I'd have to agree with this, and I own Hobbit but not LOTR. I never really know what is going on in the Hobbit either. I know the general things that trigger the main objectives (rollovers for locks, 5 different objectives for the ruins to start mini-wizards, etc), but at any given moment in time I don't really understand what's happening. For example, I've had multiballs that last 5-10 minutes with new balls continually getting relaunched when I drain one or more. I had one go on so long I thought something was broken (maybe it was). I've had multiballs go on for quite a while with only one ball left. I assumed a ball was stuck somewhere, but once I drained, the ball was over.

For all the lights and the LCD, it is FAR, FAR, FAR inferior to LOTR at drawing you in, letting you know what to do, and making you feel part of the adventure. For example, there is nothing in TH that mimics the feel of the movie as much as Balrog multiball in LOTR. Shoot the ring to get someone across the bridge, hit Balrog to distract him / get him out of the way, so you can shoot the ring to get someone else across. It feels like the movie.

Aside from that, there just aren't any satisfying shoots in TH. I feel like I'm flailing more than anything. While some of the LOTR shots are clunky, for sure, they all feel different and connected to something tangible. None of the shots in TH feel any different from each other. The ramps feel the same. Hitting the left-most drop target doesn't feel any different than hitting the one next to it or the one 2-3 down from it.

I want to like the Hobbit, but I just don't get into it. Some of the epic multiballs can be fun, so I'm not saying I hate it, but with other upcoming things I want, Hobbit it at the top of my possible sell list due to the low obsession-to-value ratio.

Well, I don't really love it or hate it. I do feel it lacks sorely from enough callouts. I have not played 2.0 yet, but it seems to rely too much on the book and the LCD, so when stuff happens I don't know why. And things like the multiballs going on forever just doesn't make sense. I can't really describe it, but I just feel on the outside with this game, whereas other games seem to draw me into the middle of them.

I'm sure this was a reference to how Rudy is always talking and addressing you as the player. I remember the earlier assumptions that Smaug was going to taunt the player. Rudy doesn't have a ton of quotes, but he has more than Smaug. Hell, he probably has about as many nicknames for the players as Smaug has actual quotes. Regardless of the specific numbers, I find it hard to argue that Smaug has always been grossly underutilized (not even counting the early over-promises of his interactions with the ball).

Isn't he more reciting lines from the movie? I've never really felt like he was addressing "me" and certainly not in the Rudy-esque way people originally hoped.