Tried once, briefly in the past but never really gave it a chance.  I do remember liking the aesthetics.  I have a pretty good idea of the F2P model where I believe I have to buy extra quests + expansions. Fine.

Outside of questing.  What else can I do in LOTRO?   I know there is crafting.  Is there housing?  When am I able to get my house?  How is exploration?  Am I rewarded for going off the 'quest' path?   Are there secrets to be found and collected?

I like the LOTRO lore, but want other things to do to maintain my interest.

What do you think?

Originally posted by darkhalf357x

Tried once, briefly in the past but never really gave it a chance.  I do remember liking the aesthetics.  I have a pretty good idea of the F2P model where I believe I have to buy extra quests + expansions. Fine.

Outside of questing.  What else can I do in LOTRO?   I know there is crafting.  Is there housing?  When am I able to get my house?  How is exploration?  Am I rewarded for going off the 'quest' path?   Are there secrets to be found and collected?

I like the LOTRO lore, but want other things to do to maintain my interest.

What do you think?

Outside of questing.  What else can I do in LOTRO? 

Dungeons, raids, solo-instanced-pve challenges (you can also do them with friends), crafting, rp. Pretty much whatever you can do in wow but pvp

There is housing.

Exploration is very nice, because the world is simply great. What also adds to exploration is there are no flying mounts, imo. Other than that, there are no rewards for going off the quest path, sadly. Pretty much like wow here too. No secrets to be found by exploring, as far as I know.

Originally posted by sudo

Originally posted by darkhalf357x

Tried once, briefly in the past but never really gave it a chance.  I do remember liking the aesthetics.  I have a pretty good idea of the F2P model where I believe I have to buy extra quests + expansions. Fine.

Outside of questing.  What else can I do in LOTRO?   I know there is crafting.  Is there housing?  When am I able to get my house?  How is exploration?  Am I rewarded for going off the 'quest' path?   Are there secrets to be found and collected?

I like the LOTRO lore, but want other things to do to maintain my interest.

What do you think?

Outside of questing.  What else can I do in LOTRO? 

Dungeons, raids, solo-instanced-pve challenges (you can also do them with friends), crafting, rp. Pretty much whatever you can do in wow but pvp

There is housing.

Exploration is very nice, because the world is simply great. What also adds to exploration is there are no flying mounts, imo. Other than that, there are no rewards for going off the quest path, sadly. Pretty much like wow here too. No secrets to be found by exploring, as far as I know.

Of course there are.

There are exploration deeds, giving you TPs and additional character abilities (traits).

It's been a while for me aswell but i remember really loving to explore the huge world. There was a kind of satisfaction finally reaching Rivendell, eventhough my level was way to low, and seeing the surroundings for myself. I've actually returned twice to LoTRO and as i recall, you can play the game and earn the currency needed to unlock things in the game store... maybe that has changed?

I have been itching to return yet again since i've got a new computer, but soon other MMO titles will arrive so who knows?

Originally posted by Thillian

Originally posted by sudo

Originally posted by darkhalf357x

Tried once, briefly in the past but never really gave it a chance.  I do remember liking the aesthetics.  I have a pretty good idea of the F2P model where I believe I have to buy extra quests + expansions. Fine.

Outside of questing.  What else can I do in LOTRO?   I know there is crafting.  Is there housing?  When am I able to get my house?  How is exploration?  Am I rewarded for going off the 'quest' path?   Are there secrets to be found and collected?

I like the LOTRO lore, but want other things to do to maintain my interest.

What do you think?

Outside of questing.  What else can I do in LOTRO? 

Dungeons, raids, solo-instanced-pve challenges (you can also do them with friends), crafting, rp. Pretty much whatever you can do in wow but pvp

There is housing.

Exploration is very nice, because the world is simply great. What also adds to exploration is there are no flying mounts, imo. Other than that, there are no rewards for going off the quest path, sadly. Pretty much like wow here too. No secrets to be found by exploring, as far as I know.

Of course there are.

There are exploration deeds, giving you TPs and additional character abilities (traits).

The game could use a little more of this, but an example of good exploration content:

In the Goblin-Town area (a rather large persistent dungeon with solo, small group, and full group content) there is a pile of debris you can expect.  This starts the deed (achievement) to collect Bilbo's buttons, which takes you all over the dungeon if you complete it.  

Originally posted by Skooma2
And you can go fishing.

Sold :-)

Originally posted by Brixon
You can also really play musical instruments.

Yeah, which is one of the most unique items of LOTRO.

Originally posted by jpnole
Lotro is no different than any other AAA themepark. Also, like the rest of them, it has a stripped down F2P option with a lot of hidden costs if you want to experience all the content. If you tried it before and it didn't click, don't expect different results this time around.

Actually LOTRO F2P is not as restrictive as many other games and the fact that you could earn currency to buy items from the cash shop just by completing achievements in game makes it very good format. My problem with LOTRO was once I capped out it got boring and very repetitive.

Originally posted by jpnole
it has a stripped down F2P option with a lot of hidden costs

Especially when you can play the entire game for FREE munus expansions which you can grind TPs for FREE.

Originally posted by Yizle

Originally posted by jpnole
Lotro is no different than any other AAA themepark. Also, like the rest of them, it has a stripped down F2P option with a lot of hidden costs if you want to experience all the content. If you tried it before and it didn't click, don't expect different results this time around.

Actually LOTRO F2P is not as restrictive as many other games and the fact that you could earn currency to buy items from the cash shop just by completing achievements in game makes it very good format. My problem with LOTRO was once I capped out it got boring and very repetitive.

I want to get into the game too, anyone out there who can clear the fog for me? As i see it now, the things are like this:

f i don't pay, i'm restricted on... everything? Bag space, gold limit, quests, instances, PvP, classes, character slots, crafting, mail, auction house, gear, traits, riding, chat, XP, wardrobe, skirmishes... Don't get me wrong, i'm not one of those who want everything for free, i'm willing to pay. Actually that's where things seem dirty for me. If i go VIP, i still need to pay to unlock expansions. If i want the full game and VIP for one month, it would cost me 40$ for the first 3 expansions, 40$ for the new expansion (it's not that "new" anymore mind you) and 15$ for VIP, making it 95$ here. For that money, there are way WAY better deals on the market than some game from almost 6 years ago.

Of course there are the points i'd get from deeds, but i don't see myself rerolling tons of alts and grinding millions of mobs just to pay for expansions. I'm ready to pay a bit, but i was thinking somewhere in the range of 10-15$ per month when i'm active, withouth having to shove 80$ for expansions.

I find LOTRO's F2P to be a terrible system for the new player. I like the game and i want to be wrong in what i've posted. Anyone who can prove me wrong, please?

Originally posted by simmihi

Originally posted by Yizle

Originally posted by jpnole
Lotro is no different than any other AAA themepark. Also, like the rest of them, it has a stripped down F2P option with a lot of hidden costs if you want to experience all the content. If you tried it before and it didn't click, don't expect different results this time around.

Actually LOTRO F2P is not as restrictive as many other games and the fact that you could earn currency to buy items from the cash shop just by completing achievements in game makes it very good format. My problem with LOTRO was once I capped out it got boring and very repetitive.

I want to get into the game too, anyone out there who can clear the fog for me? As i see it now, the things are like this:

f i don't pay, i'm restricted on... everything? Bag space, gold limit, quests, instances, PvP, classes, character slots, crafting, mail, auction house, gear, traits, riding, chat, XP, wardrobe, skirmishes...

Not on XP as long as you like to grind exp. On most other stuff yes, you are restricted however most of what you mentioned (quest packs, gold cap, classes, auction house and some other) you buy upgrade which is account wide (you buy it once and have on all chars).

Don't get me wrong, i'm not one of those who want everything for free, i'm willing to pay. Actually that's where things seem dirty for me. If i go VIP, i still need to pay to unlock expansions.

If you pay WoW sub then you still need to buy expansions, same for EQ, same for Rift and so on. Nothing unusual here really.

If i want the full game and VIP for one month, it would cost me 40$ for the first 3 expansions, 40$ for the new expansion (it's not that "new" anymore mind you) and 15$ for VIP, making it 95$ here. For that money, there are way WAY better deals on the market than some game from almost 6 years ago.

That's what freemium is for. Just buy what yoou are going to use and that's it. Also I agree with others. content 1-50 can be pretty much free. Also if you don't rush it, create 4th character (on some other server than your main) that should give you enough TP to get Moria - with all 4 chars doing Moria count also on Mirkwood and perhaps at least some TP needed for Isengard. Of course you may want to ruch the content, do it and never come back like some other games are played but then it is true that it can get more expensive. Totally up to you how you want to play it.

Of course there are the points i'd get from deeds, but i don't see myself rerolling tons of alts and grinding millions of mobs just to pay for expansions. I'm ready to pay a bit, but i was thinking somewhere in the range of 10-15$ per month when i'm active, withouth having to shove 80$ for expansions.

Half of deeds are not related to kills. And even if they are then you do most of it while simply questing and then finish whatever remains once you are done in the whole zone. Sometimes it may take a few more days however it's not really like in some asian games.

I find LOTRO's F2P to be a terrible system for the new player. I like the game and i want to be wrong in what i've posted. Anyone who can prove me wrong, please?

Originally posted by simmihi

Originally posted by Yizle

Originally posted by jpnole
Lotro is no different than any other AAA themepark. Also, like the rest of them, it has a stripped down F2P option with a lot of hidden costs if you want to experience all the content. If you tried it before and it didn't click, don't expect different results this time around.

Actually LOTRO F2P is not as restrictive as many other games and the fact that you could earn currency to buy items from the cash shop just by completing achievements in game makes it very good format. My problem with LOTRO was once I capped out it got boring and very repetitive.

I want to get into the game too, anyone out there who can clear the fog for me? As i see it now, the things are like this:

f i don't pay, i'm restricted on... everything? Bag space, gold limit, quests, instances, PvP, classes, character slots, crafting, mail, auction house, gear, traits, riding, chat, XP, wardrobe, skirmishes... Don't get me wrong, i'm not one of those who want everything for free, i'm willing to pay. Actually that's where things seem dirty for me. If i go VIP, i still need to pay to unlock expansions. If i want the full game and VIP for one month, it would cost me 40$ for the first 3 expansions, 40$ for the new expansion (it's not that "new" anymore mind you) and 15$ for VIP, making it 95$ here. For that money, there are way WAY better deals on the market than some game from almost 6 years ago.

Of course there are the points i'd get from deeds, but i don't see myself rerolling tons of alts and grinding millions of mobs just to pay for expansions. I'm ready to pay a bit, but i was thinking somewhere in the range of 10-15$ per month when i'm active, withouth having to shove 80$ for expansions.

I find LOTRO's F2P to be a terrible system for the new player. I like the game and i want to be wrong in what i've posted. Anyone who can prove me wrong, please?

You missed the Steam Sale.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/372564/Steam-Sale-FYI.html

Why should we convince you to play?  Your mind is already made up, so go play those other games of greater value to you.

Originally posted by MMOGamer71

You missed the Steam Sale.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/372564/Steam-Sale-FYI.html

 

Why should we convince you to play?  Your mind is already made up, so go play those other games of greater value to you.

You are right, you should not feel obliged to convince me of anything, but really, i am not a troll. I am really interested to play the game (actually, i'm already playing it on a free account), i find it to be way better regarding complexity, content, character progression and customisation in comparison with today's ultra-shallow "MMO's", I was just asking here to see if there is anything that i've missed or if really the game would cost me as much as i've assumed it would, considering that many models now seem to be way cheaper. I'd like to thank everyone for their reply.