Thread: Is it worth me buying a house?

Hello, I was just wondering how worthwhile it is to buy a house. I make about 500s per day right now, so I think I could afford it. I was perhaps thinking of getting one in the Shire, to be near the farmland.

How worthwhile are houses? And are they useful to lower levels?

Thank you

well look at it this way, houses have very little to no function at all
their only use is the extra storage chest or 2 in the larger houses which any of your toons can access and storage hooks for placing your trophies

the only other function houses have is just for roleplay although you do get a small discount with the vendors in the housing neighbourhood and a quick travel to your home

other than that imho they are pretty much a money sink

Houses are fun. You definitely should get one. The higher your level is the more money you make by just questing and killing mobs. (even more in instances) The upkeep won't be a problem at all.

Get a house for extra storage and to get places for trophies that you get from random kills in PvE or from bosses in instances. You also get decoration and other housing items from reputation vendors and through crafting.

Also you get a port with a 1 hour cool down. That really helps f2p to have an additional port next to the milestone. Also if you join a kinship that has a kinship house you get another port to it.

The housing system in LOTRO is awesome but it could be better if people would start using its social aspect too. But most of the time the neighborhoods are empty. But it has great potential for social and role-play gaming aspects. There are kinships that bought a whole neighborhood. That measn they have a kinship house and all of the large and small houses are owned by kinship members. (The other two kinship houses are owned by alts of the kinship members.

I'm sure that one day they will improve the housing system.

IMHO, having a house does 3 things for you;

1) It gives you a poor man port to the lowbie zones.
Though, by the time you get to 20, you'll be able to explore the Barrows, get Bree rep and (for all non-Human characters) get a port skill to Return to Bree. And, since Swift Travel between the 4 lowbie zones is unlocked for all, it lessens the value of your Home's port.

2) It gives you a poor man shared vault.
From the LotRO Store, the Shared Vault initially costs 995TP for 20 slots and 595TP for each additional 10 slots.
You can save the 1590TP by getting a basic house, which has a chest with 30 slots.

3) Probably the most useful of the 3 things, if you get a Moria Keg (which is available now in the Spring Fling, GO! GET! ONE!), using it will port you to Moria (after you've completed the quest to unlock access to it). This is extremely useful since the closest (non-hunter) ports are in Rivendell, Enedwaith, Mirkwood, or Great River, all 2 zones away from Moria.

Originally Posted by Poppyann

Is it worth me buying a house?

Its maybe not worth to run for the next gear because the next gear after the next gear thingy.

BUT.
It is definitely worth to buy a house and spend one or two evenings for decorations.
Pure&good fun .. in the very beginning at least.

Ferru

Yes. But I don't see the reasons people are giving as weak. Extra storage and it being shared with all your characters. Places to show off your trophies. And a quick jump to an area capital; houses are usually close to full service towns bank/mail/crafting area as well as having there neighborhood bank and merchants.
For most classes quick travel; as apposed to swift travel at the stables, is very limited, having some place to "jump" to besides your milestone is helpful.

I have 3 characters right now, at some time I will probably have 5. I also have one of the medium sized houses and am thinking about getting one of the big fellow ship houses to have an extra chest and more trophy hooks

Yes!!! Yeah, extra storage, extra port, yadda yadda.

But do it because it's fun, too. it was fun just to decorate it. The Inn League Keg decoration (now for Spring, doing the Hobbit drinking challenges) is hilarious. I hope sometime housing is updated because I think it's the neatest ingame thing ever, and that's coming from some one who doesn't really roleplay.

Just try it. If it's not fun, you can always abandon it, get your stuff out and move on.

Hello everyone. I first want to thank all the people with real experience who post here at the LOTRO forums. I could not have gotten through some early levels without these very informative posts, so THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH!

========================== ======================== ==========================
{personal BS} I have not played a MMO...ever! The last time I played any kind of computer game was when Diablo came out, yes, the first one. So it was like, 1996ish? And I never as I said before, participated in any virtual online games. I did however participate in the original Active Worlds, which I really enjoyed (for those who don't know, AW was the first full blown virtual reality space where you could acquire acreage, build the mansion of your dreams and customize, socialize and so on--for FREE!).
========================== ======================== ==========================

OK, to the point (forgive MODS) I started playing about two weeks ago. I am playing F2P (free to play for newbies like me!) and no VIP (as of yet). I am at level 19, just about to break 20. I bought a small house at level 17. I bought a storage box for the house. I also bought extra storage for my vault. I bought a horse AFTER buying the riding skill with my accumulated Turbine Points (only need 95 for Riding Skill), then went to that farm (forgot the name) and bought a 500/silver horse.

So here are the expenses for those interested:
1) Saved up 1,500+ in silver by killing bears and pigs and other things, selling all the things to people who buy such things.
=================== =========================== =========================
{*NOTES}This was a point that wasn't very clear to me at first; I never really found any place on the forums where it laid out HOW you go about selling the stuff. In the beginning I was destroying all those claws, and wings and furs because I had no idea what to do with them! To sell your things just find any person in any village that has a "shop" listed in their pop-up window after you right click on them. I probably lost a good 300 in SILVER because I didn't know this. These various vendors will buy EVERYTHING, regardless of what type of items they are advertising. So a "Grocer" will buy bug parts as easily as a "Provisioner" will buy gems.
=================== =========================== =========================
2) SAVE, save, save, save your coinage! And don't use your TPs at all until you have enough to buy the riding skill. It took me a very long while just to build up the 95 and NOTHING is affordable at the LOTRO store. The Riding Skill is reasonable I think considering what it allows you to do.
3) Buy a small house especially if you are solo playing. Currently a small house is about 1,000-S (1 Gold) some are a bit more (I saw some for 1G 100S, 1G 300S, etc). You will have to pay a weekly upkeep aroun 45-55 Silver (and you can pay ahead too!).
3b) Go ahead and buy the storage chest to put in the house. It's only 100 SILVER. It will hold 30 things.
4) Your vault holds 30 spaces. You can get another 15 slots for it with only 45 SILVER. That is a bargain and 15 more make a big difference when you are running about, switching things from your three FREE bags to your vault.

That's it! This will get you through IMHO for the next several levels (only guessing). You will have a total of 3 bags, 45 Vault Slots and 30 house storage slots, PLUS a horse and all for FREE!

I really hope this helps someone new like me. All of you old timers certainly got me to level 19 (and hopefully beyond!).

- you aren't Sauron in disguise are you? Some other necromancer, perhaps...

Yes, houses are worth it. Thorin's gate is quite good as it has stables and crafting nearby. Neighborhood is a bit gloomy, though so you might want a hobbit hole or elf house if you enjoy decorating your house (or even spend a bit of time running back and forth to your vault).

Originally Posted by Deveon_Elfin

1) Saved up 1,500+ in silver by killing bears and pigs and other things, selling all the things to people who buy such things.

Note: bears and pigs and other mobs drop both things like "[adjective] leathers" and "[adjective] skins" which include text about "trophies can be turned in for tasks or sold for silver". You typically want collect a bunch of these and then go over to your task board once a day. Early task boards are in Hobbiton and Gondamon, at level 20 you will find yours in Bree (in the center market, south of the Prancing Pony). Click on them (as if they were quests) and turn them in to whoever has the "complete quest ring" over his head. This gives you both experience and reputation, both are more valuable than the few silvers you get for these things.

Bears and pigs [and wolves] specifically drop [adjective based on crafting level] hides. At level 20 (and especially if you haven't taken up crafting) they will easily be the most valuable stuff in your bags (check the auctions, my guess is no less than 10 silver per hide). Note that while NPCs pay a pittance of that, players are likely to pay full value and you will have to use either the /trade channel or unlock the auction house to get such a price. This holds true for any crafting materials, the gems a grocer will buy can be polished by a [player] jeweler for jeweler experience (once polished they might as well vendor it, too many jewelers polishing too many jems. Also at higher levels precious metals become seriously precious and it looks like jem polishing is the only way up, completely unlike apprentice jewelers and copper).

Other things you might not have learned in Archet/Thorin's Gate

Threadomancy ftw! (well, better than redundant threads, 100%).


The whole "money sink" argument is very weak, indeed. Money becomes almost useless toward end-game, so, as long as you can afford it now, get a house.

Get a Deluxe one if you can afford it (VIP or have removed Gold Cap - ~7g purchase price) - you won't regret the extra chest, and having one more room makes decorations, trophies and "living space" that much better.

You also get a 20% discount on Provisioner/Outfitter/Repair prices in your Homestead area - great for misc., but doubly so if you're about to level up a Farmer/Cook Crafter.


Thorin's Gate is the closest housing area to any Stable/Travel Location, but some people find the big cave unappealing. (There is a small area in the SW corner that is "snowy" - that's where I have mine).

The Shire is handy for Farmers/Cooks, and not too far from a main stable point.

Bree is "central" to both Bree Town and the Forsaken Inn travel points. Many Kins have Kin Houses in the Bree tracts for exactly that reason. (However, of all the "Return to ____ town" skills, Bree-town may be the easiest, so having a personal house there may be redundant on that point.)

The Elf housing may be the prettiest, but is in the middle of BFElf-land, a long hike to both Duillond or Needlehole, as if either of those get you anywhere you want to go. :/

Originally Posted by C-Hound

Thorin's Gate is the closest housing area to any Stable/Travel Location, but some people find the big cave unappealing. (There is a small area in the SW corner that is "snowy" - that's where I have mine).

I used to have a house there too, for that reason and also because Thorin's Hall has a superior forge and a superior workbench back in the room you need Thorin's Hall rep to get into. That was huge back when Esteldin didn't have a vault, but is pretty moot now that Bree has a complete set of superior facilities right next to the South Gate stable point.

To Deveon_Elfin: as you kill stuff, you will also get items that can be used in crafting. Those are light/medium/etc hides, tidbits like Ancient Texts, gemstones like Agates and Rubies, and ores like copper and barrow-iron. Hover over them in your inventory and the description will say that they are using in crafting. Generally you will get a LOT more silver for them by selling them in the Auction House to other players than by selling them to a vendor.

If an item says "this item may be used for Tasks" then you are safe to sell them to a vendor. While some of them are indeed able to be turned in for tasks you find on your local Task Board, most of them are not and they take up a lot of room. If you are short of in-game cash (as many new players are), having the silver is more important than the extra XP and reputation you might get from the tasks.

As for vault space: you can get up to 150 slots in your vault by buying them for in-game silver (and gold). The slots between 150 and 195 can only be purchased with TPs... so don't buy vault slots with TPs until you have 150.

TPs can be earned in-game. People often make new characters (sometimes on other servers) to grind out the 200 or so TPs you earn as a beginner, then delete the character. You can do this as often as you can stand it... or you can scrape up some money and buy Turbine Points. That's how Turbine is able to keep the servers running and pay their developers a salary.

Originally Posted by Shukar

As for vault space: you can get up to 150 slots in your vault by buying them for in-game silver (and gold). The slots between 150 and 195 can only be purchased with TPs... so don't buy vault slots with TPs until you have 150.

Except you need to either pay ~500 TP to unlock the gold cap or pay real world money to get premium status (and a gold cap of 5) before you can buy anything but the first two levels of the vault.

I'd just go back and play the game for awhile. And look up what tasks are needed and crafting if you haven't.

I've found the dailytasks plugin a huge help in figuring what loot to vendor and what to keep for tasks.

Originally Posted by Shukar

As for vault space: you can get up to 150 slots in your vault by buying them for in-game silver (and gold)...

120, but yeah.

Eventually you will have more gold than you know what to do with, so yeah, buy a house. Why not? As others pointed out, it's the only way to get more than 120 storage spaces without spending Turbine points.

Originally Posted by yawumpus

-


Note: bears and pigs and other mobs drop both things like "[adjective] leathers" and "[adjective] skins" which include text about "trophies can be turned in for tasks or sold for silver". You typically want collect a bunch of these and then go over to your task board once a day. Early task boards are in Hobbiton and Gondamon, at level 20 you will find yours in Bree (in the center market, south of the Prancing Pony). Click on them (as if they were quests) and turn them in to whoever has the "complete quest ring" over his head. This gives you both experience and reputation, both are more valuable than the few silvers you get for these things.

Great! Thanks! Been wondering about the "Task" label on some items. It seemed every task board I went to was out of my level range, then I finally found one but I wasn't sure how to use the gathered merch/loot or what it did for me. And no I am not Sauren! LOL

Also THANKS to other follow up poster's input and info: maxjenius, yawumpus, Shukar, C-Hound (<--VERY GOOD post!)

If you can afford it, go for a Deluxe House. 2 rooms won't give you enough space to adequately decorate (addictive once you get into it), and will only give you one chest.
I made the mistake of buying a standard house and regretted it within days. Seeing as I don't realy use it much though and my single chest is just used for spare decorations (which I change every week or so when I can be bothered to go back there) I cba upgrading it atm.
There's been a mention of a soon to be revision on housing, so I'm holding out 'till then.

Or make two accounts, form a Kinship, wait 3 or 4 months (or whatever it is) and buy a Kinship house and get 3 chests and more rooms.

Originally Posted by maxjenius

Or make two accounts, form a Kinship, wait 3 or 4 months (or whatever it is) and buy a Kinship house and get 3 chests and more rooms.

You dont need two accounts, just ask someone trustable to temporary join and invite your characters.

I bought deluxe house in Bree, on the top of the hill, just the place I wanted, and then I got the kinhouse right next to it.
I am really happy with my "estate".

Considerin gettin a bree house but dont know what advinteges there ar?

See my post above, #10.

Originally Posted by CroKat

You dont need two accounts, just ask someone trustable to temporary join and invite your characters.

I bought deluxe house in Bree, on the top of the hill, just the place I wanted, and then I got the kinhouse right next to it.
I am really happy with my "estate".

Oh! I like that idea! And I can abandon my house when the time comes and do that! I am currently trying to figure out what to do with my money now. I have both my F2P characters at around low/mid 20 lvls, both have nearly the gold cap (just so the money doesn't go into overflow or whatever they call it). Not knowing what else to do I bought three more horses for one character! LOL

I like that idea of the second account thing, do the kinship, then wait. Hmmmm...will ponder that one.

Here's the problem. Because I am F2P, I can't buy a bigger house because of the gold cap! I wish they would develop a savings/house account type system. That way some F2Pers can put down 2 gold into some account, then a week later 2 more gold, etc.

I'll probably break down and do a mnth VIP just to open the gold cap and buy a bigger house.

Originally Posted by Deveon_Elfin

Oh! I like that idea! And I can abandon my house when the time comes and do that! I am currently trying to figure out what to do with my money now. I have both my F2P characters at around low/mid 20 lvls, both have nearly the gold cap (just so the money doesn't go into overflow or whatever they call it). Not knowing what else to do I bought three more horses for one character! LOL

I like that idea of the second account thing, do the kinship, then wait. Hmmmm...will ponder that one.

Here's the problem. Because I am F2P, I can't buy a bigger house because of the gold cap! I wish they would develop a savings/house account type system. That way some F2Pers can put down 2 gold into some account, then a week later 2 more gold, etc.

I'll probably break down and do a mnth VIP just to open the gold cap and buy a bigger house.

I'm not really F2P (am premium, been VIP for 1 month), but I have bought off the gold cap from the store and currently have about 25 mounts on my primary character alone The gold cap is expensive at first, but it's a must have for players once you reach higher levels, because all usefull stuff at the auction hall will also get a lot pricier (in extreme cases over 100 gold).

Originally Posted by yawumpus

- you aren't Sauron in disguise are you? Some other necromancer, perhaps...

Lol, and I thought i was the only one to think of him, when I saw the thread creation date!

Anyway, I just to want to add a little piece of info, since someone could misunderstand.
Chests in the house are not the *very* same as shared storage. You can trade items between characters, that's right, but you cannot put any account-bound item in them...the only way to trade account-bound items, is shared storage.

Still useful, but not quite the same.