G4 posted a new Lord of the Rings Online F2P commercial that's sure to leave a goofy grin on your face. In it, a crowd in a modern metropolis chants "Free Middle-earth!" outside of the LotRO offices. Inside, a cute hobbit receptionist holds down the fort until the elevator dings and the Big Guy comes out -- Gandalf, rocking a bit of the old (with his trademark hat and staff) and the new (in a swanky suit).
He steps out to the crowd and delivers the words they've been longing to hear: "YOU... SHALL NOT... PAY!" Cue one staff strike and the crowd goes wild.
Turbine's obviously showing a bit of its humorous side as it celebrates the new payment model. You can view the full video below and then head over to www.lotro.com to download the client.
If you shall not pay or if that is what their true motive is why are things like +10 to vitality stat books(395 tp=$6.53) and 30 day temperary mounts(595 tp=$9.85) for example being sold in their cash shop?Once upon a time in Middle Earth you got everything(VIP status) for .14 cents more than that temp horse.
All "F2P" games are structured pretty much that way; they are free to experience and dabble in but are going to cost you in order to play fully. Most people are savvy enough to recognize what the "free" means.
So, I say, by any reasonable definition, Gandy is telling the truth. ;)
Good old Deadalon. So predictable in your hatred for the game. You never did answer before when I asked why you bother to keep reading and posting about a game you so despise.
So you want a AAA MMO with regular free updates, etc. And you want to get it without paying a single dime. Sure, that's really going to happen.
Actually, it is possible to play LotRO all the way to the level cap without paying anything. It's not easy, but by creating and deleting alts it's possible to earn enough Turbine Points to purchase all the content and unlocks in the game. Will many people do that? Not likely. But it IS possible.
Why should Turbine make it easy to do that? They've provided an avenue, and that's all they needed to do. This new payment model provides options to people. If you want to subscribe, you get everything you always got and 500 points a month on top of that. If you don't want to subscribe you can pay small increments a la carte to unlock just what you want when you need it. If you want to play without ever paying anything you can do that too, but you'll have to work for it. How is this evil?
Sorry aurickle but you know as well as me that there wont be any regulare FREE updates in LOTRO. Every single patch from now on will have purchasable content - Some of it even closed to VIPs.
I know no such thing. Turbine has explicitly stated that they will continue with free updates and paid expansions just as they've always done. Except that they expect to now be able to release content with more regularity.
This is backed up by the fact that they did EXACTLY that with DDO. That game saw content start coming much more often, and a significant percentage of it has been free with no need to purchase unlocks.
In LotRO terms, it means that some new zones (like Enedwaithe) will be free to VIP's and unlockable by F2P/Premium players. Then things like Riders of Rohan (or whatever it's going to be called) will be a much bigger expansion that everyone will need to buy -- just like everyone needed to buy MoM and SoM.
Until such time as Turbine goes back on their word with that, all you're doing is spreading false rumors and actually hurting the game. Stop.
Actually, "most" FTP games are not structured that way, at all. Maybe the few new games that have decided to go this half-free route, but not the bulk of the market. The "true" FTP game offers a cash-shop, and that's pretty much it. And in those cash-shops are mostly items that help speed up an individual's progress, or fluff items like clothing. I know, I have played and written about 100's of them.
The oddest thing about this move is that, if I were to be reviewing a game in one of my columns and presented this style of pay option, I would receive many comments claiming that it is a "scam" and "nickel and diming" to death. I wonder why that is?
DDO is often presented as a perfect example of cash-shoppery. Yet it is often forgotten as one of the *prime* examples of "pay-to-win" in the entire market, FTP or otherwise. Granted, I do not care that it is, and enjoy the cash shop in DDO, but it's funny how little people lump DDO along with, say, Allods when talking about cash shops. Yet, Allods is the problem?
Still, good commercial and good product -- it's nice to see pay *options* start to become even more the norm. Now, if they add cell phone payments, I'll be very poor. :)
Anyone who majors or majored in economics knows for a fact that the game is free to try it up to a certain point if the consumer so chooses. Then that is where the money is made by Turbine and that is an economic fact. Don't be so quick to surrender your miranda rights for safety and security. You might land up in a death camp one day in Middle Earth. It is really a suckers play foe any game studio on the fan base to make them think it is free to play. It is a really smart sales tactic on the consumer who is extremely trendy and can easily be led by such propaganda to believe I am a golden god. When in truth I am not. I will just continue paying my subscription after I figure out the Windows 7 64 bit work around LOL!
Will this commercial see air time on main stream television and cable?
