Yeah you could be grinding mobs pointless like a schmuck with that "Free" pack, not experiencing any worthwhile or fun content.
If lvling is all you care about, yes. But some of us enjoy the fun unique quests and features the game offers rather than worrying about a number. The level I am is the least of my concerns in lotro.
We understand you love the game, but please stop denying everything we're saying. You're basically not listening to anything we've said.
First of all, if you did read, you'd know that we've said you cannot quest when you leave Bree land. The starter zones (for every race) and Bree land are all free to play, but the moment you complete those, the rest of the areas pretty much require payment to do anything there other than killing random mobs on the world map. Although, if you play very scarcely, the free zones might keep you entertained for a while. If not here is the actual paychart:
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?347917-LOTRO-Store-Full-Price-ListThe quest packs enable quests + dungeons for those zones. Expansions do the same for the zones in the expansion.
The rest is optional, but I heavily suggest the following:
- Skirmishes (they are fun and also very rewarding)
- 4th bag
- 5th bag
- Gold cap removal
- Trait slot (Virtue, Race, Class and Legendary)