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LOTRO free trial , sign of troubles ?
Lobotomist
Member EpicPosts: 5,965
Do you think free trial means LOTRO is in troubles ?
I personally play the game since the first day. And think that it is withouth a doubt one of top MMOs today.
But there is no question LOTRO is same ol ' just better graphic and more polish ... and this is just not enough.
Still
Free trial will bring many new subs , that is for sure. When people first play LOTRO they are emidiately taken bey how smooth and polished game is. And this will bring lot of people over.
Comments
Trouble?
The only trouble I can foresee is waiting in queue to log in....
I have 5 toons now, lowest ones are 6 and 10 only - more newbs mean more ppl to group with
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
Queues , and Noobs on my precious RP servers !
Thats Trouble allright !
I agree with Donnie, time to get those alts leveling. However in responce to Lobotomist, Turbines business plan is far different than say SOEs. SOE is still trying to sell Vanguard and has still to offer any trial and I think we can all agree that Vanguard was in trouble before it released. Turbine on the other hand seems to be doing a get them into the game and they will be hooked strategy. So far the servers are well populated but on the other hand they are not adding any new ones. Only people that know for sure is Turbine. As much as I enjoy the game I don't think that tehy recieved a massive surge from WoW. Judging from our kinship we have a large migration from EQII to LoTRO, but only a few of our WoW members moved over.
I miss DAoC
Yes, WoW players seem to hate LOTRO....
But than again, who needs them
On other hand , i noticed slight rise in EU server populations - and this was before the trial
Maybe it's just my luck but are people usually anti-social in game? everyone seems to run around like idiots, trial doesn't seem to be persuading me at this rate.
note: Trial is US only it seems but if anyone would kindly suggest a server that is populated and friendly to play on it would be nice
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
This is pretty normal for an MMO. First few month without an trail and then when all the poeple signed up who liked the game before hand and after they have an change to tweak the game (Retail always has its own problems). Especialy now with the recent update. This means poeple who played Beta and dislike some of it can try it now again and the poeple who had doubts if it is worth it.
Well, as you guys observed, they haven't added any new servers... which means their population is holding steady however I'm sure they envisioned a bit more success than the 20 or so (not sure on this) servers they currently have.... so hence they hold a free trial here at the 6 month mark.
Sure to draw in many new players....(but will they stay? always the big question for any game) and in light of the fact it doesn't look like any major new titles are going to release this year they may be hoping to draw in folks who were waiting for TR, AOC and WAR and are bored enough to try anything right now.
I don't see this as a sign of trouble, wait until you see server mergers and f2p.... then you know a game is in trouble....
"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
Can't really comment on that I since I usually don't group with my alts (except with my minstel alt and rarely with my guardian). Back in the first 1-2 months it was absolutely not a problem to find a group for almost any FS quests... by this time though, old players are either capped or close to capped, so you can only rely on alts and newbs - this decision from Turbine will most probably help with that.
There'll be surely more little new freeps running around in the next 1-2 weeks on the US servers
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
DB
and this is just a hunch....as I have nothing to back it up with but I believe LotRO is doing a little better over on the EU side.... don't think its proving quite as appealing to US players... maybe thats why the free trial is US only."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
Number of antisocial people is on increase...unfortunately
Game started with one of best communities in MMO... but i guess it always takes just few rotten apples
If people playing the free trial seem a little... anti-social, it might be because of the following condition of the free trial:
(3) Free Trial accounts have restrictions in place that prevent the use certain features and functionality, such as in-game mail, auction houses, trading with other players, and the sending of tells in the Game. Free Trial accounts also have posting limitations on the message boards. All of these limitations are removed once a Free Trial player upgrades to a standard account.
As for the topic of signs of trouble, I think it's just a big marketing push to get more people into the game. Turbine knows they have a winner here, and they are willing to throw all the incentives they can at people to get more subs. Free trials don't always mean doom and gloom.. hell they offered a massive one during open beta before they even had any paid subs.
If people playing the free trial seem a little... anti-social, it might be because of the following condition of the free trial:
(3) Free Trial accounts have restrictions in place that prevent the use certain features and functionality, such as in-game mail, auction houses, trading with other players, and the sending of tells in the Game. Free Trial accounts also have posting limitations on the message boards. All of these limitations are removed once a Free Trial player upgrades to a standard account.
As for the topic of signs of trouble, I think it's just a big marketing push to get more people into the game. Turbine knows they have a winner here, and they are willing to throw all the incentives they can at people to get more subs. Free trials don't always mean doom and gloom.. hell they offered a massive one during open beta before they even had any paid subs.
Excellent catch
!
I also 100% agree with the second paragraph you wrote. It is just plain marketing. What's better than many subscribers? Even more subscribers
DB
Denial makes one look a lot dumber than he/she actually is.
If people playing the free trial seem a little... anti-social, it might be because of the following condition of the free trial:
(3) Free Trial accounts have restrictions in place that prevent the use certain features and functionality, such as in-game mail, auction houses, trading with other players, and the sending of tells in the Game. Free Trial accounts also have posting limitations on the message boards. All of these limitations are removed once a Free Trial player upgrades to a standard account.
As for the topic of signs of trouble, I think it's just a big marketing push to get more people into the game. Turbine knows they have a winner here, and they are willing to throw all the incentives they can at people to get more subs. Free trials don't always mean doom and gloom.. hell they offered a massive one during open beta before they even had any paid subs.
Excellent catch
!
I also 100% agree with the second paragraph you wrote. It is just plain marketing. What's better than many subscribers? Even more subscribers
DB
Yep, I have to agree with Redline & Donnie here.
As far as I am concerned this is one of the most helpful, mature communities I have seen in MMO's . Another explanation as to why some might consider the game "anti-social" is due to the fact that many people are actually playing the game and are not on the OOC shouting out things like... "Anyone see the movie 300? That movie rulez!" or "Who would win in a fight, Gandalf vs. Santa Claus?" And other such ridiculous crap. (Although, I think that would be a good fight)
With regards to the Trial. This game is doing quite well, but more subs equal more $$$ for Turbine. What company wouldn't want that?
I know this is a hinderance to the average person trying the game out but they have to do something to limit the plauge known as gold farmers.
one thing this game does have is a good community. I never saw any sign on e-peen,elitism,overly lore obsessives or leet kiddies.No one chats in the starter areas though
They could keep a good sub base if they'd just put more content in the game,and im not talking about end game raiding. Lots more crafting options,armor types and fill in the classes skills for 35+. Hopefully theyll open up the traits system later on as it could offer an awful lot of character customization;as it stands at the moment,youre limited by the amount of slots you have(which is only around 5 per section).
The book 11 content update does sound very good though,2 new areas(or zones,not sure which) and player housing,with 3 different house types to buy.And thankfully its going to be neighbourhood based too. Orc shaman coming too apparently,though I hope they dont call it that...
Every big MMORPG out there has a free trial. You are eating your brain if you start to think about problems in Lotro just becouse they release a free trial. They will be in problems if they become free to play or if they started to give the client for free or something similar, but not becouse they released a free trial man.
If people playing the free trial seem a little... anti-social, it might be because of the following condition of the free trial:
(3) Free Trial accounts have restrictions in place that prevent the use certain features and functionality, such as in-game mail, auction houses, trading with other players, and the sending of tells in the Game. Free Trial accounts also have posting limitations on the message boards. All of these limitations are removed once a Free Trial player upgrades to a standard account.
As for the topic of signs of trouble, I think it's just a big marketing push to get more people into the game. Turbine knows they have a winner here, and they are willing to throw all the incentives they can at people to get more subs. Free trials don't always mean doom and gloom.. hell they offered a massive one during open beta before they even had any paid subs.
Hmm.. that smells of preventing RMT companies from (ab)using the trials to push their business in-game. They've done this in other MMOs (wasn't this a problem in WoW for a while due to the lack of limitations on trial accounts? Correct me if I'm wrong on that - it's been a while) and it looks like Turbine decided to put a stop to it before they could even start. Kudos to them for that.
As for it being in trouble because they have a trial? Nah... I don't think so at all. Trials are standard fare. WoW has a free trial, yet I don't think anyone would say that game is in any trouble.
As for populations, on Firefoot I've been seeing that "link" icon showing up a bit lately, indicating that the draw-distance is temporarily reduced due to higher network/server traffic in a given region. Seems to happen consistently around Bree. Looks like Bree is to LoTRO what Jeuno/Whitegate are to FFXI or Giran is to Lineage 2... It's like the "gathering place" where the most people seem to gravitate to... At least for now. That will probably change as they expand on the world size down the road. I'm thinking Minas Tirith might become another one once Gondor is introduced.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Eh! I have been waiting for a posibillity to Download this game for ages now!
I want to test the game, to see how it is, but I am too damn lazy to find my way to the game store to buy it, or to order it! Mainly because I am more then happy with EVE Online - which I will continue to play no matter how good LOTRO is btw - But now at least I can simply Download it and try it! Maybye I will find a 2nd online game to play between my eve-o sessions!
No, this is a good thing!
Trials are a good thing. I don't think LOTRO is in trouble. It took em no time to release it and that is fine with me. I'll be able to forge a second opinion on it (hated the beta).
eqnext.wikia.com
I don't often agree with Jackdog but I think he said it about right. Trials are tools for generating business, just because a game has a trial doesn't mean they are desperate like so many think. In fact, I would say if anything it means they are probably trying to get some attention before the big fall slate of games hits - this is just good business. The only thing I think you might fairly imply from a trial in this case is that the game is not off to a WoW-type growth path where it is just rolling along like gangbusters without the need for them to try to stimulate things - but even that is purely speculative and largely based on what I have read about the server counts. My thinking being that the only thing a trial says is that Turbine feels it is a good time to take action to stimulate interest which by extension says they think interest needs stimulation.
Given that LotRO is the third game released on the engine they developed (DDO and one other if I was informed correctly) and seeing as how LotRO re-used a number of assets from DDO I would suspect that Turbine will find a profit in LotRO, even without big time subscription numbers.
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Achiever 60.00%, Socializer 53.00%, Killer 47.00%, Explorer 40.00%
Intel Core i7 Quad, Intel X58 SLi, 6G Corsair XMS DDR3, Intel X-25 SSD, 3 WD Velociraptor SATA SuperTrak SAS EX8650 Array, OCZ 1250W PS, GTX 295, xFi, 32" 1080p LCD
I played the open beta for a week end and got bored quickly...
When they have a real pvp system then maybe ill try it again :P
Sign of trouble ... Yes
it's promotion, more than anything else, I'm always getting the awareness message (Which tells you that the server is loaded.)
Same here. I hope they start adding servers soon, because I'm getting the server-load warning even when out in the middle of no where on Elendilmir.
Previous played: SWG (pre-NGE), DAoC, CoH, Anarchy Online, DDO, Champions Online Beta, LOTRO, GW2, SWTOR
