Lord of the Rings Online Free to Play

[Shadowdust]

Does anyone else play LOTRO here? After it went free to play in September, I've been totally addicted to the game. My wife and I will spend hours at a time playing on it. I really like the quest pack system as well. I've never cared for having a subscription to online games so it's nice to add features only when I need them for a small fee rather than paying a monthly amount that I'm probably not making full use of.

Anyway, I love the game. The environments are just absolutely beautiful at high settings in my opinion. And of course, the story is solid. I definitely recommend the game to anyone looking to try a free to play game. Though areas do have to be unlocked at some point, the activities in Bree, Shire, and Ered Luin areas will keep you busy for hours.

If anyone does play, feel free to post your character names and the servers they're on. Maybe we could get some fellowship quests going with some of the members here. :) I personally keep all of my characters on the Riddermark server. Character names are:

Eodryt - Champion
Renen - Captain
Mailiorin- Guardian

[Miriel]

Ooh, I was just looking into this game over the weekend. :D Looking for something to keep me occupied until the FFXIV launch in March.

Glad to hear good things about it.

[Shadowdust]

Heh, I downloaded it for the same reason, to keep me busy while I waited for another game to be released back in October. I've barely touched that game since I started playing LOTRO. This was my first try at an online game and I've been pretty impressed so far.

[blackmage_nuke]

This will give me something to kill the boredom since all my friends are currently blabbering on about WoW

[Shadowdust]

Also, an update was just released yesterday that makes quite a few changes, the most significant is that the first quest pack for the Lone Lands is now free and "epic" quests are all free in the expansion, Mines of Moria, so there's even more value to the free to play version of this game!

[McLovin']

Wow, very tempted to download it. Does creating an account for the game require a CD-Key or something? It would seem too easy to pirate this.

[Shadowdust]

Nope, no CD-key involved in installing the game. All you have to do is register an account and you're good to go. They don't require billing info so you're not at risk of paying for something you don't want.

If you wish to purchase additional content or features, a system similar to what Bioware, XBox, Wii, etc. is incorporated where you purchase points and then spend them on whatever you want. Not to mention you build a small amount of these points by performing in-game "deeds" which give 5-10 points each for completion.

Anyway, give it a try. It'd be great to see more EoFF members in the game. :)

[*Devore*]

It looks alright, but I like to be bad because its usually more fun. After a quick read through the main site, it seems you can only be good.
Can you switch classes whenever you want or are you forever stuck with your first choice?

[Shadowdust]

You can't change the class of your character once it is created. Each free account comes with three character slots so you can choose a different class for each character. The only thing you can change for your character on the fly is their crafting abilities.

There is something called Monster Play in LOTRO, but it only is available with the VIP accounts. Free accounts don't get it. I recently added the Mines of Moria expansion and got a free 30 days as a VIP. The monster play is pretty fun, but I haven't gotten too into it since I'm focusing on using my VIP advantages for my usual characters for now.

[blackmage_nuke]

I believe you only start with 2 charater slots

[Shadowdust]

Yeah, you're right, it is two. I forgot that I was bumped up to premium after I purchased some turbine points for quest packs.

[Tasura]

LOTRO is decent, but I detest games like this. "Hey it's free to play! (But not really, you only get a small taste, then once you're hooked, you're ours for the milking.) Granted, LOTRO isn't as limited as other free-but-not-really games I've played, but as a friend once said "Make it all free, or not at all."

But on to an actual point. The game was decent what I played of it, decent enough to actually make me consider getting the lifetime membership. The thing that pisses me off the most though is the crafting. Depending on what craft set you take, you'll have to rely on others for your materials, or the finished product.

[Aerith's Knight]

I tried to play it, but I need a serial. And I'll be damned to buy a game that is supposed to be free to play.

[Shadowdust]

I tried to play it, but I need a serial. And I'll be damned to buy a game that is supposed to be free to play.

That's odd. I've installed it on my wife's computer and on mine with two separate accounts and neither time did it require a serial number. I do remember that it asks you to set up some premium features of some kind but I just ignored it, signed in, and started playing without issue.

[McLovin']

I tried to play it, but I need a serial. And I'll be damned to buy a game that is supposed to be free to play.

You're supposed to install it first and while it's installing they'll give you a separate link to make your account. Off memory I think the link was The Lord of the Rings Online (http://www.lotro.com/install) and there's a button that says "Sign up now!" in the table.