4) This one is awful...Seriously, roll over characters from open beta servers into the actual game? Thats the worst thing I've ever heard of...Letting some people start with mounds of money and some fantastic armor while noobies have nothing? What the crap is up with that reasoning? My only thought is that Turbine thinks if they allow people to keep their already invested in characters, people will continue to play with their pre-made beta characters and won't leave LOTRO so fast. Don't even get me started on the economic problems-imagine joining a game at launch where prices are already fixed by those who are 25 levels above you....So dumb
I notice that Vanguard is doing the same thing for per-orders. Care to comment on that?
LOL, this is great. I think the rollover is a nice thankyou to those testing the game out before major release. At least we know it will be worth leveling and not a complete waste of time. I'll preorder. The one time fee......not likely, that might be for those that only have time to play one MMORPG or LOTR is their thing ! I'll pay monthy and enjoy it at that.
All I know is I'd rather be paying $9.99/mo or $199 for a lifetime membership than pay the $14.95. Heck, I'd even pay $14.95 a month to play this game, that's how excited I am about it!
Great idea, Turbine... a nice way to thank your beta testers and to encourage pre-ordering!
To the OP: Laugh all you want.. it's a great deal! I'll be laughing back atcha when I have more money in my pocket at the end of the year than you do!
_________________________________ JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth
I cannot see why some people are raving about this.
We write February 2007 in 2 days, and launch is under 3 months away. Pre orders at this stage is natural, and I cannot see how this would translate into Turbine having problems. Its just ludicrous.
Also the roll over from beta, whats the fuzz? its a 24 days headstart at best. So what, headstarts are normal.
Its like people have nothing else to do, than rave over the smallest things.
This game was awsome 2 months ago, well polished and imo ready to release. This one will have a near flawless release.
I can see how too some it may be benificial, or at best convenient to roll over thier beta char to retail. It certainly doesn't take waya from anything.
This game is far more polished than Vanguard was during the last days of beta but it also doesn't have the epic size and detail of Vanguard's world. It will just be another MMO, but one that is rather well done. If it's not innovation you're looking for but a solid "modern" MMO, it may be worth to give it a try. Of course, that's only what I've heard.
As it's a level based MMO one more time there will be an "endgame" ( once you achieved everything ) which will probably consist of "Monsterplay"-PvP and upcoming expansions ( maybe events, don't know what is planned; I can't imagine raids like in WoW as a big factor of a story driven MMO, though...).
If it's worth the investment of $199? Who knows...
Regarding Turbine and AC2: In the next years you will very probably see other MMOGames by well known developers/publishers getting cancelled. The higher the output of a developer/publisher, the higher the chance they will experience failure one day. It's how they are dealing with their customers in every aspect which is important for me during these last days of a dying MMO...
Seems to me like allowing players to roll over there characters from open beta (where they are playing for free, or for the 5 dollar pre-order price at EB) is alot like giving away a free month of play. I would pay 5 dollars to have the chance to play the game for a month then decide if i wanna shell out the rest of the money to buy the game and continue my character. And how is that unfair to anyone? Everyone who wants to play that game has the oportunity to pre-order and do the same. At least you aren't playing for a month and then losing your month of play and having to start over again at launch. I look at it this way... They are really releasing the game a month early and giving a free month of play just like every other mmorpg. They are just packaging the deal differently. This way they can release prior to the finish product, and try a different way of attracting people. With a franchise like LOTR people are biting their nails to get playing. So they are giving people what they want. I'll reserve my bashing for when the finish product has been out and its proven to be bad. Look at Vanguard, people have bashed it well before its release. Why? let them iron the kinks out. Then if its bad, cool Bash Away!
The problem isnt with Pre-Ordering, but how they arranged it... Lifetime? This sounds like "We are f*cked anyway, if we can at least sell some copies, that would save our ass*s"... Maybe we are all wrong, but denying that all of this things sounds a little bit "Horrible" and that they (Developers) knew that it would sound like this and still did it, its stupidity.. obviously, most of the "I Love Tolkien And Im Am Blind And Have No Opinion Against Nothing Involved With LoTR" will still defend that we are mistaken... we can be mistaken, but this notices just do not sound good... and 1 more thing, this game characters are horrible, just to say again, i guess i will make a signature saying this forever...
The problem isnt with Pre-Ordering, but how they arranged it... Lifetime? This sounds like "We are f*cked anyway, if we can at least sell some copies, that would save our ass*s"... Maybe we are all wrong, but denying that all of this things sounds a little bit "Horrible" and that they (Developers) knew that it would sound like this and still did it, its stupidity.. obviously, most of the "I Love Tolkien And Im Am Blind And Have No Opinion Against Nothing Involved With LoTR" will still defend that we are mistaken... we can be mistaken, but this notices just do not sound good... and 1 more thing, this game characters are horrible, just to say again, i guess i will make a signature saying this forever...
I just don't understand this mode of thinking!
Just because a company offers prospective customers a deal, that means they're in trouble? My goodness, with this mode of thinking, everytime we see a sale or a bargain we should all run like chicken little, screaming the sky is falling! Better yet... watch out, those free checking accounts your local bank has just started to offer no ATM fees! Grab your guns!... They're gonna take your money and run!
Folks, it's called MARKETING. With "sweeteners" like this, Turbine will hopefully sell more copies to more people to make more money. It's called BUSINESS, and actually, a great marketing strategy!
_________________________________ JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth
I don't see anything wrong with the pre-launch deal at all. The monthly price is fair but the lifetime deal is not going to draw that many by my guess unless they are hard core LOTR fans already. In which case, have at.
I pre-ordered because I find the game to be worthwhile (at least until Conan comes out, or maybe Gods and Heroes-not sure) Until then I will bounce back and forth between Vanguard and LOTR beta. I am enjoying both equally for different reasons.
Except for the last three replies and a few others, this has to be one of the most ignorant threads ever. People dont seem to have a clue about basic business decisions. Its as if Turbine was the first company to offer a long-term deal instead of shorter contracts or month-by-month payment. This happens all over the business world. It is a really smart approach by Turbine, and for a lot of players could be a really good deal.
Its no different than a health-club contract really - do you pay a large amount of money upfront (not knowing if you will keep going to the club for years) or do you do a month-by-month contract? The latter is cheaper in the short-term but a lot more expensive in the long-term, but it offers more flexibility. Paying a lump sum up-front gives less flexibility but in the long-term could be a LOT cheaper.
This kind of approach makes sense for a business whose costs are incurred up-front. For gyms, its the cost of building the gym and buying all that equipment. For mmorpgs, its the cost of the development (running the servers once the game is up and running is small compared to the many millions that were spent developing the game).
Turbine offering a deal like this, doesnt mean they are desperate, any more than Bally's or 24 Hour Fitness is desperate becuase they offer far lower monthly rates if you sign up for a long-term contract with a big payment up-front (ie, if you pay $500 now, your monthly rate might be $10, but if you dont pay anything down, your monthly rate could be $40).
And BTW, if Turbine really was desperate and needed the money now, WHY WOULD THEY GIVE THE OPTION OF $9.99/MONTH WITH A PRE-ORDER? THEY WOULD ONLY OFFER THE LIFETIME DEAL OF $199. Duh.
Whats REALLY amazing about this dumb thread is that Turbine offers a choice of good deals, and people are complaining about it?! LOL. Like you would be better off doing like we always did, and buying the game at a store and paying $14 or $15/month??????? And if you dont like the game, you wouldnt buy it at all, so why worry about what payment choices they offer????
Bah, its one of the best MMO deals out there right now. Even if the launch is rough, its better then paying 14.99 for a rough launch like all other MMO's.
Doomsay all you want, 9.99 a month is well worth it. You gotta be an ***** to complain about that price.
As far as carring over your toon from open beta, wtf cares? Its a PvE game and someone with alot of time will hit level cap within a week anyway just like in every other game always does. In 10 days it won't matter who carried what over from where, bots / power levelers and gold farmers will be running the game anyway, just like every other MMO. (gosh, I'm getting cynicle in my old age lol)
The whole point of the character rollover is to enable the beta testers to keep their toon's names after the launch. We asked Turbine to be able to keep our names, and we asked for some kind of recognition that could be seen on our toons, and they decided to give us a certain cape! What this says is that Turbine is very much in touch with the player base and they will do what's necessary to keep the player base very happy.
We asked and we received. What more could you want from a game developer?
Content, content, content! I don't care how big or small the world is... Give me content and lessen the grind! And since this game is actually based on something plenty of people already are know about, they just can't make up areas of the world that aren't apart of the lore in efforts to increase the world's size. WoW can make additions as they please since there was no lore they had to stick to.
I'll probably go the $9.99 route, but $199 lifetime is an incredibly good deal. So many of us go back and forth between games as we tire of one and develop new found interest for another. If you think the total time you'll spend on the game will total 20 (less than 2 yrs total) or so months, you'll get a bargain! If they have any big plans for future expansions, 20 months of play is easily doable.
The OP is a hardcore Vanguard fan, so his/her opinion means little to nothing.
It is pretty sad that they feel the need to sneak around and troll the game subforums, if it isn't Vanguard, chances are they will be bashing it. I think its some sort of crazed revenge on all the other games because so many people didn't like Vanguard.
Anyway, great preorder offers doesn't mean the game is doing poorly, it is called marketing. I really hate Vanguard fanboys/girls.
All I can say about this thread is Different Strokes for Different Folks. I'm a big fan of Pre-ordering for Open Beta. It gives me a chance to pay $5 USD to see if I like a game before I go drop $50-$70 USD on something that may or may not be the right game for me. As for the $9.99 USD or $199 USD Lifetime subscription, I feel it is an awesome bargain.
Although I'm not impressed with Turbine's track record in MMO releases, I'm not a fan of SOE either. I tend to let the games speak for themselves for my own personal tastes. WOW, EQ2, and Vanguard (yes, I pre-ordered Vanguard and have no intention of buying it)were all not for me, that is not to say that this one will not be either. I will be pre-ordering to try it out before making my decision on this MMO and if I like it I have the opportunity to get a great deal as well.
OP and several others- Hasn't your mother told you "If can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" You don't like this game fine, there is no need to start an inflammatory post or if you wish a debate you can find a better respectful way to speak your mind. For the most part I'm impressed at the maturity and thoughtfulness at most of the responses to this thread for both pros and cons to this issue. I look forward to possibly having a more mature player base to spend my time with .
At the OP, no flames meant from me, but I do think your reasoning doesn't take several things into account.
It's really just your opinion that there are 3-6 months worth of content, and your opinion in this matter includes the bias of your own preferences, which don't represent accurately how people evaluate games or how they decide to play/leave the game. You could argue several games out there only have 3-6 months of viable unique content but people play them for years for other reasons but you neglect to account for this. People don't quit games just because they beat the last level, and this is especially the case in MMO's I'm surprised you don't acknowledge this fact, but then it does counter your argument.
As far as the monthly fee, sure you think it shows some negativity and others do as well as to what it represents, but again it's opinion and as such does not represent what or how average consumers value their money, or how people will view the game because of it. I really don't see a reason to complain unless it is the only option, which of course it isn't.
IMO, the online gaming market is changing. There is more competition, and a bigger pie to get pieces of and companies will need to be innovative not only in designing the games but marketing them as well. People who say "they are offering this package because they know they won't be open for more than 6 months" or something similar are simply wrong, and probably have a close-minded view on most things in life. Such is the nature of negativity, it is addictive.
As far as artificially inflating numbers through this, I wouldn't say it's not going to happen but where are those numbers important? They give a sign of relative strength of a game....but to who primarily is this of interest? Stockholders/Investors of the company, or prospective video game players who they may be trying to attract would be my guess. In the case of investors, the rest of the figures are not ignored, so artificially saying you have XXX subscribers doesn't mean anything when they see there is no actually current revenue streams for example. In terms of prospective players, sure I want us to all get accurate information, but I don't personally play games because they hit a certain sub number, or whatever. The company itself will not really base a decision to keep a game running SOLELY on the number of subs, we of the community often refer to this number because it is the prime source of money for the company.
As far as BETA rollovers, I have no idea why this is a problem, especially since as people have said they're doing it in other games (even yours!!). People often try to create drama that someone else's PvE character is better than theirs, but this isn't a problem that needs attention. Why? Because game developers should not have to deal with the vocal minority (whom you are representing in this particular argument) who feel that they NEED to be one step ahead or even to everyone else playing the game or else there is a problem. Forget the fact that you don't even know how or if it would even effect you day to day, but it's definately worth complaining about online. That is why it is not an issue.
Maybe I'll read the fine print after this but the initial reaction to the bold print was, "Hey looks kind of like the deal Dark and Light set up". Hope this isn't out of desperation to secure whats left of the dwindling MMO market.
Does it seriously matter what everyone's opinions of whhat mmorpg's they've decided not to play, or why?If you've found one of the newer
mmo's that appeals to you enough to pay the $50 and subscription fees, then GREAT, but it's really no reason to go out of the way to tear apart another mmo for the sole reason of someone in the thread saying that they ike it.I can understand giving an objective opinion of an mmo based on it's strengths and weaknesses(real, not perceived), but anythign beyond that is really unecessary.
Ok... Tomfred I have played in BOTH betas as well. I will tell you what. I liked LOTR LEAGUES over Vanguard. GUESS WHAT I don't even like the LOTR universe. They are 2 different games both catering to 2 different demographics of players.
Also your argument. About how it's 20 gigs of game. Well that just is amazing it's 20 gigs of let down. HEY guys you're releasing a game that monsters still disapear while you're fighting them. I've played both for about a month of closed beta time (NDA be damned) and im not saying one is better than the other i'm just trying to point out they are 2 TOTALLY seperate games. One catering more to players who want storyline and advancing Questlines that follow a story that each race and player will experience differently (LOTR) and the other appealing to the I WANNA BE KING grind till you're high lvl and boast kinda game (vanguard) neither is right neither is better if you do not like one then don't play it... and ALSO stay off of it's forums.
ESPECIALLY that last part I mean... do I come over to your house and take a dump on your kitchen table? no. Do I come over to your parties and tell you how crappy the food is... also no. Just leave the people here be unless you have a COHESIVE AND COHERENT review thats not biased or oppinion based because thats what a TRUE review is. What you did will not sway anyone to not buy the game. What you did will only start a flame war with trolls of every ilk you being the leader of the troll armada (not a compliment).
It's a very competitive market these days and Saying BUY THIS ONE NOT THAT BECAUSE IT BLOWS with out a valid and un biased review is like saying "HEY come breath the air over here because it's better... i don't know why just is come here". People will play what they like and if you don't like what they play leave them alone and mind your buisness.
Its funny how people dont know what there talking about at times, I like the parts when people say Asheron's Call 2 closing is a bad sign but if you any of you actualy knew the real history of the game, you realized that closing down that game wasnt meant that turbine was bad.
If you guys knew AC2 that game was actualy under the control of MICROSOFT at the time of creation. They got push and push by MS with that game, MS even build part of the systems for that game ( I was in beta of AC2 I know how it whent exactly ) we knew it was a mistake to let Microsoft dictate the direction of AC2 but Turbine was stuck with them. After a while I say after a year, Turbine manage to get back all of there rights on the Asheron's Call series. Of course fixing AC2 with the mess Microsoft left them with must have been hard. And from what I can tell ( I left the game just before they regain licensing of AC2 from Microsoft ) it was getting to be a lost cause. Its like you have a brother that owns a restaurant, his the one that managing it. Someday he decides to give you is restaurant, his tired of it, he cant make it work and be successfull. So your the one stuck with a mess, now what do you do try to fix the mess or would it be just easier to shut it down and restart anew?
Turbine tried to fix a mess that Microsoft but them in with AC2, they arent to blame for that. I think they got good partners for Lotro this time around and good help. And if they got a good relationship with these peoples I dont see how things could be bad for this game.
Opiniated people like our OP are just that opinion of one person. If everyone were blind sheeps that follow that one person this world is in big trouble. Of course there alot of leazy people nowadays and alot will take the short route and believe anything they ear or read or whatever. But coming here and say you the only true voice about anything is just showing your the biggest loser there could be. Experience is earn by doing something. If I cant trust my own judgment of a game by myself and that what the OP seem to say, why should I believe you? I aint you and you aint me that for sure. unless your a clone of me?? So forcing people in your believe is like saying, we are all wrong and only you have the true voice in this mather. You are not god and bashing people that think the contrary of your believes is just distastefull.
With regards to AC2. Microsoft initially published the game and were responsible for the servers and billing system. Turbine still had full control over the game content. The game had problems even when Turbine pulled the plug and it was a lack of vision by Turbine that contributed to it's demise. AC2 was a good game but it never had a chance under Turbine who seemed unable or slow to fix bugged game mechanics (how long did the ingame chat system have problems?) and didn't do enough to promote the game.
Ok, according to many sources the size of Lotro at release will be 60% of WoW. After one expansion it would hit the 100-100% of WoW size. Initial release has Eriador, expansion would follow the fellowship so it would have Rhovanion, then Rohan/Gondor are same size of Eriador then mordor bla
At the end Lotro would be 4-6times the size of WoW..
Also, Vanguard's landmass is HUGE and has its pros and cons.
It can be immersive, and feel "real". But it does waste a lot of travelling time and the areas are just blank with spraypainted terrain/mobs.
Comments
That is perfect, bashing about roll over, and wait whats this, your POS is doing the same. lol
All I know is I'd rather be paying $9.99/mo or $199 for a lifetime membership than pay the $14.95. Heck, I'd even pay $14.95 a month to play this game, that's how excited I am about it!
Great idea, Turbine... a nice way to thank your beta testers and to encourage pre-ordering!
To the OP: Laugh all you want.. it's a great deal! I'll be laughing back atcha when I have more money in my pocket at the end of the year than you do!
_________________________________
JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA
Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO
Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth
I cannot see why some people are raving about this.
We write February 2007 in 2 days, and launch is under 3 months away. Pre orders at this stage is natural, and I cannot see how this would translate into Turbine having problems. Its just ludicrous.
Also the roll over from beta, whats the fuzz? its a 24 days headstart at best. So what, headstarts are normal.
Its like people have nothing else to do, than rave over the smallest things.
This game was awsome 2 months ago, well polished and imo ready to release. This one will have a near flawless release.
Cheers
As it's a level based MMO one more time there will be an "endgame" ( once you achieved everything ) which will probably consist of "Monsterplay"-PvP and upcoming expansions ( maybe events, don't know what is planned; I can't imagine raids like in WoW as a big factor of a story driven MMO, though...).
If it's worth the investment of $199? Who knows...
Regarding Turbine and AC2: In the next years you will very probably see other MMOGames by well known developers/publishers getting cancelled. The higher the output of a developer/publisher, the higher the chance they will experience failure one day. It's how they are dealing with their customers in every aspect which is important for me during these last days of a dying MMO...
This OP is one of the most useless threads I've ever seen on any forum anywhere, ever.
I believe it was just a griefer trying to get a flame-thread started, and has no other
purpose.
If you don't like or agree with the plan for a Lifetime subscription for one flat fee up
front, then don't buy it.
If you dislike the idea of rolling beta characters into the Live release for those
"Founder's Club" people who like what they've seen in Beta or in media available
at their website, don't buy it.
Seems pretty simple to me.
Kalmenicus the Laughing-at-the-Original-Poster
Spes Messis In Semine
I just don't understand this mode of thinking!
Just because a company offers prospective customers a deal, that means they're in trouble? My goodness, with this mode of thinking, everytime we see a sale or a bargain we should all run like chicken little, screaming the sky is falling! Better yet... watch out, those free checking accounts your local bank has just started to offer no ATM fees! Grab your guns!... They're gonna take your money and run!
Folks, it's called MARKETING. With "sweeteners" like this, Turbine will hopefully sell more copies to more people to make more money. It's called BUSINESS, and actually, a great marketing strategy!
_________________________________
JonMichael
Currently: AION, an MMO Beta under NDA
Played: WAR, LOTRO, Hellgate: London, CoX, GW, SotNW, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, WoW, AO, Horizons, Second Life, There, TSO
Beta'd: There, Second Life, EQ2, DAOC:LotM, LOTRO, Tabula Rasa, Gods and Heroes, Hellgate: London, Requiem:Bloodymare, AoC, WAR, DDO, Fallen Earth
I don't see anything wrong with the pre-launch deal at all. The monthly price is fair but the lifetime deal is not going to draw that many by my guess unless they are hard core LOTR fans already. In which case, have at.
I pre-ordered because I find the game to be worthwhile (at least until Conan comes out, or maybe Gods and Heroes-not sure) Until then I will bounce back and forth between Vanguard and LOTR beta. I am enjoying both equally for different reasons.
Pre-order to get a $9.99/mo. subscription? I'll take that. That's $5 in my pocket, per month, and no need for a long term commitment.
That's win-win.
Except for the last three replies and a few others, this has to be one of the most ignorant threads ever. People dont seem to have a clue about basic business decisions. Its as if Turbine was the first company to offer a long-term deal instead of shorter contracts or month-by-month payment. This happens all over the business world. It is a really smart approach by Turbine, and for a lot of players could be a really good deal.
Its no different than a health-club contract really - do you pay a large amount of money upfront (not knowing if you will keep going to the club for years) or do you do a month-by-month contract? The latter is cheaper in the short-term but a lot more expensive in the long-term, but it offers more flexibility. Paying a lump sum up-front gives less flexibility but in the long-term could be a LOT cheaper.
This kind of approach makes sense for a business whose costs are incurred up-front. For gyms, its the cost of building the gym and buying all that equipment. For mmorpgs, its the cost of the development (running the servers once the game is up and running is small compared to the many millions that were spent developing the game).
Turbine offering a deal like this, doesnt mean they are desperate, any more than Bally's or 24 Hour Fitness is desperate becuase they offer far lower monthly rates if you sign up for a long-term contract with a big payment up-front (ie, if you pay $500 now, your monthly rate might be $10, but if you dont pay anything down, your monthly rate could be $40).
And BTW, if Turbine really was desperate and needed the money now, WHY WOULD THEY GIVE THE OPTION OF $9.99/MONTH WITH A PRE-ORDER? THEY WOULD ONLY OFFER THE LIFETIME DEAL OF $199. Duh.
Whats REALLY amazing about this dumb thread is that Turbine offers a choice of good deals, and people are complaining about it?! LOL. Like you would be better off doing like we always did, and buying the game at a store and paying $14 or $15/month??????? And if you dont like the game, you wouldnt buy it at all, so why worry about what payment choices they offer????
Elladan - ESO (AD)
Camring - SWTOR (Ebon Hawk)
Eol & Justinian - Rift (Faeblight)
Ceol and Duri - LotRO (Landroval)
Kili - WoW
Eol - Lineage 2
Camring - SWG
Justinian (Nimue), Camring - DAoC
9.99 a month and the first 30 days free?
Bah, its one of the best MMO deals out there right now. Even if the launch is rough, its better then paying 14.99 for a rough launch like all other MMO's.
Doomsay all you want, 9.99 a month is well worth it. You gotta be an ***** to complain about that price.
As far as carring over your toon from open beta, wtf cares? Its a PvE game and someone with alot of time will hit level cap within a week anyway just like in every other game always does. In 10 days it won't matter who carried what over from where, bots / power levelers and gold farmers will be running the game anyway, just like every other MMO. (gosh, I'm getting cynicle in my old age lol)
The whole point of the character rollover is to enable the beta testers to keep their toon's names after the launch. We asked Turbine to be able to keep our names, and we asked for some kind of recognition that could be seen on our toons, and they decided to give us a certain cape! What this says is that Turbine is very much in touch with the player base and they will do what's necessary to keep the player base very happy.
We asked and we received. What more could you want from a game developer?
Content, content, content! I don't care how big or small the world is... Give me content and lessen the grind! And since this game is actually based on something plenty of people already are know about, they just can't make up areas of the world that aren't apart of the lore in efforts to increase the world's size. WoW can make additions as they please since there was no lore they had to stick to.
I'll probably go the $9.99 route, but $199 lifetime is an incredibly good deal. So many of us go back and forth between games as we tire of one and develop new found interest for another. If you think the total time you'll spend on the game will total 20 (less than 2 yrs total) or so months, you'll get a bargain! If they have any big plans for future expansions, 20 months of play is easily doable.
The OP is a hardcore Vanguard fan, so his/her opinion means little to nothing.
It is pretty sad that they feel the need to sneak around and troll the game subforums, if it isn't Vanguard, chances are they will be bashing it. I think its some sort of crazed revenge on all the other games because so many people didn't like Vanguard.
Anyway, great preorder offers doesn't mean the game is doing poorly, it is called marketing. I really hate Vanguard fanboys/girls.
All I can say about this thread is Different Strokes for Different Folks. I'm a big fan of Pre-ordering for Open Beta. It gives me a chance to pay $5 USD to see if I like a game before I go drop $50-$70 USD on something that may or may not be the right game for me. As for the $9.99 USD or $199 USD Lifetime subscription, I feel it is an awesome bargain.
Although I'm not impressed with Turbine's track record in MMO releases, I'm not a fan of SOE either. I tend to let the games speak for themselves for my own personal tastes. WOW, EQ2, and Vanguard (yes, I pre-ordered Vanguard and have no intention of buying it)were all not for me, that is not to say that this one will not be either. I will be pre-ordering to try it out before making my decision on this MMO and if I like it I have the opportunity to get a great deal as well.
OP and several others- Hasn't your mother told you "If can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" You don't like this game fine, there is no need to start an inflammatory post or if you wish a debate you can find a better respectful way to speak your mind. For the most part I'm impressed at the maturity and thoughtfulness at most of the responses to this thread for both pros and cons to this issue. I look forward to possibly having a more mature player base to spend my time with .
At the OP, no flames meant from me, but I do think your reasoning doesn't take several things into account.
It's really just your opinion that there are 3-6 months worth of content, and your opinion in this matter includes the bias of your own preferences, which don't represent accurately how people evaluate games or how they decide to play/leave the game. You could argue several games out there only have 3-6 months of viable unique content but people play them for years for other reasons but you neglect to account for this. People don't quit games just because they beat the last level, and this is especially the case in MMO's I'm surprised you don't acknowledge this fact, but then it does counter your argument.
As far as the monthly fee, sure you think it shows some negativity and others do as well as to what it represents, but again it's opinion and as such does not represent what or how average consumers value their money, or how people will view the game because of it. I really don't see a reason to complain unless it is the only option, which of course it isn't.
IMO, the online gaming market is changing. There is more competition, and a bigger pie to get pieces of and companies will need to be innovative not only in designing the games but marketing them as well. People who say "they are offering this package because they know they won't be open for more than 6 months" or something similar are simply wrong, and probably have a close-minded view on most things in life. Such is the nature of negativity, it is addictive.
As far as artificially inflating numbers through this, I wouldn't say it's not going to happen but where are those numbers important? They give a sign of relative strength of a game....but to who primarily is this of interest? Stockholders/Investors of the company, or prospective video game players who they may be trying to attract would be my guess. In the case of investors, the rest of the figures are not ignored, so artificially saying you have XXX subscribers doesn't mean anything when they see there is no actually current revenue streams for example. In terms of prospective players, sure I want us to all get accurate information, but I don't personally play games because they hit a certain sub number, or whatever. The company itself will not really base a decision to keep a game running SOLELY on the number of subs, we of the community often refer to this number because it is the prime source of money for the company.
As far as BETA rollovers, I have no idea why this is a problem, especially since as people have said they're doing it in other games (even yours!!). People often try to create drama that someone else's PvE character is better than theirs, but this isn't a problem that needs attention. Why? Because game developers should not have to deal with the vocal minority (whom you are representing in this particular argument) who feel that they NEED to be one step ahead or even to everyone else playing the game or else there is a problem. Forget the fact that you don't even know how or if it would even effect you day to day, but it's definately worth complaining about online. That is why it is not an issue.
Cheers
mmo's that appeals to you enough to pay the $50 and subscription fees, then GREAT, but it's really no reason to go out of the way to tear apart another mmo for the sole reason of someone in the thread saying that they ike it.I can understand giving an objective opinion of an mmo based on it's strengths and weaknesses(real, not perceived), but anythign beyond that is really unecessary.
Also your argument. About how it's 20 gigs of game. Well that just is amazing it's 20 gigs of let down. HEY guys you're releasing a game that monsters still disapear while you're fighting them. I've played both for about a month of closed beta time (NDA be damned) and im not saying one is better than the other i'm just trying to point out they are 2 TOTALLY seperate games. One catering more to players who want storyline and advancing Questlines that follow a story that each race and player will experience differently (LOTR) and the other appealing to the I WANNA BE KING grind till you're high lvl and boast kinda game (vanguard) neither is right neither is better if you do not like one then don't play it... and ALSO stay off of it's forums.
ESPECIALLY that last part I mean... do I come over to your house and take a dump on your kitchen table? no. Do I come over to your parties and tell you how crappy the food is... also no. Just leave the people here be unless you have a COHESIVE AND COHERENT review thats not biased or oppinion based because thats what a TRUE review is. What you did will not sway anyone to not buy the game. What you did will only start a flame war with trolls of every ilk you being the leader of the troll armada (not a compliment).
It's a very competitive market these days and Saying BUY THIS ONE NOT THAT BECAUSE IT BLOWS with out a valid and un biased review is like saying "HEY come breath the air over here because it's better... i don't know why just is come here". People will play what they like and if you don't like what they play leave them alone and mind your buisness.
Its funny how people dont know what there talking about at times, I like the parts when people say Asheron's Call 2 closing is a bad sign but if you any of you actualy knew the real history of the game, you realized that closing down that game wasnt meant that turbine was bad.
If you guys knew AC2 that game was actualy under the control of MICROSOFT at the time of creation. They got push and push by MS with that game, MS even build part of the systems for that game ( I was in beta of AC2 I know how it whent exactly ) we knew it was a mistake to let Microsoft dictate the direction of AC2 but Turbine was stuck with them. After a while I say after a year, Turbine manage to get back all of there rights on the Asheron's Call series. Of course fixing AC2 with the mess Microsoft left them with must have been hard. And from what I can tell ( I left the game just before they regain licensing of AC2 from Microsoft ) it was getting to be a lost cause. Its like you have a brother that owns a restaurant, his the one that managing it. Someday he decides to give you is restaurant, his tired of it, he cant make it work and be successfull. So your the one stuck with a mess, now what do you do try to fix the mess or would it be just easier to shut it down and restart anew?
Turbine tried to fix a mess that Microsoft but them in with AC2, they arent to blame for that. I think they got good partners for Lotro this time around and good help. And if they got a good relationship with these peoples I dont see how things could be bad for this game.
Opiniated people like our OP are just that opinion of one person. If everyone were blind sheeps that follow that one person this world is in big trouble. Of course there alot of leazy people nowadays and alot will take the short route and believe anything they ear or read or whatever. But coming here and say you the only true voice about anything is just showing your the biggest loser there could be. Experience is earn by doing something. If I cant trust my own judgment of a game by myself and that what the OP seem to say, why should I believe you? I aint you and you aint me that for sure. unless your a clone of me?? So forcing people in your believe is like saying, we are all wrong and only you have the true voice in this mather. You are not god and bashing people that think the contrary of your believes is just distastefull.
I hope they do much, much better with LOTRO
Ok, according to many sources the size of Lotro at release will be 60% of WoW. After one expansion it would hit the 100-100% of WoW size. Initial release has Eriador, expansion would follow the fellowship so it would have Rhovanion, then Rohan/Gondor are same size of Eriador then mordor bla
At the end Lotro would be 4-6times the size of WoW..
Also, Vanguard's landmass is HUGE and has its pros and cons.
It can be immersive, and feel "real". But it does waste a lot of travelling time and the areas are just blank with spraypainted terrain/mobs.
http://lotro.turbine.com/
Lotro will be the best MMO