I feel like this topic has been beat to death. My intention was to avoid talking about it, since it's been more than covered.

However, over the last couple of weeks, I've heard a lot of podcasts and read a lot of blogs that haven't done their homework before they present the Free-to-Play model to their audience, and that absolutely outrages me. They're perpetuating false impressions and false information and that's irresponsible.

So, I'm going to weigh in on the future changes after all.

This is a big-picture look, not an outline of what each type of player gets access to. For that information, I suggest this post, or this post, or this post from A Casual Stroll to Mordor, or this thread from the official forums. First, let's define some terms as they apply to the situation.

1. Trial - A limited version of something as a test, usually at no cost, and usually with a time limit.
2. Content - Story progression, useful items, methods of character progression, and elements that add to the vibrancy of the game world.
3. Goodies - Things in the game that are not needed to progress in story or character development, but are fun or convenient.
4. Free-to-Play (F2P) - Anyone that has never purchased any game time or points.
5. Premium - Someone who at one time paid for the game but has allowed it to lapse, or someone who is paying for their content with points.
6. VIP - Someone who is paying for the game with money via  a normal subscription.

That's it. LotRO will no longer have a 14-day trial. There's no need to. And with the restrictions that are in place for F2P accounts, it boils down to being a trial with no time limit. If you examine the restrictions for F2P and the restrictions on the current trial account system, they are almost the same. F2P simply does away with the time limit, and allows the player to wander wherever they wish. They are still limited in where they can quest, just like the current trial. They are restricted from using the auction house, mail, and other in-game systems.



Premium players either buy points or earn points to buy only the content they want. If they want goodies they will be able to buy them by sacrificing new content, because they have to use their points. A good example (and a fun game!) is League of Legends, which is a DOTA clone. You can buy currency with real money, or earn it by playing and winning.


VIP players pay for their content with a regular subscription. This allows them to spend their points on goodies instead of having to spend them on opening up parts of the game.

Premium Classes
At this point, there aren't any new premium classes. What this is referring to are the classes of Runekeepr and Warden, which you can only access if you have bought Mines of Moria, or have unlocked them with points.

Something that really cheesed me off was seeing several LotRO fans and bloggers throw in the towel the afternoon that F2P was announced without another word. Looking for blogs this weekend, I came across one that simply said, "LotRO is going Free to Play. I quit." After hundreds of posts and a couple of years of apparent adoration for the game, the blogger essentially threw a tantrum.

At any rate, my feelings on F2P are mixed. One of the things I like to do most is make new characters and play around with them. At the same time, I'm too much of a completionist to give up the characters I've started to level up. More than anything, I want to explore new zones and new content. So I'll probably just continue to pay for game time as long as I can afford it, and play as a Premium account when I can't.

But, I think there are a lot of players for whom F2P is a great option. I can imagine a lot of people don't need to keep their account 'active' all the time, due to their limited play time, and could get just as much enjoyment and possibly even save money playing a la carte.