I agree that the lifetime membership can save someone a heap of money, but only if they keep an account open for more than twenty consecutive months. That's assuming the alternative is $9.99 a month.

Traditionally, most MMO players don't play a MMO for more than a few months before cancelling. Paying 200 quid in those cases wouldn't be worth it. It would be more cost effective to pay on a month by month basis and cancel and resubscribe when you need to.
 

That is an interesting idea though. It seems very cheap considering the nearly $15 a month that WoW cost. Are they concerned about getting a good starting player base with WoW BC out now? I just got an email inviting me into the LOTRO beta stress this weekend, hopefully it isn't just a weekend invite and I can continue to check it out.
 

ok, the monthly fee of 9,99$ is really nice

but 199$ is just to much for must people i think

what if you dont like lotro after some month?
what if lotro isnt the success everybody hopes?

than you wasted 199 bucks.

and the two unique look like crap.
a cloak with regen and some ring with agi...
come on, whats unique with that?
i bet you replace that very soon with something better
they should give out something really unique
gollum as pet or so:D
 

tobold,

200 seems like a pretty good deal if i play it like i do WOW.

without breaking any NDA, do you think it has legs?

I know its hard to say if its better then WOW because it is very subjective, but...
 

200$ are nice if you are very sure to play it for at least 20 months.

Also 10$ is a low price as a monthly feee, but if you read fine prints this is valid only if you keep your account active. Price will rise if you cancel for a couple of months and get back.

For european:
There's a similar statement also from codemasters (distributors in europe of LoTR). But at the moment isn't very clear yet on where to get that offer.
 

I'll be checking the game out soon enough. After cancelling WoW I came to the grim realization that there was really nothing out there that looks interesting to me. I'll probably spend some time in Elder Scrolls Oblivion just because I haven't yet, but I'm an MMO player at heart. Heck, I went back to Planetside out of desperation and realized all the reasons I left that game pretty quickly.

Hopefully the stress test will be enough for me to have an idea if LOTRO is something for me long term.
 

You know, I just spent a long time reading through all of the linked information and I'm incredibly impressed. I've heard nothing but good things from those in this beta so far and while I have higher hopes for Conan I'm betting I'll end up pre-ordering just because of all the perks. If it's a game you'll likely play, you'd be foolish not to take advantage of the pre-order benefits. That's a good way to do business.
 

Something to consider when evaluating the $199 lifetime membership: DAoC beta testers got a reduced rate on 3 month subscriptions. One catch was if you ever cancelled you went back to the regular subscription rate when restarted. I imagine the pre-order $9.99 rate is like this.

This preorder pricing really looks like a good idea to me from a Turbine perspective. Get a strong early user base otherwise more might be content to stay in WoW a little longer even tough thinking about quitting. More people in the game early the more recomendation to friends you will get. Also make people hesitate about cancelling their reduce rate account. I know this kept me a little longer in DAoC and that is only game I ever did more than month to month paying with no hesitation to cancel and restart after small breaks.
 

One other think forgot to mention when considering the $199 lifetime membership. This is the same company that shut down AC2 after I believe less than 20 months.
 

I read about this 199$ lifetime deal for the LOTR. I keep thinking what if they flop in the first 6 months, or 10. What if its not the game that flops but the company, bogged down by debt and losses that they can keep up repairs and fixes. SO the company flops and the game gets auctioned off to SOE and everyone gets a free month to switch to FFXI and the world ends and Middle Earth goes back to the Balrogs. That being said i will most likly try it out when it hits. I aint paying no 200 smackolas for a life time....WOW on the other hand......
 

Check out this post from Michael Zenke: In point of fact, in play LOTRO is very much like World of Warcraft.

I played the AC2 beta and at that point I wouldn't even have spent $20 on a lifetime membership. I knew that game was bad and doomed to failure. The reason I'm considering paying $200 for a LotRO lifetime membership gives you an idea what I think about the quality and chance of success of that game, without revealing any information I'm not allowed to talk about.
 

I can't see myself playing long enough to get $200 of value out of it, but I definately plan to preorder this game -- for once there's an actual FINANCIAL benefit to preordering for both the developer and the consumer. Kudos to Turbine.
 

Exactly. I'm not 100% sure I'll play for 20 months (heck, I'd bet against it) but if I'm going to play at all why wouldn't I pre-order, get a jump on the masses and pay $5 less per month?

The two unique items might be lacking, but I can't see that being the make/break point for anybody's decision. This is a heck of a lot better incentive than something like City of Heroes "hey, you can have glowy feet while you run!" deal.
 

We've got a couple of members who are in the LotRO beta - and they said it kicked ass.

That being said (drumroll) they are playing teh BC like dogs in heat. So what does that tell you? I dunno. Just that they are not playing teh LotRO so much anymore.

Now - beyond that - here's the big worry I have with LotRO. Will it suffer from the Lore Rigor Mortis that SWG suffered from. I mean let's be perfectly honest. Part of the reason that SWG sucked Bantha-Ass was that George-cansuckablackholeupmyanus-Lucas wouldn't budge an inch off the world lore. I used to blame Koster & co. on their touchy-feely everyone-is-a-moisture-farmer approach to game design, until I realized (yes I'm a Yank, I spell it with a Z) that Lucas didn't give a flying frak if the game shone or sunk. All he cared about was keeping his tight little ass on the gold mine that is the Original Star Wars Trilogy.

Koster & co. couldn't have created a dynamic, ever-evolving, ever-growing MMORPG if they wanted to - Lucas would never have let it happen. Metzen and the boyz at Blizzard can sit down on any given night, pop a few cold onez, and shit new lore out their ass till the sun comes up. Lucas won't budge one iota when it comes to that - ever.

So anyways wtf was I talking about. Oh yeah - LotRO potentially may suffer from the same thing. If the devs don't have enough free reign with the world lore the game will shrivel and die on the vine.
 

Anonymous said:

"without breaking any NDA, do you think it has legs?"

I am sure turbine won't mind me saying that this one isn't going to flop. I'm not going to play at being Geldonyetich by coming up with specific numbers, but it's going to get better ones than D&D by a wide margin, for starters.

In any case, it's actually really hard to kill an MMO. For every one you can list out of the obvious half-dozen, I can cite 5 more that trundle along on minimal numbers. Look at SWG, for crying out loud.
 

How many MMORPG do you play? How long have you played each one? I get the trial to see if I like it, and the beta for LOTRO was out prior to the lifetime offer.

So, at $10/month, you are looking at playing for "free" after 20 months. I have played GW for three years, and LORTO since it started. Seems to me that with the expansions (Mines of Moria) and others that can be created from the few (cough) stories written in the franchise, players will have years to enjoy the game.

If you are going to burn out, it will be the method of play (GW v. WoW and LOTRO) and the type of play, in my opinion.

The closer is really who you meet and who you are going to play with (as with any multi-player game--whether hide and seek, "sex," or an on-line game).