Meet Crell
Those who participated in the LOTRO Free-to-play Beta may remember Crell as a thorough tester and vocal advocate for the free play experience. “I just tested the game the way I would play it”, Crell told mmorsel. “I knew I couldn’t afford a subscription and wanted to see if the game really could be played for free.”Crell bought with him free-to-play experience in DDO, where he found himself sick of the free repeatable quests before he earned enough for a single quest pack. “LOTRO is easy to play for free compared to DDO, which was painful. There are so many paths you can take, you don’t have to do the same thing over and over,” Crell explained.
These days, Crell is leader of the Vanguard kinship on Riddermark, started by a group of players who met in the F2P Beta. “We have a great group of players - regardless of account type, we help each other out.”
The Tale of the Tape
Crell has kept a detailed record of the 6,885 Turbine Points he’s spent so far. Taking advantage of every sale he could, he now owns all the quest packs, expansions and skirmishes. “I focused on purchases that enabled me to get more points on my other characters.” Crell explained. He saved skirmishes for last, because it's easier to earn more TP with quest packs. “When it comes to skirmishes, consider skipping Defence of the Prancing Pony until after you purchase Stand at Amon Sul or Ford of Bruinen, as the Men of Bree reputation deeds and Bree-land deeds are easier to finish.”Crell also pointed to the two extra character slots he purchased with TP. “You really need more than one character to earn enough TP from the free content. For quick points, you can roll a character on another server and do the easy stuff.” See the comments on How to Earn Turbine Points for great TP earning suggestions.
Crell's personal Turbine Point stash got a boost from the TP he received as a F2P Beta participant and won in Twitter and Facebook contests. He also bought a Mines of Moria retail box for $10, the only cash he’s spent on LOTRO. The free month subscription that came with it was a key part of his strategy.
During his free month, Crell made sure to create characters for all his available slots for the VIP-to-Premium downgrade perks (inventory bags, swift travel, trait slots and more). Then he leveled the ones he would most likely play to 20 and quested the riding skill. His reason: “When you purchase character slot unlocks to regain access to those characters, they’ll still have all the same perks as your other downgraded characters.”
After his subscription month was up, Crell watched the sales for content deals. “You can’t buy stuff that’s on sale while subscribed, so I waited for a week when the sale wasn’t that interesting to activate my Moria key.”
What’s next?
Now that he owns all the current content, Crell is looking forward to running instances and group skirmishes. “Enjoy the game, don’t skip the fun to grind TP unless you need it now. Everything is so much more fun at level.”He’s also enjoying the Yule Festival. “Festivals are a welcome break from normal, and often have one or more deeds which can earn you TP, as well as fun titles and items. For example, you can earn 60 TP* per character in the Yule Festival doing the FrostBluff Theater deeds.”
Note: *The Thespian Deed is currently broken, so if you want the title and 5 TP before it’s fixed, you’ll have to barter for it. When the deed is fixed, it’ll auto-complete if you meet the requirements.
And Crell is still saving up Turbine Points. Still on his wishlist are:
- Shared storage and shared wardrobe space.
- Isengard and other future content.
- Crafting guild access. Although crafting is not his favorite part of the game, he recognizes the value of the level-65 crafted relics, which are bound to the crafter. So he’s stock-piling crafting guild rep items while waiting for a sale.
Lessons Learned
Finally, we asked Crell what advice he’d give to others trying to play LOTRO for free or mostly free. “Try to be smart and plan your purchases. But don’t second guess yourself, you’ll get some deals and miss others.”Other suggestions:
- Do the deeds in each of the free zones, including the deeds for completing quests in the zone. Even greyed out quests give some XP.
- The daily skirmish quests (auto-granted when you enter the skirmish) are a great source of XP, even at higher levels. You can set the skirmish to the minimum level and still get full XP for the daily quest (though fewer skirmish marks).
- Use the XP and deed accelerators you get from the gift boxes.
- Join a kin. If you can’t find one you like, start your own.
- If you are stuck on something, come back to it in a couple of levels.
- Give the epic story a try, especially in a group. It’s a lot of fun.
55 comments:
Awesome, awesome, awesome post! I love it!
think he spent a lot of time to get all of that. Good job dude
I'm still waiting on sales for a few quest packs, but Crell has everything, which is great! A few of the skirmishes really aren't worth it unless you have spare TP lying around. Defense of the Prancing Pony is definitely the one not to buy until later. I would also say that the Lone Lands deeds finished through Stand at Amon Sul are rather limited. You'd be able to finish those easier by questing in LL. The reputation reward from the daily is nice, but Eglain reputation is by far one of the easiest to hit Kindred after you gather enough resources to craft your way there.
Crell's next goal should be to hit 65 :P
Good article!
I bought Moria from Amazon for 10 dollars but everything else has been via ingame tp. I own LL (I paid 280 tp for that and still sore it went FTP a few days after it went on sale to milk it a little more) North Downs, Evendim and Mirkwood (grabbed those at 50% off). I am waiting for Turbine to offer other packs as I am currently sitting on 2300tp and earning more every single day. I can hold out as long as they can, lol.
Great interview! Got some good ideas from this post since I'm also a F2P-to-BoxedMoriaVIP-to-Premium user.
And grats to Crell and all of Vanguard for the highlight. :D That was a pleasant surprise.
The only problem with this is there's no way to unlock swift travel from what I've seen. So you may have all the content, but it's going to take you forever to get to it.
That's one beauty of the one month downgrade. You get swift travel permanently on the characters you play during the month. See the table at the bottom of http://lotro.mmorsel.com/2010/09/best-lotro-account-type.html for details
Huh - I know a person who didn't spent money at all - Not sure about his virtues and slots, but he does own Mirkwood, Moria (pre QP exp.packs) and all the QP except Enedwaith.
found those to buy but don't know what i actually need to get fll game expirience:
-Lord of the Rings: Mines of Moria
-Lord of the Rings Online: Compilation Pack
-Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar Special Edition - GAME Exclusive
-Lord of the Rings Online: Shadow of Angmar 60 Day Timecard
-Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar
(http://www.game.co.uk/search.aspx?s=lord+of+the+rings+online)
and yes i'm new in game but 32 level champ, whit artisan heavy armour crafting ...
would like the 65 lvl,trade,gold/silver no limit, trait's (do i need to buy those optionaly or do i get those whit expansion)
i'm new ........
I still can't understand people not paying here :) Such an awesome game. But very nicely plannned dude. Thumbs UP :D
@Stef only the Mines of Moria retail box will help you get the VIP to Premium downgrade benefits. Make sure you find one for your versions of the game (NA or EU) with a 30 day key.
@JJ I totally agree it's an awesome game! But some people either can't afford the monthly subscription or live in countries where Turbine won't take their credit card info. The very success of F2P really points to a need that LOTRO serves very well.
@Lunatuna thanks for repply
so i do not need Angmar disc? where can i get Mines of Moria retail box? is there any way to unlock the quests that are purchasable in lotro whit expansions or VIP or something like that?
Stef, if you can't find a Mines of Moria retail box (sorry, I don't know where they are still being sold), the alternative is to subscribe for one month for the same VIP-to-Premium downgrade benefits. All the game content is available in the LOTRO Store.
I advise you proceed with caution if you are buying Moria in the LOTRO Store. Many of the features of the Moria Expansion are now free, so unless the expansion is being offered for less than the Moria Quest Pack + the Rank 15 Skirmish Unlock, buying these a la carte will be a better deal.
Moria Expansion is currently described: "Delve into the dangerous depths of Moria, and try to reclaim its dark halls from the evil burrowed within. Includes Quest Pack: Moria, 2 character slots, Class: Rune-keeper, Class: Warden, and Skirmish Trait Max Rank 15."
I don't have the current costs, but I suspect if you've got any interest in playing the 2 classes, or want an extra character slots it's still cheaper than a la carte.
Does the Moria QP also include Lothlorien, like the retail version?
The Moria QP does not include Lothlorien. The expansion now also does not include Lothlorien, at least from the store as of the November update. I do not know how retail boxes handle Lothlorien, but I have a feeling any Moria expansion after the November update will not have Lothlorien unfortunately.
i'm interested to in what quest pack does the compilation pack include
thank you for you help! :D
Sadly I missed the Mirkwood expansion at 50% off for 1k TP (only had 800 at the time). Otherwise I'd be, without sales, 4k TP from all content. Honestly, my suggestion is ignore buying skirmishes unless they're 50% or more off. While they are useful at any level (from when you can enter them that is) they are ultimately just the same quest over and over and over and have no unique TP deeds associated with them. They're, without a doubt, completely at the bottom for priority in stuff to buy as a F2P.
To those wanting on buying the retail boxed of moria, the moria collectors edition, moria complete edition: including angmar: BEWARE. You will NOT permanently GET ANY of the quests associated with it once the free 1month of access is over. This happened to me just this weekend when my free month of access as vip ended. I didn't buy the quest packs that went on sale for 50%+ off because I was told by many and based on simple common sense that when you buy the disc copy of a game or even just the code to dl the game online, and after you install it; you will not only have access to the region or world but also all the damn quests within that said region or world. This is did not work at all in my case. To simplify, what essentially happens is that by buying the retail boxed copy of moria or angmar (again I'm only mentioning these 2 since it's from my experience. I have the "Complete Edition: Includes Angmar & Mines of Moria" and paid only $10usd for it.) your only paying for that 1month free all access to lotro. It's full access to everything in lotro anywhere, including the expansion you actually paid for which is moria/angmar and all the quests, deeds, etc. ALL ACCESS for a month for 'free' which is bullsh*t coz you still paid for it by buying the damn boxed retail copy. Once this 'free' month of vip access ends you're s.o.l. You will NOT have any access to any of the quests that should come with the retail disc that you bought. You still have to buy all the damn quest packs to do, well, quests. You WILL however, have permanently got rid of the gold cap, extra char slots (7total for me & had to pick 5 to play after vip/sub month ended,) 5AH selling slots, 5bags, no virtue slot cap, full crafting guild rep access-- you can max/finish it to kindred and it works for ALL your toons. So because of turbine's deception/false advertisement, I missed out on the quest pack sale for trollshaw, evendim, mirkwood & angmar (or was it moria just last th?) because I was informed that with my retail copy of moria/angmar I would've access to most regions & to do quests in those regions also. When 1 of my kinmate & 2 of my buddies told me they couldn't do quests after their month free access I thought maybe it's just them. I confidently didn't bother buying any of those quest packs when it went on sale because I have the retail copy. Let this be a warning to every1 who wants to buy the boxed retail copy of moria/angmar that even if you buy it you will not be able to do quests in those regions after that 1mo of 'free' access. You still have to buy the quest packs no matter what. Yes, every1 I know who had the same issue as me w/this already communicated w/the gm or other lotro reps to clarify the matter. I was told that the reps said: "You're only buying access to the world/region when you buy the boxed retail. You can hunt, get loot, go anywhere as usual but you won't have access to the quests." If some1 else is in the same boat as me & others w/this issue feel free to add your experience with the lotro reps only if you did communicate w/them.
Next time someone claims it's not possible to go completely (or even mostly) free-to-play as a player, I will definitely direct them to this page! My own goal is to play COMPLETELY free; never buying points, Moria boxes, or subscribing (even for a month). This started because of lack of money, but has since become a sort of challenge for me.
@Anon Yours is certainly a cautionary tale: Even if you think you know the lay of the complex LOTRO F2P landscape, ask and be sure. There are many helpful people who will be happy to answer you questions.
F2P wasn't even in the plans (at least publicly), when Moria was released and retail boxes flooded the channel. When LOTRO announced F2P they were upfront about access to Eriador not persisting with a Shadows of Angmar purchase, now or almost 4 years ago when the game launched. On the other hand, they have been VERY generous with VIP-to-Premium downgrade benefits, making the $10 you invested in the MoM retail box a truly great deal.
p.s. You can buy quest packs from the LOTRO store while subscribed, so you probably missed out on less than you think.
@Luna, I know I missed out on a lot w/the quest packs going on sale for @least 50% off unless of course that sale persists only for those who have active subscription. I doubt that's the case.
The reason why I'm playing lotro now is coz of the f2p format. I played the beta the first day it was available thru a closed beta invite code & had the chance to be a lifer. I chose not to be a lifer since I'm not a hardcore gamer anymore & didn't want to spend $200 usd when I won't be playing much anyway. I'd rather spend that $ for my mtn. bike & armor w/c I still use with gusto. I love the lotro game & everything about lotro too so my issue with turbine is the transparency regarding the retail copies of the game that ppl buy. Even when lotro was not f2p; who in their right mind would think that by buying the retail disc copy of the game, whether it's an expansion or the full version, and after installing the game-- would still NOT be able to have ACESS TO ALL the quests associated within that disc. This is the very basic part of buying the game. It is the same for ALL games. The retail (hell, even pirated games-- w/c I vehemently don't advocate) disc will not only grant the consumer access to the game world or a specific region if it's an expansion pack but ALSO ALL the quests in it. Turbine failed on clarifying this to its consumers. I & several others sure as heck thought that by buying the retail disc copy of moria/angmar we would have all access to the region and all the quests with a bonus of having 1month of 'free' all access to everything in the lotro world also. We bought (@least I did) the retail copy for the sole reason that I previously stated and have get that 1month bonus access including the elimination of all caps associated w/the f2p only users. Yes, I still appreciate the fact that I got rid of all the caps for my acct but I'd seriously trade that in a heartbeat to have access to the quests.
I can not emphasize enough that I'm disappointed with turbine in this issue. The quests are what matters most to me since I bought the retail disc of the moria/angmar expansion pack. I don't care if I still can't access any other quests in other regions apart from what I should've inherently have in the discs I bought. It's that simple; yet turbine failed to make it clear regardless.
I just can't reiterate this matter enough so that others will understand what they're actually getting when they buy the boxed retail version of moria and/or angmar. When they buy the retail copy they're only literally buying the 1month ALL ACCESS to EVERYTHING in lotro and NOTHING ELSE. It's says 'free' access on the box but it's technically not. They WON'T have access to ANY OF THE QUESTS after that 1month all access ends -- NO access to any quests in that retail copy whatsoever. They still have to buy the quest packs no matter what. I hope turbine will have big quest pack sale again soon so I could buy it.
I disagree. I don't think we've been misled at all. I started LOTRO in late September as a F2P, then purchased the Moria retail box in November (complete addition including SoA). Thanks to the official website, forums, and great sites like mmorsel, I had no illusions about what I was purchasing. I knew the Quest Packs for the SoA content (not including the Epic story, starter zones and later Lone Lands) would only remain unlocked during the 30-day VIP subscription. I also knew that, in addition to lifting the gold cap, swift travel, character slots, classes, bags, 500 TP, etc. that came with one month of VIP, the expansion I purchased DID include quest packs for Moria and Lothlorien (I understand this has changed with the November update). I'm surprised with all the information available to you that you still don't know what you got for your $10. All that said, a one-month subscription (which I believe is still currently $9.99) is almost a good a deal as the Moria retail box, which is increasingly harder to find.
Bottom line: I've rarely gotten this good a deal for my money. LOTRO is still a blast after four months and 53 levels on my main.
Jeffolo, Silverlode
@Luna-Typo in your reply to @Annon. You clearly meant CAN'T buy QP while VIP.
@Anon/others out there-SoA codes are JUST 1 month of VIP with the benefits described here http://lotro.mmorsel.com/2010/09/best-lotro-account-type.html
@Jeffolo- Glad you've gotten a great deal and are enjoying your time in Lotro!
@Anon, when you purchase another subscription service, do you expect to receive what you paid for for free forever? That is exactly what LOTRO is, a subscription service with the option to pay more upfront for permanent access. This has never been hidden, and if it was misunderstood I'm afraid that the term PEBKAC applies here.
You did get a really good deal by buying the Moria expansion (~2K TP) all your bag slots (~1K TP per character) all your trait slots (~1.3K TP per character) gold cap removal (~500 TP), auction house slots (~200 TP) riding skill (~100 TP per character), swift travel (~50 TP each use) and the 500 TP from being subscribed for one month. As far as investments go, $10 to get roughly $100 worth of unlocks should not be scoffed at.
And all this for a game where you have the choice to fund by paying, or to just play as is. I really cannot understand your attitude, and please in the future do a bit more research before you fly off the handle.
Yep, that was a typo! You can't purchase content while subscribed.
heres a question. say i have some free char's already created if i get a months subscript i will get all the add on (inventory bags, trait slots etc) now after this month ends and i go back to free play will all these goodys still be open to me???
Yes, you'll keep the trait, inventory unlocks, etc. so long as you log into those characters at least once while you're VIP. See the breakdown of what benefits carry over here:
http://lotro.mmorsel.com/2010/09/best-lotro-account-type.html
Is there any way to tell what you actually have on your account? i.e. what regions you have access to, what unlocks you have purchased etc? Eregion is the euro zone 20% off this week and I'm unsure if I have it already from owning and registering MoMoria before it went f2p in the UK?
Thanks.
If you can see it in the shop, you don't have it. The shop will not show you one-time purchases that are already active on your account.
For example, if you have a vip account, the shop won't show you all the quest packs (except Moria expansion and Mirkwood), because all standard content from Shadows of Angmar is already active on a vip account.
At least, that is how it works on the US servers but I would assume, the EU servers do it the same way.
Just to clarify after reading all these posts. If I purchased Moria before the Nov. update I WILL have access to all quests in Moria, but if I purchased Moria after the Nov. update I will have to buy these quest packs when my free VIP access ends.
Note to any new players. If you can get your hands on a copy of Moria buy it. You will not be disapointed unless I guess you are under the impression that you have access to all Moria / SA quests, which at this point I would advise you to either read the really long post above this. Sorry to the guy who did. You still have access to what some f2p's only dream about. Remember that when you are sticking people with your spear as a Warden.
Osolep
@Osolep-if You bought Moria prior to the Nov 2010 it included Lothlorien QP. If you buy it now, it doesn't. That's the only change. The Moria EXPANSION still includes: the Moria QuestPack, 2 Character Slots, Warden, Runekeeper, Skirmish Trait Max Rank 15.
Retail purchases include 30Days VIP time. That's the only difference.
Is the lotro website and/or the game severs down today? I only get "internet explorer cannot dispay the webpage" notice when I go to the website and also when I click all the links in this site under the heading "LOTRO LAUNCHER." Moreover, when I launch the lotro game launcher to login I get "The underlying connection was closed: The remote name could not be resolved" error message and it keeps counting down to next attempt. I cannot access the lotro website whatsover using IE and firefox. I get "server not found" using FF. Even when I google it and click on the link, I get the same error messages. Idk if they're doing maintenance today so anyone can shed info on this?
Some problem here..
@Annon. It's an unexpected server issue. Follow twitter.com/lotro for updates!
Thanks for the info.
I do not partake in any form of "social networking" whatsoever nor am I interested in making an account on any sites other than those I deem important. I'm glad this site allows ppl to post without forcing them to make an account. That's why this site is the primary site for me when it comes to all things related to lotro. Thanks mmorsel.
Thanks for that info Jon. I didn't have to sign up for twitter-there was a large announcement posted 5 secs ago that said lotro techs were still working on the issue. As a new player these last 5 hours have felt like 5 years arrrgghhhh. I just want to log in!!!!
lol. At least I got a few hours in this morning-I was in game when the servers crashed sigh
I've added a gadget below Recent Comments in the right sidebar that shows the latest tweets from LOTRO, for those who don't want to sign up for Twitter.
i just want to tell you guys your website is awesome and invaluable! I am an addicted noob and your site is the best resource i have found. This horrible unexpected server downtime (right after i get my VIP of course) has been at least a time to keep up with your site, which i keep up on a 2nd cpu while i play.
Just want to thank you bigtime for your work and continual updates! I'm sure I'll have more noob questions for u in the future.
posted by lotro 5 seconds ago on twitter-they expect the games to be back up within 2 hours-Yay!
Another nice thing about Realizing the F2P Dream is knowing they're not getting money from you on days like today when the servers are down. :)
lol true but...after playing f2p for exactly 6 hours I bucked up $120 for the year-last night!!!
Smart smart smart of Lotro to go f2p. Suck you in-get you hooked immediately and BAM! Smoking hot credit card.
I can honestly say after playing this I feel I wasted 4 years on my old MMORPG. Kudos to Lotro (even after a whole day off today)-your game blows any other I've played out of the water.
Like several others, I don't consider the lack of access to SoA/MoM quests after the initial month of VIP unfair; at least, having bought the retail box before the game went F2P, I fully expected that my purchase of the box would not be the end of my expense if I wanted full content: there was the subscription to deal with. In my mind, buying the box did not grant me the right to play in Moria for free (once the month ended); the switch to F2P meant a switch from required monthly subscription to purchase of TP, but only when certain content was desired. I'm satisfied and hope that others are, or will become so.
I'm planning on becoming VIP for 3 months and that's all I will be paying probably. Maybe $10 for TP but that's it, since I can make it in game, I don't want to waste my Mom's money. I play on server Silverlode Kin Lords of the Bling, if you need a kin, mail me and I'll tell a Officer. Some of the Officers are Meglarin, Drumstar, Bimwar, etc. I don't remember alot of them.
I beat Crell's record by 91 cents--though he certainly accomplished it much faster than I did. Like Crell, I realized what a bargain the Moria retail box was, so I bought one from Amazon for $9.09 with free shipping (as part of a larger order) shortly before the game went F2P. That's all I've ever spent on LotRO, and today I took advantage of the Skirmish sale to grab Survival Barrow Downs, the last piece of content I didn't own. For me, getting everything for nearly free has been as much fun as working on my characters.
I couldn't have done it without the advice and resources here on Mmorsel and at Casual Stroll to Mordor. Many thanks!!!
Grats on finishing up your content purchases! May I suggest by way of celebration you solo Survival: Barrows Down by running circles around the center spire and seeing how long you last? Yes you will die and have a repair bill, but it will be fun!
If you are up for the challenge, let us know how long you lasted.
You're right, it's fun! My level 56 Guardian main only lasts around 8 minutes soloing Survival: Barrow Downs, so my optimal strategy is simply to give up after the 5-minute reward. I get 73 skirmish marks for this (once a day), which seems pretty good for 5 minutes of my time.
I have bought the Mines of Moria Expansion Retail Pack about 5 months ago and as I activated I got 3 more character slots per server and increased currency from 2 gold coins to 5. Now I am doing quests and deeds with all my 5 characters and I have gained a lot of Turbine Points and I have bought the Siege of Mirkwood Expansion for just 249 Turbine Points because of the 75% dicsount Codemasters offered on the EU Version on the 16 of April. At first I found the Free to Play option silly as I thought that you stil have to pay for the content but I quickly realized that if you do the right choises you can realy play for free.
I have bought the Mines of Moria Retail Expansion Pack for the EU version of the game but I didin't get any free month subscription by activating it. Do I have to do something else in order to activate it or I am out of luck ?
If your retail box said it came with 30 days play time, I'd contact Codemasters customer service and have them fix the problem. However, I don't believe all version did, so as always, buyer beware!
I have a question:
In my MoM box, I not only got 30 days VIP for myself, but it included three "Buddy Keys" for a friend to get 14 days access. I realize this was back in the day when everyone paid to play. Do the Buddy Keys give 14 days of VIP to people now as well? It's complicated, but the answer will help me know to whom I should give my Buddy Keys (or if it isn't going to be helpful for anyone at all). I have some friends who need to unlock their perks of temporary VIP status.
Thanks!
As far as I know, the buddy keys are worthless now, I tried the ones with my account and they said the key was not valid.
Actually in the box a 30 free play time is not mentions but in the site from where I ordered it was. I have also tried to contact Codemasters but they have colsed support pages and services so I am completely alone. I am considering of doing a one month subscribe and then downgrade to Premium so I can get all the benefits of such a movement like Swift Travels, Trait slots, storage bags e.t.c. and as far as I know the free month key works as a VIP upgrade.
I'm an European player, looking for a retail box. My question:
After the update on the 1th of Jule 2011, do I need to buy an American box of MoM? And if so, where?
You'll need to buy an American box.. Your best best would be amazon.com, probably if they'll ship or you have a friend overseas that'll mail the code to you.
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