Wait, wut? LoTRO F2P. Yes... Lord of the Rings Online goes Free-to-Play

[SunnyD]

join me on landroval!

I'm actually on Gladden with the Ars folks. But for the moment, I'm ironing out a couple kinks in the account system... I guess you could say I'm "beta testing" account support with someone on the telephone right now. (Yes, this didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped...)

 

[matas]

it's gonna be free? count me in for a trial .

 

[JoshGuru7]

Just wanted to add a couple of my thoughts as a founder/life-time LOTRO member who also experienced this in DDO when that went F2P.

- Free to play is good for everybody. It will positively impact existing subscribers by keeping the servers full, and queues aren't a problem since subscribers get priority.

- LOTRO store is very dangerous. Turbine has said all the right things about not wanting to incorporate a pay to win system, but the bottom line is that players are going to be highly motivated to spend money in the Turbine store on anything that helps their characters.

It will start small at many of the same things that are on skirmish vendors, but the incentives are all wrong in this (short-term profit vs. long-term sustainability) and ultimately I am very skeptical that Turbine will be able to resist putting at least mid-range items on the store. The DDO store has arguably become part pay-to-win already.

- Enedwaith book looks simply terrible for veterans who have been capped on content since Mirkwood. No new six man instances, no new raids, no new skirmishes. Even moving up the old raids to level 65 isn't helpful to a veteran playerbase that ran those raids into the ground back when the level cap was 50. I predict huge numbers of veterans will be taking a break until Turbine adds some content aimed at them.

 

[lupi]

I never applied, i'd just as mych play on the regular servers

 

[lupi]

I heard something about them making all the old raids scalable from 1-24 (or whatever their ,max # was), that's a pretty big and nice change.

 

[tk149]

Guess who just got his F2P beta key...

Me too, thanks for the heads up!

 

[Ganeedi]

If its F2P, why would you bother with playtesting a beta?

 

[SunnyD]

If its F2P, why would you bother with playtesting a beta?

Testing the cash shop, transitional elements, enforcement of the restrictions on free accounts, etc.

 

[Jjoshua2]

I applied for beta key weeks ago, but haven't gotten it yet. If anyone gets an extra pm me. Maybe I should try again?

 

[lupi]

Below you will find your Beta Key and Point Code for the Closed Beta. If you have already applied or used both of these codes, you don't need to do anything further with them, simply log in and start providing feedback.

Let's keep this between us... As a reminder, your participation in the Closed Beta is governed by your acceptance of the Preview and Non-Disclosure Agreement. Please limit your feedback to the LOTRO Beta Forums and email surveys (details below.)

Special Beta Event! You've been invited just in time to join a special beta event starting at 7PM EDT on Thursday, June 24, 2010! We're invading Enedwaith! Copy your high level character (62-65) from a live world, then join us at 7PM to venture southward on the path of the Grey Company. You can choose to begin the Volume 3, Book 2 Epic Story in Rivendell, or head south from Eregion to explore LOTRO's newest region. Events for players level 20 or above will be available later in the evening.

All players who log into Bullroarer and play between 7PM EDT and 10PM will be entered to win a AMD Radeon 5870 or one of five AMD Radeon 5770 video cards! (subject to the terms and conditions). Click here for more details!

To participate in the Closed Beta start, visit myaccount.turbine.com and upgrade your existing account using the product key below:
34563456563456345634563456345634563456

Further down this email you will find a code which you may use to add free Turbine Points to your LOTRO Beta Account.

 

[matas]

I got the beta key, registered, but it says my account will expire on July 18, 2010, ten days later. why?

 

[Eluros]

I got the beta key, registered, but it says my account will expire on July 18, 2010, ten days later. why?

I should mention that, by revealing you are a participant in the beta, you've actually violated the NDA and thus, if a moderator found out, could be removed. I definitely wouldn't talk about it on the LOTRO forums outside of the Beta subforums.

That's a temporary issue that they are aware of. You can safely ignore it for now-- it's visual only and ought not lock you out of the game. That number is tied to live trials in the actual game, not Bullroarer access. Your normal subscription will continue to work fine, as well.

 

[kalrith]

Does anyone know when F2P will start? I'm guessing not since I didn't see it from any of the links in this thread.

 

[Eluros]

Does anyone know when F2P will start? I'm guessing not since I didn't see it from any of the links in this thread.

It starts in "Fall". Intense beta testing is currently taking place, and there is not a publicly available release date as of now.

 

[SunnyD]

I got the beta key, registered, but it says my account will expire on July 18, 2010, ten days later. why?

Did you have an active regular account previously? If so, that's likely what will expire.

Alternatively it sounds like by adding the beta key, you also get the free 10-day "retail" trial (for the regular servers) as well. Come join me on Gladden!

 

[matas]

I am on Gladden. Just trying to learn the game. and oops about violation. Didn't want to waste my time just playing the game for 10 days.

 

[KeithTalent]

I'm on Gladden too. Was on just last week, fiddling around and killing wolves for a bit. Still a very pretty game.

KT

 

[lupi]

are you sure you're not in a retail beta vice the FTP beta.

oh, seeing the realm you're on i'm pretty sure that's a retail beta.

 

[SunnyD]

Feel free to look me up those folk that are on Gladden. I'm part of the Ars Erthad (ArsTechnica) Kinship, pretty quiet but very helpful/friendly bunch.

Characters I'm on:
Khegobier, Hareson, Saemiel and/or Benadriel.

 

[matas]

I got the beta key, registered, but it says my account will expire on July 18, 2010, ten days later. why?

They said it's just some kind of a bug. Account will work after beta.

my in-game name is provirus. someone hit me up later.

 

[nageov3t]

that's pretty cool... I picked up LotRO a couple months ago when it was selling for $9.99 w/ a free month and really enjoyed it, but not so much that I'd be willing to pay for it monthly.

 

[Gothgar]

I may have to give this a shot

 

[SunnyD]

One free beta key available. Let's make a quick contest out of it. Tell me why you want it, real or fictional story, I don't care. I will judge/decide tonight.

 

[SunnyD]

And so goes the key to one lucky participant.

 

[fantolay]

It is better than nothing for people wanting to play for free but may invite a bot problem or gold spamming problem to the game...