Thread: Want to upgrade to Lifetime - but can't figure out how!

Turbine's account management webpage is whack. I log in, go to account management, but the only options available are "cancel my subscription" or "edit nickname". I currently have a 3-month payment plan that is recurring, but after doing this for five years, I realize that I should have done a lifetime membership years ago. Is that still an option, and how do I access this option?

Originally Posted by Alefa_Galgoran

Turbine's account management webpage is whack. I log in, go to account management, but the only options available are "cancel my subscription" or "edit nickname". I currently have a 3-month payment plan that is recurring, but after doing this for five years, I realize that I should have done a lifetime membership years ago. Is that still an option, and how do I access this option?

No, they stopped selling Lifetime memberships before they went Free-to-play and have stated that they have no plans to bring them back. Sorry.

1. Get a TARDIS....

2. Go back in time 5 years.

3. Buy Lifetime account.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

Originally Posted by Ayrolen

No, they stopped selling Lifetime memberships before they went Free-to-play and have stated that they have no plans to bring them back. Sorry.

There was one offer of lifetime subscriptions (at $199) before SoA launched. That's when whh and I bought ours; it was a gesture of trust that this game would last enough to pay for itself. It definitely did.

There was another lifetime offer (for more money, I forget how much) a couple of years later. None since.

As far as i know lifetime subs were only available for purchase from time to time.
Turbine realised that with time they started losing money on lifetimers that didn't spend a dime on the game since then.....
And also as it stands right now i don't know if lifetime subs were to come back if it were to be worth it, will this game survive as long to get your money back from it?

If they were smart getting closer to the end they should start Lifetime subs again

MT

Originally Posted by djheydt

There was another lifetime offer (for more money, I forget how much) a couple of years later. None since.

Actually that second offer was for much less money (forgot how much exactly, about 75 EUR or so) and I kick myself for not having snatched a handful of thems

Before F2P Codemasters sold them for 99 pounds .

*chuckles and performs the lifers dance*

/o/

Originally Posted by Pepys

Actually that second offer was for much less money (forgot how much exactly, about 75 EUR or so) and I kick myself for not having snatched a handful of thems

Perhaps via Codemasters it was, but so far as I know/recall the US price never went below the $199. I bought my Lifetime subscription in the same time frame as WHH and djheydt did, for $199. When a friend of mine started playing after that, while lifetime subscriptions were still available, they were at $299, which is what he bought his for.

yup buying the lifetime sub was one of the best choices I made at launch.but we still have to purchase the expansions.so I have to disagree with the statement that we are not spending a dime since then.

I can tell you right now I would buy one for a couple hundred without question. I spend prolly $30-$50 a year on this game not inluding the expansions which we all have to pay for. It would take me 5 years just to spend that $200. I would actually spend more buying the lifetime and expansions and yes I would do more when sales on point bundles come about. I may be a rare one but a lifetime membership would cause me to spend more over time. Just saying.

Originally Posted by djheydt

There was one offer of lifetime subscriptions (at $199) before SoA launched. That's when whh and I bought ours; it was a gesture of trust that this game would last enough to pay for itself. It definitely did.

There was another lifetime offer (for more money, I forget how much) a couple of years later. None since.

It was $299 but for the one year annivesary there was a sale for $199 and that's when I bought it. Best two hundred bucks I ever spent in my life. Been playing free for years now.

Originally Posted by whheydt

1. Get a TARDIS....

2. Go back in time 5 years.

3. Buy Lifetime account.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

Nope. Can't do it. Tom Baker was on the run from the Time Lords and had a randomizer in his Tardis to send him to random places and times. Well, you could get another Tardis. Just don't try to get the one that belongs to the Master, he might not take it too kindly.

God, I'm such a nerd.

Originally Posted by deliguy

yup buying the lifetime sub was one of the best choices I made at launch.but we still have to purchase the expansions.so I have to disagree with the statement that we are not spending a dime since then.

Expansions can be bought with TP, some "waste" their TP on the store others don't

MT

There IS actually a way you can get a lifetime account still, I changed to LTA after F2P startet.
But you need to find someone who got a LTA code with his Moria CE pre-order.

Because I missed the cheap LTAs shortly before F2P (100$ I think) I used such a code and got a one time payment option on my account home page then for 150$.




So there were at least 4 different offers. The original one for 200 was for pre-orders only, then there was one for 300, the Moria pre-order offer for 150 and the "let's sell everything before f2p" one for 100. The codes for the 2nd one should still be valid - if it's Turbine codes, the Codemasters codes of course don't work anymore, mine did because LotroEU was stil managed by Codemasters then.

The only time iv'e seen a "chance" of getting an LT subscription was with the video contest to show turbine how much you love lotro, the reward was a trip to the studios and a lifetime sub if i'm not mistaken

MT

Originally Posted by Alcaniel

Perhaps via Codemasters it was, but so far as I know/recall the US price never went below the $199. I bought my Lifetime subscription in the same time frame as WHH and djheydt did, for $199. When a friend of mine started playing after that, while lifetime subscriptions were still available, they were at $299, which is what he bought his for.

Yes, $299 sounds right for the second offer. I don't remember numbers very well.

I bought my lifer sub at the game launch those 5 years ago.

Obviously I haven't regretted it since, but it was purchased not so much as trust in the longevity of the game but I just loved playing the Beta so much, and I am a complete Tolkien fan.

And as to the Lifers not spending not a penny on the game since; OK there maybe some, but I spend out quite a bit of money from time to time (since F2P) on TP and expansions (always the "top of the range" one offered).

Maybe the 500 TP per month is enough for some players to not need to buy more TP, but I find it not enough spread accross my 9 alts. So I buy TP and I do not regret doing it.

Each to his own I guess.

Theoretically, if you stop your VIP subscription now, spend $200 worth of money on all quest packs (especially when they are on sale), unlock all traits so on account wide as Premium account. You would be on the same footing as a lifer (except that you don't get 500 TP a month).


I am a lifer but I keep buying turbine points and expansions and other upgrades in store. I noticed the other day that I bought 10 store exclusive horses over time for the past 2 years, that is 20,000 TP, basically like $200 or soemthign hmmm.

Occasionally there are contests that award lifetime subscriptions as prizes.

Originally Posted by Nymphonic

Nope. Can't do it. Tom Baker was on the run from the Time Lords and had a randomizer in his Tardis to send him to random places and times. Well, you could get another Tardis. Just don't try to get the one that belongs to the Master, he might not take it too kindly.

God, I'm such a nerd.

+1 for the Tom Baker reference. Still My favorite Doctor of them all!

nothing wrong with being a nerd

Originally Posted by whheydt

1. Get a TARDIS....

2. Go back in time 5 years.

3. Buy Lifetime account.

--W. H. Heydt

Old Used Programmer

ROFL! Water out the nose! Way to pull the Doctor out! WHOO WHOO!

Here is how. Wait till the next double points bundle (you just missed one) and purchase the largest package.



If this game lasts till 2014... It is better than the former lifetime which was always available (prior to FTP) for $299.99USD (& was offered on special on a few occasions for $199.00USD.) If the game lasts till 2017, it is about equivalent to the former deal lifetime offer. Only if the game lasts longer than 2017 is it not as good a deal.

But that is my recommendation. If you were to manage a lifetime deal, the 500 Turbine points per month (6000 per year)... it would be a good few years (plus) to accumulate the same as a double points bundle on the largest package; which you get all at once in a lump sum.

I bought the lifetime at its last special offering. It paid itself off about 6 months after RoI released (for me.) Players who got the deal back in early beta are the ones who really saved massively.

All that said. I would never buy a lifetime now, it would take to long (past 2017) to get the amount of Turbine points to make it worth while. I would however consider the larger turbine point packages (during double points sales) if I hadn't made that plunge when I did.

The only people who need a constant sub are hardcore PvMPers.

To permanently unlock swift travel routes, you only need to have subbed at some point in the past.

Everything else can be unlocked via Turbine point purchases and when the double point sales happen, that is the time to do it. The largest point bundle (during double point sale) IS the new lifetime.

Originally Posted by MTminas

And also as it stands right now i don't know if lifetime subs were to come back if it were to be worth it, will this game survive as long to get your money back from it?
MT

My god, why are people always saying this game is dying? They are making money hand over fist, have the rights to the game for several more years, AND over the next two years they are going to actually see an influx of players as the Hobbit movies come out.

At MINIMUM, this game has 3 years left in it. But even still, it has a solid core player base that refuses to go away, bring on your next WoW killer like SWTOR, yeah, we may loose some people temporarily, but they (mostly) always come back, and there are new players coming in all the time.

Originally Posted by Kril

My god, why are people always saying this game is dying? They are making money hand over fist, have the rights to the game for several more years, AND over the next two years they are going to actually see an influx of players as the Hobbit movies come out.

At MINIMUM, this game has 3 years left in it. But even still, it has a solid core player base that refuses to go away, bring on your next WoW killer like SWTOR, yeah, we may loose some people temporarily, but they (mostly) always come back, and there are new players coming in all the time.

Thank you. People have been predicting this game dying for the last 5 years. I don't agree with some of the directions this game has taken, but it's not dying.

Originally Posted by Kril

My god, why are people always saying this game is dying? They are making money hand over fist, have the rights to the game for several more years, AND over the next two years they are going to actually see an influx of players as the Hobbit movies come out.

At MINIMUM, this game has 3 years left in it. But even still, it has a solid core player base that refuses to go away, bring on your next WoW killer like SWTOR, yeah, we may loose some people temporarily, but they (mostly) always come back, and there are new players coming in all the time.

Actually, its always possible that Turbine will not choose to renew the Contract with the Saul Kaentz Company (Or whatever its called this week), and the game will close in 2014. So as a MINIMUM, we have between 18 and 30 months.


... But I agree that I don't think it'll be going anywhere untill at least 2017, when I suspect that we'll either get a hefty revamp of the game, or it'll be shut down to make way for a new version.

Originally Posted by GoldenusG

Actually, its always possible that Turbine will not choose to renew the Contract with the Saul Kaentz Company (Or whatever its called this week), and the game will close in 2014. So as a MINIMUM, we have between 18 and 30 months.


... But I agree that I don't think it'll be going anywhere untill at least 2017, when I suspect that we'll either get a hefty revamp of the game, or it'll be shut down to make way for a new version.

My understanding is that they've already extended it to 2017.

That would also explain why they seem to be drawing out the expansions (or rather the zone releases) a lot more slowly. If they thought the game might end in 2014 I'm sure the entirety of Rohan would be released in one expansion rather than only getting the Eastern half now and then the rest of it later.

Lifetime subs vanished sometime in June 2010 because of F2P. They were $299 when I started playing, but dropped to $199 for awhile because of the upcoming Mirkwood expansion(2009).

Originally Posted by dwarfman32

Lifetime subs vanished sometime in June 2010 because of F2P. They were $299 when I started playing, but dropped to $199 for awhile because of the upcoming Mirkwood expansion(2009).

I would not say because of F2P. More likely, whoever was in charge of Turbine's budget at the time (either the investors who had bought Turbine loose from Microsoft, their original publisher, or WB) were working on "We want to make maximum money from this property; we won't sell any more lifetime subscriptions," AND "We want to make maximum money from this property, we'll go F2P on the principle of the old dope peddler."* Maybe as a single decision, maybe as two separate decisions on the same principle.

_____
*"He gives the kids free samples,
Because he knows full well
That today's young innocent faces
Will be tomorrow's clientele."

Originally Posted by Nymphonic

It was $299 but for the one year annivesary there was a sale for $199 and that's when I bought it. Best two hundred bucks I ever spent in my life. Been playing free for years now.

they dropped the price about 2 months after i bought mine still happy with the purchase (especially considering im now married and do not have the money to spend on games... diamonds are expensive!)

i got my wife's for a buck 99 though. that makes me happy



im jealous of the dude that paid 99pounds... even at the worst exchange rate in the last 3 yrs!

I remember when I got lifetime. It was before Mines of Moria was going to come, and I believed they offered a deal where if you pre-ordered the expansion you could get the lifetime subscription option. Best choice I made as well. So much easier to relax with only having to pay for expansions as oppose to a monthly fee.

Originally Posted by Pepys

Actually that second offer was for much less money (forgot how much exactly, about 75 EUR or so) and I kick myself for not having snatched a handful of thems

Not in the US, they were $199 before launch, then $299 after. But you could still get them for $199 if you got a referral invite from a founder. The subsequent offerings were at the $299 price.

They offered the $199 price several times over the years; I got mine for that price maybe six months before F2P launched. I'm really, really glad I took the plunge. All the account tiers that came with F2P just make my head spin!

Sorry to OP, but yeah, I really doubt they'll ever offer lifetime subscriptions again. They just lose money on them, I'm sure. I mean, even though I still pay money for expansions and occasionally purchase TP, I still spend WAY less than if I actually paid for a monthly subscription, or even if I just had a premium account and bought things a la carte.