The LOTRO Legacy Bundle
I wrote recently about how I wished that lifetime subscriptions were still available for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online. I explored the value of such deals and concluded that the ongoing revival of the game, especially with regard to the launch of the progression Legendary Servers, presented the developers with the perfect opportunity to offer something similar to new players. Oddly enough, Standing Stone Games have just announced the LOTRO Legacy Bundle, which although not a lifetime subscription, offers a substantial quantity of game content and bonuses at a substantially discounted price. Here is a breakdown of what is on offer.
One Year of VIP Access Time
Get all the perks of being a VIP like 500 LOTRO points every month, mobile mailbox access, all character trait slots, and no 5g currency cap!
All The Content For One Great Price
Get Quests, Instances, Raids, Deeds, and Regions that LOTRO has released as of December 31st, 2018, even quests from Expansions!
*Excludes expansion pre-order or bonus items, includes only Quests, Instances, Raids, Deeds.
A Gift For All Your Characters, Forever!
Get a Crystal of Remembrance for every character on your account! You'll also get a Crystal of Remembrance on every additional character you create on your account going forward.
Bonus Items
You'll also get one Legacy Package for the character of your choice. It includes tons of bonus items to help you through your adventures and enough housing writs to buy your own premium house with no upkeep fees! Upon redemption of your Legacy Bundle code, you will immediately receive your bonus items on the character you log in on.
Your Legacy Package (one per account) Includes:
250 Mithril Coins
Wallet
Riding Skill
5 vitality stat tome pickers
10 skill and slayer deed boosts
10 Reputation supply
A Fleet-Footed Goat
A Mount Picker (Steed of the White City, Steed of the Citadel Guard, Forest Elk, Snow-Beast Steed)
A Housing kit which includes:
20 Housing Writs
Bird Bath
Hedgehog House
Premium Ingredients Crates
Fish Pond
ALL House Crafting Items
Sleeping Cat
Bevy of Swans Ice Sculpture
Makeshift Mûmak
Hound Property Guard
Gondorian Supplier Horn
Quest Packs Include:
Mines of Moria* Quest Pack
Mirkwood* Quest Pack
Rise of Isengaurd* Quest Pack
Riders of Rohan* Quest Pack
Helm's Deep* Quest Pack
Mordor* Quest Pack
Eregion
Enedwaith
Angmar
Evendim
Forochel
Misty Mountains
Trollshaws
North Downs
Lothlorien
Great River
Wildermore
East Gondor
Central Gondor
West Gondor
Old Anórien
Far Anórien
March of the King
Battle of the Black Gate
Legacy of the Necromancer
Where Dragons Dwell
For further details visit https://www.lotro.com/en/LegacyBundle
Now it is abundantly clear that this is an offer that favours the new or returning player. If you already have a lifetime subscription, then this bundle doesn’t offer you much more than the LOTRO store extras. Lifetime subscribers already have permanent VIP status, and thus an indefinite monthly stipend of 500 LOTRO points, as well as continuous access to non-expansion quests. However, this bundle is good value to those who subscribe intermittently to the game and haven’t bought any of the expansion packs. For a player who has rolled a new alt, either on the Legendary Servers or any of the regular servers, this offers access to everything that exists in the game at present. Furthermore, after a year when the VIP subscription expires, all quest content will remains unlocked.
For a long-term player like myself, who has bought all previous expansions, this bundle is also quite enticing. I currently subscribe monthly to LOTRO at a cost of £8.99 per month. That’s £107.88 per year. I pay monthly because it suits me financially and allows me to stop paying when I’m not playing. I recently started a new alt that I intend to take to level cap. Hence the additional store items included in the bundle are eminently practical. The total price of $199, works out as £157 (rounded up). That covers my years subscription (at the price I would have paid for it) along with £50 worth of store goods, which I suspect would cost more than that if I bought them separately. Again, if I stop playing for a while and return at a later date when my VIP status has expired, I will not be locked out of any quest content, apart from material that is added after December 31st 2018.
Naturally one’s perspective on the $199 cost of the LOTRO Legacy Bundle, is determined by the state of your personal finances. However, with Christmas coming up, this bundle has great potential as a gift. I am certainly giving it serious consideration. For me it’s the next best thing to a lifetime subscription. Price wise, it’s also worth considering the following. If I bought premium additions of two newly released single player games, the cost would be broadly similar to the LOTRO Legacy Bundle. 2018 has been the years where I have bought several single player games that I have ultimately been disappointed with. LOTRO regardless of its age and specific flaws, is a known quantity and a tried and tested source of amusement, entertainment and social interaction. I therefore have until December 16th to make up my mind.
