There can be only one.

When one thinks of the great rivalries in the history of competition, there are several matchups that will live on through the ages.  Ali vs. Frazier.  Cobwoys vs. Redskins.  Tastes Great vs. Less Filling.  Paris Hilton vs. Lindsay Lohan.  There’s really something special when you get two entities at the top of their game going toe-to-toe to see who is left standing at the end.  Or, in the case Hilton vs. Lohan, who can spend the most money on rehab.  It’s embedded in the human mind to always wonder who is the best at one discipline at any given time, which brings me to the topic of today’s piece:  Lord of the Rings Online vs. World of Warcraft.

Hailing from Azeroth and weighing in at $14.95 a month, World of Warcraft has been the undisputed heavyweight champion of the MMORPG world.  It’s had a handful of challengers thrown at it – the likes of “D&D Online,” “Eve Online,” “Sims Online,” “Virtually Jenna,” etc., have all stepped in the ring with the Blizzard Behemoth and have all been summarily knocked the **** out within the first few rounds.  Even seemingly “sure thing” contenders such as the Star Wars MMORPG have wound up looking like a punch drunk bar fighter when put in the ring with the champ.

However, Blizzard’s reign of terror has recently run into what seems to finally be a worthy challenger in Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online.  And, since not many people have room in their schedules - or wallets - for two separate MMORPG’s, this is a battle that will most likely lead to only one of franchises standing tall in the end.

I have spent a good amount of time with both games during the past month or so, and I’m going to try to present to you a side-by-side comparison of the two games.  Mind you, I’m coming from a more “casual gamer” angle, so there won’t be a lot of info on guilds, day long dungeon raids and the other more life-eating and marriage-ruining aspects of these types of endeavors.  Instead, I’m speaking to the less hardcore – the folks with families and full-time jobs who would like to try their hand at an MMORPG, but don’t wish to plan their weekends around “epic l00t.”

Think of this as more of a travelogue of the first part of the MMORPG journey.