This game always had a special place in my heart, even though I never actually played it that much. I always meant to, though, which is kinda odd.

I loved the way they treated the world with respect for the material, and the lore was very fitting all things considered.

It was a tremendous representation of that setting I've held dear since I was a kid, when I first started reading The Hobbit - and subsequently LotR at the age of 12.

But there was something about it that couldn't hold my attention for long, and I think it was mostly the combat flow. It was just not very exciting - and too much of the game was about killing the same enemies over and over and over. Then there was the lack of PvP (real PvP) - which, to me, is a fundamental flaw in most MMOs without it. It's more about the implementation than anything else, and monster play was a bad one.

Anyway, I kept coming back to the game every 3-6 months - just to soak in that Tolkien atmosphere. I was playing another Tolkien game the other day (War in the North) - and I got the urge again.

So, I downloaded the client - and I'd forgotten about the migration. Fortunately, I had already migrated when I got my mail - so that wasn't the problem.

The problem was that it was not just a migration from Codemasters to Turbine in terms of the business aspect - but the physical aspect. Turns out that not only am I forced to play on US servers with bad ping, they also didn't opt to transfer my characters. For some reason, they couldn't figure out that my characters should be transfered as well as my account, which means they're gone now.

But that's not all. The game went from a design with integrity - to a blatant cash-shop exploitation game. Sure, it's "F2P" - as long as you grind everything, and since they've tripled their income - it's no secret that most people don't do that.

Beyond that, it turns out that my lifetime subscription doesn't include future content - because I have to buy instances as they're released. Sure, I get TP - but they're not enough to buy all content. So, I essentially paid for a lifetime subscription without getting access to all non-expansion content automatically. That entirely defeats the purpose of such a subscription - and it wasn't exactly cheap.

To say that I feel disgusted would be very accurate. They completely and utterly destroyed an otherwise fantastic core design through greed and incompetence.

That's quite a feat.

Well, Turbine, it was an interesting time knowing you. But that time is past.

Thankfully, I have a friend who's still a fan of the game with a F2P account. Instead of letting my own go to waste - I gave it to him, and hopefully he will get something positive out of the game.

I hope people who stick with the game have fun. That is all.

A long rant to say your peeved because you dont get future content with your lifetime sub, did you read the ToS? probably not.  This is one of the reasons I'm not interested in lifetime subs with SWtor and was brought up in another thread.

There was never any real PvP in LotRO and it was never hidden from the facts, why you bought a lifetime sub and thought there was is beyond comprehension.

I feel the same way as the OP and I also bought the Lifetime sub. My responce is too never support another Turbine game and i am retired and have the money to do so. Yes i am but one person but it might just add up. Also in my opion there will never be any more Lifetime subs for any game now.

Originally posted by Elsabolts

I feel the same way as the OP and I also bought the Lifetime sub. My responce is too never support another Turbine game and i am retired and have the money to do so. Yes i am but one person but it might just add up. Also in my opion there will never be any more Lifetime subs for any game now.

 Yeah, that's my position as well.

I knew, going in, that a lifetime subscription represents a risk.  That's ok, but there are ways to treat your customers that's within your control - and Turbine has demonstrated what they're about now.

I remember their bold "12 year plan" - which I fully trusted. I just felt that they cared about Tolkien's work - and I felt they had a great respect for how to develop a game like this.

But, turns out, that money - once again - talks and nothing is sacred.

It also had a special place heart. Now it has a special place in my "WTF are u kidding me" kidney. This game just make me mad now, such a I_Wanna_Steal_ur_money_game.exe ..

Originally posted by DKLond

This game always had a special place in my heart, even though I never actually played it that much. I always meant to, though, which is kinda odd.

I loved the way they treated the world with respect for the material, and the lore was very fitting all things considered.

It was a tremendous representation of that setting I've held dear since I was a kid, when I first started reading The Hobbit - and subsequently LotR at the age of 12.

But there was something about it that couldn't hold my attention for long, and I think it was mostly the combat flow. It was just not very exciting - and too much of the game was about killing the same enemies over and over and over. Then there was the lack of PvP (real PvP) - which, to me, is a fundamental flaw in most MMOs without it. It's more about the implementation than anything else, and monster play was a bad one.

Anyway, I kept coming back to the game every 3-6 months - just to soak in that Tolkien atmosphere. I was playing another Tolkien game the other day (War in the North) - and I got the urge again.

So, I downloaded the client - and I'd forgotten about the migration. Fortunately, I had already migrated when I got my mail - so that wasn't the problem.

The problem was that it was not just a migration from Codemasters to Turbine in terms of the business aspect - but the physical aspect. Turns out that not only am I forced to play on US servers with bad ping, they also didn't opt to transfer my characters. For some reason, they couldn't figure out that my characters should be transfered as well as my account, which means they're gone now.

But that's not all. The game went from a design with integrity - to a blatant cash-shop exploitation game. Sure, it's "F2P" - as long as you grind everything, and since they've tripled their income - it's no secret that most people don't do that.

Beyond that, it turns out that my lifetime subscription doesn't include future content - because I have to buy instances as they're released. Sure, I get TP - but they're not enough to buy all content. So, I essentially paid for a lifetime subscription without getting access to all non-expansion content automatically. That entirely defeats the purpose of such a subscription - and it wasn't exactly cheap.

To say that I feel disgusted would be very accurate. They completely and utterly destroyed an otherwise fantastic core design through greed and incompetence.

That's quite a feat.

Well, Turbine, it was an interesting time knowing you. But that time is past.

Thankfully, I have a friend who's still a fan of the game with a F2P account. Instead of letting my own go to waste - I gave it to him, and hopefully he will get something positive out of the game.

I hope people who stick with the game have fun. That is all.

i have a lifer account and had more than enough points for the new expac which i get given every month.

I always thought it had real 'charm'. I can understand that lifers might be pissed off depending on how much use they got out of the sub. I am kind of the other way round, I bought Moria and RoI and subbed 1 month to unlock stuff. I have pretty much earned a lifetime account through TP I earned in game.

Im a lifer and i had plenty of points to buy whole expansion and have hefty leftover without paying a dime. And you HAD to buy expansions before F2P, now as you lifer you get them for FREE with stipend. Thats an upgrade.

My characters were trasfered without any problems, exactly the same as they were at codies.

Ping is higher, i get 130-150 which is quite decent and not really noticable difference to codies.

And they said from the start that PvP will never be more than a side attraction. In fact there shouldnt have been any PvP ingame, MP map was put in at the last moment. If you didnt get a hint from that...

And i wanted to ask for your account since i also have ton of friends that would LOVE one, but you already gave it away, awwwww ;P

Originally posted by Gorilla

I always thought it had real 'charm'. I can understand that lifers might be pissed off depending on how much use they got out of the sub. I am kind of the other way round, I bought Moria and RoI and subbed 1 month to unlock stuff. I have pretty much earned a lifetime account through TP I earned in game.

Thats pretty much how you should do it if you start to play now. I dont really get all "pissed VIP"s. If you dont find VIP good value for the money - go premium lol.

The folks that loved this game and worked hard to make it good are long gone. It will surprise me if it even survies till Mordor at this rate. I am a 3 and a half year player and the game has just gotten...well...stale. Not enough quality updates and a only fair expansion. When GW2 comes out I am gone. SoA was great,,,,,then it started to go downhill.

Its a shame seing this game come to pass. It would better stand the test of time if the game design allowed it to have opposing factions, as portraid in Tolkien world. Its my most beloved fantasy lore and i sure would like to play a game that could match its grandeur.

I do think is a well made game and i had fun playing it, but it just couldnt grab me for long.

Now everytime i wanna play in Tolkiens world i just end by doing a couple of skyrmishs in BFME.

Im watching The Two Towers btw hehe...

Originally posted by Gorilla

I always thought it had real 'charm'. I can understand that lifers might be pissed off depending on how much use they got out of the sub. I am kind of the other way round, I bought Moria and RoI and subbed 1 month to unlock stuff. I have pretty much earned a lifetime account through TP I earned in game.

Pretty much where im at except I played before and during Moria and Mirkwood. Came back about a month ago as a premium and find im pretty much good to go. I used what TP I had accrued and picked up a $20 TP card and bought  Misty Mnts. and Eregion for my alt and Enedwaith for my main and bought some vault slots. Will pick up ROI soon and from there will ride the gravy train. I guessI dont know why anyone looking for PVP would buy a lifetime sub to LOTRO.

I understand the general feeling of "Wtf where they thinking when they decided to do that!?" I'm getting there.

Yet I've had a lifetime account since the days of beta.

I've played from then til now, with the exception of a 6-month break, and I feel I've more than made my money back on paying for a life-time account.

It was only $199 and that was in 2007. i've MORE than made my money back if I were to have chosen a $9.99/month or even $15/month payment plan.

Sure things will happen that will piss me off with the game, but mostly everything is free. The only risk I mainly take is purchasing and XPac......and $30 a year is no big deal for me to waste. I've wasted WAY more than that on X-Box and PS3 games that touted to be the-next-big-deal, yet weren't and only provided a few days-worth of play

I still have my lifetime sub, but doubt that I'll be playing anytime soon... I kind of felt the way that you did (at least at the start of your post) - the game holds a place dear in my heart, but no matter how hard I tried to love it, once I got my first character to level 50, I just really didn't feel like doint it all over again.  But I did anyway.  And... meh...

Fortunately I got my money's worth - the $199 lifetime was worth about 14 months of playtime, and I played for at least that long.  Sometimes I reinstall it, play it for a couple of days, and then remember why I'd left.

I can't say that I'm as upset as you are about the change of business model.  I always knew/expected to have to pay for expansion packs.  They were pretty clear (as I recall?) about that from the beginning.  And as a lifetime sub'r, I get plenty of TP's to buy anything I could ever desire.  They've done what they've had to to remain relevant and profitable.  Can't blame a company for trying to keep it's doors open...

But for me, it's on to something new as well.

Different game, same old whining.

Yawn,

Originally posted by rastorg

Different game, same old whining.

Yawn,

Diffrent thread, same old QQ and pretending to not care that someone whine.

Yawn,

I read The Hobbit when I was 9, and read Lord of the Rings when I was 11. I want to say that this game, while the setting and geography are ridiculously accurate for a video game, does not stay faithful to the meaning of the book at all. Lord of the Rings was not about people having to mow down hundreds or thousands of enemies to get a bit stronger, nor did this game make it very fun. The main story and side stories for the most part have no meaning and not much relation, and makes you wonder how people are losing the war if everyone is so amazing until they get a scripted death. Between linearity when they could add freeroaming in the main story, and freeroam when linearity is often better in class quests and side missions, I hated this game for its poor representation and lack of any meaning.

Originally posted by bisurge

I read The Hobbit when I was 9, and read Lord of the Rings when I was 11. I want to say that this game, while the setting and geography are ridiculously accurate for a video game, does not stay faithful to the meaning of the book at all. Lord of the Rings was not about people having to mow down hundreds or thousands of enemies to get a bit stronger, nor did this game make it very fun. The main story and side stories for the most part have no meaning and not much relation, and makes you wonder how people are losing the war if everyone is so amazing until they get a scripted death. Between linearity when they could add freeroaming in the main story, and freeroam when linearity is often better in class quests and side missions, I hated this game for its poor representation and lack of any meaning.

Well until someone figures out how to change the 'kill 1000s of mobs and follow a main questline to max level' formula, that's about all you are going to get. Problem is bigger than just Lotro sadly.

I jumped at the chance to get a lifetime sub when they halved the price to £75 admittedly it was 3 weeks before the 'We are going F2P' event.....

Hasnt stopped me playing..... never will...

And I knew that all future expansions would be 'paid for' or bought with TP.... Hasnt stopped me playing

Never will....