Thread: New to the game, please answer a few questions.

Hello all,

I just started playing and am considering switching to VIP. Just a few questions here.

If I purchase VIP and then when I am ready, purchase MoM expansion and the other expansions when the level is required, will i have to purchase anything in the game shop to keep going? Meaning, will I need to use TP to get mount training or flight paths unlocked or anything else for that matter?

Meaning, I would rather buy VIP and the expansions and thats it. I dont want to keep going to the store because I need to buy something so its unlocked. I dont want to be nickel and dimed to death. I dont want to buy quest packs, its all too confusing on what packs I need or dont need. I would rather just buy the expansions and they have all included.

Thanks!

(I am sure this has been asked before but I couldn't find it)

Originally Posted by JustAmy

Hello all,

I just started playing and am considering switching to VIP. Just a few questions here.

If I purchase VIP and then when I am ready, purchase MoM expansion and the other expansions when the level is required, will i have to purchase anything in the game shop to keep going? Meaning, will I need to use TP to get mount training or flight paths unlocked or anything else for that matter?

if you remain ViP you wont need to buy anything from the store, if on the otherhand you downgrade form ViP you will still need to buy quest packs for regions you dont own

as ViP you can complete a small quest to learn the riding skill free ingame, not sure what you mean by flight paths quick travel maybe? quick travel is also unlocked for ViP as well

although the store isnt required for ViP's you may find you want to unlock extra wardrobe and shared storage space and fully unlock your wallet

Welcome to Middle Earth! As long as you are ViP, I believe that you automatically have swift travel. Mount training is, I think level 20. You have to run around a track in a certain time.

I've been here since day one and bought the Xpacs as they came out so I'm not sure how that works anymore.

There are other people here in the forums that just went ViP so they can answer the question a lot better than I can.

Here's the link to a great thread that answers your questions ... CLICK for answers to your question

... to get mount training or flight paths unlocked ...

Flying mounts ?

Heh. Flight paths sounds like an old habit from WoW, coming back to haunt him. Pretty sure he means stable rides/swift travel. I go with flinglongers answer as best so far. Things like riding ( at level 20 ) and swift travel paths can be unlocked by questing in game, so the only thing a VIP needs focus spending his TP on are things like additional storage and additional character slot unlocks. Don't overlook the lottery either, as another way to pile up freebies without spending TP on them. The world and his wife enters the lvl 71-75 lottery, thanks to the cap at 75, but the lower-level lotteries are quite winnable, unless they stick a key as a prize in one of them.

Yes, sorry.. Coming from wow.. so I used flight paths instead of swift travel. I mention that as of yesterday I saw that I needed to spend TP to unlock a few and I was puzzled by it.


Thanks for the quick responses.



EDIT

That link to Answers to your questions was awesome. Sorry I couldn't find it myself.

Originally Posted by JustAmy

Yes, sorry.. Coming from wow.. so I used flight paths instead of swift travel. I mention that as of yesterday I saw that I needed to spend TP to unlock a few and I was puzzled by it.

there could be a couple of resons for that.
first dosent make much sense, you dont have enough silver to pay for the travel... but even if you unlock it with TP you still cant travel without silver
second the travel routes require you to meet certain conditions usualy level or completing a certain quest, it should tell you what the requirements are before you can use the route

Originally Posted by JustAmy

Meaning, I would rather buy VIP and the expansions and thats it. I dont want to keep going to the store because I need to buy something so its unlocked. I dont want to be nickel and dimed to death. I dont want to buy quest packs, its all too confusing on what packs I need or dont need. I would rather just buy the expansions and they have all included.

While it's entirely up to you, I think you would be missing out on some things by ignoring the Store completely. (Not that the game will give you a chance to, to be honest... plenty of Turbine Point icons...) You'll be earning TP as you play, and as VIP, you get 500 TP per month as well. So you can get goodies from the Store without spending any additional money.

These 'goodies' can be mounts, potions, stat tomes, trait slots, anything really. Lots of time/grind savers as well. You won't get these just by virtue of being VIP; instead, you get the 500 TP per month which you can use to 'choose your own reward'. (Of course, Turbine hopes that you'll see more interesting stuff than you can afford, and buy some extra TP. They're kind of smart that way...)

I realize that there's many people who want to be free to ignore the Store, but all things considered, I think Turbine is actively discouraging that - hence the 'missing out'.

Originally Posted by JustAmy

EDIT

That link to Answers to your questions was awesome. Sorry I couldn't find it myself.

I had to search a lil bit for it too, but I remembered the thread that helped answering all my questions when I was in your situation, starting as f2p, then bought TP/Questpacks and got Premium and then went VIP, first 3months sub then 12months ... until now I didn't regret the decision to subscribe.

Welcome to Middle Earth

Originally Posted by Annariel

While it's entirely up to you, I think you would be missing out on some things by ignoring the Store completely. (Not that the game will give you a chance to, to be honest... plenty of Turbine Point icons...) You'll be earning TP as you play, and as VIP, you get 500 TP per month as well. So you can get goodies from the Store without spending any additional money.

These 'goodies' can be mounts, potions, stat tomes, trait slots, anything really. Lots of time/grind savers as well. You won't get these just by virtue of being VIP;

just a quick note here
trait slots are fully unlocked for ViP players, theres no need to purchase them, only f2p\premium players need to pay to unlock trait slots. you can however buy tomes to boost your trait levels but imho you have to be real lazy to buy those which is waht turbine are hoping for
if you downgrade to premium you will also keep all your trait slots on any toons logged in during your time as ViP

When you go VIP you get:
Access to every area(Except for MoM and a few other regions) unlocked gold cap, shared storage, all 5 bags, 3 extra toon slots, all trait slots unlocked, swift travel to just about everywhere, 500 TP a month, rest experience and an awesome gaming experience.

When you stop VIP you lose:
Access to every area (Except those you already had unlocked) shared storage, 2 toon slots(Your characters aren't deleted, just locked, you have to buy the character slot to unlock them, once the slot is purchased, you can choose which toon to unlock), swift travel(to the locations you HAVEN'T discovered yet), your 500 TP per month allowance (You get to keep the TP you've already got) and rest experience. You get to use up the rest that you already have, but after that, no mas. Unless you purchase it from the store in 10k increments.

What you don't lose when you stop VIP:
All trait slots unlocked, unlimited bags, 1 extra character slot, your TP that you've already gotten from your monthly allowance, and the swift travel you've already discovered on that toon, and an awesome gaming experience. You'll never lose that.

In my opinion, VIP is just a wee bit of a ripoff because you pay $10 a month for access to everything, when you could buy the Mithril edition for $50, and get UNLIMITED access to Path of the Fellowship quest packs(Trollshaws - Isengard, that includes Mirkwood, Lothlorien AND MoM), 3 horses, 3 sets of cosmetic clothing, and 2k TP. I went VIP only because I knew I could get bags, gold cap and 500 TP in one month., which saved TP for my RK, Warden and 3 character slots.

If you go to http://www.lotro.com/free.php and click on Details, you should find a chart that compares the different subscription levels.

Some corrections and clarifications to above statements though, sorry.

Originally Posted by airsoftg36c

When you go VIP you get:
Access to every area(Except for MoM and a few other regions) unlocked gold cap, shared storage, all 5 bags, 3 extra toon slots, all trait slots unlocked, swift travel to just about everywhere, 500 TP a month, rest experience and an awesome gaming experience.

Generally correct, just some details. You always have access to any outdoor area of the game and can do the epic book quests in all of them. This includes getting the legendary weapons and Moria access. Instances and some skirmishes require separate purchase for f2p/premium players, instances bound to expansions (such as Draigoch) require the purchase of the expansion for all players.

You will not have access to all other quests or any of the deeds of many zones as non-VIP until you purchase the quest pack for that region.

4 extra toon slots compared to the 1 for f2p (5 total).

Originally Posted by airsoftg36c

In my opinion, VIP is just a wee bit of a ripoff because you pay $10 a month for access to everything, when you could buy the Mithril edition for $50, and get UNLIMITED access to Path of the Fellowship quest packs(Trollshaws - Isengard, that includes Mirkwood, Lothlorien AND MoM), 3 horses, 3 sets of cosmetic clothing, and 2k TP. I went VIP only because I knew I could get bags, gold cap and 500 TP in one month., which saved TP for my RK, Warden and 3 character slots.

http://mithril.lotro.com/ does not include Mirkwood and only comes with 1 horse and no cosmetic items. It does not include MIrkwood, only costs $29.99 but is not worth the price, I think.

airsoftg36c, you were probably thinking of http://isengard.lotro.com/purchase.php , Legendary Edition. That only gives 1k TP though but still is a great deal at 49.99, IMHO, because it contains Mirkwood and Isengard.

I still feel that being VIP gives the most enjoyment playing the game. But then I am a lifetimer, easy talking for me.

Some people think that instead of going VIP, it is a better deal to play Premium (meaning you spent some money in the store, or bought an expansion, or were VIP for 1 month at least), and use the $10 per month to buy the quest packs and other stuff you need. The game is quite playable as a Premium player - I don't feel I am missing much - but you have to make your characters in the one month you are VIP.

If you have plenty of money then VIP might make sense - you don't have to figure out what quest packs to buy, but it's not that hard - people will gladly give good advice on what to buy.

For example, if you bought Moria expansion (or something that included the Moria expansion) - you could just buy these quest packs - Evendim, Angmar and Forochel - and you would be quite set without paying the VIP sub fee. You could play a lot up to level 60 without having to buy much else. You may want the other expansions to go higher - but Moria and these 3 quest packs will make you good for a long while.

If the $10/month is not an issue, then VIP will let you play in additional areas - so you will feel like you can go to any zone - because you are VIP. That is nice too.

Minor correction - VIP does NOT come with shared storage - subscribers have to pay just as much for it as non-subscribers do, and it isn't cheap - it'd be two months' allotment of points for the first 20 spaces (that's how it's sold), and one month's allotment of points for every 10 spaces thereafter.

Way back when some people bought something called the Adventurer's Pack, which came out with the Mirkwood expansion - that may be the confusion. It hasn't been available in a long time, though, and even if you're VIP, if you want shared storage you need to buy it.

Best bet: Go VIP for at least a month, and buy the $50 ROI legendary edition (includes all expansions, though you will need to buy warden/rk separately if you want to play them)
With 1500 turbine points, you can unlock 3 more character slots or both expansion classes.
Anything else you want can be earned in game, as just by playing through the content you will earn so many turbine points that you can afford perks like even more character slots or classes.

If you are in no hurry with your leveling, you could even wait and get the preorder edition of the Riders of Rohan expansion, which will be available in June if things go like they did last year. I make no promises as to the actual availability date or if there will be a good package, but it certainly would surprise me if there was not.
In any case, 30$ will get you to July as VIP, and you only need Moria and RoI to get a capped toon.
If you are a VIP there is NOTHING the store offers that is game-breaking for you to miss out on (though there are plenty of nice things like more vault storage or the enhanced wallet. The only "advantage" things you can (really) acquire from the store only would be stat tomes, and those are anything but required (I got one as a drop, but across 9 toons that 10 vitality is the only tome I have)

Originally Posted by Shismar

If you go to http://www.lotro.com/free.php and click on Details, you should find a chart that compares the different subscription levels.

Some corrections and clarifications to above statements though, sorry.

Generally correct, just some details. You always have access to any outdoor area of the game and can do the epic book quests in all of them. This includes getting the legendary weapons and Moria access. Instances and some skirmishes require separate purchase for f2p/premium players, instances bound to expansions (such as Draigoch) require the purchase of the expansion for all players.

You will not have access to all other quests or any of the deeds of many zones as non-VIP until you purchase the quest pack for that region.

4 extra toon slots compared to the 1 for f2p (5 total).



http://mithril.lotro.com/ does not include Mirkwood and only comes with 1 horse and no cosmetic items. It does not include MIrkwood, only costs $29.99 but is not worth the price, I think.

airsoftg36c, you were probably thinking of http://isengard.lotro.com/purchase.php , Legendary Edition. That only gives 1k TP though but still is a great deal at 49.99, IMHO, because it contains Mirkwood and Isengard.

I still feel that being VIP gives the most enjoyment playing the game. But then I am a lifetimer, easy talking for me.

*Ahem* F2P/Premium members get 2 slots. I've had a Guardian and a Cappy for as long as I can remember. After going VIP, I was able to make a mini, an RK and a champion.

I know I left some stuff out, I was in a rush to get out of the house and typed it up in under a minute. The more I thought about the post on the way to where I was going, the more I wanted to come home and edit it up.

Thanks for correcting me on the RoI expansion, I'm constantly getting those mixed up.

The one thing I don't like about the RoI expansion packs is that there's no cloaks. Drives me insane. A cosmetic outfit just doesn't work without a matching cloak.

Turbine has slowly removed the convenience/advantage of being VIP beyond 1 month except for this: you get to play as you choose without the feeling that you need to stop the activities that you enjoy and go grind points for the next purchase, or the feeling of being nickle and dime'd to buy more TP for that purchase.

The store isn't required to play, but you can't escape it as VIP either Shared storage and wardrobe are at the top of many people's list - but wholly optional and it isn't an impact to gameplay, and for me deed accelerators and relic removal scrolls are other items that I buy (relic removal scrolls as I have a couple relics that are no longer available in game and are better than what else is available, but since you can't get them in game anymore you wouldn't really need them by the time you're at the Legendary Item stage).

If you're mindful of what you spend your TP on, between the monthly stipend and just playing the game you should have a healthy amount of TP to get what makes your game time easier without further cash expenditures if that is your goal. Nothing wrong with buying more TP either, but at that point it is up to you.

It depends on how you play the game and how long you plan to play the game. Like everyone, I'd definitely suggest going VIP for at least one month, and creating/logging in every character on every server that you might ever want to play - it's a tedious way to spend an evening but should you want to switch classes or server, or play an alt, it will save you much grief in the future.

If you're going to play for three to six months, just go VIP. That gives you access to everything except the expansion packages, and the game is a lot more fun when you can run around and quest anywhere, provided you're high enough level to do so, and it'll be 30$-60$ US total for that.

If you plan to play longer, then save up those VIP points if you can (pretty much everybody breaks down and buys deed accelerators) to lessen some of the grinding to buy quest packs, though the quickest way to do that is to run disposable alts through the starter zones where the deeds are quick.

The only two advantages left to VIP long-term are rest experience for your toon, and the ability to play your regular character (a freep) in the Ettenmoors, the player versus monster player area of the game, or to make creeps of your choice with all traits unlocked to play in the Moors. Also, in the short term, VIP is going to be cheaper than buying every quest pack and unlocking the three or four skirmishes you may end up liking. Over the long term that starts to change.

Originally Posted by JustAmy

Yes, sorry.. Coming from wow.. so I used flight paths instead of swift travel. I mention that as of yesterday I saw that I needed to spend TP to unlock a few and I was puzzled by it.

This got me a few times as well when I came back to the game after it went micropayment grinder. At all the stable routes there's a nice big box that says UNLOCK. On the opposite side there's a smaller box that says 'travel'.

Provided you've got a few silvers on you, hitting 'travel' should work just fine, or if it doesn't it will let you know that you don't meet the level or rep requirements.

Originally Posted by airsoftg36c

What you don't lose when you stop VIP:
All trait slots unlocked, unlimited bags, 1 extra character slot, your TP that you've already gotten from your monthly allowance, and the swift travel you've already discovered on that toon, and an awesome gaming experience. You'll never lose that.
.

Is that really true, with the trait slots and bags being permanent? Meaning, if I get one month of VIP, I will get all slots and bags permanently? That is a good deal! As for the OP's Q, I personally like to permanently unlock things rather than rent them. I pre-bought Legendary Isengard for all of the bonus areas, and used the TP for quest packs, etc. Maybe get one month of VIP for the permanent bonuses, and then spend however much money you would've used on VIP, but in TP and buy away at quest packs and the like. Or wait for RoR and see what kind of pre-buy deals it has. Just some alternative suggestions to renting the game.

BTW airsoftg36c, airsoft rocks, and my favorite airsoft gun is a g36c

Originally Posted by Haltholir

Is that really true, with the trait slots and bags being permanent? Meaning, if I get one month of VIP, I will get all slots and bags permanently? That is a good deal!

YES. but ONLY for characters you LOGIN to WHILE VIP.
So plan ahead

Hey Guys,

Just wanted to update my thread here. So after a few days of posting this thread I did go vip and have leveled up two toons to around 30. So far its been a complete awesome experience and I am loving every moment of it. I was now thinking about the expansions and whats the best thing to do. Out of reading everything here on the forums, looking at charts to see whats best, I have decided on the Rise of Isengard Legendary edition. The only thing is I wont have funds for this until next month or gulp, the month after. Yes, money is tight atm.

My only question is, is the Legendary Edition a permanent deal or is it just around for a short time?


Thanks again for all the replies so far. I appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Haltholir

Is that really true, with the trait slots and bags being permanent? Meaning, if I get one month of VIP, I will get all slots and bags permanently?

Originally Posted by Crell_1

YES. but ONLY for characters you LOGIN to WHILE VIP.
So plan ahead

In this scenario, planning ahead means something like this;

Think of a good bunch of character names you like, and then, as soon as you subscribe, fill your account completely with characters and log each one of them into the game once. After logging each character in, you can for example open the inventory and see if you have five bags. If you do, everything (as in, everything you can unlock by simply subscribing) is unlocked permanently.

The Legendary Edition has been around since about December until now, so I don't anticipate it disappearing any time soon...at least not until closer to the next expansion in the fall/winter of this year, when there might be a new deal to take into account the new region coming out then. No promises, but I wouldn't worry too much.