"Free" Lord of the Rings Online Triples Revenue

[Tarlane]

Yeah, I installed LotRO again after it went free to play(had only done a trial on it before) and have been enjoying it quite a bit. I've got 3 characters all at just above 20th level, so I haven't played into the later areas of the game yet but I've spent a fair bit of time with it and its been good experience thus far.

There seem to be plenty of players around for when you want to group up and I've experienced pretty minimal griefing for an MMO. The system is quite reasonable and while it does have a bit of a WoW feel I think its more different than people give it credit for. Also, the story they have put behind it(expanding on events that you were only peripherally aware of in Tolkiens books) has been really nice. There is an ongoing story that draws everyone together, but each of the races have their own prologues that tie together but are distinct. You don't need to have played the low levels as a dwarf to appreciate the elves' story, but if you do it opens up a great deal of connections and so far it seems all the races connect that way.

I would recommend.

 

[WanderingFool]

Wow, good for them.

 

[Whimsi]

LotR is a much more immersive, deep game than WoW and I think people who otherwise wouldn't have given it a try are seeing that when they say "What the hell? It's free." I know that's what happened to me, and I subscribed for a couple months just to get some of the points to play with...which, as someone mentioned above, I never would have done if it hadn't been free.

Blizzard is making a killing, though, and people continue to play WoW to the exclusion of anything else. The problem is, if something is going to "dethrone" WoW, it's going to have to be subscription based, because no one is leaving WoW for a free game. They'll just play both. Not that I think it's more important to dethrone WoW, but I do believe that the MMO genre (or RPGs in general, sadly) will never move forward until WoW dies. Like they said in Extra Credits, everyone's just emulating the top dog. There's no innovation in the market, they just want to cash in on WoW's popularity...and as long as people aren't willing to give otherwise good games a chance (honestly, what MMO doesn't suck right out of the gate? No MMO can be expected to be better than a six year old one on launch day. WoW was pretty lame right out of the box six years ago), WoW will remain king and won't NEED to go free.

F2P is the only way for MMOs to go these days with WoW eating up the market...and honestly, it's starting to look like a pretty attractive model if LotR and DDO's stories are examined closely. I just don't think anyone should hold their breaths for WoW to go free while they are /able/ to make a killing with subscriptions. It's just that no one else can

(although look at how much money Blizzard made with those stupid celestial horse mounts. They made millions of dollars in a couple of days...a few more releases like that and they could easily surpass their subscription revenue...especially if they charged for raids and zones and such)

 

[Cowabungaa]

I've been looking for a good F2P MMO, since I got some time on my hands. I guess it's time to take the plunge into LOTRO.

It's less F2P than you think. After level 20 or so you're pretty much forced to buy additional content to keep on leveling, that is if you don't want a horrible grind.

Look at it more as a glorified tutorial. This article just reinforces the idea that it's a damn effective marketing technique, if a little dirty.

 

[Mumorpuger]

This is good news... I love LotRO.

If it haden't been for them I would have never found out about The Escapist during March Madness, and I'm now a proud card-carrying Pub Club member.

My 3rd MM is coming up?? Where does the time go?

 

[Nouw]

I forgot about Turbine since March Mayhem xD but good to see it working, LOTR deserves some love.

But! You know how all Free-To-Play games work >.>

This is good news... I love LotRO.

If it haden't been for them I would have never found out about The Escapist during March Madness, and I'm now a proud card-carrying Pub Club member.

My 3rd MM is coming up?? Where does the time go?

Awesome avatar good sir!

 

[Racthoh]

What about WoW, do you really see Blizzard making it free to play?

I believe I remember reading a while back that they would consider making it free to play by the time Titan rolls around.

 

[Senor Smoke21]

I get the feeling that if this trend continues, TOR will be the last purely subscription-based MMO.

What about WoW, do you really see Blizzard making it free to play?

WoW came before TOR and, eventually, yes I do...based solely on the belief that people dislike paying for something they can get for free.

If we get a properly good MMO that can drain WoW's fanbase.

Very if.

You're probably right, but that's only if something comes out that can drain the fanbase and I don't know how likely that is. Many have tried but they've all 'failed'. Maybe TOR will but I havn't been following that much so I don't know how likely that will be.
If anything does I hope it's Guild Wars 2, I'm super stoked for that game.

 

[Mumorpuger]

I forgot about Turbine since March Mayhem xD but good to see it working, LOTR deserves some love.

But! You know how all Free-To-Play games work >.>

This is good news... I love LotRO.

If it haden't been for them I would have never found out about The Escapist during March Madness, and I'm now a proud card-carrying Pub Club member.

My 3rd MM is coming up?? Where does the time go?

Awesome avatar good sir!

Thanks! I call it "March Madness, 2009."