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A warning to European players planning to join this game for Free 2 Play
The_Korrigan
Member RarePosts: 3,459
Do yourself a favor. Do NOT go for the Codemaster EU servers. Go for Turbine.
Codemasters are just like GOA, most MMORPG veterans must remember those. They have poor customer support, poor handling, and they are incompetent. 3 years after launch, European players are still treated as second class customers, not having access to things like myLOTRO and the appended services.
I tried the US servers from Europe, there's no perceptible lag, ping varies between 100 and 140ms which is just fine for a MMORPG, and the servers Vilya and Windfola are both "unofficial" EU servers with a healthy population of European players, so you won't be alone in your time zone.
So I repeat: do yourself a favor... go for US servers, go for Turbine, get the real thing.
Not to mention you can start to play and get points right now, unlike on EU servers where Codemaster's incompetence delayed the patch for 3 weeks to end of this month AT BEST, with no real fixed date announced yet.
See you in game!
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
Comments
Just for fairness sake, in the EU there is currently a welcome back thingy running, you can play for free on any kind of account even expired trials. You can also make a new account via trial offers and it currently looks as if they will stay acitve till F2P launches in Europe. We also currently do not suffer the bugs the US is going through, like items vanishing from wardrobe, backspace or upon equipping.
Reading those threads i also can't say Turbines support is currently doing so hot. So really its a mixed bag, there are pro's and con's to go either way.
Yes... yes... I remember GOA back from DAOC. I seem to remember GOA being almost... what... half a year behind on the updates/expansions? And then there was the whole hacking affair that took days to resolve and left a lot of people in limbo because they had changed their e-mail address and didn't get the new password? And trying to get in touch with someone who actually spoke english if you had an issue? Are you saying they're that bad?
I'm a big ol' fluffy carewolf. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
I joined the USA servers
They lose EU members to USA every second they dont make it F2P on EU.
You may be right - for new players.
But what with returning players ? We are stuck with codies
On the bright side , it is expected that codemasters will return LOTRO to Turbine by the end of the year anyway
ps: Dont forget that EU has the only official RP server
The welcome back thing doesn't give any points for the completed deeds, so everything you do until release (and you can do plenty of stuff in 3 weeks) is totally lost, point wise.
The Turbine side problems only affect a few people, and the missing items are returned. The vast majority are now playing and having fun.
It's not the first time Codemasters screws up. EU players waited over a YEAR before we finally got access to the Lorebook. They still don't have myLOTRO and all the nice features coming with it. And they also screwed up Dungeon and Dragons online to the point Turbine took back the license for Europe. They failures also include several past MMORPGs (Dragon Empire anyone?).
The best for this game would be that Turbine takes over EU just like they did for DDO.
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
Aye, and I play on Laurelin on EU servers. I started a char on Landroval (US 'unofficial' RP server) and to be honest, I was VERY surprised by the ambient maturity level there. The global chat channels (regional, advice, and yes, even OOC) are way less spammed and rude than even on Laurelin, and this is just after a major launch.
I'm just promoting what I would do today knowing what I know. I've sadly a lifetime on EU servers, or I'd be gone to the US ones without thinking twice, even if it means restarting from scratch. I may actually still do it at the end, leveling my new guardian on Landroval is quite fun. I don't want other people to make the same mistake and start investing time in the sub par service offered by EU servers.
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
That is true, but you can acces ALL content for free, like you would pay sub. So you can go and quest in lonelands, trollshaws, evendim,... without paying a buck.
I think it's fair deal from codies, they basiclly give you VIP acces until they manage to put F2P live.
Given that every day that the EU service isn't free to play Codemasters is losing business, I doubt this is their fault. No sane company throws away money.
I suspect that Warner Bros came on board, tried to buy back the license from Codemasters cause the game is pretty popular, and got refused. So now they are screwing things up for Europe to encourage more people to join the US servers.
Hell, this could just be Turbine, I mean when DDO didn't go free to play in Europe because of Atari, I'm sure that Turbine noticed just how many of their new customers were from Europe. Maybe they think they can make the same thing happen with LOTRO? Delay the new update and kill off the EU servers through lack of new players, then they don't have to worry about taking it back at all.
Would be the best thing that could happen for EU players, to be honest. After years of sub par service, we would finally be treated equally to the US players.
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
Im Sade of Riddermark and I endorse this message.
We I never liked seperate companies operating MMOs in each territory, but even so, I don't think there should be any reason for delays for Europe.
I mean the whole reason Europeans tend to be treated badly is because the developers put their own version first. It isn't the other company's fault, they are just getting a raw deal from the developers like the players are.
I don't know what makes that server the official roleplay server of LOTRO but I doubt it's any different than playing on either Landroval or Brandywine both have pretty healthy rp populations.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Europe have a "real" RP server, with different rules, it's official, as opposed to "unofficial" Landroval.
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
I will be trying the free version of Lotro on the US servers, because I don't trust external hosts, or whatever you call that, anymore.
I hated to see it happen with WAR as well, luckily they are now in the same hands as the US game.
Feel free to use my referral link for SW:TOR if you want to test out the game. You'll get some special unlocks!
They have had several problems with lag past few days, and apparently queues! Fortunatly for EU we ahead in time so never usually a problem.
But the great thing about going to turbine, for turbines games is the communication is fantastic!.. literally 10 minutes after the first major lag-spike a dev made a sticky on the forums acknolweding problems and asking for peoples feedback.
The next day they had maintence, now the lag didnt properly go away but wasnt as bad, and oddly as the night rolled on and the servers got busier the lag seemed to get less!
Noone likes lag, but what is worse is to have lag and have the feeling that noone is doing anything about it! Kudos Turbine and shame on you codemasters :P
I think this is a great solution if someone doesn't already have characters on the Euro servers and hasn't already bought the expacs and original box. As such, I don't really want to just chuck money out of the window to restart afresh on the US servers. I'd rather see what Codemasters does.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
I was speaking to a life long friend whos worked as a developer for over 20 years last night . He was telling me that from what hes heard by those in the know in the games industry is Codemasters have got cold feet on free to play , have no intention of releasing it and are currently in secret talks with Turbine for them to take over the running of the European servers . If what hes saying is accurate then expect a annoucement along the lines somepoint in the next month or so . Essentially one company wanted free to play and the other did'nt and got dragged into it and now are looking for a loophole . Obviously I can't give any links or names to this end and I'm sure a lot of you will cast doubt on how valid this is .All I can say is I believe theres some truth in what hes told me and I'm waiting to see how it all pans out .
Just a little update:
Update 01/10/10
Dear players,
We are continuing to do our best to overcome the challenges still facing the launch of Free to Play in Europe. As soon as those are resolved we’ll have a clear and definite date for when the update will be applied to the European service.
Whilst we cannot run the Welcome Back promotion for an indefinite period, we can run the 5% XP and free travel event from time to time. This weekend, the bonus XP and free travel will be switched on for all existing players to enjoy starting Friday 4:00PM until Monday 9:00AM (GMT+1).
The community team will be around on the forums making sure any new information is brought to you as soon as it becomes available and we would like to assure you that your feedback and concerns are being heard.
We appreciate your patience and thank you for your continued support.
Your LOTRO Europe Community Team.
So basically, 3 weeks later, there is still no date for European release of the new patch. My initial recommendation remains: European players, stay away from the EU servers. There are healthy communities of EU players on the US servers Vilya and Windfola, and also on the new server Riddermark and the unofficial RP server Landroval.
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
Gee; 5% xp bonus. I think I will get an %"¤&%!! by that. Welcome back week is over, so I resubbed; ONLY to see if I could use my Visa card to sub for one of my sons. Which I could'nt.
Make us care MORE about our faction & world pvp!
I guess this is good advice for those European players who are just starting LotRO or haven't spent much money on it/gotten far in the game. For others, it's not such good advice.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
Indeed, i've considered going to the USA until a realised i will need to buy the Expansions [both of them] again @ $50 [which is more than i paid for them before] . Then you only unlock the "features" the expansions give you [extra classes etc] NOT the quests. So then you need to buy the quests again . Since you will be leveling from lvl 1, it means buying all those early zones too [shadows of angmar zones] .
So if you thought you would just grab your lvl 65 character and buy some end game zones/raids and happily play on that, big surprise for you. If you go to USA you start from scratch, you will pay for -everything- , including things you already paid for in your EU box releases.
Now i'm quite fine having to pay for the "quest packs" inside the Expansion Zones, but paying a fortune for the expanions themselves, no, just no.
I'm not willing to do this at this stage, then i rather subscribe to the EU game and wait.
That said, i do have a DDO account [which is all USA] and managed to link the USA Lotro to this account and all, so i just need to start playing [and paying] , but sadly it's way too expensive if you already invested into LOTRO until -end game- .
I own a EU version, but no expansions. With a level 38 burglar that i really don't know how to play anymore (it's a slightly advanced class and it's been over 2 years since i played it), i decided to roll a new character with Turbine.
I'm not a premium member like on EU ... but as soon as i have a main+alt on 20, i'll sub for a month.
Knowing myself ... i'll probably lose interest before level 40 again anyways
Yes, i think alot of players [including me] plays an MMO for 3 months tops and then start losing interest. I made the mistake with DDO where i paid like $50 to unlock classes/races/bags and did not even start unlocking the "adventure packs" and then i start to lose interest after 2 months because i had to repeat the "free" content due to not wanting to pay more for additional content.
..and guess what? a 3 months sub to DDO = $40 with -everthing unlocked- and no restrictions [and you get points per month on top] . So i think i've learnt my lesson, not making the same mistake with LOTRO.
If you know you don't tend to play MMOs for more than 3 months, play the game for free to check it out, the moment you feel you need to pay for something, rather take that money and subscribe for a month or 3 .
I think this is what makes their model so successful, it does exactly as advertised and offers people more choice.
Besides with F2P, even if you stopped raiding/questing because you got bored of the games mechanics, you can still log in and talk to friends, do a bit of a RP or just wander the world and take interesting screenshots or somesuch. It really and literally is free and even if only used as a pretty chatroom, thats still a free chatserver with 3d avatars and nice scenery ...
That's what I liked about AO once they added the froob aspect to the game. I liked how they had a chat client associated with the game that allowed people to chat without having to log into their game, let's say if they were at work and couldn't run it. I wish more MMOs would do that. You could almost use an MMO as another type of facebook without it being as intrusive as facebook is.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.