November 5, 2010
stargrace A Second Account? Sure Why Not! #LotRO
One sure way of telling whether or not I’m REALLY enjoying a game is that eventually I (more than likely) end up starting a second account. In WoW I have two accounts (granted only one is currently active, but that’s besides the point). I have two in EQ2, I’ve got two Wizard101 accounts, and two EQ1 accounts. As of last night, I have two LotRO accounts. Turbine really didn’t leave me much choice though when it comes right down to it (let me explain).
See, a little while ago direct2drive had a sale on the VIP starter pack. It included a 30 day VIP subscription and 1,000 turbine points, for $10. The VIP subscription had to be used towards a new account, but they sent the code for the turbine points and account separately. So I applied the points to my main account and then completely forgot about the VIP subscription. Until last night. One of the ‘clinchers’ for me in starting a new account is whether or not I can realistically play two accounts at once. There are two ways for me to do this 1. be able to box both accounts on my pc (which is quite nice and able to handle most games, but graphic-wise LotRO is not “most games”) or 2. be able to play an account on my laptop (which is not top of the line but it is a duel core with 4 gigs of ram). If I can do one of those (or perhaps both) my decision on whether or not to start a second account becomes a lot easier.
Turbine helped me along as Syp pointed out – they have a low-rez client of the game available for those players who may be gaming on an older machine (or a laptop). I spent last night downloading the client and installing, and while it’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen it does run amazingly well on my laptop.
Then there’s the fact that LotRO is a freemium game. Even when the 30 days of VIP runs out on that second account, chances are I’ll have saved up turbine points (as well as the 500 you gain from being a VIP for the month) to pick up a few quest packs and other odds and ends that I may want. Even if I simply use the account for storage like Arkenor suggested it makes having a second account worth it (at least to me).
Do I really NEED a second account? No, I don’t. I’m quite content with the four characters I have at the moment and as of last night my main (Minstrel) managed to inch her way to level 39. I do enjoy boxing though (it’s a matter of constantly multi tasking, which is something I enjoy) and since I technically already owned the VIP subscription, I may as well make use of it.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!