Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Lord of the Rings Online: Free to Play Interview
This discussion has been closed.
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Comments
The DDO store absolutely sells things that give an advantage in game over people who do not spend money. Stat potions that stack come to mind. Spell Point potions that can only be bought on the AH that people got in quests are sold in the DDO store in large numbers. Both of these things can give an advantage and I am sure the LOTRO store will follow suit.
Not sure if it was asked yet, and didn't see it mentione din the interview but I think one of the most imortant things to consider is this:
Will you be able to earn points to get cash shop credits through simply completing certain tasks in the game like DDO allows with Favor, or will the only method of obtaining points be either paying for them or the monthly amount from subscription?
If they do allow you to earn them, just like DDO, theres really no room for anyone to complain about needing to pay for anything in LOTRO, since it could all be gained through simply playing the game. If not, then yeah this does kind of suck for those who have been subbing the whole time since they may need to pay the sub + added costs of buying other things.
You can say that, we have to pay per month or one large amount like me just a few weeks ago and they can only pay a small amount and get the same stuff for only paying once! Its just not fair and it will destroy the game fun for most! Look, now alot of kids will come and play on an rp server and kill the fun! Look at DDO! It happened there too! Whats fun when your rping and some moron kid comes by and starts ruining it? And who says those 500 points is worth anything? They themselves claim its not for win win situations! And then again, they messed up by giving us the oppertunity to get the lifetime sub and a week later do this! Thats bad and even here where I live, I can ask for money back and termination of my contract with them!
So, if they get it from playing the game and yes it can be done, read the forums for the answer, why did I have to buy the lifetime? They can get it for free by playing the game! Im fucked and I didnt even like it!
Jungleninja, if it is like DDO earning enough points to have everything you want will take a mindnumbing amount of grinding. Seriously the amount of people willing to grind for enough points will be miniscule at best.
Your lifetime sub may by you access to all of the content without having to purchase anything else, but there will be other things added in besides just unlocking content. The lifetime sub wont give you unlimited XP pots or stat pots or whatever (that werent even in the game when you got your sub), youll still have to either buy (or earn if possible) things like that. You also have access to other things such as bigger inventory, more character slots, etc with your sub which F2P will need to eithe rearn or pay for.
Plus, if it is like DOO in that aspect, it will likely require a pretty steep grind to earn enough points for everything if youre 100% free. Personally, id rather shell out the $ for the lifetime sub than have to spend months grinding to unlock the stuff that sub buys me.
This. This is the kind of egotistical nonsense that ruins game communities...not because of the F2P. Attitude that *only* kids will play a free game.
Milking business model? In a later post you stated that Turbine has sold out...that they (companies) care naught for their customers. Do you have any idea how a company actually works? True, they're out to make money. Isn't that the reason you go to work? (assuming you work...I assume you do...) To do that they *have* to do the following:
1) Care for their customers.
or
2) Act like they care for their customers. And, if they *act* like they care for us, then they're actions will prove it. So, if their actions show that they care, even though they're *acting*, isn't the end-result the same? I mean, if their actions are good for *us*, doesn't that mean that we have been *cared* for?
So, in synopsis we see that if we (the customers) are being cared for (i.e., getting a good product that provides us with what we want, in this case entertainment), then the company is being *good* to us because they *care*.
To be quite honest, I'm glad that the F2P will hopefully *weed out* the egotistical peeps like yourself. Because we *want* to play a good game...for free...doesn't mean that we're kids or that we'll *ruin* you community. Well, unless the community has attitude like you've demonstrated. In that case, we'll be happy to *ruin* it
"I am handicapped...I'm psychotic."
Did you read the interview? I asked them explicitly about the "Pay to Win" scenario, and it's part and parcel of their strategy to ensure that players are not able to "Pay to Win," this was made painfully clear by Turbine's Craig Alexander during our panel at PAX East as well.
Good interview. Thanks for asking that question. If they stick with this approach, I'll give it a shot. I don't mind paying for things that are truly optional--i.e. not necessary to compete.
The RMT models I dislike give players a competitive advantage and/or are added on top of a subscription fee. With the success of DDO, maybe some MMO publishers are getting the message. Gives me more hope for the genre.
The DDO store absolutely sells things that give an advantage in game over people who do not spend money. Stat potions that stack come to mind. Spell Point potions that can only be bought on the AH that people got in quests are sold in the DDO store in large numbers. Both of these things can give an advantage and I am sure the LOTRO store will follow suit.
Yes I agree the DDO store does sell things that give players an advantage for buying them. I did buy some of the items when i played ddo. But what whay i understand from turbine them selves. Turbine points can be earn thru game play. While you are at a small disavantage because it will take longer to get these items. You are not at a complete disavantage, because you can get them without ever spending a dime.
Also, with the ability to earn turbine points in game, that is probaly why they are not alowing them to go to other games.
All i have to say other then that. Is i like this idea. I love lotro but never got around to buying it. I believe this is a good thing for the game, and if you dont like it (and dont already have a life time subscription) then dont play it. I do like the idea of what they are doing for the lifetime sunscribers, and i think it is fair. Plus why are yall whining it is there game, they are breaking no contracts, and are doing nothing wrong. No matter they did, no mattter what when ever you change or add something someone wont like it.What gets me is how so many companies wouldn't touch MMOs with a 10 foot pole, even with EQ1's success.
Along comes WoW showing that MMOs can make money and, boy oh boy did the companies suddenly take notice and decide it's where they want to be.
So, now it's the usual routine of finding out every possible angle they can come from to milk every player as much as they possibly can.
I will again refer to the panel that mmorpg.com hosted where one of the panelists stated, unequivocally, that microtransactions allow the developer to monetize the players for potentially much more than a $15 sub.
That is what it's all about, folks. It's not about them trying to find a way to make it more convenient for people to play without the sub. They're doing it because they know it will allow them to nickel and dime players for a lot more than a sub fee would ever get them... All while repeating the "Free to play!" mantra over and over again.
If anyone seriously thinks they're going to play a F2P MMO at the same level, or with the same access as they can a subscription-based MMO without paying a dime, because the developers say so? Yeah... I've got some land I'd like to sell you.
It's no longer about making a game that players will want to stick with for years and pay their sub fees and the expansion costs because they enjoy the game. Now it's about getting as much $$$$ as they can, as quickly as they can before the players move on.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
I agree that mmo's are now all about getting as much money as they can. Thats what pretty much everything in the world is about. It was only a matter of time untill it games were all about making money.I found a really good link here that explains a lot about how good this has the potential to be. If you don't feel like following the link I'll just post what I found was most interesting in the article below. The article is about the DDO relaunch.
How Turbine Supercharged DDO by Adopting a Hybrid Business Model
Launch Results
2 Million new players since launch. 20% reacquisition of cancelled players. Acquisition costs drastically reduced, with 3x click through on ads. 5x Peak concurrent. 10x Montly uniques. 5x revenue. Even better is still growing, last month was best yet.
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
WHile all of that is true, gameplay itself has suffered and the next update is even worse. Turbine is now working very hard to appease the same customers who ignored their game for 4 years. I understand money drives decisions, but DDO is now a bigger game not a better one and each update to me has had less quality then the old ones. New Quests seem more lineart and less inventive.
Is DDO making money? Yes. Is DDO a better game? To me the answer is a resounding no.
Wait...so you mean that major game developers, all of whom are multi-million dollar (or bigger!) corporations, are in the process of transitioning from one successful business model (i.e., the traditional monthly sub) to a newer, more lucrative model because recent consumer trends have shown them that this is what people do? Shocking!
Pass the smelling salts. There are an awful lot of people getting the vapors.
We live in an age where microtransactions are a part of gaming for every other genre. Just look at the track download markets for Rock Band and Guitar Hero, for fuck's sake. Look at all the DLC and fluff content (i.e., avatar costumes and props, icons, themes, etc.) that game companies make money off of on the XBox Live Marketplace and the PSN. Look at the wild success of browser games like Farmville and Mafia Wars. Consumers have repeatedly shown that they are willing to buy the content they want when they want it, even in addition to things like XBox Live Gold membership fees.
Why anyone is shocked that this trend would bleed over to the MMO genre is beyond me.
wow, so If I take a dump in a bag, and write V.I.P. on it, does that mean I can make a forture too!?
Only if you have an in bag store to sell toilet paper.
Well, there goes our friendly, mature, drama-free playerbase full of RPers and helpful people. Here come the WoW-heads.
I feel like I wasted $200 on my lifetime sub 'cause if the paradigm shifts from great community to what every other MMO is nowadays, I'll be completely done with MMOs.
How does a subscription fee keep the WoW-heads out? WoW costs $15/month to play.
DDO has had 5 major updates to LOTRO's 1 since the relaunch. Also, it's your OPINION that DDO is not better now. To others it has become better.
In America I have bad teeth. If I lived in England my teeth would be perfect.
Switching to a F2P format makes me think the game is losing people playing the game. Sounds like marketing to try to bring back people to play.
This has to make LoTRs one of the big MMO's for 2011.
I can see that some people are very upset with the current turn of events and this can be understandable, you are happy playing and happy how things are going. But by going free to play it opens the option for people that have less time to play or like to dip in and out without feeling they have waisted their money cause they only played a few times that month.
But more importantly if this does as well as DDO did then it means more content and more work on the world. Though I do wonder if they wont find they are competing now with DDO rather than other sub based MMO's. Could the new buisness model mean people leave DDO for LotRs casue they have similar price plans but is a better game. Or will the new players come from the sub based MMO's where people would prefere this payment model over 15 bucks a month for a game that might feel more like a second job than a fun hobby.
I play LOTRO, trust me...if the community is mature...and helpful....and friendly, I'm on the wrong server because there have been nothing but jerks on my server.
You should of stopped playing MMOs a LONG time ago because all the games have people in the communities that are a-holes. There is not one game that is perfect. Nothing is going to change, so there will be no problem.
You must play on Landroval, too...
R.I.P. City of Heroes and my 17 characters there
I play on Landroval and my experience has been nothing but pleasant. In 2 years' time, I've only had to /ignore one player. In 3 years on City of Heroes, I /ignored 63 (on Virtue. Before I moved there from Guardian, I must have /ignored at least one a day) and on Guild Wars, which I've played since Prophecies launched, I've /ignored close to 300. If you guys are having that many bad experiences on Landroval, you must be trolling and griefing the RPers.
It sounds to me like Turbine found a good system that works both for them and the players. I don't mind a F2P model as long as you don't have to buy the game + pay sub + buy extra fluff. Turbine seems to have found a sensible model with DDO and are now expanding on it. It finally gives me a chance to check out LOTRO hehe. Cool beans.
Our spirit was here long before you
Long before us
And long will it be after your pride brings you to your end
Maybe you two met each other
If WoW = The Beatles
and WAR = Led Zeppelin
Then LotrO = Pink Floyd