I like the idea of games starting out P2P going to F2P because I would probably never want to first start leveling in a game that already has expansions to raise the level cap. The world would be empty for me and I would be paying the same money as others in order to only get ready to experience the content that they would have been doing for a long time.
I hope that all games that lose subs after a while start to do this because its a great way to get new people. I won't understand how a game like Runescape or any of the Asian grinders will be able to survive if real games keep on doing this method.
So, I just bought the game a few months ago, but cancelled before my free month was up - does that mean that if I rejoin the game, my account will be gutted? I'll lose my warden character, unless I pay for it? I'll lose my wardrobe tab? Access to skirmishes? Etc? Or because I bought the game, I'd get to keep basics like that?
I'm not sure how long they keep toons if you drop gameplay, you should check faq's on lotro.com or something...
I don't think this is going to work out like DDO. THey are gutting core game play elements (traits, etc) and making you pay for them. With DDO you get all the core mechanics and the option to buy some advanced classes and more content. With LotRO they are limiting the core mechanics and letting you buy them back. Content areas are huge so I'm having a hard time seeing how they plan on profiting by selling content. I guess that might be skirmishes.
I cancelled my sub last month so I'll be curious what is still available to use on the account and what I'll lose. I bought Moria, Mirkwood, and the AdPack so I'll be interested to see what is left over after that.
er, what?
link on that please! I don't see anytihng where it states they are gutting core game play elements and making players pay for them!
The only thing that might be construed as such is the limit on character slots. However, if one pays per month you get free points and can purchse additional character slots with those.
Anyone knows how much VIP costs? I hope it's a lot less than $9/month considering how you'll be getting less than before, because that's what I was paying when I was active.
So, I just bought the game a few months ago, but cancelled before my free month was up - does that mean that if I rejoin the game, my account will be gutted? I'll lose my warden character, unless I pay for it? I'll lose my wardrobe tab? Access to skirmishes? Etc? Or because I bought the game, I'd get to keep basics like that?
that's a good question on the warden. If you retain your sub then "no" you won't lose your warden nor do you have to pay for it.
If you go free to play I don't know.
As far as the wardrobe thing, that is not "the cosmetics" tab.
That is a new system where you can store cosmeic items without having to take up bank space or inventory space so it's something completley different.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Originally posted by LordAdderThis move to F2P will be the final ruination because the mature community will be inundated with all of those undesirables that you see in every other F2P game out there as well as a much younger, immature player base.
I don't think this will happen, at least not to the degree you think it will. DDO's community is still a very good, friendly, and helpful community even though it has a lot of free players.
I think it all has to do with the maturity level of the game itself as well as a pre-existing mature community. DDO is a very complicated, graphically detailed game that requires a lot of research to play successfully. I don't think any immature players have the patience to stick around long in this style of game. LotRO is a similar mature game (though certainly not as complicated as DDO). It has the same "realistic" graphics style, mature story, and an already pre-existing mature player base. While immature players will probably stick around longer in LotRO, due to it's ease-of-play, I think they'll gradually get bored and leave.
Most other F2P games that have immature communities have reasons why they're like they are. Cartoon graphics, over-exaggerrated gear, un-fair PvP practices (high level player killers ganking low level players, graveyard camping, etc.) which LotRO does not have and thus a large attractor of the immature is gone.
If Outback Steakhouse suddenly offered free meals you would NOT see a large rush of the McDonalds kids zerging Outback's simply because, even though it's free, Outback's does not appeal to most McDonalds eaters.
So, while I DO think the community quality will drop a bit, I don't see it being as large a drop as many fear, and it certainly won't drop much in the >lvl 50 areas (MoM, Mirkwood, etc.) where you still have to pay to play. this does probably mean though that the Landroval Bree-town RP'ers will probably want to find a new Beyond-Moria location to do their RP'ing.
I don't think this is going to work out like DDO. THey are gutting core game play elements (traits, etc) and making you pay for them. With DDO you get all the core mechanics and the option to buy some advanced classes and more content. With LotRO they are limiting the core mechanics and letting you buy them back. Content areas are huge so I'm having a hard time seeing how they plan on profiting by selling content. I guess that might be skirmishes.
I cancelled my sub last month so I'll be curious what is still available to use on the account and what I'll lose. I bought Moria, Mirkwood, and the AdPack so I'll be interested to see what is left over after that.
er, what?
link on that please! I don't see anytihng where it states they are gutting core game play elements and making players pay for them!
The only thing that might be construed as such is the limit on character slots. However, if one pays per month you get free points and can purchse additional character slots with those.
Anyone knows how much VIP costs? I hope it's a lot less than $9/month considering how you'll be getting less than before, because that's what I was paying when I was active.
Then that's not "gutting it and selling it back to you".
If players retain their sub then essentially nothing changes and nothing is being sold back to you.
And for a monthly fee, LOTRO's VIP program offers the best value and the most options for players who like the convenience of having unlimited access to all of LOTRO's game content and features. If you are already a subscriber, just maintain your active subscription to be automatically upgraded to VIP!
* Purchasers of the Mines of Moria™ expansion get access to the Mines of Moria region and content, premium classes (Rune-Keeper and Warden), legendary items feature, Tier 6 crafting feature, 2 extra character slots and a level cap of 60. Purchasers of the Siege of Mirkwood™ expansion get access to the Siege of Mirkwood region and content, a level cap of 65 and the Siege of Mirkwood skirmishes.
** Purchasers of the LOTRO Adventurer's Pack get 2 extra character slots and 20 slots of shared bank storage across all characters on the same servers.
I would say that my only concern is similiar to many in that there will be an influx of people who still need to learn how to act in public.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Meh, I started playing LotRO casually about a month ago. It's not really my kind of game, but I enjoy it because of the community. It's the only MMO I've played in years where global chat is actually civil and friendly. WIth this move, I fear the current community will drown in the waves of people it will attract as one of the best "free" games on the market. Good for Turbine's bottom line, I'm sure, but not likely to be an experience I'll be willing to pay for. After all, my main reason for playing LotRO is getting away from the kind of people the more popular MMOs on the market attract. A bit elitist and snobbish, I'm sure, but I'm not paying for anything I don't enjoy, and I'm not willing to spend time on something I don't find worth paying for.
Anyway, I don't feel that strongly about LotRO. I'll probably keep playing it until they change the subscription model, and then cancel and uninstall it if I'm right and the change in subscription model has a negative impact on my experience. I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't start playing it earlier so I could get more quality time out of it, but I'm sure the change in subscription model will be a good enough move financially for Turbine to not care about grumpy old farts like me who leave out of principle.
I guess DDO has been doing even better than I thought, because I was under the assumption that LOTRO still had a decent population. Crazy time for the genre.
The game is doing well it has over 300 sub and has been growing since it was released just like Eve. However, through ddo they saw what a f2p model done right can achieve. They wouldn't have done this if they didn't think they would make more money.
So, I just bought the game a few months ago, but cancelled before my free month was up - does that mean that if I rejoin the game, my account will be gutted? I'll lose my warden character, unless I pay for it? I'll lose my wardrobe tab? Access to skirmishes? Etc? Or because I bought the game, I'd get to keep basics like that?
If you bought MoM, you'll be a 'premium player' and you'll still have your Rune Keeper/Warden and can level to 60. If you bought SoM you can level to 65. I believe you'll only have access to 4 skirmishes unless you had purchased SoM.
Really this is a good thing for you, you can go play your warden now for free.
I guess DDO has been doing even better than I thought, because I was under the assumption that LOTRO still had a decent population. Crazy time for the genre.
The game is doing well it has over 300 sub and has been growing since it was released just like Eve. However, through ddo they saw what a f2p model done right can achieve. They wouldn't have done this if they didn't think they would make more money.
They probably just saved this game by offering free play. It was dying a slow death
No, it wasn't.
It absolutly wasn't. It was widely believed that the game was doing quite well, and most of my guildies have been noticing a very healthy population. Very few people that actually PLAYED the game with any regularity thought the game was dying. Of course, with this horrid decision to kill the game, it will die. What a waste.
So, let me get this right, you object to having the option to play for free? Or do you object to having more people come into the game, because you feel it will ruin the community?
Ah, the sweet fallacious refrain of people who support the Pay to Win model. The game was doing very well. Instead of spending development time on adding more content, they wasted almost a year on gutting the basic gameplay mechanics (we now know why the last expac was so small and the updates have been coming much slower than usual over the last year) and making an item mall where, like every other Pay to Win mmo, the more you spend the better you are. I reject that model and refuse to support it. Period. Nothing you can say will change my mind.
You are compleatly confused. Did you read ANYTHING about the the changes?
Buying more charater slots is some how "Pay to win".
---------- "Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
This is only going to hurt Lotro's community and it certainly doesn't convince me to go back to the game. DDO is built around casual gameplay so F2P fits it well. Lotro's quests are entirely to hard to solo at higher levels and require groups constantly. F2P models don't lend to grouping communities, only casual solo players. So effectively, the community in Lotro is going to be made worse than it already is, despite how much money Turbine thinks they will make off of it.
GD, thank god I left when I did years back! lol I have zero interest in free MMOs, I'd rather play a good single player personally. I didn't see it coming but now that I think about it its a good move for Turbine, their games should be free to play. Thank god I made a move when I did! Woo!! It feels soo good lol
This looks like little more than a glorified trial to me. The fully free to play approach just doesn't offer enough content for a fulfilling experience.
I note that the only areas that have quests packs by default are the three racial starter areas. I'm guessing that means that these are the only areas which will actually have quests, barring the storyline Book quests. Without the random quests, there will be no means but randomly killing things for hours on end for you to actually level up and get ready for the 'free' Book content.
Sounds like it would be an incredibly dull experience for the poor schmucks that are lured into the game by the promise of actual 'Free' to play. I'm expecting you'd get a pretty full experience up to about level 20, which is about a day's play before you'd suddenly find that there's no content left anywhere that you wouldn't have to pay for.
It might work for the hardcore roleplayers that don't mind roaming around and making up their own stories as they go, but I don't think they're playing LoTRO. So, if you like the game, and you want to actually experience the content therein I suspect you're best off just subscribing like before.
Well boys, you're looking at the new best free to play mmorpg.....if only Warhammer did this..
And AOC and DAOC and SWG and just about any other MMO with declining subs and no good way to attract new players. Surprised more companies haven't gone along with this model.
Probably the wave of the future - unfortunately.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
Yeah, I definitely see a lot of "enhancements" to legendary items being sold in the store. Things to get your LI to uber badass-ery. Almost makes you wonder if they had F2P in mind when they developed the LI system.
DDO and LOTRO free to play, but Asheron's Call 1 still has a subscription fee? Something doesn't make sense here.
Haha yeah. I bet it's on its way at some point... or they've given up on AC in a sense, thinking it's gonna keep who it keeps and no one else will be interested at this point.
Asheron's Call would be a harder item mall game since the loot was so varied and it's not a static gear based game (minus trophies and quest rewards).
I don't really see how they'd make it F2P as easily as the other two, though I'd much rather see them give it more attention over DDO or LoTRO.
LOTRO is a great game, and I find this update quite nice. I am European player, and last time I played (about 6 months ago) the servers (European) were in good health, all of them. This new update can bring the 101trolls ingame, but it wont really kill the "mood" of the game, as it still is one of the greatest MMO's around, in my humble opinion.
Wow! That is nice news! I wanted to get back to LOTRO but I though it's population is quite low. That move will bing lots of new players. I don;t mind paying. This model works for DDO & I think it's decision for LOTRO .
If I had seen this announcement a month ago, I would have been aghast. But having rejoined DDO to try out the f2p model, I'm a convert to this pricing system. I purchase the content I want, and am not forced to subsidize other forms of content I don't want.
Here's what I hope to see in the shop:
Skills that I currently can only get through group quests.
Larger expanses of land opening up, even if it has less quests.
Better quests and dungeons for solo players
more hobbies
better housing system
_____________________________ Currently Playing: LOTRO; DDO Played: AC2, AO, Auto Assault, CoX, DAoC, DDO, Earth&Beyond, EQ1, EQ2, EVE, Fallen Earth, Jumpgate, Roma Victor, Second Life, SWG, V:SoH, WoW, World War II Online.
Games I'm watching: Infinity: The Quest for Earth, Force of Arms.
It will be good for people who are struggling financially during the downturn to find a game without worrying about a sub and they don't have to buy from a cash shop every month, but I bet the Tolkien estate might not be pleased that Turbine and co are whoring out grandaddys ideas so cheaply. J.R.R. would be turning in his grave if he knew. Probably.
Personally, I feel sorry for the poor sods who paid out for a lifetime sub. C'est la vie.
I fear it's only for the US servers once again. CM still didn't make DDO F2P there, so LotRo won't go F2P for Europe as well.
Luckily I did sell my LotR EU lifetime sub account recently. Now when I want to play LotR I'll join the US servers
"Launching this fall across North America and Europe, with Codemasters operating the game free-to-play in Europe, LOTRO will introduce Turbine’s innovative new pricing model that allows players to download the game and play for free, purchase expansions, quest packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new LOTRO Store, or join the VIP program to get unlimited access to all of the game’s content for one low price. Players interested in getting a sneak peek of the new LOTRO can sign up for a chance to participate in the Beta program which begins June 16, 2010 at http://www.lotro.com."
Same thing was said about CodeMaster's DDO hosting and it's still P2P...
[EDIT]
Oh wow... CM will make LotR also F2P. They already announced it on the EU website. Damn, I think the guy that bought my account is real sad now :P
Why would he be? He gets access to everything in the game without a monthly fee, as well as 500 points every month to spend on optional things in the store on the side.
It pays to read before jumping to conclusions.
I saw that already, but the price he payed for the account doesn't make up for the extra's... Also, my old account came with a lot of extra's (pre-order and promotional gifts) of which I guess most of them will appear in the item-store as well as 9 character slots per server...
He'll most likely end up with a lot of points he won't use in the end...
F2P only, if you really get into it and don't want to sub, you will likely spend much more money in the long run than having a lifetime sub, or at least somewhere close. F2P always works this way. Just most people aren't willing to put out all the money at once for a lifetime sub.
Things will constantly be added to the store such as every item mall in every F2P. Those points will be useful in some way at some point.
Unless of course you're saying you're a complete shyster and made him pay quite a bit more than it was actually worth. In that case, he was already dumb to do it.
Not sure how it works now, but it used to be that if you were in the Codemasters area, you had to "bootleg" a Turbine DVD copy of the game to have it "work" so you could use the Americas/Oceanic servers.
As a Lifetime Founder myself, I've certainly recouped my $199 (almost two times over now since LotRO's release) compared to what the plebian masses pay -- the $14.99/Mo (recently reduced to $9.99/Mo), my free expansions, etc. However, I did have to pay (allbeit at half-price) for the last retail expansion. I assume even Lifetime Founders will continue to have to pay a token amount for future retail expansions such as the Fall 2010 retail expansion when it's ready for release. That said, we Lifetime Founders are and will remain ahead of the pack.
Oh, and this caught me COMPLETELY off guard! Now...WHERE'S THE ROHAN EXPANSION!!!!
Disappointing news, but probably inevitable. Even WOW is looking at it. I'm a lifer so it doesn't matter much-all sorts of new people playing 'Shadows of Angmar' doesn't affect me at all. So this is the Fall Upgrade and not Rohan? That is really disappointing-it's been awhile since a major upgrade .
Comments
I like the idea of games starting out P2P going to F2P because I would probably never want to first start leveling in a game that already has expansions to raise the level cap. The world would be empty for me and I would be paying the same money as others in order to only get ready to experience the content that they would have been doing for a long time.
I hope that all games that lose subs after a while start to do this because its a great way to get new people. I won't understand how a game like Runescape or any of the Asian grinders will be able to survive if real games keep on doing this method.
I'm not sure how long they keep toons if you drop gameplay, you should check faq's on lotro.com or something...
Check the chart.
Hints - Inventory, gold limit, traits, skirmishes, crafting, crafting guilds, wardrobe, monster play, destiny points, customer service, customer support.
Anyone knows how much VIP costs? I hope it's a lot less than $9/month considering how you'll be getting less than before, because that's what I was paying when I was active.
that's a good question on the warden. If you retain your sub then "no" you won't lose your warden nor do you have to pay for it.
If you go free to play I don't know.
As far as the wardrobe thing, that is not "the cosmetics" tab.
That is a new system where you can store cosmeic items without having to take up bank space or inventory space so it's something completley different.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I don't think this will happen, at least not to the degree you think it will. DDO's community is still a very good, friendly, and helpful community even though it has a lot of free players.
I think it all has to do with the maturity level of the game itself as well as a pre-existing mature community. DDO is a very complicated, graphically detailed game that requires a lot of research to play successfully. I don't think any immature players have the patience to stick around long in this style of game. LotRO is a similar mature game (though certainly not as complicated as DDO). It has the same "realistic" graphics style, mature story, and an already pre-existing mature player base. While immature players will probably stick around longer in LotRO, due to it's ease-of-play, I think they'll gradually get bored and leave.
Most other F2P games that have immature communities have reasons why they're like they are. Cartoon graphics, over-exaggerrated gear, un-fair PvP practices (high level player killers ganking low level players, graveyard camping, etc.) which LotRO does not have and thus a large attractor of the immature is gone.
If Outback Steakhouse suddenly offered free meals you would NOT see a large rush of the McDonalds kids zerging Outback's simply because, even though it's free, Outback's does not appeal to most McDonalds eaters.
So, while I DO think the community quality will drop a bit, I don't see it being as large a drop as many fear, and it certainly won't drop much in the >lvl 50 areas (MoM, Mirkwood, etc.) where you still have to pay to play. this does probably mean though that the Landroval Bree-town RP'ers will probably want to find a new Beyond-Moria location to do their RP'ing.
Then that's not "gutting it and selling it back to you".
If players retain their sub then essentially nothing changes and nothing is being sold back to you.
And for a monthly fee, LOTRO's VIP program offers the best value and the most options for players who like the convenience of having unlimited access to all of LOTRO's game content and features. If you are already a subscriber, just maintain your active subscription to be automatically upgraded to VIP!
* Purchasers of the Mines of Moria™ expansion get access to the Mines of Moria region and content, premium classes (Rune-Keeper and Warden), legendary items feature, Tier 6 crafting feature, 2 extra character slots and a level cap of 60. Purchasers of the Siege of Mirkwood™ expansion get access to the Siege of Mirkwood region and content, a level cap of 65 and the Siege of Mirkwood skirmishes.
** Purchasers of the LOTRO Adventurer's Pack get 2 extra character slots and 20 slots of shared bank storage across all characters on the same servers.
I would say that my only concern is similiar to many in that there will be an influx of people who still need to learn how to act in public.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Meh, I started playing LotRO casually about a month ago. It's not really my kind of game, but I enjoy it because of the community. It's the only MMO I've played in years where global chat is actually civil and friendly. WIth this move, I fear the current community will drown in the waves of people it will attract as one of the best "free" games on the market. Good for Turbine's bottom line, I'm sure, but not likely to be an experience I'll be willing to pay for. After all, my main reason for playing LotRO is getting away from the kind of people the more popular MMOs on the market attract. A bit elitist and snobbish, I'm sure, but I'm not paying for anything I don't enjoy, and I'm not willing to spend time on something I don't find worth paying for.
Anyway, I don't feel that strongly about LotRO. I'll probably keep playing it until they change the subscription model, and then cancel and uninstall it if I'm right and the change in subscription model has a negative impact on my experience. I'm a bit annoyed that I didn't start playing it earlier so I could get more quality time out of it, but I'm sure the change in subscription model will be a good enough move financially for Turbine to not care about grumpy old farts like me who leave out of principle.
The game is doing well it has over 300 sub and has been growing since it was released just like Eve. However, through ddo they saw what a f2p model done right can achieve. They wouldn't have done this if they didn't think they would make more money.
If you bought MoM, you'll be a 'premium player' and you'll still have your Rune Keeper/Warden and can level to 60. If you bought SoM you can level to 65. I believe you'll only have access to 4 skirmishes unless you had purchased SoM.
Really this is a good thing for you, you can go play your warden now for free.
I hope the 300 subs is a typo right?...lol
You are compleatly confused. Did you read ANYTHING about the the changes?
Buying more charater slots is some how "Pay to win".
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
This is only going to hurt Lotro's community and it certainly doesn't convince me to go back to the game. DDO is built around casual gameplay so F2P fits it well. Lotro's quests are entirely to hard to solo at higher levels and require groups constantly. F2P models don't lend to grouping communities, only casual solo players. So effectively, the community in Lotro is going to be made worse than it already is, despite how much money Turbine thinks they will make off of it.
Probebly realised games do much better F2P then P2P so thay gone with this idea,plus also becouse a game goes F2P dousent mean there having problems.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/3845509852.png
GD, thank god I left when I did years back! lol I have zero interest in free MMOs, I'd rather play a good single player personally. I didn't see it coming but now that I think about it its a good move for Turbine, their games should be free to play. Thank god I made a move when I did! Woo!! It feels soo good lol
"I play Tera for the gameplay"
This looks like little more than a glorified trial to me. The fully free to play approach just doesn't offer enough content for a fulfilling experience.
I note that the only areas that have quests packs by default are the three racial starter areas. I'm guessing that means that these are the only areas which will actually have quests, barring the storyline Book quests. Without the random quests, there will be no means but randomly killing things for hours on end for you to actually level up and get ready for the 'free' Book content.
Sounds like it would be an incredibly dull experience for the poor schmucks that are lured into the game by the promise of actual 'Free' to play. I'm expecting you'd get a pretty full experience up to about level 20, which is about a day's play before you'd suddenly find that there's no content left anywhere that you wouldn't have to pay for.
It might work for the hardcore roleplayers that don't mind roaming around and making up their own stories as they go, but I don't think they're playing LoTRO. So, if you like the game, and you want to actually experience the content therein I suspect you're best off just subscribing like before.
Probably the wave of the future - unfortunately.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
Yeah, I definitely see a lot of "enhancements" to legendary items being sold in the store. Things to get your LI to uber badass-ery. Almost makes you wonder if they had F2P in mind when they developed the LI system.
Asheron's Call would be a harder item mall game since the loot was so varied and it's not a static gear based game (minus trophies and quest rewards).
I don't really see how they'd make it F2P as easily as the other two, though I'd much rather see them give it more attention over DDO or LoTRO.
Great news, in my opinion!
LOTRO is a great game, and I find this update quite nice. I am European player, and last time I played (about 6 months ago) the servers (European) were in good health, all of them. This new update can bring the 101trolls ingame, but it wont really kill the "mood" of the game, as it still is one of the greatest MMO's around, in my humble opinion.
Wow! That is nice news! I wanted to get back to LOTRO but I though it's population is quite low. That move will bing lots of new players. I don;t mind paying. This model works for DDO & I think it's decision for LOTRO
.
If I had seen this announcement a month ago, I would have been aghast. But having rejoined DDO to try out the f2p model, I'm a convert to this pricing system. I purchase the content I want, and am not forced to subsidize other forms of content I don't want.
Here's what I hope to see in the shop:
Skills that I currently can only get through group quests.
Larger expanses of land opening up, even if it has less quests.
Better quests and dungeons for solo players
more hobbies
better housing system
_____________________________
Currently Playing: LOTRO; DDO
Played: AC2, AO, Auto Assault, CoX, DAoC, DDO, Earth&Beyond, EQ1, EQ2, EVE, Fallen Earth, Jumpgate, Roma Victor, Second Life, SWG, V:SoH, WoW, World War II Online.
Games I'm watching: Infinity: The Quest for Earth, Force of Arms.
Find the Truth: http://www.factcheck.org/
Will definitely give this a try now!
It will be good for people who are struggling financially during the downturn to find a game without worrying about a sub and they don't have to buy from a cash shop every month, but I bet the Tolkien estate might not be pleased that Turbine and co are whoring out grandaddys ideas so cheaply. J.R.R. would be turning in his grave if he knew. Probably.
Personally, I feel sorry for the poor sods who paid out for a lifetime sub. C'est la vie.
Not sure how it works now, but it used to be that if you were in the Codemasters area, you had to "bootleg" a Turbine DVD copy of the game to have it "work" so you could use the Americas/Oceanic servers.
As a Lifetime Founder myself, I've certainly recouped my $199 (almost two times over now since LotRO's release) compared to what the plebian masses pay -- the $14.99/Mo (recently reduced to $9.99/Mo), my free expansions, etc. However, I did have to pay (allbeit at half-price) for the last retail expansion. I assume even Lifetime Founders will continue to have to pay a token amount for future retail expansions such as the Fall 2010 retail expansion when it's ready for release. That said, we Lifetime Founders are and will remain ahead of the pack.
Disappointing news, but probably inevitable. Even WOW is looking at it. I'm a lifer so it doesn't matter much-all sorts of new people playing 'Shadows of Angmar' doesn't affect me at all. So this is the Fall Upgrade and not Rohan? That is really disappointing-it's been awhile since a major upgrade .