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Question regarding expansions and F2P/VIP
treyu86
Member UncommonPosts: 270
Hi all,
I am a lifetime subscriber to Lotro, but I stopped playing some years ago (i bought Mines or Moria and Mirkwood expansions but never managed to level enough to play that content). I am thinking on starting again the game with my couple, and I want a second VIP account with all the content enabled so that both of us have the whole game to play with no restrictions. I have been looking the store etc and I don't understand well what do I have to do. You can buy expansions, but also quests packs and instances and skrmishes etc. Buying from the store all the expansions will give me access to the whole game? Or quests packs are a separate thing? I mean, just buying all the expanions will give me full access to all the game quests, skrmirshes and general content or i have to buy expansions and quests packs and many other things a part? thanks!
Comments
The most straightforward way to get vip is to subscribe. But if you don't need pvmp on the second account, you can play cheaper with premium acc. (if you need pvmp as well, then vip is a must, free and premium can only play with the creeps)
I guess it's easier to separate character and content. Content is simple, only between level 30-50 does it matter, which account type you've got. Below 30 it's free, above 50 (more precisely from Moria) you need to buy the expansions, since only the book quests are free there. You can buy access to the whole game, but it will cost a LOT of TP.
"Buying from the store all the expansions will give me access to the whole game? Or quests packs are a separate thing?"
Expansions bought with money and expansions from the in-game store are different, the in-game version gives you only the quest pack of the area. The bonuses from the boxed expansion (like Draigoch, the +xp stone, etc from Isengard) you need to buy separately.
Character: you'll have a lot of limitations. Swift travel, riding skill, trait slots, only 3 bag, gold limit, gated grafting guild access, no AH slot, etc. You can buy all of these stuff from the store, but it also will cost you a lot. And if your other half is an altoholic, then it will cost you multiple times a lot. Good news is, if you're vip, all of these restrictions are lifted, and when you switch back to premium, you will keep them opened.
This lead us to the so-called 'subscribe for a month' way
You can search for it, there are forum posts of it on the officional lotro forum. Basically it's something like:
start a free acc, play it through the Lone Lands, subscribe for a month, get the riding skill for free at Hengstacer farm, level the character to Moria, and if you like to have more alt, create them while the month is up (you can have 3 character on a premium acc.)
This way when your month is over, you'll have 1-3 vip characters (without limitations) and the main is standing at Moria. Then you can start buying expansions and playing toward Isengard without subscription
Edit: if you plan to have a vip acc, and maintain the subscription, then ofc your only concern is the content. Since the in-game version of expansions are inferior, it's better to purchase them from a webstore. Until a few months ago, the cheapest way to set up a fully unlocked account from scratch was to buy the LotRO Mithril Edition and the base Isengard pack. Now, with Rohan's only a few weeks away, it's maybe a better deal to buy the middle Rohan pack and the base Isengard one. But I'm not sure, dunno the actual prices.
Thanks for the reply
I am not planning on being premiun or free account. As I said, I already have a lifetime VIP account, so I want my couple to have a VIP account too to play together. My account has buyed expansions (Moria and Mirkwood), so I would have to buy Isengard and the new Rohan expanions. The new account should have to buy all the expansions. My question was that I saw at the store that you could buy expansions, but also separetly quests packs, skirmishes etc, and I don't know if just buying the expansions give me ALL the content, of if after buying them I have to buy also quest packs because they are "extra" quests a part from the ones coming with the expansions. I don't care if the store expansion doesn't give me bonuses, as I have more than 10k turbine points so I will buy isengard and rohan with that for my lifetime account, but the new account for my couple will be a new one so that is where I have doubts. I have just seen an offer on Steam of all the expansions which is good. But could someone tell me if just buying expansions (doesn't matter from where) and being VIP will unlock ALL the game's content?
You should look into the steam sale, there is another thread on it here. Its basicly all three expansions rolled into one for 19$, which is very good value.
Apart from that going VIP is the way to go, it actually includes MORE than just 30-50 content. For example zones like Great River, Enedwaith etc. Basicly it includes current and future content thats not part of an expansion.
Also don't get confused by the store. Store bought expansions ARE the same as those bought boxed, people just confuse quest packs and expansions. For example there is a Mines of Moria Questpack and a Mines of Moria expansion in the store. The former just adds access to quests the latter gives 2 charslots + warden + runekeeper in addition to the quests etc.
Edit: The steamdeal + VIP will unlock all content till rohan gets released, then you need that expansion also. Likewise if you buy all the expansions ingame and go VIP you also get all content. However i believe the steamdeal is cheaper.
Thanks for reply, that is what I needed to know. I will buy isengard expansion from store with my lifetime VIP account as that is the only expansion left I have to buy, and for my couple's account I will buy the steam pack. Thanks!
Noobish question form f2p about expansions and regions.
There are "locked" regions where quests are possible only if you are vip or buy quest pack. And there are expansions, like Mines of Moria.
The question: if I buy MoM expansion (not quest pack!) with TP in the store - would I have any access to "locked" regions? Or should I purchase each one separately?
http://www.mmoblogg.wordpress.com
Every expansion contains several of the locked regions, usually it is better to buy expansions at a sale like the steam one than buying them independently. However expections may arise depending on what content you have already bought. It also depends on wether you favour the Premium model or the VIP model.
For example, point prices for expansions in the store:
MoM = 2495
SoM = 1995
RoI = 3495
Total = 7985
So you would at the very least need the 6300 TP bundle and the 1600TP bundle, which is 60$ and 20$ respectively. So you would be getting content for 20$ thats equivalent to 80$ TP bought content. Even with a 50% sale you would be far off. With the Thanksgiving sale of TP you could have gotten the points you needed for 60$, but even then a 50% sale on the content itself wouldn't be enough ...
Yeah the Steam deal is THAT good.
its my understanding that you can take your chars to lvl 65 without cost..but it means grinding traits etc.atm there is an offer on steam for moria,mirkwood,isengard for £14.99..thats cheap.that should give you access to everything if you go vip..in the end you will need to purchase them anyways.i,m not sure about restrictions..but i would always reccomend vip over f2p anyways.just i,m not sure how to go about getting past the restrictions.
You can take your chars completely to max level without ever entering the ingame store, so level 75 now and 85 with Rohan. The things you need to pay to use are:
1. Quests packs beyong Lonelands. Epic story is free.
2. Trait caps, gold cap, riding skill and swift travel.
3. Skirmish caps and skirmishes beyond the couple starting ones.
4. Caps on crafting, think guild related.
5. Monster play classes beyond the Orc Reaver.
6. Runekeeper and Warden Classes.
F2P can be very viable if you do not wish to PvP. It is actually cheaper than pying a monthly sum in the long run, i think the consensus currently is to go premium if you want to play the game longterm, and go VIP if you just want to try it out. Though it depends on several factors, like the monthly rate you have to pay for VIP etc(the stipend stays the same, so if you are on a 10$ monthly plan VIP is also good value).