WoW goes F2P, sorta

[Mraezk]

I did the LotRo beta up until about level 23'ish. And yeah, there was a ton of walking to do. My major gripe was how absurd the pricing was. In terms of points / money, a horse cost $17, and about 100 gold coins in game, per character. Just. . . No.

That aside, I enjoyed the combat quite a bit. I played a berserker or whatever the game called them. I heard Warden's have even more in depth combos and things.

If they ever fixed the pricing, I'd give it another look. (Also no reward points for beta testers? Fffh!)

I'm guessing these WoW trials still won't be able to talk with people? That was the most annoying thing for me.

[Giggles]

LOTR online is very very WoWish I'm told.

On the flipside, it looks like Black Prophecy is going open beta. If I didn't have a ton of things I need doing right now, I'd give it a shot.

http://www.blackprophecy.com/

[Zalis]

LOTR online is very very WoWish I'm told.

On the flipside, it looks like Black Prophecy is going open beta. If I didn't have a ton of things I need doing right now, I'd give it a shot.

http://www.blackprophecy.com/

Ooh, space combat... I may try that out.

[Gmr Leon]

Ooh, space combat... I may try that out.

And free to play upon release, fantastic.

[RD]

Eh, disagree that LotRO is WoW clone-y. LotRO is like WAR - Rather, WAR is like LotRO.

One thing I love: The classes are all work differently and each have a unique mechanism to the way they work in combat (ex. Wardens have a system called Gambits, Captains have Heralds / War Banners, Champions have Fervor). It's not just about their group role or giving them different kinds of skills; you have to play every class differently.
It ISN'T a real groupy game. I've done some PUGs and stuff, but not often. My best friend plays with me, so we duo a ton of content. Plus, a lot of the stuff is soloable. I'm in a pretty awesome guild who are always doing end-game content together. I'm finally starting to creep closer to the max level and they're raising it in Sept. Sad panda.

To be honest, I HATED LotRO at first. None of the classes were appealing to me, I didn't understand the book quests, the combat was weird, why is my health called morale and mana called power, etc. etc. etc. But I went back to it and fell in love. I haven't stuck with an MMO this long since EQ.

[Ringsgold]

Don't really care about all this, its a better businessmodel obviously but doesnt make the game any more fun. It's not as if I wasn't playing because it's so expensive.

Also, AoC is F2P too as of today, if anyone feels like turning their graphics card into a toaster.

[RD]

AoC was sort of fun.

[Alaris]

Honestly, I probably would have a lvl 85 char by now if it was F2P. Not that the 15$/month is prohibitive, but rather that I don't play it enough to warrant the fee. But over time a bit of play here and there would have accumulated.

[Zayren]

LotRO was WoW if they took away everything that made WoW fun. My impressions.

[Giggles]

Don't really care about all this, its a better businessmodel obviously but doesnt make the game any more fun. It's not as if I wasn't playing because it's so expensive.

Also, AoC is F2P too as of today, if anyone feels like turning their graphics card into a toaster.

Orly? I was waiting for this to happen. I still want to try it even though I'm expecting to hate it. I'm a fan of the old Howard books and was originally really interested in the game but, as it got closer to launch (more info was coming out) my interest took a real nosedive.

LotRO was WoW if they took away everything that made WoW fun. My impressions.

I don't know if that review is more or less harsh then mine was.