/relevance off

... and Everybody knows ...

Turbine is a bunch of cat lovers, damn furries.

Them evil bastages wantin r $ for nothing, how dare they make bunnies cute!

/relevance back on, maybe

I have always been fascinated with the 'end gamers' and their copeous meldramatic 'you owe us More, Now!' crybabying.

If it is the End of the Game, and you are bored, move on to something else and let those who are yet to get there have the same fun you had, or more.  I personally find it a bad trend that consumers are Expected to clamour for additional content forever, did we not learn anything from Sims?  buhahaha

* this post was intended to be tongue in cheek, but somehow also truthiness prone. *

Originally posted by SuperXero89

Despite what the fanboys will tell you, RPG video games have nothing to do with roleplaying your character in a sense one pretends to be a part of the gameworld  but rather in the freedom of choice as to how to approach various situations and the ability to control your character's growth in terms of stats, armor, and appearance.  Many of the forerunners to the modern day MMORPG were fairly condusive to roleplaying as UO has some great RP capabilities and a somewhat strong RP following if you know where to look.  In its day, RPing was somewhat common in EQ, and even SWG gave the player plenty of options to feel as if he or she had a place in the game world.  These days, with MMORPGs becoming nothing more than an e-peen swinging, level increase dog and pony show that they are today, most MMOs simply aren't condusive to roleplay as there's simply very little in the way of making the player feel as if he or she belongs to the world outside perhaps player housing.

These days, roleplaying is best left up to indy MMORPGs, MUDs, and my personal favorite, persistant worlds from either of the NWN games.

 LOL

I paraphrase/interprelate/guess what you are droning about : "despite what the people who role play will tell you, I say it is all bunk."   nice.

you are the prime example of what Mark Twain was talking about, removing all doubt.

Originally posted by Ozmodan

"it's a sure fire hit destined to appeal to kids and adults. LEGO Universe seems to have it all!"

Right , the adults are going to dive into this game just like the kids.  Excuse me if I scoff at that notion.  Lego's are something that 8 year olds like, the teens tend to mostly out grow them, I don't see the adults doing much in this game unless playing along with the kids.

My personal experience is that kids would much rather play lego games on the Wii rather than bother with any PC games.  So I question the size of the market segment that will enjoy this game.

Might be a good game, but the consoles market to this segment far better than then the PC's do.  Not sure they are going to get much income as the kids at that age rarely have any funds to invest in a game.

 

 LOL, you know, off hand I can count over a dozen adults I know who still love to put things together with legos, they have been talking about this for a long time. I expect they will play. The people I know are pretty "run of the mill" lower middle class with disposable income.

Originally posted by Burnthebed

Originally posted by Deleted User

Originally posted by Burnthebed

Originally posted by negentropy

Originally posted by xx19kilosold

Originally posted by negentropy

Originally posted by Warmaker

Originally posted by Lateris

I think so. The LOTRO community is very dedicated. 

 There's some that were very dedicated to LOTRO, Lateris.  I was once very dedicated to the game, but not anymore ever since the big F2P announcement.  Sure I'm not alone, but whatever.  Done with it, uninstalled, moved onto another MMORPG.  But I like checking back in to see the drama unfold further with LOTRO.

Look up the definition of dedicated.

If all it takes is the addition of a F2P OPTION to the game to send you packing, you weren't that dedicated in the first place. Bye. We won't miss you.

You are EXACTLY the "sheep" with credit cards that Turbine is counting on.

There tends to be some people that are huge Tolkien fans that play Lotro that cant seem to be able to understand that you can love his work, but still despise Turbine.

I love how some of you still think that this is just another option of payment to play. This my friends is going to be a huge shift in design philosophy for Turbine. You really think that nothings going to change? Well its starting to show its ugly head in DDO, paid respecs even for VIP subscribers after they are making chnges to classes in the next update? It will be a very subtle change over time but the game will forever change to become centered around what the next "blue light" special thats up for sale at the LoTRO store. Some of you are naive. I dont mean to be rude, but its the truth. I just dont understand how you can not see the value of a subscription is going to be diminished greatly.  Things might be somehwhat similar at launch of f2p, but the first time they charge everyone for what would of been  a free contetn update under the old model,  regardless of VIP or lifer its going to be funny listening to the roar from the crowd. All the fluff that used to be included IN the game, will be for sale regardless of whether you are a subscriber or not.

 

Lotro was a great game that was run into the ground by Turbine. AC was the only game they can claim long term success with. AC2 failed, DDO f2p. Lotro(what could of been their cash cow if it where not run by monkeys) F2P.

 

"Sheep" come in many forms...you know, like people who blindly pay $15 a month to play a game...

 Uh, dude, I don't know if you realize it but you're posting on MMORPG.com....90% of these games come with a monthly fee.

If you don't like paying the fee then I think you may have the wrong genre/website.

And before you get on your high horse I do realize there are F2P games and all of that but the majority of these games are P2P model.

I don't mind the idea of Lotro going f2p, but I need to see how the cash shop works.

Uh, dude....research much?

There are 435 games on this site. 139 are subscription based and 316 F2P/Item Mall. The difference is 22, which are probably B2P and other business models that show in both lists. You would know this if you had taken the time to pull 2 custom lists off the site, paste them into a spreadsheet, and count.

Let's "fix" your number, shall we?

"Uh, dude, I don't know if you realize it but you're posting on MMORPG.com....31% of these games come with a monthly fee."

But then I guess its just easier for you to make up a number and try to pass it off as fact, huh?

 Did you seriously just tell me to pull the two custom lists, and then paste them into a spread sheet just to count out the difference?

I'm sorry, I lack the dedication necessary for that.

I didn't realize there were 130 asian grindfest F2P item mall games out there...since I'm not asian....or into grinding

 you got pwnd and you know, hence your defensive non-informative 'I like cake' post. LOL

I also want to point out that you say you don't know about (or in inference 'care about') these F2P games, hence it can be summized you have not played them, and therefore the logical conclusion is you do not know anything about the subject other than hearsay. Thanks for playing. Save your racial epitaphs for something else.

... and now back to the OP thread concept ....

If you poke around Turbine's schedule they have a production lineup for LotRO until 2017. That makes me happy. I can't wait for Rohan, but since they are following the books pretty close, I have to. LOL

(and a tidbit for naysayers, as for Mirkwood being small, it is. Plus they ARE working on something, recoding a server/client takes time.)

Originally posted by Philby

Originally posted by lliberty

Runescape, the owners are multi-millionaires, why?

 

player base numbers matter, even in a free to play game, because people spend money on it when you let them.

 

Runes of Magic, one of the highest populated F2P, and most professionally done in my estimate, makes millions a month.

 

Wizard101, 10 million subscribes, most of them spend money like water in a monsoon.

 

...the list does go on, but I won't. There is a Huge reason companies are going to the F2P model, it's called money.

There ya go, with Ruescape and ROM quality, what more can you ask for? 

 nice troll, mr. I quit.

see? I can do it too.

strawman arguement. you know LotRO has more quality than either. Somehow it doesn't seem like the quality will go backwards, so the arguement is moot at best.

ok, I should have used a different word, like accounts... but you see, even with 'just accounts' they are making money hand over fist and adding content.

Originally posted by Philby

I think most reasonable people would agree that  the Mirkwood xpac and the upcoming xpac are lacking both in land mass and content?  The question is, where is Turbine spending its resources?  Its pretty evident that they have been spending them on a F2P cash shop model of the game and not on playable content. People who have been subbing to the game are suffering a lack of content do to the creation of the F2P model and now one is to believe that this will help the game grow?  The only thing going to grow is the cash shop and a game model that will induce people to spend money on them.  What this will do to the community is another thing that people seem to refuse to believe.  I do not RP myself but Landroval has a fine community and where will the role players go when Bree is deluged with people who are there only because its free? The majority of people begging for beta keys would not and will not spend a dime on this game but yet cant wait to get into now.  The LOTRO fanboy in me says it may not be so bad but the realist in me knows better.

 Don't disagree that Mirkwood is small and not really worthy of being called an expansion, but then I know how small Mirkwood is and wasn't expecting it to be huge.  Then also we have the logic of a company changing it's model and having to re-write it's source code, so the next expansion won't be until 2011, but it IS on the time table. They are planning expansion and game continuation well into 2017. This is just a small bump in the road for long time players. (I've been here since beta)

Runescape, the owners are multi-millionaires, why?

player base numbers matter, even in a free to play game, because people spend money on it when you let them.

Runes of Magic, one of the highest populated F2P, and most professionally done in my estimate, makes millions a month.

Wizard101, 10 million subscribes, most of them spend money like water in a monsoon.

...the list does go on, but I won't. There is a Huge reason companies are going to the F2P model, it's called money.

Originally posted by Philby

Originally posted by Elronir

Originally posted by Gabby-air

I was thinking of coming back and starting a new character, but do you guys think i should just wait till they finish all these updates or it isn't that big of a deal? Also is this better layout and direction only for starter towns or will they be doing this to the entire game?

This is probably the best time for a come back, since you will start receiving Turbine points with your subscription. Also, I noticed (on Meneldor) a huge increase of newbie characters, probably because of the lack of high level contents.

Quite a few in my Kin are rolling classes they have been wanting to try and leveling them out of the noobie zones to get them far away from where the freebies will be playing come fall.  Working to get them to superior crafting areas and just away in general.  I play on Landroval and will be interested to see where the RP folks will go. I doubt they will enjoy Bree very much after the change.

 Personally I see this as a chance to get more people INTO RP who have never tried it, and possibly have a living Shire on a semi-permanent basis. LOL

I have 5 open buddy slots available to me. The first five who send me an email address will get one.

What this means to you at the moment is that once you subscribe for the current game, you will get your usual free month from the game, then I will use one of the credits I get to give you another free month.  This will carry you most of the way to F2P and qualify you as a Vet, if I read the chart right. hee hee

(Lifetime has it's advantages. By time it goes Live on F2P I will be down to $5/month paid for the last three and half years. yay.)

Originally posted by Philby

. .. and the vets that are leaving due to the change are "fear mongers" ..." knee jerk reactionists" and "doom and gloomers".  

Vets are leaving now? ... *looks around* ... where?

OP, spoken like a player who is not in a good kinship. I hear this online as well, but when we suggest they join a good one, they balk. I figure they just like to whine.

In ours we never have these issues, 24/7 we have someone to fellow with at 99% of the levels/stages of the game. And we are not a huge kinship. Plus on Landroval I have not had a problem with finding (or helping others with) pickups either.

Ok, not to sound all hyper sensitive but I resent all the talk of "there goes the community", like we can't handle a few rowdies? We are adults, mostly mature, we are NOT going anywhere, so why would the community change that much? Seriously, THINK.

As for 'Lore vs. non-Lore', more people should read all the books and notes. While there are a some lore breakers in the game, Turbine does it's best to follow Lore where it can, and some people argue about things that actually are mentioned. Meanwhile, some things are not MMO-able, and that has to be taken into account as well, since this is an MMO, thus breaking with Lore, out of a Reality vs. Fiction point of view.

*shrug* I like the game overall. Just as I like the extended version of the Movies for the movies, not for 'in keeping with the books'.

I role play in almost every game I play.

1) I make a personality for my character, including a flaw or two.

2) I try to play that person as true to the personality as I can. It's hard.

3) I do and say things they would even if no one is around. Because *I* don't exist, *they* do. lol

4) I do things that they would do, even if it is detrimental to my gameplay. This has lead to some very good and interesting role play sessions with others.

5) at the end of the day people always seem to like my characters and even non-rpers have been 'sucked in' to my world at times.

6) I have fun, but I am also told this behavior is ultra rare. I can live with that as long as I have fun.

I'm 45, my kids and I play, signed up for a year on each account when the special was offered. Got three of my friends who range from 28, to 36, to 40, play for a year too. The only complaint we might have is the lack of card play options. But then we are Magic geeks.   Kudo's for the fun game.

people who think this matters need to grow up and invest their time in the real world.

Of the million "initial accounts" I would guestimate that at least a quarter were farmers. I know I saw the same damn two dozen spammers from week three of beta until the end of month one of my account. The same DAMN toons. Plus all the bots that jumped in after the second week. 

You can buy a timecard OR account code from three major farm sites, CHEAPER than you can buy retail, they have plenty, AND they must have gotten a sweatheart deal on them so they can sell them cheaper than retail...  It's called business. They ALREADY spent the money on time and accounts, it will cost them nothing. They just have to make up the initial costs, if they have not already, and the rest is gravy... they won't shed a tear over a single banned account. Count on it.

16,000 is NOTHING. This is nothing more than PR. Good, bad, indifferent, it does not pay to invest any emotion in this.

Originally posted by ste2000

Originally posted by Heltern

Because we as players don't want it, got it now?! Screw SOE and the evil money grabbers running it. That is EXACTLY why 11 million+ play World of Warcraft and 10k play Vantard. If I feel like it in WoW, and that player who BOUGHT his turd character is pissing me off (usually by buying raid quality equipment so he can save DKP and STEAL the gear I want) I can /report his butt and Blizzard will BAN him! I am sick of people BUYING gear and characters and won't hesitate to report them, AND YES THEIR BUYING AND SELLING HAS AFFECTED ME IN GAME PERSONNALLY!

 

This is one of the many reasons why the Gold Selling Business shouldn't made legal by the company who developes the game.
I really cannot understand why MMO developers cannot understand why the majority of players hate RMT.
They should know better than anyone their own audiance.

Of course you will never be able to get rid of Gold Sellers or Buyers, but by making it integral part of the game, it defeat the reason of playing an RPG in the first place.
The point of an RPG is to build your character from rags to riches................if you are already rich and can buy whatever you want, where is the fun?

People who buy Gold from farmers should play Multiplayers games, where every character is already maxed and has already the best equipment, so only your skill will make the difference.................it will also save you lots of money.
Think about it.................

You obviously never play many asian market games..... 5 billion people can't be wrong... lol

Cash Shops are the way of the future of MMO... there is too much money in it for it not to be... The Japenese and American developers are just starting to see the Korean/Chinese game market strategies and how they have paid very very very well. Get used to it.

 They DO NOT make games for any purpose OTHER than to make $$$, they are a business.

Originally posted by Nikoz78
Censorship sucks. 

Definition:  "Censorship is the control of speech and other forms of human expression."

You, my troll, are very funny....  the fact they allow you to post shows that they don't censor.... the fact they make you post to a specific thread is not censorship.... it is no different than requiring a permit to assemle and protest in your local municipality.

RTM is only Detrimental (and an 'important' issue) to those of you who just "have to the the best" and feel llike you "have to earn that right".   The rest of us live in reality. We buy luxuries all the time, it's part of commerce and consumerism.

...and your arguements don't hold water when you make real world comparisons... I buy a BMW and it's unfair to you because you "worked your way up" to a Ford Explorer? I think not. ... though that is not really a "competion" example... how about, you are the Reds and I am the Yankees? That work for you?  .... you may not like it, but it is reality.

as for the post above mine.... yeah, right... I know of an entire Guild that paid for all their characters, they were reported and Nothing has been done in three years. It just doesn't pay to lose 100+ customers over one whiner. Economics rules out. And your 'not caring' about the 'evil corps' is soooo touching.... 'Mommy make him stop touching me there...'

heh, well what a lot of people fail to understand is the low poly and chunky animations are due to the engine limits, which is Unreal (the original).

That's also why you get so low fps in game with everything turned up at 1600+ res.  The game engine was just not made for that, period.  

If you can get past that, it's fun, complex, and exploration intensive. (not just the landscape, you have to dig to find out how to do some things because the game tips don't really cut it. But I like that too, as it makes you ask others for help, and builds the strong community there stronger. ... 'the ties that bind' and all that...)

For the people that drone on and on about "end game", what you really should be saying is, "I am a boring person and without something new to do that someone else creates, I grow too bored to play." Those of us who role play never seem to have that issue. We create our own "content". I know it sounds harsh, and is a generalization and not always true, but overall that is what I hear.

Cheddar, cheddar goes good with that....