A few questions before returning to sub (maybe FTP)

Aethaeryn

If you have recent experience in the game or have quit for some specific reason this question is for you!

I recently started playing again and having a good time.  I enjoy the game but have only gotten up to about level 40ish on any characters.
I pre-purchased many of the expansion packs and took advantage of extra TP offers when buying them so I own them all and have purchased enough that I don't find I have hit any walls with FTP.

I did buy some inventory slots since coming back this month since I have about 4,500 TP still.  I also seem to have 480 of those things that let you fast travel to turn in quests etc.

THE QUESTIONS:

Some seem to feel that the game gets worse (writing etc.) with the later expansions and do not like the direction the game has gone.  Since I have not gotten much past level 40 I have not seen this (haven't even started Moria or Legendary Items etc.)  Will it really suck?

Will I start wanting to spend more in the online store as I progress?  I have a lot of XP boosting items so I might start using them to get my first character into areas I have not seen yet.  it seems Stat tomes etc. are often on sale. . are they that popular?  Will I need them?  I don't care about keeping up with others . . will I be able to progress through the game without buying these things (or many?)

What did you not like about the game that made you quit as far as progression goes.  I don't mind the animations and dated mechanics or changes to skills etc.

Thanks!

Lithuanian

Hello, I have been playing for some time. Pure F2P, soloer - so hence my two pence.

Quest packs: if you are VIP (paying member), you will get most of content free as long as you are VIP. The only exception is some 4000 TPs worth Riders of Rohan, since it envolves Big Battles. Even VIPs do not get this for free.

"Game getting worse" is something you will hear too many opinions. Many players praise Lotro untill Mines of Moria expansion. I personally dislike Mines of Moria expansion. Some players do despise mounted combat while I have found I actually like it.
At level 40s you are expected to enter Mines of Moria. A huge 3D maze inhabitated by lots of evil with many instances. It would take really long time to finish all deeds there. And it is at Moria that you will get your Goat (since no horse can travel within there).
Legendary items are pretty good since you know how to manage them. I.e.: have some trash LIs, level up then, then deconstruct and gain: a) LI xp rune; b) legacy you need on your main LI. Apply legacy and voila - you got what you needed. The only nuissance: each 10 levels you need to reforge LIs.
At level 100 you may imbue your LI. It's where you should look carefully: imbued weapon can't be deconstructed and you should look carefully what legacies would be imbued. You know,forge masters sometimes make weird suggestions...When you finally get right legacies and imbue - you will need lots of Anfalas Empowerement scrolls. Why? Because you LI legacies stops at some level and you need to unlock additional with Anfalas scrolls.
Back to quests: untill Rohan it is mostly soloable content. Your typical quests, deeds, 5 TPs for basic slayer deed, 10 for advanced.
Great River changes: 5 TPs for basic slayer deed, 5 for advanced.
Rohan introduces mounted combat and Legendary bridles (I hope you have Tailor?). You select your mount - Light, Medium, Heavy. Mount has its own  trait trees, but you will have enough points to fill entire tree and invest into next one. While you fight on your steed, you have entirely new attacks and skills.
Rohan introduces Warbands: a group of enemies, from Solo to Raid level. Sometimes you coulo it, sometimes it's better not to risk.
It is Rohan that I really like. You meet Eowyn, aging Theoden King, hatefull Grima Wormtongue, you see beautifull region torn up by war, you witness bravery and treachery where things aren't always what they seem. At the same time, it's region of some grindy slayer deeds (Crabain slayer, for example: 240 birds when you have only 1 good spot with only few of them!).
Then, you would have Big Battles. Legendary ones, like Helm's deep where you stand amonsgt defenders, protecting innocent, extinguishing fires and fighting foes. There you have Big Battles specific skills. You could train as Engineer (putting traps, building siege machines...), Vanguard and something else. Big battles have their own medal system. If everything is perfect, you get Platinium reward with special Platinium box. Worse results - Gold and up to Bronze rewards.
After Rohan you have Gondor and Anorien. A region of level 100-105 enemies. Some areas are very lagging (Pelenor fields, Minas Tirith). It's mostly forced fellowship content with some quests that I was unable to finish, like entering Ost Giliath. Many factions inside these regions, hence many TPs to earn.
Gondor introduces essence armour: armour with some slots for essences. We have many essences, ranking from Minor to Supreme (Greater and Supremes may be crafted). With right essences, your toon may become really tough.
Minas tirith quests - they just suck for me. Oh, try to speak with NPC at level 3...by the way,v isit NPC at level 1, then talk to NPC ant level 7 and return to me at level 6. Minas Tirith is very huge and very lagging and map is of little use there.

Your use of store depends on what have you purchased. Free starting crafter will need:
1. Gold cap removal
2. upgraded valet so that some items go into it, not in your inventory
3. membership in crafting Guild at some level.
Other things are of your choice: shared bank slots, shared clothes storage, inventory slots, vault slots, "return to..." skill cooldown or more slots for storing LIs, additional slots for milestone skills.
Status tomes are popular and expensive.
XP boosting is nice if you hurry to level up. With current xp - you may even need xp disabler ("Stone of Tortoise") so that you won't overgrow area too fast. I purchased it.
You should be ok even without status tomes. Sometimes they are on auction house, sometimes you get them as a loot.

I did not quit game, but what I personally dislike is hard forced fellowship content you won't solo even if you are really an expert (Gondor/Anorien). Also, random number generator that makes you run instance hundreds of time just to get that stuff...and yous ee others get it every time and you don't get it within half year. Random numbers in crafting - you need supreme essence, rely on pure luck. Some quests are made almost impossible, theoretically you need up to 100 people to clear entire area just to be able to ride to some point. At level 105, all essence recipes are expensive and single-use only. Feel free to farm.

In short, Lotro is worth to return to, despite some flaws.

Po_gg

Later gameplay and grudges about direction: personal tastes I think. Not in writing, or in content, those are great, but in mechanics. I definitely wouldn't say "it will really suck"   Legendary Items was a massive grind, it became a lesser grind over the last couple years, and lately they brought Imbuement (which is slowly turning into a grind itself )
War-steeds and mounted combat, some like it, some don't and use the steed only for the faster travels.
Big battles, again, some like it, some just play it once. Hytbold rebuilding, some find it fun, some a massive chore.
I think the best is if you decide for yourself: continue the story, level up, and try them! Moria intro (getting the first LIs and such) is really cool for example, with those dumb dwarves

Spending, stat tomes, you definitely don't need them to progress through the game. Especially if your goal is not the e-peen charts and keeping up with others as you said. Stat tomes were more useful back in the day with the caps, but now the stats are more easy, and thus everyone's chasing the biggest numbers possible. I'd say ignore the tomes until you really don't have anything else left to spend on.

Xp booster, that's up to the playstyle. LotRO has tons of xp in it, even as non-subbed player you will outlevel the content frequently. (that's why there's an xp-disabler item in the game)
BUT, on the other hand, it's an old-fashioned game, with an according xp curve. So, if you don't mind skipping ahead, and find the journey a tad bit too long, boosters can help. Probably keep them towards the end, near and around level 100 is the level advancing the slowest.

Progression and quit, nothing did that for me, I never quitted just hopping around my favourite games Wasn't a fan of radiance, but that is gone now. I don't like to grind, so LI grind is not my kinda stuff, but you can play with a lower LI too (game is pretty forgiving nowadays), and there's Imbuement.
Essences... to be honest, not touched that so far, it could be a big grind since it is a pretty big system, I just slapped a few random in the gear - but I'm not a hardcore endgamer anyways

edit: slow typer here, great post Lithuanian!

DKLond

EU servers not in EU yet, right?

= I'm not going back.

Aethaeryn

Lithuanian said:

Hello, I have been playing for some time. Pure F2P, soloer - so hence my two pence.

Quest packs: if you are VIP (paying member), you will get most of content free as long as you are VIP. The only exception is some 4000 TPs worth Riders of Rohan, since it envolves Big Battles. Even VIPs do not get this for free.

"Game getting worse" is something you will hear too many opinions. Many players praise Lotro untill Mines of Moria expansion. I personally dislike Mines of Moria expansion. Some players do despise mounted combat while I have found I actually like it.
At level 40s you are expected to enter Mines of Moria. A huge 3D maze inhabitated by lots of evil with many instances. It would take really long time to finish all deeds there. And it is at Moria that you will get your Goat (since no horse can travel within there).
Legendary items are pretty good since you know how to manage them. I.e.: have some trash LIs, level up then, then deconstruct and gain: a) LI xp rune; b) legacy you need on your main LI. Apply legacy and voila - you got what you needed. The only nuissance: each 10 levels you need to reforge LIs.
At level 100 you may imbue your LI. It's where you should look carefully: imbued weapon can't be deconstructed and you should look carefully what legacies would be imbued. You know,forge masters sometimes make weird suggestions...When you finally get right legacies and imbue - you will need lots of Anfalas Empowerement scrolls. Why? Because you LI legacies stops at some level and you need to unlock additional with Anfalas scrolls.
Back to quests: untill Rohan it is mostly soloable content. Your typical quests, deeds, 5 TPs for basic slayer deed, 10 for advanced.
Great River changes: 5 TPs for basic slayer deed, 5 for advanced.
Rohan introduces mounted combat and Legendary bridles (I hope you have Tailor?). You select your mount - Light, Medium, Heavy. Mount has its own  trait trees, but you will have enough points to fill entire tree and invest into next one. While you fight on your steed, you have entirely new attacks and skills.
Rohan introduces Warbands: a group of enemies, from Solo to Raid level. Sometimes you coulo it, sometimes it's better not to risk.
It is Rohan that I really like. You meet Eowyn, aging Theoden King, hatefull Grima Wormtongue, you see beautifull region torn up by war, you witness bravery and treachery where things aren't always what they seem. At the same time, it's region of some grindy slayer deeds (Crabain slayer, for example: 240 birds when you have only 1 good spot with only few of them!).
Then, you would have Big Battles. Legendary ones, like Helm's deep where you stand amonsgt defenders, protecting innocent, extinguishing fires and fighting foes. There you have Big Battles specific skills. You could train as Engineer (putting traps, building siege machines...), Vanguard and something else. Big battles have their own medal system. If everything is perfect, you get Platinium reward with special Platinium box. Worse results - Gold and up to Bronze rewards.
After Rohan you have Gondor and Anorien. A region of level 100-105 enemies. Some areas are very lagging (Pelenor fields, Minas Tirith). It's mostly forced fellowship content with some quests that I was unable to finish, like entering Ost Giliath. Many factions inside these regions, hence many TPs to earn.
Gondor introduces essence armour: armour with some slots for essences. We have many essences, ranking from Minor to Supreme (Greater and Supremes may be crafted). With right essences, your toon may become really tough.
Minas tirith quests - they just suck for me. Oh, try to speak with NPC at level 3...by the way,v isit NPC at level 1, then talk to NPC ant level 7 and return to me at level 6. Minas Tirith is very huge and very lagging and map is of little use there.

Your use of store depends on what have you purchased. Free starting crafter will need:
1. Gold cap removal
2. upgraded valet so that some items go into it, not in your inventory
3. membership in crafting Guild at some level.
Other things are of your choice: shared bank slots, shared clothes storage, inventory slots, vault slots, "return to..." skill cooldown or more slots for storing LIs, additional slots for milestone skills.
Status tomes are popular and expensive.
XP boosting is nice if you hurry to level up. With current xp - you may even need xp disabler ("Stone of Tortoise") so that you won't overgrow area too fast. I purchased it.
You should be ok even without status tomes. Sometimes they are on auction house, sometimes you get them as a loot.

I did not quit game, but what I personally dislike is hard forced fellowship content you won't solo even if you are really an expert (Gondor/Anorien). Also, random number generator that makes you run instance hundreds of time just to get that stuff...and yous ee others get it every time and you don't get it within half year. Random numbers in crafting - you need supreme essence, rely on pure luck. Some quests are made almost impossible, theoretically you need up to 100 people to clear entire area just to be able to ride to some point. At level 105, all essence recipes are expensive and single-use only. Feel free to farm.

In short, Lotro is worth to return to, despite some flaws.

Perfect answer for what I was wanting to know.

I do most things solo but like to group up once in awhile during week-ends when I have a little more time.

I have almost all of the content unlocked already as well as a few upgrades, character slot, vault and all classes races except the new bear one.  I have gold cap removed etc.  I really can't see a reason for VIP at this point.  I might look at it later.

Thanks so much for your awesome and detailed response!

Aethaeryn

Po_gg said:

Later gameplay and grudges about direction: personal tastes I think. Not in writing, or in content, those are great, but in mechanics. I definitely wouldn't say "it will really suck"   Legendary Items was a massive grind, it became a lesser grind over the last couple years, and lately they brought Imbuement (which is slowly turning into a grind itself )
War-steeds and mounted combat, some like it, some don't and use the steed only for the faster travels.
Big battles, again, some like it, some just play it once. Hytbold rebuilding, some find it fun, some a massive chore.
I think the best is if you decide for yourself: continue the story, level up, and try them! Moria intro (getting the first LIs and such) is really cool for example, with those dumb dwarves

Spending, stat tomes, you definitely don't need them to progress through the game. Especially if your goal is not the e-peen charts and keeping up with others as you said. Stat tomes were more useful back in the day with the caps, but now the stats are more easy, and thus everyone's chasing the biggest numbers possible. I'd say ignore the tomes until you really don't have anything else left to spend on.

Xp booster, that's up to the playstyle. LotRO has tons of xp in it, even as non-subbed player you will outlevel the content frequently. (that's why there's an xp-disabler item in the game)
BUT, on the other hand, it's an old-fashioned game, with an according xp curve. So, if you don't mind skipping ahead, and find the journey a tad bit too long, boosters can help. Probably keep them towards the end, near and around level 100 is the level advancing the slowest.

Progression and quit, nothing did that for me, I never quitted just hopping around my favourite games Wasn't a fan of radiance, but that is gone now. I don't like to grind, so LI grind is not my kinda stuff, but you can play with a lower LI too (game is pretty forgiving nowadays), and there's Imbuement.
Essences... to be honest, not touched that so far, it could be a big grind since it is a pretty big system, I just slapped a few random in the gear - but I'm not a hardcore endgamer anyways

edit: slow typer here, great post Lithuanian!

Thanks so much for the reply.  I previously did purchase the XP freezing item.  I didn't like out leveling the areas.  For now I want to get to areas I have not done so I might use a boost to get there. . only 10 levels away.

Awesome response as well.  I'm going to give it a go and now I just have to decide if I want to continue on Landroval or Laurelin.

Aethaeryn

DKLond said:

EU servers not in EU yet, right?

= I'm not going back.

I could see that being a problem.  

Lithuanian

Aethaeryn, you may consider Laurelin: there all my toon reside and I could be able to aid you should such need arise.
10 levels can be got by crafting (since now crafting xp adds to normal xp), if you have any crafting school.

Aethaeryn

Lithuanian said:

Aethaeryn, you may consider Laurelin: there all my toon reside and I could be able to aid you should such need arise.
10 levels can be got by crafting (since now crafting xp adds to normal xp), if you have any crafting school.

I actually did go back to Laurelin, I was headed to Landroval before I realized that my hunter on Laurelin was 10 levels higher.  I also have my tasks unlocked to 10 and a lot more other unlocks.  Can't recall my characters name. . GIl something.  Gilandis, Gilathan, GIlthanis, something like that

Po_gg

Both servers are great, choose according to your timezone / peak gaming hours - and still keep an alt on the other, for the events

If your pick is Laurelin, don't forget to check the Archives, an amazing "home" portal for all Laurelin players, kinships, player-hosted events, etc. http://www.laurelinarchives.org/

gervaise1

Aethaeryn said:

Lithuanian said:

Hello, I have been playing for some time. Pure F2P, soloer - so hence my two pence.

Quest packs: if you are VIP (paying member), you will get most of content free as long as you are VIP. The only exception is some 4000 TPs worth Riders of Rohan, since it envolves Big Battles. Even VIPs do not get this for free.

"Game getting worse" is something you will hear too many opinions. Many players praise Lotro untill Mines of Moria expansion. I personally dislike Mines of Moria expansion. Some players do despise mounted combat while I have found I actually like it.
At level 40s you are expected to enter Mines of Moria. A huge 3D maze inhabitated by lots of evil with many instances. It would take really long time to finish all deeds there. And it is at Moria that you will get your Goat (since no horse can travel within there).
Legendary items are pretty good since you know how to manage them. I.e.: have some trash LIs, level up then, then deconstruct and gain: a) LI xp rune; b) legacy you need on your main LI. Apply legacy and voila - you got what you needed. The only nuissance: each 10 levels you need to reforge LIs.
At level 100 you may imbue your LI. It's where you should look carefully: imbued weapon can't be deconstructed and you should look carefully what legacies would be imbued. You know,forge masters sometimes make weird suggestions...When you finally get right legacies and imbue - you will need lots of Anfalas Empowerement scrolls. Why? Because you LI legacies stops at some level and you need to unlock additional with Anfalas scrolls.
Back to quests: untill Rohan it is mostly soloable content. Your typical quests, deeds, 5 TPs for basic slayer deed, 10 for advanced.
Great River changes: 5 TPs for basic slayer deed, 5 for advanced.
Rohan introduces mounted combat and Legendary bridles (I hope you have Tailor?). You select your mount - Light, Medium, Heavy. Mount has its own  trait trees, but you will have enough points to fill entire tree and invest into next one. While you fight on your steed, you have entirely new attacks and skills.
Rohan introduces Warbands: a group of enemies, from Solo to Raid level. Sometimes you coulo it, sometimes it's better not to risk.
It is Rohan that I really like. You meet Eowyn, aging Theoden King, hatefull Grima Wormtongue, you see beautifull region torn up by war, you witness bravery and treachery where things aren't always what they seem. At the same time, it's region of some grindy slayer deeds (Crabain slayer, for example: 240 birds when you have only 1 good spot with only few of them!).
Then, you would have Big Battles. Legendary ones, like Helm's deep where you stand amonsgt defenders, protecting innocent, extinguishing fires and fighting foes. There you have Big Battles specific skills. You could train as Engineer (putting traps, building siege machines...), Vanguard and something else. Big battles have their own medal system. If everything is perfect, you get Platinium reward with special Platinium box. Worse results - Gold and up to Bronze rewards.
After Rohan you have Gondor and Anorien. A region of level 100-105 enemies. Some areas are very lagging (Pelenor fields, Minas Tirith). It's mostly forced fellowship content with some quests that I was unable to finish, like entering Ost Giliath. Many factions inside these regions, hence many TPs to earn.
Gondor introduces essence armour: armour with some slots for essences. We have many essences, ranking from Minor to Supreme (Greater and Supremes may be crafted). With right essences, your toon may become really tough.
Minas tirith quests - they just suck for me. Oh, try to speak with NPC at level 3...by the way,v isit NPC at level 1, then talk to NPC ant level 7 and return to me at level 6. Minas Tirith is very huge and very lagging and map is of little use there.

Your use of store depends on what have you purchased. Free starting crafter will need:
1. Gold cap removal
2. upgraded valet so that some items go into it, not in your inventory
3. membership in crafting Guild at some level.
Other things are of your choice: shared bank slots, shared clothes storage, inventory slots, vault slots, "return to..." skill cooldown or more slots for storing LIs, additional slots for milestone skills.
Status tomes are popular and expensive.
XP boosting is nice if you hurry to level up. With current xp - you may even need xp disabler ("Stone of Tortoise") so that you won't overgrow area too fast. I purchased it.
You should be ok even without status tomes. Sometimes they are on auction house, sometimes you get them as a loot.

I did not quit game, but what I personally dislike is hard forced fellowship content you won't solo even if you are really an expert (Gondor/Anorien). Also, random number generator that makes you run instance hundreds of time just to get that stuff...and yous ee others get it every time and you don't get it within half year. Random numbers in crafting - you need supreme essence, rely on pure luck. Some quests are made almost impossible, theoretically you need up to 100 people to clear entire area just to be able to ride to some point. At level 105, all essence recipes are expensive and single-use only. Feel free to farm.

In short, Lotro is worth to return to, despite some flaws.

Perfect answer for what I was wanting to know.

I do most things solo but like to group up once in awhile during week-ends when I have a little more time.

I have almost all of the content unlocked already as well as a few upgrades, character slot, vault and all classes races except the new bear one.  I have gold cap removed etc.  I really can't see a reason for VIP at this point.  I might look at it later.

Thanks so much for your awesome and detailed response!

Don't disagree about the "worth a return" - not going to comment on the rest

However a correction:

Subscribers do not get access to the "expansions". So Moria, Mirkwood, Rohan and Helm's Deep. You can grind for Turbine Points and get these - just like everything else - or buy with money.

Po_gg

gervaise1 said:

...

Don't disagree about the "worth a return" - not going to comment on the rest

However a correction:

Subscribers do not get access to the "expansions". So Moria, Mirkwood, Rohan and Helm's Deep. You can grind for Turbine Points and get these - just like everything else - or buy with money.

That's correct, and was one of the reasons they stopped with expansions after HD and releasing two packs per year instead, to raise the value of subscription (that, and the less pressure on the smaller team   ).
Until that change people only needed VIP between level 30 and 45, but with two well-chosen quest packs they could cover that part as well, and then a Quad-Pack purchase.

Post-HD, over the years they've added quite some content, which are free for the subs (rented, more precisely), so currently, for a shorter return just to test the waters in and around Gondor, it may be cheaper just sub for a month.

(actually, since subs don't really have to spend on anything, besides some cosmetics and convenience purchases if they like, subscribers can get the expansions for "free", by accumulating the monthly stipends)