Lifetime Memberships: Great deal or a total scam!?

spankybus

Turbine launched LotR with 2 unique billing offers under their 'founders' program.  You could either get a 9.99 monthly membership or pay 200 bucks for a lifetime membership. Now here was the rub, you could only secure these options within the first month of launch. After that, you can only get a monthly rate of 14.99.

 

Getting a starting monthly rate of 9.99 is great! I mean, you get to try it out at a reduced rate, and if you like it, you get that great rate for as long as you play it. If you hate it, you can cancel and no skin off your nose. Not a bad offer!

 

What aboutthe lifetime membership...200 bucks up front for a game you've never played. Now Turbine did allow players who pre-odered into open Beta, a short time before the launch. However, they did cap those players' toons at lvl 15, limiting the amount of the game they could try.

 

Those players could continue with that toon after launch, but most have made their selection between the 9.99 monthly rate or the lifetime rate when they set up their account. Now, you'd have to play the game for more then 2 years at the 9.99 rate to make the 199.00 lifetime rate a value.

 

Does this seem like Turbine trying to get their hands on as much of your cash as possible before you can discover you hate the game and bail on it? We are seeing ore and more threads posted here about people who have already grow bored of the game. It would seriously suck if some of them forked over 200 bucks.

 

So, is a lifetime membership on a new game a good idea? Is it shady to make a player choose before he/she can even be sure if they're play it long enough to be a worthwhile investment? How many of you did the lifetime membership who were NOT in CLOSED beta? Is this a genious trend or russian roulette with your wallet?

 

 

/sound off

gpett

During beta, I thought LotRO was mediocre at best.  I never understood the hype for the game.  So to me, that lifetime membership option seemed like a scam.

Grunty

If you like the game it's a good deal.  If you don't like the game it's a bad deal.  There is not absolute value in this.

turnipz

Its like purchasing a car you've never seen, its your own fault if it ends up a trash heap.

truenorthbg

Scam!

 

people who bought LotR lifetimes ---->

 

I never said a single bad word about the game in the LotR forums, either.  I feel I should have warned people, but oh well!

cityzen

I didn't think LoTRO was good enough to do the $200 deal, but I thought the $9.99 a month was great. It evens out with the avg $15/month game at around 14 months, so its a good deal if you stay with it that long at least.

paulscott

it mainly depends if you play a game longer than 15 months or not in the case of lotr, or if you are the kind of person who contiueously switches between MMOs.

for instance swapping every other month between guildwars and lotr would not be that bad if you're slightly hard core.  get halfway through the next GW expansion switch to lotr, enjoy the new instances, finish up the GW expansion, enjoy lotr's new content, enjoy the end game expansion of GW, lotr's content, start GW's next expansion.  it works out perfectly if you are the raider type of person.

HolyAvengerOne

While I don't see it as a straight "scam" per say, I really do think its a bad deal. Very bad deal. You lose your option of saying 'nuff said' and bail out of the game. And that's pretty much the only vote that counts that we get as MMO players.

bleyzwun

I wouldnt call it a scam.  It's a great deal for people who actually like the game.  If WoW had this option I would probably jump on it.  I get sick of wow once in a while and take a month or 2 off, then come back and have fun.  It would be nice if more MMOs had this option in the future.  I definitely wouldnt pay the lifetime fee untill I knew for a fact I would like to play this game for a long time (even if it is on and off).  Though, if more MMOs did use this method I'm sure there would be many garbage games actually scamming people.

spankybus

That might be hot if you could opt for a lifetime membership at any time. However, with Turbine, you had to decide in the first month. Once the option was passed, that was it. That kind of makes it a bit shifty....people who hurry through the game seem to get bored, but if you can't get a good sample of the game, how can you feel certain that dropping 200 bones is a good move for you? Its like when Car dealers tell you, I can only do this deal right now, if you leave, then the deals off.

Lonewolf

Paying for a lifetime membership on an item that shifts and changes, and not necessarily to your liking is a taking a HUGE risk with a large amount of money. I suppose it allows you to pick the game up whenever you like in the future, that is the one bonus

Charlizd

All i want to know is how it is a SCAM i mean WHEN and IF you bail out you don't have to cancel your sub, so you can decide in a years time hey i might see what this is like now and start back up again with no fee's to play how is this is a scam i mean WOW is still going strong  and is what like 3 yrs young so what says that this is not still going strong in 3 years time. i took the 9.99 p/m deal more so because heck i might have better things to do in life then devote it to a computer game but i think it is a fair deal if that is what you want to pay or would you prefer to have a monthly sub quit for a year then return to find out all off your toons and account has been deleted ( a.k.a FF11) and your key for the game is obsolete and you will then have to go out and buy the game again and start from scratch well imo it is a good investment if you are still planning on playing these games in the future.

seabass2003

I think they are a great deal and I wish more companies would do this. Look at how long some of these games have been out and you could still be playing them and not paying a dime anymore. I know for sure I would still be playing DDO, DAOC, EQ2, SWG, and even WWII Online if they had that option. Someone somewhere else said DDO had this option but I never saw it and I am pretty sure they are wrong.

Lasastard

First off, its a good thing that Turbine tries new things - at least with the billing methods

Whether or not 200$ for a lifetime member ship is a great deal depends on each individual person, I guess. For some, 200 bucks is a lot - for others, with a steady mid-range income, its not a big deal.

Since everybody had the chance to test the game pre release, you at least knew what you signed up for. With the 9,99$ in mind, 200$ would be 20 months of gaming. Thats a lot, and with the rate in which games enter the market and the number of already established products in mind, I would guess the the average gamer will not hold a subscription to any one game much longer that 1-1.5 years. Personally, I have played DAoC for about 2 years, and that game was and still is unique in many ways. Lotro is, as many agree, a polished, yet rather uninnovative game - hard to imagine how anyone would play it for 20 months. But then again, who am I to know what other people see in the game.

So, bottom line - I would have chosen the 9,99$ monthly fee over the 200$ lifetime membership (considering that I dont expect to play a gamer longer than 12-15 months, usually much less).

 

 

impulsebooks

I didn't vote in this one because I don't think its a scam, but its not a good deal either. What Turbine have done (in my opinion) is looked at the longevity of the game and decided that most players (not all of course) won't play the game very long. So, by offering a lifetime sub they are increasing their profit in the short term, and also giving their players a kind of insurance policy where their toons and stuff will never be deleted no matter what.

It's not a scam, but what if I only play for a month? In reality I only played the trial for a day and stopped, so I would have been gutted if I had paid the lifetime thing. This kind of deal is really only any good for people that LOVE the game in glowing capital letters! Play for a year, and if you love it, then do lifetime, not before.

Shazzel

They game wont keep your interested long enough to be worth 200$ but... lifetime is a long time and im sure the game will get better.

 

I do like the idea of company's giving an option like this. 200$ isnt so much if you REALLY like a game.

 

Volkmar

I think having the deal at start of the game and only for 1 month is not a good idea.

Having the possibility to upgrade your standard account to lifetime, instead, would be a nice option to have.

Lonewolf

What happens if the game goes bust? Are you refunded the amount of cash equal to how much longer you might live? 

RedwoodSap

 

Originally posted by grunty


If you like the game it's a good deal.  If you don't like the game it's a bad deal.  There is not absolute value in this.

Not true. It's a matter of how long you realistically expect to be playing.

 

In order for the lifetime price to be a savings, you need to play for almost 2 years.

What makes it a scam or not, is wether Turbine realizes that most players who purchase the lifetime plan will not play for 2 years.

I think they did their research and crunched the numbers and know that most will not.

Reklaw

Originally posted by spankybus


So, is a lifetime membership on a new game a good idea? NO,  because some people do not THINK before they make a purchase 
Is it shady to make a player choose before he/she can even be sure if they're play it long enough to be a worthwhile investment? Like you say yourself ITS A CHOICE  what people make of it after will stil be their choice , not the company nor game have made that choice its the PLAYER who makes these choices.
How many of you did the lifetime membership who were NOT in CLOSED beta?  Personaly i would never buy such thing for a new game especialy not in the mmorpg genre, if its a game i'm enjoying myself with for a few months then i might consider taking something like it, but sorry from the start...not me..i do buy TOO many games sometimes like the LotrO which still is laying in its box uninstalled, cause for the moment there other games i'm having fun with, why leave a game i'm already have fun with, LotrO isn't  going anywhere (as far i know, neither am i  might take it up again in a few months, might never who knows...time...maybe 
Is this a genious trend or russian roulette with your wallet? Choices man, its all about making choices 
 
 
/sound off

 

khrag

Well, first off $200 is really not that much money. I play EQII and it costs me $130 something to pay for the yearly sub anyway. So, $200 ain't that big of a deal.

Second, If I have the lifetime membership I can play the game when ever I want. I can leave it and come back to it two years later if I want. (which I did with EQII and will probably do with WoW) and it won't cost me a thing.

It's all about your point of view. I don't think it could be called a scam though. You get what they offered, that in itself makes it not a scam.

As for why you could only get this option in the first month, well, think about this, if it was the best game out there, and everyone loved it, everyone would buy the $200 sub. I'm sure turbine would love it up front, but where are the funds going to come later to pay all the employees?

Kyleran

I didn't vote because while I think its a risky deal, everyone knows what they are getting.

During open beta I really enjoyed the game, so I initially signed up with the $200.00 (US) founders deal.  But about 2 or 3 weeks in..I started to have doubts.... so I looked at my payment options and saw that until the 1st month trial was over, I could still make a choice. So I flipped it to the $ 9.99 deal.... (nice btw).... and sure enough, before the end of the 2nd month, I cancelled my 2 subs from boredom.

Thinking back on it, I tend to move alot between games, only DAOC and WOW held my interest more than 6 months, so odds aren't good that a lifetime sub is a good option for me.  Especially due to the fact that there' s alot of new games on the horizon over the next 18 months coming out, and I'm surely going to want to try at least 2 or 3.

But some folks stay with the same game for many years, 4, 5 or more..(which I don't understand actually) so for them, its a great deal...

The real downside is if you somehow get your account banned (which doesn't happen to most of us) you're out the money....

Redline65

For the power leveler it is probably not a good deal. In that case you're probably best off just subscribing for a month when new content is released.

If you are a fairly casual gamer who only plays a few hours a week, it can be worth it. LOTRO is a game that will have new parts of middle earth added for at least the next 3 or 4 years. If you are the type of player that can't even keep up with the rate of new content being added, it might be a great deal.

tinywulf

Lifetime subs are not a scam, they save you money in the long run, god knows how much ive spent on subs for just about every mmo out there.

You just really need to look at thegame before you decide. I play casually now and honestly I doubt any mmo's are going to deliver next gen anytime soon. So lifetime was good for me, I cancelled every MMO except LOTR, because LOTR is a casual friendly game.

altairzq

I voted scam althoug I don't think it's really that. More like a trap for people that are so excited to play the game due to the tremendous hype new MMOGs are getting nowadays.

nomadian

Good way of making money especially as I'm not sure players will play 13-14 months(200/14.99)
I like the thinking behind it so that if you do play a mmorpg you just pay one-fee and never have to pay a fee again, just you don't really know how long you'll be playing for. I think something like WoW people would go head-over-heels for this kind of deal with the lengths some people have played that.