Lord of the Rings Online Free to Play

[Matalina]

The MMO Lord of the Rings Online has gone free to play. 1 character per server which isn't alot, but eh, it's a good way to try it out for free and play the whole game.

 

I just thought I'd let ya'll know.

[Krakalakachkn]

Thanks! I think I'll definitely be checking it out.

[Imperium]

is it any good?

 

never really looked into it previously as didn't want to pay for an MMO

[Matalina]

It's pretty good. If you've not played an MMO yet then I'd hold off on playing for a bit, lag is a bit much with all the new players and it could turn you off from a good game.

 

I've only just started playing it myself, but it seems like a good game, but then I'm mostly playing to play with friends I've made over the years in my gaming experience lol. Free tends to pull people back together after long separations lol.

[OptimusPrime]

It's pretty good. If you've not played an MMO yet then I'd hold off on playing for a bit, lag is a bit much with all the new players and it could turn you off from a good game.

 

I've only just started playing it myself, but it seems like a good game, but then I'm mostly playing to play with friends I've made over the years in my gaming experience lol. Free tends to pull people back together after long separations lol.

 

Any of you guys play Stormreach, its run or was run by the same people.

[Imperium]

Oh I've played an MMO.

 

Played WoW for 1 and a half years before getting totally bored with it.

 

Might have to read an in depth review

[Mulk]

bumping this back up because I'm in there again, to see if anyone else is.

 

My one char I play (used to have a sub, don't now), is a 62 minstrel who was messing around in Lorien prior to when I dropped out. The animations are a bit odd and combat feels a bit like slogging through mud at times, and I've never done the pvp setting in there so I can't speak to that. To be fair, the animations are something I don't even notice; it's a complaint I hear others make that I pass along for what it's worth. I don't even really see my character when I'm playing, or anyone else's.

 

For the positives, it's a really well-drawn world, and I think they did a beautiful job of interweaving the known LOTR storyline with the questing you do as a non-Fellowship player. You see those characters from time to time, but they are rarely tagging along with you.

 

A lot of questing can be done solo, and most of the epic questline can also be done solo thanks to a particular mechanic they put into the game to allow for people to be able to follow along on that questline without having to have groups of friends to complete key portions of it. There are plenty of places, though, that are flat out dangerous to go alone - closely packed mobs, some heavy hitting elites, and so forth. Some places, I'm not sure anyone really delves all the way to the bottom with any regularity. Goblin Town is one such place, it is SO easy to get lost in there and it is gigantic for a non-instanced quest zone. Carn Dum is another place that you need help for, good grief those mobs hurt.

 

The settings are freaking epic. Rivendell, Weathertop, Hobbiton, etc all feel pretty real. Sunsets are freaking amazing in the game, with good interplay of light on the water. They have developed zones you never really see in the movies, like Angmar and Evendim. For gameplay in the first 50 levels, Evendim was probably my favorite zone in terms of beauty and scope.

 

The crown jewel as far as I'm concerned is Moria. First time I've ever seen a dwarf realm done RIGHT. This place alone is worth seeing, just a shame you have to level so much to get to it.

 

Instances are 4 and 6 man. Some have puzzles to solve, and several have widely varied maps. Fornost in particular jumps to mind, it gets vertical in a hurry with all of the buildings and towers you run through.

 

Haven't raided at all yet, so I can't speak to that.

[Mulk]

gained entrance to Caras Galadon in Lorien over the weekend. Holy crap they did a lot of work on that place. Single best setting for RP I think I've ever seen. Shame it's so hard to get to and gain entrance to.

[WWWwombat]

I've been playing this F2P lately. Turbine is really annoying with all the micropayments, but I find myself wanting to buy stuff anyway. Haven't bought anything yet except auction spaces which I got with points I earned from deeds anyways.

[Tiinker]

Yeahh but after level 20 you stop getting all quests except the Book ones which is a bummer :P

[Mulk]

Basically, 6 months or so of game play on the VIP account will net you enough turbine points (between the monthly allotment on the account and all the points you earn by completing deeds) to buy pretty much all of the quest packs and some other stuff; for me I've spent quite a bit on shared storage, a sort of group bank all of your characters have access to. Now, I got into LOTRO prior to free to play and I had purchased Mines of Moria and Mirkwood, so I didn't have to buy those, but I turned around and bought Evendim, Angmar, Forochel, North Downs, Eregion, and Enedwaith just with the points I had stored; I'll have to double check but I think that leaves only Trollshaws to be purchased if I wind up dropping the sub in the future. I went back to a VIP account after dumping WoW so I could try out monster play and play the Runekeeper class. I've been storing up the turbine points, it may be that after Isengard comes out I'll drop the sub again. I've got access to most of the world right now and enough turbine points to buy anything I don't have.

 

To me, it's worth 10 bucks a month. /shrug. Beats the sub fees on WoW and Rift, neither of which I enjoy anywhere near as much.

[Tiinker]

Basically, 6 months or so of game play on the VIP account will net you enough turbine points (between the monthly allotment on the account and all the points you earn by completing deeds) to buy pretty much all of the quest packs and some other stuff; for me I've spent quite a bit on shared storage, a sort of group bank all of your characters have access to. Now, I got into LOTRO prior to free to play and I had purchased Mines of Moria and Mirkwood, so I didn't have to buy those, but I turned around and bought Evendim, Angmar, Forochel, North Downs, Eregion, and Enedwaith just with the points I had stored; I'll have to double check but I think that leaves only Trollshaws to be purchased if I wind up dropping the sub in the future. I went back to a VIP account after dumping WoW so I could try out monster play and play the Runekeeper class. I've been storing up the turbine points, it may be that after Isengard comes out I'll drop the sub again. I've got access to most of the world right now and enough turbine points to buy anything I don't have.

 

To me, it's worth 10 bucks a month. /shrug. Beats the sub fees on WoW and Rift, neither of which I enjoy anywhere near as much.

 

Well that's not free to play though. I played it before it went F2P and had a level 60 account back which was the level cap. I came back to it when it became free because I thought I wouldn't be paying but to be honest there's no way you can really participate without paying. If you're looking for a game with a great story and just like to solo-adventure then sure it's great. But if you're looking for an MMO subsitute or something to really get into then yeah you're definitely going to be checking into the LOTRO store :(

[Mulk]

point taken. I still think (assuming you exercise self control) it's cheaper than the alternatives. No free rides, after all. They'll have to ding you for money somewhere. There will never be a truly free to play game, not on the scope of an MMO. Guild Wars may start out that way, but they'll have to raise money from somewhere, and I imagine that will be from options people really want, or new zones, or things of that sort, so you'll wind up paying for things you got for "free" in WoW or Rift or anything before them.

 

It boils down to I enjoy LOTRO more than anything else out there at the moment. It helps that I'm a total Tolkien geek. For me, it has the right blend of lore, challenge, fun and just plain beautiful scenery. I know it doesn't work for everyone, but I like it. :)

[Tiinker]

Yeah I know exactly what you mean. I think the reason people but LOTRO before WoW and other MMO's is because of its lore and story line rather than its gameplay. Well that's what I chose it for because I'm also a die hard for LOTR :p

 

How far into the game have you gotten?

[Mulk]

I've one max level character, a minstrel, with whom I've maxed out just about everything I can max out without raiding or extensive instancing. I've also a runekeeper about to ding 40, a loremaster who is 20ish, a 32 burglar, plus a few monsters.

 

How about you?

[Tiinker]

I had a 65 Hunter, something like a 45 LM and a Warden at 40. Hurry and get into Moria :P I think it was by far the most fun in the game.

[Mulk]

oh I have. :) The only quests I have yet to do on my minstrel in the entire game have to do with instances I've not yet completed (mostly the level 65 stuff since I don't have a friends list or a kinship with other max level people to play with) or raids. Otherwise, I've been everywhere and done everything.I think the only Moria instances I haven't seen are the 16th Hall (no one seems to go there for some reason) and the Halls of Crafting. I did heal for a PuG turtle raid once, but our dps was too low to win the fight.

 

I leveled every bit of 50-62, with the exception of leaving to go out and finish all of Volume 1 of the epic quest, in Moria. I know pretty much every nook and cranny in there, and I love it. I don't even use the ride points anymore, I just ride straight through to wherever I'm headed, occasionally using the short cuts I've run across. :D At 62 I headed out to Lorien, gained entry to Caras Galadon and then went on to Mirkwood. After the release of Enedwaith I came back around and found every quest I'd never done, starting from the Shire on up, and leveled just about every virtue and unlocked every ride point and swift travel that is available in the game. I'm missing a few on Zeal and a couple of others which all involve lengthy kill deeds that I just don't care to grind right now since I don't really need them to be a decent minstrel. I also got every reputation to kindred that I can get except for the Eldgang, which involved a raid I have never done.

 

Runekeeper is 46 now. Burglar is 33. Both are fun. RK is a glass cannon, and the burglar has so many tricks that I can survive a lot of crazy stuff. Playing the RK has really underscored for me how much the minstrel needs some form of power recovery though. "Bring a Loremaster" is not a valid form of power recovery all of the time, not when you are a primary healer; plus, whenever I have to dps (the occasion 2 minstrel instances, or a solo skirmish) I zap through my power awfully quickly and have nothing left for the end of the longer fights, even popping power potions as fast as the cooldown allows.

[Tiinker]

Lmao yeah I remember when Moria was first released and everyone was crowding in the 21st hall :P The lag was insane.. 16th Hall everyone was trying to do to get the helm (or was it shoulders?) same with Dark Delvings which was also popular but after they released one of the patches it just became insanely difficult at level 60 so no one was really going to bother unless they had like a full kin fellowship because it was basically insta-wipe.. And then they released Mirkwood and everyone was off doing something else. The turtle raid is a bit boring though isn't it so you're not really missing anything heh.

 

Yeah any instance is real hard without a LM. I made one mainly because after playing a hunter for so long I got tired of all the "LFF need tank not dps" sort of thing T_T

Did you do this all without spending anything? :P If you did I might consider trying it out myself once again. I never completed all the book quests in Moria though. All that running around without a goat almost made me kill myself. First going in there the amount of times I died because of falling into holes was just.. /facepalm

[Tiinker]

Btw which server are you on? EU or US?

[Mulk]

Landroval, US.

 

As for whether I did it without spending...I have a VIP sub ($10 per month) because I do monster play from time to time and you can't do that without a sub. It runs out in another month and I'm not going to renew anytime soon; I've almost 4000 turbine points banked (solely from the allowance they give you, the deeds I've completed, and the bonus points for Isengard) that will allow me to buy anything I need in order to experience game content. I've already purchased Isengard, so that will be open to me. Also, I had bought Moria and Mirkwood prior to the game being free to play, and leveled to 62 at which point I took a lengthy break. Those zones and anything located in them (skirmish or instance) do not have to be purchased by someone who bought those expansions, which I believe would apply to you. The Epic quest is free to all.

 

Basically, when I came back to LOTRO, I had a sizable amount of turbine points credited to me for all of the deeds I had completed prior to free to play, plus a few months worth of the 500/month they give you for the subscription; I had 3 months or so left on a 6 month subscription. I was able to purchase the quest packs for Evendim, North Downs, Forochel, Angmar and Enedwaith right off the bat when I came back to the game without spending a dime, and Eregion soon after, which I think leaves just Trollshaws.

 

I can't call it "free", but I've spent less on this game than I have on any other MMO I've played, and that's sufficient for me; it may or may not be for you. About the only thing I spend my points on aside from the quest packs I bought is the shared storage, a kind of group bank that all of your characters can access. I can probably play the next six months without spending a dime and not miss a thing, maybe even a year, depending on if they release any updates or new zones prior to a new expansion, and by then I'll have amassed some more points to spend through all of the new deeds I will have finished. I might go back to a sub if I grow lonely for monster play; they're supposedly giving free to play people one or two classes to use, but I don't think either is the warg, which is the only class I can play and not get roflstomped for sticking my nose out of Gramsfoot. Low-ranked creep play is absolutely brutal if you don't have a group.

 

Dark Delvings was insane. I really enjoyed it, but we failed to kill the last guy. We only had one person who had done the place before and we weren't a max level group; tank was 60, I was 65, the others were in between. I walked away from that wondering how in the world an all level 60 group was supposed to clear the place.

[WWWwombat]

Yeah I have trouble sometimes keeping up my power with my minstrel, especially since I switched from Tale of Heroism to Tale of Battle.

 

Still f2p btw.

 

33 Minstrel (Historian) and 23 LM (Tinker)

 

I kinda slowed down the leveling once I got into Lone Lands and started focusing on crafting. Got 500 TP saved up. Thinking of spending on gold cap or Evendim eventually.

[Krakalakachkn]

So is this game worth it?

[Tiinker]

Yeah I have trouble sometimes keeping up my power with my minstrel, especially since I switched from Tale of Heroism to Tale of Battle.

 

Still f2p btw.

 

33 Minstrel (Historian) and 23 LM (Tinker)

 

I kinda slowed down the leveling once I got into Lone Lands and started focusing on crafting. Got 500 TP saved up. Thinking of spending on gold cap or Evendim eventually.

 

What you can do is give the money to a friend who doesn't have a gold cap and then have him buy stuff at the AH for you with it. Atleast that's how a lot of my friends did it but they were premium players. Not sure if that makes a difference.

 

Krak, I'd say it's definitely worth giving a try since you get all the quests till level 20 or something at least. It'll take a while to download though, very big game.

[Krakalakachkn]

Krak, I'd say it's definitely worth giving a try since you get all the quests till level 20 or something at least. It'll take a while to download though, very big game.

 

My laptop won't be able to handle that.

[WWWwombat]

Yeah I have trouble sometimes keeping up my power with my minstrel, especially since I switched from Tale of Heroism to Tale of Battle.

 

Still f2p btw.

 

33 Minstrel (Historian) and 23 LM (Tinker)

 

I kinda slowed down the leveling once I got into Lone Lands and started focusing on crafting. Got 500 TP saved up. Thinking of spending on gold cap or Evendim eventually.

 

What you can do is give the money to a friend who doesn't have a gold cap and then have him buy stuff at the AH for you with it. Atleast that's how a lot of my friends did it but they were premium players. Not sure if that makes a difference.

 

Krak, I'd say it's definitely worth giving a try since you get all the quests till level 20 or something at least. It'll take a while to download though, very big game.

 

You have to be premium to send money. Can always give friends valuable items or vendor trash tho i guess. Still, it would be much easier if I had no gold cap. I may go VIP for a month or 3 at some point.