LOTRO F2P?

I am not sure why, but for some reason I have this urge to try out some LOTRO f2p. I'm not sure where this sensation is coming from or why, but it's there for some reason. Despite my tone when I talk about the game, I don't hate it. I have my issues with LOTRO that have frustrated me over the years to the point that I quit because I grew tired of them.

I seriously doubt that the game has changed and I will suddenly fall back in love with it, but maybe I can learn to deal or overlook the shortcomings and just enjoy LOTRO for what it is. Maybe, I kind of like not having a MMO right now. Then again LOTRO is free...we shall see.

LOTRO F2P this Friday.

So apparently on September 10th, Lord of the Rings in its F2P incarnation goes live here in the US. No offense to Blue Kae or anyone else who may love LOTRO but I could really care less. If you were not a paying subscriber or lifetimer before the F2P announcement, then there is absolutely nothing in the F2P version that will draw you in other than the price. Let me put it another way - going F2P is not going to make LOTRO any better.

I predict that there will be a large number of players from the levels of 1 and say 24, but once players will be required to start shelling out money to continue questing those numbers will drop. But this is me being jaded, I am sure there are a number of players looking forward to this and I hope that it's successful, but I highly doubt that you will find me in the world of Middle Earth.

How I feel about F2P LOTRO.

EQ2 Extended? Yes Please!

I have always liked Everquest 2, but for one reason or another I just haven't stuck with the game for any real significant amount of time, not like WoW. Hmm, I guess when looking back at the MMO's I have played since the launch of WoW, none have been able to grab me like WoW has. Maybe for short amounts of time....but this is a topic for another post.

I am really excited for EQ2 Extended, I know for a fact that once it goes live I will be playing. From the information that has surfaced today I have already planned on purchasing a silver upgrade, I will probably purchase some if not all classes and races and most likely if needed I will purchase the level cap increase from 80 to 90. Why you might ask? Well it's not that I am a huge EQ2 fan or have a load of money sitting around, but instead it's from the fact that I will have the closest thing to a lifetime sub to EQ2. That's my thinking anyways, things could change once EQIIX goes into beta testing.

When compared to what Turbine is doing with LOTRO, is much more in line with what I would want out of a game without a monthly subscription price. And I have just really grown a small amount of disdane towards LOTRO in general, which is sad cause coming out of beta I was very much looking forward to playing. I have never been keen on the small amount of races and classes in LOTRO. Does it need to be to the excess found in Vanguard or EQ2, not at all. I am not a fan of the combat as well; yes there was a change, but I didn't notice it when playing my Warden, and it felt worse when playing my Champion. And let's not forget about the constant running around from one part of the map to another, or the standard gather/kill/collect quests that are enough to drive one insane. Please remember these are my personal gripes about LOTRO, if you are enjoying the game than by all means continue.

I did get invited to the beta for the new and improved LOTRO, and all I can say is that it's pretty much the same game. If you have been playing and are a lifetime or paying sub, no change for you. But if you are like me and have been playing off and on for ages and had hoped the F2P switch would have something to draw you in, guess what, it doesn't. If you are not a paying subscriber now, then there is nothing that the switch will do to entice you into playing again. That may all sound a bit negative, but for me there is nothing in LOTRO that interests me anymore, and being able to log in for free doesn't change that.

Well that's my little rant on LOTRO and why honestly that last bit could be applied to EQ2 as well. Regardless, August could be a nice month for MMO's; Champions Online getting a big update, City of Heroes Going Rogue launches and then the beta for EQ2X.

1.1.2

Just for the record, Vol. 1, Book 1, Chapter 2: Breeders of the Dead is NOT a solo quest, even if the quest log says so. As a level 33 Warden I am having a crap hard time just trying to finish this quest. I can deal with tough, I can deal with challenge, I cannot deal with a supposed solo quest being designed for a group.

Lost in Everquest 2

And when I say lost I don't mean that suddenly all I can play is EQ2, I mean that I am literally lost when I log in. I haven't played EQ2 since June so I have no idea what I was doing, where I am and what I am to do. This would be my one and only complaint about EQ2, it is very overwhelming because of it's plethora of content. At least it's overwhelming for me.

I had forgotten that I had so many characters and that my highest actually made it to level 28. It's hard to believe that my account was created a couple of weeks after launch, and the highest level I have made is 28. But none of these characters are from that long ago, I deleted them after on of the GU's, not sure which.

Because I am terrible with my spare time I think that two MMO's are the most I can run at any one time. I just recently paid for a six month sub for LOTRO, so I am locked into that for awhile, but I don't know if having two fantasy MMO's is a good idea. I could see myself playing EQ2, there is a lot to do, but I wonder if I will burn out on the fantasy setting. There's always the Station Access which would allow me to play Pirates of the Burning Sea so that might be something I look into.

But if anyone playing EQ2 has any hints and tips to help with the overwhelmingness, if that's even a word, then I am all ears.

Lord of the RIngs skirmish initial thoughts.

Most I'm sure are aware that Siege of Mirkwood for Lord of the Rings Online released on Dec. 1st. But because of my addiction to Dragon Age, I haven't tried the new skirmishes that came with SoM.

So today I played the tutorial and then ran two skirmishes of the only skirmish I had available, Siege of Gondamon. I will be honest, I did not have much fun the first time I played the skirmish and I learned that I am the worst Warden on Landroval.

After my first successful but not so fun skirmish I did find out how to change my soldier to a herbalist and equip talents for her. And what a difference having a healer made for my second play through, now I was having fun! But I did change the level from 32 down to 30 so I could at least have a chance to learn how to play my Warden in a skirmish.

But it's true, I am the worst Warden on my server. I felt so lost and confused most of the time, so I am glad to have the skirmishes to use as a way to learn how to tank. I did however almost make a full level in my two skirmishes and accumulate a nice repair bill too!

Sucked In.

It started off slowly. I would play a few hours here, a few hours there. But then it happened, I have become sucked into Dragon Age, unable to get away for very long to play anything else. One problem I am having is that I tend to jump between the different characters that I have, one for each origin.

My rogue has progressed the furthest of all the characters I have. He is has already convinced the Dalish and the Templar's to join the cause against the blight and is currently working his way through the Deep Roads in the hopes of getting the Dwarfs to commit as well.

There must be a lot more to do after this because I have barley finished a third of the game. The rogue has been played for almost thirty hours and that is with me skipping most of the side quests in each area.

But I will need to break away some because I have been neglecting Fallen Earth and that sub expires in the middle of the month and I need to spend some quality time with the game to see if I am going to be renewing for a third month. Also, the Siege of Mirkwood expansion will be released on Tuesday, along with it comes some new features and a few changes as well.

Return to Middle Earth.

Recently Turbine had a welcome back week just this past week for LOTRO, so I decided to give the game a try, again. I have played LOTRO off and on since beta and for what ever reason the game just doesn't hold my attention for very long.

I suspect that the reason for my eventual lack of interest in the game comes from a few factors; the endless running around to get anywhere, a general lack of understanding of the combat at times and the repetitive nature of the none group quests.

Even so, I still had a feeling like I hadn't accomplished all I wanted to do in LOTRO. If you think about it, it's this nostalgia feeling, this sense of not accomplishing all that I could have that is the reason why I tend to jump from one MMO to another. It's hard sometimes to stop thinking that if only I had been more dedicated or used my time wisely that I could have accomplished more in a game. But regardless that's probably a topic for another day.

I have two characters that I play, a Champion and a Warden, both

on separate servers unfortunately. My Champion is my original character but the Warden is the one I have been playing most recently. My problem is that I don't play much and the Warden gambit system is such that I would end up spending endless amounts of time trying to refresh my memory of the many attacks.

I have been following Doc Holiday's blog for sometime now, and it's been such a reliable source of info for how to play my Warden. So what I did is print up a list of all the Warden gambits, arrange my hotkey bar like Doc does his and then write down all the gambits that I can currently use. The difference has been like night and day. No longer am I wasting time trying to remember gambits and trying to remember the combat, I now have my cheat sheet and I am playing more because I am having a lot of fun.

Knowing that the 18th was the last day to reactivate my account with a multi-month sub to get Siege of Mirkwood, I decided to do another three month sub. I noticed right after that I had to upgrade my account, and in doing so I ended up choosing another three month sub on top of the three I just done, meaning I now have a six month sub to LOTRO.

Oh well, six months at ten dollars a month sounds like a good deal to me. Maybe, just maybe I will get a character up to max level, would be nice.