u/Asthamius

Hi!

I’ve been a fan of Tolkien and his work since I was around 9 years old, and I’ve also played quite a few MMO’s over the years (RO, WoW, Rift, GW2, etc.).

Lately I’ve really been craving an MMO again and, after looking at different options, I’m considering giving LOTRO a try.

That said, there are several things that make me hesitate a bit or seem a little odd to me, so I wanted to ask for opinions from people who currently play the game.

The first thing is the monetization. I’ve read a lot of people saying it’s one of the game’s biggest issues, that many menus push you toward the store, and that parts of the game are designed to make you eventually spend money (limited inventory space, slower leveling, various restrictions, etc.).

How true is that really?

I don’t mind leveling more slowly or having to grind a bit more, but I would mind having to pay just to get what feels like a “normal” quality of life (reasonable inventory space, convenient travel, things like that).

I’ve also read about the VIP system. From what I understand:
-it includes several quality of life features;
-gives monthly premium currency;
-unlocks many expansions/zones while active;
-and some things, like fast travel, stay unlocked for characters that log in during that VIP period.

Is that correct?

And related to that: do the quest packs and zones unlocked through VIP remain accessible afterward, or only while subscribed? Do I need to “rush” through them during the subscription period?

I also have quite a few questions about expansions.

My understanding is that, until I actually reach those levels and zones, I can play perfectly fine without them. Is that true, or does the game start feeling limited much earlier?

Are there races, classes, or leveling routes locked behind expansions?

And while we’re at it… I checked the prices and… wow :\

So another important question:
How big are the discounts during events like Black Friday, anniversaries, summer sales, etc.? Is it worth waiting for those?

And finally, the player population.

I assume there are plenty of people at endgame, but… are there still players leveling?

Is it possible to find people for difficult quests, dungeons, or leveling content without relying entirely on a kinship or real-life friends?

Thanks a lot!

Hi! I’ve had this wonderful device for over two years now, and I still keep discovering new things about it.

I recently read that it’s better to charge the batteries with an external charger instead of using the TM2’s USB-C port too much, to avoid wearing it out over time. Since I bought a new battery directly from TinyMight and it came with an external charger, I’ve started using that instead.

The thing is: before, whenever the light turned blue and I was at home, I’d plug it in almost immediately, because I always felt like performance/power dropped a little once it hit blue.

Now though, since I have to unscrew the cap, take the battery out, charge it externally, etc… I’ve become a bit lazier about it, and it got me wondering:

Am I treating the batteries and the device properly by doing this?
How do you all handle it?

For context, I use it exclusively in on-demand mode.

(Also, after seeing some posts here, I consider myself lucky that both my USB-C port and button are still in perfect shape haha.)

Thanks, and good smokes!

Hi! Thanks in advance for any help

My situation: my mother is going to visit your beautiful country. Since Switzerland is outside the EU, roaming from our Spanish plan isn’t really an option.

She’ll be staying in a place with no Wi-Fi, no internet, basically no connectivity at all. So she needs mobile data and ideally a way to call family (Europe). The phone has no E-SIM option

I’ve been looking into options and it seems like prepaid with Swisscom is one of the main ones. But honestly… it feels quite expensive:~50 CHF just for data (5 GB + activation)And if you add international calls, it’s another ~20 CHF/month

Sure, she could use WhatsApp for calls, but still…

So my question is:
Are there better/cheaper alternatives I might be missing?
Or is prepaid (Swisscom / Salt / Sunrise) basically the way to go in Switzerland?

Thanks a lot for any advice!

Since I'm on my phone, I copied the version in the wrong language, sorry