LOTRO becomes free to play, profits double, playerbase expands 400%

[Vindekarr]

LOTRO was always the "be diferent!" hipster of MMOs.

 

It was for people who were just not interested in AOC, or WOW, or GW, of COX, it was for the wierd, the strange, the quirky, and for the most part, the mature and likeable.

 

And just recently, they made it free to play. A top quality MMO with no subscription fees. This was done to try and boost the dwindling playerbase, not to improve profets, yet somehow it did both.

 

Because Turbine yesterday released the first profit and usage figures since free to play began, and they're rather amazing:

 

The profits made have literaly doubled. And there are now four times as many people playing it-I played this game for four years, it's wonderful to see it back up to strength, but also crazy to see it double it's profits by making itself free to play!

[Gishank]

I dislike LOTR:Online due to the sheer fact that it doesn't have a good immersive atmosphere (certainly doesn't feel like LOTR and I've read the books and seen the films) and just seems like a generic MMO with the only attribute being LOTR (which it doesn't even do well).

[Harbringe]

The free to play format is problematic from a players standpoint ,many times the game looses its balance because the maker wants to make more and more money and it just becomes a never ending job to buy the latest and greatest thing ,but most players can't afford to play a game at that pace of expenditure and it ends up with a few haves and many have nots ,at which point it becomes pointless to play the game.Played Shaiya for a little over a year and many times Aeria games would set up some kind of in game event or recurring mob spawn (with valuable drops) and those with unlimited money would simply come in and take it all .Even to the point where in a PVP zone there was a recurring spawn and one of these guys camping it would not only kill the spawn but everyone else from the opposing side that would try to compete for the drop.It was just completely pointless to play.It more like free to pretend to play cause if you really want to play your gonna have to pay and in Shaiya there were guys spending 20 - 50 dollars a day to play that game.

 

Mind you a friend of mine who still has a Shaiya account says its getting to the point where so many people have come to realize this is the way it is that now they are having difficulty even getting a full raid going .So maybe its a wax then wane kinda format

[soldado651maia]

hi there please can you tell me if this game still lvl 20 capped or limited?

 

thanks

[Vindekarr]

Um....

 

It never was. LOTRO's level cap was initialy 50, it was 65 last I checked.

[Marthos]

I tried this on the 14 day free trial before it became free to play, but just couldn't get into it, the combat system bugged me the most. Does anyone know if there are any mmo's with a combat system like oblivion and also have first person view ?

 

I find WOW a bit too cartoonified for my tastes, shame really as that sort huge world is what I'm after.

[ufw7]

I tried this on the 14 day free trial before it became free to play, but just couldn't get into it, the combat system bugged me the most. Does anyone know if there are any mmo's with a combat system like oblivion and also have first person view ?

 

I find WOW a bit too cartoonified for my tastes, shame really as that sort huge world is what I'm after.

 

dungeons and dragon has a combat system like oblivion and warhammer has a first-person view but this games are not the best of the MMORPG's (probably that's why they're free to play)

[Marthos]

Thanks for that ufw7, I'll have a look at them.

 

 

Regards, M.

[WebCrafter]

Having returned to LOTRO because of free play I was disappointed by one thing, having to pay real money to spend in game money to travel between cities. Get real. That is the most cheap and unprofessional thing I have seen any micro payment game do.

 

I also noticed that only new level one characters receive the gift mails, my previous level 12 doesn't. Hence she is tasked with getting to 20 to buy a permanent mount.

 

 

All in all its good to see it crowded, however outside of character slots, classes, shared storage, and quest packs, the store can be flushed. Sell me stuff I want to use. Sell me BOA items like WOW has, then I might have something I want to buy. I guess I am happy I don't have to pay real money to repair.

 

All in all, ruined by the real money costs to use swift travel, at least give us old speed travel on those routes. Playing with a VIP lifetime friend in real life and suddenly we have to change all our plans because of that dirty move.