I love starting little side projects. Mostly they fizzle out, but they can be interesting to set up, and the ones that do survive can yield interesting results. So recently I thought about just starting up a completely F2P LOTRO character and seeing if the path through the game was that feasible.

It was a project doomed from the start, I knew — but I still had to pick at it. It wasn’t doomed because it was impossible, but because just leveling up a new character in the game takes so much time, and doing it with the constrictions of F2P as you have to scrounge for every spare TP the game throws your way would be outside of my time budget. I thought maybe I’d just plink away at this character every now and then, but that would take years and years, and ultimately prove nothing more to me that some simple math problems could solve.

So here’s what happened: I had an old LOTRO account that I used for the beta, so I logged in and made a Hunter (because the Hunter gets free ports, and as the F2P characters don’t have swift travel as an option, I knew I’d need as many travel methods as possible). I began to map out just what I’d have to do to earn TP and then what I’d need to spend it on. That list got awfully specific, awfully fast.

The problem is that if you’re just trying to level with one F2P character, there’s no way you can earn enough TP to continue buying quest packs to earn more TP to buy more quest packs — nevermind all the frivilous extras, like riding skills, inventory bags, and trait slots. You either have to end your run somewhere near Moria and be okay with doing nothing but a few skirmishes, the epic storyline, and grinding, or you have to roll other characters and redo the same content to earn more TP. If you did the latter, there’s no limit to your earnings except for your patience and time, so you could theoretically earn enough to buy everything in the game.

I found that this realization deflated the project to the point where, after three days, I lost interest in it. It’s nice that it’s a possibility, but it’s way too much work — and, after all, that’s how Turbine wants it to be. The company doesn’t make money from you not paying them, so they’re going to try to ride that fine line between offering you freebies and the way to earn more freebies while tempting you with the easy road of a credit card payment. I can’t imagine even the most poor person playing this game having the stamina to go through the Shire pie runs for the sixteenth time without breaking and spending a few bucks to unlock the content he or she desires. By that time you’re so invested into the game that quitting isn’t as much of an option, either.

It’s why games like Fallen Earth and Star Trek Online are superior in what they offer as F2P games, because the leveling content in those games is not locked. You can play up to the level cap in both games without paying whatsoever and without missing any missions or quests or zones. Instead, those types of titles take the approach of tempting you with subscription upgrades, nicer vehicles, faster crafting, and the like. It’s a less aggressive sales pitch.

What works for Turbine’s model in both DDO and LOTRO is that you have options, that there is a way to earn this content in-game without spending money, and that many of the unlocks are account-wide. I have the option in LOTRO to be completely free, to pay a la carte, or to subscribe. Many F2P titles aren’t that generous.

SOE’s model — a more rigid matrix chart that penalizes free players with punishments that can’t be bought out of unless one subscribes — is less well-regarded by me. It’s nice they’re doing it, but it certainly isn’t as friendly, generous, or flexible as what else is out there.

It’s just interesting to me to see how this umbrella moniker of “free to play” can cover such a diverse crowd that’s approaching “free” gameplay in wildly different and sometimes experimental ways. I expect we’ll be seeing even more divergent approaches in the future.