Most F2P games benefit from an increased population, which can enhance a game (or cheapen the community - depends on the type of folks who join and how they behave). Whether LOTRO can convert a free player into a paying player is what will be key.
The US is really one of the few countries who's suck on the subscription models. Most of the rest of the world is used to and okay with pay as you go models (especially in Asia). These models actually earn more money for the publishers than do subscription models.
Given MMOS have to be a business, make a profit, in order to stay in business it's all about the $$ bucks $$.
VIP points are not going to last you forever, they won’t set up a system that in the long term allows the games biggest spenders not to feel they have to spend more. It’s a ‘cash shop’ not a ‘fair shop’ remember.
Points 5 and 2 are the same thing, point 4 is a lie, point 1 is completly unfounded and ignores the current state of the accual community.
The entire article only makes two good points, and that is concerning monster play, as well as hurting the world view abit with pretty things that make no sense. But on that last part, whooptyfuckingdo. The author points at the celestial steed like it was a thing that fits with the setting, you know what, it doesn't and it just as bad as people running around with golum pets. I used to be in an RP guild in WoW, and the celestial steed and the new blizzard cash shop in general was a big kick in the knads for everyone in said guild.
Seriously, did this guy sit down to write this article, counldn't think of any good points, so just shat out whatever came to mind no matter if it made sense or not?
VIP points are not going to last you forever, they won’t set up a system that in the long term allows the games biggest spenders not to feel they have to spend more. It’s a ‘cash shop’ not a ‘fair shop’ remember.
Yes many of this new found following the game has aquired since the F2P announcement keep trumpeting how the lifetimers and sub payers will get all this wealth in tokens each month and can buy everything they need with them. Of course all they will need from the CS is future expansions ,which will be many and often , because there will be nothing in the CS that will impact the game. It just shows that no matter how often MMO gamers get burned they keep returning to the fire. Turbine said it so it must be true.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
I've never played LOTRO, but I'm definitely going to try out the F2P model when implemented. I don't know how the current population in LOTRO is like, but I can understand why some of the existing members are peeved off about it. However, if DAoC implemented a F2P model and there was a sudden resurgence in activity, then I'd be beaming like the time I first jumped into the game back when I was 12 though the I'm sure the quality of the game might diminish because of it. Who knows? Only time will tell but one thing is definite: I'll be playing LOTRO in fall
If you are currently paying for LotrO, the only thing that will change for you is an increase in population and thus potentially an increase in income for the developers so they can continue on.
To rebuttal:
5. They are not going to break the lore and introduce nonsense. If they wanted to do that, they could have done it already to try and up populations without doing a cash shop model.
4. They never said it was totally free. They were very upfront about everything, and for someone like the OP who is a dedicated player and pays for the game, what difference does it matter to you what the free players get??
3. Monster play will not do any worse than it is now. The subscribers will still maintain everything they have and if they continue to play all will be the same. The difference is that now you have the chance of getting more people to subscribe to play creeps, or to raise the level of their freep so that they can do monster play.
2. Pure speculation. They will see how the community handles the new patch and move from there. They know that if they don't provide meaningful and robust content, that they will lose population regardless of the paying method.
1. Landroval is the number 1 server coming up with this issue. But you guys keep forgetting that without subcriptions the game will fail. So apologies if they ruin your glorified RP chat room, but the company comes first and content second. Your RP channels and walking around town speaking Tolkien Elvish should never be a top priority for you. And as an example look at two things: 1. DDO community, the chat is not spamming and its no where close to being a "Barrens Chat" yet it uses this kind of F2P model and 2. The current state of GLFF, there is tons of nonesense and spam on every server that makes its way across there, so its not like Lotro is void of it.
If you are currently paying for LotrO, the only thing that will change for you is an increase in population and thus potentially an increase in income for the developers so they can continue on.
To rebuttal:
5. They are not going to break the lore and introduce nonsense. If they wanted to do that, they could have done it already to try and up populations without doing a cash shop model.
4. They never said it was totally free. They were very upfront about everything, and for someone like the OP who is a dedicated player and pays for the game, what difference does it matter to you what the free players get??
3. Monster play will not do any worse than it is now. The subscribers will still maintain everything they have and if they continue to play all will be the same. The difference is that now you have the chance of getting more people to subscribe to play creeps, or to raise the level of their freep so that they can do monster play.
2. Pure speculation. They will see how the community handles the new patch and move from there. They know that if they don't provide meaningful and robust content, that they will lose population regardless of the paying method.
1. Landroval is the number 1 server coming up with this issue. But you guys keep forgetting that without subcriptions the game will fail. So apologies if they ruin your glorified RP chat room, but the company comes first and content second. Your RP channels and walking around town speaking Tolkien Elvish should never be a top priority for you. And as an example look at two things: 1. DDO community, the chat is not spamming and its no where close to being a "Barrens Chat" yet it uses this kind of F2P model and 2. The current state of GLFF, there is tons of nonesense and spam on every server that makes its way across there, so its not like Lotro is void of it.
Nothing will change and everyone paying a sub or having a lifetime sub will get free tokens to save up to buy future xpacs because nothing of value will be offered in the CS. Yes its a great deal for anyone paying to get free xpacs for the life of the game. Does this sound reasonable? Maybe in Disneyland.
They are not going to break the lore. They already have, RK magic users.
Monster play I give you as imo its not a well done PVP system.
Meaningful and robust content. Last true xpac was Moria. Mirkwood is a CS sized area and is what you will see in the way of future xpacs and of course the Adventure pac also available, that the lifers and sub payers will get free of course.
RP concerns. Yep, destroy the RP community that has been playing the game for years to make room for the bunny hoppers. On the bright side though the bunny hoppers will have to pay for the xpacs that sub paying RP'ers would get free so its a win for Warner Bros.
Your right. Sounds like a great game.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
I know I'm right. Which is why some of us still play this game. And which is why we know that nothing will change from the way it is now. They will continue to work on major upgrades/expansions, and the sub expansions like Mirkwood and the upcoming one at release of F2P are a way to keep things moving between major expansions. So until they blantantly say no more expansions, only mini-expansions, we can assume things will continue on.
And rune-keepers are not lore-breakers, they simply stretch the boundaries of Tolkien lore, because they are not magic wielders themselves, they use the runes to wield the powers that were already in the world.
And of couse game developers have to stretch certain truths to create more additions to the game. Or would you also have it be that it is totally absurd for someone to be diseased or poisoned, drink a "magic" toxin and suddenly be better within seconds? Or is that ok with you? So you are picking and choosing what should be and what shouldn't be in the game.
In fact, if we followed only what was explicity written, the entire game it self would be rather empty, dull, and linear to the point of no side quests. I mean after all, there were no bards in the books, that Legolas and Aragorn stopped at to improve their virtues, now was there? Oh but thats ok with you too, just not Rune Keepers.
I know I'm right. Which is why some of us still play this game. And which is why we know that nothing will change from the way it is now. They will continue to work on major upgrades/expansions, and the sub expansions like Mirkwood and the upcoming one at release of F2P are a way to keep things moving between major expansions. So until they blantantly say no more expansions, only mini-expansions, we can assume things will continue on.
And rune-keepers are not lore-breakers, they simply stretch the boundaries of Tolkien lore, because they are not magic wielders themselves, they use the runes to wield the powers that were already in the world.
And of couse game developers have to stretch certain truths to create more additions to the game. Or would you also have it be that it is totally absurd for someone to be diseased or poisoned, drink a "magic" toxin and suddenly be better within seconds? Or is that ok with you? So you are picking and choosing what should be and what shouldn't be in the game.
In fact, if we followed only what was explicity written, the entire game it self would be rather empty, dull, and linear to the point of no side quests. I mean after all, there were no bards in the books, that Legolas and Aragorn stopped at to improve their virtues, now was there? Oh but thats ok with you too, just not Rune Keepers.
Continue to work on new expansions? They have been "working" on new expansions since MOM and nothing to show but Mirkwood, a $20 Adventure pac and a new F2P cash shop model. I will be around, we will see if "nothing will change" in a year or so. Do you honestly believe they are going to keep handing out "free" tokens for you to use on they "upcoming xpacs" so you dont ever have to buy them? In this thinking the lifers not only get everything currently avalable but everything released in the future at no cost. On the other hand all sub payers have to do is keep paying the regular sub and they will have the same deal. Someone once said, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
Decent article. The thing about sparkly unicorns-to-be or whatever is part of the aspect that worries me the most about LotRO going F2A. It's immersion-breaking. This is a role-play environment based on some of the most influential books for fantasy worlds ever written. It would be a tragedy to have this broken in the online world that is based on these books. Being prompted to unlock quests by visiting the cash shop is already a big immersion breaker: not such a big deal in DDO in my eyes since that game is not terribly immersive anyway, but a deal-breaker in LotRO.
I dislike the idea of gold caps on non-premium characters. I think that's pretty sucky. One character/server is ok, not great, but there are other games that have that limitation as well. The gold cap is horrible!
I didn't think about monster play. That's a great point. I don't know how many people engage in monster play. I admit I didn't try it when I was subbed to this game, but for those who like PvP and want to play LotRO, this could also be a deal-breaker. I'm not sure I understand the reasoning to keeping this for the subbers. I'd almost rather see them put a few more classes as unlockable content and keep monster play free.
F2P has its drawbacks. I have tried many different ones and some the items and such sold in the store which you could buy weren't worth it in my opinion. For the few that sold armor and weapons IMO is wrong and unfair to the community.
For a game that is basically dying it could possibly help it. For a game like LotR I am like others not sure if it will help it or not. I did the trial and I am waiting for my copy to get here as there is no where locally that carries it anymore due to them going F2P. Sucks. The only way to get it is order it online or do the digital download which I have yet to find the cost of.
I will also do subscribe as I have done some research and there are things that will be limited on the F2P oppossed to the P2P. I enjoyed the game and I feel the limits impossed on the F2P would take away from that. Some of them I understand why and of course you can pay to have those features changed but haven't seen any prices on that yet.
Some(many) play F2P because they either can't afford to pay a monthly fee and then pay for all the expansions that come with a good game. It is costly and not everyone can afford to do it. Others play because they can't commit the time that many P2P really need to get the full flavor of the game.
There are many F2P that you or I can live without paying to have what is sold in their store but they are not like limits to using the Auction House or Mail or things like that. I suppose that isn't or hasn't been a problem for them.
I really hope some of the fears that have been mentioned don't take away from LotR. It is a nice game. As for the community time will tell I suppose.
I used to be play LotRO but i played it that irregularly it really wasn't worth keeping the account going so I let it go. I guess that is what I like about Guild Wars, I really didn't need to play it a lot to feel like it was value for money, I can play it whenever I wanted to.
I think subscription is an archaic model for MMOs, it was okay when the MMO options were a handful to choose from, but MMOs have a long lifespan, a lot longer than traditional games and there are a large number of MMOs in the works and the average person wont keep a lot of MMOs on subscription.
The overhead cost of a user over the lifetime in that mmo is probably not that much, when you looked at LotRO's lifetime susbscription which I think was something like $200 and you never had to pay for usage, assume you played for 10 years that is $20 a year plus expansion costs, it is safe to say that after investing a certain amount in a game you have pretty much covered their overhead and profit margin they expected from you. Some companies go out of their way to milk everyone for as much as they worth but people will be more loyal to developers who aren't mercenary with their subscribers.
I play WoW, largely because my friends do. If they left I would drop it like a hot potato. I have no sense of loyalty to Blizzard, they were too tight to even put servers in Australia and they probably have more Australian subscribers than LotRO has in total. When their time comes, it will be sudden. MMOs are like bad love affairs, some come back for more punishment but for the vast majority, once the love is lost they are gone for good. I had the same feelings about EQ and nobody thought it would get knocked off it's dominant perch.
It is why I continued to purchase the Guild War products, I want to reward the developers who are not only motivated by making as much money as possible and go to ridiculous lengths to do so. I like user pays models, those that use and need all the features pay full price, those that don't only pay for what they need.
Im personally not mad about it or at Turbine for going F2P. But ive definitely lost all interest in the game since they announced this. I was still hoping someone over there would wake up and start developing some decent content that players can actually enjoy but now this F2p sort of killed it. Ive lost all interest and in a sense, lost all hope of it recovering and realizing its potential.
Most of that is unfounded speculation. Turbine is not Gpotato. This is a AAA MMG that is 3ed in the west that is going free to play with an item shop. Turbine has been nothing but respectful to the IP and the DDO conversion shows they know how to do a cash shop with out cheapening a game.
This is TURBINE, one of the forefathers of this industry, in fact, they are responsible for most "standard" features of the mmos we play and enjoy today (Hows that GUI working for you?). They were the pioneers then, and are continuing to be so now.
Sorry not buying it. Going F2P is just this industry's way of dying and making a little money why they do it. For future reference Turbine isn't Verant and it's not Origin Systems. Altho they came out with Asheron's Call in 99 they were riding coat tails at that point because UO and EQ were both pretty dang successful by the time asheron's call came out.
Thats when playing a mmo was new and adventerous and your reputation was all you had. Now it's LOL lrn2play newb and QQ moar.
I love it! No more paying money for the basics to play a game.
I love that the more F2P titles that keep being released...the more P2P developers have to think about Charging or not for a GAME A PERSON BUYS A LICENSE TO AT THE STORE...and if ArenaNet puts their money where their mouth is and succeeds with Guild Wars II..
,then expect a lot of games to kill subscription fees to survive when players SEE WITH THEIR OWN EYES THAT SUBSCRIPTION FEES DO NOT WORK.
How does it feel that the time it takes for you to accomplish anything in a grind is dependent upon a database variable held in the server controlling EXP.
In practically every major MMORPG I've played I have tried PRIVATE SERVERS and OFFICIAL SERVERS and I have always had a better gameplay experience and less time burned out of my life playing in PRIVATE SERVERS.
Many MMORPGs I hated in Official Servers, I loved in private servers....
...and its all because that one database variable that controls the Experience Point Multiplier in the server along. Add the Money Drops Multiplier as well and those 2 variables COMPLETELY CONTROL how far you will get and in how much time it will take to get there.
One server I played in had x100 EXP and x100 Drop rate....In 2 weeks the PvP was massive and more people had equipment and challenging clans/guilds/teams than the four months I played in the Official Servers where everyone was grinding, people were poor and only clans were the way around. Sorry, but that is not a gaming experience, that is you burning your time and years away for a company that WANTS YOUR MONEY and can care less about your actual gaming experience.
I love it! No more paying money for the basics to play a game.
I love that the more F2P titles that keep being released...the more P2P developers have to think about Charging or not for a GAME A PERSON BUYS A LICENSE TO AT THE STORE...and if ArenaNet puts their money where their mouth is and succeeds with Guild Wars II..
,then expect a lot of games to kill subscription fees to survive when players SEE WITH THEIR OWN EYES THAT SUBSCRIPTION FEES DO NOT WORK.
How does it feel that the time it takes for you to accomplish anything in a grind is dependent upon a database variable held in the server controlling EXP.
In practically every major MMORPG I've played I have tried PRIVATE SERVERS and OFFICIAL SERVERS and I have always had a better gameplay experience and less time burned out of my life playing in PRIVATE SERVERS.
Many MMORPGs I hated in Official Servers, I loved in private servers....
...and its all because that one database variable that controls the Experience Point Multiplier in the server along. Add the Money Drops Multiplier as well and those 2 variables COMPLETELY CONTROL how far you will get and in how much time it will take to get there.
One server I played in had x100 EXP and x100 Drop rate....In 2 weeks the PvP was massive and more people had equipment and challenging clans/guilds/teams than the four months I played in the Official Servers where everyone was grinding, people were poor and only clans were the way around. Sorry, but that is not a gaming experience, that is you burning your time and years away for a company that WANTS YOUR MONEY and can care less about your actual gaming experience.
Well you never played lotro that I can tell. There are only the official servers made by turbine or codemasters. There are no private servers, never have been.
"Several Hundred Thousand"? Dang.. I must be in an alternate universe or something. The last I played was late last year or early this year but either way it was widely accepted that the game had around 150k active subs ( counting lifetimers ) and when you boil it down and take away the lifetime guys the amount of cash Turbine would be getting on a monthly basis was not very much. The peak of the game was shortly after MoM was released and after that a slow / steady decline started and got a bit worse once that crappy Mirkwood " expansion " was released. By now I am sure the real number of subs is most likely below 100,000 and they probably are not happy with that amount of income.
Going f2p is an effort to get more money.. That simple.
I am glad others know what the real Turbine is like .. I blew a gasket when they bled AC2 players just one last time on that expansion before shutting down the servers.. They are a greedy company.. Always have been and always will be.
Yeah, I didn't play LoTR online and thought the entire concept was kind of dull. Almost everytime someone makes a game based on a movie, or a movie based off a game...they tend to be horrible.
I was trying to make the point that the reason it was going F2P is to minimize the people they will lose when the new MMOs. I will try it if it goes F2P, but I know I probably would uninstall the game after a few months, just like most of the people I know did...
The cute thing about MMORPGs is that I decided to create several TableTop RPG groups like Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars Roleplaying along with my own game universe and the very cute thing is that all of us went from playing P2P MMORPGs to F2P Games and the majority of our time in roleplaying is spent in actually playing tabletop games and actually "ROLEPLAYING" and not "POWERGAMING"
You can't compare them...Computer MMORPGs are lately powergaming festivals with everything censored and restricted. What I love most about computer MMORPGs is the folklore in some worlds and Exploration more than becoming strong.
Comments
Most F2P games benefit from an increased population, which can enhance a game (or cheapen the community - depends on the type of folks who join and how they behave). Whether LOTRO can convert a free player into a paying player is what will be key.
The US is really one of the few countries who's suck on the subscription models. Most of the rest of the world is used to and okay with pay as you go models (especially in Asia). These models actually earn more money for the publishers than do subscription models.
Given MMOS have to be a business, make a profit, in order to stay in business it's all about the $$ bucks $$.
VIP points are not going to last you forever, they won’t set up a system that in the long term allows the games biggest spenders not to feel they have to spend more. It’s a ‘cash shop’ not a ‘fair shop’ remember.
Another grade A article by mmorpg.com
Points 5 and 2 are the same thing, point 4 is a lie, point 1 is completly unfounded and ignores the current state of the accual community.
The entire article only makes two good points, and that is concerning monster play, as well as hurting the world view abit with pretty things that make no sense. But on that last part, whooptyfuckingdo. The author points at the celestial steed like it was a thing that fits with the setting, you know what, it doesn't and it just as bad as people running around with golum pets. I used to be in an RP guild in WoW, and the celestial steed and the new blizzard cash shop in general was a big kick in the knads for everyone in said guild.
Seriously, did this guy sit down to write this article, counldn't think of any good points, so just shat out whatever came to mind no matter if it made sense or not?
Yes many of this new found following the game has aquired since the F2P announcement keep trumpeting how the lifetimers and sub payers will get all this wealth in tokens each month and can buy everything they need with them. Of course all they will need from the CS is future expansions ,which will be many and often , because there will be nothing in the CS that will impact the game. It just shows that no matter how often MMO gamers get burned they keep returning to the fire. Turbine said it so it must be true.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
I've never played LOTRO, but I'm definitely going to try out the F2P model when implemented. I don't know how the current population in LOTRO is like, but I can understand why some of the existing members are peeved off about it. However, if DAoC implemented a F2P model and there was a sudden resurgence in activity, then I'd be beaming like the time I first jumped into the game back when I was 12 though the I'm sure the quality of the game might diminish because of it. Who knows? Only time will tell but one thing is definite: I'll be playing LOTRO in fall
This is an absurd article.
If you are currently paying for LotrO, the only thing that will change for you is an increase in population and thus potentially an increase in income for the developers so they can continue on.
To rebuttal:
5. They are not going to break the lore and introduce nonsense. If they wanted to do that, they could have done it already to try and up populations without doing a cash shop model.
4. They never said it was totally free. They were very upfront about everything, and for someone like the OP who is a dedicated player and pays for the game, what difference does it matter to you what the free players get??
3. Monster play will not do any worse than it is now. The subscribers will still maintain everything they have and if they continue to play all will be the same. The difference is that now you have the chance of getting more people to subscribe to play creeps, or to raise the level of their freep so that they can do monster play.
2. Pure speculation. They will see how the community handles the new patch and move from there. They know that if they don't provide meaningful and robust content, that they will lose population regardless of the paying method.
1. Landroval is the number 1 server coming up with this issue. But you guys keep forgetting that without subcriptions the game will fail. So apologies if they ruin your glorified RP chat room, but the company comes first and content second. Your RP channels and walking around town speaking Tolkien Elvish should never be a top priority for you. And as an example look at two things: 1. DDO community, the chat is not spamming and its no where close to being a "Barrens Chat" yet it uses this kind of F2P model and 2. The current state of GLFF, there is tons of nonesense and spam on every server that makes its way across there, so its not like Lotro is void of it.
Nothing will change and everyone paying a sub or having a lifetime sub will get free tokens to save up to buy future xpacs because nothing of value will be offered in the CS. Yes its a great deal for anyone paying to get free xpacs for the life of the game. Does this sound reasonable? Maybe in Disneyland.
They are not going to break the lore. They already have, RK magic users.
Monster play I give you as imo its not a well done PVP system.
Meaningful and robust content. Last true xpac was Moria. Mirkwood is a CS sized area and is what you will see in the way of future xpacs and of course the Adventure pac also available, that the lifers and sub payers will get free of course.
RP concerns. Yep, destroy the RP community that has been playing the game for years to make room for the bunny hoppers. On the bright side though the bunny hoppers will have to pay for the xpacs that sub paying RP'ers would get free so its a win for Warner Bros.
Your right. Sounds like a great game.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
I know I'm right. Which is why some of us still play this game. And which is why we know that nothing will change from the way it is now. They will continue to work on major upgrades/expansions, and the sub expansions like Mirkwood and the upcoming one at release of F2P are a way to keep things moving between major expansions. So until they blantantly say no more expansions, only mini-expansions, we can assume things will continue on.
And rune-keepers are not lore-breakers, they simply stretch the boundaries of Tolkien lore, because they are not magic wielders themselves, they use the runes to wield the powers that were already in the world.
And of couse game developers have to stretch certain truths to create more additions to the game. Or would you also have it be that it is totally absurd for someone to be diseased or poisoned, drink a "magic" toxin and suddenly be better within seconds? Or is that ok with you? So you are picking and choosing what should be and what shouldn't be in the game.
In fact, if we followed only what was explicity written, the entire game it self would be rather empty, dull, and linear to the point of no side quests. I mean after all, there were no bards in the books, that Legolas and Aragorn stopped at to improve their virtues, now was there? Oh but thats ok with you too, just not Rune Keepers.
Continue to work on new expansions? They have been "working" on new expansions since MOM and nothing to show but Mirkwood, a $20 Adventure pac and a new F2P cash shop model. I will be around, we will see if "nothing will change" in a year or so. Do you honestly believe they are going to keep handing out "free" tokens for you to use on they "upcoming xpacs" so you dont ever have to buy them? In this thinking the lifers not only get everything currently avalable but everything released in the future at no cost. On the other hand all sub payers have to do is keep paying the regular sub and they will have the same deal. Someone once said, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.
WOW isnt great because it has 12 million players. WOW has 12 million players because its great.
I'm actually curious to see how point #1 comes into play, it can't be as bad as he says it might be.
TGWTETIPTNMAITC! -Gary Whitta
Decent article. The thing about sparkly unicorns-to-be or whatever is part of the aspect that worries me the most about LotRO going F2A. It's immersion-breaking. This is a role-play environment based on some of the most influential books for fantasy worlds ever written. It would be a tragedy to have this broken in the online world that is based on these books. Being prompted to unlock quests by visiting the cash shop is already a big immersion breaker: not such a big deal in DDO in my eyes since that game is not terribly immersive anyway, but a deal-breaker in LotRO.
I dislike the idea of gold caps on non-premium characters. I think that's pretty sucky. One character/server is ok, not great, but there are other games that have that limitation as well. The gold cap is horrible!
I didn't think about monster play. That's a great point. I don't know how many people engage in monster play. I admit I didn't try it when I was subbed to this game, but for those who like PvP and want to play LotRO, this could also be a deal-breaker. I'm not sure I understand the reasoning to keeping this for the subbers. I'd almost rather see them put a few more classes as unlockable content and keep monster play free.
Playing MUDs and MMOs since 1994.
F2P has its drawbacks. I have tried many different ones and some the items and such sold in the store which you could buy weren't worth it in my opinion. For the few that sold armor and weapons IMO is wrong and unfair to the community.
For a game that is basically dying it could possibly help it. For a game like LotR I am like others not sure if it will help it or not. I did the trial and I am waiting for my copy to get here as there is no where locally that carries it anymore due to them going F2P. Sucks. The only way to get it is order it online or do the digital download which I have yet to find the cost of.
I will also do subscribe as I have done some research and there are things that will be limited on the F2P oppossed to the P2P. I enjoyed the game and I feel the limits impossed on the F2P would take away from that. Some of them I understand why and of course you can pay to have those features changed but haven't seen any prices on that yet.
Some(many) play F2P because they either can't afford to pay a monthly fee and then pay for all the expansions that come with a good game. It is costly and not everyone can afford to do it. Others play because they can't commit the time that many P2P really need to get the full flavor of the game.
There are many F2P that you or I can live without paying to have what is sold in their store but they are not like limits to using the Auction House or Mail or things like that. I suppose that isn't or hasn't been a problem for them.
I really hope some of the fears that have been mentioned don't take away from LotR. It is a nice game. As for the community time will tell I suppose.
Gikku
I used to be play LotRO but i played it that irregularly it really wasn't worth keeping the account going so I let it go. I guess that is what I like about Guild Wars, I really didn't need to play it a lot to feel like it was value for money, I can play it whenever I wanted to.
I think subscription is an archaic model for MMOs, it was okay when the MMO options were a handful to choose from, but MMOs have a long lifespan, a lot longer than traditional games and there are a large number of MMOs in the works and the average person wont keep a lot of MMOs on subscription.
The overhead cost of a user over the lifetime in that mmo is probably not that much, when you looked at LotRO's lifetime susbscription which I think was something like $200 and you never had to pay for usage, assume you played for 10 years that is $20 a year plus expansion costs, it is safe to say that after investing a certain amount in a game you have pretty much covered their overhead and profit margin they expected from you. Some companies go out of their way to milk everyone for as much as they worth but people will be more loyal to developers who aren't mercenary with their subscribers.
I play WoW, largely because my friends do. If they left I would drop it like a hot potato. I have no sense of loyalty to Blizzard, they were too tight to even put servers in Australia and they probably have more Australian subscribers than LotRO has in total. When their time comes, it will be sudden. MMOs are like bad love affairs, some come back for more punishment but for the vast majority, once the love is lost they are gone for good. I had the same feelings about EQ and nobody thought it would get knocked off it's dominant perch.
It is why I continued to purchase the Guild War products, I want to reward the developers who are not only motivated by making as much money as possible and go to ridiculous lengths to do so. I like user pays models, those that use and need all the features pay full price, those that don't only pay for what they need.
Im personally not mad about it or at Turbine for going F2P. But ive definitely lost all interest in the game since they announced this. I was still hoping someone over there would wake up and start developing some decent content that players can actually enjoy but now this F2p sort of killed it. Ive lost all interest and in a sense, lost all hope of it recovering and realizing its potential.
R.I.P LotRO.
I love it! No more paying money for the basics to play a game.
I love that the more F2P titles that keep being released...the more P2P developers have to think about Charging or not for a GAME A PERSON BUYS A LICENSE TO AT THE STORE...and if ArenaNet puts their money where their mouth is and succeeds with Guild Wars II..
,then expect a lot of games to kill subscription fees to survive when players SEE WITH THEIR OWN EYES THAT SUBSCRIPTION FEES DO NOT WORK.
How does it feel that the time it takes for you to accomplish anything in a grind is dependent upon a database variable held in the server controlling EXP.
In practically every major MMORPG I've played I have tried PRIVATE SERVERS and OFFICIAL SERVERS and I have always had a better gameplay experience and less time burned out of my life playing in PRIVATE SERVERS.
Many MMORPGs I hated in Official Servers, I loved in private servers....
...and its all because that one database variable that controls the Experience Point Multiplier in the server along. Add the Money Drops Multiplier as well and those 2 variables COMPLETELY CONTROL how far you will get and in how much time it will take to get there.
One server I played in had x100 EXP and x100 Drop rate....In 2 weeks the PvP was massive and more people had equipment and challenging clans/guilds/teams than the four months I played in the Official Servers where everyone was grinding, people were poor and only clans were the way around. Sorry, but that is not a gaming experience, that is you burning your time and years away for a company that WANTS YOUR MONEY and can care less about your actual gaming experience.
Well you never played lotro that I can tell. There are only the official servers made by turbine or codemasters. There are no private servers, never have been.
This game ought to be exciting! All i gotta say.
"Several Hundred Thousand"? Dang.. I must be in an alternate universe or something. The last I played was late last year or early this year but either way it was widely accepted that the game had around 150k active subs ( counting lifetimers ) and when you boil it down and take away the lifetime guys the amount of cash Turbine would be getting on a monthly basis was not very much. The peak of the game was shortly after MoM was released and after that a slow / steady decline started and got a bit worse once that crappy Mirkwood " expansion " was released. By now I am sure the real number of subs is most likely below 100,000 and they probably are not happy with that amount of income.
Going f2p is an effort to get more money.. That simple.
I am glad others know what the real Turbine is like .. I blew a gasket when they bled AC2 players just one last time on that expansion before shutting down the servers.. They are a greedy company.. Always have been and always will be.
Yeah, I didn't play LoTR online and thought the entire concept was kind of dull. Almost everytime someone makes a game based on a movie, or a movie based off a game...they tend to be horrible.
I was trying to make the point that the reason it was going F2P is to minimize the people they will lose when the new MMOs. I will try it if it goes F2P, but I know I probably would uninstall the game after a few months, just like most of the people I know did...
The cute thing about MMORPGs is that I decided to create several TableTop RPG groups like Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars Roleplaying along with my own game universe and the very cute thing is that all of us went from playing P2P MMORPGs to F2P Games and the majority of our time in roleplaying is spent in actually playing tabletop games and actually "ROLEPLAYING" and not "POWERGAMING"
You can't compare them...Computer MMORPGs are lately powergaming festivals with everything censored and restricted. What I love most about computer MMORPGs is the folklore in some worlds and Exploration more than becoming strong.