Lifetime Account Members Thread

[SaintBass]

So Gameplay with not change at all? Like I won't have to suddenlt have to buy healing potions or special food like in DDO?

Nobody needs special store bought items in DDO. They are nice to have, but do not make the difference between succeeding and failing.

[Oblique]

F2P is not something I'd seriously ever thought would be done to this game. If it were that way from the start, that'd be one thing (and it'd be a game I'd have NEVER played to begin with if it was)...but to turn it into F2P at this point in its lifespan is awful and pathetic IMHO.

As a founder and lifer, this change really breaks my heart. It's no longer going to be the better class of MMO game it has been from the start.

I see the change to F2P as a serious blow to my desire to be a part of the Middle Earth experience --- a rather serious blow that may kill the game (for me) and my enjoyment of it.

I could rant a bit more but I already ranted on some other thread in relation to this whole F2P garbage.

Consider me thoroughly disappointed and disgusted.

[lordperrin]

As a Lifer how are we affected. We aren't affected in anyway what's so ever.

I've already explained this in a post addressed to you that you evidently ignored. And I repeat: If you think the fundamentals of this game wont be changed by this transition thats taking around half a year of development time to bring buffs and free xp to the highest bidder, you're fooling yourself.

[SgtAnderso]

As a founder/lifer, I just wanted to throw in that the free aspect isn't what concerns me the most, but rather the lack of communication the developers feel they can give us when it comes to the future updates of the game.

I want to feel excited about the prospects of this game, the way Blizzard makes people excited about the releases of theirs. Screenshots, cinematics, posts from developers and CMs; all aimed at giving tantilizing bits of information about what's to come.

I'm not saying Turbine should try to be exactly like Blizzard, but it really does say something that the only announcment we've gotten about new content was burried in with this 'exciting' free to play opportunity they're releasing.

Obviously development of a game is a many-changing thing and yes, if you announce something and then have to change it, people will complain. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't ever say ANYTHING. People like to know what's being worked on and what's changing, even changes that are being done to the stuff in progress. It gives us reasons to be excited about a game we've invested so much time in.

I want to be excited about this game. Free-to-play does not excite me. Hearing about Rohan would excite me. Having a basic game plan for which zones they want to release when would excite me, even if it changes every few months. This game is so different from other MMOs because we know where it's going. Nothing is really a suprise. We just want to know HOW it's going to be done.

Please throw us a bone, Turbine. I don't know about other people, but that's all I really want. Something to be excited about.

I'm sorry but comparing Turbine to Blizzard isn't even fair. Besides there are plenty of times the Blue Names have thrown us bones in the past weeks and months on what is coming.

You need to read the Sticky Post at the top of this forum though as it will answer your question. But in case you do not read it here you go: YES! Enedwaith is on the way: "We’ve revamped the game’s starting areas, added the new region of Enedwaith, and will continue the journey of the Rangers south in Book 2 of our epic story."

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=335135

[0rdinary0wl]

You're obviously supposed to be excited that even though you're getting no new areas until the fall

It's like Christmas Eve that lasts for months.

[lordperrin]

Nobody needs special store bought items. They are nice to have, but do not make the difference between succeeding and failing.

Ah the mantra of the Free to player. You dont NEED to buy that buff that is allowing everyone to get way ahead of you with, you dont need to buy the double XP pot, you dont NEED to buy bank slots.

Of course you dont need to. We're not saying you NEED to. The point is that it's no longer a level playing field anymore since you can buy convenience and advantage. Thats the main point that you F2P lovers dont ever acknowledge and you refuse to believe the excruciatingly simple concept that this kind of thing CHANGES the way social interactions and grouping occurs in F2P games.

[snowshade]

Does the love of your life not have a telephone? Oh wait.... are you RPing?

It started that way.... but then it went past RP.... and yes, but I could only text, and he did not have a cell..... we never needed a way to talk outside of LOTRO till now, but now it is ti late to do anything about it......

[SaintBass]

I've already explained this in a post addressed to you that you evidently ignored. And I repeat: If you think the fundamentals of this game wont be changed by this transition thats taking around half a year of development time to bring buffs and free xp to the highest bidder, you're fooling yourself.

The point that you are missing is that lifetime subs will get all of that as part of their subscription. Players that are not on a sub will buy certain perks in the store. Not a difficult concept.

[ArahadEketta]

So Gameplay with not change at all? Like I won't have to suddenlt have to buy healing potions or special food like in DDO?

I will never have to buy healing potions or special foods from the store. I can make any kine of potion I want on my Scholar and I can get any kind of food I want from Kin-mates who are KGSM Cooks. I am not going to worry about some damn idiot PUG leader kicking me out because I did not get X item from the store either. I get some idiot like that they will be going on my ignore list and their name will spread like wildfire in the Kin I am in to avoid like the plague. Since I am also a Moderator on our Kin forums I can just make a post on our forums about ******* like that.

[Music-chan]

You're obviously supposed to be excited that even though you're getting no new areas until the fall, you can now open your wallet to buy buffs and xp. I mean, thats content! Right? Right?...

Oh yeah, that's exactly what gets me excited.

=p

Don't get me wrong, some of the features they plan on adding sound nice. Wardrobe storage? Yesplz. But that's going to keep me entertained for, oh, about 30 minutes while I dump all my cosmetic clothing into it.

I'm trying to be even tempered about this. I really do feel like Turbine could work on the way it gives us content and information on said content. I'm not planning on leaving the game because, well, I have a lifetime account and there's no reason for me to do so. But whether or not I actually log in and tell other people about the game will depend almost 100% on what's going to happen in the game with the progressing endgame.

It's not exactly a glowing reference to tell friends "Oh sure, it's got a lot of great features and it's really fun to play, but it takes them forever to release new content."

[SgtAnderso]

I've already explained this in a post addressed to you that you evidently ignored. And I repeat: If you think the fundamentals of this game wont be changed by this transition thats taking around half a year of development time to bring buffs and free xp to the highest bidder, you're fooling yourself.

Sorry No I didn't ignore your post, I was posting during this time and didn't have a chance to read it. And No I'm not new to gaming or F2P. Your making an assumption that a Healing Potion or Food being bought in a Store is going to be different from the Items bought or Crafted In Game. I have not read anywhere that supports your logic by any of the Turbine Staff. Where is your evidence to Support that Turbine is going to allow a F2P or other Member the ability to purchase XP or Buff that is goind to equate to anything beyond a Food or Healing Item? I haven't seen this posted any where, what I have seen them state is that the the Rare and the End Game Gear is not available for Purchase. Based on your statement we could not play a single day and I could buy myself a Level 65 Character. They only thing turbine has said is they will give you the ability to unlock features that will allow you to earn these types of things but you still have to earn it the same way a paying customer does and that is buy playing the game.

[Anubias]

I suggest reading or re-reading the earlier posts in this thread.

Lifers receive Turbine points every month. I don't believe I will be lacking in supplies from the item shop.

Besides, Khafar won this thread a few days ago.

Posting here is just uncool now.

[lordperrin]

The point that you are missing is that lifetime subs will get all of that as part of their subscription. Players that are not on a sub will buy certain perks in the store. Not a difficult concept.

~sigh~ You just. dont. get. it. The. Item. Mall. Fundamentally. Changes. Elements. Of. How. the. game. is. played. It. Is. NOT. The. Same.

Lifers do NOT get unlimited item mall content. Do you not understand the concept that they're going to be selling major buffs, rez pots, xp pots, and the like? Lifers dont get them for free. We get a monthly stipend that, from what Ive seen is somewhere between 5-10 dollars worth. When someone can pay 1000 dollars a month for as many super buffs and the like as he wants, the playing field is no longer level for all players and the GAME HAS CHANGED.

[lordperrin]

Your making an assumption that a Healing Potion or Food being bought in a Store is going to be different from the Items bought or Crafted In Game. I have not read anywhere that supports your logic by any of the Turbine Staff. Where is your evidence

If you think a free to play game isnt going to have XP pots, and buffs that cant be crafted, I have an invisible boat to sell you.

[Jadzi]

transition thats taking around half a year of development time to bring buffs and free xp to the highest bidder

See now, it's my experience (both here and in life in general) that people really are their own worst enemy. Why? Because they alone know what angers or terrifies them most in any area, and are often likely to jump to conclusions and work themselves into a frenzy over the pattern they see.

Here's one for you. I keep noting combinations of 6 turning up lately, in different places but in LOTRO in particular. I've sat at 666 health for a minute, landed crits for 666 damage. There's a player on my server named Sixsix. A relative of mine recently turned 66. I've had a number of occasions where I finished a questing run only to find I had a stack of 66 hides or 66 ore. The other day I was calling a local salon and had to look up their number. Which was 666-7999.

Now, with so much data there, I could make many conclusions. Perhaps LOTRO is really a front by Satanic powers to sow sloth, greed, and wrath among humans. Perhaps the internet itself is one giant mechanism for that end. Or maybe I'm damned. Or destined to be the antichrist.

... or, you know. It could just be the fact that number has a significance. I've hit several 777's and 555's as well, but I didn't pay as much attention to other number combos because they didn't have a meaning. So not only was I not looking for them, I wasn't seeing them.

The point is, people can and will take what information they have and read it subjectively. And they can and will dream up all sorts of boogeymen in things they don't understand or just plain dislike. Like how people were up in arms that the US president was somehow going to indoctrinate their kids because he wanted to give a speech at the start of the school year. Ultimately, people are pissed, they're loud, they're hyperbolic... and more often than not, when all of it is over, it turns out it was over nothing.

I think that's the case here as well.

[lordperrin]

See now, it's my experience (both here and in life in general) that people really are their own worst enemy. Why? Because they alone know what angers or terrifies them most in any area, and are often likely to jump to conclusions and work themselves into a frenzy over the pattern they see.

Here's one for you. I keep noting combinations of 6 turning up lately, in different places but in LOTRO in particular. I've sat at 666 health for a minute, landed crits for 666 damage. There's a player on my server named Sixsix. A relative of mine recently turned 66. I've had a number of occasions where I finished a questing run only to find I had a stack of 66 hides or 66 ore. The other day I was calling a local salon and had to look up their number. Which was 666-7999.

Now, with so much data there, I could make many conclusions. Perhaps LOTRO is really a front by Satanic powers to sow sloth, greed, and wrath among humans. Perhaps the internet itself is one giant mechanism for that end. Or maybe I'm damned. Or destined to be the antichrist.

... or, you know. It could just be the fact that number has a significance. I've hit several 777's and 555's as well.

The point is, people can and will take what information they have and read it subjectively. And they can and will dream up all sorts of boogeymen in things they don't understand or just plain dislike. Like how people were up in arms that the US president was somehow going to indoctrinate their kids because he wanted to give a speech at the start of the school year. Ultimately, people are pissed, they're loud, they're hyperbolic... and more often than not, when all of it is over, it turns out it was over nothing.

I think that's the case here as well.

See my post right above yours for my answer to this thinly veiled flame you've directed towards me.

[SaintBass]

~sigh~ You just. dont. get. it. The. Item. Mall. Fundamentally. Changes. Elements. Of. How. the. game. is. played. It. Is. NOT. The. Same.

Lifers do NOT get unlimited item mall content. Do you not understand the concept that they're going to be selling major buffs, rez pots, xp pots, and the like? Lifers dont get them for free. We get a monthly stipend that, from what Ive seen is somewhere between 5-10 dollars worth. When someone can pay 1000 dollars a month for as many super buffs and the like as he wants, the playing field is no longer level for all players and the GAME HAS CHANGED.

Prove it. Link to it. Show me. Show me how that happened in DDO.

Here's a hint. Didn't happen there, hasn't been announced here. Not freakin likely. This is not the Asian FreeToPay model, yet you insist that it is actually worse.

The buffs you speak of aren't even going to come close to being in game. At best we are going to get a weak tea that is a little bit better than destiny point buffs.

[Anubias]

See now, it's my experience (both here and in life in general) that people really are their own worst enemy. Why? Because they alone know what angers or terrifies them most in any area, and are often likely to jump to conclusions and work themselves into a frenzy over the pattern they see.

Here's one for you. I keep noting combinations of 6 turning up lately, in different places but in LOTRO in particular. I've sat at 666 health for a minute, landed crits for 666 damage. There's a player on my server named Sixsix. A relative of mine recently turned 66. I've had a number of occasions where I finished a questing run only to find I had a stack of 66 hides or 66 ore. The other day I was calling a local salon and had to look up their number. Which was 666-7999.

Now, with so much data there, I could make many conclusions. Perhaps LOTRO is really a front by Satanic powers to sow sloth, greed, and wrath among humans. Perhaps the internet itself is one giant mechanism for that end. Or maybe I'm damned. Or destined to be the antichrist.

... or, you know. It could just be the fact that number has a significance. I've hit several 777's and 555's as well.

The point is, people can and will take what information they have and read it subjectively. And they can and will dream up all sorts of boogeymen in things they don't understand or just plain dislike. Like how people were up in arms that the US president was somehow going to indoctrinate their kids because he wanted to give a speech at the start of the school year. Ultimately, people are pissed, they're loud, they're hyperbolic... and more often than not, when all of it is over, it turns out it was over nothing.

I think that's the case here as well.

You forgot that all this won't matter by 2013.

[ArahadEketta]

Ah the mantra of the Free to player. You dont NEED to buy that buff that is allowing everyone to get way ahead of you with, you dont need to buy the double XP pot, you dont NEED to buy bank slots.

Of course you dont need to. We're not saying you NEED to. The point is that it's no longer a level playing field anymore since you can buy convenience and advantage. Thats the main point that you F2P lovers dont ever acknowledge and you refuse to believe the excruciatingly simple concept that this kind of thing CHANGES the way social interactions and grouping occurs in F2P games.

lordperrin, f2p and premium will not have access to both rested xp or the ability to utilize Destiny Points. This means that they will also not be able to use DP for getting additional xp. Those of us who are VIP's however have access to both. Not only that but there are quite a few people who will be VIP's who would kill to be able to reduce their xp gain. I am not one of them but if some idiot tells me that I will be required to utilize some sort of portion or scroll to increase my xp gain I will laugh at them and drop group. I gain xp at MY pace, not at a pace set by someone else. I don't give a damn if someone else is gaining xp faster than I am. This is not a damn race and I am in no great hurry to "beat" the game. Knowing alot of the people I am Kinned with they feel the same as I do. This new development in the direction of LotRO is not going to affect the way that I play or pretty much anyone who is a member of the Fellowship of the Rogues. You can go ahead and poke you head in the sand but I have no intention of doing so.

[lordperrin]

Prove it. Link to it. Show me. Show me how that happened in DDO.

Here's a hint. Didn't happen there, hasn't been announced here. Not freakin likely. This is not the Asian FreeToPay model, yet you insist that it is actually worse.

The buffs you speak of aren't even going to come close to being in game. At best we are going to get a weak tea that is a little bit better than destiny point buffs.

http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/DDO_Store_Guide

Experience Elixirs that grant 10-20% bonuses to XP for 3-6 hours! Single and 5-Stacks available

+1 and +2 Tomes that permanently boost your character's dexterity, charisma, constitution, strength, intelligence and wisdom.

Jewels of Fortune that grant your character a +1 bonus to the level of treasure earned from opening treasure chests. 5, 10 and 25-Stacks available.

and many more. Does that sound like a level playing field to you?

[darshie76]

~sigh~ You just. dont. get. it. The. Item. Mall. Fundamentally. Changes. Elements. Of. How. the. game. is. played. It. Is. NOT. The. Same.

Lifers do NOT get unlimited item mall content. Do you not understand the concept that they're going to be selling major buffs, rez pots, xp pots, and the like? Lifers dont get them for free. We get a monthly stipend that, from what Ive seen is somewhere between 5-10 dollars worth. When someone can pay 1000 dollars a month for as many super buffs and the like as he wants, the playing field is no longer level for all players and the GAME HAS CHANGED.

I hope that this will not happen (pay and get invincible), but then in the end...who cares?

Unless you do PVP or like to spar, who cares if someone pays and gets their shiny stuff? My concern is that if you can buy anything, then what is the point of crafting then...and the whole economy breakdown that follow the gold spammers and so on...but nobody seems to care about these topics, so I just shut up and move on

[SgtAnderso]

If you think a free to play game isnt going to have XP pots, and buffs that cant be crafted, I have an invisible boat to sell you.

Once again you are making an assumption that is not backed up by anything. Everything you are saying has been countered by the Community Team and by the FAQ's. Your making assumptions based on other Games and assumptions that go against everything the Community team has told us.

So sure I will give you 1G for your Invisible Boat when it becomes available ingame, Because I hope one day there will be Monster fish certain water areas that we have to contend with. Besides having any boat in game would be pretty freaking cool at least in some areas I wouldn't have to spend hours swiming to pickkup the other boat locations or while I'm trying to earn rep for quick horse routes.

[lordperrin]

lordperrin, f2p and premium will not have access to both rested xp or the ability to utilize Destiny Points. This means that they will also not be able to use DP for getting additional xp. Those of us who are VIP's however have access to both.

Maybe this is where people are having such a hard time understanding me. I have nothing whatsoever against the free players. I dont care about that. My issue is with VIPs being able to spend hundreds of dollars for serious advantage on the item mall creating an un-level playing field amongst VIPs.

[0rdinary0wl]

http://compendium.ddo.com/wiki/DDO_Store_Guide

Experience Elixirs that grant 10-20% bonuses to XP for 3-6 hours! Single and 5-Stacks available

+1 and +2 Tomes that permanently boost your character's dexterity, charisma, constitution, strength, intelligence and wisdom.

Jewels of Fortune that grant your character a +1 bonus to the level of treasure earned from opening treasure chests. 5, 10 and 25-Stacks available.

and many more. Does that sound like a level playing field to you?

Not that it really could apply to LOTRO I guess, but don't overlook the 32 point build. That's a pretty big advantage, so much that when you unlock it (the old fashion way) people would go back and reroll characters.

[lordperrin]

Once again you are making an assumption that is not backed up by anything. Everything you are saying has been countered by the Community Team and by the FAQ's.

Just like how they told us this game would never be free to play with an item mall? Sorry, they've lost all credibility with me as of yesterday's announcement.