This isn't true for a number of reasons:

1. WoW didn't create shapshifters. In fact Blizzard (the company that produces WoW in case you live under a rock) used druids in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, but that wasn't unique either since shapshifting druids have been around for decades in Dungeons and Dragons. Of course as with so many other elements of fantasy culture, it all comes back to Tolkien, who introduced us to Beorn (who was explicitly mentioned as a shapeshifter) not in the 1950's with LOTR, but in the 1930's with The Hobbit. So no, beornings are not a rip off of anything from WoW but an original creation of J.R.R. Tolkien himself...who probably borrowed the idea from mythologies and folklore as he did so much else...

2. The classes are very different. Granted, we haven't seen the LOTRO beorning yet, but from what we have been told, they're not the same. For one thing the WoW druid can take on several shapes, including some which fly, whereas the beorning will only have two forms, man and bear.

Another difference is armour; while the beorning has been stated to be a light armour class, the WoW druid is a medium armour class.

3. The combat sounds a bit different. Anyone who has ever played a WoW druid traited as a bear would almost certainly not refer to it as a "casting class". It is, in fact, a rather boring (albeit useful) tanking class (and let's be fair, the beorning may have a trait line focusing on tanking as a bear, but isn't that what bears are for?).

So...no...definitely not a rip off.

New Content: Fangorn

So our first new post-Helm's Deep content was released yesterday with Fangorn Forest. I haven't been there yet but thought I'd share some preemptive thoughts anyway.

First off, it's nice to see things swerve away from Rohan a bit and to take a break from the central plot of LOTR (and yes, the ents marching on Isengard is a (vitally important) side story, being told in flashback in the books). I'm hoping that we can spend a bit more time wandering the world of Middle-earth without being driven through by the War of the Ring story.

Personally I'd like to see more, but Turbine has worked themselves into a bit of a spot here. While it would be possible to go do some questing in Northern Mirkwood, or even go to Dale or Erebor to help make preparations for the coming war with Sauron, now that Helm's Deep is over the lore only leaves about 2 weeks before the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Not that that's likely to stop anyone. After all, in the time it took the hobbits to make it to Rivendell we quested through Ered Luin, The Shire, Bree-land, the North Downs, Evendim, the Lone-lands and the Trollshaws. By the time we followed them into Moria we'd also done the Misty Mountains, Forochel, Angmar, and Eregion, and we still caught up to them in Lothlorien! So it's hardly beyond the realm of expectation that we might see some of the Northeastern parts of Rhovanion before we head to Gondor. The epic story? It's really more of a guideline...

Secondly, we need to give a tip of the hat for a revamp of the inventory system. It's been overdue for a while and it's nice to see some attention being payed to UI and not just to gameplay. I'd still like to see some sort of sorting option, but hey, you have to leave something for later, right?

Likewise with mail. Finally, I can send a complete set of gear to someone in a single mail instead of needing 5 or 6 or more. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Finally, the Anniversary event begins today. Go have some fun and celebrate LOTRO's birthday.

Also, for those who don't already have Helm's Deep, it's on sale in the LOTRO store this week. Grab it now while it's only half price.

LOTRO Back to Basics 102: Picking a Class - The Burglar

So here we are back at stage 2 of character creation; picking which class to pick.

If you're new to the game, odds are you haven't purchased the Mines of Moria expansion (MoM) or otherwise purchased the Rune Keeper and Warden classes, so you'll only have the seven core classes to pick from initially. If you'd like to start out with either a warden or rune keeper, there are a number of ways to purchase them, but at this point, there is no way to get them without paying either real money or using Turbine Points. Don't worry, there's lots to keep you busy in the meantime.

This will be more of an overview of character classes than any sort of guide. From time to time a class gets a revamp anyway, so we're just going to stick with the basics here and then give you some guidelines to help you pick.

Of course there's no reason to stick to just one class, and many players will run multiple classes to end game, level cap status. This is simply to get you started and help you avoid junking the whole game just because you made a bad choice early on, or maybe came in with a poor understanding of a class.

The Core Classes
These are the seven classes everyone has access to, regardless of account type or how much money you've spent in (or on) the game, in alphabetical order: burglar, captain, champion, guardian, hunter, lore master and minstrel.

The Moria Classes
Also known as the prestige classes, these were introduced with Mines of Moria, and since they won't always be "the new classes" and they're not particularly "prestige" I've chosen to refer to them as the Moria classes. There are two: the rune keeper and the warden.

To do even a brief overview of each class would take a significant amount of space, so I'm going to try to do one class per day (maybe two if I get ambitious) just to give you an idea of what to expect.So today we start with...

Burglar 

Burgs rely on stealth, positional damage and tricks (or gambles) to take out their foes. They have abilities that allow them to stun, daze, knockdown and slow their enemies, as well as being able to fall without taking mobility penalties. Think of them as the Jedis of Middle-Earth. They dual wield one handed weapons and are the only class able to start a fellowship maneuver with 100% success. Burglars are rated as "advanced" in difficulty to play, and are likely not ideal for players who are new to MMORPGs, but experienced gamers new to LOTRO will adjust quickly.

A man burglar

Solo Play
with their ability to sneak burgs are able to finish recon type missions much faster than most other classes. Rather than kill your way into an enemy encampment, just sneak! They also handle assassination type quests very well, being able to sneak into an encampment and then backstabbing the necessary mob.
Between their tricks and their class specific tools (caltrops, stun dust, and marbles) they are able to control a decent size group of mobs with efficiency.
Backstabbing from stealth affords considerable bonus damage, and if equipped with proper weapons, can allow burgs to one-shot on-level opponents.

Group Play
Since they are the only class able to start FMs with certainty, certain raids will have a high demand for burgs. The Draigoch raid introduced with Rise of Isengard, was one such instance, with 12 man raids often wanting at least two burglars in order to go through a series of FMs to wear the massive beast down.
In groups burgs will typically have a mixed role of DPS/debuff with some crowd control thrown in.
They gain positional damage buffs, meaning that when attacking from behind a mob you will do extra damage, and this really shines in group play since you can stand behind a mob and jab away while the tank holds its attention. Stabby, stabby!

A hobbit burglar

Drawbacks
They are limited to leather (or medium) armour, but are able to parry and evade with efficiency, so this isn't much of a drawback.
They cannot use either bows or crossbows and so are limited to throwing axes for ranged attacks. There are special burglar throwing axes that do extra damage, but when you're trying to attack mobs from a distance to finish a slayer deed, this doesn't really help. This makes the burglar a bit tedious to play at times and can make the game progress a bit slowly.
Only men and hobbits can be burglars. Dwarves don't sneak very well and elves wouldn't resort to it (in keeping with the lore).

Overall
If you like subterfuge, hiding in the shadows and striking from behind, or enjoy puzzling your foes while out manoeuvring them, the burglar is probably a good class for you.

LOTRO Back to Basics 101: Picking a Race

Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) is a fantastic MMORPGthat for a few years now has been free to play (F2P), and continues to attract new players every day. Whether you're a seasoned RPGer or new to games like this entirely, character creation can be a bit intimidating when you first start out. With Back to Basics I hope to give you a few guidelines to help out with your decision.

If you are among those who has read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings or seen Peter Jackson's film adaptations then you will, no doubt, be a bit familiar with the world of Middle-Earth. If not, don't worry. Here's a brief breakdown of the races that people the West of Middle-Earth.

I will be dealing here only with the playable races of LOTRO, although maybe later I'll do something on a wider scale.

The playable races are often referred to as "the free peoples" or "freeps" in LOTRO slang. This is to differentiate them from the races and peoples who are enslaved under the dominion of Sauron or other dark powers.

The Race of Men
I've been told in other RPGs that playing a human means you have no imagination. That is hardly the case in LOTRO. The race of man is specifically the men of the West, not necessarily Dunedain, but typically their descendants or distant relations. There are many evil men in LOTRO, including some from the free people side, but as a rule these nations are opposed to Sauron and the dark powers.
If you select "Man" during character creation, you will be able to choose male or female (gender does not effect or concern gameplay at all, i is purely cosmetic) and will then be given a choice of where your character (or "toon" in game slang) hails from. These options are Bree-Land, Dale-Lands, Gondor, or Rohan. The only effects of your place of origin are some cosmetic options (such as hair colour and skin tone) and the title you will begin the game with ("Your name" of "your place of origin").

A man captain

Men have more class options available to them than any of the other races. As of this writing there are nine classes and men can play all of them except Rune Keeper. They are the only race which can play the Captain class. Men are the dominant race during this period of time and most of the places you visit will be peopled with them.
Men start the game with extra fate and might and bonus to healing but with lower will than other races, however, stat bonuses or deficits typically make little significant difference throughout most of the game. The benefit from healing might make a bit of difference, but by the time you make level 20, no one's going to notice much.

Dwarves
Short, stocky, resilient and gruff (and typically bearded), dwarves are a tough bunch not to love. They live under mountains, drink whenever possible, look great in heavy armour and have the best /roar emote of all races.
The people of Durin  begin the game with bonuses to might, vitality and in-combat regeneration, but suffer from lower fate, agility and out of combat regeneration. They hail from The Blue Mountains, The Iron Hills, The Lonely Mountain, The Grey Mountains or The White Mountains. As with other races the choice of origin only affects minor cosmetic choices.
There are male and female dwarves, but since they are alike in appearance, voice and dress, there is no gender option for dwarves, presumably leaving you open to deciding which your toon is yourself.

Dwarf guardian

Dwarves are limited to Champion, Guardian, Hunter, Minstrel and Rune Keeper as class options. While they do look great with heavy armour and big shields, they are also able to function well in these other roles as well.

Hobbits
Perhaps Tolkien's best known creations, hobbits live almost exclusively in the Shire (or within close proximity thereof), where they eat, drink, smoke and party (in a rural, pastoral sort of way).
There are three branches of hobbits; the Fallohides, Harfoots and Stoors.
Hobbits get a boost to vitality and out of combat power regeneration and have a slight resistance to fear effects, but are less strong than other races and start with less might.

Hobbit burglar

Hobbits are able to play as Burglars, Guardians, Hunters, Minstrels and Wardens.

Elves
The Eldar were once the most powerful and influential race of Middle-earth, but their time is passing as the age of men draws near. This is reflected in their starting stats as they have decreased fate, morale and non-combat morale regeneration. They also have increased agility as well as resistance to disease and poison.

Elf Loremaster

Elves hail from Lindon, Lorien, Rivendell, Mirkwood and Edhellond. They can play all classes except Burglar and Captain.

Sum Up
The choice of race is largely a cosmetic one and will not have any long term effects on gameplay. However, each race does have a unique tutorial instance which helps flesh out their respective Epic Story Prologue, so I'd recommend playing each race at least once and doing the tutorial along the way. Additionally you can do the epic prologue for each race (there might even be a hidden reward for something like that...)

You don't have to be a particular race to visit and quest in the starting zones, only to do the tutorial and introduction.

The most important thing about playing different races is to pick one that fits your tastes and preferences. Of course there will be some class limitations based on your race, but if you don't like how a character looks or feels, the odds are you won't play that toon much anyway, so why bother?

Have fun and I'll see you at the Havens!