In Lord of the Rings Online, it appears you gain access to some extra features/items when you become a paid subscriber/VIP. (Free access to an extra storage bag, etc.)
When you let your VIP status lapse, do you still keep those perks, or do you lose them when become a Premium member again?
The group of guys I play MMO's with used to play City of Heroes, but in that game, after losing VIP status, and returning to premium you lose access to characters that are prestige classes and things like that. (Which stinks because we didn't realize that going in and played for a month with characters that we lost access to when our VIP month ran out.)
I am hoping to find the answer before we decide if it is worth going VIP for a while or not.
Best Answer
You can keep these things (as long as you log into your characters):
Characters made on a premium account have a limit of five gold max and have their last two inventory bags locked. The gold cap is removed and the forth and fifth bags are unlocked if you have logged into this character while you have VIP status. (Basically, if you ever want to play other characters and not have a gold cap or limited to 3 inventory bags, just make a bunch of characters on different servers and log into them before you let your paid time lapse).
Extra Trait slots are treated just like gold and bags. Premium players have a limit of 1 or 2 (depending on type) trait slots available. VIP players have all of them. Just like gold and bags, this is kept if you log into a character before you downgrade (even if the trait slot hasn't been unlocked yet).
You keep the ability to swift travel on characters you have logged into during VIP status (as long as you meet the requirements for that location).
You will go from being able to post 30 items on the auction house at a time to only 5 items.
Characters that have earned their riding skill while having VIP status keep the privilege. Premium players must buy their riding skill from the store. So if you have several 20+ level characters, make sure you get the riding skill on each before you downgrade.
You will keep anything you purchased from the store during your VIP status, even if they are VIP only items. Expansions, Adventurer's Pack etc.
You will lose these:
If you want to read more about the transition or about purchasing expansion packs etc, I suggest you read this post on the official forums. It has a lot of information.