When they went the SSG way and with DBG many asked that maybe they could take over DBG's All-Access feature and link LotRO's and DDO's subscription, and they said it is not in the plans. Too bad, since not many players play both, so with a minimal loss they could get a lot of potential players for both game... maybe it was due to the numerous LotRO lifers, they didn't want to give them DDO as well.
I think that LotRO lifetime subscription deal has bitten SSG long enough. I really think they need to bite the bullet and come to a reasonable termination of that deal. It was a bad idea at the time, and has cost Turbine and now SSG much needed revenue that the one-time price simply didn't accommodate. I would suggest starting with the idea that the lifetime subscription be converted to an annual subscription with an extremely deep discount, say $60 a year (as opposed to $120 per year). That would generate some revenue at least.
LotRO and DDO both need paying customers. It may be time that SSG has to look outside the box that Turbine left them.
Were lifetime subs a mistake? I don't we can say.
DDO when it launched failed to sell - from memory I don't think they ever confirmed 100k sales. Regardless it may well have been a case of not a great deal of money in the coffers. And the money from the lifetime subs would - they hoped - allow them to create another game or expansion, and from that another game or xpac and so forth. All the time hoping along the way to get bigger. Without the lifetime subs they may have been forced to close or cut back or whatever.
Having been bought by WarnerBros and then set asail to float or sink as the case may be I don't think it actually matters anymore. The revenue has long been accounted for - when they were Turbine - and new projections made by WarnerBros in deciding what "capital" SSG needed to make a go of things.
I do, however, share your concern. Not for LotR but for Camelot Unchained's business model. It to plans to be a subscription game but it to is offering lifetime subs. And my concern is that those who are "keen and likely to stay with the game" are the ones most likely to stay with the game whereas others who pick up the game are more likely to sub for a month or two and then drop. Not that that has ever happened of course! CU - either now or at the time - have "needed the money though" and without it maybe development might have stopped or slowed. Like I said we probably just don't have the full picture.
Oberon as the base made it better mechanically in my option - because of Oberon we have Warforged and the myriad of awesome build possibilities they represent, as well as dragonmarks, etc.
The game currently has both Forgotten Realms and Ravenloft settings as well, so its not like you don't have tons of content outside of Oberon. FR is like 25% of the game, if not more.
Them adding other settings was so popular, the ultra-craptastic Neverwinter Online followed suite and copied them.
But as for why DDO is still number 1 in my book - no other mmo even comes close to character building possibilities. In this regard DDO is in a league of its own. Am I a huge fan of everything it has and does mechanics or systems wise? No, not at all. But the chardev is so good it makes the rest of it acceptable.
I play on (I think) Kyber server. I'm not good at remembering server names so I could be way off. Kyber pops into my head though. I know my server is very populated. Too much for my taste.
Indeed the character building was why I enjoyed the game too, there was no homogenization of classes, some builds were good some sucked etc etc ad nauseam... sadly they kind of have nerfed this with all these BS balance passes though it still far better than the steaming pile called Neverwinter Online.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
Upon logging into the server. I logged into a once thriving and bustling tavern. Upon entry I noticed it was still thriving. Except, only with NPC's. I was in shock! As this was a popular tavern 6 years ago. Now it is a empty tavern. No players other than me.
You know the Houses (House Deneith, House Kundurak, House Cannith)? You'll find entire houses with only a few people in them (like 1 or 2, including yourself). Incidentally, what tavern were you in? The Wayword Lobster?
According to what I've heard, a lot of people left after MotU and Shadowfell were released. Oh, and Reaper mode.
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DDO when it launched failed to sell - from memory I don't think they ever confirmed 100k sales. Regardless it may well have been a case of not a great deal of money in the coffers. And the money from the lifetime subs would - they hoped - allow them to create another game or expansion, and from that another game or xpac and so forth. All the time hoping along the way to get bigger. Without the lifetime subs they may have been forced to close or cut back or whatever.
Having been bought by WarnerBros and then set asail to float or sink as the case may be I don't think it actually matters anymore. The revenue has long been accounted for - when they were Turbine - and new projections made by WarnerBros in deciding what "capital" SSG needed to make a go of things.
I do, however, share your concern. Not for LotR but for Camelot Unchained's business model. It to plans to be a subscription game but it to is offering lifetime subs. And my concern is that those who are "keen and likely to stay with the game" are the ones most likely to stay with the game whereas others who pick up the game are more likely to sub for a month or two and then drop. Not that that has ever happened of course! CU - either now or at the time - have "needed the money though" and without it maybe development might have stopped or slowed. Like I said we probably just don't have the full picture.
Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.
You know the Houses (House Deneith, House Kundurak, House Cannith)? You'll find entire houses with only a few people in them (like 1 or 2, including yourself). Incidentally, what tavern were you in? The Wayword Lobster?
According to what I've heard, a lot of people left after MotU and Shadowfell were released. Oh, and Reaper mode.