Lord of the Rings Online goes free-to-play

I played about a month of LOTRO and it was really fun. I'm simply not much into MMOs, but I enjoyed what I saw of it (which wasn't much more than the starting areas and a little more). I'll definitely be tempted to give it another look.
 
Nice, I wont play games that have monthly fees anymore (for various reasons) and might give it another go (I tried the beta before the game was even released, and didnt like it then and never purchased) Thanks for posting
 
This wasn't too much of a shock to me, but I'm still surprised by the decision.

If you haven't tried it yet, this is probably the best and most polished MMO on the market right now (Sorry WoW fanbois). Very deep experience in this one, TONS to see and do.
 
I played LOTRO for a while the year it launched and was just toying with the idea of reactivating my account. I have an MMO jones.

I quit just as they released MoM though, so I still may go ahead and buy the MoM collector's edition for cheap (I'd need to buy that expansion eventually anyway) and start playing now instead of waiting until fall.
 
This is great for new people, bad for current and long time subbers :(. Basically it will be over 8 months till we even get a small update now which will be this fall with the f2p.
 
How come you have to sign up for the beta? I thought this game is currently out, are they opening new free servers? Do we have to sign up for the beta if we already a (free trial) account before?
 
[quote name='mook8515']How come you have to sign up for the beta? I thought this game is currently out, are they opening new free servers? Do we have to sign up for the beta if we already a (free trial) account before?[/QUOTE]

The beta is going to incorporate the new F2P features which won't be launched for current players until Fall.

Trial accounts and game cards will only apply to the current paid version if you use them now.
 
This game is one of the few I think that really competes with WoW in terms of the PVE. The quests are in general really well written, and although you will get some "collect X" quests the focus is on fellowship quests and teamwork.

This is a good one if you have a tight group of friends that like to play MMOs.
 
Been gearing myself back up since last October with various MMOs until Cataclysm drops and I return to WoW (after 3 years.)

I have to say that LotRO is the only one I've continued past the initial first month free period. It is very, VERY well done. Whether you get in now to get ahead of the F2P rush in the newbie areas, or wait until this Fall for F2P; you won't be disappointed imo.
 
So this is more like getting the base game for free with the option to micro transaction your way into the expansions and other subscriber content? They are not selling actual stat gear or in game money and badges are they?

I don't have the play time for another MMO (WoW raider and casual dabbler in Star Trek Online) but this could be a neat way to at least demo the game as long as its not going to ruin the game for "real" players. I hate it when MMO's go the route of selling game items and cash. (Vanity cosmetic fluff isn't so bad as long as it doesn't effect gameplay)
 
First 15-20 levels are the most fun I've ever had in an MMO. It's definitely not as good or as polished as WoW overall but it's still damn entertaining.

Since you can buy the full game for less than $10 now it's well worth a shot if you're bored.
 
I like DDO and play it now. I plan on playing LOTRO now. Plus there is that Clone Wars F2P MMO coming soon as well. Plenty of good Free MMOs for me! :)
 
Too bad that games a piece of shit. Folks, there is a reason that this game is now free to play. And flame all you want, the game fucking sucks, mr. Lookatmeimahobitandhaterealpvp.
 
If it's like DDO the only gear they will sell will be starter gear (stuff that is good for levels 1-10 or whatever but is then out-paced by normal items you get in-game), so nothing powerful. Certainly nothing that would cause an imbalance.
 
[quote name='Thorgouge']Too bad that games a piece of shit. Folks, there is a reason that this game is now free to play. And flame all you want, the game fucking sucks, mr. Lookatmeimahobitandhaterealpvp.[/QUOTE]

I'm not really an MMO player either way, but there are definitely people for whom PVE is far more important than PVP. I never tried the PVP in LOTRO because it holds no interest for me, but my brief (albeit completely newbish) impressions of the PVE in LOTRO were excellent, and I believe most people have praised that area of the game.
 
I liked LotRO when I played it - same with DDO. I guess we'll see how the F2P works for it.

Tell you what, if they go F2P for Asheron's Call, I'd go back in a heartbeat.
 
Well, I hate to say it but after playing MMOs for many years and being in top raiding guilds, I say pve is a big a fat joke. PVE is never difficult, the encounters are all insanely fucking easy and the only hard part is finding a group of people who can pay attention for however long the fight is. I'm sure the ppv in LOTRO is trash because the people that play it do so for the pve because they are mindless shitbags. Yeah, years of wasting time wiping in MMOs has made me bitter but also made me realize how insanely stupid people are.

Oh and apparently you still need to pay to play this game after level 50 and the game contains tons of micro-transactions for items and other bullshit. Free? I think not.
 
[quote name='Thorgouge']Well, I hate to say it but after playing MMOs for many years and being in top raiding guilds, I say pve is a big a fat joke. PVE is never difficult, the encounters are all insanely fucking easy and the only hard part is finding a group of people who can pay attention for however long the fight is. I'm sure the ppv in LOTRO is trash because the people that play it do so for the pve because they are mindless shitbags. Yeah, years of wasting time wiping in MMOs has made me bitter but also made me realize how insanely stupid people are.

Oh and apparently you still need to pay to play this game after level 50 and the game contains tons of micro-transactions for items and other bullshit. Free? I think not.[/QUOTE]


Nerdrage much?
 
I played this game a couple years. It was a lot of a fun, It is a bit more solo centric than i care for at the momment but it is well made. I will have to see what options I will have as a returner. I liked Mines of Moria but it seemed a fair amount of people did not.
 
[quote name='danh920']i cant check the link since its blocked at work

Is this free to play now? i have an account but it is not active[/QUOTE]

from my brief glance at the page, their going F2P this fall.
 
[quote name='Shimrra']I love free.[/QUOTE]

I hate free.

Discuss. ;)

[quote name='danh920']i cant check the link since its blocked at work

Is this free to play now? i have an account but it is not active[/QUOTE]

Not free now, but you can sign up for the free beta (of the free game). Turbine will choose a certain number of beta testers, and I think that'll roll out in July-ish.

I'm willing to give it a try, especially if it'll run on my laptop. I refuse to pay for MMOs (had one two-month stint in City of Heroes many years ago), so free is the best option for me.
 
[quote name='Denzalo']
If you haven't tried it yet, this is probably the best and most polished MMO on the market right now (Sorry WoW fanbois). Very deep experience in this one, TONS to see and do.[/QUOTE]

It's far from the most polished, but it's pretty good, and will be far and away the best free to play.

[quote name='howlinmad']Now if we can just get EQ1 to go free. :)[/QUOTE]

www.project1999.org
 
I'm tempted though I barely have time for regular short games let alone an MMO.

But I'm a complete newb to this stuff. What do you mean by PVE and PVP? I'm guessing PVP is player vs player so you go after other people. Is PVE some sort of cooperative thing? I would 100% prefer that if I ever did the MMO thing.
 
There will be no PvP (player vs. player) for F2P players anyways, so it's kind of a moot point. But yeah, PvE would be single player or co-op against the computer AI.
 
[quote name='io']I'm tempted though I barely have time for regular short games let alone an MMO.

But I'm a complete newb to this stuff. What do you mean by PVE and PVP? I'm guessing PVP is player vs player so you go after other people. Is PVE some sort of cooperative thing? I would 100% prefer that if I ever did the MMO thing.[/QUOTE]

And just in case you're interested, PvE in MMO terms stand for Player vs. Environment. :)
 
Why the link in OP is for signing up for beta?

Isn't the game already out and it's free to download/play this fall?
 
they will most likely be testing microtransaction additions/changes to the game to make it profitable as f2p. It wont be a completely free experience and needs to be retrofitted to the f2p model.
 
What about the people that paid for the lifetime subscription for this?

Did they get ripped off or will they at least get some microtransaction credit?
 
[quote name='panzerfaust']I assume it's not doing so hot if they're are taking monthly subscriptions away right?[/QUOTE]

The game is actually doing extremely well compared to other mmos (i would say current subs are between 500k - 800k range). Here is why they are doing this. Basically DDO was a test subject for the f2p HYBRID model in order to suck out more money. Reason DDO was chosen was because it was not doing so hot anyways. Turbine fully admitted that this will probably upset a huge lot of their ddo supporters and fanbase (in which many left after the new system was put it), but in return they made a huge killing off of microtransactions.

Basically they are now implementing this into LOTRO, cutting their actual supporters, and going after the casuals (and more or less the 10 year old and under wow kids without credit cards) in hopes that it will be a repeat of the DDO success.

For those who never played LOTRO this is a GREAT way to try it out (and im not trying to take anything away from that at all either). But for most of the supporters of the game (many who played since beta), general feeling is bad as many problems have occurred ever since the release of mines of moria expansion and has gone downhill since then.

To basically answer your question, they are doing well, but apparently they need more money to fund the Harry Potter MMO that they been working on lol.
 
[quote name='evophile']What about the people that paid for the lifetime subscription for this?

Did they get ripped off or will they at least get some microtransaction credit?[/QUOTE]

Well reading on people's thoughts on the official forums today, it came down to 2 sides of the coin.

1) I get lifetime VIP status plus monthly turbine points. Great!

2) I'm @%$# off because now we are probably gonna lose our mainly age 18+ mature community with the flux of kids coming to the game this fall.

But for the most part, on the value side, they will not be ripped off since they will not lose anything and have automatic access to all premium content.
 
[quote name='kosmos13x']Well reading on people's thoughts on the official forums today, it came down to 2 sides of the coin.

1) I get lifetime VIP status plus monthly turbine points. Great!

2) I'm @%$# off because now we are probably gonna lose our mainly age 18+ mature community with the flux of kids coming to the game this fall.

But for the most part, on the value side, they will not be ripped off since they will not lose anything and have automatic access to all premium content.[/QUOTE]

Ah cool, thanks for the info. I was curious. Good that they're getting all the content, but I guess they'll have to wait and see how the community shakes out heh.
 
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