MMeOw

People have been able to pre-order Rise of Isengard for LOTRO from Turbine for a while now. This is handled through the Turbine Web store and they offer three different packages, ranging from $30 to $50.

Everyone has wondered what Turbine’s plans for Rise of Isengard would be in the actual in-game LOTRO Store. It’s long been hinted that they would be available piecemeal and today Sapience posted on the official forums confirming this.

Isengard Expansion Quests
Available in the LOTRO Store September 27 (Isengard Launch) for 3250 Turbine Points
Over 375 Quests and more than 40 Deeds for characters level 66-75 in the following regions

• Dunland — Adventure amidst the bright forests in the foothills of the southern Misty Mountains. Beware the Dunland Clans, rugged warriors tempted by the dark promise of power.
• Gap of Rohan — Battle over the legendary pass between Eriador and the plane of Rohan. This key strategic point must be defended against the ambitions of Sauron.
• Isengard — Explore Orthanc, one of the iconic Two Towers as it rises over the once beautiful Isengard valley. The once beautiful vale now desecrated beyond imagination by the Wizard Saruman the betrayer.

Raid: Draigoch’s Lair
Available in the LOTRO Store September 27 (Isengard Launch) for 1250 Turbine Points

• Face the ancient evil of Draigoch, one of the most powerful creatures in Middle-earth! Prepare for the ultimate challenge where nothing less than the strength of an entire force of 24 heroes stands the chance of victory

Derudh’s Stone
Available in the LOTRO Store September 27 (Isengard Launch) for 995 Turbine Points
A permanent pocket item that grants +25% XP on Monster Kills when equipped. This item binds to the purchasing character. Usable by characters level 1-64.

Expansion Instances
Available with Update 5, currently slated for December, for 1495 Turbine Points

• One 12-player instance
• One 6-player instance
• Three 3-player instances

So, basically, if you’ve saved up your Turbine Points, you’ll need a total of 5995 points. This is more than $60 in real money, although it’s eased up a bit by the sales offered on TP from time to time.

This is more expensive than I expected. I thought the prices would be slightly more comparable to those offered in the web store. As an example, the $30 package included all this content. The $40 package also included this content, with the addition of cosmetic clothing, a horse and 1,000 TP. The $50 package included all of that, plus all flavors of clothing and horses and a bunch of other quest packs.

I want to reiterate that if you’ve pre-ordered, you will get all the Update 5 instances coming this December too. If, for example, you only bought the Isengard quest pack and the new raid (which are all that will be available at launch), you’d still be paying $45. That’s pretty awful when compared to the $50 pre-order package, particularly when they plan to sell the bonus Derudh’s Stone for over $10.

So it’s easy to see the value in pre-ordering if you truly care about Rise of Isengard. I feel for those of you who have saved up or bought a bunch of TP hoping to use it toward this expansion… Perhaps Turbine means for the price difference to make up for the fact that VIPs get 500 points per month and that you can gain points by completing deeds. Either way, I’m somewhat surprised by it.

I guess it is what it is. Nothing will change it. That said:

There’s still time to pre-order. If you really care about getting the most for your money, I really suggest you do it before it’s too late.