Turbine unveils LotRO expansion point costs

@Oyjord
All content unlocks apply to your entire account.

@aurickle

Yep.

@Oyjord

I hope you have logged in from time to time because afair you need to log in once every 30 days to keep cumulating points as a lifetime subber.

@(Unverified)

AFAIK, no need to log so often. Lifetimers get the stipend no matter if they log or not (like any subscriber, really).

@DarkWalker
If so, that's a change because when they started Freemium they specifically stated that lifetime subs only get the point allotment if they log in at least once during the month.

@aurickle
Lifers just needed to log in once to to start accumulating points. Lifers that didn't log in at all don't get their stipend.

@jslim419 Standard price for an expansion though. Cheaper actually, compared to WoW and EQ2's expansion costs.

@DoctorSmart

standard price schmandard price.. just because a new car might cost 30 grand doesn't mean i can build a car out of plywood with bicycle wheels, and a lawn mower engine and charge the same.

@jslim419 well i guess i could, but who would buy it? i'm sorry but no dungeons included, no raid included, just three zones worth of solo quests? how is that worth 30 bucks? it would be far and a way the most overpriced item on the store compared to what you get for your money. it actually makes spending 8 dollars on a cosmetic cape look like a good investment.

@jslim419 those are the point costs. You can buy the expansion outright for 30 bucks, right now, and have access to everything. WoW charged 60 bucks for an expansion that people blew through in a month. EQ2 charges 50. 30 bucks is cheap for an expansion. Yeah, if you wait, and use points, you pay more. Nature of the beast.

@jslim419

It's also worth noting that the price seems so inflated because everything is being sold individually (the same was true if you tried to buy all of the parts of Moria individually in the store instead of all bundled together). The expansion can't be sold all together because, technically, all of the content meant to be part of RoI won't be released until Update 5 is out. Once Update 5 hits, there have been hints we'll see a bundle deal that should be more economic.

Also, anyone who pre-orders or buys it with cash will still get everything for the normal $30 (in addition to getting Update 5 for "free")

@jslim419

Basically, the moral of the story is that releasing expansions before they're finished and adding content that should be included at release in a later patch will cause a poo storm. Don't do it.

@DoctorSmart

Merely want to point out that EQ2's expansions aren't $50. They start at $40 and then decrease in price within a few months until you buy them through Sony's official site. The most recent expansion was released in February and is now available for $24 boxed on Amazon, $30 digitally on Steam.

Also, EQ2's expansions are inclusive, so buying the most recent expansion gets you each and every prior expansion. I believe they're up to seven full expansions and three adventure packs. One purchase gets you all of them. Quite a sight different from WoW or LotRO.

@Spron You're right on the price, I was thinking collector's editions. And they're only backwards inclusive. You still need to buy the new expansion to access the new content, just like WoW or LOTRO.

@DoctorSmart

I'm sorry, but you can't honestly compare wow's week worth of solo content, +8 new group instances + total revamp of older content + 3 new raids (4 if you count Baradin Hold) + completely new pvp areas + 2 new races and a whole bunch more stuff in the Firelands free update to roughly 3 days worth of solo content, one new 1-room raid + group content only promised. Sounds like those other guys are getting their money's worth.

Also, did everyone forget that Mirkwood was only $20, and there were options to get it for FREE (either via multi-month subscription or Traveler's pack, which had other goodies)? Except, if you try to bring that point up in the Isen discussion forum, they erase the post and negative rep you.

If I hadn't pre-ordered the expansion already, I wouldn't have bothered with it at all, now that the facts about it have been disclosed.

@Oyjord

The item itself is, but judging from the price I assume that buying it with Turbine points works the same way as getting it for preordering the expansion, meaning you pay once and all your characters get the item.

At least I hope so. That's a pretty crazy price per character otherwise.

@Eamil

Assume nothing...