The $20 Goat

So the $10 horse made a big ruckus around the intarweb, didn't it?

Well, I got an email from LOTRO today announcing proudly how great it was to get The Siege of Mirkwood (TM) FREE* (usual price $19.99) because I am a multi-month subscriber to the game.

All I have to do is maintain the subscription until Dec 31 2009 passes. (Presumably that's the time of their annual report and they don't want droves of people canceling with the reason "Aion kicks LOTRO's grindy progress bar ass with prettier hidden grind." or "Bored shitless after finally realizing that every mainstream MMO consists of grind.")

EXCEPT

If I pre-order the new Adventurer's Pack (for $19.99, what convenient pricing!), I get two bonus in-game items Free*!

1) A Dusky Nimblefoot Goat
2) A Harbinger Cloak with an 8% run speed boost, usable immediately

Oh, yes, what else does the Adventurer's Pack contain? 2 extra character slots and 20 shared storage spaces for all your characters.

Ok. So it's a great enough buy for extra character slot space and shared storage if you were an LOTRO alt fanatic.

Let's face it. I'm NOT an LOTRO alt fanatic. My great plans to make 4 alts that could craft everything evaporated in the face of all the evil progress bars. I'm just trying to get my poor Guardian through Mines of Moria here.

Except they fiendishly disabled any form of old mount in the Mines of Moria, forcing you back on foot, so that you had an extra goal to grind faction in order to attain a new Moria Goat, once you are a Friend with the Moria Miners (or something like that.)

As I said, I do poorly at any form of LOTRO progress bar grinding. So my poor Guardian is pretty much hoofing it in the dark depths of supposedly 3D Moria (which consists of lots of tall buildings and ruins which you cannot jump down without dying, so you get to run Guild Wars-like convoluted paths down endless stairwells.)

I'm not tempted by extra character slots, or shared storage space. Ain't got no alts to move 'em to.

But... a goat.

A goat I don't have to faction grind for.

But... it's an RMT goat. A $20 RMT goat.

Well, looks like we know the way Western MMO companies are moving. They've finally realized they can charge people more and still get away with it.

I'm sure sanity will prevail and I'm not going to get the Adventurer's Pack (of which some subscription plans get it AND Siege of Mirkwood for the same $19.99 price - some crazed economist figured that one out, I guess.).

After all, I was already considering dropping the LOTRO subscription, cheapness and all not withstanding. But I'll probably let it drag to take a look at the skirmish system from Siege of Mirkwood because I'm such a systems whore like that. (Essnetially paying $40 to experience a new game system for myself. Haha.)

After all, for $20, I could pick up a new game from Steam.

With regards to insanity, I've had all the insanity I can handle, because during a slight Aion downtime, I just registered for and downloaded an Eve Online 14-day trial. No shit.

No plans to buy Eve or play it as yet, not with Aion taking up maximum grind mindshare, but I thought, maybe it's time to at least LOOK at the game, play through its 3-hour tutorial which veterans say should NEVER be skipped by a newbie, period, and see exactly what 'spreadsheets in space' gameplay is like.

I did play 'spreadsheets in egypt' after all.

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