• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Lord of the Rings Online |OT| F2P lets everyone simply walk into Mordor

Izayoi

Banned
GDJustin said:
Still 65. Level cap is increasing this fall with the Isengard expansion.
So they're actually releasing Isengard, huh?

Last I heard of it was over a year ago in the old Isengard Alpha server.

I thought they would be giving up on LoTRO before they ever got it out. Any word on new raids?
 

GDJustin

stuck my tongue deep inside Atlus' cookies
Izayoi said:
So they're actually releasing Isengard, huh?

Last I heard of it was over a year ago in the old Isengard Alpha server.

I thought they would be giving up on LoTRO before they ever got it out. Any word on new raids?

A new raid just launched with the most recent patch last month, along with other small group lvl 65 dungeons.

LOTRO is actually doing better than ever these days. The game actually has *more* subscribers now, than it did before it was F2P. Go figure. Let alone the paying customers that aren't subscribing (like me).

The F2P switch made things very bumpy from a content perspective (there's been what? 2 small-ish content patches in the last year?), but it seems like it's been a huge net positive for Turbine over the long term. Hopefully with Isengard they can beef up the content pipeline and keep things coming at a more regular clip. Since Turbine charges for individual zone quest packs now, I think the days of the big expansion are over, but we can (hopefully) get a new one or two every 3 months. Would be cool.
 

nexen

Member
I like this game more than WoW. I hope it continues to be expanded upon.
Also I really want to storm the gates of Mordor.
 

CAW

Member
Turbine taking over Codemasters (EU) LOTRO operations effective June 1st, 2011.

http://www.lotro.com/news/pressreleases/1160

Merger FAQ:

1. What’s happening?

Turbine is taking over full operations of The Lord of the Rings Online™ throughout Europe starting June 1, 2011. We’re merging the US and EU services into one mega-service we’re calling the LOTRO Global Service.

2. Will there be any downtime during the transition?

Yes. We do expect there to be a limited service interruption during the changeover. Additional details, including specific information about downtime or service interruptions will be addressed as we get closer to the official take over date.

3. I play on the EU service today. Do I need to do anything?

Yes. All current players of the LOTRO service operated by Codemasters will need to migrate their account to the new global service. This simple one-time process will allow current players to easily move game access and characters to the global service.

4. Should I create a Turbine Account now?

No. Please wait for the official migration process to start. If you create an account on the Turbine service prior to the launch of the global service you will not be able to merge that account and your Codemasters account.

5. I’m an EU player who already has both Turbine and Codemasters accounts. Is it possible to merge them after the migration?

No. Your accounts will remain separate.

6. I play on Turbine’s service today and do not have any accounts on the Codemasters service. Do I need to do anything? Will anything be different for me?

Players on the current North American service do not need to take any action. In general, your play experience should remain the same.

7. What will happen to my characters and items?

After you have completed the account migration process, all of your characters and items will be available to you. You need only log in to the game and they’ll be there waiting for you, right where you left them (even the server names are staying the same).

8. What about my billing information? Will you migrate that too?

No. we will not automatically access or transfer your private billing information as part of this process. During the migration you will be asked to provide your billing information to us.

9. Are there any differences in the VIP programs between Turbine and Codemasters?

The benefits remain the same. Players may also purchase discounted multi-month subscription packages and we are also offering special promotions for some plans during the migration period – please be sure to check the migration site for details.

10. I have a lifetime account with Codemasters. Will Turbine honor it?

All existing Codemasters Lifetime accounts will be converted to Turbine Lifetime accounts.

11. Will I lose my existing Points or will they be exchanged for Turbine points?

Any points on your account at the time of migration will transfer over to the Turbine service.

12. I am a VIP, will my subscription transfer?

Any VIP time you have remaining after migration will be honored. After that period you will lose VIP status unless you update your billing information and select a subscription plan.

13. Will the EU servers be merged into the US servers?
No. All existing servers will become part of the Turbine service.

14. Will Turbine continue to support language specific servers?

Yes. Servers currently designated as FR or DE speaking servers will remain as they are.

15. Will Turbine support European payment options?

Yes. We are expanding our current billing system to accept many new payment methods.

16. Will boxed products or Game Time Cards (GTC) published by Codemasters continue to work after the migration?

No. Due to technical incompatibilities between the systems Turbine will not be able to honor any Codemasters GTC or Codemasters retail product keys.

17. What Languages will be available in the global game client?

The Lord of the Rings Online™ is available in English, French (Français), and German (Deutsch). The game will default to your currently selected language. If you wish to play in a different language, simply select your preferred language from the launcher. Note: If you are using a DE or FR version of Windows then your game may automatically select DE or FR to match your OS.

18. Will EU players be able to use the my.lotro.com site and features such as the lottery after the change?

Yes! Once the transfer is complete and your characters are part of the Turbine service, the my.lotro.com site will start collecting data about your characters and adding them to the site. You will then be able to use all of the my.lotro.com features including blogs, character panels, and lotteries. Please note that your character history will start from the time you join the Turbine service.

19. I'm active on the Codemasters forums, will my posts be copied over to the US forums?

No posts, accounts, or other information will be migrated from the LOTRO EU forums. We encourage players to move their guides, tips, tricks, etc over to the Official Lorebook, and the new global community after June 1, so all players may benefit.

20. What will happen to any auctions/bids I have in progress at the time of the transition?

We encourage all European players to schedule their auctions to expire prior to June 1, 2011. Due to the nature of the transition we cannot guarantee these items will be available after the transfer.

http://www.lotro.com/news/latestnews/1157

One developer to rule them all.
 

GDJustin

stuck my tongue deep inside Atlus' cookies
Hm... interesting. Is it common for MMO developers to run international operations? Even Blizz licensed out WoW to some international operators in some territories.

And even though LOTRO is doing very well these days, it still doesn't exactly set the world on fire. So I wonder if this was a case of Turbine taking back the license, or if Codemasters didn't want it, any more. I know LOTRO is doing well in the US, but I have no idea how many EU players there are...
 

Mojojo

Member
GDJustin said:
Hm... interesting. Is it common for MMO developers to run international operations? Even Blizz licensed out WoW to some international operators in some territories.

And even though LOTRO is doing very well these days, it still doesn't exactly set the world on fire. So I wonder if this was a case of Turbine taking back the license, or if Codemasters didn't want it, any more. I know LOTRO is doing well in the US, but I have no idea how many EU players there are...
All I can say from anecdotal evidence(I play on Laurelin) is that Lotro Europe was doing better since F2P : last year, i could wander the barrow downs or lone lands and not meet a soul, whereas today there are always some people there.
But I am not happy with this news, Codemasters handling of the game wasn't bad, we had official rp servers with enforced naming policy and good support. Now, Turbine confirmed that the euro server will be US-based, which means higher ping and worse support for Euro players .. If it impacts too much(i guess you must feel a difference when playing a burglar or warden when you used to play with a ping of 40 , when it becomes 150-200+), I'll probably say good-bye to this game.
 

DiscoJer

Member
Mojojo said:
But I am not happy with this news, Codemasters handling of the game wasn't bad, we had official rp servers with enforced naming policy and good support.

They also embarrassed Turbine into mirroring Codemaster's policy of restoring hacked characters. For the longest time, if someone got hacked, Turbine just said sorry and gave you some gold (which is worthless, since most of the stuff lost was not buyable with gold). While Codemasters actually restored your character.

When there was a big wave of hacking a few months ago, which got covered by a few web sites, this kept getting brought up, and finally Turbine decided to follow the same course.

So probably not good. I imagine it was a case of Turbine/WB ending the deal (or buying Codemasters out) or perhaps wanting even more money (that was the hold up with the F2P switch...)
 

notworksafe

Member
So I've started playing again. Trying Warden and having a blast. Having so many options is a lot of fun. Are Wardens actually any good at tanking or is that mostly a Guardian job?

Also quick question on quests. So when LotRO went F2P, I bought the base game + Moria in a box copy and added those to my account. I got a month of VIP and logged in 5 characters so they'd all get VIP perks even after my month ran out. I'm now at Premium with some VIP perks (no gold limit, 5 bags, fast travel). So what kind of quests do I have access to without having to buy anything?
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
notworksafe said:
So I've started playing again. Trying Warden and having a blast. Having so many options is a lot of fun. Are Wardens actually any good at tanking or is that mostly a Guardian job?

Also quick question on quests. So when LotRO went F2P, I bought the base game + Moria in a box copy and added those to my account. I got a month of VIP and logged in 5 characters so they'd all get VIP perks even after my month ran out. I'm now at Premium with some VIP perks (no gold limit, 5 bags, fast travel). So what kind of quests do I have access to without having to buy anything?
just the starter zones like Bree, Ered Luin and the Shire. Also Moria, but there's a huge level gap between those two, obviously.

Wardens can tank but from what I've heard they get way better at it nearer the level cap. I personally love the gambit system that wardens have, but the downside is that you don't get to wear heavy armor. Basically it's easier for a guardian to tank, but as warden you have a lot of self heal and defense buffing gambits.
 

notworksafe

Member
Bah. I guess I'll end up subscribing for a month when I hit 25. Might do it a bit before so I can get riding without having to buy the quest for it in the LotRO store (it's level 20, right?).

And yeah the Gambit system sorta reminds me of a fighting game. Put in combos of moves in order to trigger more powerful attack. Very cool idea, I must say. It's been a while since I read the books but are there any Wardens in them? Seems most of the classes have a basis in some book characters.
 

Iadien

Guarantee I'm going to screw up this post? Yeah.
notworksafe said:
So I've started playing again. Trying Warden and having a blast. Having so many options is a lot of fun. Are Wardens actually any good at tanking or is that mostly a Guardian job?

Also quick question on quests. So when LotRO went F2P, I bought the base game + Moria in a box copy and added those to my account. I got a month of VIP and logged in 5 characters so they'd all get VIP perks even after my month ran out. I'm now at Premium with some VIP perks (no gold limit, 5 bags, fast travel). So what kind of quests do I have access to without having to buy anything?

Wardens are very good at soloing. I'm level 43, and rarely have issues. Even against small fellowship mobs.

I'm surprised you enjoy Lotro, but hate on SoE's MMOs.
 

notworksafe

Member
I played SWG pre-CU so I became very annoyed with SOE when all of that went down. Now I'm just biased against them. :p

Though I put plenty of time into EQ in its day, and a bit recently into DCUO and EQ2 but wasn't impressed enough to bite on either.
 
Warden gambits get confusing to me after a while since you basically have to memorize them.

Very good solo class and yes they can tank. It takes a while to build up aggro and most groups I am with tend to jump the gun, making it harder than it should be. They're better at holding aggro than taking it back.
 

Kentpaul

When keepin it real goes wrong. Very, very wrong.
Level 12, I'm fucking glued to this game and i'm loving every second of it..

What blows my mind is knowing when i'm wondering around the shire/bree area that theres probally some level 50 guys in other citys far far away..

Blows my mine and the Lowlands area is just so awsome, Pitty i get pwned so bad down that way

In the mean time i'm gonna have to grind for another 200 silver to buy my own horse

My rented one runs out in about 2 hours...

playing this game 6,7 hours at a time :) best gaming experence i'v had since the gears launch back on 2006.

Anyone thinking about jumping in.. Jump in.
 

Ikuu

Had his dog run over by Blizzard's CEO
Not sure why I stopped playing this got to level 25 and got Moria for like $8 so that I could get the expansion and use the free month to get to Moria and just stopped :( Reinstalled and it turns out Lone Lands is free now, which is pretty handy.

Are there any good guides for leveling with each class? Playing a Champion just now and I have no idea what my rotation should look like, just hit buttons until shit dies.

It's a shame the UI seems to be getting worse with all the stuff they add, they really need to go back and clean it all up.
 

Ken

Member
Ikuu said:
Are there any good guides for leveling with each class? Playing a Champion just now and I have no idea what my rotation should look like, just hit buttons until shit dies.

It's a shame the UI seems to be getting worse with all the stuff they add, they really need to go back and clean it all up.
That's pretty much what I did on my hunter all the way to 65.

And I agree, the UI post-F2P seems to have a button to the cash shop in too many places.
 
You can look up basic class related guides on lotro.com through the lorebook, but ultimately you just sort of figure stuff out over the hours it takes you to get leveled. Also if you're on a good server, plenty of people will answer your questions about stuff like that, especially if you join an active kinship.

There's also:http://lotro-wiki.com/ which is great for just about everything.

Also some of the best general guides are on http://lotro.mmorsel.com/.

You can also customize your UI to insane levels. Just hit (I believe) ctrl and \ . Then you can just drag things around.
 
Played lotro when it went f2p on US servers but due to cataclysm and time difference I quit.
Loved it, if you go few pages back you'll see me raving about it so now since I quit wow and theres summer without mmo's ahead I'm thinking of coming back!

Just wanna know how's the endgame now? Anything changed? How's raiding and what's endgame like, never made it that far?

P.S. Anyone on european servers or going to start there?
 

Kentpaul

When keepin it real goes wrong. Very, very wrong.
just got this message on facebook

The LOTRO European servers are down for service migration.For Information on how to migrate your account please visit: http://transfer.lotro.com/ and following the easy instructions. After May 31st you will no longer be able to play LOTRO in Europe until this process is complete.


So thats why i can't log in today, here goes to a easy transfer
 
D

Deleted member 10571

Unconfirmed Member
So now that the migration stuff seems to be finished soon, on which Server is most of GAF playing? I'm not that deep into Lotro anymore, but I'd like to visit you guys
and brag with my mad muzak skillz and life time account
:)
 

Haeleos

Member
There's a double bonus points sale on until the 5th and the Evendim quest pack is 25% off today only. Good time to pick it up, especially since it was the most recently revamped zone. I don't see them advertising it anywhere, so I thought I'd post it here.
 
Just got an email from Turbine. $99 for 12 months of VIP membership. $8.33 a month plus you get 6,000 TP points out of the deal. I'm thinking of doing it.
 
Sir Garbageman said:
Just got an email from Turbine. $99 for 12 months of VIP membership. $8.33 a month plus you get 6,000 TP points out of the deal. I'm thinking of doing it.

At this point it's only worth it if you are really interested in PvMP...and even a portion of that is going F2P with Isengard.
 
Affeinvasion said:
At this point it's only worth it if you are really interested in PvMP...and even a portion of that is going F2P with Isengard.

I've been F2P and I'm level 21 so I figure this will cover as much as I'd want to play and set me up with enough TP points so if I wanted to continue playing I'd have enough to buy future zones.
 
I'm having trouble installing this. I clicked on their website to download the start resolution version on their website and it asked me to choose where I wanted to download the files to, I chose a location and then while I was sleeping it finished downloading. Now where I told it to download I have 12 files. I have a LOTRO Setup, and then LOTROSetup-1.bin.downloading-LOTROSetup-11.bin.downloading. If I just choose the LOTRO Setup it tells me to insert disk one. Am I doing something wrong? If I click the other files it asks me what program to open them with were as LOTROSetup says it's an application file that's why I clicked that to install. Is it a bad download?
 
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
I'm having trouble installing this. I clicked on their website to download the start resolution version on their website and it asked me to choose where I wanted to download the files to, I chose a location and then while I was sleeping it finished downloading. Now where I told it to download I have 12 files. I have a LOTRO Setup, and then LOTROSetup-1.bin.downloading-LOTROSetup-11.bin.downloading. If I just choose the LOTRO Setup it tells me to insert disk one. Am I doing something wrong? If I click the other files it asks me what program to open them with were as LOTROSetup says it's an application file that's why I clicked that to install. Is it a bad download?

Sounds like it. I just redownloaded the client a few weeks ago and iirc after you DL all you should have to do is kick off the setup and be good to go.

Also when you're done make sure to uninstall pando media booster. It's worthless.
 

Schrade

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
I'm having trouble installing this. I clicked on their website to download the start resolution version on their website and it asked me to choose where I wanted to download the files to, I chose a location and then while I was sleeping it finished downloading. Now where I told it to download I have 12 files. I have a LOTRO Setup, and then LOTROSetup-1.bin.downloading-LOTROSetup-11.bin.downloading. If I just choose the LOTRO Setup it tells me to insert disk one. Am I doing something wrong? If I click the other files it asks me what program to open them with were as LOTROSetup says it's an application file that's why I clicked that to install. Is it a bad download?
If it has the .downloading anywhere in there, that means it's... DOWNLOADING.

Wait til it's done downloading. Then uninstall Pando Media Booster immediately and then install the game.
 

Haeleos

Member
50% XP boost starting today and going until the 26th. This also stacks with the pocket item you get for preordering Rise of Isengard.
 

Ken

Member
Haeleos said:
50% XP boost starting today and going until the 26th. This also stacks with the pocket item you get for preordering Rise of Isengard.
Thanks for the heads up. Maybe I'll go pick up my Champion again.
 

Hex

Banned
Haeleos said:
50% XP boost starting today and going until the 26th. This also stacks with the pocket item you get for preordering Rise of Isengard.

I am in full on fanboi mode after the Hobbit pics out there.

50% bonus xp this weekend, 25% for preordering Isengard, plus rested xp should be a great weekend for grinding.
 

Haeleos

Member
I wouldn't post about the sales otherwise, and I know a couple posts up I said they don't put the quest packs on sale often, but they have every quest pack on for 20% off right now... if you haven't used the "DEMOCOUPON", that's an extra 5% off as well.

If you are around level 30-45, I highly recommend Evendim.
 
Haeleos said:
I wouldn't post about the sales otherwise, and I know a couple posts up I said they don't put the quest packs on sale often, but they have every quest pack on for 20% off right now... if you haven't used the "DEMOCOUPON", that's an extra 5% off as well.

If you are around level 30-45, I highly recommend Evendim.

Solid deal, I'd be all over it if I didn't go VIP recently :p. Hit lvl 31, bout to head over to Evendim next for some questing next time I fire up the game.
 

Wrayfield

Member
I gave Lotro a try when it went FTP and must say, it is a very interesting buisness model for sceptics like me. I'm not too much into Tolkien, not even a big MMO fan, but it was free and a few friends have been playing it for ages. After seeing the size of the world, it just kind of motivated me to keep on playing just to see the other worlds.

It has been a thoroughly fun gaming experience for me, and free at that. I am even pondering signing up for three months or so to remove some limitations.

A question to those who played more classes: Which one do you recommend (or don't) to play most of the story alone? I am highly unflexible and irregular when it comes to playing time, meeting up at a certain time and such. Therefore, guilds are only marginally sensible to me, as much as I know I'm missing out on some fun stuff there.
 

Ken

Member
Wrayfield said:
A question to those who played more classes: Which one do you recommend (or don't) to play most of the story alone? I am highly unflexible and irregular when it comes to playing time, meeting up at a certain time and such. Therefore, guilds are only marginally sensible to me, as much as I know I'm missing out on some fun stuff there.
I solo'd most of the game with a hunter awhile ago, though I've heard they made everything easier to allow people to solo through the game with most classes without too much difficulty.
 

Mojojo

Member
Wrayfield said:
A question to those who played more classes: Which one do you recommend (or don't) to play most of the story alone? I am highly unflexible and irregular when it comes to playing time, meeting up at a certain time and such. Therefore, guilds are only marginally sensible to me, as much as I know I'm missing out on some fun stuff there.
My only level 65 is a loremaster and i soloed most of the epic storyline on my own (i have a little left in Moria though). the LM kills slow but the pet and crowd control helped me much. Epic Volume 1 can be soloed , you get a buff through it all. Volume 3 is very easy for now too.
But your best bet might be a Hunter or Warden because their abilities allow them to move around the world quickly, and sometimes in the epic storyline I wished my LM could do that . Some of the fetch parts are crazy sending you back and forth across Eriador :p
Having both a Warden and hunter in the level 30 range, I find the Warden funnier to play (and my hunter a little too 'fragile').
 

Wrayfield

Member
Mojojo said:
My only level 65 is a loremaster and i soloed most of the epic storyline on my own (i have a little left in Moria though). the LM kills slow but the pet and crowd control helped me much. Epic Volume 1 can be soloed , you get a buff through it all. Volume 3 is very easy for now too.
But your best bet might be a Hunter or Warden because their abilities allow them to move around the world quickly, and sometimes in the epic storyline I wished my LM could do that . Some of the fetch parts are crazy sending you back and forth across Eriador :p
Having both a Warden and hunter in the level 30 range, I find the Warden funnier to play (and my hunter a little too 'fragile').

Yeah, playing a Warden now. Didn't like the Champion that I started with, tbh. Also, not sure Loremaster is available, but I'm thinking of upgrading my account...
 

Mojojo

Member
Wrayfield said:
Yeah, playing a Warden now. Didn't like the Champion that I started with, tbh. Also, not sure Loremaster is available, but I'm thinking of upgrading my account...
Same for me with Champion, i died too much but i wasnt very good with it.

The Loremaster is one of the base classes. It's the Runekeeper that needs to be bought. It's the class I am leveling at the moment and I am quite found of it, I like the versatility of roles(healer or DPS) and the dynamic of the Attunement meter.
 

Haeleos

Member
The Warden and the Runekeeper have a lot of versatility in their roles, so I would probably recommend them for getting the most out of soloing through the game. Unfortunately, you would need to either purchase those classes or have Mines of Moria (which i guess Wrayfield already did, but for others wondering...)
 

Ulairi

Banned
I am jumping back into LOTRO this weekend since I had a lifetime account. The last time I played was a few years ago and my Champion was around level 30. Should I just start anew or is it worth picking up with the old character? how fast is leveling now?
 
Just started playing this again. Any gaffers playing may feel free to say "Mae govannen" (or even just hi) to Branfrith or Thelahir on either Landroval or Laurelin.

Ulairi said:
I am jumping back into LOTRO this weekend since I had a lifetime account. The last time I played was a few years ago and my Champion was around level 30. Should I just start anew or is it worth picking up with the old character? how fast is leveling now?

I was in a similar boat when I decided to come back. I had a level 40 Captain and level 55 Guardian. Ultimately, I ended up starting a fresh character (Elf Champion) on a new server. Leveling is much faster now than it was two years ago, with early quest destinations placed reasonably close together. The allowance of Turbine Points you'll have as a lifer also means you have plenty of points to spend on further XP-gain enhancives.
 
Top Bottom