in my last blog entry, i talked about how Warner Brothers had purchased Turbine, Inc., which was at the time the largest privately-owned online gaming studio. i talked about how Turbine took a dying MMO based upon a great IP (that would be Dungeons & Dragons Online) and resurrected it into a cash machine, and how this is likely the reason that Warner Brothers was interested in Turbine (as well as the fact that video game sales growth is greatly increasing while music and movie media are drastically decreasing). Warner Brothers' recent announcement regarding the future of Turbine's other (and arguably much greater) IP, Lord of the Rings Online, further perpetuates this line of thinking.
you see, it has been announced that Lord of the Rings Online will soon follow a similar free-to-play payment model as DDO, meaning premium content will be available for purchase in the new LotRO store, but anyone with 2 working brain cells can download the LotRO client, jump onto your server, and otherwise affect your Middle Earth experience without having to pay a dime (unless you hang out in Moria or Mirkwood exclusively, as the free content only allows players to level to 50... and you thought the higher level areas had lag issues before?).
while this was a great strategy for DDO, which was seconds away from its death rattle as an active MMO anyway (read = had nothing to lose), LotRO is populated mostly by people who have been there since the beginning (known as Founders; i was one) and have carved a fairly comfortable niche for themselves. they've seen the quality of their gameplay drop significantly to appease greater numbers of potential customers (not players, mind you), and they've still stuck around because they've gone beyond what the game itself offers and created something special in spite of what Turbine has done to Middle Earth, which is make the lower- and mid-level PvE content flavorless and trite, thus inciting any decent player (read = not a self-drooling moron) to engage in a race to the level cap where the somewhat better content is to be found. fortunately for those players, Turbine also dumbed down the quest difficulty and raised the XP ratio significantly, so racing through Middle Earth without actually looking around or taking a moment to even read the f*#@ing story inherent in the quests themselves became easier, albeit mind-numbingly boring... but what has Tolkien ever had to do with actual reading anyway?
now these same people who have been loyal to the game even though the quality of Turbine's gameplay, story-writing, and customer service has decreased drastically since the inception of the game have the minor inconvenience (read = massive headache and humiliation) of trying to figure out exactly what their $15/month means in LotRO Store Points. sure, i spent months leveling my crafting skill so i could make black dye which has always been a popular item on the Auction House, but will it now be available at the store for a few bucks to someone who just started the game yesterday? what exactly is the current exchange rate for in-game gold to LotRO points? ::sigh:: i can't begin to wrap my head around it, and i don't even play it anymore! if LotRO was still something in which i was emotionally invested, i'd be sending my characters to jump off of The Endless Stair right about now.
on that note, i feel quite sad for those original RPers who have populated some of the LotRO servers and, in turn, forged them into icons of old-school greatness. Landroval, for instance, has become one of the most famous (and arguably, most awesome) RP servers in MMO history. here's some footage from last year's Weatherstock music event (think Middle Earth meets Battle of the Bands... as i said, awesome!). when i was part of the LotRO beta test just before retail release, i stumbled upon someone playing the lute (example) and thought, "this is the greatest thing i've ever seen in-game!" the last time i logged in, however, the server on which i was playing (not Landroval) had become a haven of unfriendly leet-speakers and glorified xp-racers. i've never looked back, even though i still receive those free weekend invites.
i understand the paradox here... you need customers to keep the game running, but in order to get new customers to replace those who have left, you make changes to the game which, in turn, causes current players to leave. ::shrug:: i don't know the answer, and i'm no business expert. as far as i know, Turbine hasn't even covered the costs of development and maintenance of LotRO (it's rumored that Blizzard spent $200+ million to develop WoW and has spent that much to maintain it since it's release in 2004). i only know from my own perspective, which is that of a former player who has long since moved on.
my best wishes to those who still strive to make Middle Earth great; i do not envy your upcoming trials.
Still round the corner there may wait
A new road or a secret gate,
And though we pass them by today,
Tomorrow we may come this way
And take the hidden paths that run
Towards the Moon or to the Sun.
