Middle Earth should be free for everyone

[Swordsman11]

I am sick and tired of having areas blocked off because I have to be the almighty "member" status. Is anyone else tired of it and want to see middle earth free for everybody?

[Yula_the_Mighty]

What you are requesting would mean that there would be no Lord of the Rings Online. The only reason that game exists is to collect dollars from the players in order to pay for the expenses of adding content, maintaining the existing content, paying for the servers and all the other operating costs.

[AnElephant]

Technically, everything is free. You just have to work a bit for it
I started f2p and just actually recently just went vip/premium (3 months ago when my chars hit 85, yes I know, bad timing). Have every zone except wildermore unlocked at the moment.

[Tanthilan]

I am sick and tired of having areas blocked off because I have to be the almighty "member" status. Is anyone else tired of it and want to see middle earth free for everybody?

It is. Grind out Turbine Points and buy the area. You CAN play this game completely free if you make the effort. But As Yula said, this game is not a charity, it is a business, and they exist to make money. If they don't make money, WB will shut it down. I doubt there is any game out there that is completely free, forever, no cash shop, no membership fees, no nothing. If there is, its likely more of a work of love, from developers that have tons of money, can run servers and make content on their own, and have no desire to make any money. I don't know of anyone that is that altruistic. Or the game is ancient, isn't updated more than once or twice a year, and the updates are tiny, almost no content.

[Roberto_the_First]

You can go everywhere in Middle-earth as a free player. You just can't do any of the quests, other than the epic, beyond the starter areas. But there's nothing stopping you from travelling the world.

[Sapience]

I am sick and tired of having areas blocked off because I have to be the almighty "member" status. Is anyone else tired of it and want to see middle earth free for everybody?

Middle-earth is free for everyone to see. You can travel across the whole landscape and see it all without paying a single cent. In fact, the game will 'pay you' for completing certain things and you will be able to use those completely free Turbine points to make any purchase you like. Some players have made it a point of leveling from 1 to cap without spending a penny of real money, but earning more than enough turbine points to pick up all the content just by playing the game for free.

[Armaius]

I am sick and tired of having areas blocked off because I have to be the almighty "member" status. Is anyone else tired of it and want to see middle earth free for everybody?

There isn't a single area in the game that's blocked off to F2P'ers. (No, not even the 'Moors since you can log in there as a creep). You can go pretty much anywhere you want to in the game and sight-see free of charge.

Now quests on the other hand...those are what's blocked. As to that I say tough. You get plenty of free stuff already, with the possibility of unlocking more of it (via grinding) in the Store. I have no sympathy.

[Avarune]

It's also free in the sense that there are no areas physically blocked off except for instances and skirmishes that require a purchase. Anyone of sufficient level can go to any landscape zone and do the Epic quests, explore and kill mobs. You can't do regular landscape quests without purchasing the quest pack for the zone, but as Yula pointed out LOTRO is not a charity. If Turbine/WB weren't able to charge for some aspects of the game it simply wouldn't exist. No game is truly completely free to play; one way or another, the company running it has to make the money to keep it operating.

[keeker_ks]

As others have pointed out there is a ton of free content. And honestly, if you make it a point to complete deeds and such in each area, you will earn TP that you can use to buy quest packs. There are numerous players who enjoy the challenge of level capping toons without paying any real money for them. It's doable.

And given the amount of area to see and things to do that you don't have to pay for - I think F2P is a pretty good deal on LOTRO. And if you buy a short term membership and do it smartly, you can maximize your $ and unlock extremely useful tools that will make F2P even easier (gold cap, get your horse, etc).

Or you can always ask for a subscription for a gift - then you aren't paying for it, but you can enjoy all the privileges of a paid account.

[Nakiami]

So, what's Rift doing differently that allows them to not charge for quests?

[Grhysli]

So, what's Rift doing differently that allows them to not charge for quests?

Rift doesn't have any expansions so the area you originally download with the game is all you get.

There is also a Rift store that sells items to players just like the LOTRO store.

[bigsix66]

I am sick and tired of having areas blocked off because I have to be the almighty "member" status. Is anyone else tired of it and want to see middle earth free for everybody?

I just had the same conversation with the car salesman in the Mercedes showroom this morning. I told him that I was sick and tired of not having a new Mercedes convertible just because I had to have almighty "money," and I'm sure that lots of other people feel the same way.

I'm glad the county jail has a wi-fi connection.

[Tanthilan]

I just had the same conversation with the car salesman in the Mercedes showroom this morning. I told him that I was sick and tired of not having a new Mercedes convertible just because I had to have almighty "money," and I'm sure that lots of other people feel the same way.

I'm glad the county jail has a wi-fi connection.

Just snarfed my water Love this hehe

[Caernach]

I am sick and tired of having areas blocked off because I have to be the almighty "member" status. Is anyone else tired of it and want to see middle earth free for everybody?

No. Because then LOTRO would go offline due to bankruptcy.

Not sure where so many people get the idea that online games should be completely free. Who is paying the staff? Should they work for free so you can play a game?

Please explain your logic and tell us how game companies can develop multi-million dollar games for players to play for FREE and still pay their staff? I am sure the entire industry would love to know.

[Laire]

I just had the same conversation with the car salesman in the Mercedes showroom this morning. I told him that I was sick and tired of not having a new Mercedes convertible just because I had to have almighty "money," and I'm sure that lots of other people feel the same way.

I'm glad the county jail has a wi-fi connection.

Did you throw a chair out a window? I hope you threw a chair out a window.


In all seriousness, this is probably one of the best f2p games out there for how much they really allow you to do for free. And while I do occasionally moan about some things in the store, if it's making more money the subs did, then all the power to them.

[greyveil]

not a chair, it was a huge brick, lol

[EU_Orc_Bane]

This post is such a massive troll-bait it should have never seen the light of day. I know it's a new forum and all, but really?...

[Cefely]

This post is such a massive troll-bait it should have never seen the light of day. I know it's a new forum and all, but really?...

Was thinking the same thing, I mean all the signs are there...I just don't get it.

[Lythia]

This post is such a massive troll-bait it should have never seen the light of day. I know it's a new forum and all, but really?...

New forum or not, some folks just like to argue.

[monk_tbd]

So, what's Rift doing differently that allows them to not charge for quests?

Well from what I read from your posts you probably know how rift does it.
There is no way to earn the premium currency for the cash shop in game. Yes you can buy REX as a f2p player but for that you need to be already close to level cap if not there to afford it. Also someone else had to pay real money to be able to sell it on the AH. Additionally the expansion souls are locked and need to be purchased (you can argue it is similar to the warden and runekeeper in lotro to be premium). Bags are also locked so similar to here as well.

I honestly have no idea if that will be enough to keep rift going.

However I see the available stuff for free somewhat similar in both games. I like both f2p versions.

It will get interesting how rift will handle additional expansions and whether the additional souls to purchase will bring enough revenue for them.

Generally I slightly prefer lotro f2p because even if it takes a lot of time to get started you still have a way to get it all in game. I am not sure how many people in rift will be able to afford souls simply by buying Rex.

[Lynore]

Sometimes I wish there was a TANSTAAFL (there ain't no such thing as a free lunch) note stickied on the forums with a brief explanation of basic economics, but I know no one would read it. :P

FTP games exist to draw in players who might be scared off by the commitment of a monthly subscription and/or the initial price of the base game. Back in my day...(gets out her shawl and rocking chair) you bought the base game AND you paid every month or you were locked out. If you paid $50 for the base game and $15 a month for a couple months and decided you hated the game, you were still out $80. So if your finances were iffy, you didn't even start a new game.
FTP lets you try out a game in depth, at least the way LOTRO does it. As Sapience and others said, you can truly play all the way through for free if you plan right and have the patience. But obviously, the company hopes you'll like the game enough, and have enough disposable income that you'll prefer to spend some money instead of slowly grinding TP for everything.
In order to continue to expand and to maintain the game, the company still needs an income. Even just keeping servers online costs money. If you can not, or don't want to contribute to that, you'll just have to live with what's available for free. (Or set up the "Buy Me the Freedom of all Middle Earth " Kickstarter fund. Promise your investors frequent updates about your leveling progress. It could work!)

[Aladdar]

The FTP here is one of the best, try the SWTOR one....................no actually dont, it really sucks.

[Khafar]

Sometimes I wish there was a TANSTAAFL (there ain't no such thing as a free lunch) note stickied on the forums with a brief explanation of basic economics, but I know no one would read it. :P

FTP games exist to draw in players who might be scared off by the commitment of a monthly subscription and/or the initial price of the base game.

Yep. It's designed to get more eyeballs on the game, not to be some sort of gamer's charity. While some players certainly do stick around and grind out enough TP to buy all they need to get to the level cap, that's not the intent of the design. They want the vast majority of new players to either play long enough to get hooked and then start paying $$ to improve their experience, or else to get bored and frustrated at the grind and go freeload elsewhere. It costs very real $$ to run the game (for everyone who plays, not just premium/subscribers), and those who pay are subsidizing all those who don't. They cannot want a large population of long-term players who have never paid a cent.

In any case, the OP may be trolling, but you never know.

Khafar

[Nymphonic]

In any case, the OP may be trolling, but you never know.

Khafar

Maybe he is not but one thing I have noticed is that the people that make outrageous posts like these have under 5 post counts.

[mjk47]

Since the OP has a join date of August 2013, they either made a new account for trolling, or they have a really low threshold of irritation about silly things.