My name is David Cross I live on planet earth  - come and egg my house.

.. looks out the window.. nope no one there.

Be careful what you wish for.

A player on the forums gives his real name and says more or less what you just did:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=25712374700&sid=1&pageNo=34#670

Another player documents, more or less, how it took him 20 minutes to find out that player's address, phone number, the names of his parents, the name of his dog, what his dog looks like, the color of the walls in his room, what he did last weekend, where he worked, and what his work phone number was. He then called him at work and told him exactly how easy it was to do.

http://seewhatyoudidthere.com/2010/07/07/realid-changes-the-very-real-ease-of-stalking-in-the-internet-age/

If you check that first link, you'll see where the player edited his name out of the post and announced that he'd been found.

Now, yes, people who are doggedly defending this thing for whatever reason will state that it would have been significantly more difficult to find the above information without a character name, or that you can safeguard your information if you know how to do it, or that information is already so easily available that it doesn't matter anyway. None of that makes a difference, though, because Blizzard reaches a huge number of people, and not all of them will know to keep their character names separate from their forum names, not all of them will know how important it is to limit information on social netowrking sites. This is another vulnerability that's being purposely introduced and, with a community as large (and, ostensibly, immature) as BioWare's, someone is going to fall victim to it.

So, by all means, keep your name posted in this thread. It's possible nothing will happen. Why on Earth would you want to risk it when you don't have to, though? More importantly, why would you want to let Blizzard risk it for you?

Originally posted by erictlewis

I think a lot of mmo's are watching this to see what happens.  If Blizard gets away without without loosing the subs they have it will be headed our way.

I don't know, I can't imagine it'll be something that takes hold in smaller MMO companies, or even larger ones launching new games. The amount of uproar already generated by this story has dwarfed any positive responses, and the last thing an MMO launch needs is bad press and community outrage from something that could easily be avoided without spending a cent.

The only way I can see it spreading is if it turns out to be a phenomenal success embraced by the masses, otherwise it'll  be too risky to attempt. Even if it turned out that there was significant money to be made by selling player information, what's the long-term viability of that? As soon as players started getting burned by the practice, it'd irrevocably damage the studio's reputation for all current and future products.

@meleemadness:

Unless I missed a recent change, though, weapons and shields don't have Outfit options. What you equip is what you get, with the exception of a cosmetic warden's quiver-type thing that has javelins in it. If you're not too worried about stats, you can check the appearance of things with ctrl + left-click, which is helpful when scanning the auction house and linked items in chat. For the most part, though, I'd just use the best weapon you can get your hands on, at least until you get close to the level cap. You'll outgrow gear pretty quickly.

Perfect World/Perfect World International is a F2P game that's supposed to have very good avatar customization. I haven't tried it (I stick to subscription games), but its customization videos on YouTube are pretty impressive.

Originally posted by meleemadness

Hmm. OK, so I am thinking a Mini and Champion and a LM and Guardian......or should it be Mini and Guardian and Champion and LM?

Minstrel/Champion and LM/Guardian would be the better pairs.

• Champions in Fervour (their damage stance) take a lot of damage but have excellent power regeneration, so a Minstrel's healing would really help there (though I'd really recommend taking a look at Runekeepers: they're arguably the best at single-target damage, and very good healers, too).
• Champions in Glory (their tank stance) are relatively durable, so the minstrel could switch to damage for easier stuff if you guys get bored of playing healer/dps.
• Guardians in Block/Parry stance are extremely tough and fairly power-efficient, but they don't do a lot of damage, let alone a lot of AoE damage, so the LM's crowd control can keep things locked down while the Guardian takes them out.
• Guardians in Overpower do a lot of single-target damage (and moderate AoE), but go through power very quickly, so the LM's power restoration will be very handy.

Originally posted by meleemadness
What about Minis? Can they do enough damage to work well with a LM?

They can certainly trait for damage and benefit from the LM's power restoration (once they get it), though that does leave you without a reliable tank and only a minor source of healing (it's more a side ability for LMs than the defining characteristic). Loremasters do get a pet (bear) that can take some damage, but it's not going to be as durable as either a Guardian or a Champion. Still, the LM's crowd control means the bear doesn't usually have to, provided things are going according to plan. A Minstrel/Loremaster combo wouldn't be my first pick, but, as mentioned, anything can work.

EDIT: One thing to keep in mind about traiting is that it can take quite awhile to get enough traits in any single line to really benefit greatly from it. In the early stages of the game, a Guardian isn't going to be doing a lot of damage, a Champion isn't going to be very durable, and a Minstrel isn't going to be vaporizing Trolls. As you get more class skills and gain more levels, you'll open up more traits and unlock more trait slots, so the ability to really specialize in alternate roles is one that typically comes later in the game.

It's close, either way. To tank well, Champions end up sacrificing a lot of their power regeneration and damage. To DPS well, Guardians end up sacrificing a bunch of their defense (shields) and have much worse power efficiency. They're basically two sides of the same coin, but the Guardian is a better tank than a Champion, and the Champion is a better DPSer than a Guardian.

EDIT: To illustrate the point, Guardians have two trait lines dedicated to tanking and one line to DPS. Champions have two trait lines dedicated to DPS and one line to tanking. Traits eventually make quite a difference in how your character plays.

Originally posted by Papadam

...but guards probably have the lowest dps.

That hasn't been true for years. The Overpower stance (and associated skills) plus the Keen Blade trait lines put Guardians on equal ground with Champions for single-target damage. Their damage only lacks when they're traited for tanking and using Block or Parry stance. Even Parry isn't bad.

Wardens don't do incredible DPS, but they can survive nearly anything once gambits become second nature. Guardians eventually do very good DPS if traited and geared for it (once they get the Overpower stance), though their energy management in Overpower is quite poor. Fortunately, Loremasters eventually get an ability that provides power, so the Guardian's power issues could be mitigated.

For pretty much everything but group quests, you can get by just fine with any pairing. I'd say the most effective would probably be a Minstrel/Champion or a Runekeeper/Champion duo, since they can be set up different ways for different situations: Damage/Damage for easy stuff/deeds, Heal/Damage for average stuff, or Heal/Tank for harder stuff. Opinions vary, though, since most classes do a respectable job in several areas.

I wouldn't worry too much about which classes you choose, in any case. Most of the quests are soloable, and every class solos very well. You'll be able to duo Normal quests easily no matter which classes you choose, you'll be able to handle most Small Fellowship quests no matter which classes you choose, and you'll need close to a full team for every Group quest anyway. The only real difference is the time it takes you to accomplish them. Additionally, some classes have a harder time getting into pick-up groups than others (Hunters, most notably), but most people tend to do the big stuff with kinships, so PUG issues only pop up if you love grouping but hate guild-type organizations.

I don't think it's boring, it's just the traditional combat style MMOs have had since Everquest. I won't touch a game with twitch/action combat, since I just don't like action games at all, but the current generation of gamers seems to prefer them. As a result, we're seeing more and more twitchy MMOs being released. That's fine, since demand drives all markets. It does tend to lead to "my preference is better than your preference" arguments, though, since both types of games are now sharing the same landscape and competing for the same development resources.

As far as why I like what I do? I prefer the hotkey-driven combat of traditional MMOs much in the same way that I prefer turn-based strategy games to RTS games. Perhaps it's an age-related thing (I'm 39), maybe it's a gender issue (I'm female), maybe it's personality-based (I'm not an adrenaline junky and I never pvp), maybe it's just  random neurons firing in my brain. My gaming preferences have remained pretty stable over the years, though; the games that got me into gaming in the first place were low-tech, turn-based things like Zork, Bard's Tale, Ultima and Dragon Warrior. I never had any interest in Duke Nukem, Doom, or any other action game, which is why I moved to MMOs in the first place: they gave me the experience I was looking for. Fast-paced action combat is exactly the sort of thing I avoided before MMOs ever existed, so the fact that said combat has moved into the MMO-space doesn't interest me in the slightest.

In any case, the thing I like best about LotRO's combat: guardian reactive skills. I like the block/parry chains, the variations in the chains you can make as you get more skills, the ways you can affect those chains with traits. Really, though, the slower pace of combat suits my needs and desires. I play these things to unwind, to relax, to make a bit of progress. I've never logged into a game of any sort wanting to feel my heart pounding, nor am I really looking to overcome incredible challenges. I'm logging in to explore, to chat, to swat some mobs, craft some things, and make some character progress. I think the question of why people like or dislike LotRO's combat will have as many answers as there are people, though. We're motivated by different things, we like different things, and sometimes you just like the color blue more than the color yellow because you do.

When I tried to come up with my favorite memory, the one that I finally settled on surprised me, because it didn't actually happen to me and it wasn't really "exciting" in the usual sense. In Asheron's Call, they had a little contest where players could submit stories based on their character's experiences in the game; my friend submitted one of hers, it won, and that story was published in a book that was (and still is) sold in-game at one of the world's libraries near the city of Hebian-to. As far as I know, it's the only time that ever happened, but it was so neat to see someone's efforts have a lasting effect on the game.

The information provided is a little too vague for a definite response. I like Star Wars, I like BioWare, but I still haven't even decided if I'm going to play SW:TOR yet. What would the business model of this game be? What's the theme? How steep is the leveling curve? Is the combat more turn-based or action-based? First-person, third-person, or both? What's the crafting system like? How sparse or dense are salvageable crafting nodes? Does it even have crafting nodes? What races are available? What's the art style? What's the game's policy on 3rd-party apps? How aggressive are gold-sellers? How secure is the billing site?

There are any number of things that could kill a game for me- far more than were outlined in the original post, or even in my paragraph above. That said, I'm primarily a PvE player, I like the unlimited skill advancement angle, and I have nothing against sandboxes. Provided there was nothing in the game that I couldn't stand (FPS-only point-of-view, movement that can't be keymapped, twitch-based combat, FFA pvp, item malls), I'd probably try it. I try everything that comes within a hundred miles of being a possiblity for me. Since I know my likes and dislikes very well at this point, however, that still doesn't leave many games to choose from.

Oh, absolutely, it's a mind-numbing bore, but it's a mind-numbing bore that's completely within the realm of possibility. That's how most F2Ps operate, and it's why experience boosters sell so well. In this case, there aren't any experience boosters [yet], but they charge for the ability to get rest experience, access to quests, and other such means to speed the process up. It stinks, but it's not unusual at all for the general business model. If anything, it's less of a rip-off because the things you're buying are permanent and account-wide, rather than consumable +xp potions or tokens.

@OP:

I'll preface this by stating that I hate the F2P business model (not just Turbine's, but all of the #$%@^&$ things). The previous poster was correct when they said that all F2Ps are generally like this, the only difference is that LotRO is more upfront on what your limits are instead of just gating loot drop percentages and experience points behind the scenes, then manipulating them downward when people progress too fast. You know exactly what your limits are, and you know exactly how much it will cost to get around them (though, we have no idea how far down the rabbit hole the consumable trade will eventually take us, like in most F2Ps).

Things to be aware of:

1. You can level 1-50 (the SoA cap) via mob grinding with no problem. You'll also be able to craft your own armor or weapons to the cap. Back in the early stages of the game, when group-only quests in Angmar were the only high-end content available, I leveled purely on mobgrinding from 48-50). Will it be as fast or fun as questing? No. Will leveling up in any other F2P game be as fast and fun if you don't buy experience boosters with cash? No.
2. The second you buy anything in the store, you're automatically (and permanently) upgraded from Free Player to Premium Player. "You are automatically upgraded from Free player to Premium player status with your first purchase of Turbine Points in the LOTRO Store. LOTRO grants all Premium players 2 extra character slots, extends the maximum amount of gold you can carry from 2 gold to 5 gold, and provides you with a higher login priority, more mail and chat options, full access to all of LOTRO's Community features, and 30 days of full customer service from the time of your last purchase." So, as you suggested, just making a purchase raises many of the caps, even if that purchase is only $5.00.
3. If you've ever subscribed in the past, if you've ever purchased an expansion, if you ever subscribe in the future, you'll never be lower than a Premium account, even if you don't maintain that subscription.
4. Regarding chat and auction limits: "Free players can send in-game mail less frequently than Premium players and VIPs. Free players can use in-game chat but cannot send more than one tell every 5 seconds. Free players can bid and buyout auctions in the Auction House but cannot post items. These restrictions can be removed at any time in the LOTRO Store by purchasing the corresponding items."

1. You get a character, and that character can be any class or race from the original game.
2. You can level that character all the way to the cap in the original game (the same cap subscribers who haven't purchased expansions have).
3. That character can craft and harvest all the way to the cap in the original game.
4. That character can do all of the epics from the original game (the main feature for most LotRO players, subscriber or otherwise).
5. You get some gold (enough to buy basic gear on the auction house).
6. You get some inventory (enough to hold potions, extra weapons and a bit of loot).
7. You get some bank space (RoM makes you rent bank space with cash- you can't even buy it).
8. You get some quests (enough to know whether or not you like the system).

Originally posted by eripmav08

Originally posted by hanslaufer

its hard for a game to bounce back after a launch debacle. most ppl will prolly never try again.

i for my part came back for a while , like the grafics and stuff but i cant stand the combat system. without a programmable keyboard its the most buttonmashing game i ever played.

guess im getting to old for that stuff.

yah.. i agree with this post..

I third that. I subscribed for a bit about six months ago, but the combat just got old in a hurry. It's essentially the same system as most MMOs, but instead of clicking one button/key per ability, it's 2-5 clicks/key-presses to accomplish the very same thing. It seemed "new" at first, but the sheen wore off very quickly. It's a repetitive stress injury just waiting to happen. I also found the crafting system to be more of a chore than usual, but that really was a secondary concern to the combat issues.

The game has its strong points, but I just found the cons list to be significantly longer than the pros list based on my own personal likes and dislikes.

I'm ready for $20.00/month, but only if the game increases the speed of content delivery. I hate to get old school, but Asheron's Call delivered fairly large content patches on the second Tuesday of every month, and I'm fairly sure they still have a monthly schedule, even if the exact date is squishier now. The current shift to quarterly content updates (with a lower combined amount of content) just isn't worth $20.00 to me. I'd be more than willing to pay $20/month for today's graphics (not tomorrow's Crysis visuals) with sizable monthly content patches, but I'd hesitate to pay even $9.95 for the most beautiful game on the planet if I knew I'd run out of fun things to do in three weeks.

No, I think the access key should be in the email. Make sure you have images enabled for it. If you still don't see it, contact customer support; they should be able to link the invite to your email address and just email you the key in a non-html format if your email client is having trouble.

Originally posted by Arioc

Has anyone pointed out the irony that when LOTR went F2P from Subscription people cried and bitched and threw tantrums; decreeing that a F2P game just demands an item mall to sustain it. They claim that a subscription game caters to end-game rather then trying to bring in new players but constantly beefing up the new player incentives. Yet now that a new MMO says subscription they demonize it?

They're different groups of people. Some people love subscription models, some hate them. Both groups are vocal, because neither really has an interest in the other model and there are only so many AAA studios making games (most of which have 3-5 year development cycles). When a studio makes a game with pricing model X, everyone who prefers pricing model Y feels left out because it's one less game for them.

There may be six new Asian imports of questionable quality every month, but there are rarely more than three or four top-tier MMOs released in a year; when one, two, or even three of those are built around a pricing model you detest (whichever model that might be), your options are dramatically limited. When demand is greater than supply, you get conflict.

As the previous poster mentioned, there will be no content updates until the whole F2P thing launches; unfortunately, they've committed 100% of their resources to it, and they don't want to create new content until they know how they're going to monetize it for free/premium players. It's probably better to wait it out and see how the new model affects the community, gameplay, et cetera, and also whether or not the new influx of money will speed up content production.

If it stays at the same 3 updates-or-less-a-year schedule it's been on, I'd probably just shelve it for a year or more and come back later when there's been enough added to keep you busy for awhile. It's still a great game, but there's very little character progression of any kind past 60, and they've been moving more and more towards a repetitive-content angle to keep players busy with the slimmer and less frequent updates for at least two years now. They've really been pushing skirmishes and dailies in particular. Rohan might be a good place for you to jump back in, unless you're just out of other MMO options right now.