Lotro is going badly at the moment. Horribly badly. It's basically a free to play game with microtransactions at the moment. From numerous forum polls on official servers, it seems over 60% of the players are already on lifetime - which they paid 2-3 years ago. The game basically recieves no free updates since Moria. It's paid expansion after paid expansion with microtransactions offer such as:
2 more character slots for 10$ Shared bank storage 10$ Premium items - cloaks, jewellry - 6$ Mounts at lower level 10$
etc... If you have 60% of your playerbase on lifetime, it means your income is coming from only 40% of your playerbase - which at 100.000 players means you get income only from 40k. Pretty much what's happening in Lotro - that's why they are "forced" to release paid expansions with content which should normally be free-update.
You really have no clue what your talking about. All these features were part of the last expansion Mirkwood.
No, they were not.
You had to pay additionally for each one of them as part of the "adventure packs". And you still can buy these.
Paying for additional character slots?
Paying to have mounts available at lower level?
Paying for premium items?
Aren't these microtransactions? Aren't 65% of the playerbase already lifetimers? -> Isn't Lotro actually free to play atm with paid boxed expansions, no free updates and microtransactions? -- All because of the lifetime model?
Do you think they can keep up the game for another 2-3 years when majority of their playerbase aren't paying anything?
It very much sounds like the lifetime subs are as much of a gamble for the MMO in question, as they are for the player, granted it might bring in some much needed cash initially, but if the game doesnt grow enough to offset the reduced number of subscriptions, then i've no doubt things can go pear shaped financially, bad for the MMO and bad for the player. It does make you wonder why they would consider lifetime subs a good idea... seeing as the only people likely to buy these are the hardcore players that normally keep the cash flowing in long term.
Give a company money for a lifetime subscription and watch the developmental care literally slip away while the company laughs all the way to the bank. Oh, and while lifetimer's vote doesn't really matter anymore since the money is banked.
I think that what you said here.....CAN prove true. However, LotRO (Turbine) is one example of where it does not. LotRO has always offered lifetime subs and is a very good game, with developers and staff that seem to actually care about the player base and the game itself, apart from the fact that they have a very dedicated core group of players, that is sizable. Many are Tolkien fans and very solid in their commitment to the game.
I've never paid a lifetime sub to anything at all....ever. For me it's more a matter of the word "lifetime." Hell I don't even know what life holds for me TOMORROW, much less beyond that. I have played a few games, however, that if they had HAD lifetime subs, it would have saved me a lot of money for the length of time I played them.....WoW, EQ2, and UO come to mind right off the bat.
I can't think of a lot of developers either, that I would trust to keep their game up, running, and well-maintained for a "lifetime." In my opinion...it's just a poor word to use.
There was a lifetime offer, what else would you expect? You think these guys wanted to make this game to last for long when they gave away lifetime offer? That's like a yelling - We want your money now, and we don't care if you will still play after you make your payment. Afterall it's Bill Roper - it was his idea to have lifetime offer for Hellgate London.
I am sick of hearing all of the hate regarding Lifetime Memberships. People need to get over it saying that it is as sign of money grabbing and lack of caring.
Look at LoTRO it is now 3 years old, and has 2 expansions and plenty of content updates. They give tons of stuff free, including expansions, while offering monthly subs for 9.99 every so often. They offered, and last I checked still offer Lifetime subscriptions, sometimes they are cheaper sometimes they are not. I bought it because it is a good deal.
Lifetime is there for players that like a game, want to support the developers, and get the most for their money. LoTRO is thriving and like stated offers lifetime subs.
Stop hating a game based on something so minor.
look at LoTRO .
i just cant do that.
let Gimli try LoTRO free trial "heres my axe and heres demonstration how it strikes this carebear shit"
I was shocked not to long ago when I was playing on a sunday afternoon and did the Stronghold quest. When I exited the instance, it took me a moment to notice what was missing; it didn't ask me what instance I wanted to go to. I checked the number of instances and saw why, it just put me in the one and only southwestern desert instance there was. Now that is scary.
I understand that games decline after launch in terms of population, but not so drastically after not even 6 months! I remember when not only were there a ton of instances to choose from, but some were full and couldn't take anymore players.
I do worry about the future of CO now. DC Online is coming out, and CoH is releasing an expansion with some improvements to the game. Really at this point, the only thing that CO has over CoH is a slightly better character creator, a more fun (IMO anyway) combat system, and the ability to select any power and build the type of character you want while not being defined to "classes" or "roles".
I honestly think that Cryptic is under the impression that they can run things like they did when they launched CoH. CoH had it's problems, but it was the only superhero MMO on the market, so people were a lot more forgiving. They really need to be on their "A" game with CO, and I'm just not seeing it. Maybe they can save the game by putting good hard work into it, Age of Conan has shown great improvements because Funcom kept working on it and didn't follow the SOE model of giving it a skeleton crew and letting it suck. I'm not sure if Cryptic has that kind of dedication though, and they have already shown that they will use CO resources elsewhere.
As far as Lifetime subs go... I don't think they are evil. Infact I love my LOTRO one and have never regretted it. Even though I don't play LOTRO much right now, I played it enough to get my money out the the sub, and the game is still there for me if I want to go back. And some months if I have had a budget crisis, well I always have that game to play.
CO's lifetime sub experience though has been a bad one for me. I'm not going to villify Cryptic for offering it, because in the end it was my decision. I was caught up in the energy of the new game hype, and was looking at the potential that I thought it could achieve rather than the state the game was actually in. I also thought that since LOTRO's lifetime sub had been great that the same thing would apply to CO. So far, I have been very wrong, but perhaps someday I will feel that it was worth it. Regardless, like it or not, I am in CO for the long haul, and I hope that they can reverse the alarming current state of the game.
One thing I learned though is to never purchase a lifetime sub unless I am as confident in the game as I was in LOTRO. And even then, I doubt that I will ever purchase a Pre Order special lifetime sub. It's just too much of a gamble and really makes you feel like a fool if you end up disappointed.
It sounds like alot of ppl are comparing Lifetime sub to a Warranty. We all know ofc that this is not the case. Not even games that offer lifetime subs are really giving lifetime subs - cause alot of the content is blocked by expansions that need to be payed for.
In other words... Lifetime sub sounds pretty much like a endless trial.... or wise versa. It has nothing to do with Warranty thol... you will not get your money back if the game goes belly up in 1 year...
Currently Playing: Fallen Earth Played and liked: TCOS, Vanguard, Guild Wars, DDO Played and didn't like: CO, MO, STO, DF, AoC, WAR, WoW, EQ2, EVE, most f2p Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, Secret World
I didn't read the whole thread so if this has been said before my apologies. It actually had nothing to do with Lifetime Subs and everything to do with this. This announcement made their subs take such a nose dive that since they have retracted the statement, fired the CM that made it and have stated the 'expansion' would be free like it should have been in the first place. It may have been to little too late however as they had already alienated a large portion of their fan base at that point.
Today after 6 weeks absence in STO or so I went back to CO just for curiosity, and BOY... it was like dead can dance! Where once places where crowded, there where only a few here and there. Many places and 1 or 2 instanced copies, my guild which used to be big was DEVOID... and even tho I expected STO create a dent in CO and even tho I only mildly enjoyed Champions, it's like a shock! The game looks now like it is YEARS old! Even five+ year old EQ2 is more busy and alive! I mean... wow. I am still kinda shocked. I know it was to be expected... but not that fast, not that harsh. Even the graphics, comparing the STO characters detail and the total lack of detail in CO makes me feel like playing a 5 year old game here now, something I did not feel so sharp before. No matter what you think, but I feel its quite sad to see CO fall so bad. I would not be surprised now if it shuts down in a year or goes for free.
When rabid fanboys who insisted that game was fun moved on that's what happens, you have empty server.
And by the way those were the same people who are praising STO (which used to do the same with AoC and WAR) at the moment for then moving on something else in a month time.
When you create an incredibly shallow game like CO and STO, it is obvious that the longevity of the game is really short.
When more experienced MMORPG players criticize those kind of games (what fanboys call haters) don't do it because they don't have anything better to do.
They do it because they know this kind of games will ruin the MMORPG industry and they try to warn the other players that those games are not worth their money because the fun won't last long.
But unfortunately those "haters" are always dismissed as trolls by people who pledge their alliance to the latest shallow game for then moving on something else and playing the paladins once again of their new shining shallow MMO, and feeding this sick trend which will keep producing mediocre MMORPGs.
You get what you pay for............
I hope after CO and STO people wfinally wake up and stop giving money to Cryptic, if players stop buying those kind of games, maybe developers will start making games worth being called MMORPGs.
Today after 6 weeks absence in STO or so I went back to CO just for curiosity, and BOY... it was like dead can dance! Where once places where crowded, there where only a few here and there. Many places and 1 or 2 instanced copies, my guild which used to be big was DEVOID... and even tho I expected STO create a dent in CO and even tho I only mildly enjoyed Champions, it's like a shock! The game looks now like it is YEARS old! Even five+ year old EQ2 is more busy and alive! I mean... wow. I am still kinda shocked. I know it was to be expected... but not that fast, not that harsh. Even the graphics, comparing the STO characters detail and the total lack of detail in CO makes me feel like playing a 5 year old game here now, something I did not feel so sharp before. No matter what you think, but I feel its quite sad to see CO fall so bad. I would not be surprised now if it shuts down in a year or goes for free.
With or without STO, this was bound to happen. CO, by MMO standards, is grossly substandard, even to CoX. By Single Player game standards, it's horribly substandard. I'd take 8 year old Freedom Force over CO by any measure. CO is a half-made, yet poorly focused MMO.
STO is better than CO, yet so many review sites totally misrepresent that. You see fairly good reviews for CO(here even... admit it, mods) while they ripped STO a new one. STO is a DECENT game, and the review here is accurate. Haven't seen a review that missed that mark, matter of fact. CO however totally duped most reviewers.
In summary: I'm not saying reviewers were unfair to STO. I'm saying reviewers GROSSLY overrated CO. And in case folks don't dig through my history, I'll say, like my history shows, I find STO to be thoroughly enjoyable... for about a month or so. I bought it and played it to rank 45 and have no regrets. Then I canceled. CO I couldn't take much further than the tutorial, despite my fandom being ALL ABOUT character customization.
I've been hearing a lot of stuff about Champions Online (It's the Devil. Cryptic is stealing our money!) so I decided to see for myself. I started up the trial they were offering. Jumped in the game. Made a Ice-spitting Half-Dragon Dominatrix and started it up.
At first I was like "Yay. City of Heroes" But then I started to play some more and I was actually enjoying it. So far, it's a lot of fun and I might even subscribe.
I've also tried the trial and I liked the character creator, I liked the voice acting, but I hated the stupid cartoony, comic-book graphics.
Also, I should warn everyone, you can't judge a game based on its trial if they restrict you to the newbie zone! Sometimes game companies will put a tonne of work and effort into the newbie zone, then leave the rest of the game completely unfinished. For example: The devs for Star Wars Galaxies created a newbie space station that had a voice acted han solo, easy to complete quests, and decent graphics. I'd played SWG before they put in the newb space station so I knew that the rest nof the game was absolutely nothing like it. Second example: I'm playing the Age of Conan trial currently, and the starting zone, Tortage, is really awesome. But from what I've read the rest of the game is nothing like the starting zone and is in fact extremely unfinished and quite boring.
If you choose to buy a game based on the tutorial zone, then caveat emptor, buyer beware.
I agree with your statement. Putting restrictions on a character's ability to progress in the world is like restricting a puppy to the dog house. I am enjoying my trial time in Champions Online; however, I'm desperately in need of some un-biased opinions on the state of the game beyond the tutorial. What can I expect to be doing with my time? What can I expect regarding other players? How active is chat? And so forth.
~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
Come Join us at www.globalequestria.com - Meet other fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!
I agree with your statement. Putting restrictions on a character's ability to progress in the world is like restricting a puppy to the dog house. I am enjoying my trial time in Champions Online; however, I'm desperately in need of some un-biased opinions on the state of the game beyond the tutorial. What can I expect to be doing with my time? What can I expect regarding other players? How active is chat? And so forth.
~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
you'll be doing up to lvl 40, exactly what you are doing in the tutorial right now. then at 40 you'll wonder what else to do, but there isnt anything (besides broken pvp).
its like driving to disneyland, having a blast in the car ride and excited to ride space mountain....only to get there and the parks closed and space mountain has burned down.
Originally posted by Miles-Prower I agree with your statement. Putting restrictions on a character's ability to progress in the world is like restricting a puppy to the dog house. I am enjoying my trial time in Champions Online; however, I'm desperately in need of some un-biased opinions on the state of the game beyond the tutorial. What can I expect to be doing with my time? What can I expect regarding other players? How active is chat? And so forth.
~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
I was disappointed by Champions, but not as horribly disappointed as many of the people here. I was a beta tester, and enjoyed the game enough to buy it when it launched. But I didn't subscribe after the free month.
If you're enjoying the tutorial, you'll continue to enjoy the game. . . for a while at least. You'll get new powers, and a travel power, and you'll explore new zones. But there are only five zones in the whole game. They're big zones, but still. . . only five. And one of them, Lemuria, has so many problems that a lot of people avoid it. Which means only four zones.
But there are plenty of fun things about the game. (Many of the power sets, character creation, the Nemesis system, etc.) If you want a game that you can play for a month, I say go for it. But if you're looking for a game to make your second home for the next year, I say look elsewhere.
So a company that believes in its product, and offers them is wrong? And they should know better then to sell lifetime access to a product they made? If they cannot believe in the product how could they expect the users to? Your whole argument contradicts itself and any sanity that it might exemplify.
Users know one thing, they like the game, and it will allow them to play it until the game ceases to exist. There is no hidden agenda with the Lifetime subs, sorry to spoil the conspiracy theories. If someone likes the game enough they should be able to get permanent access to it for a discounted price. Stop being so contradictorily conspiratorial.
Companies that believe in their product don't offer lifetime subscriptions. They know they'll earn far, far more money by having players who subscribe for years and years.
Companies that don't believe in their games don't spend millions of dollars on developing them all the way to release.
If CO closes within 18 months - 2 years it still won't have broken even, with or without the tiny, tiny proportion of the playerbase who bought the lifetime sub.
I think a lot of people underestimate how much effort it would take to make an MMO purely as a scam.
Comments
You really have no clue what your talking about. All these features were part of the last expansion Mirkwood.
No, they were not.
You had to pay additionally for each one of them as part of the "adventure packs". And you still can buy these.
Paying for additional character slots?
Paying to have mounts available at lower level?
Paying for premium items?
Aren't these microtransactions? Aren't 65% of the playerbase already lifetimers? -> Isn't Lotro actually free to play atm with paid boxed expansions, no free updates and microtransactions? -- All because of the lifetime model?
Do you think they can keep up the game for another 2-3 years when majority of their playerbase aren't paying anything?
It very much sounds like the lifetime subs are as much of a gamble for the MMO in question, as they are for the player, granted it might bring in some much needed cash initially, but if the game doesnt grow enough to offset the reduced number of subscriptions, then i've no doubt things can go pear shaped financially, bad for the MMO and bad for the player. It does make you wonder why they would consider lifetime subs a good idea... seeing as the only people likely to buy these are the hardcore players that normally keep the cash flowing in long term.
If the guild (which is one of the largest) I'm in is representative then a high proportion moved to STO.
I think that what you said here.....CAN prove true. However, LotRO (Turbine) is one example of where it does not. LotRO has always offered lifetime subs and is a very good game, with developers and staff that seem to actually care about the player base and the game itself, apart from the fact that they have a very dedicated core group of players, that is sizable. Many are Tolkien fans and very solid in their commitment to the game.
I've never paid a lifetime sub to anything at all....ever. For me it's more a matter of the word "lifetime." Hell I don't even know what life holds for me TOMORROW, much less beyond that. I have played a few games, however, that if they had HAD lifetime subs, it would have saved me a lot of money for the length of time I played them.....WoW, EQ2, and UO come to mind right off the bat.
I can't think of a lot of developers either, that I would trust to keep their game up, running, and well-maintained for a "lifetime." In my opinion...it's just a poor word to use.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
1: bad starting area.. really small starting area
2: cannot upgrade any skills or talents until you buy the game.
3: P2P game with an item shop.. I mean come on now.
4: DC universe is coming out.
5: City of heroes/villains is Already out..
6: Content?
7: You can't be a villain .. but you can on city of heroes YAY
8: From the people who brought you Star Trek Online.. that should scare them away right?
9: Obvious drive by cashcow, will probably end up a FTP cash shop.
10: Not allowed to use CHAT functions on the Trial.... well that should help people learn about the game.
I am sick of hearing all of the hate regarding Lifetime Memberships. People need to get over it saying that it is as sign of money grabbing and lack of caring.
Look at LoTRO it is now 3 years old, and has 2 expansions and plenty of content updates. They give tons of stuff free, including expansions, while offering monthly subs for 9.99 every so often. They offered, and last I checked still offer Lifetime subscriptions, sometimes they are cheaper sometimes they are not. I bought it because it is a good deal.
Lifetime is there for players that like a game, want to support the developers, and get the most for their money. LoTRO is thriving and like stated offers lifetime subs.
Stop hating a game based on something so minor.
look at LoTRO .
i just cant do that.
let Gimli try LoTRO free trial "heres my axe and heres demonstration how it strikes this carebear shit"
Generation P
I was shocked not to long ago when I was playing on a sunday afternoon and did the Stronghold quest. When I exited the instance, it took me a moment to notice what was missing; it didn't ask me what instance I wanted to go to. I checked the number of instances and saw why, it just put me in the one and only southwestern desert instance there was. Now that is scary.
I understand that games decline after launch in terms of population, but not so drastically after not even 6 months! I remember when not only were there a ton of instances to choose from, but some were full and couldn't take anymore players.
I do worry about the future of CO now. DC Online is coming out, and CoH is releasing an expansion with some improvements to the game. Really at this point, the only thing that CO has over CoH is a slightly better character creator, a more fun (IMO anyway) combat system, and the ability to select any power and build the type of character you want while not being defined to "classes" or "roles".
I honestly think that Cryptic is under the impression that they can run things like they did when they launched CoH. CoH had it's problems, but it was the only superhero MMO on the market, so people were a lot more forgiving. They really need to be on their "A" game with CO, and I'm just not seeing it. Maybe they can save the game by putting good hard work into it, Age of Conan has shown great improvements because Funcom kept working on it and didn't follow the SOE model of giving it a skeleton crew and letting it suck. I'm not sure if Cryptic has that kind of dedication though, and they have already shown that they will use CO resources elsewhere.
As far as Lifetime subs go... I don't think they are evil. Infact I love my LOTRO one and have never regretted it. Even though I don't play LOTRO much right now, I played it enough to get my money out the the sub, and the game is still there for me if I want to go back. And some months if I have had a budget crisis, well I always have that game to play.
CO's lifetime sub experience though has been a bad one for me. I'm not going to villify Cryptic for offering it, because in the end it was my decision. I was caught up in the energy of the new game hype, and was looking at the potential that I thought it could achieve rather than the state the game was actually in. I also thought that since LOTRO's lifetime sub had been great that the same thing would apply to CO. So far, I have been very wrong, but perhaps someday I will feel that it was worth it. Regardless, like it or not, I am in CO for the long haul, and I hope that they can reverse the alarming current state of the game.
One thing I learned though is to never purchase a lifetime sub unless I am as confident in the game as I was in LOTRO. And even then, I doubt that I will ever purchase a Pre Order special lifetime sub. It's just too much of a gamble and really makes you feel like a fool if you end up disappointed.
It sounds like alot of ppl are comparing Lifetime sub to a Warranty. We all know ofc that this is not the case. Not even games that offer lifetime subs are really giving lifetime subs - cause alot of the content is blocked by expansions that need to be payed for.
In other words... Lifetime sub sounds pretty much like a endless trial.... or wise versa. It has nothing to do with Warranty thol... you will not get your money back if the game goes belly up in 1 year...
Same thing will happen to STO mark my word
Currently Playing: Fallen Earth
Played and liked: TCOS, Vanguard, Guild Wars, DDO
Played and didn't like: CO, MO, STO, DF, AoC, WAR, WoW, EQ2, EVE, most f2p
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, Secret World
I didn't read the whole thread so if this has been said before my apologies. It actually had nothing to do with Lifetime Subs and everything to do with this. This announcement made their subs take such a nose dive that since they have retracted the statement, fired the CM that made it and have stated the 'expansion' would be free like it should have been in the first place. It may have been to little too late however as they had already alienated a large portion of their fan base at that point.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
When rabid fanboys who insisted that game was fun moved on that's what happens, you have empty server.
And by the way those were the same people who are praising STO (which used to do the same with AoC and WAR) at the moment for then moving on something else in a month time.
When you create an incredibly shallow game like CO and STO, it is obvious that the longevity of the game is really short.
When more experienced MMORPG players criticize those kind of games (what fanboys call haters) don't do it because they don't have anything better to do.
They do it because they know this kind of games will ruin the MMORPG industry and they try to warn the other players that those games are not worth their money because the fun won't last long.
But unfortunately those "haters" are always dismissed as trolls by people who pledge their alliance to the latest shallow game for then moving on something else and playing the paladins once again of their new shining shallow MMO, and feeding this sick trend which will keep producing mediocre MMORPGs.
You get what you pay for............
I hope after CO and STO people wfinally wake up and stop giving money to Cryptic, if players stop buying those kind of games, maybe developers will start making games worth being called MMORPGs.
History does indeed repeat in the MMO industry. Repetitively of late.
A lifetime sub!
Lmao.
Avoid Bill Roper.
With or without STO, this was bound to happen. CO, by MMO standards, is grossly substandard, even to CoX. By Single Player game standards, it's horribly substandard. I'd take 8 year old Freedom Force over CO by any measure. CO is a half-made, yet poorly focused MMO.
STO is better than CO, yet so many review sites totally misrepresent that. You see fairly good reviews for CO(here even... admit it, mods) while they ripped STO a new one. STO is a DECENT game, and the review here is accurate. Haven't seen a review that missed that mark, matter of fact. CO however totally duped most reviewers.
In summary: I'm not saying reviewers were unfair to STO. I'm saying reviewers GROSSLY overrated CO. And in case folks don't dig through my history, I'll say, like my history shows, I find STO to be thoroughly enjoyable... for about a month or so. I bought it and played it to rank 45 and have no regrets. Then I canceled. CO I couldn't take much further than the tutorial, despite my fandom being ALL ABOUT character customization.
I've also tried the trial and I liked the character creator, I liked the voice acting, but I hated the stupid cartoony, comic-book graphics.
Also, I should warn everyone, you can't judge a game based on its trial if they restrict you to the newbie zone! Sometimes game companies will put a tonne of work and effort into the newbie zone, then leave the rest of the game completely unfinished. For example: The devs for Star Wars Galaxies created a newbie space station that had a voice acted han solo, easy to complete quests, and decent graphics. I'd played SWG before they put in the newb space station so I knew that the rest nof the game was absolutely nothing like it. Second example: I'm playing the Age of Conan trial currently, and the starting zone, Tortage, is really awesome. But from what I've read the rest of the game is nothing like the starting zone and is in fact extremely unfinished and quite boring.
If you choose to buy a game based on the tutorial zone, then caveat emptor, buyer beware.
I agree with your statement. Putting restrictions on a character's ability to progress in the world is like restricting a puppy to the dog house. I am enjoying my trial time in Champions Online; however, I'm desperately in need of some un-biased opinions on the state of the game beyond the tutorial. What can I expect to be doing with my time? What can I expect regarding other players? How active is chat? And so forth.
~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
Come Join us at www.globalequestria.com - Meet other fans of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic!
I agree with your statement. Putting restrictions on a character's ability to progress in the world is like restricting a puppy to the dog house. I am enjoying my trial time in Champions Online; however, I'm desperately in need of some un-biased opinions on the state of the game beyond the tutorial. What can I expect to be doing with my time? What can I expect regarding other players? How active is chat? And so forth.
~Miles "Tails" Prower out! Catch me if you can!
you'll be doing up to lvl 40, exactly what you are doing in the tutorial right now. then at 40 you'll wonder what else to do, but there isnt anything (besides broken pvp).
its like driving to disneyland, having a blast in the car ride and excited to ride space mountain....only to get there and the parks closed and space mountain has burned down.
I was disappointed by Champions, but not as horribly disappointed as many of the people here. I was a beta tester, and enjoyed the game enough to buy it when it launched. But I didn't subscribe after the free month.
If you're enjoying the tutorial, you'll continue to enjoy the game. . . for a while at least. You'll get new powers, and a travel power, and you'll explore new zones. But there are only five zones in the whole game. They're big zones, but still. . . only five. And one of them, Lemuria, has so many problems that a lot of people avoid it. Which means only four zones.
But there are plenty of fun things about the game. (Many of the power sets, character creation, the Nemesis system, etc.) If you want a game that you can play for a month, I say go for it. But if you're looking for a game to make your second home for the next year, I say look elsewhere.
Companies that believe in their product don't offer lifetime subscriptions. They know they'll earn far, far more money by having players who subscribe for years and years.
Companies that don't believe in their games don't spend millions of dollars on developing them all the way to release.
If CO closes within 18 months - 2 years it still won't have broken even, with or without the tiny, tiny proportion of the playerbase who bought the lifetime sub.
I think a lot of people underestimate how much effort it would take to make an MMO purely as a scam.
I don't think that's the case.
I think the bulk of the development costs were already met by the production of it's predecessor City of Heroes. It's mostly the same core game.
Further to this the game was developed for the most part for Marvel and then got dropped.
Presumably up until the point where they got dropped the development costs were met by the publisher in a series of progess marks.
For whatever reason Marvel dropped them, either from unsatisfaction or some other concern they must have paid for games development until then.
Then they just finished it off quickly and sold it for whatever they could get for it.
Cryptic is a small studio, the day they make a loss is the same day they close down.