I haven't read all of the responses, though I did read the first few. I think the derision shown to the author of this article is unwarranted, unnecessary, and you should apologize and get your attitudes under control.
I have a level 45 Elf Lore-master, and a level 46 Dwarf Hunter -I LOVE Hunters, in any game-, both currently grinding it out in Forochel, and various other places. Though I did find some inaccuracies in Adam's comments, and think he should probably have spent a bit more time in the game, I also think there are some necessities that will need to be paid for, no matter what F2P game you find yourself in. I also think the game fails the F2P model, but not quite as much as Adam. All told, since level 25, I've spent $16.50, and a friend of mine gave me a $10 card for Christmas, so $26.50 all told. I've been able to purchase 2 quest packs on my own, simply by earning Turbine Points from deed completion. For many of the deeds, there are three levels: 5, 10, and 15 Turbine points, and the deeds are terribly numerous. Indeed, I still have deeds from my time in Ered Luin, a quest hub.
Now, here's the rub... if you play more than one character, and you've made a cash purchase with Turbine, the points you've purchased and the points you earn from all of your character's on one server, go into a kitty, of sorts, and you can purchase what you want. Certain things, such as bag storage, quest packs, and Auction House slots go for your account, for all characters. Other things, like travel, XP, and crafting bonuses are by-character, and absolutely none of those are necessary to move your skill up. I spent leftover points -125 TP- for an experimental crafting pack when the last major update came out and they updated crafting, but I did it of my own accord, not because I needed it, and it turned out to be useless to me. I am Artisan level crafting in everything on both of my characters, and I didn't have to spend a dime.
To the fact that the game is so very well designed, except for a few things I'll address in a moment, it is the level of quality the developers put into the game that makes me want to purchase the expansions and more quest packs. If/when I get back to work, I may pay for the $10 per month the subscription was just listed down to, and then still purchase the expansions.
There are imperfections with the game. Several of the solo quests should be Small Fellowship quests, others Large Fellowship quests. Some quests that are marked Large Fellowship my Elf Loremaster can do with his eyes closed, while certain solo quests are impossible unless he's several levels above the quest. So, in short, Turbine needs to go back and review all of their quests to see what they should actually be at. Also, they might make a grid for each quest where they take each of their classes and cross-reference them with Solo, Small Fellowship, and Large Fellowship, and then place a Level number in each applicable square of the grid, so the various classes can face the various challenges at levels that really suit them, rather than having a single level number for all classes, period, and causing a ton of frustration because it can't be done when it's supposed to be done.
Otherwise, I found this article to be inciteful, and a fairly accurate determinate of the F2P status of LotRO.
Interesting article despite the couple of mistakes (Warden and Lone Lands). So far, so many forum warriors have espoused the stance that everything SoE touches is rotten and everything Turbine does is great, but this article is one of the few things on this site that has said 'well wait a minute...'.
I tried LotRO free when it was released in Europe. I refused to do what some of the longbeards in these forums recommended: move to the US servers and basically start completely from scratch after I already had bought the original game + expac (very bad advice to waste a person's money). When I loaded up the free version, I had access already to the Warden and RK and tried out the game with a newly-rolled RK. I thought that even though LotRO is not my favorite game out there, the a la carte model would be perfect for me to dabble every now and then in the game.
I am 100% behind the author of this article in having a negative reaction when I see all of the in-game advertizement of the Turbine store. It happened pretty much within the first 5 minutes of play. There is even a quest that shows you how to use the Turbine store to redeem points, etc. Then there are the coins above NPCs that have quests that require unlocking through the store, the other buttons in the UI and windows, usually colored red or done in some other artwork that captures the attention and makes them hard to ignore. To me this is not immersive! I do not want to keep on being reminded that I have to go to a dev's store in order to continue enjoying my experience in a game! I had this problem with DDO as well and didn't stay with that in the long run either.
In the end, I said ah to hell with it, and haven't continued on. So in that sense, LotRO "free" is not the most bang for my buck. I get far more enjoyment out of EQ2X. I always thought that this hybrid model lended itself better overall to DDO because of its instanced nature, whereas it seemed so artificial and cut up in LotRO. If I ever do decide to play LotRO again, I'll just get a subscription for a month or whatever. That way I don't have to worry about playing the Turbine store game which is unfun.
Let's not forget in these 'bang for your buck' articles that gaming doesn't always follow what makes sense financially.
Maybe the distinction is in the fact that I am a subscriber (though I doubt it) but where is all of this in game advertising? I know there is the little button that pops at the bottom to tell you about items available in store as you encounter them but to label the ads as intrusive is an exageration to say the least. you are never forced to even open the box to see what they are advertising which is much different than the experience I remember from EQ2X (which I consider to have an intrusive system of store advertising).
For me though I'm not arguing whether LOTRO or EQ2X is better they both have high and low points I'd imagine but just think people shouldn't let personal views cloud the reality of situations. And if you think the way Turbine advertises is "intrusive" then you have to be opposed to any kind of advertising at all.
i admire the author for acknowledging that he made some mistakes. lotro can be played completely free if you just grind the turbine points by doing deeds, and there are lotro fansites out there that can somehow guide freeps on how to get these TP's efficiently.
(\__/) Why Can't You Put ( ^.^) The Bunneh (")-(") Back In The Box?
At least Turbine allows you to enjoy the entire game unlike that mess SOE came up with for EQ2.
What are you talking about? As bronze or silver you can enjoy the whole game in EQ2X except for the last expansion. But then ppl with a subscription have to buy that expansion too.
In LOTRO you have to buy quest packs to have an enjoyable experience in all zones. Of course you dont have to and can grind for the Turbine currency, but that turns the game in the worst grindmare.
The restrictions in EQ2X for a silver player ( a one time 10$ payment) is easily managable at least untill lvl cap. You dont have to buy anything from the cashshop if you just ask a little around on how to expand your storage space (personal harvest storage box comes to mind, housevault expander key etc).
The way I see it , is that EQ2X turns expensive if you are only interested in endgame or pvp. But for any casual player that just plays it for the quests, its as cheap as it can get. But these questers have to shell out a lot of money for LOTRO.
So I think it totally depends on your playing style.
I am a rather satisfied lifetime lotro subscriber, but you sir, have made me want to give eq2x a try! thx
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
... Also the game does not spout all over the place buy this buy this it has little things that do show but aren't noticeable unless your looking to see it...
I don't know about that. The big gold TP tokens (link to buying stuff) in game are pretty noticable to me. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind 'em. I know they gotta pay the bills some how, but they are noticeable to me.
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
Way to much pay to win items (including update 2) not unless you like to spend $100s on virtual items you will always be behind the players with deep pockets. They have switched almost every thing in the game around to where you have to pay for every thing these days or you go without.
join us on seastone (btw no cash shop to run your bank account dry)
I have spent many hours of my life within Lord of the Rings Online, both paid and free, but I will hold my hands up and say that the majority of this time was before December 2010. The glaring omission of the Lone Lands content comes from many times playing through the game and deciding to head towards the North Downs area, convinced from many 'free' play throughs that the Lone Lands was similiarly content locked.
My recent run through of the game (1-20) was one of refreshing my memory and I should have been more comprehensive in my approach, but being an arrogant sort I was sure that my past knowledge would be enough.
For this, idiotic and foolish, mistake I hold my hands up and apologise to any I have mislead. Using a higher character (level 29) I found that I could quest comfortably until around the 30 mark and then I was struggling for content which didn't resort to tricks or deed grinding
But in reply to another poster, if the content of this game would cost around $150 for every quest pack etc, that is 10 months of subscription. That is a hell of commitment, if you are at the level cap in an average of 2 months of play.
.
The point of the article is to see how long a player can enjoy a 'F2P' game without having to pay or resort to alternative ways in which to progress. Again, I revise my opinion and apologise to those who feel I have lied, and to be honest, nobody thinks I'm a bigger expletive than me right now.
I write content for this site with an eye to entertain and inform, it's a learning curve so bare with one or two failures on my part.
Cheers.
A little too late, don't ya think? You got an article on mmorpg in which you claim things that aren't so. Then, in the third page of comments you say, "oops, my bad?"
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
I haven't spent money on anything besides the various forms of storage (5%)..and fluff (95%). I haven't encountered any problems standing toe to toe while grouping with anyone else in the game. Granted I never asked them if they purchased the "sword of a thousand truths" from the LOTRO store....but when I looked through the entire store I never really saw anything that would give you an edge in the game. A nicer hat...perhaps. Seems a bit of a exaggeration to say otherwise but I could be mistaken.
You can play LOTRO for free but the grind will be horrible. You have to grind on more than 1 char deeds which will make the game very unpleasant for you!
Although I got tons of points for the time when I bought the game, dunno why. Had like 3k turbine points when it started so I didn't haven't to grind at all and even got 1 month free vip!
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
...the other buttons in the UI and windows, usually colored red or done in some other artwork that captures the attention and makes them hard to ignore. To me this is not immersive! I do not want to keep on being reminded that I have to go to a dev's store in order to continue enjoying my experience in a game! ..
Think you hit the nail on the head for me. I am a satisfied liftime subber to this game, but all the adverts for the store do break immersion. I never realized why they bothered me until you said this.
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
I just have to say, this is the most inaccurate article I have ever read on this site. I'm sure countless posters have pointed out the errors (forgot a class, wrong TP costs, there's free quest content through the low 30s, ect, ect). Also, you can earn about 300 TP per hour if you are very efficient at doing low level deeds with a DPS class. The one thing I really love about the F2P option is that it is actually possible to access almost every single thing in the game for free if you're willing to grind the TP for it. Plus they have great sales all the time. I've gotten several quest packs at 50% and 75% off.
Reading this article, it becomes painfully obvious that the OP just worte it for the sake of "writing" something without weighing the Pros and Cons of LOTRO as a F2P at all.
Yes this game is a F2P, being that, yes you need to grind a bit to keep it completely F2P. In any other asian F2P game, you will Have to grind a massive amount of in-game coins to stay on par with any cash shopper, but in LOTRO you need to grind a certain amount of deeds to sort of 'stay on par' with the subscriber. Grinding deeds isnt as hopeless as this guy paints it to be, a LOT of endgame raid-centric subscribers grind deeds only to get their traits maxed out for raiding purpose, so it isnt a punishment only F2Pers got to suffer or anything such.
I have played both the F2P side(started a new account when it went F2P so dint have the sub's advantages) and the P2P side of this game, and I will not lie, playing it as a subscriber was so much more easier and time saving, since I am one of those lazy people who really hate to grind(deeds for turbine points). But even so the grind was nothing like what I had to suffer in other F2P games I have tried out over the years, while playing as a F2Per. Also unlike those F2P games, no one here is buying content from the turbine store and selling it to you, you earn your own cash shop points without having to pay a dime. So in a sense this game really is a "Free" game and not one where you need a middleman to buy you stuff with his money and make it free for you.
Put it this way, having more than one toon on your server makes that character your alt crafter, and having alt crafters is always a good thing in most MMOs, especially so in LOTRO where crafting jobs overlap with one another. Besides, the points made on other servers add into your overall account pool. So simply completing starter quests(the deeds for them) to a certain extent on all servers while testing out the individual server's community will rake you a good bit of turbine points to play around with.
And as for other F2P games, paying $15 for a single mount or better(much worse) still paying $15 for a freaking random junk/mount box is completely out of the question. If i wanted to flush money down a toilet I would do exactly that rather than give it to shady asian F2P game companies who take your credit card for a ride if you let them. Most people who seem to be complaining over LOTRO havent been told about how to earn TPs and unlock content, the guy who posted this article also could do good reading up on such guides. One place where LOTRO could improve is with putting out new content. Seeing how turbine is addressing and changing some age old screwups like radiance and LI changes in their coming update sounds good, but the new expansion seems to be put off for far too long already.
Finally, like I said before being a subscriber is much, Much more convenient, and the game by itself isnt bad that you need to shy away from paying a nominal fee on a monthly basis, but what appeals to me most is the fact that I can play this on and off without being forced to pay a sub at times when I hardly find time to log on in a MMO. Many people might have a lot of time to play MMOs daily, but for those who dont, this game works out kinda well. Ofcourse I could just pay a non stop monthly even while I dont log on for weeks at an end, but I just hate to pay for something that Im not going to use. But thats just me and my opinions.
Would be interested to see what you make of D&D, Turbines other game.
I've been playing it for many, many months now without spending a penny and never felt that I had to pour money into the game to enjoy it and progress. Yet if I had enough free time to justify it I would happily have thrown some £'s their way.
I cant rate DDO highly enough. I've bought 5 expansions already with the free points I've earnt from questing with multiple characters on the different servers. Because of the different playing styles of the classes repeating the dungeons 4 of 5 times with a Paladin, Ranger, Thief, Cleric etc doesnt feel like grinding and the game hasn't become a chore like most of the MMO's I've played.
Just fyi, but if you get a 12man group together (I did so with my kinmates) you can run gondamon and tuckborough 12man raid skirmishes once a day and you will get ALOT of experience. I'm upto level 44 now without doing anything but free stuff. Granted I have a subscription, so things like all my bags, and such are open to me, but as from an EXP stand point you can easily level all the way to 50? or 65? I'm not sure if 50 is the cap for free, or if you have to buy MoM to get to 60 and SoM for 65, but It's easy to level up with skirmishes, The Epic storyline, and deed grinding/using free points to buy packs (I haven't bought any packs since I'm subbed, but I can imagine)
At least Turbine allows you to enjoy the entire game unlike that mess SOE came up with for EQ2.
What are you talking about? As bronze or silver you can enjoy the whole game in EQ2X except for the last expansion. But then ppl with a subscription have to buy that expansion too.
In LOTRO you have to buy quest packs to have an enjoyable experience in all zones. Of course you dont have to and can grind for the Turbine currency, but that turns the game in the worst grindmare.
The restrictions in EQ2X for a silver player ( a one time 10$ payment) is easily managable at least untill lvl cap. You dont have to buy anything from the cashshop if you just ask a little around on how to expand your storage space (personal harvest storage box comes to mind, housevault expander key etc).
The way I see it , is that EQ2X turns expensive if you are only interested in endgame or pvp. But for any casual player that just plays it for the quests, its as cheap as it can get. But these questers have to shell out a lot of money for LOTRO.
So I think it totally depends on your playing style.
Ah, You cannot get the top equipment or spells either. Quit trying to make a poor design look decent, it won't work with anyone with any intelligence. Nothing wrong with EQ2, but if you intend to play the game make sure you choose the subscription servers so you get the entire experience.
Ummm....top gear does not equal 'gaming experience". Unless a player raids, legendary gear and spells are not needed.
If a player is into raiding they are probably into spending cash anyway since ALL F2P games require players to pay to win.
I am also glad to see mmorpg.com realises the dangers coming with these free to p(l)ay game game mechanics.
New P2P MMORPG's will have a much harder time to be get their players past the free month playing time.
It was already painful to see those players leave after 2 or 3 months, with F2P even the big role outs will feel the pain.
All in all, to me F2P is clearly a LOSS/LOSS in every way:
For the players: less and less players at the upper levels (try finding enough players to do the end game).
For the industry: new games will have a hard time convincing players to be subscribed after 2 months.
For the revenue of F2P: I don't think in the mid long term this formula is as succesful as a fixed P2P game.
With going F2P the MMORPG world looses one of its main attraction points: LONG term playing value in which you progress your year long played characters.
Everyone will feel the pain if this is the general trend.
Originally posted by pragues For the players: less and less players at the upper levels (try finding enough players to do the end game).
In the P2P games that have moved to F2P (Y!PP, DDO, LotRO, CO, PotBS) the player base has increased in every case. In games that started F2P that I have played (RoM, Atlantica) the player base remained quite strong throughout the level curve.
Furthermore it is a good thing as...
For the industry: new games will have a hard time convincing players to be subscribed after 2 months.
...F2P has a lower barrier to entry. This is seen not only in increased player numbers, as stated above, but for obtaining players as they get to see more of the game and have no pressure to buy nownownow. As such they are willing to consider titles they would otherwise pass. For example Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates.
For the revenue of F2P: I don't think in the mid long term this formula is as succesful as a fixed P2P game.
Again, the numbers released by P2P companies that have moved to F2P disagree. Y!PP, DDO, LotRO, CO and PotBS all reported higher revenue as a F2P title than P2P. The reason is simple based on the two statements above. With a lower barrier to entry you get more people playing. More people playing is, ultimately, more people paying.
Let me hit you with a sobering fact. There are exactly 2 P2P MMOs which have bucked the normal population trend. IE, large numbers at launch with a long, slow bleed of population as time goes by. EVE-Online and World of Warcraft. They have done so for completely different reasons but let's just say that both are exceptional in their own right.
Meanwhile most indications of F2P player bases indicate an increasing trend over time. Maybe not universally, granted. But there are far more examples of healthy player growth in the F2P sphere, even excluding the P2P to F2P conversions mentioned above, than in all of the P2P games.
For the players: less and less players at the upper levels (try finding enough players to do the end game).
In the P2P games that have moved to F2P (Y!PP, DDO, LotRO, CO, PotBS) the player base has increased in every case. In games that started F2P that I have played (RoM, Atlantica) the player base remained quite strong throughout the level curve.
Furthermore it is a good thing as...
For the industry: new games will have a hard time convincing players to be subscribed after 2 months.
...F2P has a lower barrier to entry. This is seen not only in increased player numbers, as stated above, but for obtaining players as they get to see more of the game and have no pressure to buy nownownow. As such they are willing to consider titles they would otherwise pass. For example Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates.
For the revenue of F2P: I don't think in the mid long term this formula is as succesful as a fixed P2P game.
Again, the numbers released by P2P companies that have moved to F2P disagree. Y!PP, DDO, LotRO, CO and PotBS all reported higher revenue as a F2P title than P2P. The reason is simple based on the two statements above. With a lower barrier to entry you get more people playing. More people playing is, ultimately, more people paying.
Let me hit you with a sobering fact. There are exactly 2 P2P MMOs which have bucked the normal population trend. IE, large numbers at launch with a long, slow bleed of population as time goes by. EVE-Online and World of Warcraft. They have done so for completely different reasons but let's just say that both are exceptional in their own right.
Meanwhile most indications of F2P player bases indicate an increasing trend over time. Maybe not universally, granted. But there are far more examples of healthy player growth in the F2P sphere, even excluding the P2P to F2P conversions mentioned above, than in all of the P2P games.
Unless you can show me the hard dollars earned, I don't believe the F2P conversation is a succes in revenue in the long run.
The only thing Turbine bragged about in both AD&D and Lotro is how they went up with 200% of this and 300% of that. But no hard dollars were given.
300% of 1 = 3.
PERCENTAGES (%) mean nothing if they are not backed up by some hard financial facts and links of increased reported revenue in DOLLARS (not fake %).
You can't show a link with earned cash ...
In the meantime my 3 points stand: LESS players in the end games of F2P because of the ever incresing costs to get there, less insensitve to create content for that kind of end game and even more of a hard time for newer sub based games to keep players in after 2 months... because everyone thinks he can play for free (which of course is false).
F2P games promote even more game hopping then before and in the long run it doesn't help anyone: loss/loss.
I still consider F2P conversations of initial P2P games the last stage before shutting it all down.
Long term consistent (read daily) playing value and time investment/progression is the most important factor in MMO's, if you take that away with free to play (and we KNOW it is a false term), you are no longer motivating this kind of play.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
pragues writes: You can't show a link with earned cash ...
As someone else pointed out, those stats have been posted. Just because you're ignorant of them doesn't mean they don't exist.
In the meantime my 3 points stand:
No, they don't.
LESS players in the end games of F2P because of the ever incresing costs to get there,
Cite? Look, I've played the games I listed. Well, aside from DDO; a coworker is the DDO fan. I *know* the end game has the population. As I pointed out F2P populations increase over time which means they are retaining customers for the long haul. Furthermore you cite increasing costs as a problem. Yet we know that is also true in the P2P model. You're talking to someone who dropped over $600 on Asheron's Call between the game, xpack and, most importantly, subscription fees.
less insensitve to create content for that kind of end game
Based on your assertion above? Do you know how many games have expanded their high end content in the past 2 years alone? Off the top of my head: Runes of Magic (twice!), Runsecape, Allods, Atlantica. Those are the ones I know of from personal experience! I believe Maple Story and Perfect World have both expanded their high end content as well.
and even more of a hard time for newer sub based games to keep players in after 2 months... because everyone thinks he can play for free (which of course is false).
I agree, that misconception is a problem. But if it hurts P2P games, well, them's the breaks.
F2P games promote even more game hopping then before and in the long run it doesn't help anyone: loss/loss.
That's a win as people try out more games. It's clear from published numbers they retain players. It also means it is easier for players to return to games as time allows. I play a few sessions of Y!PP every few weeks. I return to PotBS and CO several times a month. Heck, I *pay* for LotRO because I play it so often but did spend sime time as a F2P player kicking back with my Kin until my wife got into the game because it was F2P. [quoteI still consider F2P conversations of initial P2P games the last stage before shutting it all down.[/quote] What you consider them to be does not change the published reality you are ignoring.
Long term consistent (read daily) playing value and time investment/progression is the most important factor in MMO's, if you take that away with free to play ... you are no longer motivating this kind of play.
Comments
I haven't read all of the responses, though I did read the first few. I think the derision shown to the author of this article is unwarranted, unnecessary, and you should apologize and get your attitudes under control.
I have a level 45 Elf Lore-master, and a level 46 Dwarf Hunter -I LOVE Hunters, in any game-, both currently grinding it out in Forochel, and various other places. Though I did find some inaccuracies in Adam's comments, and think he should probably have spent a bit more time in the game, I also think there are some necessities that will need to be paid for, no matter what F2P game you find yourself in. I also think the game fails the F2P model, but not quite as much as Adam. All told, since level 25, I've spent $16.50, and a friend of mine gave me a $10 card for Christmas, so $26.50 all told. I've been able to purchase 2 quest packs on my own, simply by earning Turbine Points from deed completion. For many of the deeds, there are three levels: 5, 10, and 15 Turbine points, and the deeds are terribly numerous. Indeed, I still have deeds from my time in Ered Luin, a quest hub.
Now, here's the rub... if you play more than one character, and you've made a cash purchase with Turbine, the points you've purchased and the points you earn from all of your character's on one server, go into a kitty, of sorts, and you can purchase what you want. Certain things, such as bag storage, quest packs, and Auction House slots go for your account, for all characters. Other things, like travel, XP, and crafting bonuses are by-character, and absolutely none of those are necessary to move your skill up. I spent leftover points -125 TP- for an experimental crafting pack when the last major update came out and they updated crafting, but I did it of my own accord, not because I needed it, and it turned out to be useless to me. I am Artisan level crafting in everything on both of my characters, and I didn't have to spend a dime.
To the fact that the game is so very well designed, except for a few things I'll address in a moment, it is the level of quality the developers put into the game that makes me want to purchase the expansions and more quest packs. If/when I get back to work, I may pay for the $10 per month the subscription was just listed down to, and then still purchase the expansions.
There are imperfections with the game. Several of the solo quests should be Small Fellowship quests, others Large Fellowship quests. Some quests that are marked Large Fellowship my Elf Loremaster can do with his eyes closed, while certain solo quests are impossible unless he's several levels above the quest. So, in short, Turbine needs to go back and review all of their quests to see what they should actually be at. Also, they might make a grid for each quest where they take each of their classes and cross-reference them with Solo, Small Fellowship, and Large Fellowship, and then place a Level number in each applicable square of the grid, so the various classes can face the various challenges at levels that really suit them, rather than having a single level number for all classes, period, and causing a ton of frustration because it can't be done when it's supposed to be done.
Otherwise, I found this article to be inciteful, and a fairly accurate determinate of the F2P status of LotRO.
Maybe the distinction is in the fact that I am a subscriber (though I doubt it) but where is all of this in game advertising? I know there is the little button that pops at the bottom to tell you about items available in store as you encounter them but to label the ads as intrusive is an exageration to say the least. you are never forced to even open the box to see what they are advertising which is much different than the experience I remember from EQ2X (which I consider to have an intrusive system of store advertising).
For me though I'm not arguing whether LOTRO or EQ2X is better they both have high and low points I'd imagine but just think people shouldn't let personal views cloud the reality of situations. And if you think the way Turbine advertises is "intrusive" then you have to be opposed to any kind of advertising at all.
What is so funny about the title is f2p is the wrong way to go to get more bang for your buck.
One example:
You can buy mounts in nearly all f2p games. The mount averages 15 bucks.
You can experience everything in a p2p game for 15 bucks.
Now which one gives you more bang for your buck? You can spend more than 15 bucks a month in a f2p to have the same experience you would get in a p2p.
Decent game if you have friends to play with. Not solo friendly at all.
i admire the author for acknowledging that he made some mistakes. lotro can be played completely free if you just grind the turbine points by doing deeds, and there are lotro fansites out there that can somehow guide freeps on how to get these TP's efficiently.
(\__/) Why Can't You Put
( ^.^) The Bunneh
(")-(") Back In The Box?
I am a rather satisfied lifetime lotro subscriber, but you sir, have made me want to give eq2x a try! thx
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
I don't know about that. The big gold TP tokens (link to buying stuff) in game are pretty noticable to me. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind 'em. I know they gotta pay the bills some how, but they are noticeable to me.
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
Way to much pay to win items (including update 2) not unless you like to spend $100s on virtual items you will always be behind the players with deep pockets. They have switched almost every thing in the game around to where you have to pay for every thing these days or you go without.
join us on seastone (btw no cash shop to run your bank account dry)
http://forums.riftgame.com/showthread.php?83070-Lotro-Players&s=d555bfc9e2f4d22851c5359cb80e5b27
A little too late, don't ya think? You got an article on mmorpg in which you claim things that aren't so. Then, in the third page of comments you say, "oops, my bad?"
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
I haven't spent money on anything besides the various forms of storage (5%)..and fluff (95%). I haven't encountered any problems standing toe to toe while grouping with anyone else in the game. Granted I never asked them if they purchased the "sword of a thousand truths" from the LOTRO store....but when I looked through the entire store I never really saw anything that would give you an edge in the game. A nicer hat...perhaps. Seems a bit of a exaggeration to say otherwise but I could be mistaken.
You can play LOTRO for free but the grind will be horrible. You have to grind on more than 1 char deeds which will make the game very unpleasant for you!
Although I got tons of points for the time when I bought the game, dunno why. Had like 3k turbine points when it started so I didn't haven't to grind at all and even got 1 month free vip!
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.
Think you hit the nail on the head for me. I am a satisfied liftime subber to this game, but all the adverts for the store do break immersion. I never realized why they bothered me until you said this.
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
I just have to say, this is the most inaccurate article I have ever read on this site. I'm sure countless posters have pointed out the errors (forgot a class, wrong TP costs, there's free quest content through the low 30s, ect, ect). Also, you can earn about 300 TP per hour if you are very efficient at doing low level deeds with a DPS class. The one thing I really love about the F2P option is that it is actually possible to access almost every single thing in the game for free if you're willing to grind the TP for it. Plus they have great sales all the time. I've gotten several quest packs at 50% and 75% off.
Reading this article, it becomes painfully obvious that the OP just worte it for the sake of "writing" something without weighing the Pros and Cons of LOTRO as a F2P at all.
Yes this game is a F2P, being that, yes you need to grind a bit to keep it completely F2P. In any other asian F2P game, you will Have to grind a massive amount of in-game coins to stay on par with any cash shopper, but in LOTRO you need to grind a certain amount of deeds to sort of 'stay on par' with the subscriber. Grinding deeds isnt as hopeless as this guy paints it to be, a LOT of endgame raid-centric subscribers grind deeds only to get their traits maxed out for raiding purpose, so it isnt a punishment only F2Pers got to suffer or anything such.
I have played both the F2P side(started a new account when it went F2P so dint have the sub's advantages) and the P2P side of this game, and I will not lie, playing it as a subscriber was so much more easier and time saving, since I am one of those lazy people who really hate to grind(deeds for turbine points). But even so the grind was nothing like what I had to suffer in other F2P games I have tried out over the years, while playing as a F2Per. Also unlike those F2P games, no one here is buying content from the turbine store and selling it to you, you earn your own cash shop points without having to pay a dime. So in a sense this game really is a "Free" game and not one where you need a middleman to buy you stuff with his money and make it free for you.
Put it this way, having more than one toon on your server makes that character your alt crafter, and having alt crafters is always a good thing in most MMOs, especially so in LOTRO where crafting jobs overlap with one another. Besides, the points made on other servers add into your overall account pool. So simply completing starter quests(the deeds for them) to a certain extent on all servers while testing out the individual server's community will rake you a good bit of turbine points to play around with.
And as for other F2P games, paying $15 for a single mount or better(much worse) still paying $15 for a freaking random junk/mount box is completely out of the question. If i wanted to flush money down a toilet I would do exactly that rather than give it to shady asian F2P game companies who take your credit card for a ride if you let them. Most people who seem to be complaining over LOTRO havent been told about how to earn TPs and unlock content, the guy who posted this article also could do good reading up on such guides. One place where LOTRO could improve is with putting out new content. Seeing how turbine is addressing and changing some age old screwups like radiance and LI changes in their coming update sounds good, but the new expansion seems to be put off for far too long already.
Finally, like I said before being a subscriber is much, Much more convenient, and the game by itself isnt bad that you need to shy away from paying a nominal fee on a monthly basis, but what appeals to me most is the fact that I can play this on and off without being forced to pay a sub at times when I hardly find time to log on in a MMO. Many people might have a lot of time to play MMOs daily, but for those who dont, this game works out kinda well. Ofcourse I could just pay a non stop monthly even while I dont log on for weeks at an end, but I just hate to pay for something that Im not going to use. But thats just me and my opinions.
Would be interested to see what you make of D&D, Turbines other game.
I've been playing it for many, many months now without spending a penny and never felt that I had to pour money into the game to enjoy it and progress. Yet if I had enough free time to justify it I would happily have thrown some £'s their way.
I cant rate DDO highly enough. I've bought 5 expansions already with the free points I've earnt from questing with multiple characters on the different servers. Because of the different playing styles of the classes repeating the dungeons 4 of 5 times with a Paladin, Ranger, Thief, Cleric etc doesnt feel like grinding and the game hasn't become a chore like most of the MMO's I've played.
Just fyi, but if you get a 12man group together (I did so with my kinmates) you can run gondamon and tuckborough 12man raid skirmishes once a day and you will get ALOT of experience. I'm upto level 44 now without doing anything but free stuff. Granted I have a subscription, so things like all my bags, and such are open to me, but as from an EXP stand point you can easily level all the way to 50? or 65? I'm not sure if 50 is the cap for free, or if you have to buy MoM to get to 60 and SoM for 65, but It's easy to level up with skirmishes, The Epic storyline, and deed grinding/using free points to buy packs (I haven't bought any packs since I'm subbed, but I can imagine)
Ummm....top gear does not equal 'gaming experience". Unless a player raids, legendary gear and spells are not needed.
If a player is into raiding they are probably into spending cash anyway since ALL F2P games require players to pay to win.
I thought the article summed up everything.
I am also glad to see mmorpg.com realises the dangers coming with these free to p(l)ay game game mechanics.
New P2P MMORPG's will have a much harder time to be get their players past the free month playing time.
It was already painful to see those players leave after 2 or 3 months, with F2P even the big role outs will feel the pain.
All in all, to me F2P is clearly a LOSS/LOSS in every way:
For the players: less and less players at the upper levels (try finding enough players to do the end game).
For the industry: new games will have a hard time convincing players to be subscribed after 2 months.
For the revenue of F2P: I don't think in the mid long term this formula is as succesful as a fixed P2P game.
With going F2P the MMORPG world looses one of its main attraction points: LONG term playing value in which you progress your year long played characters.
Everyone will feel the pain if this is the general trend.
In the P2P games that have moved to F2P (Y!PP, DDO, LotRO, CO, PotBS) the player base has increased in every case. In games that started F2P that I have played (RoM, Atlantica) the player base remained quite strong throughout the level curve.
Furthermore it is a good thing as...
...F2P has a lower barrier to entry. This is seen not only in increased player numbers, as stated above, but for obtaining players as they get to see more of the game and have no pressure to buy nownownow. As such they are willing to consider titles they would otherwise pass. For example Yohoho! Puzzle Pirates.
Again, the numbers released by P2P companies that have moved to F2P disagree. Y!PP, DDO, LotRO, CO and PotBS all reported higher revenue as a F2P title than P2P. The reason is simple based on the two statements above. With a lower barrier to entry you get more people playing. More people playing is, ultimately, more people paying.
Let me hit you with a sobering fact. There are exactly 2 P2P MMOs which have bucked the normal population trend. IE, large numbers at launch with a long, slow bleed of population as time goes by. EVE-Online and World of Warcraft. They have done so for completely different reasons but let's just say that both are exceptional in their own right.
Meanwhile most indications of F2P player bases indicate an increasing trend over time. Maybe not universally, granted. But there are far more examples of healthy player growth in the F2P sphere, even excluding the P2P to F2P conversions mentioned above, than in all of the P2P games.
Sorry, your bias does not match reality.
Not just another pretty color.
Unless you can show me the hard dollars earned, I don't believe the F2P conversation is a succes in revenue in the long run.
The only thing Turbine bragged about in both AD&D and Lotro is how they went up with 200% of this and 300% of that. But no hard dollars were given.
300% of 1 = 3.
PERCENTAGES (%) mean nothing if they are not backed up by some hard financial facts and links of increased reported revenue in DOLLARS (not fake %).
You can't show a link with earned cash ...
In the meantime my 3 points stand: LESS players in the end games of F2P because of the ever incresing costs to get there, less insensitve to create content for that kind of end game and even more of a hard time for newer sub based games to keep players in after 2 months... because everyone thinks he can play for free (which of course is false).
F2P games promote even more game hopping then before and in the long run it doesn't help anyone: loss/loss.
I still consider F2P conversations of initial P2P games the last stage before shutting it all down.
Long term consistent (read daily) playing value and time investment/progression is the most important factor in MMO's, if you take that away with free to play (and we KNOW it is a false term), you are no longer motivating this kind of play.
Actually they mentioned that DDO's revenues increased 5 times and LotrO's revenues doubled after going F2P, which sounds pretty concrete to me.
Concrete as in, apparently their revenues increased after the move to freemium or hybrid F2P or however you want to call it.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
LoL - overreact much?
Own Turbine stock?
[quoteI still consider F2P conversations of initial P2P games the last stage before shutting it all down.[/quote]
What you consider them to be does not change the published reality you are ignoring. Your source?
Not just another pretty color.
Cripes, I hate thise WYSIWYG editor. I turned that OFF! Grrrr. And now I can't edit it, either.
Not just another pretty color.