Triple BBastard of the NorthMARegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
In a nutshell, if you have an active paid subscription, you get everything. If not, well...you didn't actually pay for Misty Mountains before...it was a free expansion. :P
The price of the box was for the content, the monthly subscription fee was for server access.
I don't mind paying a monthly fee. Well, at least I begrudgingly accept it. But I just won't pay for content twice. Plus the gold cap and all that?
Basically it means that this f2p thing doesn't change anything for me t'all. I'll either pay the monthly, or not play. Shrug.
Except you can still login and do some things in between bouts of paying. And with the turbine points you earn for the times you ARE paying, you can buy access to more things for the times when you are NOT paying.
Another way to look at it is the BOX price, is the price of everything that Premium gets that F2P doesnt, as well as the Free Month.
Saying that they were going to charge you twice for the same content was an unfair characterization of the interaction.
The price of the box was for the content, the monthly subscription fee was for server access.
I don't mind paying a monthly fee. Well, at least I begrudgingly accept it. But I just won't pay for content twice. Plus the gold cap and all that?
Basically it means that this f2p thing doesn't change anything for me t'all. I'll either pay the monthly, or not play. Shrug.
Except you can still login and do some things in between bouts of paying. And with the turbine points you earn for the times you ARE paying, you can buy access to more things for the times when you are NOT paying.
Another way to look at it is the BOX price, is the price of everything that Premium gets that F2P doesnt, as well as the Free Month.
Saying that they were going to charge you twice for the same content was an unfair characterization of the interaction.
This is something that did slightly confuse me.
So right now I have paid up until mid-October, when the game goes F2P I will be an active subscriber. If for whatever reason I don't continue to pay, do I lose all of the content even though I was an active subscriber at some point?
Like I can play Misty Mountains for the first half of October as a paid member, but then when my sub runs out they revoke access?
I had assumed that people who paid $$$ for the software were kind of grandfathered into the content and only people who were just downloading a free client needed to pay for content packs.
If I stop paying and they take Mirkwood, an expansion I paid $20 for already, away I would be pissed.
Malick on
PSN = malickai XBL = gdragonstar Pokemon SS = 3095 7347 2659 Pokemon White = 5028 4446 2386
So right now I have paid up until mid-October, when the game goes F2P I will be an active subscriber. If for whatever reason I don't continue to pay, do I lose all of the content even though I was an active subscriber at some point?
Like I can play Misty Mountains for the first half of October as a paid member, but then when my sub runs out they revoke access?
I had assumed that people who paid $$$ for the software were kind of grandfathered into the content and only people who were just downloading a free client needed to pay for content packs.
If I stop paying and they take Mirkwood, an expansion I paid $20 for already, away I would be pissed.
You won't be able to do quests in that area, then.
Also: because you paid for the DVDs you do get access to extra character slots and some other stuff I believe. I haven't delved into it, but there is a handy guide linked in the OP I believe.
So right now I have paid up until mid-October, when the game goes F2P I will be an active subscriber. If for whatever reason I don't continue to pay, do I lose all of the content even though I was an active subscriber at some point?
Like I can play Misty Mountains for the first half of October as a paid member, but then when my sub runs out they revoke access?
I had assumed that people who paid $$$ for the software were kind of grandfathered into the content and only people who were just downloading a free client needed to pay for content packs.
If I stop paying and they take Mirkwood, an expansion I paid $20 for already, away I would be pissed.
You won't be able to do quests in that area, then.
Also: because you paid for the DVDs you do get access to extra character slots and some other stuff I believe. I haven't delved into it, but there is a handy guide linked in the OP I believe.
From the official FAQ:
"# I purchased the Mines of Moria™ Expansion and/or the Siege of Mirkwood™ Expansion. Can I still access this content? Will I still be able to play my Rune-keeper or Warden characters? What if I unsubscribe?
When LOTRO Free-to-Play becomes available you will still be able to access the content and features of any expansions you have previously purchased. Whether you are a VIP or a Premium player, the content and features of these expansions will be available to you in their entirety.
If you decide not to join the VIP program or decide to downgrade to Premium player status, the content and features of these expansions will still be available to you. You will still be able to play your Rune-keeper and Warden characters as long as they are in character slots you have selected or have unlocked by visiting the LOTRO Store."
I assume having purchased the original Angmar game the early areas would still be unlocked.
Granted at $9.99 a month, it is going to take some extreme bordem for me to unsub.
Malick on
PSN = malickai XBL = gdragonstar Pokemon SS = 3095 7347 2659 Pokemon White = 5028 4446 2386
I wonder how this whole buying content thing works with questlines that encompass multiple regions. It's more curiosity than anything else, though. I have all contents what with being a lifetimer.
For Mirkwood and Moria, those would remain open to you at all times since those are paid expansions you already bought in addition to the base game.
For everything in between Breeland/Ered Luin/Shire and Moria (pick which one you honestly think is the most likely):
a) Congratulations, Turbine messed up and everyone is a Lifetime VIP now. (What all the cheap skates seem to think will happen.)
b) The zone is completely locked out and you cannot enter the zone at all until you pay your subscription / purchase the content.
c) They lock out all the quests in the zone until you have paid to unlock it / are a VIP member again.
You will need to buy the pack for Misty Mountains, unless you are paying your monthly subscription. (or have earned enough turbine points through playing the game to buy it).
I don't think that's correct unless they've changed their position recently. People who have purchased a box retain access to all content they've purchased. Turbine is not asking people to pay twice for the same content, after all Moria and Mirkwood were paying to access the content and turbine would be double dipping.
From the FAQ #22
I purchased the Mines of Moria™ Expansion and/or the Siege of Mirkwood™ Expansion. Can I still access this content? Will I still be able to play my Rune-keeper or Warden characters? What if I unsubscribe?
When LOTRO Free-to-Play becomes available you will still be able to access the content and features of any expansions you have previously purchased. Whether you are a VIP or a Premium player, the content and features of these expansions will be available to you in their entirety.
If you decide not to join the VIP program or decide to downgrade to Premium player status, the content and features of these expansions will still be available to you. You will still be able to play your Rune-keeper and Warden characters as long as they are in character slots you have selected or have unlocked by visiting the LOTRO Store.
Emphasis mine. Sapience confirmed in a forum post (which I don't have a link for atm) that this also applies to all SoA content.
You will need to buy the pack for Misty Mountains, unless you are paying your monthly subscription. (or have earned enough turbine points through playing the game to buy it).
I don't think that's correct unless they've changed their position recently. People who have purchased a box retain access to all content they've purchased. Turbine is not asking people to pay twice for the same content, after all Moria and Mirkwood were paying to access the content and turbine would be double dipping.
From the FAQ #22
I purchased the Mines of Moria™ Expansion and/or the Siege of Mirkwood™ Expansion. Can I still access this content? Will I still be able to play my Rune-keeper or Warden characters? What if I unsubscribe?
When LOTRO Free-to-Play becomes available you will still be able to access the content and features of any expansions you have previously purchased. Whether you are a VIP or a Premium player, the content and features of these expansions will be available to you in their entirety.
If you decide not to join the VIP program or decide to downgrade to Premium player status, the content and features of these expansions will still be available to you. You will still be able to play your Rune-keeper and Warden characters as long as they are in character slots you have selected or have unlocked by visiting the LOTRO Store.
Emphasis mine. Sapience confirmed in a forum post (which I don't have a link for atm) that this also applies to all SoA content.
Yea, I have no problem buying new content, paying for character slots, bank space, etc, but re-buying content I already bought seemed silly. I am glad it appears I will not have to do this, if I choose to go down to Premium from VIP.
Malick on
PSN = malickai XBL = gdragonstar Pokemon SS = 3095 7347 2659 Pokemon White = 5028 4446 2386
read it closely please, Misty Mountains is a different area entirely from the Mines of Moria.
edit: and either my memory is wrong, or they've changed their stance on this. Or the early communication was unclear on the point (given turbine's history that's my guess).
Essentially, it's like this: When you purchased Shadows of Angmar, you had (have) to have a subscription to access that content. If you no longer subscribe, you lose access to it.
Under the new model, even if you drop your subscription you can keep playing for free, but not everything is available to you like it is for subscribers. You won't lose access to all of the SOA content, but you will lose access to some of it unless you purchase it.
It will also be interesting having to filter out people from joining your group, like if they are F2P and havent purchased all of their trait slots. It will make it more annoying when accepting people that like to run around in /anon
The winds of change are blowing swiftly across the lands of Middle-earth, as we've just gotten word that Turbine is going to allow the use of Lua scripting for Lord of the Rings Online. A Casual Stroll to Mordor reports that Meghan Rodberg announced the change on a recent episode of The StunCast!.
On the podcast, Rodberg confirmed the upcoming implementation of Lua scripts: "We historically have not allowed any modding of the UI other than skinning it. Hope I'm not blowing anything here, but there is a Lua scripting project going on. I don't know if we've talked about it that much, but people will be able to do some mods. I'm not sure to what extent they'll be able to do it. It seemed like enough of our players were looking for this that we decided to do it."
Lua is a programming language that allows for the creation of add-ons and mods for MMOs, which has seen extensive use in titles like World of Warcraft. It allows for players to design useful (or not-so-useful) UI features, such as auction house enhancements, timing bars and even mini-games. While player response to this announcement is mixed, it hopefully will make many budding modders happy to hear.
Update: Meghan wanted to clarify: "It's not guaranteed for a launch with F2P - it may be in the testing stage for a while!"
PMAvers on
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Yeah it really does make the grouping and social aspect of playing much more difficult. While I don't normally like the specter of classism that comes up with flagging certain types of accounts, in this case it may be very necessary to give a clear indicator of who's f2p/premium and who's vip, just for the simple fact of grouping like gnome said there. I don't want to get into a group and find out it's a bunch of schmucks who have no virtues, or with someone who ends up locked out of an instance because they haven't purchased it.
Having one set of buttons for solo, and another for group.
Then another mod that hides player buffs and only shows debuffs. So that I dont have stacks of buff icons hiding players morale bars when i'm healing with my minstrel.
EDIT: To clarify, I dont care too much about virtue traiting, but they damn well better have all of their class and legendary slots unlocked. Their racials and virtues are smaller perks imo. And I've actually already run into the problem once where I hadnt unlocked the mirkwood content through the welcome to mirkwood quest, so I ended up wasting a slot for a SG group, I felt pretty bad about it.
Having one set of buttons for solo, and another for group.
Then another mod that hides player buffs and only shows debuffs. So that I dont have stacks of buff icons hiding players morale bars when i'm healing with my minstrel.
I love addons that allow me to move individual buttons around.
read it closely please, Misty Mountains is a different area entirely from the Mines of Moria.
edit: and either my memory is wrong, or they've changed their stance on this. Or the early communication was unclear on the point (given turbine's history that's my guess).
Essentially, it's like this: When you purchased Shadows of Angmar, you had (have) to have a subscription to access that content. If you no longer subscribe, you lose access to it.
Under the new model, even if you drop your subscription you can keep playing for free, but not everything is available to you like it is for subscribers. You won't lose access to all of the SOA content, but you will lose access to some of it unless you purchase it.
so gnome is right.
So you are now leasing game content? That gets a giant :? from me.
My point is this, this fall there are going to be people that have zero barrier of entry to the game.
100% free to play. I have already spent $49.99 on SoA content, why should I have to spend another $10-$??? to get to access it again if I cancel.
Malick on
PSN = malickai XBL = gdragonstar Pokemon SS = 3095 7347 2659 Pokemon White = 5028 4446 2386
So you are now leasing game content? That gets a giant :? from me.
My point is this, this fall there are going to be people that have zero barrier of entry to the game.
100% free to play. I have already spent $49.99 on SoA content, why should I have to spend another $10-$??? to get to access it again if I cancel.
And prior to this fall you spent 49.99$ on SoA content and you cannot access any of it.
I believe you have read the FAQs, so you should know exactly what content you do get access to this fall. HINT: It's more than people who just downloaded the free client.
So you are now leasing game content? That gets a giant :? from me.
My point is this, this fall there are going to be people that have zero barrier of entry to the game.
100% free to play. I have already spent $49.99 on SoA content, why should I have to spend another $10-$??? to get to access it again if I cancel.
And prior to this fall you spent 49.99$ on SoA content and you cannot access any of it.
I believe you have read the FAQs, so you should know exactly what content you do get access to this fall. HINT: It's more than people who just downloaded the free client.
Look.
People who bought the box did so with the expectation that they would get 50 or 60 levels worth of content, depending on which box they bought.
Now, that was with a subscription fee, and that's fine. It takes a load of hardware to run an MMO and I think people (mostly) understand that.
But now with f2p, previous subscribers get tossed into "Premium" accounts. Which only gets quest packs for Ered Luin, Shire, and Bree-land. Which, by the way, is the same access as "Free" accounts.
So doing all those will get a player to somewhere between level 20 and level 30. To get to level 50 or 60, they have to buy more quest packs. Which means people will be paying for content they already paid for.
The real rub is, people who downloaded it for free will be in the exact same situation, but they won't have already paid for it.
Essentially, people who bought the game already have now paid full-price for a demo.
So you are now leasing game content? That gets a giant :? from me.
My point is this, this fall there are going to be people that have zero barrier of entry to the game.
100% free to play. I have already spent $49.99 on SoA content, why should I have to spend another $10-$??? to get to access it again if I cancel.
And prior to this fall you spent 49.99$ on SoA content and you cannot access any of it.
I believe you have read the FAQs, so you should know exactly what content you do get access to this fall. HINT: It's more than people who just downloaded the free client.
Look.
People who bought the box did so with the expectation that they would get 50 or 60 levels worth of content, depending on which box they bought.
Now, that was with a subscription fee, and that's fine. It takes a load of hardware to run an MMO and I think people (mostly) understand that.
But now with f2p, previous subscribers get tossed into "Premium" accounts. Which only gets quest packs for Ered Luin, Shire, and Bree-land. Which, by the way, is the same access as "Free" accounts.
So doing all those will get a player to somewhere between level 20 and level 30. To get to level 50 or 60, they have to buy more quest packs. Which means people will be paying for content they already paid for.
The real rub is, people who downloaded it for free will be in the exact same situation, but they won't have already paid for it.
Essentially, people who bought the game already have now paid full-price for a demo.
I think you're missing the point here
Active subscribers (pay per month):
Before: Was the only active account status; had to buy game, but had access to everything
After: VIP status, have access to everything
Former subscribers:
Before: Had access to nothing without paying monthly subscription
After: Have access to basic content, can either buy packs for points (Premium) or buy a subscription for everything (VIP)
Yes, you can argue that the box used to have value and now has none, but that's a fairly stupid argument considering that A) A LOTRO boxed copy has been sub $10 for a long time (I nearly bought it at Microcenter like 6 months ago for $5, but decided I didn't have the time for a subscription), and if you bought the box but didn't pay for a subscription, you only got a single month's worth of playtime; even if you assume you bought a boxed copy NOW, you'd still get at least a month's worth of playtime before the free-to-play system goes online
So you are now leasing game content? That gets a giant :? from me.
My point is this, this fall there are going to be people that have zero barrier of entry to the game.
100% free to play. I have already spent $49.99 on SoA content, why should I have to spend another $10-$??? to get to access it again if I cancel.
And prior to this fall you spent 49.99$ on SoA content and you cannot access any of it.
I believe you have read the FAQs, so you should know exactly what content you do get access to this fall. HINT: It's more than people who just downloaded the free client.
Look.
People who bought the box did so with the expectation that they would get 50 or 60 levels worth of content, depending on which box they bought.
Now, that was with a subscription fee, and that's fine. It takes a load of hardware to run an MMO and I think people (mostly) understand that.
But now with f2p, previous subscribers get tossed into "Premium" accounts. Which only gets quest packs for Ered Luin, Shire, and Bree-land. Which, by the way, is the same access as "Free" accounts.
So doing all those will get a player to somewhere between level 20 and level 30. To get to level 50 or 60, they have to buy more quest packs. Which means people will be paying for content they already paid for.
The real rub is, people who downloaded it for free will be in the exact same situation, but they won't have already paid for it.
Essentially, people who bought the game already have now paid full-price for a demo.
I guess it would bother me more if this happened, say, 6 months after launch, when the game was still $50. But it's not, it costs about as much as a month of game time, which you get for free when you buy the game (or the expansions). You already got the benefits that you payed for when you bought the full game, they're just changing the system.
Right now, if you don't pay a monthly fee, you get nothing. Absolutely nothing, no content whatsoever. You payed $50 for a shiny coaster. This fall, you will automatically get a premium F2P account with more privileges than those who have never payed. Paying for content packs is not a replacement for the $50 box, it's a replacement for the monthly fee. It's for people who play super-casually, and won't finish enough content within a month to warrant a full $15 fee, but still want to play. It's not so much going completely free, Korea-style, as adding an extended free demo and a casual mode.
Besides that, if VIPs that downgraded to Premium would get acces to all quests in Angmar, why on earth would people keep subscribing?
Turbine is trying to make more money with this F2P plan, not less.
No matter what you do, you will have to spend money to play the game, it's simple as that.
The difference F2P will make is that you can chose to either pay a monthly fee, or buy the content packs.
For people who play very irragularly (one or two nights a week with a group of friends for example) the content packs will probably be better value since they won't finish enough content in a month to warrent a subscription. For others who play a substantial amount of hours a subscription will probably work out cheaper.
the books are like fifty years old; there is a statute of limitations on spoilers.
It's in the books as well? Man it's been a few years since I've read them.
Also, I rather use a spoiler when it's not really needed instead of the other way around. I'm still a bit sour at people spoiling the story of Portal to me.
tolkien being tolkien, there's even an etymology of how the name 'sharkey' was devised.
I love that. The latest dev journal goes into detail on how they devised the names of all mobs based on Old Welsh names and how they changed them to accommodate to people who don't know how to pronounce the Y's and W's in Welsh.
the books are like fifty years old; there is a statute of limitations on spoilers.
It's in the books as well? Man it's been a few years since I've read them.
Also, I rather use a spoiler when it's not really needed instead of the other way around. I'm still a bit sour at people spoiling the story of Portal to me.
Yeah, it comes up during the Scouring of the Shire.
Shorn Scrotum Man on
0
Triple BBastard of the NorthMARegistered Userregular
I'm loving the idea of modding the UI coming to LotRO. For two main reasons:
1. The existing interface feels straight out of 2000; like it was designed for Asheron's Call or DAoC.
2. Maybe once everyone's got a million parsers built-in to their UI, we can get through the placebo effect and get everyone to see what a giant, steaming pile of bullshit (most) captain buffs are. None of this "well, I notice IDoME when I have it" crap.
No.
You don't.
Also, 3. auto-sorting inventory & bank like Baggins, I hope.
2. Maybe once everyone's got a million parsers built-in to their UI, we can get through the placebo effect and get everyone to see what a giant, steaming pile of bullshit (most) captain buffs are. None of this "well, I notice IDoME when I have it" crap.
No.
You don't.
As much as I try to keep IDoME on all the time, it's true. If I forget to reapply it in the chaos of skirmishes, I don't realize that it's missing until after everything it over. Maybe it would be easier to tell it's gone if they made the icon a different color. There's too much green under my status bar. :P
Edit: After about two years of fishing, I finally got all three fishing deed trophies. The Shire Kin House design has a perfect wall in the basement for them with three hooks in a row. So I took them all down there and started to hang them up when I realized that I had two Small Wall Trophies and one Large Wall Trophy. But the three hooks went "Large Wall, Small Wall, Large Wall".. so I can't hang them up symmetrically.
AaronKI on
0
Triple BBastard of the NorthMARegistered Userregular
edited July 2010
Heh. Cool trophies, but your toon's expression makes it.
Posts
I don't mind paying a monthly fee. Well, at least I begrudgingly accept it. But I just won't pay for content twice. Plus the gold cap and all that?
Basically it means that this f2p thing doesn't change anything for me t'all. I'll either pay the monthly, or not play. Shrug.
Except you can still login and do some things in between bouts of paying. And with the turbine points you earn for the times you ARE paying, you can buy access to more things for the times when you are NOT paying.
Another way to look at it is the BOX price, is the price of everything that Premium gets that F2P doesnt, as well as the Free Month.
Saying that they were going to charge you twice for the same content was an unfair characterization of the interaction.
MWO: Adamski
This is something that did slightly confuse me.
So right now I have paid up until mid-October, when the game goes F2P I will be an active subscriber. If for whatever reason I don't continue to pay, do I lose all of the content even though I was an active subscriber at some point?
Like I can play Misty Mountains for the first half of October as a paid member, but then when my sub runs out they revoke access?
I had assumed that people who paid $$$ for the software were kind of grandfathered into the content and only people who were just downloading a free client needed to pay for content packs.
If I stop paying and they take Mirkwood, an expansion I paid $20 for already, away I would be pissed.
PSN = malickai XBL = gdragonstar Pokemon SS = 3095 7347 2659 Pokemon White = 5028 4446 2386
Also: because you paid for the DVDs you do get access to extra character slots and some other stuff I believe. I haven't delved into it, but there is a handy guide linked in the OP I believe.
From the official FAQ:
"# I purchased the Mines of Moria™ Expansion and/or the Siege of Mirkwood™ Expansion. Can I still access this content? Will I still be able to play my Rune-keeper or Warden characters? What if I unsubscribe?
When LOTRO Free-to-Play becomes available you will still be able to access the content and features of any expansions you have previously purchased. Whether you are a VIP or a Premium player, the content and features of these expansions will be available to you in their entirety.
If you decide not to join the VIP program or decide to downgrade to Premium player status, the content and features of these expansions will still be available to you. You will still be able to play your Rune-keeper and Warden characters as long as they are in character slots you have selected or have unlocked by visiting the LOTRO Store."
I assume having purchased the original Angmar game the early areas would still be unlocked.
Granted at $9.99 a month, it is going to take some extreme bordem for me to unsub.
PSN = malickai XBL = gdragonstar Pokemon SS = 3095 7347 2659 Pokemon White = 5028 4446 2386
For everything in between Breeland/Ered Luin/Shire and Moria (pick which one you honestly think is the most likely):
a) Congratulations, Turbine messed up and everyone is a Lifetime VIP now. (What all the cheap skates seem to think will happen.)
b) The zone is completely locked out and you cannot enter the zone at all until you pay your subscription / purchase the content.
c) They lock out all the quests in the zone until you have paid to unlock it / are a VIP member again.
MWO: Adamski
I don't think that's correct unless they've changed their position recently. People who have purchased a box retain access to all content they've purchased. Turbine is not asking people to pay twice for the same content, after all Moria and Mirkwood were paying to access the content and turbine would be double dipping.
From the FAQ #22
Emphasis mine. Sapience confirmed in a forum post (which I don't have a link for atm) that this also applies to all SoA content.
MWO: Adamski
Yea, I have no problem buying new content, paying for character slots, bank space, etc, but re-buying content I already bought seemed silly. I am glad it appears I will not have to do this, if I choose to go down to Premium from VIP.
PSN = malickai XBL = gdragonstar Pokemon SS = 3095 7347 2659 Pokemon White = 5028 4446 2386
edit: and either my memory is wrong, or they've changed their stance on this. Or the early communication was unclear on the point (given turbine's history that's my guess).
http://forums.lotro.com/showpost.php?p=4705087&postcount=3
so gnome is right.
MWO: Adamski
http://www.massively.com/2010/07/14/lotro-and-lua-turbine-gives-the-mod-community-a-thumbs-up/
COME FORTH, AMATERASU! - Switch Friend Code SW-5465-2458-5696 - Twitch
I will probably dislike the inevitable raid assist mods that every raid will use so no one* has to think about the tactics again.
*except for the one kin that plays 24/7 and gets satisfaction out of showing how L337 they are.
Having one set of buttons for solo, and another for group.
Then another mod that hides player buffs and only shows debuffs. So that I dont have stacks of buff icons hiding players morale bars when i'm healing with my minstrel.
EDIT: To clarify, I dont care too much about virtue traiting, but they damn well better have all of their class and legendary slots unlocked. Their racials and virtues are smaller perks imo. And I've actually already run into the problem once where I hadnt unlocked the mirkwood content through the welcome to mirkwood quest, so I ended up wasting a slot for a SG group, I felt pretty bad about it.
MWO: Adamski
So you are now leasing game content? That gets a giant :? from me.
My point is this, this fall there are going to be people that have zero barrier of entry to the game.
100% free to play. I have already spent $49.99 on SoA content, why should I have to spend another $10-$??? to get to access it again if I cancel.
PSN = malickai XBL = gdragonstar Pokemon SS = 3095 7347 2659 Pokemon White = 5028 4446 2386
I believe you have read the FAQs, so you should know exactly what content you do get access to this fall. HINT: It's more than people who just downloaded the free client.
Look.
People who bought the box did so with the expectation that they would get 50 or 60 levels worth of content, depending on which box they bought.
Now, that was with a subscription fee, and that's fine. It takes a load of hardware to run an MMO and I think people (mostly) understand that.
But now with f2p, previous subscribers get tossed into "Premium" accounts. Which only gets quest packs for Ered Luin, Shire, and Bree-land. Which, by the way, is the same access as "Free" accounts.
So doing all those will get a player to somewhere between level 20 and level 30. To get to level 50 or 60, they have to buy more quest packs. Which means people will be paying for content they already paid for.
The real rub is, people who downloaded it for free will be in the exact same situation, but they won't have already paid for it.
Essentially, people who bought the game already have now paid full-price for a demo.
I think you're missing the point here
Active subscribers (pay per month):
Before: Was the only active account status; had to buy game, but had access to everything
After: VIP status, have access to everything
Former subscribers:
Before: Had access to nothing without paying monthly subscription
After: Have access to basic content, can either buy packs for points (Premium) or buy a subscription for everything (VIP)
Yes, you can argue that the box used to have value and now has none, but that's a fairly stupid argument considering that A) A LOTRO boxed copy has been sub $10 for a long time (I nearly bought it at Microcenter like 6 months ago for $5, but decided I didn't have the time for a subscription), and
I guess it would bother me more if this happened, say, 6 months after launch, when the game was still $50. But it's not, it costs about as much as a month of game time, which you get for free when you buy the game (or the expansions). You already got the benefits that you payed for when you bought the full game, they're just changing the system.
Right now, if you don't pay a monthly fee, you get nothing. Absolutely nothing, no content whatsoever. You payed $50 for a shiny coaster. This fall, you will automatically get a premium F2P account with more privileges than those who have never payed. Paying for content packs is not a replacement for the $50 box, it's a replacement for the monthly fee. It's for people who play super-casually, and won't finish enough content within a month to warrant a full $15 fee, but still want to play. It's not so much going completely free, Korea-style, as adding an extended free demo and a casual mode.
Turbine is trying to make more money with this F2P plan, not less.
No matter what you do, you will have to spend money to play the game, it's simple as that.
The difference F2P will make is that you can chose to either pay a monthly fee, or buy the content packs.
For people who play very irragularly (one or two nights a week with a group of friends for example) the content packs will probably be better value since they won't finish enough content in a month to warrent a subscription. For others who play a substantial amount of hours a subscription will probably work out cheaper.
Who wants to run some Mirkwood instances? I have been seeing more and more near 65s online.
We should start having Kin runs of SH and SG.
PSN = malickai XBL = gdragonstar Pokemon SS = 3095 7347 2659 Pokemon White = 5028 4446 2386
Sharkey is
the books are like fifty years old; there is a statute of limitations on spoilers.
Also, I rather use a spoiler when it's not really needed instead of the other way around. I'm still a bit sour at people spoiling the story of Portal to me.
MWO: Adamski
Yeah, it comes up during the Scouring of the Shire.
1. The existing interface feels straight out of 2000; like it was designed for Asheron's Call or DAoC.
2. Maybe once everyone's got a million parsers built-in to their UI, we can get through the placebo effect and get everyone to see what a giant, steaming pile of bullshit (most) captain buffs are. None of this "well, I notice IDoME when I have it" crap.
No.
You don't.
Also, 3. auto-sorting inventory & bank like Baggins, I hope.
As much as I try to keep IDoME on all the time, it's true. If I forget to reapply it in the chaos of skirmishes, I don't realize that it's missing until after everything it over. Maybe it would be easier to tell it's gone if they made the icon a different color. There's too much green under my status bar. :P
Edit: After about two years of fishing, I finally got all three fishing deed trophies. The Shire Kin House design has a perfect wall in the basement for them with three hooks in a row. So I took them all down there and started to hang them up when I realized that I had two Small Wall Trophies and one Large Wall Trophy. But the three hooks went "Large Wall, Small Wall, Large Wall".. so I can't hang them up symmetrically.
but like, every time I jump in, I immediately lose my motivation to play.
Am I a bad person guys? Shivs is probably so lonely...