My brother and I bought Mines of Moria collectors edition from amazon.  Mine hasn't shown up yet, but he got his today and was NOT able to add the key.  He is getting an error that says "can't upgrade expired account".   Has anyone heard anything about that issue?  Do we really have to upgrade to VIP to add a retail key for Mines of Moria??

From what I have been seeing they are having some glitches with the new system and may take a bit to iron out, I would recommend sending a petition to Turbine before asking on a 3rd party mmo site lol.

I did ask on their forums and confirmed that this was the case.  I really just wanted to post about this here so that you can't add these codes to free accounts.  You do have to go VIP to apply the code from a retail box expansion.

Bit of information would be nice, was it a pure MoM box, or was it the MoM complete edition which includes the basegame? Still from all i have read it should be possible to just add the box ... Your not trying to use a EU box on a US account or vice versa are you? Also a linky to the thread on official forums would be nice.

Edit: The wording of the error sounds a bit as if your on a CM account, just saying.

Edit2: Searching google for "can't upgrade expired account" lotro yields exactly one thread, this one. Seems like your the only one affected or gave us a wrong error.

As I said in my original post, it was the Mines of Moria Collectors Edition.  This includes Angmar as well as Moria, a ring, cloth map, art book, etc.  We are adding a US code to a US account.  I do not have a CM account.  I may not have the exact wording of the error... as I said, I haven't got my box yet, just quoting my brother.   

If you search the turbine forums, you will find a few threads with people getting the same error.   Most are from before the game went free to play... where customers had let their account expire, and then tried to reactivate it using the 30 days included with Mines of Moria.  They had to pay for one month before they could add the code.  You can follow the ongoing discussion in this thread.. http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?356853-How-to-get-expansions

If it's possible to add these codes to an existing free account, surely someone could confirm it.  As I understand it, the codes can only be applied to new account creation or current VIP accounts.  This may change in the future, but for now this is the way it is.

I played the game for about the last 8 months of beta, through launch and up to just after whichever update added housing.  Since I have a lvel 50, I don't need access to any of the pre-Moria content.  I don't mind paying the extra 15 bucks.  I just want to let everyone here know the deal, since this is contrary to some of the info already posted here.

You should contact account support. You are supposed to be able to add a expansion to a F2P account, if only VIPs where able to apply expansions there would have been a very loud outcry already. Pretty sure thats just an error.

I'm in agreement with Rocketeer, it might just be an error with all the problems they are having. I know for a fact that Victorie (Turbine CS rep) had stated that as long as the Box code was an "UPGRADE", you can apply it.

Calling Account Support will probably get it sorted.

On a side note, prior to F2P, it was suggested that you couldn't apply any box code to a inactive account, but that was never confirmed as far as I can remember. Key word from Victorie was always "upgrade".

In other words, you should be able to go

from a Free account to SoA and/or

from SoA to Moria and/or

from Moria to Mirkwood (Mirkwood no longer available from http://store.turbine.com)

Free account to Moria Complete Free to Mirkwood Complete (Mirkwood Complete no longer available from http://store.turbine.com)

just an update on this...  A member of the LOTRO forums has posted a work-around for this issue.  When you enter your code, you need to select the option to pay with a game card, then the option to enter the card later.  This will get you past billing and let you apply your Mines of Moria code to a free account.

Originally posted by Salvatoris

just an update on this...  A member of the LOTRO forums has posted a work-around for this issue.  When you enter your code, you need to select the option to pay with a game card, then the option to enter the card later.  This will get you past billing and let you apply your Mines of Moria code to a free account.

that's cool, a couple of minutes ago someone also posted this on that thread

4. Product Keys, Free Time and Upgrades

If a product key includes 30 days of play time, those 30 days count as VIP access. Please note that many, but not all types of keys include play time. If the key does include an upgrade, but no time, it won't include any VIP access.

If a product key does give 30 days, the account will be full VIP during that time, and will downgrade to Premium automatically at the end, the same way any other VIP account will downgrade to Premium, unless a subscription plan is selected. This includes the same perks such as the trait and riding access noted above, the monthly VIP points, etc.

Product keys can be used to upgrade accounts, even Beta or Trial accounts. If they include time, that will be added when the key is applied for the upgrade. Only one key of a specific type can be added to an account. Keys can't be used to add time if it isn't ALSO applying an upgrade. There are some restrictions about adding keys that might be considered a downgrade (adding an Angmar key to a Moria trial). If you have any problems when trying to upgrade, please contact the Account Management department.

anyway glad you got it straight