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How "Free" is it actually
NJ_fury_S
Member Posts: 18
i absolutely HATE the term free to play, give me a break this just mean "gibe all your moniez after level 20"
so what aspect of this game are actually free and how much do i have to "pay" to actually enjoy the game
life is experience
once you level up
come talk to me
Comments
If I'm not mistaken you can just purchase the Mines of Moria box for $24.95 @Amazon, register those keys. Then purchase the Mirkwood expansion which costs $10 through the LOTRO store, and you'll have all quests and areas unlocked through level 65, and then u can basically play for free from then on.
There are of course many other options you can purchase from the store but are not needed, and while you play you can earn points, like 10 at a time, awarded to you for grinding out and completing the 500+ deeds. You many wanna do a little more research or see what others say, but I'm sure thats how it will work!? ...maybe...
From my experience.. More so than EQ2X..
Judging from the tone of your post, I'd say it would be better for you to stay away.
If you insist on trying, I'll give you a short version of my experience. I paid $10 for Mines of Moria, but did not sub. I have one character at 64, and one at 54. I haven't bought anything else with real cash, and now I have Mirkwood, the last expansion, and 2,700 turbine points accrued, which hopefully is enough for the next expansion.
I play very slowly, and I don't really care about leveling. It is too fast, to be honest. I usually try to solo fellowship quests, because with the crafting and gold I have accrued, the solo game is too easy.
Getting ready to quit, because I'm not the type to run on the end game treadmill. But I may be back when the new expansion hits, and they make Monster Play (VIP only) f2p.
^ This ^
props to bansan, they play the way so many should. You can play lotro without spending a dime. If you spend just a tiny bit, less than 30 bucks, you can have all of the content and reach level cap with ease.
This game needs to be played slowly so you can emerse and really enjoy the content. The story is fantastic and the game is absolutely beautiful with maxed settings.
I recently came back with my new rig. Maxed out everything. I'm enjoying myself a great deal while I wait on other mmo's to come out. I would suggest you download it and try it yourself.
That doesn't cost you anything but time. Do it while you sleep and even that is mitigated.
He is still going to have to pay for all of the zone/quest unlocks for the original Shadows of Angmar areas (excluding Ered Luin, Bree, The Shire and the Lone Lands). Noone gets them for free (well, Lifers do), not even former subscribers who purchased the original box.
Absolutely completely untrue.
You can get quests in eq2 all the way to whatever your level cap is without spending one cent. In lotro you have to buy each "zone" to have quests until moria.
There is absolutely nothing free about lotro unless you like grinding mobs with no quests.
Or he can unlock them as he accrues his Turbine points.
So if you purchase one thing you are then considered a premium member. However, only VIP's or Lifers get a monthly stipend of points.
Turbine points are purchased or earned in game.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
i am actually not against paying to play the game....but these F2P games usually end up costing more a month than the original P2P model.....like if i spent 30 bucks on the game and then neer had to pay another dime that would be fine with me.
Just not crap like (spending money in order to level up and get the best gear in the game you MUST pay for cash shop only items)
If i could actually "buy" the game and never have to worry about spending money again thats great.
I heard if you want to unlock ALL the content in DDO its over 100 dollars......thats just insane
didnt really look into EQ2 tho......which of these games could i actually invest a set amount of money in and never have to worry about more?
life is experience
once you level up
come talk to me
Then you mustn't have played much EQ2X. LotRO gives you four zones for free before you have to start paying cash or hopping on the grind treadmill to kill hundreds of mobs for small amounts of Turbine cash. EQ2X gives you the content of the core game, 3 adventure packs and 5 expansions for free. Every quest, every zone and every dungeon free. Yeah, LotRO with its four free zones looks like great value for 'free' money.
Well, remember that you do earn points in game. However, they come slowly. So if you are not in a hurry or don't mind a grind here and there it might not be a problem.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Items that are totally free; i.e. don't have to grind for:
- All 4 starter race zones, Bree zone, LoneLands zone. That takes you up to lvl 30 or so
- Skirmishes (little PVE battlefields) you can solo or group play in
- Epic Storyline all the way to end game (although to get the levels you need to pass them can't be done without grinding).
As far as what to pay to enjoy the game, only you can decide that. Do you HAVE to have the latest horse from the store to enjoy the game or are you OK with running? I've dropped $30.00 on it to buy some of the non-stock skirmishes and 2 extra zones (1 of which is free now) and have a bunch of TP left over.
Quoted by Sovrath:
Or he can unlock them as he accrues his Turbine points. I "think" if you buy one thing you are then considered the second tier of customer and you get a small amount of points per month. I'll have to check that.
Once you've spent ANY real money on the game (buying a box or points from the store) you're a Premium account which lightens up some of the free restrictions but doesn't give you any monthly points. Only Sub's get those.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
http://www.amazon.com/Lord-Rings-Shadows-Angmar-Pc/dp/B000GR9P76/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1294337017&sr=8-3
7 bucks
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=222492
10 bucks
now you have all the content, 60 days free subscription time with full access to game
You can cap your level in under 90 days easily not playing more than 20 hours a week.
for 17 dollars...
Rather than listening to opinions without links, there ya go...facts WITH links
give it a shot for free, if you choose to pay, don't spend more than 20 bucks.
I said 30 bucks in my first post because I bought some points to spend on fluff. I like fluff. You don't have to pay anything though.
AWESOME post! If you can't shell out $17 for this game, stick to addictinggames.com. LOTRO is WELL worth $15 a month imo, yet it's not required. I'd feel guilty paying $17 for this game.
- Well I don't know the actual cost since with sales etc... it could be more or less than that, but LotRO is just like DDO in that you DON'T have to buy every single zone or adventure pack. LotRO gives you 2 min zones for each level block. Want to solo 20-30 than go LoneLands (for example) or do you like to group and want harder? If so go with North Downs. Same with DDO, I play and don't buy the packs I'm not interested in.
- OK while you don't have to buy zones to level, it sure is easier. As far as gear goes, they don't sell the best gear in the store, very little actual armor, weapons etc... really.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
Only problem with the 90 day level cap goal is that LotRO is not the type of game to do that with. AoC, PotBS and some others where the game doesn't really start until level cap then yes. LotRO is the type of game where the journey is more important than the goal. Level cap in LotRO by rushing through the game ....... I'd say save your $17.00 since it wouldn't be worth it.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
Shadows of Angmar, {or the original content of LOTRO} comes with the Mine of Moria box. So in this case, $10 for all the content to level 60, and by the time you get there if you're doing deeds which one should do anyway for the additional stats, you'd have earned enough points to purchase Mirkwood for free, which unlocks all the content to get to lvl 65.
That is incorrect. I bought the collector's edition, including "Shadows of Angmar." What they are referring to is the epic quest line. Once my free time ran out, I lost all zones except the starter and Moria zones.
I don't blame you though, I thought the same when I bought the box.
From the offical LOTRO forums, you get all the content from 1-60 unlocked plus VIP status for 2 months by purchasing the MoM box set. Linky to the discussion...
Epic quest line is now able to be completed with or without purchase.
Don't bother...there's hardly any content near the level cap.
In the end you end up grinding the same few instances over and over in an attempt to get a decent legendary weapon with stats you want. That and rolling alts, so that you can do the same damn thing over again with the alt.
Games go free to play for a reason. In this case, it's lack of content and crappy itemization. Don't waste your time.
Well, I suppose with any primarily pve game, what one does at level cap is up to the player.
The lower level instnaces can be done at different levels so that reinvigorates them. One doesn't have to grind non-stop looking for the perfect legendary item. Quite frankly you don't need "the perfect" legendary item at all.
One can get one that is halfway decent and be done with it. One can do a variety of skirmishes for skirmish marks that can be traded in for relics so getting higher lvl runes on a legendary item isn't as painful as it once was.
I would agree that this is not a "level cap game" but then again, what does one do in any pve game at level cap? The choice is yours to do what you want or to stop playing until new content is added.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
But at the end of the VIP period unless you are paying a sub you drop back to premium and all the previously unlocked SoA content that is not classified normally as free (Bree, Shire, Ered Luin and Lone Lands) gets locked off until you buy it from the Turbine store.
I have a now useless CE that I bought at launch that entitles me to pretty much nothing as a 'free player' if I want to play a low level alt outside of the 4 zones that Turbine has gifted us. As a former subscriber I am classified as a Premium member, but if i was to quest in Angmar with my 40-something Loremaster then i have to pay to unlock the Angmar quest packs.
That's an old post and things may have changed since then. Even so, you seem to be missing the point that after the free period, you no longer have access to the SOA quests. That is, apart from ones you already have underway at the time your status changes from VIP to Premium player.
The game IS free to play if you want it to be. The recent introduction of daily quests, along with the skirmish system, means that there is always plenty of repeatable content apart from simple grinding. Obviously, Turbine have designed things so that you will get a much more fun experience if you actually part with some readies but it is still a fact that it IS possible to get to max level without spending anything if you are that way inclined.
You haven't lost anything though... just resubscribe and you can continue exactly as before. Indeed. you will now earn Turbine points as a bonus so future expansions can probably be bought with them at no extra cost to yourself.
But I don't want to resubscribe. If the game was worth playing or subscribing to then I would be playing it, but I am not. If Turbine are going to pull a bait and switch where all the the things we have previously paid cash for (SoA and expansions) are now obtainable for 'free' (albeit through weeks/months of tedious deed grinding) then it would be nice to see my account credited for the money I have already had to fork out. Until that happens Turbine see another cent out of me.