LOTRO is a great game....played it since closed Beta. However, I do think the F2P title is a bit deceptive in GENERAL.
It's kinda like saying a ski resort is Free to Ski.... if you are willing to never take a chair-lift but walk up the mountain in order to ski down the slopes. Technicaly it's true...but only a few masochists are going to be willing to go through the ordeal required to get full use out of it. Most people will end up having to pay if they want to enjoy it much.
It's not an unfair model and Turbines implimentation of it is much fairer and more palatable then most.... but Free to Play strikes me as a very deceptive label. It's not....companies count on players spending money on these products in order to support them.
A genuine "Free to Play" model would be something like public broadcast radio. Where none of the audience is expected to pay anything to the radio station whatsoever...but the broadcast is supported by advertising. Not sure that model could actualy work with an MMO... but that would be the sort of model that was truely "Free to Play".
Grats to Turbine, not surprised at all at it's winning.
I have to say I am surprised that EQX scored as low as it did. Been playing it a bit lately and while it certainly is not in the same league as LoTRO it is not that bad of a game overall.
I don't feel LOTRO should be allowed to win this "award" considering it was NOT a FTP game for years and years. It only recently became FTP.
This list and this award should have gone to a game DEVELOPED and RELEASED as a FTP title from the very beginning... Not some Failed Sub based game that had to convert to FTP.
I don't understand why some people feel this way. The reality is that LotRO is now a F2P game and those other titles have to compete with it. Life's not fair guys, but int he real world these games compete in teh F2P space, why wouldn't they in our awards?
Well I guess I'm off to LOtRO as well, the only thing I really dislike is the extremely limited character customization, it's really very mediocre. I can't even make blonde elves -.-
You can have a blond elf. Each race has skin, eye and hair colors that vary by "birth place". Say you're an elf that's from Mirkwood your hair, skin and eye color choices are going to be different from an elf that's from Rivendell and you both are going to have different choices than an elf from Ered Luin.
Honestly I don’t know how these games get these types of Rewards. I know that the game companies hold rights and control their servers, but in my opinion this game just sucks. I played this game in Beta, the UI, and Skill Icons look like crap, the Armors in the game look like crap, the only thing that looks some what good is the Environmental Detail, and the base character models at some points. On top of this people who bought the game Pay 2 Play got screwed over by a Free 2 Play MMO, and I don’t think everyone like this especially those who paid for founder offers and did not expect a cash shop, this just totally sucked, and I will not trust, or play a Turbine game at least not until I see a good smooth launch of a game.
All I have to say really is a game company builds its reputation for being a good Company, or a Bad Company, once you loose that, you loose your player base, and you loose your trust, and I know quite a few Free 2 Play MMO that have went bad in 2010, and before.
U can earn tubine points that's true, but tell me how can u earn 600tp for each section on the map(North Downs, Throllshaws, Evendim >32lvl)???
Till 32lvl u can earn MAX 700tp if u not spend on riding skill, some traits or something else, yeah u can unlock for exp. North Downs but what will u do when u complete that???
A genuine "Free to Play" model would be something like public broadcast radio. Where none of the audience is expected to pay anything to the radio station whatsoever...but the broadcast is supported by advertising. Not sure that model could actualy work with an MMO... but that would be the sort of model that was truely "Free to Play".
I think my sex explanation works better, as far as radio goes, in many countries stations are really public broadcast i.e. partly funded through taxes so not free to anyone, worse, you even pay not to play. As for the advertising model (which does exist but probably not in the US and will one day be viable everywhere) that's no more free than any other free model, if advertisers don't get any return they'll stop advertising, if all players decide to keep it 100% free and not look at/be influenced by adverts - end of game. Fo for the model to work players have to be spending on outside game goods but that's still stuff or amounts they'd not be buying had they not played the game in the first place. There is no truly free game, even on your cellphone, those free games are included in the package you pay for the phone, subscription and calls, it's just hidden more deeply, so everyone, just stop this pointless debate, watching TV's not free either, you have to pay for the electricity or installation if you've got wind or solar. Still you have the choice to play it free or pay to play, you just get something else. Oh, and by the way, what's wrong with doing some sport to run, ski, crawl, climb up the mountain before ski-ing down, who says everyone only enjoys the sliding part? Some people prefer to grind their way through a Rubik's cube, others need a few tips, some even can't stand the thing and just want to be shown how it's done so they can be in with the crowd. The word free gets more or less abused in hundreds of commercial domains, why is it only in gaming that it causes a revolt? It's either a cheap excuse to attack a game or there are too many tight selfish players around that expect to be given everything they desire and I suspect it may have to do with their status in the real world.
but in my opinion this game just sucks. I played this game in Beta, the UI, and Skill Icons look like crap, the Armors in the game look like crap, the only thing that looks some what good is the Environmental Detail, and the base character models at some points.
Compared to what? The graphical quality on everything in the game us superior to World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. Higher polygon counts, finer resolution, etc. Now if you're not taking about graphics quality when you say "looks like crap" then I guess you must be talking about the designs. This is much more subjective and depends on whether or not you prefer a cartoonish and unrealistic look to everything a la WoW or if you like detailed and practical/realistic looking characters and armor like LotRO. As for the UI you do know that there are other UI skins out there that you can change to.
Origionally posted by Renoaku
On top of this people who bought the game Pay 2 Play got screwed over by a Free 2 Play MMO, and I don’t think everyone like this especially those who paid for founder offers and did not expect a cash shop, this just totally sucked,
I am a lifetime member and a founder to boot, in no way did I or any other founder or lifetime member or even subscriber get "screwed over" honestly nothing has really changed for any subscriber in terms of gameplay or content except that there's a lot more people in the lower level zones and a lot of our old friends who quit playing a year or more ago have come back to play now that they don't have to pay. True there are some really useful things you can buy from the store like stat tomes which are really hard to get as drops in raids, if you're patient though you can get two every month now if you complete a few deeds to supplement your 500tp allowance. The only way people have gotten screwed over so far by the cash store is due to them trying to figure out how much stuff should cost and after a few months changing the prices downward. I'd like a refund of the points I spent on stat tomes when they were 495tp a month! Other than that and a few things that were so highly priced it made no sense ($20 USD horse for on character!?)
Origionally posted by Renoaku
I will not trust, or play a Turbine game at least not until I see a good smooth launch of a game.
Hurhm now you're just spouting angry nonsense to try and sound cool. Turbine isn't SOE and F2P was not the CU/NGE. Nor was it just reecently launched, it's been around for nearly four years now and the launch went pretty smoothly as I recall and the game ran/runs beautifully years later. So please rather than spout nonsense to look cool for your WoW buddies, follow the advice of Abraham Lincoln: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." please for all our sakes.
Origionally posted by Renoaku
All I have to say really is a game company builds its reputation for being a good Company, or a Bad Company, once you loose that, you loose your player base, and you loose your trust, and I know quite a few Free 2 Play MMO that have went bad in 2010, and before.
Once again more reactionary, hard nosed sounding "kewlness", name a few of these MMO's and their parent companies that went F2P or went bad and some concrete reasons for your belifes rather than just make tough guy sounding claims. If you're reffering to LotRO/Turbine than please read the paragraph I wrote directly above this one. Turbine is not SOE and LoTRO going F2P is not the CU/NGE. None of the subscribers especially not founders with lifetime memberships got screwed in any way. In fact if anything Turbines reputation as a company has only gotten better since they are willing to find out of the box solutions to keep their games alive for people to enjoy, and they do it without turning their games in to horrible must use the store travesties.
In conclusion no matter how you may feel about F2P there is no such thing as a free lunch and we will always have to pay for our games in some fashion. Turbine has hit upon a model that allows us to spend a little here or a little there, subscribe or nothing at all if we don't play that much, or never desire to do more than wander the bounds of the Shire. The game looks beautiful from a graphics stand point and while the game has experianced some lack luster content recently there's an underlying current of change that excits me to see what the developers are going to do next. Congratulations Turbine/LotRO and here's to the next chapter... Cheers /drink.
I don't really understand the motivation for anyone to venture into a F2P game. They are actually, (on average) far more expensive to play than the traditional monthly fee MMO. The cash shops in most of these games only serve to unbalance the game...and run up the credit cards of some MMO players that are, quite frankly, addicted and shouldn't be anywhere near a credit card.
Now I wish all the other MMOs (EQ, EQ2, WOW, COH, DAOC, etc) would follow Turbine in this new payment option plan.....maybe their servers would get players in significant numbers.
MMO Played-EQ, EQ2, WOW, DDO, GW, COH, Vanguard, WAR
LOTRO is a grind if you dont pay for the new quests, a real grind mind you...
all in all though its still a fun game to play with friends, and its a good time killer when your stuck at a plain terminal for a while during a snow storm xD
Universal truth isn't measured in mass appeal. Lots of people like WoW, Farmville Facebook, LOtR etc because its all they know and are exposed to. Advertisement is king and lots of money and good ad campaigns is how you make money on a product, it has nothing to do with how good your product is.
Its like karate and kung fu. People are exposed to karate more and when ever they see any kind of martial art 90% (excluding most people that are truely into martial arts) are going to say its karate. Its just ignorance in a sense. Im saying its stupidity at all. Im just saying so many people aren't exsposed to all the options. Think about it. If you saw a list to vote on some and only know about 1 or 2 options, you'll either skip voting or just vote for the one you know about and like. Its the same with voting for politians, most people only focus on one without giving the other a thought because its what people are raised to do.
Anyway, LOTR is an okay MMO, but it should never be considered a F2P game. Its just an infinite free trial. Nothing more.
Omg, this game is absolutely TERRIBLE, who the hell voted this #1?
Originally posted by Celusios
Game sucks, whoever voted this the best F2P of the year lost my respect.
No body cares about your respect, or your opinions and questions since you are both obviously trolls. You don't even give a reason for why LotRO is "terrible" and "sucks". In the worlds of Gollum/Smeagol "Go away and NEVER come back!".
@Scottgun not sure if you're trying to diffuse the trolls or you're another LotRO hater who gives no reason for their dislike of the game.
Now granted the game does have it's short comings and even though I like it a lot and play it I'm not going to say it's perfect, but you know what it's not the worst game out there by a very very long shot. There's a lot of people who enjoy LotRO more than some of the other big names like WoW and there's some who like both WoW and LotRO. Stop trolling and declaring that LotRO is the "suxorest game in the world". If you do dislike the game either keep your opinion to yourself cause none of us care, or explain the things that turned you off from the game.
Comments
Yea nice1 Turbine, this went without saying really.. and no doubt the lemmings will follow now too.
As for vindictus, well.. since its NA only I couldnt vote for it. Maybe it would have scored more? ah well, guess they will never know.
LOTRO is a great game....played it since closed Beta. However, I do think the F2P title is a bit deceptive in GENERAL.
It's kinda like saying a ski resort is Free to Ski.... if you are willing to never take a chair-lift but walk up the mountain in order to ski down the slopes. Technicaly it's true...but only a few masochists are going to be willing to go through the ordeal required to get full use out of it. Most people will end up having to pay if they want to enjoy it much.
It's not an unfair model and Turbines implimentation of it is much fairer and more palatable then most.... but Free to Play strikes me as a very deceptive label. It's not....companies count on players spending money on these products in order to support them.
A genuine "Free to Play" model would be something like public broadcast radio. Where none of the audience is expected to pay anything to the radio station whatsoever...but the broadcast is supported by advertising. Not sure that model could actualy work with an MMO... but that would be the sort of model that was truely "Free to Play".
Grats to Turbine, not surprised at all at it's winning.
I have to say I am surprised that EQX scored as low as it did. Been playing it a bit lately and while it certainly is not in the same league as LoTRO it is not that bad of a game overall.
I miss DAoC
I don't understand why some people feel this way. The reality is that LotRO is now a F2P game and those other titles have to compete with it. Life's not fair guys, but int he real world these games compete in teh F2P space, why wouldn't they in our awards?
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
LOL - its like people are saying there should be a "previously sub game now gone F2P" catergory.
Iiiif the biggest P2P MMO is WoW and the closest-to-WoW MMO takes the F2P Award, what kind of MMOs do we see in future?
To each his own, just do not write "oooh, I expected Rift and SWToR to be totally different".
Congrats to Lotro and Turbine! Not to mention Vindictus! They have gotten far since they started out in NA.
I can't play the F2P game that I love because it costs too much money.
You can have a blond elf. Each race has skin, eye and hair colors that vary by "birth place". Say you're an elf that's from Mirkwood your hair, skin and eye color choices are going to be different from an elf that's from Rivendell and you both are going to have different choices than an elf from Ered Luin.
Honestly I don’t know how these games get these types of Rewards. I know that the game companies hold rights and control their servers, but in my opinion this game just sucks. I played this game in Beta, the UI, and Skill Icons look like crap, the Armors in the game look like crap, the only thing that looks some what good is the Environmental Detail, and the base character models at some points. On top of this people who bought the game Pay 2 Play got screwed over by a Free 2 Play MMO, and I don’t think everyone like this especially those who paid for founder offers and did not expect a cash shop, this just totally sucked, and I will not trust, or play a Turbine game at least not until I see a good smooth launch of a game.
All I have to say really is a game company builds its reputation for being a good Company, or a Bad Company, once you loose that, you loose your player base, and you loose your trust, and I know quite a few Free 2 Play MMO that have went bad in 2010, and before.
@Those who don't agree with me
U can earn tubine points that's true, but tell me how can u earn 600tp for each section on the map(North Downs, Throllshaws, Evendim >32lvl)???
Till 32lvl u can earn MAX 700tp if u not spend on riding skill, some traits or something else, yeah u can unlock for exp. North Downs but what will u do when u complete that???
U must to pay!!!!
I think my sex explanation works better, as far as radio goes, in many countries stations are really public broadcast i.e. partly funded through taxes so not free to anyone, worse, you even pay not to play. As for the advertising model (which does exist but probably not in the US and will one day be viable everywhere) that's no more free than any other free model, if advertisers don't get any return they'll stop advertising, if all players decide to keep it 100% free and not look at/be influenced by adverts - end of game. Fo for the model to work players have to be spending on outside game goods but that's still stuff or amounts they'd not be buying had they not played the game in the first place. There is no truly free game, even on your cellphone, those free games are included in the package you pay for the phone, subscription and calls, it's just hidden more deeply, so everyone, just stop this pointless debate, watching TV's not free either, you have to pay for the electricity or installation if you've got wind or solar. Still you have the choice to play it free or pay to play, you just get something else. Oh, and by the way, what's wrong with doing some sport to run, ski, crawl, climb up the mountain before ski-ing down, who says everyone only enjoys the sliding part? Some people prefer to grind their way through a Rubik's cube, others need a few tips, some even can't stand the thing and just want to be shown how it's done so they can be in with the crowd. The word free gets more or less abused in hundreds of commercial domains, why is it only in gaming that it causes a revolt? It's either a cheap excuse to attack a game or there are too many tight selfish players around that expect to be given everything they desire and I suspect it may have to do with their status in the real world.
Was never a real contest. LOTRO is a AAA MMO, and its f2p. And you get A LOT for free and even more for a small monthly fee.
my f2p hit a wall around 30ish. grinding for tp. sigh
Origionally posted by Renoaku
but in my opinion this game just sucks. I played this game in Beta, the UI, and Skill Icons look like crap, the Armors in the game look like crap, the only thing that looks some what good is the Environmental Detail, and the base character models at some points.
Compared to what? The graphical quality on everything in the game us superior to World of Warcraft and Guild Wars. Higher polygon counts, finer resolution, etc. Now if you're not taking about graphics quality when you say "looks like crap" then I guess you must be talking about the designs. This is much more subjective and depends on whether or not you prefer a cartoonish and unrealistic look to everything a la WoW or if you like detailed and practical/realistic looking characters and armor like LotRO. As for the UI you do know that there are other UI skins out there that you can change to.
Origionally posted by Renoaku
On top of this people who bought the game Pay 2 Play got screwed over by a Free 2 Play MMO, and I don’t think everyone like this especially those who paid for founder offers and did not expect a cash shop, this just totally sucked,
I am a lifetime member and a founder to boot, in no way did I or any other founder or lifetime member or even subscriber get "screwed over" honestly nothing has really changed for any subscriber in terms of gameplay or content except that there's a lot more people in the lower level zones and a lot of our old friends who quit playing a year or more ago have come back to play now that they don't have to pay. True there are some really useful things you can buy from the store like stat tomes which are really hard to get as drops in raids, if you're patient though you can get two every month now if you complete a few deeds to supplement your 500tp allowance. The only way people have gotten screwed over so far by the cash store is due to them trying to figure out how much stuff should cost and after a few months changing the prices downward. I'd like a refund of the points I spent on stat tomes when they were 495tp a month! Other than that and a few things that were so highly priced it made no sense ($20 USD horse for on character!?)
Origionally posted by Renoaku
I will not trust, or play a Turbine game at least not until I see a good smooth launch of a game.
Hurhm now you're just spouting angry nonsense to try and sound cool. Turbine isn't SOE and F2P was not the CU/NGE. Nor was it just reecently launched, it's been around for nearly four years now and the launch went pretty smoothly as I recall and the game ran/runs beautifully years later. So please rather than spout nonsense to look cool for your WoW buddies, follow the advice of Abraham Lincoln: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." please for all our sakes.
Origionally posted by Renoaku
All I have to say really is a game company builds its reputation for being a good Company, or a Bad Company, once you loose that, you loose your player base, and you loose your trust, and I know quite a few Free 2 Play MMO that have went bad in 2010, and before.
Once again more reactionary, hard nosed sounding "kewlness", name a few of these MMO's and their parent companies that went F2P or went bad and some concrete reasons for your belifes rather than just make tough guy sounding claims. If you're reffering to LotRO/Turbine than please read the paragraph I wrote directly above this one. Turbine is not SOE and LoTRO going F2P is not the CU/NGE. None of the subscribers especially not founders with lifetime memberships got screwed in any way. In fact if anything Turbines reputation as a company has only gotten better since they are willing to find out of the box solutions to keep their games alive for people to enjoy, and they do it without turning their games in to horrible must use the store travesties.
In conclusion no matter how you may feel about F2P there is no such thing as a free lunch and we will always have to pay for our games in some fashion. Turbine has hit upon a model that allows us to spend a little here or a little there, subscribe or nothing at all if we don't play that much, or never desire to do more than wander the bounds of the Shire. The game looks beautiful from a graphics stand point and while the game has experianced some lack luster content recently there's an underlying current of change that excits me to see what the developers are going to do next. Congratulations Turbine/LotRO and here's to the next chapter... Cheers /drink.
For those f2p players that have a hard time getting tp in Lotro you may look at this great tp finder guide:
http://lotro.mmorsel.com/p/tpfinder.html
I don't really understand the motivation for anyone to venture into a F2P game. They are actually, (on average) far more expensive to play than the traditional monthly fee MMO. The cash shops in most of these games only serve to unbalance the game...and run up the credit cards of some MMO players that are, quite frankly, addicted and shouldn't be anywhere near a credit card.
Game sucks, whoever voted this the best F2P of the year lost my respect.
Congrats Turbine...you deserve it...great game!
Now I wish all the other MMOs (EQ, EQ2, WOW, COH, DAOC, etc) would follow Turbine in this new payment option plan.....maybe their servers would get players in significant numbers.
MMO Played-EQ, EQ2, WOW, DDO, GW, COH, Vanguard, WAR
MMOs Playing-LOTRO
LOTRO is a grind if you dont pay for the new quests, a real grind mind you...
all in all though its still a fun game to play with friends, and its a good time killer when your stuck at a plain terminal for a while during a snow storm xD
Gratz to lotro and turbine.
I have been an player off this game since it first was relesed and i have to say the game have really developed nicely.
Omg, this game is absolutely TERRIBLE, who the hell voted this #1?
Universal truth isn't measured in mass appeal. Lots of people like WoW, Farmville Facebook, LOtR etc because its all they know and are exposed to. Advertisement is king and lots of money and good ad campaigns is how you make money on a product, it has nothing to do with how good your product is.
Its like karate and kung fu. People are exposed to karate more and when ever they see any kind of martial art 90% (excluding most people that are truely into martial arts) are going to say its karate. Its just ignorance in a sense. Im saying its stupidity at all. Im just saying so many people aren't exsposed to all the options. Think about it. If you saw a list to vote on some and only know about 1 or 2 options, you'll either skip voting or just vote for the one you know about and like. Its the same with voting for politians, most people only focus on one without giving the other a thought because its what people are raised to do.
Anyway, LOTR is an okay MMO, but it should never be considered a F2P game. Its just an infinite free trial. Nothing more.
Best turd in a pile of crap maybe?
No body cares about your respect, or your opinions and questions since you are both obviously trolls. You don't even give a reason for why LotRO is "terrible" and "sucks". In the worlds of Gollum/Smeagol "Go away and NEVER come back!".
@Scottgun not sure if you're trying to diffuse the trolls or you're another LotRO hater who gives no reason for their dislike of the game.
Now granted the game does have it's short comings and even though I like it a lot and play it I'm not going to say it's perfect, but you know what it's not the worst game out there by a very very long shot. There's a lot of people who enjoy LotRO more than some of the other big names like WoW and there's some who like both WoW and LotRO. Stop trolling and declaring that LotRO is the "suxorest game in the world". If you do dislike the game either keep your opinion to yourself cause none of us care, or explain the things that turned you off from the game.