A VIP Subscriber's woes!

[exx2000]

Hello all,
First of all, may I emphasize that this is merely a thread with some general complaints I have. I’ve been playing this game for 2-3 years now and of that time a majority of it I was playing as a VIP. I have characters on Elendilmir and Brandywine mainly. All my characters should be in my signature at the moment. Furthermore I’ve been playing games like EQ, EQ2, GW, GW2 and Rift for a good amount of time.

I would like to post a screenshot of the “benefits” of being a VIP is as shown on your website.

Generally I wouldn’t mind paying or purchasing a product I like, but as of recently I’m beginning to think that you take your patrons for granted. Due to the length this post would take I’m not going to go into detail about these benefits, other than merely saying that half of these benefits are obtainable by making a single purchase from the store. I doubt if anyone who has been playing this game for a fair amount of time would consider anything in there worthwhile to justify a subscription. But nonetheless, that is just my opinion and I’m there are those who disagree.

Just a few more points I think should be brought up:

PVMP : A new expansion is bought out and there is nothing in there to promote a higher level of interest there . No gear , jewellery , audacity and a slew of bugs. Considering this was beta tested and released I would have at least expected the minimal amount of effort put into it. Yet the changes indicate something thrown together for the mere sake of it. Also as a creep player I have bought certain skills on my characters; do you have to charge for the same skills again across multiple game worlds?

Store Pricing: Each month a VIP is offered 500 TP yet let me show you the price of certain things in the store.

Legendary / Specialization Slot unlocks : As a VIP having to purchase the Legendary slot unlocks and Specializations? If I wanted to get a Specialization Page for each tree I would have to pay up 200 coins per character per server (Both the trait tree and the Helms deep tree)? Does no one else think this is a bit extreme? The cost of Mithril coins is shown in the picture above. The 500 TP offered is negligible to the amount required.

I could go on and on about the umpteen things I find that rather displeasing but to keep it short I’ll just list them out. Click on compare benefits which happens to be a link on the website. Someone should really at least consider updating the website. Each time I subscribe (I year each) it takes 1 – 2 weeks to get my points updated. Problems with the game can be found faster on twitter / facebook then the actual game website.

Perhaps IM going to take some flak for what I said from die hard fans . But before you do I just want to make sure you understand that I don’t mind paying. I just find it rather disappointing the extent of nickel and diming is going on . Although I’m rather doubtful that this post will make any impact at all I do hope someone in Turbine actually reads it and bring some kind of changes to the game which would make it more worthwhile to being a VIP.

[Zoraine]

I VIP'd for a good year or so - I will again if circumstances allow. Store prices for things are just a bit too high though, I agree. Wondering at this point if it is better to re-sub, and wait on my tp - or just buy them flat out. I have most all things unlocked, so it would just be for the fun things I love - but let's not get into the high cost of war-steed stuff {{{{shudder}}}}

[quaxbi]

you didn't even mention the same thing that's been wrong with the deed log for what seems like forever. try adding a deed to the tracker when you click the bottom half.

similar issue with this website and the top half of the categories below the logo. is it that hard to fix? I know at least the website version of the bug should be easy.

[Asroknight]

I wish you the best in your Fight but i feel it will fall on deaf ears...

[exx2000]

I wish you the best in your Fight but i feel it will fall on deaf ears...

Yes I pretty much assumed the same. Although I'm sure that I won't leave the game as long as my kin remains active, I will definitely be considering to not subscribe again.

[Solarfox]

Furthermore I’ve been playing games like EQ, EQ2, GW, GW2 and Rift for a good amount of time.

You play Rift yet you think the VIP in LotRO isn't a good deal? LotRO's store is no worse then Rifts and at least here you get a stipend, something you can't get in Rift. Games like Rift I don't understand why they even offer a subscription option, because unless you want to rush to end game, there's no reason at all to subscribe to that game.

[exx2000]

You play Rift yet you think the VIP in LotRO isn't a good deal? LotRO's store is no worse then Rifts and at least here you get a stipend, something you can't get in Rift. Games like Rift I don't understand why they even offer a subscription option, because unless you want to rush to end game, there's no reason at all to subscribe to that game.

Stipend? Whats the point of the stipend if it cant afford anything in the first place. Also are you telling me that Lotro's VIP subscription is better cause it gives you something slightly more than a terrible subscription plan ? Have you also possibly considered that some people actually pay for their subscriptions not for the benefits received in the game but mainly because they enjoyed the product that it once was ?

[kickman77]

Stipend? Whats the point of the stipend if it cant afford anything in the first place. Also are you telling me that Lotro's VIP subscription is better cause it gives you something slightly more than a terrible subscription plan ? Have you also possibly considered that some people actually pay for their subscriptions not for the benefits received in the game but mainly because they enjoyed the product that it once was ?

It can afford anything and everything. You just have to be pennywise and not drop your 500tp as soon as you get it like a kid in a candy store. Also if they offered everything where you could afford it instantly with the 500tp you get everyone would have all that exclusive stuff and it wouldnt be so exclusive. I mean seriously. You are paying 5 bucks a month for content and 5 for tp. How much more do you want for 10 bucks a month. The people that make the content need to get paid. The store enables that to happen with the f2p model. If you think the price is to high, speak with your wallet, or do what I hope to believe most people do and SAVE for it.

[exx2000]

It can afford anything and everything. You just have to be pennywise and not drop your 500tp as soon as you get it like a kid in a candy store. Also if they offered everything where you could afford it instantly with the 500tp you get everyone would have all that exclusive stuff and it wouldnt be so exclusive. I mean seriously. You are paying 5 bucks a month for content and 5 for tp. How much more do you want for 10 bucks a month. The people that make the content need to get paid. The store enables that to happen with the f2p model. If you think the price is to high, speak with your wallet, or do what I hope to believe most people do and SAVE for it.

https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...68#post7019668

Sigh, everyone always assumes everything. I have probably more than enough TP to buy the game twice over. What I've been trying to say is, Other than the 500 tp that you believe can buy everything in the store theres no reason to subscribe. The nickel and diming takes place for all customers. I have enough TP to last me for years and I buy all content as a pre-order. Any benefits listed above is trivial to a person who has subscribed for the game . If you claim its for making the game better, then open your eyes and look at the state of the game. I don't want hand outs. But I do expect a certain degree of being reasonable. But you are right , Im going to let my wallet do the speaking since no one else sees what I'm trying to get through here. With an abundance of characters that are high level and the ability to box Ill just do it the easy way from now on.

[kickman77]

There are reasons to subscribe as I stated in the other thread.

All content (even new quest packs like Great River and Wildermore as they release)
Free Riding Trait at lvl 20
Unlock Virtue and Trait Slots
Unlimited Access to The Ettenmoors as both a Free People and Monster Player (with all corruptions ect unlocked)
Swift Travel's
15 Wardrobe Spaces
15 Auction House Spaces
Unlimited use of Customer Service in game support (premium only gets for 30 days after spending money)
500 tp a month you can use however you like in the store
Free Extra Hobbit Gift Weekly (with some better items)


As far as prices in the store... I do agree that some of them seem over priced, but as long as people continue purchasing things at those prices they are not going to lower. I mean sure I want some of the awesome looking steeds, but I can not see 1995 on a per toon unlock. But hey some people do, and more power to them.

As far as the trait specs go. We get 2. I personally do not see the use for more, but hey, if you do, again, it is a personal choice.

So sorry that your bummed.

[zippy73]

I agree there are no benefit that I see from vip my complaint too and the ......... hd just rubs ur face into it soooo bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!.... yes V.I.P give us something that make us feel like we are important because im seriously thinking about spending my $120 dollars subscription fee per year on tp and purchasing quest packs this way I belive there are benfits this way I feel im not the only one

[exx2000]

All content (even new quest packs like Great River and Wildermore as they release)

I dont need VIP for this , in fact I have everything unlocked already. As a matter of fact I even have ROI unlocked twice. That was due to my error but since it was my error its fair enough to punish me I guess. Don't start with the call the Account Management . I tried that, they promptly told me no.

Free Riding Trait at lvl 20

Again please tell me you saw my signature indicating that everything is 75+ . In the case of starting a new alt I can buy a 95 tp riding trait if I want. Not to mention I can just subscribe for one month and start alts I want to play if I wanted to do the same.

[Unlock Virtue and Trait Slots

You get this for a single purchase of VIP and as long as you play all characters during the time you get every single trait. As well as Swift travel.

Unlimited Access to The Ettenmoors as both a Free People and Monster Player (with all corruptions ect unlocked)

LOLOLOL Thank you for the unlimited access for the most bug ridden feature in the game. How anyone uses it as a point in favor for VIP subscription is beyond me. However when anyone speaks about it. There are those who say
1. This game was not intended for PVMP.
2. No resources to develop PVMP
3. Only a minority plays PVMP.

But if you must know I already have unlocked each and every creep class. I have purchased skills on my main server which ARE NOT available on any others. I guess you would have me buy them again on a different server as a VIP subscriber as well. No offence but the current state of PVMP glorifies the inefficiency and incompetence of the team who worked on it. There is just no justification for anything else.

15 Wardrobe Spaces
15 Auction House Spaces

Wardrobe space and AH space . Yes when everything is not working nice it helps to look nice I guess. As for the AH space you get few slots as a premium player. But nonetheless as I said with the TP I have purchased and the VIP TP I have I could probably buy as much slots as there is. There is no need to subscribe for this again.

Unlimited use of Customer Service in game support (premium only gets for 30 days after spending money)

1. Called for getting my TP for VIP fixed each time I subscribed . It took 2 weeks. I play from a time zone that forces me to stay up at 2:00 am in the morning and spend premium rates just to hear a "Thank you for calling Turbine bot".
2. Bought ROI twice by accident once thinking that the instances were included . Tried to get a refund , since it was my error the answer was no. As I said earlier this is my fault and I deserve the blame. Have no problem manning up to that. What interests me more is how every single problem for Turbine is someone elses fault.
3. Of the tickets I have put in maybe a single ticket has been fixed by an actual GM who does not have the ability to speak to you if you are on an alt and automatically cancels your ticket. Instead they expect you to stay on the character you are playing for some forsaken amount of time till they respond.
4. Outages reported on twitter / facebook mroe than the actual site?

500 tp a month you can use however you like in the store

Thank you for your 6000 TP every year. Next time Ill buy it on double point day which Im thinking about now and then never doing a $99.95 subscription.

Free Extra Hobbit Gift Weekly (with some better items)

So it comes down to this four gifts. Yes my subscription is worth four gold gifts which have lower percentages than winning the lottery to get something good from .

As far as prices in the store... I do agree that some of them seem over priced, but as long as people continue purchasing things at those prices they are not going to lower. I mean sure I want some of the awesome looking steeds, but I can not see 1995 on a per toon unlock. But hey some people do, and more power to them.

So you do agreethat something is outrageously priced. I don't want you to nerf the prices of everything. But at least price them reasonably Price steeds / cosmetics or things that make your game play easy for whatever the hell you want. But leave stuff that one would expect by default in an expansion. Legendary slots and specialization pages?? A person who spends for their expansion and sub should not have to deal with this nickel and diming system. If you find it impossible to do that then make it at least account bound and not character bound.

As far as the trait specs go. We get 2. I personally do not see the use for more, but hey, if you do, again, it is a personal choice.

It is my personal choice. I would liek to do it. I just shouldn't have to buy something so trivial as this from the game.

So sorry that your bummed.

Well thank you for your sentiment. Im glad we are in the same boat. Wait, you are a VIP right ?

I agree there are no benefit that I see from vip my complaint too and the ......... hd just rubs ur face into it soooo bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!.... yes V.I.P give us something that make us feel like we are important because im seriously thinking about spending my $120 dollars subscription fee per year on tp and purchasing quest packs this way I belive there are benfits this way I feel im not the only one

Here is the truth in a nutshell. If I had spent the same amount of money on turbine points I would have gotten a much better investment on my money than paying for this silly subscription.

[kickman77]

Well let me start by saying that right now I am not VIP. I was previously, but became ill and hey medical bills come before the game. I do plan on resubbing for a few months as I have alts that I want all the traits unlocked and swift travels ect. But it is not a mjor game breaker for me right now as I am perfectly happy running my high level toons through Helms Deep.

Now with that out of the way, I will say I did not notice your sig. I very rarely read them, and that may be a flaw on my part as I did not notice you have all your toons over a certain level. At this pont, for you yes, VIP may be a waste, but I also look at it from the perspective of people starting to play the game today. I reccommend a sub (at least for 1 month) to all of them because of those unlocks you get. Do I feel VIP's should get more? Heck yeah. Even as a premium player I say that alot.

As far as customer service. Kudos for doing something honorable and admitting you made a mistake. We are all human and do it. Stinks they wouldn't help you fix it. On phone customer support I have never had an issue with. In game is another story. I think we sometimes wait to long for replies and sometimes have tickets closed in seconds for no valid reason. So again I agree with you there. But.. I have also had in game support get me out of stuck instances... and open lootboxes that were bugged ect. So it sometimes is a coin flip when it comes to them, and I am sorry to hear that all of your experiences have been bad with them. I suggest, that when you do have bad experiences with them again, you send a PM to Sapience or another blue name and explain the situation and how you felt there was no resolution on your end. As far as them posting things on Twitter and Facebook, I can only say that 1, I believe it reaches more players than the forums as from what I have understood not a lot of players use it. (Yes a lot of us are here but the percentage may be lower than I even think it is). Also, Sapience did state that for some reason when they are having network issues ect. It messes them up internally where they can not access the forums from the office. It may be an excuse, I don't work for them so I honestly don't know. But for those 2 reasons alone I can see them using Social Media to get work out faster than the forums. Especially if they have a server outage like they did last week, and were unable to (from again what was stated) even do basic functions on their PC's. But again, I will say that if it is true that they can not access the forums while other things go down, this is a flaw that should be remedied quickly, as people do check the forums and they are no less important than those who use Facebook or Twitter. (Sorry for the long paragraph there)

So again, not realizing that you were that high level on all your toons, ViP at this time yeah is not a good option for you for just the TP and gift as that would be all you would really benefit from it. Hopefully more perks are added for ViP's down the line.

Also as far as store prices go, I am glad we agree, that some of them are beyond high, while others seem kind of low to me. But we do have a free market and as I said earlier, as long as other customers pay that price for those items they will sadly remain that price.

[exx2000]

Well let me start by saying that right now I am not VIP. I was previously, but became ill and hey medical bills come before the game. I do plan on resubbing for a few months as I have alts that I want all the traits unlocked and swift travels ect. But it is not a mjor game breaker for me right now as I am perfectly happy running my high level toons through Helms Deep.

Real life always comes before games it was what I would say in every kin/guild in every game I play.

Now with that out of the way, I will say I did not notice your sig. I very rarely read them, and that may be a flaw on my part as I did not notice you have all your toons over a certain level. At this pont, for you yes, VIP may be a waste, but I also look at it from the perspective of people starting to play the game today. I reccommend a sub (at least for 1 month) to all of them because of those unlocks you get. Do I feel VIP's should get more? Heck yeah. Even as a premium player I say that alot.

I agree that the value of being a VIP as a new player helps substantially with all the unlocks. But as you said there is just little or no value at all for me to support this product as it is. Yes I like the Tolkien universe, Yes I do have friends which I talk to in Mumble and enjoy playing with their presence. Do I enjoy the game? Yes at a certain point I did enjoy the game and at that point I happily subscribed.

As far as customer service. Kudos for doing something honorable and admitting you made a mistake. We are all human and do it. Stinks they wouldn't help you fix it. On phone customer support I have never had an issue with. In game is another story. I think we sometimes wait to long for replies and sometimes have tickets closed in seconds for no valid reason. So again I agree with you there. But.. I have also had in game support get me out of stuck instances... and open lootboxes that were bugged ect. So it sometimes is a coin flip when it comes to them, and I am sorry to hear that all of your experiences have been bad with them. I suggest, that when you do have bad experiences with them again, you send a PM to Sapience or another blue name and explain the situation and how you felt there was no resolution on your end. As far as them posting things on Twitter and Facebook, I can only say that 1, I believe it reaches more players than the forums as from what I have understood not a lot of players use it. (Yes a lot of us are here but the percentage may be lower than I even think it is). Also, Sapience did state that for some reason when they are having network issues ect. It messes them up internally where they can not access the forums from the office. It may be an excuse, I don't work for them so I honestly don't know. But for those 2 reasons alone I can see them using Social Media to get work out faster than the forums. Especially if they have a server outage like they did last week, and were unable to (from again what was stated) even do basic functions on their PC's. But again, I will say that if it is true that they can not access the forums while other things go down, this is a flaw that should be remedied quickly, as people do check the forums and they are no less important than those who use Facebook or Twitter. (Sorry for the long paragraph there)

I did not contact Sapience about this I believe although I do think I contacted him about a subscription issue and it didn't work either. Anyway I really don't mind suffering for my mistake. As for facebook and twitter, I did not buy this game off of facebook or twitter . Neither did I buy my subscription off of it. When something goes wrong the first place a customer should be able to find information/solution about it should be on the website/game client. Using third parties to distribute information / solutions / beta keys which I may or may not have any connections with is a foolish notion in itself. If a company does not possess the ability to edit their website / forum while the whole world can access it then they have got bigger problems. Perhaps they should fix their ability to access their website. Just as an example , I have been a player of a private EQ Server (Player run server using EQ Emulator) run from the persons basement that has a better level of up time and bug fixes than we do at the moment. Im not asking for anyone to learn rocket science.

1. Offer your VIP' something worthwhile.
2. Fix PVMP since any of these bonuses do little or not apply to anyone who has been here for a substantial time. People say its not a big part of this game but it is one of the valid reasons to remain VIP when everything else becomes trivial.
3. Either reduce the charges on some of the stuff in the store or make most stuff account purchases. I'm surely not going to spend 100 mithril coins x 2 per character I have just to get something as simple of the ability to save a class trait configuration.
4. Update your website to reflect the changes to your game and for the love of God make it current already.

So again, not realizing that you were that high level on all your toons, ViP at this time yeah is not a good option for you for just the TP and gift as that would be all you would really benefit from it. Hopefully more perks are added for ViP's down the line.

Im not holding my breath for any new changes . However as a member of this game I can say that I did try reasoning for making this game worthwhile to subscribe to.

Also as far as store prices go, I am glad we agree, that some of them are beyond high, while others seem kind of low to me. But we do have a free market and as I said earlier, as long as other customers pay that price for those items they will sadly remain that price.

True , although Im not sure whats cheap in the store at the moment. Ill have to see if I can find anything worthwhile since Ive mainly only bought experience tomes , mithril coins etc. They can keep the prices the same if they want and choose not to change anything but the next time my sub is up Ill probably save the money and just get turbine points and from now on use the easy method everyone else uses to grind TP and then buy whatever I want.

[kickman77]

First let me say, I am glad we had this back and forth and no one got heated. Second as I said I am in the same boat with the VIP structure. Hopefully things will change, and for now, I am happy as premium. I drop a few bucks for tp if needed, but want to sub just for thw swift travels (again 1 month). So I can agree. I do hope some thing get better and make more people want to join the game. I also hope you continue to stick around.

Peace and have a Happy Holiday Season wherever you are. And again, thanks for one of the most civil back and forth's I have had on these forums in quite some time.

Kickman of Meneldor

[exx2000]

First let me say, I am glad we had this back and forth and no one got heated. Second as I said I am in the same boat with the VIP structure. Hopefully things will change, and for now, I am happy as premium. I drop a few bucks for tp if needed, but want to sub just for thw swift travels (again 1 month). So I can agree. I do hope some thing get better and make more people want to join the game. I also hope you continue to stick around.

Peace and have a Happy Holiday Season wherever you are. And again, thanks for one of the most civil back and forth's I have had on these forums in quite some time.

Kickman of Meneldor

Aye likewise! Don't see the point in getting angry at anyone since it tends to only make things worse rather than solve or convey a point properly. Perhaps Turbine will do something in the future to help out VIPs to make it worthwhile for folks who have been here for a long time rather than just new players.

Although we don't have a Thanksgiving season where I live I wish you and all who read this a pleasant holiday season as well.

[kickman77]

Thank you it means a lot and prayers and good faith to your family as well

[Sapience]

Hello all,
First of all, may I emphasize that this is merely a thread with some general complaints I have. I’ve been playing this game for 2-3 years now and of that time a majority of it I was playing as a VIP. I have characters on Elendilmir and Brandywine mainly. All my characters should be in my signature at the moment. Furthermore I’ve been playing games like EQ, EQ2, GW, GW2 and Rift for a good amount of time.

I would like to post a screenshot of the “benefits” of being a VIP is as shown on your website.

Generally I wouldn’t mind paying or purchasing a product I like, but as of recently I’m beginning to think that you take your patrons for granted. Due to the length this post would take I’m not going to go into detail about these benefits, other than merely saying that half of these benefits are obtainable by making a single purchase from the store. I doubt if anyone who has been playing this game for a fair amount of time would consider anything in there worthwhile to justify a subscription. But nonetheless, that is just my opinion and I’m there are those who disagree.

Kate has released her producer's letter where she comments on even more new content being released on a quarterly schedule, free for VIP. if you compare that to previous years with one new content update for free for VIPs, it represents a 4x increase in free content next year for subscribers. Content Premium and Free players will need to pay for.

Just a few more points I think should be brought up:

PVMP : A new expansion is bought out and there is nothing in there to promote a higher level of interest there . No gear , jewellery , audacity and a slew of bugs. Considering this was beta tested and released I would have at least expected the minimal amount of effort put into it. Yet the changes indicate something thrown together for the mere sake of it. Also as a creep player I have bought certain skills on my characters; do you have to charge for the same skills again across multiple game worlds?

Store Pricing: Each month a VIP is offered 500 TP yet let me show you the price of certain things in the store.

Legendary / Specialization Slot unlocks : As a VIP having to purchase the Legendary slot unlocks and Specializations? If I wanted to get a Specialization Page for each tree I would have to pay up 200 coins per character per server (Both the trait tree and the Helms deep tree)? Does no one else think this is a bit extreme? The cost of Mithril coins is shown in the picture above. The 500 TP offered is negligible to the amount required.

I could go on and on about the umpteen things I find that rather displeasing but to keep it short I’ll just list them out. Click on compare benefits which happens to be a link on the website. Someone should really at least consider updating the website. Each time I subscribe (I year each) it takes 1 – 2 weeks to get my points updated. Problems with the game can be found faster on twitter / facebook then the actual game website.

Perhaps IM going to take some flak for what I said from die hard fans . But before you do I just want to make sure you understand that I don’t mind paying. I just find it rather disappointing the extent of nickel and diming is going on . Although I’m rather doubtful that this post will make any impact at all I do hope someone in Turbine actually reads it and bring some kind of changes to the game which would make it more worthwhile to being a VIP.

PvMP we covered pretty well in beta as to why people should expect too much from it with Helm's Deep. Primarily because we wanted to get class changes shaken down and sorted and apply balance and changes to PvMP after that, rather than try to do it all at once which would have been a pretty big mess. Jinjaah had some pretty lengthy conversations with the Players Council when they were here, especially Delmore, and they've expanded those conversations to the whole council. So I would recommend just holding tight until the plans are locked down and he shares them with everyone.

All the items you have listed are extras. You really don't 'need' them. You can choose to spend your 500 points on them if you wish, but you aren't required to play the game. It's a bit like the slew of cool stuff that shows up at my local hobby shop each month. My pay doesn't go up, but there's certainly a while lot more stuff I want, but don't really need to enjoy my hobby.

As for the unlocks, at least regarding traits, the team is actually looking into a possible price adjustment in the future. No solid info, but they have heard the comments and feedback.

[Solarfox]

Also are you telling me that Lotro's VIP subscription is better cause it gives you something slightly more than a terrible subscription plan ?

congrats this wins stupid post of the week for sure.

Lets see... Is something better then something else, if it offers benefit then the other thing. Yes, in fact I'd say that's pretty much the most basic meaning of the word better.

LotRO offers more to it's subscribers then RIFT does, so I would say that by any objective measure it does that means LotRO's is better.

Now I think that RIFT's over all F2P system is better, but when looking at just VIP, LotRO clearly gives you more for your money.

[Guardianakh]

PVMP : A new expansion is bought out and there is nothing in there to promote a higher level of interest there . No gear , jewellery , audacity and a slew of bugs. Considering this was beta tested and released I would have at least expected the minimal amount of effort put into it. Yet the changes indicate something thrown together for the mere sake of it.

Agreed 1000%

Why are we charged to enter Ettenmoors (VIP only)?
What is "VIP" about Ettenmoors?

• Little to no updates
• Countless bugs
• Same map for seven years
• Broken promises (95 Ring Sets in U12.1 never happened)

[ELAzalin]

I have to admit that the 500 stipend has turned out to be very good for me. I wanted a black horse so I bought a steed of the night for one of my characters. The other purchases I bought with my points were Rohan and Isengard for 1996 points each. I will wait till Helm's Deep goes on sale for me to get that as well. I did take a sizable break from the game. I left after Mirkwood and just recently came back because I wanted to play with some new friends I made in our games.

I don't know what I will spend my points on right now but then again I'm not really at the end point of the game yet. I started over and enjoy leveling with my friends. They haven't made the decision to go VIP yet. They purchased 2 riding skills, Lone-lands and Angmar. What helped was the fact that one was bought on black friday and the other was this week. They are going to do the VIP trial to get their accounts upgraded to Premium status. If they end up keeping it will be found out at a later date.

I have to admit that the $199 I spent in 2007 was the best investment I made in my video gaming experience.

[Guardianakh]

I have to admit that the $199 I spent in 2007 was the best investment I made in my video gaming experience.

Seems those of us who are not Lifetime members are suffering for the benefits of your investment

[LongMarch]

@Solarfox - It's too bad that you had to take the "stupid post" shot when Kickman and exx2000 had just managed to have a civil discussion. I wish people would think twice before being so attack-y. There appears to be OP DPS issues on these forums and not just in-game.

@Sapience - As always, thank you for taking the time to reply to this thread and it definitely is encouraging to hear what Kate had to say relative to VIP considerations coming this year. I am a subscriber and will continue to subscribe out of brand loyalty, but I wonder if there has been any internal discussion about the sense many VIPs (including myself) are expressing: That we are being nickel and dimed a bit too much? I fully agree that many (if not all) Store ITEMS are nice-to-have and should be budgeted for, but my personal concern is when game FEATURES are being TP- or Mithril Coin-linked. Case in point would be additional housing chest storage and the Class Trait Trees (mentioned in this thread), not to mention pre-existing examples like LI slots, Wardrobe/Cosmetic slots, Shared Storage, War steed traits, and so on. These features are all useful for most if not all players and make LOTRO life easier or more enjoyable (or both). It would be wonderful if some thought was given to including VIP perks that linked to some/all of these types of things whether it be full unlocks (I know, cha-ching), partial unlocks (i.e. additional "slots" for VIP above the base level), and/or a way to make these types of purchases account-wide vs. character-specific for the same cost.

Since 2014 seems to have a goal of making the LOTRO "experience" better, it would be great if the VIP experience got a good look. Even as an initiative to increase subscription revenues, it would seem to have value.

Just my two cents. Keep the change.

[Darlgon]

I have to admit that the 500 stipend has turned out to be very good for me. I wanted a black horse so I bought a steed of the night for one of my characters. The other purchases I bought with my points were Rohan and Isengard for 1996 points each. I will wait till Helm's Deep goes on sale for me to get that as well. I did take a sizable break from the game. I left after Mirkwood and just recently came back because I wanted to play with some new friends I made in our games.

I don't know what I will spend my points on right now but then again I'm not really at the end point of the game yet. I started over and enjoy leveling with my friends. They haven't made the decision to go VIP yet. They purchased 2 riding skills, Lone-lands and Angmar. What helped was the fact that one was bought on black friday and the other was this week. They are going to do the VIP trial to get their accounts upgraded to Premium status. If they end up keeping it will be found out at a later date.

I have to admit that the $199 I spent in 2007 was the best investment I made in my video gaming experience.

Ok.. so what would you say if you had spent $695.00? Or more, if your sub renewed quarterly instead of paying once?

[ELAzalin]

Ok.. so what would you say if you had spent $695.00? Or more, if your sub renewed quarterly instead of paying once?

I paid $45 dollars a month for 3 characters in SWG. I played that game from the start to about 5 1/2 years. If you enjoy something you don't really see the cost in it. You get other benefits along with it that make it feels worth. You can apply this to anything in life, including marriage LOL.

I always enjoyed this game and only took a break because my friends all went to other games. Since I had my lifetime sub I always felt I could come back. I guess it took longer than what I figured. I enjoy the lore of the books and this game has been true to that. It hasn't been a shame or a totally trashing like the (so far) recent 5 movies have been on this lore.

So basically I hope I answered your question and if not please let me know how I can do it for efficiently.