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Nothing comes for free
Lord.Bachus
Member RarePosts: 9,686
With F2P running overhere in europe since 2 weeks still many people think that playing Lotro is free...
Well, if you want to enjoy the whole package, its gonna cost money. Not buying quest packs or subbing is going to make the game very tedious...
We got a new kin on a new server and as soon as people find out mid 20's that it costs money to get that same great experience forthe rest of the game, they need to decide wether to invest money or replay the first 25 levels which will in the end bore them till death.
Its fun to see how people that loved the game in the first 20 levels suddenly change their opinions, with remarks like: I am not going to pay for an outdated game, Its a grinding game above level 20 because there is no (free)quest content anymore.
So how much does it cost?
I started the game allready owning the Angmar Box and the Moria expansion, which gave me 1000 store points, I have 2 characters with horses, extra vault space and 4 bags each and 4 traits each and i own the Quest content Low lands, Evendim and North Downs... I haven't spend a single dollar in the cash shop, but then i did start out with some points...
When my main reaches level 35 or so i might sub a month to reach Moria content.. After Moria i'll probably buy content instead of subbing.
So its actually much cheeper then other MMO's in the long run, when find a middle way ................ But to get a good experience it costs money....... As allways the golden rule is : Nothing good comes for free in life
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Comments
thats just it. it is not free to play. its worded wrongly tbh it should be oF2P. (Optional) Free to Play. it is not a free game and never will be, no games are free as they would be losing money. its carrot and the stick. the first 20 lvls are the carrot. the choice of grinding or paying cash for more zones is the stick
The idea with free to play games is that there are certain barriers which one can surpass if they are patient or they pay a bit of money to remove.
vindictus is that way.
Archlord has a slow leveling curve and so there are xp pots and other potions that allow for one to level easier, etc.
It is perfectly feasible to play this game for free but you just can't play at the same rate as paying customer unless you are really smart about how you unlock those tokens.
Isn't there a link to a small article that explains whta players need to do in order to make the f2p smoother?
The issue here seems to be that players are reaching areas that need to be unlocked but they must do other thigns in order to get their tokens.
That's the barrier. Otherwise pay to remove the barrier.
As far as tedious people say these games are tedious even without the f2p moniker. So that comes down to personal preference.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I agree "FTP MMO" is a straight up lie. The methods for collecting money should be looked at on a per game basis and judged on the BS scale like everything else. I sub to LotrO for $10 a month, it's more than worth it. The game is fun and the item shop has mostly junk you don't need which is great. The fact you can "earn" points in-game to buy expansions and other stuff is an excellent design.
I am a critic of most games and FTP MMO's especially but I find the game itelf and the payment methods extremely reasonable and the dev progress on the game to be outstanding.
"I'm not cheap I'm incredibly subconsciously financially optimized"
"The worst part of censorship is ------------------"
Lets stop being stupid ok?
F2P or not, we are still talking about a company with lots of employees running a product on an expensive serverfarm, renting offices, leasing huge i-net backbones, paying for advertisements etc. Of course its not going to be F2P. You think its all running on free love and positive thoughts? Someone has to pay for all the crap, and chances are its going to be the freaking players and not the red cross, government or some aliens from the venus.
So please, lets step back for a moment and use that gelly-o between our ears. They are filling the bare minimum aspects to be considered a F2P, which means:
1. The account creation and download of the game is free.
2. Starting the game and creating a character is free.
3. Technically you can earn ingame "coins" to pay for further content for free.
People that read "Free to Play" as "Everything in the game is free, you can do anything a paying player can do and we will only charge you for crappy costumes you would never want anyway" crack me up. I mean "Free to play" is not even a full sentence, it kinda lacks ... oh i don't know, the Subject because it doesn't say what you can play for free.
Its like "All you can eat" in a Restaurant, and then they have tables loaded with stuff that you can eat as much of as you like. But no, it does not mean that you are going to get lobsters and caviar as much as you want for the 10$ you spent. And it also does not mean that you can take two of the table loads with you home, to eat it there. Because freaking common sense does still apply.
And i freaking like the word freaking, it think we all should use it freaking more often.
You CAN play the game free.
I am sorry, but if you thought that EVERY SINGLE THING is going to be given to you free when others have to pay for it, then you're a moron or a five-year-old. It's not false or misleading advertising. There is a way to play free, it's different from playing when you pay.
(p.s. by "you" i don't mean the OP or anyone in particular, it's a general "you", so please don't get offended).
But seriously people, it's common sense, all "FREE" games cost something to get the full version. No one builds and runs MMOs for the good of the world or people's pleasure.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
Actually, the game IS free. You can earn enough TP's in game to buy the quest packs.
Turbine stated from the beginning that only certain parts would not require unlocking. If they gave away everything to everyone, with no strings attached, how would they make money to keep the game going?
I'm SOOOOO happy with my choice to go lifetime in LoTRO a long time ago. No matter what happens in any other game out there I always have a home here, and I get free stuff every month!!! Wooohooo!!
And yeah, thems peeps above me here, they is right fo sho! You get to download the game for free, you get to make a character, for free, you get to play it for free, and earn free Turbine Points in game which you can use to buy quest packs and open more content in game to play more for free to earn more TP for free so you can get more ex-pacs and quest pacs for free so you can... *breadth, breadth*....Oh well you get the point right? FREE!
I completly agree, i'm stunned how widespread ignorance and simple logic is.
If it's not broken, you are not innovating.
What did you expect? Turbine is a business and businesses have to make money to stay in business. Can see your point though. Maybe it's time to start calling f2p games something else like demos. Just like demo versions of offline games you get limited access unless you buy the game.
or you could just call it what it is.. pay to win, just like most other "f2p" games that in reality are not free at all. Just further evidence of how gaming companies manipulate you with specific marketing language.
Bottom line.. you don't like it just sub otherwise you will be pulling your wallet out every time you log on. It's not "free" never will be.
Please don't lump LoTRO in the "Pay to Win" catagory. I t by far really isn't.
It is F2p as people currently understand that term, which means "no monthly subscription." Perhaps we should call these games microtransaction games, however. Except that lotro is a hybrid technically, part MT, part Sub. BTW, a sub is far cheaper than f2p in this game, if you play more than a few hours a week.
I am fine with buying access to quest and other content but what is not fine is things that you should play for are instead paid for. For example, getting extra vault space, storage space, trais, mounts etc are achievement that you should earn by playing the game. Not by opening your wallet, that kind of thinking somewhat defeats the purpose of the game and just turns it into a cash-cow for the devs and for people that rather pay to get stuff rather than play.
EDIT: But to get back to the subject. Free to Play is just a hook to get people to try the game, obviously the game wont be free to play (atleast for what people generally considering playing games) but rather Free to Try. But seeing as you can buy advantages in the game other than pure content Pay to Win is a more suitable term to use.
Is it 100% correct? No not really, but it is more suitable that Free to Play. Difference ofcourse is that Free to Play will make more people try it rather than Pay to Win so obviously it wont be used. But they should really go for a more honest, middle road, and just change it to Free to Try.
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Uhm... and you do. You in-game earn enough TP for any one of those things within an hour of starting to play. By the time you're 30 or so, you should have enough for all of them assuming that you've done even a fraction of the available content. It's very difficult to get enough TP for all questpacks and stuff, but for the things mentioned above, you hardly need to put in any extra effort.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
Playing: Rift, LotRO
Waiting on: GW2, BP
The thing I like most about LOTROs change to "F2P" is the fact that you can earn the currency needed to buy stuff in the store in game. Besides Turbines other F2P game DDO, I haven't played any other F2P games that allow you to do that.
As a long time subscriber to LOTRO, I was very critical of the FTP move. So far though, I have to admit that I was wrong and they've handled it very well. Even though there are a few things in the shop that I don't think should be there...I haven't felt any desire/need to spend anything on top of my sub. The new folks coming into the game seem to be generaly nice and mature (at least those that make it past the starting areas) and seem pretty much cut from the same cloth as the audiance it had prior to FTP...and there definately seems to be a good influx of new players.
FTP hasn't been live for long..... so there still is the potential for them to screw things up..... but so far, good job Turbine (coming from someone VERY critical of your move). Note that the model really does seem to be quite different then the typical F2P MMO experience.
The F2P seems basically like a trial. I can't see getting very far in the game with limited bag slots, limited chat, and a gold cap.
Vault-Tec analysts have concluded that the odds of worldwide nuclear armaggeddon this decade are 17,143,762... to 1.
If LotRO isn't F2P, then F2P doesn't exist.
Can I have your 2g?
I love this game and I am paying a monthly sub. I was never actually looking for a F2P game. I don't know why people want to play F2P games when it costs them only a measly 9 pounds per month for a P2P MMO. 9 pounds!
Unfortionately Turbine is fail now imo. Two big IP f2p mmos...what a waste. Hopefully now a real company will take a shot at Middle Earth (including good pvp) because LOTRO is nothing like I had hoped it would be.
"I play Tera for the gameplay"
I agree 100%. Turbine is not running a charity, there are bills and people to pay. Turbine has the best F2P system that I have ever seen because you get a ton of free content. Plus if you are willing to grind for it you can also earn free Turbine points to buy content in their store.(its actually not real hard to earn points)
If you run out of money with a regular subscription game you are out of luck and can not play at all. With LOTRO and DDO you can continue to have a lot of fun even with no money. I love Turbine's system because I can pay as I go.
Anyone who think that they are going to find a totally free Triple A quality game, well you should just move and find another kind of game to play because you are not going to find it.
What happened to the days when something's "freeness" gave it merit? Everyone knows that if you get something for free, it's not going to be as good as something that you pay for, but it's FREE!
Make no mistake about it, LOTRO can be played free, and if you are smart, it won't be as grindy as other f2ps. Of course it won't be as good as paying...of course...but if you really like the game, there's at least a sort of cap on spending as you can sub...unlike other f2ps.
It's no big deal if someone complains that they don't like the model, or the f2p component is too grindy, w/e. That's personal preference. I don't like the pure f2p models and I state it all the time.
However, saying it's "just a trial" or it's "pay to win" or any other nonsense because you are upset you don't get a VIP's benefit without paying anything is pretty dumb.
They are making more money and have more people playing lotro since it went F2P. How is that a fail?
If Xfire is any indication, LotRO has had more people playing than before, including launch.
<cue the folks who'll now say that Xfire has no bearing whatsoever on the success of a game, and that going from consistent mid-20's to consistent 8-10's means nothing, if not an obvious fail>