Clarification needed on Ult BTS expansion pack

[Oddessia]

I was hoping I could get a concrete answer from SSG on the shared storage slots that come with ultimate version of Before the Shadow expansion.

Cord stated on stream that they will "go over current storage cap." (I believe current cap is 320? Someone correct me if Im wrong.)

I took this to mean that ONLY IF we are at 320 and buy the ult edition, upon release our shared storage would be at 330 slots. (Meaning theres no other way to get to 330 outside of THESE exact 10 slots, added from a capped account.)
But talking to some other people made me realize they interpreted Cord's statement to mean that the ult pack RAISES your shared storage cap, regardless of your current slot number. So if you currently have 200 shared storage, buy ult edition, then months later when you get to cap it will allow you to be at 330 instead of 320.

Not only would I like to know which one it is, I would really love a clear guarantee that these slots (in either option) WILL allow player to go over current cap of 320.


I know Cord stated it in interview but Im hesitant as sometimes the information given is incorrect, and this directly impacts which version I buy, and if I also buy additional shared storage pre-release.
Also, if it turns out where us players buy this ult pack while being at current shared storage cap, and it was confirmed that it does go over cap...and then it turns out it actually doesnt...what recompense will be allowed? Can we be refunded the ult edition to allow us to perhaps buy a lower edition?

Thanks!

Ods

[Once_of_Bree]

I was hoping I could get a concrete answer from SSG on the shared storage slots that come with ultimate version of Before the Shadow expansion.

Cord stated on stream that they will "go over current storage cap." (I believe current cap is 320? Someone correct me if Im wrong.)

I took this to mean that ONLY IF we are at 320 and buy the ult edition, upon release our shared storage would be at 330 slots. (Meaning theres no other way to get to 330 outside of THESE exact 10 slots, added from a capped account.)
But talking to some other people made me realize they interpreted Cord's statement to mean that the ult pack RAISES your shared storage cap, regardless of your current slot number. So if you currently have 200 shared storage, buy ult edition, then months later when you get to cap it will allow you to be at 330 instead of 320.

Not only would I like to know which one it is, I would really love a clear guarantee that these slots (in either option) WILL allow player to go over current cap of 320.


I know Cord stated it in interview but Im hesitant as sometimes the information given is incorrect, and this directly impacts which version I buy, and if I also buy additional shared storage pre-release.
Also, if it turns out where us players buy this ult pack while being at current shared storage cap, and it was confirmed that it does go over cap...and then it turns out it actually doesnt...what recompense will be allowed? Can we be refunded the ult edition to allow us to perhaps buy a lower edition?

Thanks!

Ods

Further confused by the normal cap is 310 and you can only get to 320 if you bought some specific expansion option at some point in the last 15 years. Why they make life so confusing for the players and so hard for themselves is a mystery.

[egarthur]

Further confused by the normal cap is 310 and you can only get to 320 if you bought some specific expansion option at some point in the last 15 years. Why they make life so confusing for the players and so hard for themselves is a mystery.

Think of it this way: Mordor Ultimate granted 10 shared-storage slots and raised the "hard cap" of shared storage to 320. But you still have to buy the shared-storage slots to get up that high. It just means you get an extra boost and can go beyond the 310 limit.

If Before the Shadow Ultimate doesn't do the same thing, SSG will be getting an earful, because the precedent has already been set.

[Once_of_Bree]

It's not the + 10 slots that confuses me, it's making the ultimate version of an expansion the gatekeeper for the slot cap increase that confuses me.

Why not say with release of expansion slot cap is increased by 10 and if you buy the ultimate version you get + 10 more slots (added on to your current max slot)

Plus then those of us who didn't buy the ultimate could still spend money to buy extra slots to reach new cap where as now, our money is just burning a hole in our pocket.

Now they have to maintain a check on whether the cap is 310, 320 or 330, that's just the sort of thing they say adds lag & complexity.

[Cordovan]

When Before the Shadow releases players who have purchased the Ultimate Edition of Before the Shadow will receive an additional ten slots of Shared Storage. This does effectively raise the total amount of possible shared storage a player can conceivably have by ten, but you don't need to be at the previous cap in order to receive these ten additional slots. You'll just have ten more.

[DoRonRon]

So, after the patch anyone at max already can purchase 10 more slots with LP. But with $99 they are free

or is that an exclusive extra 10?

[Cordovan]

So, after the patch anyone at max already can purchase 10 more slots with LP. But with $99 they are free

or is that an exclusive extra 10?

The ten additional slots are part of the Before the Shadow bundle, and are not currently planned to be sold a la carte.

[maartena]

The ten additional slots are part of the Before the Shadow bundle, and are not currently planned to be sold a la carte.

So in short:

If you do NOT buy Ultimate BTS, your maximum is 320.
If you DO buy Ultimate BTS, you get 10 slots on top of your current storage to a maximum of 330. Even though you may not be at 320 at this point in time, you can fill it out to 330 with future purchases.

Correct?

[DoRonRon]

Just can't market as an "exclusive" +10 with the trend for generous summer gifts I take it.

[Cordovan]

So in short:

If you do NOT buy Ultimate BTS, your maximum is 320.
If you DO buy Ultimate BTS, you get 10 slots on top of your current storage to a maximum of 330. Even though you may not be at 320 at this point in time, you can fill it out to 330 with future purchases.

Correct?

I mean, the tying of cap to the item is a bit odd, but in general what you are saying is accurate-ish. The cap for storage game-wide will be whatever the maximum amount of storage we allow you to purchase is through all available methods, assuming you have purchased everything. If you haven't purchased everything, then you won't be at the max available game cap. Purchasing everything may include a combination of general storage space in the LOTRO Store along with other methods of obtaining storage. So, if you are asking for a way to "get around" purchasing this bundle that includes storage but still somehow ending up at 330 when the total game cap is 330, then no. But assuming you have made this purchase as well then yes.

[Stever1388]

I mean, the tying of cap to the item is a bit odd, but in general what you are saying is accurate-ish. The cap for storage game-wide will be whatever the maximum amount of storage we allow you to purchase is through all available methods, assuming you have purchased everything. If you haven't purchased everything, then you won't be at the max available game cap. Purchasing everything may include a combination of general storage space in the LOTRO Store along with other methods of obtaining storage. So, if you are asking for a way to "get around" purchasing this bundle that includes storage but still somehow ending up at 330 when the total game cap is 330, then no. But assuming you have made this purchase as well then yes.

I think what they were asking was whether the ultimate bundle replaces one of the tiers in the store if you haven't bought it. For example:

1) You are at max shared storage (320). You can't purchase any more from the store. You purchase the ultimate bundle, so now you are at 330.
2a) You aren't at max shared (310). There's still one more you can purchase from the store. You purchase the ultimate bundle, so now you are at 320. There is still one more you can purchase from the store, so you can get to 330.
2b) You aren't at max shared (310). There's still one more you can purchase from the store. You purchase the ultimate bundle, so now you are at 320. The store one is no longer there (because the ultimate bundle replaced it). You cap at 320.

So it's basically the order that you buy them. I don't think they were asking whether you could get to 330 without buying the ultimate bundle, just whether you could get to 330 if you bought the ultimate bundle but hadn't yet bought all the other increases from the store. And from the sounds of it, it doesn't matter the order, if you buy the ultimate bundle, you can get to 330 once you buy all the ones from the store. If you don't buy the ultimate bundle, you can only get 320.

[Cordovan]

I think what they were asking was whether the ultimate bundle replaces one of the tiers in the store if you haven't bought it. For example:

1) You are at max shared storage (320). You can't purchase any more from the store. You purchase the ultimate bundle, so now you are at 330.
2a) You aren't at max shared (310). There's still one more you can purchase from the store. You purchase the ultimate bundle, so now you are at 320. There is still one more you can purchase from the store, so you can get to 330.
2b) You aren't at max shared (310). There's still one more you can purchase from the store. You purchase the ultimate bundle, so now you are at 320. The store one is no longer there (because the ultimate bundle replaced it). You cap at 320.

So it's basically the order that you buy them. I don't think they were asking whether you could get to 330 without buying the ultimate bundle, just whether you could get to 330 if you bought the ultimate bundle but hadn't yet bought all the other increases from the store. And from the sounds of it, it doesn't matter the order, if you buy the ultimate bundle, you can get to 330 once you buy all the ones from the store. If you don't buy the ultimate bundle, you can only get 320.

Yes, order should not matter. Thanks for the explanation.

[Froyo_K_Baggins]

I just want to understand why SSG decided to tie lotro to a South Korean boy band.

What? Oh, really? Never mind... :P

[Once_of_Bree]

I still wish the +10 slots and the cap raise weren't tied together it would make life so much simpler.

[Tralfazz]

I still wish the +10 slots and the cap raise weren't tied together it would make life so much simpler.

They have to be tied together or people already at the cap who make a purchase of the $100 Ultimate Edition of this new mini-expansion will not get the benefit of the additional 10 slots.

If you mean, "I'd like the cap to be raised so I can buy more slots in the store!" then I'm right there with you. But that is a subject for the Player Suggestions forum and not really related to this thread.

[puggs741]

I actually cannot buy anymore spots past 310, nothing available past the 310 for me??

[puggs741]

This is my shared storage, I was also curious if the ten slots are automatically installed after purchase or as a clickable item to put into effect? btw I did purchase the ultimate edition.

[puggs741]

I just went ahead and filled out a bug report, Thank you all in this thread for giving me the proper slots availability.

[Feuerhaar]

I just went ahead and filled out a bug report, Thank you all in this thread for giving me the proper slots availability.

Did you also buy the Ultimate edition of the Mordor expansion? That one also gave +10 slots, 310 is the max that you can buy from the store.

[egarthur]

I just went ahead and filled out a bug report, Thank you all in this thread for giving me the proper slots availability.

As I understand it:

• Max from store = 310 slots (baseline "cap" on shared storage)
• Mordor Ultimate: adds 10 slots to what you already have, and raises your "cap" by 10
• BtS Ultimate, when released: adds 10 slots to what you already have, and raises your "cap" by 10

So, once BtS releases, your cap is either 310, 320 or 330, depending on whether you bought one, both, or neither of those expac Ultimate editions. If one wants to make a distinction between "hard" and "soft" caps, 330 is the most anyone will have for their shared storage, upon BtS release.

Whether you are at your particular cap, depends on how many slots you bought from the store, in addition to what editions of what expacs you have or have not bought, and whether BtS has released yet.

Is that a reasonable way to state it?

It used to be relatively easy to state: your cap is at 310, unless you bought Mordor Ultimate, in which case it is at 320. But now there's 4 different combinations and 3 different possible caps, as well as the before-BtS-release/after-BtS-release distinction.

I truly don't understand why the shared-storage bump, and the character slot, need to wait until the BtS release. Seems like those are just backend things that could be turned on the moment you make the purchase, like some of the other things in the Ultimate package. But I guess there's technical reasons. I hope it's not just a marketing thing, because the confusion it engenders -- as evident in this thread -- probably dissuades some folks from buying Ultimate. So that would be a marketing backfire.

[puggs741]

As I understand it:

• Max from store = 310 slots (baseline "cap" on shared storage)
• Mordor Ultimate: adds 10 slots to what you already have, and raises your "cap" by 10
• BtS Ultimate, when released: adds 10 slots to what you already have, and raises your "cap" by 10

So, once BtS releases, your cap is either 310, 320 or 330, depending on whether you bought one, both, or neither of those expac Ultimate editions. If one wants to make a distinction between "hard" and "soft" caps, 330 is the most anyone will have for their shared storage, upon BtS release.

Whether you are at your particular cap, depends on how many slots you bought from the store, in addition to what editions of what expacs you have or have not bought, and whether BtS has released yet.

Is that a reasonable way to state it?

It used to be relatively easy to state: your cap is at 310, unless you bought Mordor Ultimate, in which case it is at 320. But now there's 4 different combinations and 3 different possible caps, as well as the before-BtS-release/after-BtS-release distinction.

I truly don't understand why the shared-storage bump, and the character slot, need to wait until the BtS release. Seems like those are just backend things that could be turned on the moment you make the purchase, like some of the other things in the Ultimate package. But I guess there's technical reasons. I hope it's not just a marketing thing, because the confusion it engenders -- as evident in this thread -- probably dissuades some folks from buying Ultimate. So that would be a marketing backfire.

I thank you kindly your explanation describes the difference in numbers clearly. I didn't do ultimate for mordor so I am where I should be. I'll go update my bug report pronto!! Thanks again.