Up to 50, after that you need to get expansions to progress. Keep in mind, LOTRO often requires a group to progress, and while it's f2p model is still a bit iffy, it's infinitely better than swtor.

I haven't played LOTRO, but DDO was made by the same developers and is - as far as I can see it - similar in that. Essentially, it's more F2P, and a bigger part can be played without grouping (some parts, however, are simply too difficult or have mechanics that you can't play without a group).

Up to 50, after that you need to get expansions to progress. Keep in mind, LOTRO often requires a group to progress, and while it's f2p model is still a bit iffy, it's infinitely better than swtor.

I have 3 characters at level 115 and doing the Mordor expansion currently and none have HAD to do any group content to get there. It is very easy to skip the few "grouping" situations and still continue with the Epic storyline and any side quests as well. It is almost impossible to do all content in LOTRO without having multiple characters as there is just SO MUCH to do. I actually find it a much more pleasurable game when compared to SWTOR just for the amount of content available - group or solo.

For those interested in the differences between F2P/Preferred/VIP, see the link. https://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Account_Types

I haven't played LOTRO, but DDO was made by the same developers and is - as far as I can see it - similar in that. Essentially, it's more F2P, and a bigger part can be played without grouping (some parts, however, are simply too difficult or have mechanics that you can't play without a group).

Hey Alrik, I am curious do you still play your sniper? I recall for years you lamented how snipers were mostly free kills in PVP. Now that they have buffed them, have you found it more fun?

I been on a new sniper, and although I suck at dealing with melee, I find the class really quite enjoyable. I am 43 lvl now, and actually had mids pvp popping during prime time last night and found the sniper very fun!

I went with marskman, but want to try engi and viru too.

I'll buy that for a dollar.

I'm gonna need about tree fiddy.

I'm gonna need about tree fiddy.

How about a little poem instead?

Conquest, Conquest sat on the wall.

BioWare Austin made Conquest fall.

Try and try as hard as they can.

BioWare Austin couldn't put Conquest back together again.

Yeah, yeah. Kinda lame. But so is conquest.

Thought I give a little overview about the current situation on Malgus server for this week's conquest:

Large Yield:

*0 guilds at target

*closest guild still needs some 300.000 more points to make it

--> Prediction: 0 or 1 guild will reach the target

Middle Yield:

*2 guilds at target

*1 guild close to target

*other guilds still more than 150.000 points away, I'm not convinced that they will make it

--> Prediction: 3 guilds will reach their target; if the 4th place can still push hard, maybe 4

Small Yield:

*4 guilds at target (the top guild with almost 4.000.000 points)

*6 more guilds in range of the target (the rest I don't know)

--> Prediction: Depending on the size of the guilds on pos. 5 to 10, I'd say that they can all reach their target

What conclusion do we draw from this? First, it's not over until its over. Second, as stated before: This tier idea was not the right way to do things. Honestly, the only thing that surprises me is that there are still so many guilds going for the large yield tier. There are 6 guilds in the large yield's top 10 with less than 100.000 points. Have they not understood how the new system works and think that they will get something if they just are in the top 10?

Thought I give a little overview about the current situation on Malgus server for this week's conquest:

 

Large Yield:

 

*0 guilds at target

*closest guild still needs some 300.000 more points to make it

 

--> Prediction: 0 or 1 guild will reach the target

 

Middle Yield:

 

*2 guilds at target

*1 guild close to target

*other guilds still more than 150.000 points away, I'm not convinced that they will make it

 

--> Prediction: 3 guilds will reach their target; if the 4th place can still push hard, maybe 4

 

Small Yield:

 

*4 guilds at target (the top guild with almost 4.000.000 points)

*6 more guilds in range of the target (the rest I don't know)

 

--> Prediction: Depending on the size of the guilds on pos. 5 to 10, I'd say that they can all reach their target

 

What conclusion do we draw from this? First, it's not over until its over. Second, as stated before: This tier idea was not the right way to do things. Honestly, the only thing that surprises me is that there are still so many guilds going for the large yield tier. There are 6 guilds in the large yield's top 10 with less than 100.000 points. Have they not understand how the new system works and think that they will get something if they just are in the top 10?

Here is Star Forge:

Large Yield

1 at target

1 200k away

2 400-500k away (so could make it with some work this weekend)

Medium Yield

4 at target

2 10k away

the rest of the top 10 are less than 200k away, with 2 being 100k away

Small Yield

7 at target

3 less than 30k away

I actually think the tier idea is fine, given how close the bottom 3 are in the small tier, there are probably a bunch more guilds we don't see that will get conquest, which is a net gain. But there are 2 problems remaining that I see:

1. Guilds oftentimes have lots of people with lots of alts, and that's how they did conquest. But given how alt-unfriendly things are, guilds are having a lot of trouble pushing enough points to even attempt to go for large yield. It's gonna be the same 2 or 3 guilds that get the large yield planet every week, and that is gonna be it. It's kinda sad that only 3 or 4 guilds on the server can be considered "large" under the current system.

2. The rewards for large yield are not enough to entice the large guilds away from the medium/small yield planets. Right now, first place on the Small Yield is at almost 3 million points. The crafting boxes that medium and large yield planets will be getting will definitely help, but we'll have to see if that's enough.

Is LOTRO free to,play?

Yes, although it can be a bit restrictive, limiting you to the Epic Book Quests for each zone, which means some grinding may be required to level sufficiently to progress to the next zone.

However you can earn LOTRO points (their equivalent of Cartel Coins) in-game and use them to unlock the Zone Quest Packs. The guild I am in used to have a husband and wife who eventually unlocked everything without ever spending any real money on the game. I am not sure that is possible now with the post Minas Tirith stuff, but that is level 90+ so lots to do before you get to that. I know a lot of players play Premium - essentially Free To Play and spend a little bit of money here and there for a few unlocks.

Personally, I like the game enough that (like SWTOR) when I do play for any length of time I sub.

Be warned though leveling, questing and gear progression seems very slow compared to SWTOR, and some areas are tough, Angmar and Mordor are dangerous enough that you either need top of the line gear or someone to quest with. The new end-game gearing using Essences is, honestly, even more grindy and esoteric than Command Levels.

It is all in all a very differently paced game to SWTOR. Very much in the mold of vanilla WoW.

All The Best

How about a little poem instead?

 

Conquest, Conquest sat on the wall.

BioWare Austin made Conquest fall.

Try and try as hard as they can.

BioWare Austin couldn't put Conquest back together again.

 

Yeah, yeah. Kinda lame. But so is conquest.

Here's my poem about conquest.

Conquest had to change,

rewards were glitched to hell!

Conquest was too rewarding,

and alts were played too well...

The Studio knew the fix,

they'd make conquest a grind!

Alts would be discouraged,

total points would be declined.

Players ought to love it!

Now small guilds can compete!

Participation will be up,

Conquest will be complete!

5.8 then dropped,

the players were in shock and fear!

What happened to their beloved conquest,

the one they held so dear?

Eric explained as best he could,

to the players it wasn't enough...

Players said they wanted the old conquest,

Eric had to tell them "sorry, but tough. :)"

Keith then had to step in,

this banter had gone on far too long!

"I'm confused what is the problem," he said

"Conquest is better and you all are wrong!"

Players couldn't believe it!

They demanded to know how this was so...

Keith then told them with authority,

"Participation is up the numbers show!"

Here is Star Forge:

(...)

2. The rewards for large yield are not enough to entice the large guilds away from the medium/small yield planets. Right now, first place on the Small Yield is at almost 3 million points. The crafting boxes that medium and large yield planets will be getting will definitely help, but we'll have to see if that's enough.

The situation looks better on Star Forge than Malgus. I guess this means that you have more players on your server.

Regarding 2. I stand by what I stated several times: Many guilds, especially the bigger ones, choose their conquest target by planet, not by reward. That is because they want to give as many players as possible the chance to get the planetary achievements. That's been like that for years. The new tier system does not change that. Many guilds conquer planets for achievements and titles.

That's why I say that this 3-tier-system doesn't work. In theory, the idea is pretty good, especially the fact that you get rewards if you meet your target, no matter what position on the leaderboard you have. But it fails to address the issue that big builds leave small guilds no chance to conquer a planet. And if I am not mistaken, one of the reasons for the new conquest system was more equality for everyone: small guilds conquer small planets, big guilds big planets. Partially, more equality was achieved (untying rewards from the leaderboard), partially not: big guilds still dominating small ones.

IDEA:

Maybe they could make it so that all 3 planets are available in every tier and every guild chooses the planet of their choice and automatically starts in the lowest tier. When a guild reaches the small yield target, they get automatically moved to the medium tier where they will have to compete with more equal guilds for the top position while at the same time they have the small yield rewards guaranteed. And when they reach the target for medium tier, they get moved to large yield. Like that, the 4.000.000 points guild on Malgus for the small yield planet would be on top of the top tier, thus leaving space for two more winners for this particular planet.

..... Maybe they could make it so that all 3 planets are available in every tier and every guild chooses the planet of their choice....

I think this is how a lot of people thought the original revamp was going to work. That there were going to be rotating sets of planets at each "level" which would allow the "big" guilds to go for their conquest titles and their "rewards" at the same time rather than just piling on the lowest rewards because it was the title they wanted. What conquest needed was a jewelers hammer not a sledge hammer.

SNIP

What conquest needed was a jewelers hammer not a sledge hammer.

And not a Wrecking Ball!

And not a Wrecking Ball!

“a nuke a day, keeps the gamers away”

Thought I give a little overview about the current situation on Malgus server for this week's conquest:

 

Large Yield:

 

*0 guilds at target

*closest guild still needs some 300.000 more points to make it

 

--> Prediction: 0 or 1 guild will reach the target

 

Middle Yield:

 

*2 guilds at target

*1 guild close to target

*other guilds still more than 150.000 points away, I'm not convinced that they will make it

 

--> Prediction: 3 guilds will reach their target; if the 4th place can still push hard, maybe 4

 

Small Yield:

 

*4 guilds at target (the top guild with almost 4.000.000 points)

*6 more guilds in range of the target (the rest I don't know)

 

--> Prediction: Depending on the size of the guilds on pos. 5 to 10, I'd say that they can all reach their target

 

What conclusion do we draw from this? First, it's not over until its over. Second, as stated before: This tier idea was not the right way to do things. Honestly, the only thing that surprises me is that there are still so many guilds going for the large yield tier. There are 6 guilds in the large yield's top 10 with less than 100.000 points. Have they not understood how the new system works and think that they will get something if they just are in the top 10?

Well I'm pleased but also sad that your prediction was wrong, you've got to take in to account the weekends, while my guild was 6th for med yield we've still made the target...... I am sad though as if you was right I'd of asked you to predict the winning Euro millions jackpot numbers for Fridays...... alas I shall have to continue earning a living.

Well I'm pleased but also sad that your prediction was wrong, you've got to take in to account the weekends, while my guild was 6th for med yield we've still made the target...... I am sad though as if you was right I'd of asked you to predict the winning Euro millions jackpot numbers for Fridays...... alas I shall have to continue earning a living.

So, six guilds made it then. Isn't that grande? Or did you overtake the guilds before you?

But congratulations for sure!

I appreciate the fact that y'all listened to our concerns, however I would like to re-emphasize how badly the crafting changes hurt the small guilds like mine. Crafting was our primary source for building out our flagship, and now when we are coming up on finally completing it after all these years of work, the changes make it next to impossible. As it currently stands, I now have to gather millions of materials (I DID THE MATH) to complete the ship with a few left over as extras for either money or for decorations from the conquest rewards. If you could reduce the amount of materials needed, it would go a LONG way towards helping smaller guilds like mine continue their progress towards completing the ship.

Thank you for your time and for listening. We were afraid that you didn't care.