Re: LOTRO Goes Free to Play : Sept 10 (Sept 8 for Cool Kids)

[waffel]

I don't know about others, but it was one experience (well multiple) with raiding that guaranteed I would never, ever, in any game do it ever again:

It was going in schololmon or stratholm or some dungeon in WoW I can't spell after the game came out. I went there over THIRTY times to get my 'set' leggings. I've never done something so masochistic like that before, and I swore I'd never do it again. Thats not counting the 20~ times to get my class set torso, and another 15 for my helmet.

Why anyone would ever want to do that for video game loot is besides me.  I still can't believe *I* did that. I can tell you after the 2nd or 3rd time the whole 'grouping with other people to accomplish a single goal is kinda neat' feeling wore off, I basically ran the raids in zombie mode, most of the time not even doing anything. Then again, I wasn't one to get my mount, summon it in town, stand near the auction house, and hope people check out my sweet new gear.

[Ingmar]

The obvious answer of course is "because you enjoy raiding". Different strokes, etc., though.

People generally don't enjoy raiding after the first trip through a dungeon if at all.  They enjoy getting new stuff.  Saying "I enjoy raiding" is a serious misnomer for most MMO enthusiasts.  If they did enjoy raiding, you'd see fewer people powergaming the system and more enjoying the raid.  

Ask yourself this: If you could get exactly the same gear running an instance solo, how many people would still raid those instances?  I'm guessing a few guilds would for fun, but they're in the minority.  

It's all about loot and epeen.  People enjoy having the best loot.  For the most part they endure the pain that is raiding to have it. 

Would people play CRPGs in general if it weren't for collecting loot?  Does that mean that the genre is "painful" to play?

Did you mean ARPGs? Because there are plenty of CRPGs where loot is not tremendously important.

[caladein]

I'm sorry but their entire store interface is absolutely terrible.  I wanted to come back for a month to do some monster play but after 20 minutes of trying to figure out how to upgrade my account to "VIP" I just gave up in frustration.

Did you try the same place as before http://myaccount.turbine.com?

I agree though they should have some means of accessing Account Management through the Store interface, especially if they're going to link the payment options between your subscription and store points purchases (which is really annoying when you want to keep those two on separate cards).

[waffel]

Looks like Amazon bumped up Mines of Moria back up to 15 bucks. Wishing I jumped on it back when it was 10 bucks.

Apparently the best way to go about things is to buy Moria for 10 bucks, use the CD key and get a month of free VIP status and some bonus points, then go from there.

[Murgos]

There is a 75% off the level 20-50 quest packs sale on the lotro store today until midnight.  I doubt if I will take advantage of it but I thought I should mention it to you all.

I'm up to level 9 on my Hunter.  I get sucked into MMOs and then 90 minutes after I told myself I was going to stop playing and go to bed I'm still futzing around.  The game play is so similar to WoW and EQI and II though that I'm already getting bored of it.  Kill 6 wolves and return their ears, click on the flashing logs and collect 9 pieces of wood, self-buff then attack with hotkeys 1, 2, 3 and repeat etc...

When do I get an MMO that fights like Virtua Fighter or Tekken and has quests that are involved and interesting?

[Lantyssa]

Vindictus beta should have been brought back up today...

[Zetor]

I went to take advantage of the huge quest pack discount, only to find that my VIP membership (I had a multi-month sub running when lotro went f2p, it's still active) forbids me from buying quest packs. Ah well, more money for me!

[Soukyan]

I went to take advantage of the huge quest pack discount, only to find that my VIP membership (I had a multi-month sub running when lotro went f2p, it's still active) forbids me from buying quest packs. Ah well, more money for me!

Same here. Is it just that VIP gets the quest packs automatically? Or is the store just broken?

[Ingmar]

Subscribers don't need to buy the quest packs, correct.

[Kitsune]

Yeah, VIP is a double-edged sword for anyone who doesn't mean to stay VIP permanently in that you can't purchase any special account stuff that's temporarily unlocked by VIP until it expires.  So quest packs, skirmishes, auction house slots, etc, if they go on super duper sale while you're VIP, you can't take advantage of it.

Thankfully my VIP expired this morning, and I snatched up all the stuff that was on sale.

[waffel]

If you get VIP, do you get everything for sale on the store for free as part of your VIP?

or are there random things you have to buy also?

[Ingmar]

There's a chart around somewhere, but you don't get everything for free, no. You still would have to buy stuff like stat tomes and cosmetic items and the like.

[Cheddar]

If you get VIP, do you get everything for sale on the store for free as part of your VIP?

or are there random things you have to buy also?

Access to quests and horse paths.  Extras like clothing, stat boosts, etc all have to be bought or found in game (yes, tomes are uber rare drops).

[Kitsune]

You don't receive store items for free as VIP, but you get a monthly allowance of 500 turbine points to spend however you like.  And some of the things that VIP unlocks (e.g. extra bag storage) are permanent, even if you stop paying.

[caladein]

When do I get an MMO that fights like Virtua Fighter or Tekken and has quests that are involved and interesting?

In the sense that there's combo memorization and a high skill cap, Warden's actually not half bad at that.  Aside from a few ranged attacks the Warden class is all about using three basic abilities (Spear Thrust, Shield Bash, and Taunt) to create 2-5 length combos at a pretty high pace.

It's not VF4 Evo, but the approach to learning to play it has always seemed to mirror the approach to learning a new fighter character.

[Murgos]

I want to play a Warden, when I researched what class I would like, Warden jumped out at me as being exactly my style.  Except that playing a Warden costs 10 bux.  So, if having a unique and aggressive play style was supposed to be an element that would bring me in to the game long term and cause me to buy subscriptions and expansions it missed the boat.

[Mrbloodworth]

I want to play a Warden, when I researched what class I would like, Warden jumped out at me as being exactly my style.  Except that playing a Warden costs 10 bux.  So, if having a unique and aggressive play style was supposed to be an element that would bring me in to the game long term and cause me to buy subscriptions and expansions it missed the boat.

Reason is, originally, that class came with Moria expansion.

[Kitsune]

If you think you want to play a warden, you're generally best off finding a copy of Mines of Moria; Gamestop's selling them for ten bucks.  That way you get the whole expansion unlocked rather than just a single class for the money.

[Soukyan]

If you think you want to play a warden, you're generally best off finding a copy of Mines of Moria; Gamestop's selling them for ten bucks.  That way you get the whole expansion unlocked rather than just a single class for the money.

This.

[waffel]

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0301339

$9.99 with 6 bucks shipping.

Amazon has it for $14.99 with free shipping if you spend more than 25 bucks. I personally laid down $15.98 @ microcenter  because I didn't feel like looking at gamestop, but its up to you.

[Kitsune]

Gamestop has a search function to show you the closest store with it in stock, so there's not exactly an arduous amount of searching involved.  But sometimes their system is stupid, so be sure to call the store to double-check before driving out to them.

[waffel]

I guess I made the mistake of typing "Mines of Moria" into gamestop search:

Did you mean mines of mario ?

Unfortunately, there were no matches for mines of moria.

[Sir T]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lord-Rings-Online-Mines-Moria/dp/B001BN5ERE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1287237016&sr=8-1

[Ashamanchill]

I guess I made the mistake of typing "Mines of Moria" into gamestop search:

Did you mean mines of mario ?

Unfortunately, there were no matches for mines of moria.

Now  I want to play said Mines of Mario

[Soulflame]

Your princess is in another shaft.


... that didn't come out right.

[FatuousTwat]

Gamestop's selling them for ten bucks.

Doesn't look like it is anymore, all I get is Mines of Mario as well.

[Mrbloodworth]

You may be very hard pressed to find a copy as many others have had the same idea and I am quite sure its no longer in print.

[Sir T]

Its spread to Europe!

From an email I got today

   

Dear xxxxxxxxxxx,

Today marks an important milestone in the history of The Lord of the Rings Online™, (LOTRO) as it introduces a Free to Play model.

With that in mind, we are pleased to inform you that your Codemasters Online Player Account can now be used to access The Lord of the Rings Online free of charge. All you need to do is download the game and use your existing account details to log in and play.

To re-iterate, LOTRO is now Free-to-Play so you will not be charged. If you do not wish to take advantage of this there is no need to do anything and you may disregard this email.

If you're still unclear as what Free-to-Play means to you, why not take a look at our Free-to-Play FAQ on the website.

Click here to download the latest client.

Kind regards,
The LOTRO-Europe Team.

[WayAbvPar]

It is like syphilis! Fun when you acquire it, but it goes downhill from there. 

[5150]

I havent found any mention of a way to covert the Euro preview server to live so it looks like I've got to download the whole thing all over again :-(

[Falconeer]

Yes, they said so officially on the forum. Preview Euro client needs to be scrapped.

By the way, it's a mess in game. I bought Moria a long time ago, but now it wants me to use "Turbine Points" to unlock it again  

[5150]

Yes, they said so officially on the forum. Preview Euro client needs to be scrapped.

By the way, it's a mess in game. I bought Moria a long time ago, but now it wants me to use "Turbine Points" to unlock it again  

Odd because I distinctly remember them mentioning that if you had the retail expansions they would still work on a free account

Guess they havent worked out all the kinks afterall

[DraconianOne]

Yes, they said so officially on the forum. Preview Euro client needs to be scrapped.

By the way, it's a mess in game. I bought Moria a long time ago, but now it wants me to use "Turbine Points" to unlock it again  

Wait before you do so - you should still have it but I believe there are still teething problems.

[Falconeer]

Believe me, I am not gonna give them a cent.

I really liked this game in 2007, I chewed through content when it first came out and hit max level very soon loving every second... except combat.

Yesterday, while I was fooling around and cussing at Turbine, I realized how so unsatisfying combat still is to me. That hasn't changed, it still feels underwater and unresponsive. And I can't really play this anymore.

[DraconianOne]

Can't argue with that. I've been playing it on and off again for a couple of months and the combat still feels like wading through treacle. 

But I do like the Warden gambit mechanics.