I would hate to think WB would buy the rights to this game and pull a SOE and let it die on the vine as was/is the case with Vanguard. I am going to state my OPINIONS here, from what I tend to see so far.
This game is a pretty unique MMO because of how community has developed and thrived. I dont see Warner Bros attempting to change that. There needs to be housing improvements and more hobbies and plenty of "fluff" they are batting 1 out of 3 on that.
The last two or three additional regions seem not to flow as the base game did. From Lothlorien on its feels like a big rush for xp, reputation, and item xp and little else. I dont know if the Developers kind of lost the way or just what. The regions themselves are well made though.
All the charts I can find show LOTRO having at least 3 to 4 times the player base it had before f2p. that means more moola coming in and I sense renewed development. I think it got stale during 2010 as a rule.
What I personally am concerned about is the trend to rush to the level cap in both the player mindset and the Devs. What we are going to have soon are scenarios like this; You head south of the Shire and enter South Downs and you will be going from level 16 play to level 70 plus play. The game might fill lonely areas with multi level questing in the older regions. As one poster stated, there is no desire to expand sideways by either the player base or Turbine/WB. Everyone wants to get to Moria so they can get that legendary weapon. this will eventually leave the very BEST questing behind as is contained in the original SOA. I am in the minority it seems , but time was wasted in revamping the starter areas THREE times. Quest hubs and certain questing should have been made easier, but I think they overdid it by a good margin.
That said, surely we wont head to Mordor and solo Sauron! We have gotten about half way through Middle Earth and the game seems to have a fresh sense of vigor with all the changes. I hope emphasis goes back to quality story line in each new region, and content keeps both hard and easier gameplay.
I think Isengard will be the big measuring stick as to whether the new management is pushing the game in the right direction or just making a cheap cash grab.
I have NOT, at all been impressed with anything since the F2P move. On the other hand, F2P hasn't been around for all that long and probably the development efforts to make it happen tied up alot of resources that could have been used for other stuff.
Endewaith is a very decent zone and I liked how they made it......but frankly it had been long overdue in coming....and there wasn't enough content added with it to sustain regular players for more then a few weeks.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a quality game (IMO)...but as a long term player, I find myself sticking my head in once a month to see if anything truely interesting enough has been added to capture my attention enough to play on a regular schedule again....finding that it hasn't and waiting for next month.
My hope is that they aren't adding all that much because Isengard will be a truely massive and exciting expansion, and they are pushing most of thier resources toward that. If that isn't the case and Isengard is a mini-expansion with not alot added to the game.... then it'll tell me that thier primary focus is just milking the cash shop and nothing more.
I've been playing for three years and I have to agree with you here. F2P started okay but since Update 2 it seems thinks are tanking very, very fast. Turbine has become a little to overzealous in pushing (or more properly said "ramming it down the throats of players") the store and it is showing in design.
First, they increased the grind by 10x on the new instances, a level which had players giving up on doing the content before they even started - not a wise design move. Then it was followed with the now famous 'Grindaversary' fiasco to which they stated it was "working as intended" and just publicly handled the whole situation very poorly.
Now, notes are coming with Update 3 and, while they are addressing the over-the-top ludicrous grind introduced in Update 2, it is still only to the level of ludicrous. Players are giving them feedback and trying to save Turbine from themselves but it is apparent it is falling on very deaf ears at the moment. Good feedback, which doesn't violate Rules of Content is now ending up in Closed Threads or being deleted altogether (remind anyone of another once high flying game?).
While low level content is busy, the server populations have increased by about four. However, if they are expericing the typical closure on freemium models, usually about one in ten players spends any cash. The end game, however, has almost become a ghost town. Turbine has taken the grind to whole new levels to the point where the game isn't even remotely fun at high levels. I myself have witnessed five kins, which were once staunch supporters of LOTRO, completely abandon the game and move on. While I still have contact with some through private guild sites, they have given up.
Personally, I believe if Turbine doesn't wake up very soon, they won't have enough players come Isenguard. They consistently are mis-stepping at this point to try and get players to use the store and their in-your-face non-stop advertising and UI additions to get players to the store is actually having the opposite effect on most players.
Turbine is a much different company now, and I really don't think it has anything to do with WB. This started shortly after Moria and it has gone consistently downhill since. If they don't correct course, I don't see LOTRO having a strong future. It will survive, but it will drop from being a popular game IMHO.
I think Isengard will be the big measuring stick as to whether the new management is pushing the game in the right direction or just making a cheap cash grab.
I have NOT, at all been impressed with anything since the F2P move. On the other hand, F2P hasn't been around for all that long and probably the development efforts to make it happen tied up alot of resources that could have been used for other stuff.
Endewaith is a very decent zone and I liked how they made it......but frankly it had been long overdue in coming....and there wasn't enough content added with it to sustain regular players for more then a few weeks.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a quality game (IMO)...but as a long term player, I find myself sticking my head in once a month to see if anything truely interesting enough has been added to capture my attention enough to play on a regular schedule again....finding that it hasn't and waiting for next month.
My hope is that they aren't adding all that much because Isengard will be a truely massive and exciting expansion, and they are pushing most of thier resources toward that. If that isn't the case and Isengard is a mini-expansion with not alot added to the game.... then it'll tell me that thier primary focus is just milking the cash shop and nothing more.
. The end game, however, has almost become a ghost town. Turbine has taken the grind to whole new levels to the point where the game isn't even remotely fun at high levels. I myself have witnessed five kins, which were once staunch supporters of LOTRO, completely abandon the game and move on. While I still have contact with some through private guild sites, they have given up.
Not sure which server are you in, but Endgaming is anything but a ghostown on Arkenstone. Sure, they are kin disbanding or merging, but it always happened. And I profoundly disagree, the game is fun at high levels. Of course, the game is less Raid-oriented than other games, therefore tthose who play 24/7 and are into hardcore Raiding won't play a lot. But new update will bring 2 new Skirms and 2 new 3 Man ( not revamped ones), so plenty to do, waiting for Isengard.
Comments
I would hate to think WB would buy the rights to this game and pull a SOE and let it die on the vine as was/is the case with Vanguard. I am going to state my OPINIONS here, from what I tend to see so far.
This game is a pretty unique MMO because of how community has developed and thrived. I dont see Warner Bros attempting to change that. There needs to be housing improvements and more hobbies and plenty of "fluff" they are batting 1 out of 3 on that.
The last two or three additional regions seem not to flow as the base game did. From Lothlorien on its feels like a big rush for xp, reputation, and item xp and little else. I dont know if the Developers kind of lost the way or just what. The regions themselves are well made though.
All the charts I can find show LOTRO having at least 3 to 4 times the player base it had before f2p. that means more moola coming in and I sense renewed development. I think it got stale during 2010 as a rule.
What I personally am concerned about is the trend to rush to the level cap in both the player mindset and the Devs. What we are going to have soon are scenarios like this; You head south of the Shire and enter South Downs and you will be going from level 16 play to level 70 plus play. The game might fill lonely areas with multi level questing in the older regions. As one poster stated, there is no desire to expand sideways by either the player base or Turbine/WB. Everyone wants to get to Moria so they can get that legendary weapon. this will eventually leave the very BEST questing behind as is contained in the original SOA. I am in the minority it seems , but time was wasted in revamping the starter areas THREE times. Quest hubs and certain questing should have been made easier, but I think they overdid it by a good margin.
That said, surely we wont head to Mordor and solo Sauron! We have gotten about half way through Middle Earth and the game seems to have a fresh sense of vigor with all the changes. I hope emphasis goes back to quality story line in each new region, and content keeps both hard and easier gameplay.
I've been playing for three years and I have to agree with you here. F2P started okay but since Update 2 it seems thinks are tanking very, very fast. Turbine has become a little to overzealous in pushing (or more properly said "ramming it down the throats of players") the store and it is showing in design.
First, they increased the grind by 10x on the new instances, a level which had players giving up on doing the content before they even started - not a wise design move. Then it was followed with the now famous 'Grindaversary' fiasco to which they stated it was "working as intended" and just publicly handled the whole situation very poorly.
Now, notes are coming with Update 3 and, while they are addressing the over-the-top ludicrous grind introduced in Update 2, it is still only to the level of ludicrous. Players are giving them feedback and trying to save Turbine from themselves but it is apparent it is falling on very deaf ears at the moment. Good feedback, which doesn't violate Rules of Content is now ending up in Closed Threads or being deleted altogether (remind anyone of another once high flying game?).
While low level content is busy, the server populations have increased by about four. However, if they are expericing the typical closure on freemium models, usually about one in ten players spends any cash. The end game, however, has almost become a ghost town. Turbine has taken the grind to whole new levels to the point where the game isn't even remotely fun at high levels. I myself have witnessed five kins, which were once staunch supporters of LOTRO, completely abandon the game and move on. While I still have contact with some through private guild sites, they have given up.
Personally, I believe if Turbine doesn't wake up very soon, they won't have enough players come Isenguard. They consistently are mis-stepping at this point to try and get players to use the store and their in-your-face non-stop advertising and UI additions to get players to the store is actually having the opposite effect on most players.
Turbine is a much different company now, and I really don't think it has anything to do with WB. This started shortly after Moria and it has gone consistently downhill since. If they don't correct course, I don't see LOTRO having a strong future. It will survive, but it will drop from being a popular game IMHO.
Not sure which server are you in, but Endgaming is anything but a ghostown on Arkenstone. Sure, they are kin disbanding or merging, but it always happened. And I profoundly disagree, the game is fun at high levels. Of course, the game is less Raid-oriented than other games, therefore tthose who play 24/7 and are into hardcore Raiding won't play a lot. But new update will bring 2 new Skirms and 2 new 3 Man ( not revamped ones), so plenty to do, waiting for Isengard.