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Number of LOTRO Subscribers?

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  • ArnorLightArnorLight Member Posts: 5
    Originally posted by zaxtor99


    In six months, Lord of the Rings Online will reach a MINIMUM of 3 MILLION subscribers. Just watch. Laugh now. Flame now. Whatever. But wait the six months and come back and throw this in my face if I am wrong.


    - Zaxx
    Will do :)



    The game seriously lacks content, believe me.
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 43,435
    I actually can't begin to venture a decent guess... ok, how about this...I'm pretty confident there are more than 1000 people playing... thats about as far as I'll go.



    Unless Turbine releases official numbers, that's all we'll ever be able to do is conjecture about possible subscriptions.



    And the idea of lifetime subs clouds things a bit.... not sure how you figure that in, since those folks can stop playing, but never actually stop being subscribers...so do we need two sets of books for LotRO... Number of subscribers vs Number of active players?



    And this next point I say in all honesty... I know at least 20 people who have all stated this one simple truth.... "I'm playing LotRO until Warhammer comes out"...   so its really up to Mythic..if they make a great game, you will see the number of active players in LotRO fall off a significant amount....  I'll be one of them along with many others...

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • bjarkekrbjarkekr Member Posts: 10
    Originally posted by Mars505

    Originally posted by kwai

    Well the LOTRO player base is more based on the PvE carebears i think since they announced from the start that it would allmost be impossible to grief players / pvp / pk them.
    So your saying this game is for hardcore mmo players ? Instead the noob gank fest player ?

    You can Spar players , but o wait, you can't gank them LOL. It is funny how mmorpg genre has gotten so twisted . If its not open PvP (IE: you can kill anyone on sight) then its not PvP in my opinion.



    Granted that it shouldnt be possible for the free peoples to kill each other, but it should be possible to play an orc or something. Dont say monster play, because it sucks. You should be able to go every where with your orc.



    I really dont see why they havent implemented that, and I have read a lot on the official forums about it. Just dont agree on what people are saying about it not beeing true to lore. Well this is not the same war as the one in the books. Shadow of angmar is another war, and therefor "dark side" dont necesarily loose all.


  • CharlizdCharlizd Member UncommonPosts: 923
    Originally posted by MMO2007

    Originally posted by zaxtor99


    In six months, Lord of the Rings Online will reach a MINIMUM of 3 MILLION subscribers. Just watch. Laugh now. Flame now. Whatever. But wait the six months and come back and throw this in my face if I am wrong.


    - Zaxx
    you're completely wrong because lotro has poor content. And can't fight against AOC and WAR  (that's why turbine launches it now, he has 6 months from april to october ) Lotro is cool but has the lowest content of all MMORPG's played with.



    200 000 subs in april (maybe)

    100 000 in 3 months

    50 000 in 6 months  (Founder offer 6 months and ... cancel

    - 10 000 in december (no isengard no minas tirith etc): only founder offer/for life (5000 boxes + 5000 others imo)

    was in beta since december 2006 and i'm not going to subscribe not even take the standard box.

    BUT my account isn't closed :) so turbine could say my account = 1 subscription You say no minas tirith,no isengard no this no that so.. lets put all content out with launch and have every 1 be done with the game in a couple of months... meh what marketing school did you go to, well if ya paid any attention in beta u would know that content will be brought out in expansions first 1 happening in june so maybe

    have some hard proof b4 saying there is poor content and get ya facts straight so i suppose now that this game is out it will be the WAR, AOC that is gonna knock WOW,LOTRO off the shelf well think again my friends because you may just find that these games will not offer much more than what you already have.

    Andrew "Charlizd" Phippen | Lead World Builder | The Saga of Lucimia MMORPG
  • 2hawks2hawks Member UncommonPosts: 104

    GREAT game...

    People everywhere - packed servers...

    I dumped WOW after playing it for a short time in open beta.

    Just signed up for the lifetime sub.

     

     

  • AntipathyAntipathy Member UncommonPosts: 1,362
    Haven't played it, but from the buzz it's getting both here and elsewhere I'd guess the subscribers are in the hundreds of thousands. This number will continue to rise after release, and my guess is there will be 500,000 or more playing towards the end of the year. There is a gap in the market created by all the people fed up with WoW, and at the moment LotRO seems to be the best game to fill that gap for many players.



    Whether subscriptions continue to rise next year is another matter. It will depend a lot on what the competition come up with. If another game such as AoC or  WhO is both as good as promised, and is marketed well, then these will attract many people who may have instead subscribed to LotRO, and numbers will stabilise at 500k. If the other games released this year fail to impress the mass market and become niche, then LotRO subscribers will continue to rise into the millions.



    I'd also say that the carebear/not-carebear argument isn't as important here as many people think. The big subscription numbers will come from attracting young adults in the 13-25 range, either as a first MMO or a second MMO after WoW. Such people won't be quite as hardcore about PvP as some of the EvE or UO fans on this site, and may just see it as one feature among many, rather than a show-stopper.



    Disclaimer: This post is entirely based on under-informed guesswork.
  • Cabe2323Cabe2323 Member Posts: 2,939
    Originally posted by Gameloading

    Originally posted by Quingu

    that site is BS since Turbine announced  600k pre-orders one month ago.
    Really? Go ahead and try to find official information about 600k pre-orders.



    Its just a rumor that for some reason is now accepted as fact.



    It came from either IGN boards or Warcry and I can't remember which now (and on my work PC so I can't access either site).  It comes from a quote of one of the people who interviewed Turbine devs.  So No it never came officially from Turbine, but it isn't just a rumor either.   I am paraphrasing but it basically said Turbine has over 600K preorders and is sending out 1 million open beta invitations. 

     

    So that is where everyone is most likely getting that from.  Which it does make sense though considering LOTRO has been the best selling game at most online sales sites since back in February.   So 3 months of being the number 1 selling game should net you some big numbers. 

    Plus you have other circumstantial proof.  Like BestBuy being backordered for the game, etc.

    Currently playing:
    LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)

    Looking Foward too:
    Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)

  • Cabe2323Cabe2323 Member Posts: 2,939
    Originally posted by MMO2007

    Originally posted by zaxtor99


    In six months, Lord of the Rings Online will reach a MINIMUM of 3 MILLION subscribers. Just watch. Laugh now. Flame now. Whatever. But wait the six months and come back and throw this in my face if I am wrong.


    - Zaxx
    you're completely wrong because lotro has poor content. And can't fight against AOC and WAR  (that's why turbine launches it now, he has 6 months from april to october ) Lotro is cool but has the lowest content of all MMORPG's played with.



    200 000 subs in april (maybe)

    100 000 in 3 months

    50 000 in 6 months  (Founder offer 6 months and ... cancel

    - 10 000 in december (no isengard no minas tirith etc): only founder offer/for life (5000 boxes + 5000 others imo)

    was in beta since december 2006 and i'm not going to subscribe not even take the standard box.

    BUT my account isn't closed :) so turbine could say my account = 1 subscription

    Lol,  This is completely rediculous.  LOTRO is a PVE game it will not compete directly with AOC or WAR.  Those games will be fighting each other for subscribers (which in my opinion WAR will win)  and also fighting WoW for subscribers.  LOTRO also has more content then WoW released with.  I forget the exact number of quests but there were more in LOTRO then in WoW.   Also, Turbine is releasing their first free content update in June.  This will add more quests, more Monster Play stuff, a whole new zone, and some more stuff. 

    So anyone who thinks the game is going away is just fooling themselves.  LOTRO is going to be a major force in the MMO world.  I personally think it will end up with more subscribers then any other NA/EU MMO not named WoW.  Will it beat WoW's worldwide numbers?  Heck no.  Can it possibly beat WoW's NA/EU numbers?  Possibly.  I could see the NA servers somewhere in the 700K-1million range.  But I can see the EU servers blowing up and being over 2 Million.  The game is even more popular in Europe then here in the US. 

    Currently playing:
    LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)

    Looking Foward too:
    Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)

  • QuinguQuingu Member Posts: 400
    Originally posted by Cabe2323

    Originally posted by MMO2007

    Originally posted by zaxtor99


    In six months, Lord of the Rings Online will reach a MINIMUM of 3 MILLION subscribers. Just watch. Laugh now. Flame now. Whatever. But wait the six months and come back and throw this in my face if I am wrong.


    - Zaxx
    you're completely wrong because lotro has poor content. And can't fight against AOC and WAR  (that's why turbine launches it now, he has 6 months from april to october ) Lotro is cool but has the lowest content of all MMORPG's played with.



    200 000 subs in april (maybe)

    100 000 in 3 months

    50 000 in 6 months  (Founder offer 6 months and ... cancel

    - 10 000 in december (no isengard no minas tirith etc): only founder offer/for life (5000 boxes + 5000 others imo)

    was in beta since december 2006 and i'm not going to subscribe not even take the standard box.

    BUT my account isn't closed :) so turbine could say my account = 1 subscription

    Lol,  This is completely rediculous.  LOTRO is a PVE game it will not compete directly with AOC or WAR.  Those games will be fighting each other for subscribers (which in my opinion WAR will win)  and also fighting WoW for subscribers.  LOTRO also has more content then WoW released with.  I forget the exact number of quests but there were more in LOTRO then in WoW.   Also, Turbine is releasing their first free content update in June.  This will add more quests, more Monster Play stuff, a whole new zone, and some more stuff. 

    So anyone who thinks the game is going away is just fooling themselves.  LOTRO is going to be a major force in the MMO world.  I personally think it will end up with more subscribers then any other NA/EU MMO not named WoW.  Will it beat WoW's worldwide numbers?  Heck no.  Can it possibly beat WoW's NA/EU numbers?  Possibly.  I could see the NA servers somewhere in the 700K-1million range.  But I can see the EU servers blowing up and being over 2 Million.  The game is even more popular in Europe then here in the US. 

    WOW started with 1000 quests, LOTRO started with 2100 quests, they adding 60 new quests on first content update.
  • lomillerlomiller Member Posts: 1,810
    Originally posted by Cabe2323

    Originally posted by Gameloading

    Originally posted by Quingu

    that site is BS since Turbine announced  600k pre-orders one month ago.
    Really? Go ahead and try to find official information about 600k pre-orders.



    Its just a rumor that for some reason is now accepted as fact.



    It came from either IGN boards or Warcry and I can't remember which now (and on my work PC so I can't access either site).  It comes from a quote of one of the people who interviewed Turbine devs.  So No it never came officially from Turbine, but it isn't just a rumor either.   I am paraphrasing but it basically said Turbine has over 600K preorders and is sending out 1 million open beta invitations. 

     

    So that is where everyone is most likely getting that from.  Which it does make sense though considering LOTRO has been the best selling game at most online sales sites since back in February.   So 3 months of being the number 1 selling game should net you some big numbers. 

    Plus you have other circumstantial proof.  Like BestBuy being backordered for the game, etc.

     

    When you consider that most lists have had LoTRO pre sells at or above Burning Crusades sales (except for TBC release day) I certainly believe they are launching with better then 500K subscribers.  



  • Xiahou_ZiaoXiahou_Ziao Member Posts: 3

    Well no one asked for my opinion but hey, i'll give it =]

    Ultimately Lotr's subscription database will rocket from launch, simply and purely because of its name. Seriously how many people actually bother reading about games? they just want it, and play it.

    Unfortunately Lotr is very restricting and really is a cheap imitation of Eq, I myself had a little ponder on lotr, great stuff.. but just questing.. sure great for some people, just not enough for me. At the end of the day people want fun, so regardless of its legendary name lotr will quickly lose people when far superior games come out. Seriously though, people will become board of lotr within the next six months. the game simply doesn't provide enough of anything

    It will be lucky to have more than 10k of subscribers when WAR, AoC and The Alike Come Out..

  • Greyhawk4x4Greyhawk4x4 Member UncommonPosts: 480
    Originally posted by Xiahou_Ziao


    Well no one asked for my opinion but hey, i'll give it =]
    Ultimately Lotr's subscription database will rocket from launch, simply and purely because of its name. Seriously how many people actually bother reading about games? they just want it, and play it.
    Unfortunately Lotr is very restricting and really is a cheap imitation of Eq, I myself had a little ponder on lotr, great stuff.. but just questing.. sure great for some people, just not enough for me. At the end of the day people want fun, so regardless of its legendary name lotr will quickly lose people when far superior games come out. Seriously though, people will become board of lotr within the next six months. the game simply doesn't provide enough of anything
    It will be lucky to have more than 10k of subscribers when WAR, AoC and The Alike Come Out..
    I think you under estimate the loyal followers of Tolkien and anything relating to it.



    If you take that into consideration along with the extremely reasonable pricing for those who pre-ordered, this game will easily maintain at least a 100k subscriber base.
  • Cabe2323Cabe2323 Member Posts: 2,939
    Originally posted by Xiahou_Ziao


    Well no one asked for my opinion but hey, i'll give it =]
    Ultimately Lotr's subscription database will rocket from launch, simply and purely because of its name. Seriously how many people actually bother reading about games? they just want it, and play it.
    Unfortunately Lotr is very restricting and really is a cheap imitation of Eq, I myself had a little ponder on lotr, great stuff.. but just questing.. sure great for some people, just not enough for me. At the end of the day people want fun, so regardless of its legendary name lotr will quickly lose people when far superior games come out. Seriously though, people will become board of lotr within the next six months. the game simply doesn't provide enough of anything
    It will be lucky to have more than 10k of subscribers when WAR, AoC and The Alike Come Out..
    Lol Lucky to have 10k ?  That is just plain silly. MXO and AO both have more then 10K and they launched horribly.  Heck DDO even has more then this.

    Currently playing:
    LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)

    Looking Foward too:
    Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)

  • Xiahou_ZiaoXiahou_Ziao Member Posts: 3

    Silly? Not really, sure they have a loyal fanbase and they will have all those whom have lifetime subscriptions, but the game aims at a very specific audienceof people, which in my opinion is dangerous. The game can really go only one way and thats more content, hell even a novice programmer could slap a little land together and sling in a quest or two,

    The game is poorly put together and lacks allot of things, is there anything special that will keep people there? Oh yes, quests lots of quests, quests that you find in every other game. and when there done? wait for the next content update i guess? how exciting. but i suspect that appeals to some people..

  • Cabe2323Cabe2323 Member Posts: 2,939
    Originally posted by Xiahou_Ziao


    Silly? Not really, sure they have a loyal fanbase and they will have all those whom have lifetime subscriptions, but the game aims at a very specific audienceof people, which in my opinion is dangerous. The game can really go only one way and thats more content, hell even a novice programmer could slap a little land together and sling in a quest or two,
    The game is poorly put together and lacks allot of things, is there anything special that will keep people there? Oh yes, quests lots of quests, quests that you find in every other game. and when there done? wait for the next content update i guess? how exciting. but i suspect that appeals to some people..



    Anything special? 

     

    Well lets see there is:

    1.  LOTR Lore

    2. Monster Play (imo a great new inovative way to do PVP)

    3. Tons of RPing tools including facial expression emotes, different types of smoking, etc etc.

    4. A none gear dependant character make up.  Where you are more rewarded by accomplishing all of your deeds.  Gaining more traits to customize your character and different titles.

    Those are just some of the things off of the top of my head. 

    Quests are what people love.  WoW is successful because it has a quest based leveling system.  Not because of any PVP aspects of the game, not because of the rediculous gear grinding Raid endgame.  IT is successful based on the change from grinding to quest completion for leveling. 

     

    The game is poorly put together?  Ok now I know you are nothing but a troll.  The game is the most polished MMO ever released.  It is even more polished then WoW was when that released.  (I have never encountered a single bug in the game that made me have to log out and log back in while playing LOTRO,  I had that happen all of the time when I started WoW.  The WoW loot bug, vanish bug, etc)  Also what it is lacking? 

    The only thing the game is lacking is Wide open PVP and ganking.  But guess what it is a PVE game.  So it isn't lacking anything at all.  It has released with more quests then WoW released with.  It released with a PVP battleground area (ettenmoors), WoW didn't.  It has a fleshed out PVP system in the MP system where you can earn infamy and destiny points by completing objectives in the Ettenmoors.  It has a great character customization system in the Trait system.  It has a ton of RP fluff in the titles, emotes, family tree, etc systems. 

     

    Honestly anyone that thinks the game is going to be a failure is as deluded as people who think the game is going to have more then 8.5 million subscribers. 

    Currently playing:
    LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)

    Looking Foward too:
    Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)

  • dm22dm22 Member Posts: 14

    Im from Holland, Europe, and im now playing this game...i dont care how many people now play this game..all i want to say is that after almost 2 years playing WOW i got tired of it and i have been looking for an replacement and found none..

    Played Vanguard and did not like it..

    But now Lotro...and i have the feeling back..like when WOW first came out...the feeling when youre at work and think..just a few hours and i can play this great game..sounds silly, i know..but its good to have that yearning again..lol.

    Just believe me...this game is WOW but with way way way better graphics, music and admosphere...

    so...if you hit level 70 in WOW...dont go grinding your live away..just wait 2 years till Blizzard makes the next update and buy Lotro...you wil not be sorry..

    got to go..playtime is starting..

    live well you all.

    David.

  • lomillerlomiller Member Posts: 1,810
    Originally posted by Xiahou_Ziao


    Well no one asked for my opinion but hey, i'll give it =]
    Ultimately Lotr's subscription database will rocket from launch, simply and purely because of its name. Seriously how many people actually bother reading about games? they just want it, and play it.
    Unfortunately Lotr is very restricting and really is a cheap imitation of Eq, I myself had a little ponder on lotr, great stuff.. but just questing.. sure great for some people, just not enough for me. At the end of the day people want fun, so regardless of its legendary name lotr will quickly lose people when far superior games come out. Seriously though, people will become board of lotr within the next six months. the game simply doesn't provide enough of anything
    It will be lucky to have more than 10k of subscribers when WAR, AoC and The Alike Come Out..
    You could say the very same things about WoW. 

     

     

    WoW reaches the mass market in a way others MMO’s do not, so you can’t apply the same rules to it as you do other MMO’s.  This looks like it will be true of LoTRO as well.  
  • UbberGooberUbberGoober Member Posts: 247
    LOTR will be hudge, 2nd most populated MMORPG after WOW. I played beta but I decided against buying game mainly because of the none existent pvp this game has.  Game should hover at around 1 mil mark, but I do not believe that it will break 1.5 to 2mil sealing; the game is not that big and there's not enough content to keep their players past 2 months. It will have a nice pop but it will go into decline in 2008 because of Warhammer, AOC and possibly DF.
  • gillvane1gillvane1 Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 1,503
    Originally posted by Cabe2323



    Quests are what people love.  WoW is successful because it has a quest based leveling system.  ... IT is successful based on the change from grinding to quest completion for leveling. 
     


    Crap! I hate quests. I'd rather grind.
  • killerwigkillerwig Member UncommonPosts: 236

    Over 1 million subscribers in a relatively short space of time is my predicition. After that, who knows?

    This is based on the factors of: Huge IP, Solid, Quality Game, and more depth of lore than anything else. That should keep it going for quite some time, unless turbine pull a Sony-type-CU that destroys the game, which I very much doubt they will.

    LOTRO has the potential to be a truely massive game in every sense of the word.

    But... we'll see.

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979
    Originally posted by ianubisi


    The brand name will sell it in the millions, or not at all. Either it will sit at a respectable 250K or it will skyrocket up in the millions.
    Quality is not the only watermark of a successful product. Recognition is an extremely powerful marketing entity. If you can bind the two together, you get the license to print your own money like Blizzard was able to do.
    LOTRO is capable of this feat. We'll just have to see how the general public (meaning, people who do not read this website) feel about it.



    haha love the last line

    same was true with World of Warcraft, brought in MILLIONS of people who have never played an MMO before. Just because it is LOTR means that it will probably do the same, I doubt it will be as many as WoW, but it'll get a LOT of subs. LOTR is a much more recognized name/title then anything Blizzard has done with gamers and non-gamers alike. The movies are to thank for that, and every LOTR game has done well, no reason to believe LOTRO won't do the same.

    I played beta, I didn't like it. That's just me. Hope ya'll are having fun in Middle Earth.

  • RazperilRazperil Member Posts: 289
    Originally posted by UbberGoober

    LOTR will be hudge, 2nd most populated MMORPG after WOW. I played beta but I decided against buying game mainly because of the none existent pvp this game has.  Game should hover at around 1 mil mark, but I do not believe that it will break 1.5 to 2mil sealing; the game is not that big and there's not enough content to keep their players past 2 months. It will have a nice pop but it will go into decline in 2008 because of Warhammer, AOC and possibly DF.
    With an expansion on the way in the coming months, people will stay longer than 2 months. So you need to stop doing like quite a few others  are and  stop pulling things from your A**. This game is already huge and it will become even bigger. I'm sitting here with a smile on my face because this game has proved so many people wrong already. Way to go Turbine and Midway!
  • LordSlaterLordSlater Member Posts: 2,087
    Originally posted by heerobya

    Originally posted by ianubisi


    The brand name will sell it in the millions, or not at all. Either it will sit at a respectable 250K or it will skyrocket up in the millions.
    Quality is not the only watermark of a successful product. Recognition is an extremely powerful marketing entity. If you can bind the two together, you get the license to print your own money like Blizzard was able to do.
    LOTRO is capable of this feat. We'll just have to see how the general public (meaning, people who do not read this website) feel about it.



    haha love the last line

    same was true with World of Warcraft, brought in MILLIONS of people who have never played an MMO before. Just because it is LOTR means that it will probably do the same, I doubt it will be as many as WoW, but it'll get a LOT of subs. LOTR is a much more recognized name/title then anything Blizzard has done with gamers and non-gamers alike. The movies are to thank for that, and every LOTR game has done well, no reason to believe LOTRO won't do the same.

    I played beta, I didn't like it. That's just me. Hope ya'll are having fun in Middle Earth.


    Actually thats a good point WoW did well because its setting was well known as is LOTRO

    image

  • UbberGooberUbberGoober Member Posts: 247

    Guys lets be realistic here, this game will probably have around 1 mil subs, but if it does it will go into decline after a year or so; this game is not WOW and it never will be. LOTR is smaller in scope, there's not enough content to keep the players past the first few months; forget about the potential this game is not MIddle Earth Online and I think Tolkien fans will be somewhat dissapointed by the scope of the game.

    This game will not have an inpact on World of Warcraft, granted people bitch and moan about WOW and Blizzard but let's get real here Turbine is not in the same league as Blizzard. Also Turbine twats think they can out game Blizzard, aint gona happened I can guarantee you that Blizzard knows the potential of LOTR and they will act accordingly by releasing FREE CONTENT AFTER MORE FREE CONTENT to draw those that left and possibly those that play LOTR back to WOW.

  • OdyssesOdysses Member Posts: 581
    One thing that LoTRO has in its favor is the massive runaway success of WoW.   WoW expanded the MMORPG market exponentially.   So for LoTRO to break a mill is very doable.   The real success for LoTRO is how many WoW players they can pick up or former WoW players that enjoyed the game but hated the younger gamer demographich that Blizzard attracts.
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