Standing Stone Games Just Made Most Of LotRO and DDO's Content Free For a Short Time

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Standing Stone Games Just Made Most Of LotRO and DDO's Content Free For a Short Time

Players eager to hop into The Lord of the Rings Online or Dungeons & Dragons Online but were worried about paying for content during the current climate, Standing Stone Games is here to help.

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Albatroes

Eh....then you lose all the stuff outside of making certain character/classes locked behind paid stuff that you've already made? This game is kind of a shame that they don't just bundle everything up for one price and let people go ham (I think the sub on the legendary servers covers everything? I could be wrong). Its a fun game otherwise.

Tokken

It's a nice gesture in our current times.

TeakStrangiato

The cynical side of me wants to say they are recognizing a golden opportunity to expand their playerbase. And that is probably what is driving this. Doesn't make this a bad thing, its only a positive benefit to anyone tempted to play these games in the short term.

Po_gg

It's weird, but also typical - not the move, the reactions. (I mean overall, not just this surprisingly short thread)

For years they complain about the price, the alleged "entry cost", etc., SSG makes it free for more than a month, and: boo, that's too short a timeframe...

Albatroes said:

Eh....then you lose all the stuff outside of making certain character/classes locked behind paid stuff that you've already made?

No classes/races, it's only for the world content (quests and instances), so you can't make something which then will go away.

No other "losses" content-wise either, it will (most likely, we'll see at the end of April) work as the sub expiry, you'll be able to finish every quest and deed you started, just not taking up new ones.

kitarad

Very good of them to do this. This is Daybreak right they own Standing Stones Games if I am not mistaken? Ahh no ,no just publishing rights but that is the business end so this was Daybreak's decision I suppose.

Narug

Thank you for the gesture Standing Stone.  I hope those who take advantage of this are able to escape their worries in this oh so troubled time.



I feel like these are my people.  Turbine created my first MMO, Asherons Call 2.  They created Auberean.  Created Dereth.

Our people.

I don't know if I can join you though.  The Turbine of old holds a special place in my heart.

Volenibblets

It is indeed nice of them to do this and I'll definitely be having a run about to see post-level 65 areas I wouldn't even consider paying hundreds of euros/dollars for in a game this old. The only problem with giving people the ability to temporarily advance through a paywall they previously stopped at is that any progress you put into the new zone is pointless once they close off your access again.

wyldmagik

What mmo publisher is going to step up and hand out a free solid MMO title all expansions for free in these times of crisis. Be nice to see one of those do this but it will always be about the money why it will not happen I guess. What a great image boost for them though if they did.

Sovrath

kitarad said:

Very good of them to do this. This is Daybreak right they own Standing Stones Games if I am not mistaken? Ahh no ,no just publishing rights but that is the business end so this was Daybreak's decision I suppose.

They don't own Standing Stone games they just publish their games.

Nebless

Volenibblets said:

The only problem with giving people the ability to temporarily advance through a paywall they previously stopped at is that any progress you put into the new zone is pointless once they close off your access again.

Well gee I guess you should never sub to a game either since 'any progress you put into the new zone is pointless once they close off your access' when the sub ends. 

beauxshum

While I do think there is some truth to the thought that giving temporary access to content that we won't have access to after a month (clearly not enough time to experience all the game has to offer)... I also think if they would have come out with a $100 all in one bundle people would be screaming at them because they took advantage of a global pandemic to make money. That said, if at the end of April they come out and say "thanks for all the new players, we have decided to consolidate game/xpacs into an all in one for $100" I think it would give the game a nice breath of life and people would lose their minds.

Volenibblets

Nebless said:

Volenibblets said:

The only problem with giving people the ability to temporarily advance through a paywall they previously stopped at is that any progress you put into the new zone is pointless once they close off your access again.

Well gee I guess you should never sub to a game either since 'any progress you put into the new zone is pointless once they close off your access' when the sub ends. 

Oh, I see, so a VIP monthly sub allows access to the half a dozen expansions, does it?

simmihi

April 30th, that's more than a month away, most "new" people won't play it for more than that anyway. I'm gonna pick it up again and try a different leveling route (I own some expansions and about half the content). I felt that the high-level content was terrible anyway so I'm probably going to quit again when I hit those levels.

Po_gg

Volenibblets said:

Oh, I see, so a VIP monthly sub allows access to the half a dozen expansions, does it?

Nope, it allows access to everything besides the expansions... which is actually more content. People even play this game?

Also, access ain't a precise word since you have access to the entire game (expansions included), and the main story. What you don't have is the quests besides the main storyline - and based on how many used to yell "I hate questing!" it's weird how they compain about the missing fetch and kill quests  

(just joking of course, LotRO has nice questlines, and for a questing player it's one of the best games out there)

Sure, it's much faster to level via questing, but that's optional, you can level up through other means as well. Nevertheless, this move now gives you all the quests for free.

Volenibblets said:

... any progress you put into the new zone is pointless once they close off your access again.

How so? What you've completed is done (xp, rep, quest rewards, etc. in the bag), the most you "lose" is maybe a few questline closures, story-wise. But questlines aren't that long in most cases, so if you don't start up a new zone in the last days, that won't be an issue.

The "close off" just means you won't have access to non-story quests post-April.

The other part which is free now for a month, the instances/raids/skirmishes. Same applies as with quests. There are enough available for free, now you can test all the rest, and when they'll "close off" the access, your progress stays and you don't lose anything.

The most I can think of is gathering a gear set  -for cosmetic purpose, since you outlevel gear pretty fast-,  if you can't get all the pieces during the month, you can continue later when you'll have access again.