"My only criticism is that perhaps the developers could have added a new playable race"

Yeah, like Blood Elves or something.  They're mentioned in the Appendix, I swear :-)

People that complain that it's not truly F2P, as you have to shell out cash at some point, crack me up.  The developers have to make money somehow, so of course they want you to buy stuff.

In terms of the game not being complete and there not being any end-game content, that's incorrect.  The game is complete up to the point we're at in the story at the moment and there's end-game content appropriate to the current level cap.  All MMOs develop over time and expand their lore and level caps (if they survive).  The comments about LOTRO are like saying WoW isn't complete and there's no end-game content because we haven't exhausted the lore yet.  To have launched a game with the whole of LOTR's story would have delayed the game by years - and probably bankrupted Turbine.  A big part of LOTR is the journey of the various members.  That's kinda how the game also works; we're moving along with the story.  Now, having said that, I'd love it if they get back to their old schedule of releasing more content every couple of months instead of the currently infrequent updates.  Maybe that'll change with F2P (DDO seems to be releasing new content fairly frequently).  And, yeah, Rohan soon please.

Originally posted by Thomas2006

Originally posted by ninjajucer

As a free player in the realm, currently have a 26 dwarf champ. Now I have unlocked Lone Lands as a pack, and the story seems interesting, but not enough for me to pay actual money. Still, its a fun diversion where the deeds sytem is useful for gaining points, but for me the things that should be free are not.

Horses, get a free one then gotta pay 195 points and 500 silver just to get the simple horse. While most people will have the points by 15, there doesn't seem to be much choice in spending the points on a horse, or opening up the next area.

So as a f2p player, you have several choices, none of which are remotely fun. Grind the deed system in each newbie area (elf, hobbit, etc.) to gather all the points necessary to get the next quest content, even though by then most things are gray. I have gotten Bree almost finished and dwarf was about half done. Its time consuming and have already hit my gold cap of 2 gold (unlock for 495 points to raise to 32), have no horse currently, altho have gotten to do skirmishes which are interesting grind battles.

Suffice to say, I could see the game picking up a few new subs, but for people doing the free experience, the thrill will go away soon.

The end-game content currently is non existant as there is no way to see Frodo throw the ring into the volcano at mount doom. The cap is 50 for free, 65 for sub. And most of the well known lands from the movie are currently not available. So when you hit the 65 cap what is there to do? Not much. Grind legend items, a few raids, monster-play (which is limited to 1 zone), craft and basically re-roll.

The game is unfinished, prolly should not have gone f2p with no current end game content and frankly is a pay-to-play game with a tease of some freedom. As the author stated, its a longer trial game, with a cash shop.

You know people keep tossing around this "there is no end game content" and they keep making themselfs look like fools.  Theres several end game raid dungeons, theres over 10 different instances that you can run (just about every instance in the game scales based on level now), there are skirmishs, monster play (and its one huge zone - dont make it sound like this small little area).

LOTRO has as much endgame content as just about any other MMO out there. Just because you can't see Frodo toss the ring into the volcano (heck the storyline is not even that far along yet) does not mean there is no endgame content. What it does mean is that there is still alot of room for expansion by continuing on the story like they have been for the last several years.

 LOL, Ninjajucer had me chuckling with his post here as well.

LotRO, probably more than any other MMO, is all about the journey, not the destination.  In other words, it's like fly fishing --  its about the process, not so much the product.  Having been with LotRO since very early Closed Beta myself, and a Lifetime Founder since the game went live, I've seen many people (with the mind set of this Ninja-d00d person here)  who start playing LotRO as an alternative MMO (usually from WoW) and/or looking for a new MMO who grind through LotRO content like their ass is on fire, never stopping to smell the flowers, reaching the level 60 cap in the original game then saying, "OK, I BEAT the game -- now what.  God that's still hilarious thinking about it :)

It's equally annoying and not nearly as comical to see other complaints about why "FTP" has certain limits.  I'd like to reminf him and others with this mind set that if you want to play at some point you have to pay -- true in life and true in LotRO and every other worthwhile MMO -- the folks who produce these games for us have to make money in one way or another.

Turbine has already included the mind sets of people like Ninja-d00d here into their business plan equation for the FTP model of LotRO -- the plan is rock solid and was tested and re-tested both in a limited in-game Beta and for over 2 years in their Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) MMO.  The reality of life is it is absolutely proven that while some players will come and some will go away, a lot more players will remain after they come try LotRO with zero risk.

Originally posted by DonnieBrasco

Originally posted by Robsolf

"Those that own the game, but do not actively subscribe, are “premium players” and therefore do not need to buy content they already own."

Misleading.  Unintentionally, I'm sure, but still...

Players, premium, free, VIP, whatever, do not own ANY of the content.  Closest thing to ownership anyone has is a free player that buys access to content with points.

Statements like this feed the argument that xpac owners own the content and are entitled to it for free.  They aren't.  Turbine gives them ACCESS for free as thanks for buying it, and as incentive to come back and play.

Actually, this is not correct either.

A Premium member, who has bough Angmar, Moria and Mirkwood, can play the game as an F2P with some extra features, and owns Moria, and Mirkwood - but NOT Angmar! 

Thus, a premier player owning all these boxes will not have to buy any quest packs in Moria and Mirkwood, but will have to buy 20+ quests in the base game.

DB

What Turbine decided to give players for free, based on what xpacs those players bought isn't really my point.  I'm not trying to reacreate the FAQ, here.

My comment was intended as a matter of perspective.  No one owns ANY of the content.  It's turbine that decides who gets free access to what.

If Turbine decided tomorrow to no longer allow access to Moria quests for those that bought the MoM box before F2P, they'd be well within their rights to do so(It'd be a dumb business move to take something away that people once had free access to, but still...). The only people on the free model that really have any rights to access content are those people who paid points for those areas.

It's smart business to give perks to customers to get them coming back; any business owner that likes to be successful knows this.  But no one has "rights" to a bakers dozen, let alone has rights to the whole bakers dozen for free because they bought donuts 3 years ago. 

Funny first paragraph.

Turbine seems to have done something right in the world of free to play.  Of all the complaints out there regarding f2p, Turbine seems to get the least flak of any company. 

Maybe I'm just a fan of their easy-going, extended free trial.  LOTRO isn't my style, but I sure didn't mind the chance to find out, and maybe I'll drop back in from time to time between games, obligation-free, just to see if my style has changed.

My major issue is that it is simply there, blighting the corner of my screen like the MMORPG equivalent of a Hooker offering “special services” if you put down a twenty and go round the back.

The biggest problem in LOTRO for me is replayability so I don’t see why Turbine cannot simply flesh-out somewhere like Buckland or Thistlebridge and make them into newbie hubs too.

I agree. Maybe some one can come up with a new UI that doesn't include that gold coin. Even Cryptic is more subtle.

I'm sort of thinking that maybe when we get into Rohan/Gondor territory that there might be new starter zones as theoretically they are more 'civilized' then the North where we are now.

Originally posted by Lizante

 

 

LotRO, probably more than any other MMO, is all about the journey, not the destination.

I remember being a hair away from level 60 (pre SoM) for days while I did other things... craft... help other players get through Angmar, etc.

I often tend to be one of those players that tries to book it through the levels at a pretty quick pace in an mmo.  I think it took me about 5 months to get to level 60, when I could actually probably have done it in a month or two.  When you start thinking like:

"OK, the best place for me to go to advance is Moria.  Item XP, more LI stuff, etc.  Angmar is still an option, and Eregion still has some stuff I can do.  There's Forochel, too, but the mobs are blues now... less XP and no quests with item XP...

But man, I love Forochel.  I'm going to Forochel."

When you start thinking like that when you normally think "advancement, level, loot!!!", you've got a good game.

Company points such as Craptic, Turbine points are an imersion killer for me. I simple refuse to play a game, where you can be a " VIP" for a monthly fee plus having a cash shop selling things like potions aso. RMT doesn't belong in our genre, fact.

I asked someone how played it till yesterday and she told me, this annoying store icon is also included into pop ups such as "buy more inventory slots" you know, stuff like that. Mark my words this model will work for games like DDO but in the longrun hurt Lotro.

Originally posted by Robsolf

The only people on the free model that really have any rights to access content are those people who paid points for those areas.

 

I don't see how that is any more distinct than someone that bought the box.

F2P players that buy the area buy the ability to access that area, just as someone that bought the box back when it was P2P bought the ability to play the game for a month.

Turbine could very well rejigger it if they chose to without affecting anyone's "rights" - as you say, it would be a terminally stupid business move, but I don't see how it's any different.

Originally posted by Liltawen

 

I agree. Maybe some one can come up with a new UI that doesn't include that gold coin. Even Cryptic is more subtle.

I'm sort of thinking that maybe when we get into Rohan/Gondor territory that there might be new starter zones as theoretically they are more 'civilized' then the North where we are now.

 

http://www.lotrointerface.com/downloads/index.php?s=866f212dfed558a5bb16f0ad374e0e76&cid=65&dp=0&sh=full&so=desc&sb=lastupdate

Has lots of UI skins that make the store button less pronounced.

Originally posted by ninjajucer

As a free player in the realm, currently have a 26 dwarf champ. Now I have unlocked Lone Lands as a pack, and the story seems interesting, but not enough for me to pay actual money. Still, its a fun diversion where the deeds sytem is useful for gaining points, but for me the things that should be free are not.

Horses, get a free one then gotta pay 195 points and 500 silver just to get the simple horse. While most people will have the points by 15, there doesn't seem to be much choice in spending the points on a horse, or opening up the next area.

So as a f2p player, you have several choices, none of which are remotely fun. Grind the deed system in each newbie area (elf, hobbit, etc.) to gather all the points necessary to get the next quest content, even though by then most things are gray. I have gotten Bree almost finished and dwarf was about half done. Its time consuming and have already hit my gold cap of 2 gold (unlock for 495 points to raise to 32), have no horse currently, altho have gotten to do skirmishes which are interesting grind battles.

Suffice to say, I could see the game picking up a few new subs, but for people doing the free experience, the thrill will go away soon.

The end-game content currently is non existant as there is no way to see Frodo throw the ring into the volcano at mount doom. The cap is 50 for free, 65 for sub. And most of the well known lands from the movie are currently not available. So when you hit the 65 cap what is there to do? Not much. Grind legend items, a few raids, monster-play (which is limited to 1 zone), craft and basically re-roll.

The game is unfinished, prolly should not have gone f2p with no current end game content and frankly is a pay-to-play game with a tease of some freedom. As the author stated, its a longer trial game, with a cash shop.

There is so much misinformation here.

There is quite a bit of End game content but if one is a hardcore player they might exhaust it by doing it 24/7. There are raids, There are smaller group raids, there are skirmishes and there is monster play. I realize that some of the more social things might not be construed by some as "end game" but there is music, role play, festivals, etc.

Game finished? It's an mmo. They are never finished.

And I don't want a middle earth the size of what we have now that includes the entire map. I want a huge world that will eventually have the entire map. Putting in everything up to Mordor is just not possible and if they are going to fill it with content.

And I think you have things backward. Don't "grind" the deed system. Go out and explore and as you kill things eventually you will fill up your deeds.

If you set out to just "max your deeds' then of course that is not going to be fun. I've levelled and completed deeds by simply exploring, taking a few quests and enjoying myself.

my sense is your playstyle doesn't fit the game.

Originally posted by teuchy

People that complain that it's not truly F2P, as you have to shell out cash at some point, crack me up.  The developers have to make money somehow, so of course they want you to buy stuff.

 This also makes me giggle. As I've said in many of Mr. Aihoshi's articles which are absurdly biased towards the cash shop style of games, these games are NOT "Free To Play". They (the developers/publishers) have to make money somehow. And they've fooled quite a few people (including Mr. Aihoshi) into believing the "Free to Play" mantra.  As noted in this article, this is a free "trial" more than a transition to "Free To Play". LOTRO is not free to play in any meaningful way. To get a modicum amount of enjoyment, you'll either have to grind an absurd amount, or pay (and you'll end up paying more than a subscriber does if you REALLY want to play the game). Simple.

Nice write up, aside from the (already corrected) boo boo about Quest packs.  As for grinding, I have to laugh at people who think you'd need to grind "an absurd amount" to get anywhere meaningful.  In the 3 weeks since launch, I've attempted to see what character I'd like as a main...bringing 3 to 25 and 6 to their mid teens.  This 'experimentation' has netted me 1700 points.  Now granted, I did have 2 weeks vacation and spent a fair bit of time in game, but no where did I 'grind' (except to finish a few slayer deeds ).  Remember - even as free, people have access to 2 characters per server (15)  Completing even say Ered Luin (2 days done casually) 10 times is 1300 points.  It's not perfect, but the option is there - and I like these options far better than any other "FTP" game out there.

Originally posted by jakin

Originally posted by Robsolf

The only people on the free model that really have any rights to access content are those people who paid points for those areas.

 

I don't see how that is any more distinct than someone that bought the box.

F2P players that buy the area buy the ability to access that area, just as someone that bought the box back when it was P2P bought the ability to play the game for a month.

Turbine could very well rejigger it if they chose to without affecting anyone's "rights" - as you say, it would be a terminally stupid business move, but I don't see how it's any different.

It's different, because when you and I bought those expansions, we bought them knowing that we'd have to pay a subscription in order to access the content.

When you buy the content with points now, you're buying it under the F2P model.  You're paying points for something so you can have access to it with or without a sub.

I agree that it would be a dumb biz move on their part to take what they offered away(which is why I said it), but it IS different.

Not much point in nit-picking it all.  My point is and has always been, players DO NOT own the content.

When will these disgustingly rote arguments about what is and what is not F2P just end. If you can download, install, and run the game, create an account and access the game world, and experience the content of the game, all without paying anything, the game IS F2P. Whether or not you got ALL of that excellent FREE content you feel that your bloated ego deserved is a moot point. The global economy crashed for the same reason that you worthless bags of garbage wail on and on over a game, because you feel ENTITLED to something which you have NO right to.

Get over it, you are entitled to nothing in this world, nor the virtual one which you shed your tears over.

Originally posted by ninjajucer

The end-game content currently is non existant as there is no way to see Frodo throw the ring into the volcano at mount doom. The cap is 50 for free, 65 for sub. And most of the well known lands from the movie are currently not available. So when you hit the 65 cap what is there to do? Not much. Grind legend items, a few raids, monster-play (which is limited to 1 zone), craft and basically re-roll.

The game is unfinished, prolly should not have gone f2p with no current end game content and frankly is a pay-to-play game with a tease of some freedom. As the author stated, its a longer trial game, with a cash shop.

 

 I hate to point this out, but you're complaints here are invalid. First and foremost, LotRO is NOT based off the movies. In a few instances, visual cues were taken from the movies, but the storyline and progression was taken from the books. Because the series ended with the Lord of the RIngs trilogy, throwing the ring into Mount Doom would be the very end of the game. Anything after that would have to be completely made up with the help of Tolkien, and as such, would not do his work justice. But this is a MMO. It can't just end. The game would never thrive if you basically limited yourself to never coming out with new areas or expansions. Plus, the game DOES have end-game content. Lots of it, actually. Just because it doesn't end where YOU want it to end doesn't mean it doesn't have an end-game.

However, I do agree with the "tease of some freedom" sentiment. But then thats the misnomer of "free to play"... it isn't really free. It offers players to play the game with more options of how to pay, and gives a decent trial for new players wanting to try it out. For me, I enjoy it. I don't have a ton of time to play MMO's as is, but I still really enjoy them. So, for me, paying $15 for a monthly sub just isn't worth the price for how little time I have to play. However, since I can log in anytime I want to now, even if the last time I played was over a week ago, I still can without having to fork over all the cash. I just pay once I get to a new area. Believe me, the way I play, I will end up paying a lot less than a sub, and then after a long while, will have opened up all the content and Still not be paying a monthly fee.

For me, its a win-win, but I'm not a hardcore gamer...

Originally posted by DonnieBrasco

"Essentially if you own the three expansions already, Lord of the Rings Online really is subscription free and only a minority of features or disabled for the player"

Ok, first of all, there had only been 2 expansion so far: Moria and Mirkwood (not 3).

Secondly, this is incorrect. If you own both Angmar, Moria, and Mirkwood, and you wish to play free (being a Premier player), you would still need to buy the quest packs between 20-50.

" those that own the game, but do not actively subscribe, are “premium players” and therefore do not need to buy content they already own." - this is the totally incorrect part.

Please try to focus on giving correct info, or you will be flamed by haters. The game is great, and I agree it's still the best option to stay VIP and be subbed/lifetimer.

DB

Nicely said. I think this pretty obviously points out the author's lack of research into this piece.  It's pretty hard to miss this if you have taken a formerly subbed account and cancelled the sub. Hell, you can't even ride through one of the zones 20-50 zones without getting a Store pop-up to let you know what you need to do to buy the quest pack.

Originally posted by Torluk

It is good to see the low level areas teeming with life again.  However, it is a shame they are not 'teaming' with life again as before f2p most of the group content in the lower zones was removed in an effort to make it easier, in an environment where most players had at least one character at the cap, for players to level up.

That being said, I'm glad to see many new and returning players enjoying themselves in Eriador.

 

This.

Some of these writers are slipping. It's like half of them don't even play the games they're talking about anymore, they just take assumption and spread it around as fact. Tsk, tsk.

Originally posted by ninjajucer

As a free player in the realm, currently have a 26 dwarf champ. Now I have unlocked Lone Lands as a pack, and the story seems interesting, but not enough for me to pay actual money. Still, its a fun diversion where the deeds sytem is useful for gaining points, but for me the things that should be free are not.

Horses, get a free one then gotta pay 195 points and 500 silver just to get the simple horse. While most people will have the points by 15, there doesn't seem to be much choice in spending the points on a horse, or opening up the next area.

So as a f2p player, you have several choices, none of which are remotely fun. Grind the deed system in each newbie area (elf, hobbit, etc.) to gather all the points necessary to get the next quest content, even though by then most things are gray. I have gotten Bree almost finished and dwarf was about half done. Its time consuming and have already hit my gold cap of 2 gold (unlock for 495 points to raise to 32), have no horse currently, altho have gotten to do skirmishes which are interesting grind battles.

Suffice to say, I could see the game picking up a few new subs, but for people doing the free experience, the thrill will go away soon.

The end-game content currently is non existant as there is no way to see Frodo throw the ring into the volcano at mount doom. The cap is 50 for free, 65 for sub. And most of the well known lands from the movie are currently not available. So when you hit the 65 cap what is there to do? Not much. Grind legend items, a few raids, monster-play (which is limited to 1 zone), craft and basically re-roll.

The game is unfinished, prolly should not have gone f2p with no current end game content and frankly is a pay-to-play game with a tease of some freedom. As the author stated, its a longer trial game, with a cash shop.

 

With a level 26 guardian and you are already saying there is no end-game? Well, that's what i call a biased view.

There's a ton of end-game instances, skirmishes, events, etc.

Don't let anyone be fooled by this post.

I think the Turbine F2P model is the best currently available. You actually can play the majority of the game totally free if you don't mind a lot of grinding to unlock everything.

I think the best compromise is to buy the MoM expansion for under $10 and then play the game as premium after your month of VIP expires. The one-time payment gives you a huge boost of features that would cost a lot more if bought individually and you get to keep a lot of the extras that you gain while VIP, like extra bags, riding skill, etc.

Originally posted by Liltawen

I agree. Maybe some one can come up with a new UI that doesn't include that gold coin. Even Cryptic is more subtle.

 

*In before Philby*

This doesn't actually bother me and is easily ignored.  It also allows me faster access to the store when I need something.