Making money because it's free...

Image via WikipediaLord of the Rings Online Executive Producer announced that they have doubled their revenue since changing over to "Free to Play", the technical term is "hybrid micro transactions-based business model".

Turbine has done very well with both products, Dungeons and Dragons Online and now LotRO. This is the perfect answer to all of those that wish to play several games at their own pace and not having to commit to a monthly payment. It seems to be more palatable to spend $3.00 for game content in a 60 day period or even some cool cosmetic piece of gear that all the cool Dwarfs are wearing these days.
Yes, we will spend money because that is our nature.

Now don't misunderstand, LotRO can be played without spending a dime. As you complete certain quests or Deeds your rewards are Turbine points(in game currency) and this can be used too purchase content as you level your character. In all of the MMO's I have experienced over the years there is one thing I have noticed, I have never completed all of the in game content that was available.

Keeping up with the crew, friends, family, my game junkie wife (now that was a match made over a board and dice game) we would out level the area, get bored with the scenery and want to see something new. The result was always the same, unfinished content. LotRO for free means devouring every morsel of content that the developers have provided. Your bouncy little Hobbit or brutish dwarf will have to drain each game play area dry.

A new revelation for me but known to everyone else. The content is supposed to be experienced. Every little story, event and breathless moment is to be enjoyed. Thats why they spent the time in writing it. This has created a new focus for me and my little Hobbit lady who follows me everywhere. Free or not, lets stop and smell the roses and feast on everything the games have to offer.

With the success that Turbine has had with D&D Online and LotRO I hope that other companies will follow suit. I can think of several games I would still be in if there was a "hybrid micro transactions-based business model". For now we will just enjoy our time in LotRO besides, my wifes Hobbit is so hot.

Related articles

• Lord of the Rings Online Free-to-Play Jump Doubles Revenue (1up.com)
• GDCO 2010: LotRO's revenues double as Turbine lays out a promising future (massively.com)
• Lord of the Rings Online doubles revenue since going free-to-play (joystiq.com)
• Free-to-Play LOTRO Doubles Revenues (escapistmagazine.com)

Shipwrecked into another MMO.....Final

My first introduction to “instancing” in a game was Everquest, Lost Dungeons of Norrath. The LDoN quests were unique, challenging and a nice addition to the, then present content. Instancing has become an expected feature in may games these days including DDO. Clicking on the entrance to one of these instanced areas, a window will pop up that allows you to set the difficulty level. There is also an explanation for each setting to give you an idea just what you are getting yourself into. Casual, Normal, Hard, Elite and Epic, I chose normal because it's not casual and it makes me feel like I'm not taking the easiest route. I'm not casual, I'm normal.

My normal cleric finds out there is an abnormal sound coming from the Heyton Family Crypt. Get out the recipe for Spooky and see what is needed. The ingredients were here but it lacked the flavor I was hoping for. I understand that this is still “noob adventuring” at this level, and school was still in session as the tutorials continued with new content, but it still seemed bland.

Sarcophagus smashing skill is maxed, no there is no such skill but if there was I would have been maxed out. The Crypt, appropriately so, is lined with Sarcophagi along the walls, one right after another. I suppose in order to find out where the strange sound was coming from one would indeed smash them. Process of elimination, two steps “Wack”, two steps “Wack”. Sometimes you would yield coin and other times a ticked off dead family member. There was enough Sarcophagi to Sarcopha-gag-me.

One appealing aspect that was introduced in this dungeon was the puzzle. I personally like the puzzle as long as it's done well. This puzzle was not difficult, it was...normal. Certain artifacts found in the Crypt, not in any of the 275 Sarcophacrap along the walls, but found in rooms is what allowed you to advance. Finding a way to get past the magic doorway, which was locating the items to place in the Sockets, added that little bit of mystery. This is much better than just entering the room for your final encounter.




The puzzle and the ambiance of the final room was the best parts of the this dungeon. I guess after I had to destroy crates and boxes for money when I first entered the game, I should have expected that all my coin drops would be similar.

Pillaging the Crypt made sense by busting up the Sarcophagi but I think a few would suffice. This was the part that seemed to outplay or overwhelm the reason for the adventure. It sadly dwarfed the cool puzzle and became very mundane. Speaking of Dwarf, my Cleric will be off to other adventures when time permits and hopefully as we progress, so will the puzzles and I am sure plenty of random stuff to break, smash and crush. 

Trivial as it may sound, the ability to keymap movement is critical to me. A player should not be limited to how they can move their avatar. Having the left mouse button preset and unchangeable is unnecessary.  The Free to Play option doesn't make me feel obligated or committed and makes it worth the space on my hard drive. 

Shipwrecked into another MMO.....part 2

Where I ended my last post, my Cleric made it into Korthos and of course a Tavern would've been the appropriate first stop, at least that’s what my Cleric was thinking, really..he told me. Entering into Korthos, and I mean just as soon as you zone in, it's Randall.

Good 'ole Randall standing cross-legged and waiting for all of those newly shipwrecked adventurers to guide them on their way. This is usually where I get in trouble for not following the path that is given. I am sure that Randall had some important and very informative things to tell me, but being the overzealous noob that I am I just clicked through the dialog so I could explore the village.

Korthos was familiar. The usual starting area I have seen in other games, Merchants, Trainers, quests to continue the story line and a mob of other noobs just like me. I was running around checking out all of the buildings and characters to interact with when I noticed something amusing. Every player running around, was swinging their weapon like it was a battle for their soul. It got to the point I kept turning around to see who was fighting. I ran to a merchant and a player was there hacking at the air just before he left. I came up on a trainer and another player was swinging at the wind.

When I first entered the game and began to get the feel of the controls, it was awkward. I am not used to the W-A-S-D to move my avatar. I'm not sure when the change took place because my early days of gaming, the WASD keys were the key, so to speak. These days I use or configure both mouse buttons to move forward and control the camera, it's much easier for me to navigate. Unfortunately with DDO, a player can't map the mouse buttons this way. I was able to use the scroll wheel to help create my perfect mode of movement, which brings me to my point.

So far, everyplace or person I have approached, I was swinging my mace. I run up to an NPC and turn to look at a quest, “Swiff Swiff”. I run up a ramp and adjust my camera angle “Swiff Swiff”. I wanted to make sure to get this corrected before I entered an open zone. It's embarrassing to be milling about doing your odds and ends in town, and the whole time you're swinging your weapon like someone swatting flies. It's like that Jumper syndrome that some have. You know the ones, they jump all the time, jump, jump, jump. You are at a merchant selling your wares and the whole time some Pally is jumping non-stop, It's just annoying. But if everyone is jumping....? With everyone running around me swinging their weapons wildly in the air I felt right at home, I guess there's a lot of people not used to the WASD keys.

Even with all of the running, “whooshing” and “swiffing” going on, we all paused in silence when we saw it.

Yes there it is....a Tavern. 

“Onward Lads we can do some “whooshing” in here.”

Shipwrecked into another MMO - Part 1

You wake up on a beach in ragged clothes and no belongings. The beach is littered with whats left of the ship and it's cargo, and some spry individual calls you by name. You are either in the never ending re-run of Gilligan’s Island or started a new MMO.

The spry individual is Jeets Shimis and the game is Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited. When DDO was launched I spent the first few weeks looking around but nothing held my attention enough to yield adequate game play. I remember that there were some interesting factors in DDO and since it's now a free to play model I thought I would “adventure” back in.

We all know Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I try to be fair when it comes to graphics as much as possible. It's the graphics, the “eye candy”, the detail that is somewhat important to me and why not. The gaming industry, art and development, has advanced to far not to delivery highly detailed worlds and characters. 

Looking around after entering I was not disappointed. The area was crisp and detailed from the water to the trees right down to the falling snow. Snow? On a tropical island? I bet that Dragon that is flying over has something to do with it, after all it was the reason I am shipwrecked.

The opening dialogue that moves the new player into the game, scenario or story line was rather intrusive. Jeets Shimis a rogue who stands a few feet away, relentlessly calls to you. Due to the fact that I wanted to look around first before jumping right in, poor Jeets just got on my nerves. It's almost like the developers were afraid that Jeets wouldn’t get anyone’s attention, every 3 seconds Jeets was speaking to me. I am sure it wasn’t every 3 seconds but it was annoying. 

After talking to Jeets we begin riding the MMO rail. This is where you get led around to certain points and people in the game so you can perform your daring deeds of do. This is needed of course to establish the new player with the game mechanics. Tutorial/introduction on how to talk, walk, run and if you are brand new to a game like this, its your best friend.

After breaking a few boxes for coin and getting my new weapon from Motormouth Jeets he sends you to find Cellimas Villuhne, this of course is you first real adventure type quest that further teaches you the game mechanics. There really wasn’t anything new in DDO's starting area compared to others. The only improvement, as a whole, has been making these starting areas more informative.

My little Tutorial quest introduced me to swimming, pulling levers to open doors and “Search” for searching traps. I will have to admit that this added animation when searching for a trap in a room is cool. It gives everyone that “pause” as if you were actually looking for something out of place, instead of a random behind the scenes number check that amounts to a click on an icon.

Another noticeable thing for me was the armor reward. We had bested our foes in battle, thwarted the evil Sahuagin High Priestess, and Jeets walked us to our reward. “Oh Look...a Chest.” the universal iconic graphic for reward, the proverbial pirates chest. Okay the chest wasn’t the cool thing here it was the armor. I always give a nod of acceptance to any game that can give me a variance in apparel and not only that, it isn’t painted on so 2 nods.

Got my game on, looking good like a Cleric should and our next stop is Korthos Village. Hope thay have a Tavern, getting a little thirsty.