Gratz to Turbine, generally excellent studio.

What is Lotro doing in the thread title? I thought we were voting for a Studio not one of their games.

 Who gives a crap about Turbine. Funcom got  2.8% votes. 

They didn't get my vote, but congrats to Turbine.

I have family and friends that play LotRO, but personally I couldn't get into it.  I was an elder beta tester and a founder.  Just something about it didn't catch my full attention.  I really tried to like the game numerous times, it just wasn't for me.

Originally posted by Gameloading

It's clear that you're struggling to find reasons to pick Lotro over WoW as they can be summed up in 3 aspects:

1: Graphics
2: Community
3: Storyline

1: Graphics is hardly an argument, WoW has been praised many times for it's artistic direction, and it depends on taste. Also, are graphics really that important in a game to you? I consider graphics a nice extra but it's gameplay and content that really matter

2: You really can't attack a developer for the community of a game. Also, it really depends on your personal experience and they differ. You can meet big assholes in Lotro and friendly people in WoW and vice versa.

3: True, storyline is an option, but if you want to give up a whole load of content for a storyline which impacts about 10% of your actual gameplay experience and is little more than cutscenes and text during quests, more power to you.

First of all what I meant by discovery is that both games feature exploring, thus designed the same way.

Also, what's your point about regions? WoW has received plenty of free updates, including its PVP system.

About classes, World of Warcraft launched with 9 classes and 8 races. Lotro launched with 7 classes and 4 races. Currently WoW has 10 classes and 10 races. Lotro has 9 classes and 4 races.

WoW currently requires WotLK for 1 class.

I'm not sure if Mines of Mornia is required for Warden and Rune Keeper? if yes, that requires an expansion for 2 classes.

 Lifetime membership? Oh, you mean that plan that was first announced as pre - order only to lure more people into pre-ordering?

oh sure, WoW doesn't have lifetime membership or free barber shops. Know what WoW does have? A full blown PVP system. Then again, Lotro has monster play....

And that pretty much sumps up WoW and Lotro. Lotro and WoW are the same game with the biggest gameplay differences being that WoW has much more content and a PVP system where as Lotro only has PVE.

LOTRO's Monster play is much better balanced and more fluid then WoW's PVP system has ever been in the 4 years I have played WoW. 

LOTRO's storyline is much more then a few cutscenese and text and it most definitely is more then 10% of your gametime.  Heck I haven't even finished all of the epic quests yet and I have been playing casually since launch.  

LOTRO's game mechanics are extremely different from World of Warcraft.  Anyone that says they are pretty much the same (and isn't lieing) either has never played the game or never played past the low levels.  Fellowship manuervers alone makes combat mechanics different combine that with tactical combat as opposed to WoW's button mashing combat and that is entirely different.  LOTRO has a much deeper crafting system then WoW does.  They have a lot more roleplaying tools (such as facial expressions, emotes, etc).  The game revolves around small group content as opposed to WoW which revolves around raid content. 

And you are entirely leaving out the Music system.  LOTRO's music system is extremely well done and provides a nice tool for the community. 

LOTRO is one of THE best "Sandbox" type games on the market currently.  (It isn't old SWG sandbox or UO sandbox but it is definitely a whole lot more sandbox then World of Warcraft is).  

In WoW you can kill stuff and that is pretty much about it.  You can't really exist in that world and succeed in any fashion unless you are doing group content.  Either 5mans, raids, Arena, or BGs all are group content.  In Lord of the Rings online success is measured differently.  Sure you will still see the "powerleveler" who looks for the fastest route to the level cap so he can clear the content but more often you will see the "Bard" sitting in the inn and playing music (who doesn't care what level he is). 

People like GL discount the game as a "WoW Clone" but in fact Turbine has created a World.  Where as Blizzard has created a game.

Originally posted by Dr.Rock

Gratz to Turbine, generally excellent studio.

What is Lotro doing in the thread title? I thought we were voting for a Studio not one of their games.

Exactly, why is an award for Turbine with three great games put in the LotrO section?

I liked LotrO very much, but it's hard to take my friends from "WoW, what a grind". Hopeless examples of carrot and stick, got fooled already - milions of flies can't wrong, eat wow and pay.

But still, I think the best of their games is DDO. Really shows how great and innovative this company is, and just wait, great things are in store for this game. Mod9 could be the biggest (or one of the biggest...) mods to date. I don't say it because of the number of quests and raids - we don't know it - but because of many changes which have been announced are still announced almost each day. On their forums, by Devs in normal discussions, in people's threads.

So congratz Turbine, and bring it on with DDO!

Originally posted by Cabe2323

Originally posted by Gameloading

It's clear that you're struggling to find reasons to pick Lotro over WoW as they can be summed up in 3 aspects:

1: Graphics
2: Community
3: Storyline

1: Graphics is hardly an argument, WoW has been praised many times for it's artistic direction, and it depends on taste. Also, are graphics really that important in a game to you? I consider graphics a nice extra but it's gameplay and content that really matter

2: You really can't attack a developer for the community of a game. Also, it really depends on your personal experience and they differ. You can meet big assholes in Lotro and friendly people in WoW and vice versa.

3: True, storyline is an option, but if you want to give up a whole load of content for a storyline which impacts about 10% of your actual gameplay experience and is little more than cutscenes and text during quests, more power to you.

First of all what I meant by discovery is that both games feature exploring, thus designed the same way.

Also, what's your point about regions? WoW has received plenty of free updates, including its PVP system.

About classes, World of Warcraft launched with 9 classes and 8 races. Lotro launched with 7 classes and 4 races. Currently WoW has 10 classes and 10 races. Lotro has 9 classes and 4 races.

WoW currently requires WotLK for 1 class.

I'm not sure if Mines of Mornia is required for Warden and Rune Keeper? if yes, that requires an expansion for 2 classes.

 Lifetime membership? Oh, you mean that plan that was first announced as pre - order only to lure more people into pre-ordering?

oh sure, WoW doesn't have lifetime membership or free barber shops. Know what WoW does have? A full blown PVP system. Then again, Lotro has monster play....

And that pretty much sumps up WoW and Lotro. Lotro and WoW are the same game with the biggest gameplay differences being that WoW has much more content and a PVP system where as Lotro only has PVE.

 

LOTRO's Monster play is much better balanced and more fluid then WoW's PVP system has ever been in the 4 years I have played WoW. 

LOTRO's storyline is much more then a few cutscenese and text and it most definitely is more then 10% of your gametime.  Heck I haven't even finished all of the epic quests yet and I have been playing casually since launch.  

LOTRO's game mechanics are extremely different from World of Warcraft.  Anyone that says they are pretty much the same (and isn't lieing) either has never played the game or never played past the low levels.  Fellowship manuervers alone makes combat mechanics different combine that with tactical combat as opposed to WoW's button mashing combat and that is entirely different.  LOTRO has a much deeper crafting system then WoW does.  They have a lot more roleplaying tools (such as facial expressions, emotes, etc).  The game revolves around small group content as opposed to WoW which revolves around raid content. 

And you are entirely leaving out the Music system.  LOTRO's music system is extremely well done and provides a nice tool for the community. 

LOTRO is one of THE best "Sandbox" type games on the market currently.  (It isn't old SWG sandbox or UO sandbox but it is definitely a whole lot more sandbox then World of Warcraft is).  

In WoW you can kill stuff and that is pretty much about it.  You can't really exist in that world and succeed in any fashion unless you are doing group content.  Either 5mans, raids, Arena, or BGs all are group content.  In Lord of the Rings online success is measured differently.  Sure you will still see the "powerleveler" who looks for the fastest route to the level cap so he can clear the content but more often you will see the "Bard" sitting in the inn and playing music (who doesn't care what level he is). 

People like GL discount the game as a "WoW Clone" but in fact Turbine has created a World.  Where as Blizzard has created a game.

Very well put and I agree with your every point. May I also add that LOTRO is NOT about PvP. They do PvE and they do it VERY well. Their PvP (PvMP: Player vs Monster Player) I would say is more for the casual player, and that suits me just fine. And I've also had very good dealing with the people behind the scenes, especially with having tickets answered.

Gratz Turbine! Well deserved. Now if only I can switch characters to different accounts so my wife and I can play with our main toons. :)

Congrats Turbine. Well deserved! Keep up the good work!

Originally posted by Thradar

 I can't believe people get pissed/defensive over crap like this.  No wonder mmo game communities are notorious for being annoying. 

Yeah but its so much fun sometimes to get people worked up. Sometimes you can just pick the right people out and say one or two words and just let them run. I mean come on. THEY'RE GAMES. Is it that big of a deal. Turbine won. Lets just say Congrats and go on to the next subject.

Congrats to Turbine! It's obvious that a bunch of folks find what they're doing to be enjoyable, so kudos to them for their win(s) in the Best of 2008 Reader's Choice Awards.

That being said, I still remain curious as to how the nominations were made. Missing from the voting list were a few fairly well known studios, including Sony. I realize Sony is more publisher than developer for the most part, but still, they're responsible for overall development strategy and certainly for Customer Service, and certainly are similar to the likes of NCSoft. In addition, they have at least 4 financially successful MMOG's in their camp. While my personal feelings for the companies that didn't make it (including Sony) are lukewarm at best, I found it odd they were left out of voting consideration, and it left me wondering about the criteria used to pick the "finalists".

Anyone have any insights on this? And I apologize if this was already covered in the 7 previous pages of posts. Sadly, I don't have enough free time to read everything I want to. :)

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by LordAdder

Originally posted by Gameloading

Can't say I really agree with it. Imho, Lotro has never really justified it's existance.  It's always been a WoW clone with very little improvements that doesn't really set itself apart. It's a "good, just not as good as..." game.

 

Good God. Here we go again... WoW clone.

The category isn't best MMO, it's best MMO Studio.  Turbine won because of their Devs' constant presense and availablity to the customers through the forums and even in-game, great customer service, smooth launches, and the constant free content updates.

 

I think it's only fair to judge a studio by the quality of the games they produce, no?
Turbine developers can spend as much time on the forums they like, that doesn't make a game good. In fact, I'd say it really doesn't matter if a developer visits the forum, or if Community managers pass on the issues players have with the game to the developers.

 

... except that you're not the one deciding the criteria for each category.

There is a separate category that deals with the quality of the product itself.

... which Turbine also won.

Go figure.

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by Papadam

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by Paragus1

Originally posted by Gameloading

Can't say I really agree with it. Imho, Lotro has never really justified it's existance.  It's always been a WoW clone with very little improvements that doesn't really set itself apart. It's a "good, just not as good as..." game.

 

While I share your opinion of the game itself, Turbine launched the game relatively smooth.  My main issue with Turbine as a company is how they ruined Asheron's Call with a horrid sequel.   They should give AC1 some love, maybe make it free to play, promote it more, or give it some sort of graphical overhaul.

 

While Lotro did indeed have a smooth launch, that was in 2007, not 2008.

They haven't done anything really special in 2008 besides releasing a good expansion pack which is,sorry to repeat myself, "good,just not as good as..."

Also, I can't really say that Dungeons & Dragons Online received anything truly noteworthy.

I agree with you on AC1. AC1 is just sort of sitting there. It doesn't really have a lot of subscribers, it would be nice if Turbine was a bit more creative with the game. Make it free, perhaps an item mall, advertise it a little bit on banners and the game might just be revived again.

 

Well thats your personal opinion that LotrO is "good,just not as good as..."

There is people who dont agree and think that LotrO offers something unique in the MMO market and Turbine are doing a great job with it. 46% of the voters thinks that Turbine is best of thoose companies so it seem Im not alone.

And grats Turbine :)

 

 

It's not just my personal opinion, it's the opinion of many professional critics as well who are, unlike many voters on this website, not biased.

-hands Gameloading a bowl of sugar-

... for those sour grapes.

It's always easy to tell when something has you truly annoyed. The more annoyed you are by it, the higher on your horse you get.. and start making statements like "It's a fact" or, as you did here, pointing at all those others who agree with you.

Of course, all of those who don't agree with you never seem to matter.

Turbine has apparently done well enough to win over the majority of people here - by a substantial margin. It's not like this was "neck in neck" or anything. Those are some pretty sound results.

Maybe you just need to accept the outcome, disagree with it, and move on... like all the rest who didn't vote for Turbine or LoTRO?

That would be the reasonable thing to do.

Or you can keep chewing on the sour grapes.

How is a voter biased? because they voted for something they liked?...oh..I get it...all the voters were paid by Turbine to vote for LotRO.  And in the process Turbine spent more money and time tracking down these "shills' then they could ever hope to make up in publicity/new subs. Makes sense...(not really)

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by Papadam

As I have said before Gameloading this is YOUR OPINION... There are alot of people in this thread who dont agree with you and some who do. You said that the critics agree with you but I havent seen any of them who says LotrO is just a WoW clone with no PvP and less content. If you dont see the differnces between the games then LotrO is not for you, just like some people cant see Aion as anything else than WoW with Korean graphics and wings. (see the Irony yet?)

The funny thing is that what I have read/heard about Wotlk is that they are making WoW more like LotrO: Adding achivements, More focus on the lore and story, Starting instnace for DK to tell story, making it more accesible and less grindy. So it seems that WoW is now the follower ;)

 

The "It's your opinion" argument isn't going to get you anywhere. A games design is not a matter of opinion, it is a fact. a game is quest driven or it's not. A game offers more content than the other or it does not.

I'm sure there are lots of people who think Aion is WoW with different graphics, and if you ask me the differences I will gladly explain to you how they are different (Not in this thread ofcourse, no reason to turn it into a thread about Aion). Meanwhile some people here have attempted to argue how Lotro is different. One mentioned a couple of features of which nearly all were present in WoW as well, while others argued things such as "Community", which is fine, but a community experience varies greatly depending on your own attitude, the people you run into and even which hours you play the game, and has very little to do with a games design, or its developers.

WoW does a few things different in Wrath of the Lich King, it now has more cinematics and phasing is introduced. thats about it. Ofcourse it added a lot of other things as well.

Ahh... I see you haven't kicked the habit of entering every discussion assuming you're right and any who disagree are misinformed or simply not as enlightened as you are.

Some things never change, huh?

The fact that it's your opinion is all that needs to be said.  That's all anyone has to express here.. opinions... including you, no matter how strongly you feel about it. Of course, your posting history demonstrates quite consistently your tendency to mistake or otherwise portray your own opinions as fact... only to backpedal as soon as someone calls you on it.

Regardless, your points here have no bearing on the actual topic.

Turbine won Best Studio from voters here. It's not based not on how LoTRO compares to WoW, but on  Turbine as a developer (regardless of what one might think of them), how they treat their subscribers and so forth.

You keep arguing "how LoTRO is a WoW clone", and seem to feel you're making a valid point. Problem is, you are putting up a strawman. The award and this thread are not about "game A versus game B versus game C", etc. It's about the studios behind the games - ie. Blizzard compared to Turbine, compared to CCP, etc.

Once again, you do not determine the criteria for the polls- that's the MMORPG.com staff's job. Nor do you get to change or ignore the criteria after the fact because you don't like the results.

By the way... Has the sugar helped the sour grapes any?

 Wow, quite the landslide...and you guys won best expansion?  Really?

Your stuff isn't that good, you must be paying your PR team and forum grunts a FORTUNE to keep voting for you.

Grats Turbine on a  job well done.

Those begrudging LOTRO it's moment in the sun calling it WOW lite are funny. Weren't these the same people denying WOW was EQ lite? (Which it still is)

Oh the Irony.....

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by Papadam

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by Paragus1

Originally posted by Gameloading

Can't say I really agree with it. Imho, Lotro has never really justified it's existance.  It's always been a WoW clone with very little improvements that doesn't really set itself apart. It's a "good, just not as good as..." game.

 

While I share your opinion of the game itself, Turbine launched the game relatively smooth.  My main issue with Turbine as a company is how they ruined Asheron's Call with a horrid sequel.   They should give AC1 some love, maybe make it free to play, promote it more, or give it some sort of graphical overhaul.

 

While Lotro did indeed have a smooth launch, that was in 2007, not 2008.

They haven't done anything really special in 2008 besides releasing a good expansion pack which is,sorry to repeat myself, "good,just not as good as..."

Also, I can't really say that Dungeons & Dragons Online received anything truly noteworthy.

I agree with you on AC1. AC1 is just sort of sitting there. It doesn't really have a lot of subscribers, it would be nice if Turbine was a bit more creative with the game. Make it free, perhaps an item mall, advertise it a little bit on banners and the game might just be revived again.

 

Well thats your personal opinion that LotrO is "good,just not as good as..."

There is people who dont agree and think that LotrO offers something unique in the MMO market and Turbine are doing a great job with it. 46% of the voters thinks that Turbine is best of thoose companies so it seem Im not alone.

And grats Turbine :)

 

 

It's not just my personal opinion, it's the opinion of many professional critics as well who are, unlike many voters on this website, not biased.

-hands Gameloading a bowl of sugar-

... for those sour grapes.

It's always easy to tell when something has you truly annoyed. The more annoyed you are by it, the higher on your horse you get.. and start making statements like "It's a fact" or, as you did here, pointing at all those others who agree with you.

Of course, all of those who don't agree with you never seem to matter.

Turbine has apparently done well enough to win over the majority of people here - by a substantial margin. It's not like this was "neck in neck" or anything. Those are some pretty sound results.

Maybe you just need to accept the outcome, disagree with it, and move on... like all the rest who didn't vote for Turbine or LoTRO?

That would be the reasonable thing to do.

Or you can keep chewing on the sour grapes.

 

 

 

 

Perhaps this hasn't really sunken in yet, in which case I'll explain it to you. If you look at the top end of the page, there is a link which you probably used to get here. It's called "forums", and Forums are usually used to discuss subjects, which is what I'm doing right now.

It really doesn't matter what the "results" are. The results of a user poll such as this one is a contest of which game has the most fanboys present. Do you honnestly believe that people vote for this from an unbiased perspective? Ofcourse not.I think it's obviously most people who play Lotro vote for MoM, people who play WoW vote for WotLK, and people who hate WoW simply because it's popular vote for the next best thing, which was probably Lotro as well.

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by Papadam

As I have said before Gameloading this is YOUR OPINION... There are alot of people in this thread who dont agree with you and some who do. You said that the critics agree with you but I havent seen any of them who says LotrO is just a WoW clone with no PvP and less content. If you dont see the differnces between the games then LotrO is not for you, just like some people cant see Aion as anything else than WoW with Korean graphics and wings. (see the Irony yet?)

The funny thing is that what I have read/heard about Wotlk is that they are making WoW more like LotrO: Adding achivements, More focus on the lore and story, Starting instnace for DK to tell story, making it more accesible and less grindy. So it seems that WoW is now the follower ;)

 

The "It's your opinion" argument isn't going to get you anywhere. A games design is not a matter of opinion, it is a fact. a game is quest driven or it's not. A game offers more content than the other or it does not.

I'm sure there are lots of people who think Aion is WoW with different graphics, and if you ask me the differences I will gladly explain to you how they are different (Not in this thread ofcourse, no reason to turn it into a thread about Aion). Meanwhile some people here have attempted to argue how Lotro is different. One mentioned a couple of features of which nearly all were present in WoW as well, while others argued things such as "Community", which is fine, but a community experience varies greatly depending on your own attitude, the people you run into and even which hours you play the game, and has very little to do with a games design, or its developers.

WoW does a few things different in Wrath of the Lich King, it now has more cinematics and phasing is introduced. thats about it. Ofcourse it added a lot of other things as well.

 

Ahh... I see you haven't kicked the habit of entering every discussion assuming you're right and any who disagree are misinformed or simply not as enlightened as you are.

Some things never change, huh?

The fact that it's your opinion is all that needs to be said.  That's all anyone has to express here.. opinions... including you, no matter how strongly you feel about it. Of course, your posting history demonstrates quite consistently your tendency to mistake or otherwise portray your own opinions as fact... only to backpedal as soon as someone calls you on it.

Regardless, your points here have no bearing on the actual topic.

Turbine won Best Studio from voters here. It's not based not on how LoTRO compares to WoW, but on  Turbine as a developer (regardless of what one might think of them), how they treat their subscribers and so forth.

You keep arguing "how LoTRO is a WoW clone", and seem to feel you're making a valid point. Problem is, you are putting up a strawman. The award and this thread are not about "game A versus game B versus game C", etc. It's about the studios behind the games - ie. Blizzard compared to Turbine, compared to CCP, etc.

Once again, you do not determine the criteria for the polls- that's the MMORPG.com staff's job. Nor do you get to change or ignore the criteria after the fact because you don't like the results.

By the way... Has the sugar helped the sour grapes any?

 

Some things are an undeniable fact. As I already explained, A game is quest driven or it is not, a game has more content than the other or it does not, a game is a racing game or it is not, a game is a FPS game or it is not. These are all undeniable facts and have absolutely nothing to do with opinion.
 

And I quote from the article one more time:

"It wasn't an easy decision. After all, by what criteria do you judge a game studio? On their product? On their Customer Service?"

As you can see MMORPG.com doesn't have a set definition either. I said multiple times that I think a company should be judged on the quality of its products.

Perhaps you should keep the sugar for yourself because you seem to be very worked up that i'm criticizing the mmorpg.com award results.

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by WSIMike

Originally posted by Gameloading

Originally posted by Papadam

As I have said before Gameloading this is YOUR OPINION... There are alot of people in this thread who dont agree with you and some who do. You said that the critics agree with you but I havent seen any of them who says LotrO is just a WoW clone with no PvP and less content. If you dont see the differnces between the games then LotrO is not for you, just like some people cant see Aion as anything else than WoW with Korean graphics and wings. (see the Irony yet?)

The funny thing is that what I have read/heard about Wotlk is that they are making WoW more like LotrO: Adding achivements, More focus on the lore and story, Starting instnace for DK to tell story, making it more accesible and less grindy. So it seems that WoW is now the follower ;)

 

The "It's your opinion" argument isn't going to get you anywhere. A games design is not a matter of opinion, it is a fact. a game is quest driven or it's not. A game offers more content than the other or it does not.

I'm sure there are lots of people who think Aion is WoW with different graphics, and if you ask me the differences I will gladly explain to you how they are different (Not in this thread ofcourse, no reason to turn it into a thread about Aion). Meanwhile some people here have attempted to argue how Lotro is different. One mentioned a couple of features of which nearly all were present in WoW as well, while others argued things such as "Community", which is fine, but a community experience varies greatly depending on your own attitude, the people you run into and even which hours you play the game, and has very little to do with a games design, or its developers.

WoW does a few things different in Wrath of the Lich King, it now has more cinematics and phasing is introduced. thats about it. Ofcourse it added a lot of other things as well.

 

Ahh... I see you haven't kicked the habit of entering every discussion assuming you're right and any who disagree are misinformed or simply not as enlightened as you are.

Some things never change, huh?

The fact that it's your opinion is all that needs to be said.  That's all anyone has to express here.. opinions... including you, no matter how strongly you feel about it. Of course, your posting history demonstrates quite consistently your tendency to mistake or otherwise portray your own opinions as fact... only to backpedal as soon as someone calls you on it.

Regardless, your points here have no bearing on the actual topic.

Turbine won Best Studio from voters here. It's not based not on how LoTRO compares to WoW, but on  Turbine as a developer (regardless of what one might think of them), how they treat their subscribers and so forth.

You keep arguing "how LoTRO is a WoW clone", and seem to feel you're making a valid point. Problem is, you are putting up a strawman. The award and this thread are not about "game A versus game B versus game C", etc. It's about the studios behind the games - ie. Blizzard compared to Turbine, compared to CCP, etc.

Once again, you do not determine the criteria for the polls- that's the MMORPG.com staff's job. Nor do you get to change or ignore the criteria after the fact because you don't like the results.

By the way... Has the sugar helped the sour grapes any?

 

Some things are an undeniable fact. As I already explained, A game is quest driven or it is not, a game has more content than the other or it does not, a game is a racing game or it is not, a game is a FPS game or it is not. These are all undeniable facts and have absolutely nothing to do with opinion.
 

And I quote from the article one more time:

"It wasn't an easy decision. After all, by what criteria do you judge a game studio? On their product? On their Customer Service?"

As you can see MMORPG.com doesn't have a set definition either. I said multiple times that I think a company should be judged on the quality of its products.

Perhaps you should keep the sugar for yourself because you seem to be very worked up that i'm criticizing the mmorpg.com award results.

Only one thing here...  A game can be more than one type.  It doesn't have to be either or.

they really deserve the call of best. well done

One Studio to rule them all!

Reasons to vote for them:

- decent and modest company neither yelling about its games nor attacking competition

- indy company

- running three good mmorpgs

- lifetime membership

- acquiring prestigious IPs and respecting them, adding a lot of their own innovative ideas in the process

- their gentle CEO Jeffrey autographed me an MoM poster in a game fair

- their regular developpers' bulletins explaining how they devise things

- their active forums with devs and responsible guys answering and chatting

- complete LOTRO game + expansion pack at a decent price on first day of the expansion

- not greedy like some other big fellows out there

Reasons no to vote for them:

- inconsistencies and unequal treatment of Turbine and Codemaster (Europe) subscribers (in-game goodies, websites, forums)

- feeble advertisement

- a pain in the ass to subscribe and an ugly unfriendly customer website (they improved it though)

- unfriendly patch and expansion processes (you simply can't figure out what's going on or what's to be done)

So all points considered : good company IMHO, voted for them.