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RIFT or LOTRO or SW:TOR?
Looking for a f2p game to get me through the WoW burnout and wait for Warlords to be released. Preferred/VIP/former subscriber/box purchaser of LOTRO and SWTOR, if those status unlocks impact your opinion of which I should load up and play through the summer.
Ready... GO!
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Ive tried those exact same games. I suggest none of them. You said you are burnt out from WoW. Playing another MMO aint gonna help. When WoD comes out, you're gonna be as burnt out as u were before. Stay away from MMO's is what I am doing. But if you really need a game to play. Id go Rift. SWTOR has to many restrictions as f2p. LOTRO is a nice game but doesnt have pvp.
Both LOTRO and SWTOR are fun and to me have the best story I have seen so far in games.
I feel SWTOR is a more kick back game that I play with my gf to have fun and get a movie experience. I enjoy the class and main planet storylines. The game is pretty open with no subscription in my eyes. You can PVP and do dungeons too much though without a subscription. Not exactly sure how it works though.
LOTRO is more demanding than SWTOR combat wise. The Epic Storyline is fun to play to experience the movies in a different light. With LOTRO there are expansions you will have to buy though, they have sales all the time though if you look out for it and I think they have it where you can buy all of them for pretty cheap. LOTRO is pretty cut off though if you dont have a subscription for lower levels and expansions for higher levels.
It really just depends on what you want. I enjoy SWTOR when I want to be lazy and just have a single player experience for the most part. I enjoy LOTRO when I want to play with others and enjoy the combat and story.
games in order of overall quality given current state of game:
SWTOR
LOTRO (and falling)
RIFT (but all three fairly close)
games in order of free to play experience
RIFT (huge margin)
SWTOR
LOTRO
if you like the theorycrafting that used to be the driving force of WoW: rift. you might even end up staying. it's a better game for the theorycrafter than WoW by leaps and f'king bounds.
if you like small group stuff, then SWTOR or LOTRO based on your preferred lore.
if you like the above games but want to try something different(ish) : Eq2
if you REALLY wanna branch, try a sandbox, might i recommend the 2 games on my "currently playing" list?
RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.
Currently Playing EVE, ESO
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.
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My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.
Henry Rollins
RIFT > LOTRO > SWTOR
why star wars in the last place? well, since you are looking for "f2p", swtor's restrictions will SURELY going to be an ass on your experience.
Rift is Wow, so no.
SWeaTOR is a fun game but it gets old fast and it's only barely f2p. It's more like a single player game you play with others.
LoTRO has the most content, and systems of the three you mention. For content it has a huge vanilla world, and two big and different feeling expansions (which you can buy with in-game currency... the other two sure don't do that) Moria is the biggest dungeon of any MMO, period. It has to be seen to be believed. Rohan is a great looking expansion where you can fight on horseback... yep, on horseback.
The systems are also fantastic. They have legendary weapons that level with you and you can socket them thousands of different ways and you can hold a dozen of them and switch them out as needed. The mounted combat is something no other MMO has and you can train your horses to be the kind you want, faster, stronger, whatever. They have group and solo instance fighting called skirmishes which are in addition to the open world questing, and boss dungeons. The crafting is both deep in what you can make and wide in number of crafts (I mean you can farm pipeweed... seriously? What other MMO has that?) Hell, I can't even think of all the cool things you can do, oh yea, you can play music that you make yourself and then join a band... Ok, there's still so much more...
Bottom line, LoTRO is by far the most different MMO than the typical WoW clone. It's in a class all by itself. And the best part is it's been around for a while so it's both different and packed with things to do and places to go.
Oh, three things I forgot... First, the community has been around forever and are big LoTRO fans, so all the griefers and tards have moved on. It's the most supportive and helpful community I have ever been a part of in an MMO. Second, the PvP is as monsters. Yea, you get to play as a monster, and there are a few of them to play. They treat the monsters just like a character class and you level up in it. It's a great change of pace if you're into PvP and if you aren't you don't have to participate. Third, you gain in-game currency just by playing the game. Complete a quest? get free currency. Complete 10 quests? use the currency to unlock a skirmish zone so you can... earn more currency! It's crazy, they give you game money for playing the game. I know people that haven't spent a dime and they have unlocked the whole game AND bought the two expansions. It's really worth it.
TL, DR; LoTRO is the most different from WoW themepark MMO of the three, with more to do and ways to unlock content without spending money and a great community. You won't regret playing this game.
'Sandbox MMO' is a PTSD trigger word for anyone who has the experience to know that anonymous players invariably use a 'sandbox' in the same manner a housecat does.
When your head is stuck in the sand, your ass becomes the only recognizable part of you.
No game is more fun than the one you can't play, and no game is more boring than one which you've become familiar.
How to become a millionaire:
Start with a billion dollars and make an MMO.
LOTRO is the worst of the three for a free player. the first 30 levels are fantastic, but once you run out of the free content youll have to buy quest packs, or grind grind grind for turbine points. Which is tedious beyond belief.
LOTRO is a solid game, but its the worst f2p model out there of all the major titles.
Sorry, but nope, seems you forgot that OP stated he's an ex-subscriber and a box owner.
I can only repeat Velocinox's opinion, pretty much nailed it.
Rift has the best f2p system and it's a nice game, but OP wants something for a wow burnout, and Rift is like a wow replica, so maybe not a good idea.
TOR, just resubbed yesterday for the free Sky Palace (I know, I know... housing addict here), and it's daunting how different the game for subbers as opposed to it was when I played as preferred. So if OP only wants to play through a few class stories, preferred status might be ok, but for an mmo experience it's either sub, or buying coins, or grinding a lot for unlocks. Having the box does almost nothing for you in TOR, and OP seeks a f2p game. (nevertheless, for a singleplayer experience TOR definitely worth the time)
LotRO, as an ex-subscriber your characters are unlocked (so no bag limit, gold limit, locked trait slots, etc.) and based on the lenght of your subbed time you have TP's as well at your disposal (for buying the quest packs). The rest was covered by Velocinox, you can get additional TP's just by playing the game (or a lot more additional TP by farming), and if you purchase something that's unlocked for good, so eventually you won't have to buy anything, just playing for free. Until the next expansion, I mean
Rift is good if you want solid end game activities
Lotro some of the earlier content is great/nice but being in maintenance mode these days don't expect much else
SWTOR if you like good story lines, here's your poison, also has a fair amount of endgame activities.
The three games are pretty much all the same.
Better off looking into the future and trying out Wildstar.
Which is completely same but NEW.
If you are suffering from wow burnout, these games will not help you. You will become burnt out on them quickly as a residual effect.
My suggestion is to play something totally not geared toward leveling at all.
Landmark is a solid investment. Personally I'd by this game.
No matter how cynical you become, its never enough to keep up - Lily Tomlin
Honestly, all 3. Play whichever one suits your mood at that time. I have all 3 and some more on my desktop ready to go at a moments notice. I enjoy each respectively for different aspects. If I really get pulled into one, they all have the option to sub and get goodies, so I'll do that. Just played Rift for a few months, subbed. Hopped into Lotro the other week for the content update. Next week I'll hop into SWTOR, having subbed this week, in order to enjoy early access to housing.
Wildstar will pull me away in a month, but for now, those 3 are good enough to fill the void along with GW2, EQ2 and Hearthstone.
Thanks for the replies so far. It's helpful to read what you guys think of the different games and how they compare at this point in their lives. I've downloaded and installed all 3 now, just thinking about which to kick the rust off of first.
Just to clarify... burned out on WoW (for me, at least, at this time) =/= "I need a break from MMOs". Otherwise, I wouldn't be asking for input about 3 different MMOs on an MMORPG web forum. I'd be on an FPS forum asking about FPS games or on a RTS or MOBA or whatever forum asking about games in those genres. It's more of a "I've run out of things to do on WoW right now, so rather than pay $15 a month over the summer, when my available play time drops anyhow due to being out and enjoying the weather, what game will give me my MMO fix on the cheap when I do have an itch to log in and play?"
I have played and loved Rift so that is a great choice but the lore of Lotro is massive so I can't help you between these two.
Swtor is a good game but the other two I liked more.
I did not like LORTO so I would not suggest that.
Rift is the better FTP and more of an MMO.
I think SWTOR is a good game, just not very MMO.
If you want a more MMO experience go with Rift. If you want a more solo experience go with SWTOR.
--John Ruskin