Searching for the ultimate spending guide ?

delete5230

It's been over a week since I played and already I miss LOTRO.  My complaints are few but I feel they are real.  I possibly stopped because of burn out ( I have to be fair and honest with myself ). 


What I'm asking for is an ULTIMATE spending guide ?

In my research I've NEVER found an extremely good well written and to the point way to get max value.  Don't get me wrong, their are very good attempts but they fall short and vary in opinions........ We all know Turbine made the equation near impossible for the perfect method, and they leave it up to the player with hopes they don't figure it out, therefore spend more money. 

So much to take into account, so many variable's, so many questions and ramification's to what a player purchases.  

Variable's are:

- VIP ( monthly subscription ) - With this it opens up the game to not have to use the cash shop.  However some say don't VIP for long and build Turbine points.  But if you stop then you loose benefit's at the same time...... This in itself can drive you crazy !

- Quest packs - If you VIP you get all of them, if you drop VIP you loose them, but their are exceptions to this..... This in itself can drive you crazy !

- Mounts, bag space, gold cap, trinkets, potions...... This in itself can drive you crazy !  

- Expansions - This could even be complicated, your locked out of two classes unless you buy the first one, yet if you catch a sale you can get four expansion's for $10.  Your paying for tons of content you may never get too..... This in itself can drive you crazy !



WHAT I'M ASKING FOR:

Has anyone figured out the ultimate way of spending ?........Someone that has cracked a good equation ?.....Something for beginners?

Something readable, instead of blindly naming quest packs that should be purchased !




I for one would like to ENYOY an mmo and not be a math expert on the side !!!!!!!!....... This equation is the downfall of LOTRO !

gervaise1

Well with an expansion about to launch there may be new players thinking of trying the game.

Reading what you have posted I think (?) your question is: what is the best approach for a new player who doesn't want to subscribe.

Oddly my suggestion is the same whether a new player opts to subscribe or not: try the game!

OK what do I mean? 

Step 1: Do all - or most - of what is available to you as a non-subscriber.

- make 4 characters - one of each of the 4 classes. Make each a different class and a different race. So Lore Master, Hunter, Minstrel; Guardian; Elf, Hobbit, Dwarf, Human. Choose different servers as well - you can get a feel for the communities as you give the game a try.
- play your characters through the starter zones; there are more than one!
- play your dwarf and elf through their respective parts of Ered Luin; your hobbit through The Shire and human through "starter" Bree. Get them all to say level 20 by doing some of Bree and then play through some of The Lone Lands. 
- you will find that your elf and dwarf do different quests in Ered Luin since most zones have lots of quests. The same is true of Bree and The Lone Lands up to a point. So whilst there may be some stuff that you repeat a lot should be different.   

- as you level you will gain points for doing quests. There are also slayer and exploration "deeds" as well. Just kill mobs as you go - if you come across a bunch of wolves or whatever that are part of a deed kill them and then move on. Don't camp. Don't worry "earning" points.
 

What this will achieve?

Well hopefully you have been playing the game with a focus on giving it a try and not the mentality: got to kill x mobs to get points to get another quest pack. The game should not be a chore. 

And:

- you will have become familiar with the controls etc.;
- you will know whether or not you are interested enough in the game to invest more time;
- you will have become familiar with the 4 starter classes - fair to say there are fewer guardians around but the other classes are common and having an idea how they play will be valuable going forward when you group.

If LotR is not for you - move on. If you want to try more LotR but you don't want to subscribe then:

Step 2:

- You will also have accumulated a bunch of points through trying the game
- and an understanding of where to go in the starter zones to earn the exploration points and what mobs to kill to get the slayer deed points. Also what you cannot do in The Lone Lands solo at low level.
- ACTION: use your understanding to complete exploration, quest and slayer deeds in Ered Luin (basic), The Shire and Bree on all 4 characters. Complete quest and most of the slayer deeds in The Lone Lands. 

Riding - a word
- As a non-subscriber you don't get riding. You don't get riding as a subscriber however until level 20! So basically its a non-essential nice to have which you can get later. Remember your characters will only be mid-20s at this stage.

Step 3:

At this stage you will have gained points for racial, class deeds that you didn't know you were doing initially and about 600 points per character from each of the 4 zones. You should have about 3,000 points.

Create a main character. Decide what class and what race you want to be and what server you want your main to play on. If its one of the 4 you have created .... you will have to make another!

Run the new character through the above.

After you have done 3,750 points. And the quest pack you want to get is the Eriador Bundle which costs 3995 points. Or about 3200 if there is a 20% off sale.

This pack gives you the other 8 zones that came with LotR when launched along with 13 instances and 2 raids. Big saving on the individual prices - especially if you get 20% off - and crucially - imo - you can continue "playing the game" without worrying about what quest pack to get next.

What else will you need?

Apprentice Riding Trait account wide (1995 points). Currency Cap unlock (395 points).

So still some points to earn to get these but will 8 new zones to go at it will happen naturally over time.

Key though - as far as you can play the game not the store.

Po_gg

Wow, January... it surely slipped under my radar apparently   If I remember right, since then you even stopped LotRO entirely. Anyhow,

delete5230 said:

Has anyone figured out the ultimate way of spending ?........Someone that has cracked a good equation ?.....Something for beginners?

no such thing, simply because LotRO's model is very flexible, and ultimate way can mean a lot of things. So, an addition to what @Torval ; and @gervaise1 said above, start with a pendulum or an Attunement bar Rune-keepers has. Basically a horizontal line, with a "neutral state" in the middle.

If you put Free/Grind on one end, Convenience ( ) on the other, and VIP in the middle, you get a slider-like thingy. And that's why there's no "ultimate way", each and every player places him/herself onto that slider based on their preferences, and it's not even a fixed state, it can vary over the years.

So, first you need to define your preferences and playstyle, and then yep, you can build your own "ultimate way". But that way will be totally different if your preference is playing for absolutely free (it's possible, the model is very flexible), or "just take my money", or "I don't mind subbing", or "I can pay but won't sub", etc.

For an example:
There's the Book Club project (I think LotRO's turn will be over next month), in there a lot of players purchased the 3 months VIP option, since the cycle lasts for 3 months. That is $10 per month, and they won't need to worry anything else - besides the expansions, but Moria quests are available for "free" (1500 Points from the 3 months VIP, plus the Points they get during the gameplay, without any grind), and beyond that there's always an alternate quest pack route next to the expansions, and post HD everything is free to them.
So basically they can play for the 3 months all the way to the cap, without worrying the f2p part. For them, that was an ultimate way.

An another group went with the no-sub way, and purchased Moria. Cheaper than the 3 month VIP, they get two more character slots and the Moria classes. For the slower players (who won't reach above level 60-65 during the time) it was enough, cheaper, and still a viable route - with the purchase the account turns into Premium, with some extra benefits.


What I want to say, there are dozens of "ultimate way"s, depending on your style, wallet size, purchase habits, tolerance of grind, playtime distribution, etc. etc.  No such thing as one (overall) way to rule them all. That flexibility is maybe the best part of LotRO's f2p model, that you can hone it to your own needs and preferences.

Po_gg

Same here, over the years I always supported and suggested to everyone that spend for at least the old "1 month VIP route"  
Sure, one can play LotRO totally free, and grind all the Points needed, but my time is more valuable, and as I've heard from grinders, even with the latest changes previous year, one can maybe grind out around $4 worths of Points in a day - that is, 9-10 hours grind.

Well, I'm not Scrooge McDuck, but no f-in way I'll waste 10 hours of my life, for mere $4 bucks