LOTRO Vol 3 Book 2 Released

[bactiman]

D2D is offering VIP starter pack for $4.95.

http://www.direct2drive.com/6/9814/...Online%E2%84%A2-VIP-Starter-Pack-Download

 

[nageov3t]

dunno if this is the right thread for this, but anyone know any good LotRO sites to learn about the game?

I need like the wowhead of Lord of the Rings.

 

[Feneant2]

I've a question about this.. I bought the 5$ VIP start pack but don't plan on paying after the 30 days. So what happens if I pick a class or race that I can't play in the free to play? Will I have to start again or can I keep my toon even if it's no longer a class I can play?

Thanks

 

[nageov3t]

I've a question about this.. I bought the 5$ VIP start pack but don't plan on paying after the 30 days. So what happens if I pick a class or race that I can't play in the free to play? Will I have to start again or can I keep my toon even if it's no longer a class I can play?

Thanks

my understanding is that once you pay money for the game, the lowest account level you can be dropped to is premium, who have access to all the classes/races.

 

[lupi]

Any even better buy if you can find it cheap is the moria module as it includes moria, the initial game, and all the moria bonus stuff (professions, extra classes, legendaires etc...)

One thing to note, if my reading of the earlier dev chat was right, once you stop paying monthly then the only quest you will get pre-moria (moria and later areas require you to purchase the expansion and doing so permanently unlocks those quest areas) are the basic starter areas. To continue getting midlevel quest areas you would still need to purchase those area packs.

As for sites with info, there is a lotrowiki site, but it's not updated as much as some other games. If you go to that link loki posted earlier and go to it's home page, it has a pretty decent overview on many things of the game. There is also another site named something along the lines of brassering (going totally on memory so spelling not going to be exact, hopefully close). Type in something like lotro maps and it should be listed in the top dozen or so entries.

 

[Feneant2]

my understanding is that once you pay money for the game, the lowest account level you can be dropped to is premium, who have access to all the classes/races.

Apparently it's not the case. Neither the Rune Caster (might have that wrong) or the Warden was available on my Direct2drive download with the free month... so I had to waste 80% of my points getting the Rune class as it's the one that interested me.

Oh well... I'll grind a bit and see how it is. I thought it was amusing that I got a popup saying I should use the DX11 setting but that made the framerate go down to about 2fps compared to a good 30+ on DX10.

 

[Hacp]

If you pay monthly, do you still need to buy all the expansions?

 

[manko]

If you pay monthly, do you still need to buy all the expansions?

From the Free 2 Play FAQ it looks like you have to own the expansions to get full quest access. If you're a new player and only pay for VIP, I guess you only have full access to all the Shadows of Angmar content.

In order to access Moria or Mirkwood, all players (free, premium or VIP) will need to first purchase the expansion packs to gain access to this content.

 

[lupi]

everyone needs to buy expansions for that content. the biggest difference is that subscribers also get all quest in the original game areas while non subscribers must purchase all zones for quest except for the starter areas.


as an aside, anyone thinking about playing should do so by buying the moria expansion pack. it includes the original game and all the moria stuff that you would have to eventually buy if you moved into that area. on the very plus-worthy side, you can get it for like 10 bucks and it includes a month of free subscriber play.

 

[Merad]

Apparently it's not the case. Neither the Rune Caster (might have that wrong) or the Warden was available on my Direct2drive download with the free month... so I had to waste 80% of my points getting the Rune class as it's the one that interested me.

The RK and Warden require the Moria expansion to use (or I think you can buy access to them in the store with points). It looks like the D2D pack is just Shadows of Angmar (original release).

Oh well... I'll grind a bit and see how it is. I thought it was amusing that I got a popup saying I should use the DX11 setting but that made the framerate go down to about 2fps compared to a good 30+ on DX10.

What card do you have? DX11 runs fine on my Radeon 5850.

 

[manko]

as an aside, anyone thinking about playing should do so by buying the moria expansion pack. it includes the original game and all the moria stuff that you would have to eventually buy if you moved into that area. on the very plus-worthy side, you can get it for like 10 bucks and it includes a month of free subscriber play.

Yeah, Mines of Moria seems to be the best bang for buck for new players who want to make a purchase for some VIP time and to qualify for a Premium account.

Including the original game doesn't do much, since SoA owners still have to buy content packs if they're not paying for VIP. But owning MoM will give you permanent access to all the Moria quests, plus two character slots, two classes and lifting the Gold/Bag limits even when you downgrade to free Premium.

 

[Feneant2]

Yeah, looks like the D2D pack was a bust.

Actually, I am finding this unfair. Even with a VIP account it says I have to wait about 15 minutes to log in. I thought VIP's had priority access to the game?

 

[lupi]

Yeah, looks like the D2D pack was a bust.

Actually, I am finding this unfair. Even with a VIP account it says I have to wait about 15 minutes to log in. I thought VIP's had priority access to the game?

depends on server load, as with all mmos when something new is released people are more likely to play more. i'm sitting in a queue right now and it's my first time getting a chance to log on all weekend.

 

[lupi]

found this for store data

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0As1T2ZXLPqhTdE05T21qYklYRFF3emVuM18zTnU0aGc&hl=en#gid=0

 

[Feneant2]

found this for store data

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0As1T2ZXLPqhTdE05T21qYklYRFF3emVuM18zTnU0aGc&hl=en#gid=0

Awesome, thank you for posting that, I was wondering what the cost ended up being for stuff.

I'm still in full newbie mode... level 13 rune-master and no clue what I'm doing half the time? At least it's easy enough to go around and quest but I think the server I am on Dwarrowdelf might be a new server? It looks like the place is FULL of newbies, half of which are playing hunters. I'm hoping to find a good kinship (which is a guild I believe?) with casual folks that allow f2p and who don't fill the chat with OOC every 10 seconds but no luck so far so I just go around solo and quest.

 

[Merad]

I think the server I am on Dwarrowdelf might be a new server?

Yes.

It looks like the place is FULL of newbies, half of which are playing hunters.

Heh, honestly that was the norm long before F2P.

 

[KeithTalent]

Heh, honestly that was the norm long before F2P.

I've found my Hunter the easiest to solo with by far, so I stick with him. Every other class I have played, which is all of them except for one of the new ones, is much slower and more difficult to solo with from my experience. :hmm:

KT

 

[ElFenix]

Yeah, looks like the D2D pack was a bust.

Actually, I am finding this unfair. Even with a VIP account it says I have to wait about 15 minutes to log in. I thought VIP's had priority access to the game?

that was a bug. it wasn't prioritizing VIP accounts. seems they've fixed it now as i've been 1 or 2 in the queue on landroval lately, and only landroval and brandywine have had queues. last sunday in the middle of the day i had to wait over 20 minutes to get in. yesterday, no probs.

 

[KMFJD]

Is there an ATOT guild?

 

[Sentrosi2121]

One thing I found, when I began playing again, was my Hunter still holds the arrow sometimes over his hand. It's been that way since I first played LOTRO. Just wondering why they haven't fixed that bug.

 

[Feneant2]

Couple more questions or things I noticed...

So far the game is pretty easy. My wife is away on business so I had 3 days of 4-5 hours playtime and I am already level 19. I've done a large number of quests but solo 99% of the time and can kill stuff that is deep red if I pay attention. Is leveling going to slow down? At this rate I'll be 50 in a month and in fact, I saw a level 57 yesterday even if it's a new server!

Another thing- is there such a thing as dungeons or group instances that are NOT quest related? I have not seen a single area where people go to hunt for loot, it just seems like everything is open and people just take what they want when they want… I'd love to find an instance (even moreso a solo instance but I won't get my hopes up) or two.

Finally, the game, while I do enjoy it, seems to lack content to a degree or I am just not looking enough for it. What I mean is in terms of harvestable stuff, items, skills, etc. I am a journeyman weaponsmith type crafter and I only have a few recipes that all use tin, copper, barrow iron or silver… are there rare recipes or uncommon ones that are worth it and that not everyone will have? I farmed a camp for a specific item yesterday and in 1 hour I had about 15 recipes drops. Not to mention it looks like EVERYONE is a crafter in this game so nothing will have any value!

Still though, while I wouldn't pay 15$ a month for it- as a free to play game, it's a definite 10 out 10.

 

[lupi]

There are solo rep/craft dungeons but only for high/max levels. Their are rare recipes; most of them are identified as single use only (you learn them and they go to your book and stay there till you craft it). Most dungeons have a set of quest related with it and at max levels you can even get daily repeatable ones. Low to mid level crafting won't be profitable, but max level rare stuff will be. There is a bit os a slow spot in mid 30s to mid 40s or there about, and it will be even slower if you are pure free and don't buy the area quest packs.

 

[ElFenix]

the first dungeon/instance you'll get to is the great barrows. i think it opens for you at level 20. iirc, you should still be able to get the marks and things without purchasing quests. it's also part of the epic quest line. haudh iarchith is a non-instanced dungeon has been broken into pieces with entrances all over the barrow downs. of course there are quests related to it but you shouldn't need them in order to access it.

the way turbine is going, for a lot of loot you grind raids/instances to get skirmish points and tokens. you barter the points and tokens for weapons and armor. there are areas that have yet to be redone to this system and still have regular quest rewards rather than giving you tokens, but i bet there's a makeover in the works.

at lower levels you should be leveling so quickly that loot shouldn't be a concern.

 

[Feneant2]

Are skirmishes open to the f2p folks? I thought they weren't (I can't check since I just got in to work and they block it). I got the question yesterday since I hit 20 and I have my VIP for a couple more weeks.

The server is definitely new cause I went around mining yesterday in higher areas after I bought a horse and saw nobody at all- the lack of competition for a node was also very good

More stupid questions... how do I tell which level of expansion I have? I think I might just have the base game Shadows of Agmarr. What expansions are there, is it only Mines of Moria and Siege of Mirkwood? Do I need to buy them separately or if I buy MoM, will I get the other one too? The cheapest I found MoM here in Canada is 30$ although I could always get it from Amazon.com for 10$ and then tack on 9$ for shipping and get it in maybe a month but if so I'll just download it from the Turbine store.

 

[manko]

Are skirmishes open to the f2p folks? I thought they weren't (I can't check since I just got in to work and they block it).

I think there are a few for free players, but not all of them are accessible. My F2P character got a quest in the mail for a skirmish.

More stupid questions... how do I tell which level of expansion I have? I think I might just have the base game Shadows of Agmarr. What expansions are there, is it only Mines of Moria and Siege of Mirkwood?

Check your Turbine account. It should list whatever you have there. Yeah, Mines of Moria and Siege of Mirkwood are the only two expansions. They're both sold separately.