Free to Play Frustration with Before the Shadow

[maartena]

Well, whaddayaknow!

SSG just announced on Facebook that Before the Shadow is available for Lotro points as of today.

[Elmagor]

Well, whaddayaknow!

SSG just announced on Facebook that Before the Shadow is available for Lotro points as of today.

They enable BTS for LP, and announce that on facebook/forum/twitter 6 hours after they enable it. What a way to sell product and increase player population

[DoRonRon]

They enable BTS for LP, and announce that on facebook/forum/twitter 6 hours after they enable it. What a way to sell product and increase player population

Can I buy extra hours above the cap of 24 a day in the store: a rather time consuming festival, important beta and BtS?

Too much.

[Rylnconn]

Not releasing at the same time, but closer than 6 months apart. I highlighted the Leading the Charge Deed to illustrate the kind of time frames given before allowing "the masses" access. a few months are enough to allow your money payers to feel satisfied and get their value. Also I was focusing again on how they can increase value for the monetization which is how many companies profit from games with few monthly subscribers.

I realize they delay the expansions selling for LP and I don't say that should end entirely, I just think it's getting extreme.
Someone mentioned in another post that the new instance cluster was going to be LP. If that's the case then my point isn't as salient but I believe still has merit.

Game population numbers are always changing .
It makes good business sense to hold off releasing older updates to Lp purchase .
After all new players are joining daily with enough numbers to validate the current monetary system .
Allow ssg the time to get "Thier" monies worth out of the product ... however long that takes , be that 6 or 8 or more months .

[Plidak]

Between the next big update releasing new instances, the fix for the ill omens bag going out, as well as the posted FAQ about the Before the Shadow expansion, everything pointed to the Before the Shadow expansion going on the Lotro Store for Lotro Points either last week or this week. As a player who has paid real money in the past but can't afford to right now I'm genuinely frustrated. No one runs Gundabad instances right now because the new instances are where to loot is at (SV and Doom). F2P players have waited patiently for months to be able to play with our friends again outside a single weekly raid.

Now with U35 looming with even more new instances being released the frustration is feeling justified. I can't play with my friends. If I buy before the shadow for 1995 lotro points and a week later all those instances are again made obsolete with U35 then there's no point in continuing F2P with lotro at all. It's not worth $20 worth of lotro points for a week of content. I want to play with friends, I want to engage with the current content, I want to help give the servers life and I get the feeling SSG doesn't want me or my type of player around. If we could buy the expansion and join in, new life could be breathed into the current content. Instead we'll have next to no time to enjoy the game before the new content comes out and it's all obsolete again.

I get that they want to force people who are already on the hook to spend real money, but not everyone can do that. If you want F2P players, let us play the endgame at some point. We already can't get the deed/title, and Spring Break is happening around the US. If you only want paid content then just charge everyone monthly and make your money. The folks who play F2P will find a game that will work with them.

Are you for real ? I hardly see ViPs complain they dont get enough for they money, as bonuses /and we dont/ but you can see f2p complains weekly....
20$. If you cant spend 20$ for something you like, then you need to rethink your life. No matter where you live, no matter whats your age is.
Ppl stil run Gundabad raid, also 3/6m for embers and some for deeds or t5 cloak, so you have no right to complain there.
Ppl will stil run delvings. Also ppl will stil do Doom/SV because of cloak and neck.
Imo f2p get too much for free, and too fast.
There should be even WC chat restriction, and now we even have complains that f2p content comes too slow...
Ridiculous

Simple solution: just skip BTS and buy U35.

The point is, HE want it for free, and want it NOW ...

[Froyo_K_Baggins]

If I remember correctly, the original lag was three months from cash to LP. I could accept that, as whales were still playing it when LP folks got it. As the OP said, six months is too long and a reason not to buy the expansion because it's useless. I'll wait for major updates, not a piddly little area and one six toon instance.

[Plidak]

If I remember correctly, the original lag was three months from cash to LP. I could accept that, as whales were still playing it when LP folks got it. As the OP said, six months is too long and a reason not to buy the expansion because it's useless. I'll wait for major updates, not a piddly little area and one six toon instance.

November 10th, 2021! And pps stil playing Gundabad today

Before tha shadow November 15th, 2022. and ppl will stil playing it 1y from today day.


Enough with free to play DEMANDS please. As we say "go play tetris"

And you buy it for real $. From store you are getting it with lp, dont call it buying.

Go work 1 day and cash 20$ or be a good kid and your parents will buy it for you.

If you cant do the mentioned, then tetris is aways an option.

I mean the free version of it ofc ....

[QUOTE=Froyo_K_Baggins;8180429]If I remember correctly, the original lag was three months from cash to LP. [QUOTE]

And vips never had so many mini expansions to play extra for.

Now we get like them 2>1 compared to quest packs. Yet we didn complain that hard
And there we have f2p ....
Right!!!

[DavidmeetHal]

Are you for real ? I hardly see ViPs complain they dont get enough for they money, as bonuses /and we dont/ but you can see f2p complains weekly....
20$. If you cant spend 20$ for something you like, then you need to rethink your life. No matter where you live, no matter whats your age is.
Ppl stil run Gundabad raid, also 3/6m for embers and some for deeds or t5 cloak, so you have no right to complain there.
Ppl will stil run delvings. Also ppl will stil do Doom/SV because of cloak and neck.
Imo f2p get too much for free, and too fast.
There should be even WC chat restriction, and now we even have complains that f2p content comes too slow...
Ridiculous



The point is, HE want it for free, and want it NOW ...

I pretty much have to agree with this. I understand that sometimes you don't have the money, but that's just how it is.

[Ketriana]

I don’t post here much but I just wanted to say that every time the F2P issue comes up comments on both sides of the debate make me feel very uncomfortable. I think we would all benefit from exercising more compassion and less judgement towards each other.

I’ve seen many F2P players say that escaping to Middle-earth for a time through LOTRO is one of the ways they cope with some truly awful life situations they are dealing with. Be it divorce, medical problems, unemployment, the death of a spouse, or a number of other issues, some people are simply unable to financially support the game but spending time in Middle-earth is extremely important to them as they navigate hard times in life. These people could benefit from compassion for their situation rather than simply being labelled freeloaders or leeches (as I’ve unfortunately seen them called in-game before).

On the other hand, those who are financially unable to support the game should not direct their frustration or bitterness towards players who are paying for VIP/expansions and getting extra perks for doing so. At the end of the day SSG is running a business and LOTRO is a product, so of course they need to take steps to encourage players to pay if possible, but I don’t feel these methods are overly harsh at all (in my opinion, I know some others see it differently). Paying $20 for an expansion hardly qualifies one as a “whale," and judging those who buy the higher tier expansions is extremely wrong as well. No one knows the financial situation of other players; you don’t know how long they may have had to save for that purchase, what sacrifices they made, or whether they were gifted some funds to spend for that purpose in order to bring some joy into their lives (I know some disabled gamers who fall into this latter category and I would certainly NOT label them “whales”).

Personally, I feel LOTRO’s current F2P model is extremely generous and I am grateful for that, but I’m used to the days when you could not even log in and say hello to friends in MMOs without paying your sub fee first. There have been times when I can afford to stay subbed in LOTRO, and times when I cannot; times when I could buy highest tier expansions, and times when I had to wait for them to release for lotro points. I think a lot of players do not fit neatly into one category or another when it comes to debates like this, so it never made much sense to me to start throwing around labels and creating artificial divisions among the player base (F2P players often transition to VIP/Premium eventually, many VIP transition back to Premium etc). However, I will say that I have ALWAYS been grateful for players who could afford to keep financially supporting the game, especially during times when I could not. LOTRO would have ceased to exist if not for them.

My point is simply this: we don’t know each other’s financial or life situations, so lets please avoid name calling or judgement and try to be compassionate with one another. LOTRO is dear to us all or we wouldn’t be here, so one thing we have in common is wanting the game to survive and be enjoyed by all kinds of players from all walks of life.

Anyways, that’s just my two cents. Thank you for taking the time to consider them.

[Starliteyes]

Anyways, that’s just my two cents. Thank you for taking the time to consider them.

Excellent post! If people applied this to RL as well as in game, the world would be a better place. Walk a mile in my shoes... Thank you.

[DavidmeetHal]

I don’t post here much but I just wanted to say that every time the F2P issue comes up comments on both sides of the debate make me feel very uncomfortable. I think we would all benefit from exercising more compassion and less judgement towards each other.

I’ve seen many F2P players say that escaping to Middle-earth for a time through LOTRO is one of the ways they cope with some truly awful life situations they are dealing with. Be it divorce, medical problems, unemployment, the death of a spouse, or a number of other issues, some people are simply unable to financially support the game but spending time in Middle-earth is extremely important to them as they navigate hard times in life. These people could benefit from compassion for their situation rather than simply being labelled freeloaders or leeches (as I’ve unfortunately seen them called in-game before).

On the other hand, those who are financially unable to support the game should not direct their frustration or bitterness towards players who are paying for VIP/expansions and getting extra perks for doing so. At the end of the day SSG is running a business and LOTRO is a product, so of course they need to take steps to encourage players to pay if possible, but I don’t feel these methods are overly harsh at all (in my opinion, I know some others see it differently). Paying $20 for an expansion hardly qualifies one as a “whale," and judging those who buy the higher tier expansions is extremely wrong as well. No one knows the financial situation of other players; you don’t know how long they may have had to save for that purchase, what sacrifices they made, or whether they were gifted some funds to spend for that purpose in order to bring some joy into their lives (I know some disabled gamers who fall into this latter category and I would certainly NOT label them “whales”).

Personally, I feel LOTRO’s current F2P model is extremely generous and I am grateful for that, but I’m used to the days when you could not even log in and say hello to friends in MMOs without paying your sub fee first. There have been times when I can afford to stay subbed in LOTRO, and times when I cannot; times when I could buy highest tier expansions, and times when I had to wait for them to release for lotro points. I think a lot of players do not fit neatly into one category or another when it comes to debates like this, so it never made much sense to me to start throwing around labels and creating artificial divisions among the player base (F2P players often transition to VIP/Premium eventually, many VIP transition back to Premium etc). However, I will say that I have ALWAYS been grateful for players who could afford to keep financially supporting the game, especially during times when I could not. LOTRO would have ceased to exist if not for them.

My point is simply this: we don’t know each other’s financial or life situations, so lets please avoid name calling or judgement and try to be compassionate with one another. LOTRO is dear to us all or we wouldn’t be here, so one thing we have in common is wanting the game to survive and be enjoyed by all kinds of players from all walks of life.

Anyways, that’s just my two cents. Thank you for taking the time to consider them.

I understand what you're saying, but I really hate it when someone that plays for free wants the same thing as ViPs. That really grinds my gears. I really don't see criticism given toward your average F2P player, just the ones that feel like they deserve everything.

Man, I've caught a lot of flak for being lifetime, you would have thought I kicked a kitten or puppy. Never mind the fact that with the exception of Shadows, I've bought the ultimate version of every expac in the game, and always buy points.

Speaking of, that's another sore point of mine, ViP players being mad that they have to pay for the expansions. Seriously people?

[Pharone]

I think that SSG does a good job of offering quite a bit for free in Lord of The Rings Online. As far as MMORPG with a F2P option, this game really goes above and beyond on what is given for free as well as allowing the players to earn coins in game by simply playing the game. Their F2P model is really very good in my opinion.

On my stream, I make a point to always tell new players that "IF you can afford to pay the monthly subscription for Lotro, then I highly recommend it because there are very good benefits associated with that subscription, but if you can not afford it, then don't fret about it because the game offers you a LOT for free."

Is there benefits to being a paid customer of Lotro? Yes. They benefits are pretty good honestly. Could it be better? Yes. The storage wars of inventory, wardrobe, shared bank, etc is a major pain point, but over all, the game is very, very far from being a money sink like a lot of other MMOs with a F2P option.

Ultimately, I feel like the original poster is demanding too much as a non-paying customer of the game. That being said, I am in no way what so ever against people playing the game for free. Your finances dictate what you can and can not do in life, and I am glad that you have the option to enjoy Lotro even if your finances are not in a good place right now. I am happy you have that option available to you. Demanding more is where I get annoyed.

As for paying for the game, I feel that those who can afford it and truly do enjoy the game should in some way help support the game. I am at a point in my life where I can afford to spend a lot on my hobbies. It wasn't always like that. There have been times in my past where I barely could afford a monthly subscription to an MMO, and other times where I simply could not. Now I pay for the monthly subscription, buy all expansions, buy the supporter packs, buy the highest tier of expansions/packs/etc, and buy coins. I don't do it because I have to or because I should. I do it because I can and I feel like that if I do it, it helps SSG continue to offer the game for free for those who can not afford it right now. That's my way of giving back to the world even if it is a small thing.

[Ketriana]

I understand what you're saying, but I really hate it when someone that plays for free wants the same thing as ViPs. That really grinds my gears. I really don't see criticism given toward your average F2P player, just the ones that feel like they deserve everything.

Man, I've caught a lot of flak for being lifetime, you would have thought I kicked a kitten or puppy. Never mind the fact that with the exception of Shadows, I've bought the ultimate version of every expac in the game, and always buy points.

Speaking of, that's another sore point of mine, ViP players being mad that they have to pay for the expansions. Seriously people?

I definitely agree about the lifetime accounts. I've seen comments directed at lifetimers as well which are completely unjustified. I am grateful for those people who believed enough in LOTRO early on to buy lifetime accounts and give Turbine the funds they needed to grow the game. The fact that the gamble they took paid off is no reason to give flak to lifetimers for the perks they enjoy because LOTRO surviving this long was never guaranteed.

I don't like seeing a sense of entitlement among F2P players either, but I still think it's a worthy goal to try and stay mindful of the fact we don't know what other players are going through and what might be contributing to their frustration. In this thread, it seemed to me that the OP was less concerned about getting everything for free and more concerned about feeling left behind by their gaming buddies because their current life circumstances prevent them from buying the expansion with real money. For that, I sympathize with the OP and am sorry for whatever challenges they may be going through.

OP, if you are still reading this thread, I am glad you are now able to get the expansion with lotro points and hope you enjoy BtS as much as I have. It's a really fun expansion. I hope your future days in LOTRO will be happy ones.

[Froyo_K_Baggins]

November 10th, 2021! And pps stil playing Gundabad today

Before tha shadow November 15th, 2022. and ppl will stil playing it 1y from today day.

Nope, they might be doing higher tier runs, but not intro ones. I was a subscriber when it was the only option, and after f2p. However, the game stopped of enough value, especially when the company treated me very poorly, and I stopped paying. They need to earn money, they have to make it worthwhile.

The odds are that most of you whining about f2p are lifetime. I sometimes buy LP, which you get for free, but I've made a choice. They owe the consumer value for money. That doesn't seem to matter to you, so that's your choice.

[Elmagor]

I definitely agree about the lifetime accounts. I've seen comments directed at lifetimers as well which are completely unjustified. I am grateful for those people who believed enough in LOTRO early on to buy lifetime accounts and give Turbine the funds they needed to grow the game. The fact that the gamble they took paid off is no reason to give flak to lifetimers for the perks they enjoy because LOTRO surviving this long was never guaranteed.

I don't like seeing a sense of entitlement among F2P players either, but I still think it's a worthy goal to try and stay mindful of the fact we don't know what other players are going through and what might be contributing to their frustration. In this thread, it seemed to me that the OP was less concerned about getting everything for free and more concerned about feeling left behind by their gaming buddies because their current life circumstances prevent them from buying the expansion with real money. For that, I sympathize with the OP and am sorry for whatever challenges they may be going through.

OP, if you are still reading this thread, I am glad you are now able to get the expansion with lotro points and hope you enjoy BtS as much as I have. It's a really fun expansion. I hope your future days in LOTRO will be happy ones.

Some people can buy liftetime if they can, and SSG with that turn lifetimers into elite. Not all of them believed enough in LOTRO, they just was in right time in right place.

P.S. I don't think SSG force us to use gold Enchanting Runes 499 level, I think with Umbar they finish revamping LI system and just create next types of runes

[Plidak]

I don’t post here much

We speaking of spending 20$ once or twice per year, or waiting 6 month /or less as in the last case/ to get ALL for LP.
No one call f2p players leehes.
But if sm1 come to forum to demand and complain for no real reason, then ye...
And im not even sorry.
Ppl who share their personal problems on wc / no matter do they are real or fake problems/ are even worse.
We are not here to carry their burden. Some of us have more than enough of such burdens and we carry it silently or with help of a friend/s,
If such ppl want a support, then why not make friends first. Why we they use they real/or fake issues to recieve help?
From me they just get a grin and "ignore"
Lowest of them all

Nope, they might be doing higher tier runs, but not intro ones. I was a subscriber when it was the only option, and after f2p. However, the game stopped of enough value, especially when the company treated me very poorly, and I stopped paying. They need to earn money, they have to make it worthwhile.

The odds are that most of you whining about f2p are lifetime. I sometimes buy LP, which you get for free, but I've made a choice. They owe the consumer value for money. That doesn't seem to matter to you, so that's your choice.

What this have to do witj 5-6 months before it go for LP ?
I didnt even get te whining part, f2p are life time?
My brain literaly hurts man. Im sory but i have no idea what are you trying to say.

[VanguardIV]

Are you for real ? I hardly see ViPs complain they dont get enough for they money, as bonuses /and we dont/ but you can see f2p complains weekly....
20$. If you cant spend 20$ for something you like, then you need to rethink your life. No matter where you live, no matter whats your age is.
Ppl stil run Gundabad raid, also 3/6m for embers and some for deeds or t5 cloak, so you have no right to complain there.
Ppl will stil run delvings. Also ppl will stil do Doom/SV because of cloak and neck.
Imo f2p get too much for free, and too fast.
There should be even WC chat restriction, and now we even have complains that f2p content comes too slow...
Ridiculous



The point is, HE want it for free, and want it NOW ...

That's some F2Ps with any game. That's just how it is.

And tbf, up until recently, F2P was outright predatory in LOTRO. VIPs never complained because they either didn't know better or didn't understand how modern subscription models worked.

So back then complaining about the F2P was warranted and justified. This one, eh at least imo it's not a big deal.

$20 isn't really, I mean, idk about his/her condition, but for the average gamer $20 is nothing. Considering you have to spend money for battle-passes/cosmetic sets/expansions/dlcs/the next AAA release etc.

So at least imo, it's not even a big deal. He prob should have just waited honestly. Or played smth while waiting. Lots of other F2P games out there which are great: i.e Genshin Impact *cough*

[Plidak]

So at least imo, it's not even a big deal. He prob should have just waited honestly. Or played smth while waiting. Lots of other F2P games out there which are great: i.e Genshin Impact *cough*

Even a ViPs grind lotro point. Like farming them. While you waiting for that 4-6 month period to ends, you can do some LP farm, virtues upgrade, deeds compleation, etc, etc.
But na, lets go on forum and demand SSG to lower the "lag" time.
I hope OP realise thatn lots of edngamers / most vips too/ take a LONG vacantion when they compleate their goal. Like clearing HH raid on hight tiers and geting all the gear they can possible get from there. And by long i mean 1y or more. Waiting for next expansion to be released. So following the OP logic they should all be on forum pressing SSG to release the next content because they are bored.
Honestly they have WAY more rights to do so, yet i hardly see such complains on forum ...

[DavidmeetHal]

Some people can buy liftetime if they can, and SSG with that turn lifetimers into elite. Not all of them believed enough in LOTRO, they just was in right time in right place.

I don't get it. As far as I know, lifetime is no longer available, when I bought lifetime, I never became some kind of "elite".

[Elmagor]

I don't get it. As far as I know, lifetime is no longer available, when I bought lifetime, I never became some kind of "elite".

You became elite after lifetime is no longer available, a lot of players want to buy it if they have chance for it in the past

[Plidak]

You became elite after lifetime is no longer available, a lot of players want to buy it if they have chance for it in the past

No he doesnt. Many downsides. Lack of SSG support and simpaty to lifers is one of the few.
The diference is 20$ month or 6 months "lag" to get the last released content.
Dont know for you but il pick the last 2 over lifer. Also lifers need to buy the expansions too you know.
So yea, all but "elite"

[Elebraen]

Now with U35 looming with even more new instances being released the frustration is feeling justified. I can't play with my friends. If I buy before the shadow for 1995 lotro points and a week later all those instances are again made obsolete with U35 then there's no point in continuing F2P with lotro at all. It's not worth $20 worth of lotro points for a week of content. I want to play with friends, I want to engage with the current content, I want to help give the servers life and I get the feeling SSG doesn't want me or my type of player around. If we could buy the expansion and join in, new life could be breathed into the current content. Instead we'll have next to no time to enjoy the game before the new content comes out and it's all obsolete again.

I'm sorry to hear that your P2P friends have left you behind, but they pay money to have that privilege. I play with other F2P people that the current content for us is not the current end-game content or the latest expansion. That gives us the other 99% of the game to play with that I don't miss the latest end-game content at all. The latest expansions are always buggy, and by the time I get there six months later, the bugs are gone, the crowds are gone, the pressure to keep up with the raid groups is gone and the casual gamers can relax. What's not to love?

[DavidmeetHal]

You became elite after lifetime is no longer available, a lot of players want to buy it if they have chance for it in the past

Nope. I'm lifetime, and I'll be the first to say that there is nothing elite about it. Believe it or not, a lot of us buy points, and we still have to buy the expansions. The ONLY difference between us and regular ViPs is that we plopped down a lump sum the first year or two of the game.

We are most definitely not elite.

[Arnenna]

Nope. I'm lifetime, and I'll be the first to say that there is nothing elite about it. Believe it or not, a lot of us buy points, and we still have to buy the expansions. The ONLY difference between us and regular ViPs is that we plopped down a lump sum the first year or two of the game.

We are most definitely not elite.

I don't think lifers are elite. Not in the slightest. My hubby is one, given he was here right back at the start.

There is significantly more difference to Lifetime VIP-ers than regular VIP-ers than you make out though. I can make direct comparisons between myself and my hubby.

He plopped down that initial £300.00 way back, and he buys expansions yes. He has also purchased points over the years. He's taking a long break from the game now, as in, he hasn't played for about 2 years. If and when he returns, nothing will have changed, he will just be 12K points up. His VIP perks will still be there, and all he will have to do to catch up is purchase maybe two expansions that he missed, at most.

In comparison, I've been here 12 years (in game). That's £1200.00 VIP fees, if I had subbed continuously on an annual basis, as well as all expansion costs. Any lapse in the sub results in loss of VIP perks and so on. Until recently it also resulted in loss of access to a major amount of game content also, but that has been given away now.

They made a major change to how expansions can be purchased when Mordor was introduced. Until then, people that subbed to the game, could buy expansions with their pre-paid for LP, whether those be lifetime subbers or subbers on continuous payment. Mordor changed all that, with early release for cash only.

My hubby, as a lifer, didn't question that, as he received his LP monthly, even if he had spent no money on the game for however long. It meant he would take a two year break if he wanted to, then use the LP he earned while off game, to purchase the expansions he missed. He did however, ask me, why you bothering to pay VIP now if your earned LP are not good enough to buy content with? You've already paid £x.xx since the last expansion that you bought for cash. He was right.

I had always bought expansions for real cash, even though allof them were available in the store when I arrived. I was happy to support the game and I could afford to. The option was always there to buy them with my Pre-paid for LP if I wanted to though, which was a nice contingency to have, if times should become tough (which I'm thankfully happy to say, didn't). Even though it didn't affect me directly because of my financial circumstances, it really got my back up, because I knew players in game that it did affect. They paid subs regularly, yet, when Mordor arrived, they couldn't continue playing the game because they had already spent what quota they could afford for gaming in that year. They had to wait. These were players, paying a regular £100.00 into the game each year for more than a decade, who found themselves in a position where they had to stop playing end game, even though they still had half a year left on their subscriptions. They no longer sub, and who can blame them. They had a quota of £100.00 per year for gaming, which should have been enough. Now they just buy base expansions when they hit, which is a lot cheaper for them and a loss of revenue to SSG. Some even wait out the base, until it arrives in the store.

That is the fault of SSG, not the players who "were" happy to pay a regular amount continuously, to play.

They targeted the F2P players and the lifetimers who were not paying for expansions (note* not the lifetimers who were), but they kicked down the paying subscribers at the same time. This why we now see ViP NPCs in the world and have VIP servers, to try and recover some of the loss to sub money that caused. Its not enough though, some of the players I know that felt their £100.00 a year was not good enough for SSG, will never sub or pay for expansions again, no matter what little perks they add to it. Out of principle.

Bottom line then.

There are a lot of lifetime players, like yourself and my bubby, who continued to financially support the game after your initial down payment. They buy expansions anyway, so no change.
There are a lot of lifetime players that never paid a penny beyond their initial payment. They were the target to try getting some money out of them.
There are a lot of free to play players. They were the target to try getting some money out of them.
There are paying subscribers. They got caught in the crossfire.

[DavidmeetHal]

I don't think lifers are elite. Not in the slightest. My hubby is one, given he was here right back at the start.

There is significantly more difference to Lifetime VIP-ers than regular VIP-ers than you make out though. I can make direct comparisons between myself and my hubby.

He plopped down that initial £300.00 way back, and he buys expansions yes. He has also purchased points over the years. He's taking a long break from the game now, as in, he hasn't played for about 2 years. If and when he returns, nothing will have changed, he will just be 12K points up. His VIP perks will still be there, and all he will have to do to catch up is purchase maybe two expansions that he missed, at most.

In comparison, I've been here 12 years (in game). That's £1200.00 VIP fees, if I had subbed continuously on an annual basis, as well as all expansion costs. Any lapse in the sub results in loss of VIP perks and so on. Until recently it also resulted in loss of access to a major amount of game content also, but that has been given away now.

They made a major change to how expansions can be purchased when Mordor was introduced. Until then, people that subbed to the game, could buy expansions with their pre-paid for LP, whether those be lifetime subbers or subbers on continuous payment. Mordor changed all that, with early release for cash only.

My hubby, as a lifer, didn't question that, as he received his LP monthly, even if he had spent no money on the game for however long. It meant he would take a two year break if he wanted to, then use the LP he earned while off game, to purchase the expansions he missed. He did however, ask me, why you bothering to pay VIP now if your earned LP are not good enough to buy content with? You've already paid £x.xx since the last expansion that you bought for cash. He was right.

I had always bought expansions for real cash, even though allof them were available in the store when I arrived. I was happy to support the game and I could afford to. The option was always there to buy them with my Pre-paid for LP if I wanted to though, which was a nice contingency to have, if times should become tough (which I'm thankfully happy to say, didn't). Even though it didn't affect me directly because of my financial circumstances, it really got my back up, because I knew players in game that it did affect. They paid subs regularly, yet, when Mordor arrived, they couldn't continue playing the game because they had already spent what quota they could afford for gaming in that year. They had to wait. These were players, paying a regular £100.00 into the game each year for more than a decade, who found themselves in a position where they had to stop playing end game, even though they still had half a year left on their subscriptions. They no longer sub, and who can blame them. They had a quota of £100.00 per year for gaming, which should have been enough. Now they just buy base expansions when they hit, which is a lot cheaper for them and a loss of revenue to SSG. Some even wait out the base, until it arrives in the store.

That is the fault of SSG, not the players who "were" happy to pay a regular amount continuously, to play.

They targeted the F2P players and the lifetimers who were not paying for expansions (note* not the lifetimers who were), but they kicked down the paying subscribers at the same time. This why we now see ViP NPCs in the world and have VIP servers, to try and recover some of the loss to sub money that caused. Its not enough though, some of the players I know that felt their £100.00 a year was not good enough for SSG, will never sub or pay for expansions again, no matter what little perks they add to it. Out of principle.

Bottom line then.

There are a lot of lifetime players, like yourself and my bubby, who continued to financially support the game after your initial down payment. They buy expansions anyway, so no change.
There are a lot of lifetime players that never paid a penny beyond their initial payment. They were the target to try getting some money out of them.
There are a lot of free to play players. They were the target to try getting some money out of them.
There are paying subscribers. They got caught in the crossfire.

Good post.