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The Road to Mordor: Getting the most out of your F2P account

Justin Olivetti — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor, Guides

We're going to step waaay back from Rise of Isengard today (screenshots notwithstanding) to address a question that I've seen pop up time and again. The question comes from players on the free-to-play side of the game who are wondering "What do I need to do or buy to get the most out of my LotRO gaming experience?"

In my opinion, the lovely aspect of Lord of the Rings Online's hybrid model is that you, the player, have a wide range of choices when it comes to how you want to fund your gameplay. If you decide not to go the subscription/VIP route, it can get a little confusing, especially in light of just how much there is in the LotRO store. Do you need to buy anything at all? What are the essentials? How should you go about earning some free Turbine Points to finance these purchases?

Unlike many other recent MMO F2P conversions, LotRO's offers you more flexibility than "just suffer with F2P restrictions or subscribe," which should give you hope that you can tailor the game to your exact needs. In today's Road to Mordor, I'm going to put myself in the shoes of a F2P player and tell you exactly what I'd do to get the most out of my account.

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The Road to Mordor: Getting the most out of your F2P account originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 15 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallen Earth devs answer your F2P questions

Jef Reahard — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic, Dev Diaries

You've got questions about Fallen Earth's free-to-play conversion, and the dev team's got answers. The latest Fallen Earth blog entry spills the beans on everything from what happens to existing subscriptions to character slots to various functionality limitations.

Surprisingly, GamersFirst is allowing free-to-play customers to make use of the auction house, mail, and trading systems, but this may change "if gold farmers get totally out of control." There's also good news for pre-existing Fallen Earth subscribers who would like to convert to a free-to-play account but are worried about losing access to their alts. "If you had ever bought the game or paid for a subscription, those character slots were included with your game, so they belong to you regardless of the change in business model," writes Joseph "Linus" Willmon. Head to the official Fallen Earth dev blog for more.

Fallen Earth devs answer your F2P questions originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Captain's Log: Setting a new course

Brandon Felczer — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Interviews, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Captain's Log

Hello, computer (and players)! Leave your credit cards, er, I mean, Latinum, at the turbolift door -- Star Trek Online has changed course for a new destination... Planet Free-to-Play. As we reported late last week (thanks again to tipster The First Avenger and @Altexist), it was announced during a Perfect World Entertainment earnings call that STO would be adopting a new subscription model before year's end. Little did we know that the plan to make a full-scale announcement had already been in the works and was set to have been released this week, the first inkling of which we saw this past Tuesday.

The press release and new F2P information page that Cryptic has launched on STO's home page contains a lot of information that explains the different benefits that paying and non-paying players will experience. As it did with Champions Online, the development team is planning on being as transparent as possible, listening to feedback, and making adjustments based on closed beta experiences of the new hybrid model. This week's Captain's Log is going to explore some of these benefits, shed some positive light on some worries, share with you exclusive answers to some questions we sent into PR, and let you know some of my overall personal thoughts -- so without further ado, make it so!

Ensign, warp 10! Let's help our readers decide whether they are going to be Silver or Gold members...

Continue reading Captain's Log: Setting a new course

Captain's Log: Setting a new course originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Champions Online unlocks a new archetype and a sale

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, News items, Free-to-play, Champions Online

With the conversion to free-to-play, it's easier than ever to get into Champions Online, but you're still a bit limited in your play choices. The latest archetype rollout is designed to help address that issue, giving players access to the Tempest. A ranged character build with a focus on electrical abilities, the new archetype is free to Gold players and available for purchase in the C-Store for Silver players. There's also a new video available to show off the stormy hero build before you buy it.

Of course, you may not have the spare slots needed for a new archetype to even matter. That's thankfully mitigated by a sale on character slots at 20% off until March 30th. Champions Online players, subscribing or not, should be happy to learn that it's easier to get yourself a few new slots to play around with, whether reserved for the new archetype or other experimentation.

Champions Online unlocks a new archetype and a sale originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wasteland Diaries: New direction

Edward Marshall — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, MMOFPS, Wasteland Diaries, Post-Apocalyptic

The state of the game announcement for Fallen Earth was a bit vague, but it did contain some good news. It seems the game, now under new management, is headed in a new direction. Does new mean good? All outward indications say yes. I have never been accused of being overly optimistic, but I like where Fallen Earth is headed. Most of the big news is still over the horizon, and the combat changes are the first order of business.

With new management comes new direction. It's nice to know what that direction might be. Of the three who were let go, I have nothing negative to say about any of them. Marie Croall has taken the reins at Fallen Earth, LLC and seems to have a clear plan. That's not to say there wasn't a clear plan before, but we are finally getting definitive answers on huge questions that we have been demanding responses on for quite a while. More details await you after the cut.

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Wasteland Diaries: New direction originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: How many alts do you have?

Jef Reahard — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Most of us have a primary MMO that we play, and whether it's our only game or simply the one we spend the most time in, somewhere along the line we end up rolling alternate characters. A few games allow you a maximum of one (EVE Online) or sometimes two characters per account or per server (Star Wars Galaxies), but most current titles give you ample character slots to fill.

While some folks probably stick with their "mains" through thick and thin, I suspect I'm not the only one who has run newbie content multiple times -- or paid for extra character slots -- in order to satisfy the particular brand of OCD that compels me to try every single solitary class in a given game.

The question of the day, ladies and gents, is how many alts do you have on your main game account? For the bonus round, tell us whether you play them regularly or if they simply exist to be mules for your main.

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: How many alts do you have? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NYCC 2010: Interview with DCUO's Jim Lee and Mark Anderson

Ryan Greene — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, News items, DC Universe Online

DC Universe Online was all over New York Comic Con. The folks at Sony Online Entertainment presented a playable demo on the show floor, an info-laden panel highlighting character creation and a super-exclusive fan event with 500 of DCUO's biggest fans. Before the fan event got popping, Massively enjoyed the opportunity to sit down with comics legend Jim Lee and DCUO Art Director Mark Anderson.

Lee, co-publisher of DC Comics and executive creative director of DCUO, and Anderson shared some special insights into the game's development. Conversation ranged from DCUO's similarity to Grand Theft Auto to Lee's introduction to the MMO genre.

Continue reading NYCC 2010: Interview with DCUO's Jim Lee and Mark Anderson

NYCC 2010: Interview with DCUO's Jim Lee and Mark Anderson originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unlimited EQII character slots coming October 5th

Jef Reahard — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play

If you're anything like us, you're a raging altoholic with an EQII character select screen crammed full of ratonga wizards, barbarian monks, froglok swashbucklers, and any number of other funky race/class permutations. One of the great joys of SOE's long-running EverQuest sequel is the huge number of races and classes available for play and now, courtesy of an update coming your way October 5th, Norrathians will no longer be limited to a select number of character slots.

EQII producer Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson announced the good news in a post on the official forums. "We've solved some technical issues recently and we can now offer character slots for sale," he writes. Each additional slot will be permanently tied to your account after a one-time purchasing fee of 1000 Station Cash ($10.00), and there is no limit to the number of additional slots you can buy. The service will also be available on both the Live and F2P servers.

Unlimited EQII character slots coming October 5th originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MAG offers extra character slots, on the cheap

Jef Reahard — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Patches, News items, MMOFPS, MAG

If you're an altoholic playing Zipper Interactive's MAG MMOFPS, chances are you're probably a fan of the recently announced extra character slot promotion. The new service debuted yesterday, and allows players to create two new in-game avatars. For $.99 (US), you can purchase one of the two slots and take it for a 30-day trial run.

After your free month is up, you can opt to subscribe the new characters or keep them for a rainy day, locked up tight in cold storage, where they'll retain any gear and advancements you may have acquired. Check out all the details on the official MAG blog.

MAG offers extra character slots, on the cheap originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lineage readies Season 3, Episode 1 update

Jef Reahard — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage, Expansions, Patches, News items

Massively is traveling back in time this week with regard to NCsoft titles, first with news about updates to Lineage II and now with word on an exciting bit of new content for the original Lineage. Yes, you heard right -- the first-gen MMORPG (originally released in 1998) is still alive, kicking, and updating.

July 29th will bring players the opportunity to experience Episode 1 of Season 3 on NCsoft's Play Test Servers. Subtitled Crack of Time and featuring new classes, a dungeon, and an expanded storyline, the update has yet to receive an official live release window.

New classes include the dragon knight (a damage-dealer featuring the ability to shape-shift into beast forms) and the illusionist (a PvP-centric class with substantial debuff magic and area-of-effect attacks). The update also brings revamped starting areas, Thebes Dungeon (which features a random entrance-spawn and a challenging completion timer), and tweaks specifically designed to cater to North American audiences. These changes include double XP, higher item drop-rates, and higher boss-spawn rates.

Lineage readies Season 3, Episode 1 update originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Champions store getting new costumes, character slots and more

Kyle Horner — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, News items, Champions Online

New costume pieces, additional character slots, retcons and more are all being added to the Champions Online C-Store this Tuesday. Using this exchange rate chart for Cryptic Points the price of a full retcon is $12.50, which isn't too high considering that a retcon allows a player to completely remake a character from the ground up. Costume pieces seem to cost around three dollars, which seems pretty reasonable considering that the Cyborg Beast and Epic Samurai are both rather impressive looking at that price. Lastly, buying four additional character slots costs the most at 1200 points -- which looks to be about $15 or so.

Overall, the pricing is lower than what we expected for costumes. Sure, the points system isn't ideal but generally speaking there's not a lot to be overtly upset about here.

Champions store getting new costumes, character slots and more originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Champions Online explains microtransactions, high level UNITY missions

James Egan — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, Game mechanics, New titles, Quests, PvE, Champions Online

Cryptic Studios has released a Champions Online State of the Game for July 15. Although it highlights some of the beta happenings of late, it's likely this won't affect many of our readers. However, the info they've dropped about microtransactions and high level content is definitely worth a read for any fans of the game, whether you're a Champions Online beta tester or not.

Cryptic Studios writes, "Champions Online will support micro-transactions, but contrary to the concerns of some people, the game is not 'based' on them." They explain the basic scope of what will be possible in Champions Online using microtransactions, such as aesthetic changes and account-level management tools (like renaming your character). However, in the name of balance, they state, "any micro-transaction that has a game effect can also be earned in the game through play."

Continue reading Champions Online explains microtransactions, high level UNITY missions

Champions Online explains microtransactions, high level UNITY missions originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Age of Conan's letter from the game director for May explains Update 1.05

James Egan — Mon, 18 May 2009 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Game mechanics

Craig "Silirrion" Morrison, game director for Age of Conan, has posted a May letter (on the European forums) to the playerbase that reflects on the year since the game's launch, a year full of ups and downs. Beyond explaining a bit about how he came to work on Age of Conan and his enthusiasm for the game moving forward, the Letter from the Game Director drops info about Update 1.05.

Morrison briefly touches on some of the highlights of the update, namely the large outdoor playfield and its quests and storyline, a new RPG system, and updates for all classes in terms of abilities, spells, and feats. Morrison opts to steer away from these big changes in his letter, which are likely to get more attention in the long run, and looks at some of the smaller changes to Age of Conan that are on the way.

Continue reading Age of Conan's letter from the game director for May explains Update 1.05

Age of Conan's letter from the game director for May explains Update 1.05 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 18 May 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Free Realms to cost five bucks a month, membership details revealed

Kyle Horner — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:10:00 EST

Filed under: New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Free Realms

With the launch of Free Realms coming up next month (and beta even closer!) it comes as no surprise that the official website has been updated with tons of information. The biggest piece of news is concerning what an optional membership (IE paid subscription) entails. Here's the full run-down of what a 4.99 per month membership grants someone:

5 extra jobs
Ranking on Free Realms' leaderboards
Up to three character slots
400 extra items and quests

Now, it's our assumption that as time goes on more and more benefits will manifest themselves. Things like new jobs, items, quests and possibly entire zones. Of course, to keep free players interested we're sure older premium content will trickle down to the free accounts. But remember, this is all speculation until SOE makes some kind of official announcement.

[Thanks, Thee]

Free Realms to cost five bucks a month, membership details revealed originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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City of Heroes to sell character slots

Mike Schramm — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: City of Heroes, Business models, MMO industry

Seems like we missed this intriguing little bit of info, but just in case you did, too, City of Heroes devs have announced that shortly after the release of issue 12, they're planning to start selling extra character slots for an extra fee.

It's not exactly a new idea -- Guild Wars will sell character slots for a whopping $10 per, up to a limit of 26 beyond the four offered with each purchased edition of the game. City of Heroes doesn't mention a price yet, obviously (or a date when the slots will be on sale), but that seems high, so we'd expect it to be lower than that.

For a certain number of players, the ability to have extra characters is probably very valuable, while for others, it's not something they'd pay even cheaply for. In that way, it's actually a good idea for games that might need a little extra help staying afloat -- it's one more source of revenue directly from fans extremely interested in keeping the game alive.

[Via KTR]

City of Heroes to sell character slots originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO EU dev chat reveals Book 13 details

Dan O'Halloran — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Interviews, Patches, Previews, Grouping, Player Housing

At the end of every month the Lord of the Rings Online Europe team sits down for a dev chat. February's happened last night at Stratics and this time we got some juice on the upcoming Book 13 content patch. Here are the highlights:

Book 13 will contain a new area to explore that is bigger than Evendim but have a different climate than the recent heavy emphasis on snowy mountains
No new 12 or 24 man raids will be introduced. (Note: The recently launched Book 12 introduced new raid content for those hungry for more large group encounters.)
6 man instances work will be limited to the Book 13 continuation of the epic storyline as well as retuning the existing Annuminas 1 group instances.
New armor sets are coming to primaily address playstyles not served by existing armor sets
Housing is changing in regards to non-payment. Instead of losing your house and all your items going into escrow, non-payment of the maintenance fee will simply lock you out of your house until you can pay. Your house remains and all your items remain within while you are locked out. Only houses that are abandoned will have their items placed in escrow.
The ability to turn off the graphic of certain item slots will be independent for each Outfit
New non-combat clothing will be coming as well as headgear that doesn't cover your characters hair (i.e. Circlets.)

The devs also talked about technology being implemented into the game that will allow them to work in new functionality. Here are some of the features they would like to add at that point:

More character slots
Guild banks
Sending multiple items in the mail at once

Expect dev diaries to start appearing soon detailing the major features of the patch as we get closer to its arrival on the Test server. A full transcript of this dev chat can be found at Stratics.

Gallery: Lord of the Rings Online Player Housing

LotRO EU dev chat reveals Book 13 details originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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