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Lord of the Rings Online: Outside the Box: Founder's System
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
This week in Outside the Box, Garrett Fuller looks at Turbine's Founder's System that has been put in place as a pricing system for their upcoming Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.
When it comes to playing MMOs, there are many ways we can discuss the game play aspects. Mechanics, design, characters, skills, PvP. All of these things can be topics for debate or articles. In today's Outside the Box I wanted to bring up something that Turbine is doing with Lord of the Rings Online. It is about paying for an MMO. There are many pricing schemes that companies use to keep players in their game. Most charge the monthly fee, some charge for items and gear in game (a scary thought), but overall the business plans presented by MMOs are designed to keep you paying and playing.
The market is becoming more and more competitive. Players have less time on their hands to try and play every game out there. Most players stick to one or two MMOs and enjoy them over the lifespan of the game. If you eventually get bored, there are plenty of options. MMO developers need to start thinking of new ways to bring players in and keep them in the game while balancing their costs over time. Turbine has put an interesting plan in place for players getting in at the ground level. Not only does it address pricing, but it adds to the competition in the market.
To read the whole column here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I have mixed feelings about a life time subscription to a MMORPG.
On one hand if you have a life time subscription then the developers have no real reason to try to keep you around since you already gave them all the money you are going to, and beyond that you are just extra bandwidth on their servers now.
On the other hand a life time subscription might remove the need for redundent, boring, grinding tasks that developers use to keep players subscribed at end game.
Maybe the catch for founders who bought the lifetime subscription will be to charge some monthly fee for playing the expansions.
Interesting idea from Turbine any way you slice it...
Buck
ala FFXI to get more revenue. All in all I think this may be a good way to get an initial base of players.
It is your option too, no one is forcing you to take it. You can pay $10 per month to see if you still like it in 6 months.
Did you see that posted some where? That's the first I heard of this...When scary things get scared, that's bad...
Yes, that is true. One character and there is a level limit. It's posted in the fine print of the offer.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Endemondia, I am currenlty in Closed Beta, however the NDA was lifted recently so I'll give you a little feedback.
Combat in LOTRO is currently reasonable similiar to WoW (and indeed any current MMO) in that basic attacks are enhanced and supported by a variety of click-to-activate special attacks that do more damage, cause bleeding, stun effects etc
For example, in the Hunter class - using a 'Barbed Arrow' causes bleeding (DOT) - which can be left to bleed - or you can use another that capitalises on the bleeding effect by a sudden large damage effect, but which cancels the bleeding.
One thing that is different is that attacks seem to 'queue' - but you cannot see this queue at present - which mays that you do not - or possibly cannot - react to the NPC's attacks in real-time as such (due to the fact that you may have already queued up a couple of attacks).
Combat 'feels' quite visceral and satisfying - though is not perhaps yet to the standard of visual and aural excellence of WoW's. (Forgive this comparision but I do feel that WoW is a premier yardstick to measure against in terms of polish, even if you do not like the game).
Regarding comparing it to DDO's combat all I can say this is: (and this may be a deciding factor!)
I managed all of about 5 minutes in DDO's world. I thought the environment was fundamentally unconvincing and unimmersive.
I have been in BETA in LOTRO for over a week and I have very positive feelings towards this game which is remarkable polished and robust even it this (relatively) early stage.
There are few MMO's in actual retail existence that compare to the polish of the BETA version of LOTRO. Whilst it has some way to go in terms of WoW's engine scalability and graphical polish - it is shaping up very well indeed.
No matter how high a level you are, you still want to do newbie quests. It's true. LOTRO has a system of rewarding reputation and exploration. After you have done all you can do for the elves in the newbie zone you can move on to the Shire. While the Shire is a newbie zone as well, you still are compelled to do the quests for the rewards. Some quests grant titles you can add to your characters and some quests grant bonuses to your character (think talents from WoW). All in all it is very satisfying to run around Middle-Earth.
What does this have to do with the article? Well after a month and a half playing LOTRO, I haven't logged into my WoW account. Once I can get the Founder pre-order from Canadian retailers (Damn you Canada!) I'll be pre-ordering and signing on for the lifetime membership. The lifetime fee is the same as 13 months at $14.99... I know a value when I see one.
[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/28371832@N02/2648951313/[/url]
I think this is a great idea for fans to show their initial support and get a good deal in the long run. It's interesting how different MMOs charge us (and I wouldn't say paying for ingame items is scary, just a different revenue model). The reason I'm thinking of getting this deal (which is available to EU customers as well although with just a 10 day head start) is that I expect to play for a few months then quit, then come back, many times. I can imagine popping into the game at random intervals and a lifetime membership is a lot less hassle than stopping and starting my sub.
Lifetime membership covers the monthly fee for the release game and future expansions. You will still need to buy the expansion packs but need never worry about a sub. So I no doubt will buy each of these and play them although it may be over a period of a number of years.
However, for people thinking they'll get this deal and play for a couple of years solid I'd be careful. The size of Eriador in LOTRO is physically pretty small although there are many nooks and crannies to explore. The simplistic crafting system can be mastered relatively quickly and will hold no long term appeal. Finally, I doubt the longevity of a heavily quest-based game. This really is a game you want to take your time with and enjoy the ride.
I am sceptical about forking out a big chunk of money for a long period of play. There's only one MMO out of a fairly large number that kept me interested for over a year, so although it sounds like great value, if you get bored in 3 months it wouldn't be. How can you tell what you're gonna feel in 3 months about the game?
All developers have to do to keep people hooked for a long period of time and therefore make money, is create a damn good game. Easier said than done, but thats the long and the short of it!
Yes it applies to expansions also. You will need to buy the expansions, but you will never need to pay a monthly fee if you get the lifetime subscrition.
What is the catch then? simple, if you cancel your account at any time if/when you reactivate it you go to the $14.99 price. So if you were paying the $9.99 and need to cancel then when you go back to the game the $9.99 is no longer an option. If you took advantage of the lifetime option and cancelled your account, you would then have to pay the $14.99 per month to play again.
Most people think it is stupid to cancel a lifetime subscription and I agree, but I say this - beware of angry roommates/spouces/girl or boy friends. People tend to give out account information to their friends, spouse, whatever. I know people who have broken up or got into a fight with their significant other and the other went into their account and wiped them out to get even. Imagine if they had your account information and had the power to cancel a lifetime subscription.
I miss DAoC
sounds good enough and fair enough for me...
think i`m gonna give it a try...
Thats all wrong. LotrO offers a combat system where, your always doing something, IE your never waiting for cool downs. Not many mmos do this. Also LotrO steals a little from FFXI's Skillchain system, IE the SJ system. People need to really get there facts straight before the post miss information like above.
Rites of the Four Horsemen
http://www.rotfh.com
Im with Jack on this, Also Turbine will make plenty of extra cash of us life time members, simply because they plan to have at LEAST 7 expansions. All of which i fully expect them to charge the same price that say Blizz is chargin for there expansion (IE regular box price of a new game)...
Ive said this so many times, I have no problem paying the cash for a great mmo... in fact, i would rather support a great product then have a company try to skim on the cheap, because in the end i want quality.
When its a great game, go ahead... give me expansions and mini packs out the you know what... heres my CC info..
Rites of the Four Horsemen
http://www.rotfh.com
I have obtained many of those, some better than others but at last, most of the benefits of pre-order where gifts like art-books, maps, calendars, paintings, t-shirts, figures and such wich had a very short lifespan on my desk before I put them into boxes and never touched them again...
From this I think the way Turbine goes with their plan gives me as a player a much better bonus for pre-ordering.
Think this is my first post here, though Ive been lurking a good while.
First off, I think there is a very high chance of me buying the lifetime scrip. I like mmorpgs and LoTR. Yeah, Im a nerd. Sooo?
Now, I didnt see any mention of this. So here goes my opinion on the pricing scheme. As well as I can tell from friends,boards, and so-on MANY people who tried DDO played only for the 30-day period or not even that long (myself included). Im willing to bet Turbine took an absolute beating on that game. Im not a numbers person by any means but if that many folks bailed before Turbine ever got a single 14.99 sub fee from them, It would be a wise decision on thier part to grab $199 up front for lifetime...than take a chance and possibly never even see a $14.99 sub.
In short, I think its more about finance,than "giving" something to the player base.
Well last time i saw, DDO had about 80-100k subs.. i mean thats not bad. Also they did more then that on box's i think they sold initialy like 400k... I think DDO will out live a lot of current mmos and the game has goten better... bottom line, in terms of money i dont think its a failure...
Rites of the Four Horsemen
http://www.rotfh.com
MMORPGs have finally entered the mainstream gaming market. Post-WoW they will all be judged compared to other PC games like Myst and Civilization and Diablo. DDO's numbers might have been all right for a first generation MMORPG but the times have changed. DDO was mediocre at best, maybe not as bad a failure as Matrix Online or Dark and Light, but certainly not a success.
Still it is good to see Turbine experimenting and trying something innovative. It will be interesting to see if this new model works or not.
MMORPGs have finally entered the mainstream gaming market. Post-WoW they will all be judged compared to other PC games like Myst and Civilization and Diablo. DDO's numbers might have been all right for a first generation MMORPG but the times have changed. DDO was mediocre at best, maybe not as bad a failure as Matrix Online or Dark and Light, but certainly not a success.
Still it is good to see Turbine experimenting and trying something innovative. It will be interesting to see if this new model works or not.
Theres an old saying in football "everyone is happy when there winning"
I fell that no matter what price point you use, it just doesnt mean anything. As long as you have a great product, thats all that really matters. All this other stuff is null unless LotrO is a great product.
IMO Lotro will be the best PVE mmorpg, We still need things like housing and more types of character AA but im sure that will come soon.
No one has ever questioned Turbines skill but yet all there past games have failed for so many reasons. Bottom line, theyve learned a ton... and it shows. Its really clear that Turbine knows what there doing, that Lotro is a great game... when i play a game like Vanguard, its very clear that those devs dont have a freakin clue...
The worst thing gonig against turbine is ... well there Turbine. I myself can see that there great but to that poor soul who bought that AC2 expansion... no such luck lol.
Rites of the Four Horsemen
http://www.rotfh.com
With pricing plans being discussed in the OP I'm surprised that the Guild Wars model isn't mentioned. No monthly fees at all and it seems to be working for them as the game is still going strong. Personally at the time I bought GW because of this and although I played it a few months it wasn't really the game for me in the end.
Also, I don't believe I'm about to say this, DnL had some interesting ideas around pricing as well. As with all the other good ideas they got lost in the crap implementation of their game.
I support Belgiums efforts to get noticed ... at all.
Thats all wrong. LotrO offers a combat system where, your always doing something, IE your never waiting for cool downs. Not many mmos do this. Also LotrO steals a little from FFXI's Skillchain system, IE the SJ system. People need to really get there facts straight before the post miss information like above.
WE are wondering off the thread now but I appreciate all the information I am getting from those who have been in the beta. Cool downs are an acceptable way to balance out stronger skills/special attacks etc. Further more, when some one tells me WoW is the yard stick by which all combat systems should be measured I shudder. I quite enjoy WoW but it is using a combat system marginally better than EQ and most Asian imports, less balanced than GW, and lacking any requirement other than to point and click on an enemy and punch keys to create attacks! Combat systems in sci-fi mmorpg require you to target manually while D&D allows you the pleasure of doing this. Further more Wyzun played D&D for five minutes. Surely a metaphor for not too long, so having not experienced a combat system better than WoW I think, like many online gamers, ignorance is bliss . I now suspect that Turbine's marketing strategy will have LOTR for the dumbed down masses and the fresh blood to the market (new gamers brought in by the Tolkien franchise) while D&D will be for the more refined gamers. I will probably be accussed of snobbery here, and one man's mutton is another man's lamb, but I get the increasing feeling, even more so when i hear the implementation of the SJ system, that the combat will be weak. I hope I eat my own words when I experience it first hand - and maybe the other elements of the game design will counter balance a combat system weaker than WoW (omg...that takes some doing!)