Official Discussion: Isengard LOTRO Store availability and Turbine Point Cost

[Sapience]

We know you’ve been waiting for information on when the Rise of Isengard Expansion will be available in the LOTRO Store and what the cost will be. We’re happy to announce that you will be able to purchase and experience Isengard on DAY ONE by purchasing its components from the LOTRO Store using Turbine Points.

The break down below shows you what features will cost and when they will be available. Please be aware that the store doesn’t allow for a ‘pre-purchase’ option so the Expansion instances cannot actually be purchased until they are released as part of Update 5. This is also why they’re not included in any of the bundles listed below.

Isengard Expansion Quests
Available in the LOTRO Store September 27 (Isengard Launch) for 3250 Turbine Points
Over 375 Quests and more than 40 Deeds for characters level 66-75 in the following regions

• Dunland -- Adventure amidst the bright forests in the foothills of the southern Misty Mountains. Beware the Dunland Clans, rugged warriors tempted by the dark promise of power.
• Gap of Rohan -- Battle over the legendary pass between Eriador and the plains of Rohan. This key strategic point must be defended against the ambitions of Sauron.
• Isengard -- Explore Orthanc, one of the iconic Two Towers as it rises over the once beautiful Isengard valley. The once beautiful vale now desecrated beyond imagination by the Wizard Saruman the betrayer.

Raid: Draigoch’s Lair
Available in the LOTRO Store September 27 (Isengard Launch) for 1250 Turbine Points

• Face the ancient evil of Draigoch, one of the most powerful creatures in Middle-earth! Prepare for the ultimate challenge where nothing less than the strength of an entire force of 24 heroes stands the chance of victory

Derudh’s Stone
Available in the LOTRO Store September 27 (Isengard Launch) for 995 Turbine Points
A permanent pocket item that grants +25% XP on Monster Kills when equipped. This item binds to the purchasing character. Usable by characters level 1-64.

Expansion Instances
Available with Update 5, currently slated for December, for 1495 Turbine Points

• One 12-player instance
• One 6-player instance
• Three 3-player instances

[grinko.at]

..which puts the total cost of the expansion, excluding the preorder pocket item, to 5995 Turbine points.

Wow. So much for VIPs saving up their points.

[Redstar]

Do VIPs who preordered the expansion have to pay for the 5 new instances in update 5?

[Skigorn]

Per this thread anyone who pre-purchases RoI, or who purchases RoI via the store gets the 5 instances free (http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.p...99#post5630499). Are those just broken out to give people the option of purchasing the instances WITHOUT purchasing the Isengard expansion?

We are currently preparing five new instances for release post Isengard.

Rise of Isengard will be released on September 27 along with a 24 Player raid. There will be 3 Three player, 1 Six player and 1 Twelve player instance released in Update 5, the first update after the release of Rise of Isengard. These instances will be free to any player who has pre-purchased the Rise of Isengard expansion or who purchases after launch via the Turbine Web Store.

[Gedachtnis]

Do VIPs who preordered the expansion have to pay for the 5 new instances in update 5?

No, this was cleared up a while back.

[DelgonTheWise]

..which puts the total cost of the expansion, excluding the preorder pocket item, to 5995 Turbine points.

Wow. So much for VIPs saving up their points.

While it is a bit higher than I'd have guessed, people wanted the info before release, now they have it. And can make decisions as best suits their game play desires/budget/etc. Answer is apparently there is 1 expansion per year, and it takes most (or all) of your VIP TPs to get it. If you are surprised that Turbine wants people to purchase expansions for cash and use TPs on fluff, well, you shouldn't be. If they had made the TP cost closely competitive with the cash cost, next time around nobody would pay cash and many of those who HAD paid cash already for ROI would be rather bitter.

As a lifer who had been waiting for this information release, I'm going to buy the $30 deal. I'm content to use TPs on other things, and OK buying an expansion per year for cash...

[Korrigan]

Fair enough - as lifetimer I have way enough points for everything I'm interested in.
Thanks for the info.

[Lestache]

..which puts the total cost of the expansion, excluding the preorder pocket item, to 5995 Turbine points.

Wow. So much for VIPs saving up their points.

I still despise the Store, but to be fair, VIPs who've been around since F2P launched will have earned roughly 6k TP from their monthly allotment alone. So folks who did save up will be able to get all this with their saved points - those who spent points on in-game advantages, additional storage, or cosmetics might find themselves shy a few points.

[Gedachtnis]

Per this thread anyone who pre-purchases RoI, or who purchases RoI via the store gets the 5 instances free (http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.p...99#post5630499). Are those just broken out to give people the option of purchasing the instances WITHOUT purchasing the Isengard expansion?

The Web Store (Digital River) is not the LotRO Store. It boils down to if you pay cash, the Instances in Update 5 are free, if you use TP the Instances are seperate.

[Lomeloth]

Thank you for the information, Sapience. While I still deplore that Turbine is charging anyone for a raid that was slated to be free, I don't begrudge it being a separate purchase from the quest content. The availability of the pre-order pocket item on a per-character basis is an interesting touch.

I have one final question: Will the instances that are available with Update 5 be free to VIP players?

[Skigorn]

The Web Store (Digital River) is not the LotRO Store. It boils down to if you pay cash, the Instances in Update 5 are free, if you use TP the Instances are seperate.

Ah yes I see that now. The working words are "web store", not "Lotro Store".

[Sapience]

Do VIPs who preordered the expansion have to pay for the 5 new instances in update 5?

No. As I mentioned in another thread, those who prepurchase or who purchase via the web store will recieve the 5 instances in Update 5 for free.

[Merric]

If you buy the expansion via the web store (which is not the LOTRO store and will only accept real currency, not points), you get the instances for free. I believe this is whether or not you pre-order. Your access to them is dependent solely on how you purchase Isengard; not whether you are Free, VIP, or Premium.

If you purchase the expansion with Turbine Points in the LOTRO Store, it does not include the instances. They will be a separate purchase.

[Korrigan]

I still despise the Store, but to be fair, VIPs who've been around since F2P launched will have earned roughly 6k TP from their monthly allotment alone. So folks who did save up will be able to get all this with their saved points - those who spent points on in-game advantages, additional storage, or cosmetics might find themselves shy a few points.

Don't forget they aren't automatically interested in everything. Personally I couldn't care less about the raid, and I don't need the +25% xp ring either. So I will get full experience of what I expect in Isengard without having to purchase the parts I'm not interested in - not a bad deal.

[Jadzi]

..which puts the total cost of the expansion, excluding the preorder pocket item, to 5995 Turbine points.

Wow. So much for VIPs saving up their points.

F2P is one year old. At 500 points a month, if a VIP had saved their points all this time, they'd have 6000 (not counting TP from deeds or lotteries or prizes.

The key word in 'saving up' is 'saving'.

Though I must admit, the cost of all this is rather a bit high compared to the Moria and Mirkwood bundles no? Aren't they on the store for about 3k each? And that's with instances and classes and slots and whatnot?

[Mateusaran]

I really thought we would at least get the Draigoch raid with the quests, but apparently they are going away from the expansion pack in favor of breaking everything out for TP purchasers. Not too sure what I am going to do now though. Been saving TP, but I don't have 6000.

[Gedachtnis]

...

I have one final question: Will the instances that are available with Update 5 be free to VIP players?

More specific, if a VIP purchases RoI through the LotRO Store will they get the U5 Instances free?

VIP's are billed as getting Content Updates free, which we have, but this is a new area (xpac launch) since F2P has realeased, some clarification on how LotRO Store purchases/sub levels will interact, would be appreciated.

[UruCubkyle]

Could someone from Turbine (And I don't mean this as rudely as it sounds, but not some random person here with an old, potentially no longer valid, response from a pre-pricing thread.) clarify please?

VIP members get Update 5 instance content for free as long as Isengard was purchased, correct? Even if purchased through the Turbine store? Expansions are paid for, and update content is included "free" for being VIP is how I understood VIP to work.

I ask because having that price there without further clarification is otherwise potentially misleading.

[Fredelas]

The total cost for all of these things is 6990 TP.

This actually makes the cash pre-order offers (which include all these things, plus mounts, cosmetics, and more) look significantly more attractive for players who want them all.

[interactii]

Wow, I just have to say that these prices are outrageous. I'm glad I preordered, but seriously.

Who is going to pay 14 bucks for access to the raid? So much for actually getting groups of 24. There's no way this shouldn't have been included for 3250 for a raid originally billed as a free update.

Simply out of control in my opinion.

What about T7 Crafting? Is that included for 3250 or is that another add on?

[Merric]

More specific, if a VIP purchases RoI through the LotRO Store will they get the U5 Instances free?

VIP's are billed as getting Content Updates free, which we have, but this is a new area (xpac launch) since F2P has realeased, some clarification on how LotRO Store purchases/sub levels will interact, would be appreciated.

No, unfortunately you will only get the instances for free if you purchase them through the out-of-game store.

[hucklebarry]

..which puts the total cost of the expansion, excluding the preorder pocket item, to 5995 Turbine points.

or.... the cost of 3 exclusive mounts for just 1 toon.... (I don't have a problem with the points pricing of the xpac, but I really wish someone would balance the costs or possibly the applications of other items)

Also note that the stone you included for 995 TP is only for one toon, while if you preorder every toon you ever make will get it. I think dropping $30.00 now is the far better deal in the long run, but people have their options. (also don't forget the extra quest packs for those non-vips if you bump up to the $50.00 version).

[perception101]

Thanks for the info. Like others, I hate the idea of in-game purchases as a point of principal, but I also appreciate that if the game is to survive and prosper you guys need to make a profit and make it worthwhile, so as long as it's not too intrusive, I'll put up with it to get new content.

I have enough points to get what I want (and have never bought any, as I'm a VIP - Codemasters Lifetime Sub) so I'm happy, and I am grateful it's an option.

(Oh, and since I don't raid, I can save money on that - a nice touch for me, thanks!)

[TheMule1983]

I'm out. Just uninstalled the game. Played for a year, started when F2P launched and ended up with three 65's in that timespan. Too rich for my blood (TP wise) and charging separately for the raid is just ridiculous (this is just my opinion). I understand why the total cost TP wise is around $60 or more, but I can see where the LOTRO store is going. Enjoy the expansion guys, I'll be waiting for SWTOR now.

[DelgonTheWise]

F2P is one year old. At 500 points a month, if a VIP had saved their points all this time, they'd have 6000 (not counting TP from deeds or lotteries or prizes.

The key word in 'saving up' is 'saving'.

Though I must admit, the cost of all this is rather a bit high compared to the Moria and Mirkwood bundles no? Aren't they on the store for about 3k each? And that's with instances and classes and slots and whatnot?

I expect that there is some TP inflation going on here. Thing is, many F2P players will (just a guess) never be buying Isengard. They won't last long enough, or will be content with the experience up to Moria and run a few characters up to there, etc. For the VIP/lifer folks, many may well want Isengard and have large pools of TPs. Turbine wants to get some cash from these folks for expansions. If the once a year expansion were about 3000 TPs, say, that would mean that you could allocate half your monthly TPs to the expansion, half to fluff, and not throw in extra cash. I'm guessing that isn't the model Turbine wants to encourage...