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The varables can make your head spin with this game.
delete5230
Member EpicPosts: 7,081
I'm already to take the plunge. But every thing about this game is extremely evasive in getting answers.
Youtubes and web sites are out dated. The main site is poor because of the variables, because of the push on the cash shop. Asking questions from the veterans it almost impossible because everyone got to where they are using different methods.
- Totally free
- VIP paid subscription
- Cash shop, and LOTRO store
- Expansion's and class lock outs
This all complicates things that will make your head spin.
I see what your saying about the Ruin Keeper Po_gg. They can make good healers, but it would be nice if you could dual spec for solo vs. group. Like Fire and heal so you don't gimp your self spreading points. I'm asking questions about dual spec in game, just getting more confused.
Mounts- Should you pay $15 VIP if only interested in getting a mount for low levels. Should you buy it with Turbine points? but you get Turbine points if you sub. But if you sub you don't need the points. Do you get a mount at level 8 or 20 ?
Simple questions like this is discouraging. Sure I have the money to say screw it, give in, and have it all. But there are principles here, maybe take a collage class on how to play LOTRO ?......I've been at this for days. I have the time, I'm on vacation, I have the money. But still I'm getting mad and will not give them a dime out of principle......A lot of twisted around crap !
Youtubes and web sites are out dated. The main site is poor because of the variables, because of the push on the cash shop. Asking questions from the veterans it almost impossible because everyone got to where they are using different methods.
- Totally free
- VIP paid subscription
- Cash shop, and LOTRO store
- Expansion's and class lock outs
This all complicates things that will make your head spin.
I see what your saying about the Ruin Keeper Po_gg. They can make good healers, but it would be nice if you could dual spec for solo vs. group. Like Fire and heal so you don't gimp your self spreading points. I'm asking questions about dual spec in game, just getting more confused.
Mounts- Should you pay $15 VIP if only interested in getting a mount for low levels. Should you buy it with Turbine points? but you get Turbine points if you sub. But if you sub you don't need the points. Do you get a mount at level 8 or 20 ?
Simple questions like this is discouraging. Sure I have the money to say screw it, give in, and have it all. But there are principles here, maybe take a collage class on how to play LOTRO ?......I've been at this for days. I have the time, I'm on vacation, I have the money. But still I'm getting mad and will not give them a dime out of principle......A lot of twisted around crap !
Comments
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Programmers and script writers did an excellent job making the games. It has its quarks that should have been fixed like jumbled nametags over NPS heads and the map system is still like in bata. Toggling between the game and the map is constant in trying to figure out what to do. This, you eventually get used to and it's not sooo bad.
I got my Ruin Keeper class, but you have to make wise decisions to not get ripped off. Like wait for a known sale that happens often to buy a 4 pack expansion called the quad pack. You have to preemptively know stuff like this.
In other words you have to really study.....You cant just blindly have fun !
Now you would think just VIP ( pay the sub ) and all goes away. No you have to be smart about this too ! There are times when its wise to VIP and other times it's best to drop the sub.
Here, you can read this to get an idea of what I'm talking about. A beginner to the game would have a hard time understanding the reply's..
https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?527486-How-much-do-I-need-to-pay-to-unlock-all-contents-of-the-game
Yeah, I agree it can be difficult, but actually on the long run it is a good thing
Glad to hear you get the answers in-game, people are really helpful
For mounts, you can get mounts any time, for free, for in-game gold, for real cash, etc. since the trick is not owning a mount, but riding it
Sometimes VIPs buy them too, either as an individual purchase or getting the skill through an account-wide riding trait pack, simply for able to ride their steeds from level 5 (instead of waiting until level 20).
But the quest is a nice one, so if you're already at around 20 and are a VIP, play it (you have to finish the race track around Hengstacer farm to prove you are skilled enough for a steed). And again, it's not for a mount, it is for the riding skill. You still need to get a mount, but the basic ones are cheap (500 silver I think), and also there's the Frostbluff festival now, with nice festival steeds in return of a couple tokens.
Yep, a couple years ago in a thread here I too argued on the side of "sub is pointless, just play it for free"
Currently the subscription is a bit better, due to all the quest packs released after HD, now it mostly depends on how actively you play in the upper region (around level 100), if not all the time, then it's cheaper to just sub for those couple months, instead of purchasing all the quest packs at the end region. (since for VIPs all the quest packs are available)
(*) not my arguing of course, but the fact that most players play free or with occasional subs and Point purchases
Don't get me wrong with some of my " blunt topics "......I really love the game, and the community !
Just calling it like I see it. At times I'm wrong, I'll say that for sure...But how one goes about the pay model is EXTREMELY complicated.
I have the money but sometimes it's about principle, I'll walk a mile not to get screwed out of a dime.
Like I say, I love the game
(heck, the thread I mentioned above was started on this very argument, one said "I sub because I don't mind the $15 and support the game" and I said with only a bit more thought and planning, you can give them the same $15 per month, and getting much more out of it in return
Your case for example, the Quad-pack was a great deal so that's in the bag already. Have the sub, that gives +1 character slot above the +2 you got with the Quad. That means 5 characters without any restrictions (only content restrictions remains for characters which were played / created during your VIP time).
So, if you let your VIP expire, you will lose only the quest packs beyond Helm's Deep (and you don't have to worry about that in the near future) and the quests between level 30 and level 50
You buy two quest packs in that level range (for example Evendim and Angmar), then you can level 5 characters to at least 85-90 without spending a dime... and without restrictions. That's a lot of gameplay, for $10 + what you spent for the VIP. (not to mention you will get quite a sum of LPs if you like to finish deeds, and you can expand your list of quest packs)
Most of the third party sites hadn't been maintained in years, several mods that I tried to install either broke the game or flat out didn't work.
Eventually I got tired of spending more time researching through mountains of useless data and not playing, and I uninstalled. It wasn't worth the effort.
I dont play this currently but I have a few years in it. I loved putting the kids to bed and then slipping one of the movie DVD's in and watching it on TV out of the corner of my eye when I played. Good times...
This game is the bees knees, it really is a fantastic game.....Yet sooo weakened and diluted with the entire cash system, I CAN GUARANTEE THE LOSS OF SO MANY discouraged players.
With such a bad market with F2P issues in mmos, LOTRO will never be anything other than keeping there head above water.
This game could be an absolute gem if they could just drop this complicated crap, re-advertise as sub only. So many people cycled in and out, yet most stop for this reason !
There are ones that are current though. A good starting point is probably: https://www.lotro-wiki.com/
Some of the stuff is pretty in-depth though. If in doubt ask in the forum.