LOTRO: Free-to-Play

Kiri wrote:

My gal is Cynwyn Hobbit Guardian.

That would be a great name for an Elvish Loremaster.

"What? It's a family name, shut up!"

Huzzah! Read all about the promise of lots more end game content for LoTRO in this new Dev Diary.

What drew me to LotRO and continues to interest and entertain me is pure and simple: exploring Middle-Earth and the quests and stories that have been placed in the game to build on Tolkien's stories.

With that said, it's not instances and end-game content that's going to keep me interested and playing, it's continuing to grow the world in the game in a manner that remains true to Tolkien's Middle-Earth. So long as they continue to add expansive explorable regions to the gameworld, I will be very happy.

I'm mildly concerned with the way that the Enedwaith content has been previewed; the emphasis on so much variance within the landscape worries me that it's going to feel more like a classic mmo zone than the more organic landscapes that populate Eriador in the game. The transitions between Shire, Bree-land, North Downs, and Evendim all feel surprisingly natural, and flow together exceptionally well, especially with how many locations there are to organically cross over from one region to the next. The Lone-Lands, while excellently done internally, have always been a bit too stark of a transition from either Bree-Land or the Trollshaws to me. Angmar, at least the southwestern portion, feels a bit too much of an abrupt change from the North Downs. I had hoped for a more gradual change from the natural North Downs to the fell lands of the Witch-King.

Enedwaith is reading like it has dramatic alterations in landscape of multiple degrees within just one region, more akin to something I'd expect in WoW. While that's fine from a game design perspective, and in fact would be welcome in a game like that, I worry that this more gamey approach will make LotRO feel less like an immersion in Middle-Earth, which is the biggest draw for me to the game.

I really hope that Turbine can strike the right balance; if there's an mmo developer I trust to satisfy the explorer in me, it's them, but I can still worry.

Farscry wrote:

What drew me to LotRO and continues to interest and entertain me is pure and simple: exploring Middle-Earth and the quests and stories that have been placed in the game to build on Tolkien's stories.

With that said, it's not instances and end-game content that's going to keep me interested and playing, it's continuing to grow the world in the game in a manner that remains true to Tolkien's Middle-Earth. So long as they continue to add expansive explorable regions to the gameworld, I will be very happy.

I'm the exact opposite. I'm not a huge fan of the books and don't really care about getting a new perspective on Frodo's little quest. In fact, wandering through the Shire I can't help but roll my eyes when everyone seems to be talking about Frodo and Gandalf and various sorts of Bagginses. It just seems so contrived. Would these hobbits really be talking about something so specific? Was there a gigantic press conference about it? Did they watch the movie trailers? Most of the game stands so well without the gigantic WINK to the fans, it throws me a bit.

What draws me to the game is that it's very well made and it's fun.

Just a quick cry for assistance - can anyone who has done Moria Bk 3 Ch9 ("We can't get out") let me in on the secret to completing it ? I've managed to get Mazog or whatever he's called down to 11k HP, but without any real way of healing myself I get killed at that point. It might have helped had the dwarves at the door lasted more than 2 seconds, but is there anything obvious I can do ?

I'm slightly at a loss - plus not having had a guardian character, I'm not sure of the order to use the powers in

LobsterMobster wrote:
Farscry wrote:

What drew me to LotRO and continues to interest and entertain me is pure and simple: exploring Middle-Earth and the quests and stories that have been placed in the game to build on Tolkien's stories.

With that said, it's not instances and end-game content that's going to keep me interested and playing, it's continuing to grow the world in the game in a manner that remains true to Tolkien's Middle-Earth. So long as they continue to add expansive explorable regions to the gameworld, I will be very happy.

I'm the exact opposite. I'm not a huge fan of the books and don't really care about getting a new perspective on Frodo's little quest. In fact, wandering through the Shire I can't help but roll my eyes when everyone seems to be talking about Frodo and Gandalf and various sorts of Bagginses. It just seems so contrived. Would these hobbits really be talking about something so specific? Was there a gigantic press conference about it? Did they watch the movie trailers? Most of the game stands so well without the gigantic WINK to the fans, it throws me a bit.

What draws me to the game is that it's very well made and it's fun.

Bah, go play WoW!

Seriously though, I actually agree with you to an extent. I didn't care for this game in beta and at release. Yes, they had a gameworld, but the game itself wasn't that fun. They struck a good balance by the time I tried it again around Moria's release, and I just want them to keep that balance rather than going from overtipping one side of the scale to overtipping the other side of the scale.

davet010 wrote:

Just a quick cry for assistance - can anyone who has done Moria Bk 3 Ch9 ("We can't get out") let me in on the secret to completing it ? I've managed to get Mazog or whatever he's called down to 11k HP, but without any real way of healing myself I get killed at that point. It might have helped had the dwarves at the door lasted more than 2 seconds, but is there anything obvious I can do ?

I'm slightly at a loss - plus not having had a guardian character, I'm not sure of the order to use the powers in :)

The session dwarf is actually a champion, not a guard.

You can't kill him, you just need to survive long enough for him to call in a huge wave of adds. Take a moment at the start to learn the skills, you do have a heal you can activate with enough fervor, and use your aoe skills when ever you can. If you had him down to 11k you had to be close, try and kill his first two escorts quickly, you will take less damage.

Also, you can try to keep the dwarves alive longer by standing out front and agrroing the first waves, then once you do bring them back into the room to break line of sight with any ranged mobs.

But, keep trying, I think you almost reached the trigger point which is maybe 10.5k?

Thanks Ferret, tried it again and the big wuss had to call for his mates.

Now, onto Book 4 !

.

For some reason I've been neglecting the "epic" quests. I don't know if I felt like they would permanently change things or what. When they ask me if I really want to "finish now," it kind of takes me back to the first epic quest (the end of the intro area), which completely changed part of the map. I guess I feel a little like any one could close off opportunities to me and make me miss quests I might actually want to take. While I've not found this to be the case so far, it does make for interesting play and easy leveling to go back and do a whole bunch in a row while a few levels too high.

Though I'm not crazy about having to kill X crows, or run a thousand meters to check in with Strider and then a thousand meters all the way back.

Yeah, the early epic quests are all original content, and it shows. There are some really terrible quests in there.

However, epic quests will not close off other quests to you without telling you. The starting instance is fairly unique in that way - only other examples are the Step of Moria and the first instance area in Mirkwood. In all of those cases, while you are in the instance you are separated from the rest of the server and will not be able to join groups / progress unless you complete the epic quest. So it's a rare thing, and they tell you when it happens.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Though I'm not crazy about having to kill X crows, or run a thousand meters to check in with Strider and then a thousand meters all the way back.

You just need to know, at some point you are going to stop, look at the guy they want you to talk with, and realize he is across the room. Yep, he is asking you to walk across the room to deliver a message. Apparently mom and dad are fighting again...

Embarrassing confession: I had no idea who Strider was till an NPC started calling him Aragorn.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Embarrassing confession: I had no idea who Strider was till an NPC started calling him Aragorn.

Hand in a nerd card.

Ulairi wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Embarrassing confession: I had no idea who Strider was till an NPC started calling him Aragorn.

Hand in a nerd card.

OK.

LobsterMobster wrote:

Embarrassing confession: I had no idea who Strider was till an NPC started calling him Aragorn.

/nonplussed!

sithload wrote:
LobsterMobster wrote:

Embarrassing confession: I had no idea who Strider was till an NPC started calling him Aragorn.

/nonplussed!

Here you go: +

Anyone want more store points? I don't have the time to play so figure I will let you guys use them. Not sure if I should post the code here so first PM will get 5k extra points to use.

Edit: And it's gone. If I get another I will post again for anyone else who might want the points

I also have some points to pass on to someone.

Yeah, they're big on handing out the points. Would be nice if they could re-activate my hypothetical beta account that may or may not exist! Isn't that a bug?

Just got a FTP Beta invite and went to add the code to my existing account. It is asking me if I want to upgrade my existing subscription (to keep playing current characters) or create a new subscription. Now, I have a lifetime sub for regular LotRO and I am a little afraid that either choice might screw that up, so I am asking if there are any other GWJ's who took the plunge (one way or another) and everything is fine, or if I should just create a completely separate Turbine account to activate the key.

I kind of like the idea of having my beta experience tied to my existing account, although I know there won't be any long-term benefit (i.e. can't keep beta store points, etc), but I definitely don't want to screw up my existing account/sub.

Given that F2P doesn't get you much more than your current lifetime sub, I'd just ignore the beta invite and keep playing on live.

I hypothetically made a separate account for the beta that I may or may not be in. When I log in, it gives me the option of loading up my real account or the beta, both under the same username and password. Been wondering myself if that was the right move.

Theoretically, you understand.

Isn't the NDA up? RPS has been talking about the Beta.

AnimeJ wrote:

Given that F2P doesn't get you much more than your current lifetime sub, I'd just ignore the beta invite and keep playing on live.

Heh, that is what I was thinking too, especially since my main is only L25 after over a year ( ), but I did just get back into playing again after a cheap month of Eve and am tempted to take a look at the new shiny. Ooooo, shiny!

And I do believe the NDA is lifted now.

Bit odd having an NDA for a game that has already been out for 3 years. If the only difference is between what parts of the game can be accessed by those who didn't have a previous sub, well there is a table on the website which shows you exactly what is available and what isn't.

The NDA is not for the existing game, but for people in the beta for the new features, which include not just the token system, but new starter areas and other content. Nothing odd about it.

Robear wrote:

The NDA is not for the existing game, but for people in the beta for the new features, which include not just the token system, but new starter areas and other content. Nothing odd about it.

All true, but doesn't change the fact that the NDA is now lifted.

Well, yeah, I'm just saying it was not odd.

Since my beta access is still wonky, can anyone tell me how much the "shared stash" costs in the new cash store? I could really use it but don't want to spend $20 for the expansion.