Corsairs of Umbar expansion out now
A LOOK AT LOTRO'S 2023!
BUSINESS MODEL CHANGES FOR EVERYBODY (AS OF MARCH 2022)
Some fairly recent footage.
It might look and play pretty dated in certain areas but if you can look past that, this is the best adaptation of Tolkien's work by far.
They plan on modernizing the UX and 'remastering' older areas of the game throughout the next year to bring it more in line with the quality of recent expansions.
The VIP recommendation is for a handful of one time unlocks that are nice to have if you end up liking the game. This will take you hundreds if not thousands of hours if you take your time as a completionist. Assuming they don't give away Mordor, Minas Morgul and War of the Three Peaks for free again in the time it takes you to hit level 95 as they have in the very recent past, expect to spend $100 for the expansions you don't have. That price goes down if you buy points during the "2X bonus point sales" that occur 3-4 times a year.
Example: 15,750 points for $99.99 (normally 10,000 points for the same $99.99)
I'm still loaded with points off a $199.99 purchase where I got 33,500 points (+22,000) a couple years back. Every bit of content in the game unlocked with 26,000 to spare.
Every class is fun and viable. Play whatever sounds fun to you. My personal favorite is the Warden but it has a steep learning curve and the gambit system can be annoying because of server lag. Here's a good breakdown of the classes if you need help choosing.
If you're in the US you should play on Landroval.
If you're in EU you should play on Laurelin.
These are where the big community events like Weatherstock happen and Bilbo's birthday are celebrated because they're designated roleplay servers.
A LOOK AT LOTRO'S 2023!
We want to tease a little bit about the expansion that we have planned for the latter part of the year. We are not fully prepared to release many details, but we do want to provide you with a little tease of what is to come.
As we wrapped Before the Shadow, and began looking toward the future, we asked ourselves where we wanted to take the story and the game next. There was an overwhelming consensus that we wanted to head south to less traveled shores. Across the salty sea, beyond the Bay of Belfalas to the shore of the Corsair Kings, Umbar.
BUSINESS MODEL CHANGES FOR EVERYBODY (AS OF MARCH 2022)
This means hundreds if not thousands of hours of content for free up until Level 95. If you logged in during the 15th anniversary they gave out Mordor, Minas Morgul and War of Three Peaks for free. If you didn't, then you have five expansions left to buy so in the very distant future expect to spend about $100 on those expansions including the latest "Fate of Gundabad" and "Before the Shadow".
Some fairly recent footage.
It might look and play pretty dated in certain areas but if you can look past that, this is the best adaptation of Tolkien's work by far.
They plan on modernizing the UX and 'remastering' older areas of the game throughout the next year to bring it more in line with the quality of recent expansions.
Because the game keeps growing despite its age, they reallocated funds from the cancelled Marvel MMORPG towards LOTRO and they'll be porting it to consoles with various overhauls to combat, graphics and UX.
There's one really annoying thing left for new players and I hate having to do a whole write-up before you've even played the game but it is what it is. Mount riding is 95 points per character so at minimum you'll be spending $5. Grinding points to get it for free is possible but I'm going to assume you value your time more than a little money. Alternatively there's an account-wide method for ten bucks that I highly recommend because it'll give you the fourth inventory bag slot and a mount too. This is my most recommended purchase in the game because no matter how many characters you make, you'll always have mount riding from the start and a little extra bag space.
- Get the "Samwise Gamgee's Starter Pack" ($10) for account wide mount, currency cap unlock, and 4th inventory bag. This is no longer offered by the store, but you can find it on Amazon.
- Create all the characters you think you'll play (using your now "premium" account)
- Buy one month VIP ($15) for all one-time unlocks (swift travel, etc.) and log into all the characters you made (if you like the game)
The VIP recommendation is for a handful of one time unlocks that are nice to have if you end up liking the game. This will take you hundreds if not thousands of hours if you take your time as a completionist. Assuming they don't give away Mordor, Minas Morgul and War of the Three Peaks for free again in the time it takes you to hit level 95 as they have in the very recent past, expect to spend $100 for the expansions you don't have. That price goes down if you buy points during the "2X bonus point sales" that occur 3-4 times a year.
Example: 15,750 points for $99.99 (normally 10,000 points for the same $99.99)
I'm still loaded with points off a $199.99 purchase where I got 33,500 points (+22,000) a couple years back. Every bit of content in the game unlocked with 26,000 to spare.
Every class is fun and viable. Play whatever sounds fun to you. My personal favorite is the Warden but it has a steep learning curve and the gambit system can be annoying because of server lag. Here's a good breakdown of the classes if you need help choosing.
If you're in the US you should play on Landroval.
If you're in EU you should play on Laurelin.
These are where the big community events like Weatherstock happen and Bilbo's birthday are celebrated because they're designated roleplay servers.
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