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Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Get a life ... -time subscription to LotRO
The subject kept popping up in the comments, and mbp has a nice blog entry about it: An surprising number of people feel that getting a lifetime subscription is a good deal, even if you don't plan to be playing LotRO non-stop for the next 18 months. It is not a purely economical decision.
A monthly subscription is like a ball and chain, tieing you to a game and restricting your freedom. Getting rid of that restriction is worth something to me. I could buy 6 months of LotRO for a bit over 50 Euro, of a lifetime subscription for 150, so normally the break even point should be 18 months. And I'm far from sure that I'll play LotRO for the next 18 months, because of other interesting games like Warhammer Online, and the next WoW expansion coming out in that period. But I am going to pay for the lifetime subscription anyway, because it gives me greater flexibility.
I like World of Warcraft. I am pretty certain that I will buy the next WoW expansion. But I'm so not willing to hang out in WoW after basically having "finished" the fun part of the Burning Crusade expansion. I'm also looking forward to playing Warhammer Online, but I'm not going to sit here twiddling my thumbs waiting for it. All of this means that the way in which I play MMORPGs might change. Instead of sticking to one game for a while, and then giving it up, I might switch back and forth between two or three games. Just like you'd want to watch the latest episode of a TV series when its on, you might like to play the latest WoW episode (be it a content patch or an expansion) when it comes out. But between these WoW episodes you might want to see the episodes of LotRO. A schedule of playing LotRO now after release, doing a bit of WoW after content patch 2.1, then coming back to LotRO for the June content patch and so on sounds feasible, although I'm not yet sure how it will work out in praxis.
And a lifetime subscription for LotRO helps here. Because right now I'm looking at my WoW subscription and ask myself whether I want to cancel it, and for how long. Maybe I get bored of LotRO in a month, and then I wouldn't want to cancel my WoW subscription. Maybe I'll be playing nothing but LotRO for the next six months, and then I really shouldn't waste a hundred bucks on WoW during that time. By taking a lifetime subscription to LotRO, at least I won't have the same problem in the other direction. I can stop playing LotRO without worrying about a monthly fee.
Tell you what, Blizzard: You offer a lifetime subscription for WoW for $200 / €150, and I'll buy it. For the reasons stated above. Which I think is a generous offer from me, seeing that WoW right now is acquiring a whiff of "past its prime" scent.
Dear readers, how much would you be willing to pay for a lifetime subscription to World of Warcraft right now?
- posted by Tobold @ 10:45 AM Permanent Link
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There's a reason why I'm not buying the LoTRO lifetime subscription right now, besides not having time to play two games.
If they've already offered a lifetime subscription, then it follows that they'll do it again. So when I get tired of WoW, which I expect will happen in the next few months, I might go over to LoTRO. And if I like it, and they offer the lifetime option again (which they will), then I'll invest.
Same thing with WoW.
If they've already offered a lifetime subscription, then it follows that they'll do it again. So when I get tired of WoW, which I expect will happen in the next few months, I might go over to LoTRO. And if I like it, and they offer the lifetime option again (which they will), then I'll invest.
Same thing with WoW.
Im not sure I would pay for a lifetime sub of WoW now. The game isn't floating my boat, and although I did enjoy levelling to 70 through TBC, some parts of it was just annoying (Nessingwary quests for one). If there was one a couple of years ago, then yes, I probably would have.
LOTRO how ever is very much floating my boat. Sunday evening we tried to Retake Weathertop, we failed but I had more fun failing that since killing Nef for the first time in WoW. And then last night we did a bit of the Great Barrow, and again I thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout! I also had a quick go at Monster Play and really enjoyed that too.
In short, LOTRO is agreeing with me. WoW currently has little interest for me. I may even cancel my sub! :o
LOTRO how ever is very much floating my boat. Sunday evening we tried to Retake Weathertop, we failed but I had more fun failing that since killing Nef for the first time in WoW. And then last night we did a bit of the Great Barrow, and again I thoroughly enjoyed myself throughout! I also had a quick go at Monster Play and really enjoyed that too.
In short, LOTRO is agreeing with me. WoW currently has little interest for me. I may even cancel my sub! :o
tbh i don't pay really much attention to my subscriptions. recently i cancelled EVE-online because i thought "hey i haven't been playing that game for months now"
can i be accounted as a rich fat b'stard? dunno, but my math is pretty simple. for 15euros a month i can play a game i like, whenever i like.
it keeps me from being in a pub 7days a week ;) which costs me a lot more.
would i pay for a lifetime-subscription of WoW. No, because i feel i have less rights than a paying-monthly customer.
can i be accounted as a rich fat b'stard? dunno, but my math is pretty simple. for 15euros a month i can play a game i like, whenever i like.
it keeps me from being in a pub 7days a week ;) which costs me a lot more.
would i pay for a lifetime-subscription of WoW. No, because i feel i have less rights than a paying-monthly customer.
A WoW lifetime offer would have to be pretty cheap atm for me to use it. :)
I will however go with the one on Lotro, for all the reasons Tobold mentioned. Not because I think I will be playing 18 months straight either.
One game I would REALLY like to see a lifetime offer for is City of heroes/villains. While being a bit boring to grind for hours and hours it's a really great game to fire up now and then and do a mission or two. But with a subscription that will not happen.
I will however go with the one on Lotro, for all the reasons Tobold mentioned. Not because I think I will be playing 18 months straight either.
One game I would REALLY like to see a lifetime offer for is City of heroes/villains. While being a bit boring to grind for hours and hours it's a really great game to fire up now and then and do a mission or two. But with a subscription that will not happen.
# posted by 
: 24/4/07 15:15
: 24/4/07 15:15
I'm not sure a lifetime subscription is good news for the gamers. One of things that drive the genre is new content. Content paid for by the subscribers. By having a model where you make more money up front, but less down the road. What's to stop the developer from saying "Um... we are tired of adding content to LotRO right now and have decided to work on our new project instead. Thanks."?
The lifetime subscription is a gimmick to get you pay for something up front without promise that you'll use it. For people getting it right now and planning to play for the next 18 months, thats fine. But what about the 18 after that? What if the number of players drops off when Warhammer and the WoW expansion comes out. Will LotRO still be creating new content? They already have your money.
The lifetime subscription is a gimmick to get you pay for something up front without promise that you'll use it. For people getting it right now and planning to play for the next 18 months, thats fine. But what about the 18 after that? What if the number of players drops off when Warhammer and the WoW expansion comes out. Will LotRO still be creating new content? They already have your money.
# posted by : 24/4/07 16:00
: 24/4/07 16:00
No lifetime subscription from me. I don't enjoy WoW at the moment, I got hooked up by LOTRO instead. :)
I probably will not get a LOTRO lifetime sub and use the 6-months-option instead. If the game keeps me interested for more than six months, Turbine did a good job. ;)
I more favour the way Guildwars does it: Free game, only pay once for the major content expansion (e.g. Factions, Nightfall etc.).
I probably will not get a LOTRO lifetime sub and use the 6-months-option instead. If the game keeps me interested for more than six months, Turbine did a good job. ;)
I more favour the way Guildwars does it: Free game, only pay once for the major content expansion (e.g. Factions, Nightfall etc.).
Well I really wonder how large percentage of the players are going for the lifetime deal. I don't think it's a large part, but that's just a gut feeling. It is after all quite a bit of money up front.
My guess is that the ones with regular subscriptions will be able to finance the ones with lifetime for quite a while after 18 months. I'm sure Turbine/Codemasters have done the numbers.
My guess is that the ones with regular subscriptions will be able to finance the ones with lifetime for quite a while after 18 months. I'm sure Turbine/Codemasters have done the numbers.
# posted by : 24/4/07 16:10
: 24/4/07 16:10
I would pay 75.00 bucks for a lifetime sub to WOW right now. I had my fun with WOW, but Blizz has done some weird things with BC (especially the loot tables) which leads me to believe that perhaps the stress of balancing the Arenas against PVP against PVE may be getting to the devs. With that being said, I will probably play a bit of LOTRO until Age of Conan is released, then play some of the next WOW expansion.
# posted by : 24/4/07 16:43
: 24/4/07 16:43
Now? No. Back in 2004? Hell yes. Would have saved me a lot of money.
Maybe the next expansion will reinstill faith in WoW for me, but I think I'll be too deep into LotRO, Pirates, or Conan, even Gods and Heroes by then... to care.
Maybe the next expansion will reinstill faith in WoW for me, but I think I'll be too deep into LotRO, Pirates, or Conan, even Gods and Heroes by then... to care.
Liftime subscript for wow....mmmm.
I'd prolly drop 150-200, just for the same freedom you will have with LOTR. Not having to worry about getting the full dollar ammount every mounth would be a nice change.
I'd prolly drop 150-200, just for the same freedom you will have with LOTR. Not having to worry about getting the full dollar ammount every mounth would be a nice change.
# posted by : 24/4/07 18:36
: 24/4/07 18:36
I would not pay a lifetime subscription for WoW or any other MMOG, with one exception. Here I agree with magrothj, City of Villains/Heroes is a game I would pay a life-time subscription for. It is indeed well suited to play for a bit, do something else and then come pback and play for a bit more. Other MMOGs has often been a bit problematic in that area, but CoV/CoH works well in that area.
It also works well to have as an MMOG to play at the same time as other MMOGs.
It also works well to have as an MMOG to play at the same time as other MMOGs.
I took the 6 months offer.
In 6 months I'll be lvl 50, and I can say if this game has enough potential to keep me playing. I really can't do that now...
LotrO's endgame could be even more boring than WoW's... no "real" pvp, no player housing, player cities, a very small game world...
Worst case: saved 100
Best case: paying 200 for lifetime+first six months
In 6 months I'll be lvl 50, and I can say if this game has enough potential to keep me playing. I really can't do that now...
LotrO's endgame could be even more boring than WoW's... no "real" pvp, no player housing, player cities, a very small game world...
Worst case: saved 100
Best case: paying 200 for lifetime+first six months
# posted by : 24/4/07 20:00
: 24/4/07 20:00
Anon, you won't be able to pay the 199 for lifetime ever again once you've made that initial choice.
It's either pick 9.99 by the end of the free month, or 199 for life by the end of the free month.
Once you've made that initial decision, that 1st payment, there's no going back.
Lifetime, you never pay except for boxed expansions.
9.99, you pay that until you cancel, then if/when you come back it's 14.99 again.
If you don't choose lifetime right off the bat, there's no picking it later...
Of course that was what I was told a month ago by the Turbies, so perhaps that's changed.
It's either pick 9.99 by the end of the free month, or 199 for life by the end of the free month.
Once you've made that initial decision, that 1st payment, there's no going back.
Lifetime, you never pay except for boxed expansions.
9.99, you pay that until you cancel, then if/when you come back it's 14.99 again.
If you don't choose lifetime right off the bat, there's no picking it later...
Of course that was what I was told a month ago by the Turbies, so perhaps that's changed.
I am well and truly done with World of Warcraft so no thank you. :) I did give Burning Crusade a try but didn't stay long so I doubt that I'll be returning ever. I did get a lifetime sub on LOTRO, though...
# posted by : 24/4/07 20:38
: 24/4/07 20:38
I'm buying the 6-month block of WoW for $78, so I'd probably pay $150 for a lifetime sub to WoW, essentially the next 12 months, but I wouldn't pay more than $200.
Go my life-time subscription for LotRO set up yesterday. Mainly to reduce stress about play and because I anticipate several expansions over time, which should see me return to this game frequently.
My one fear's that too many people buy a life-time subscription and subsequently Turbine loses important incentives to develope new content as they already received their money up front. I've dismissed this, however, as I expect only a fraction to get this life-time subscription due to the significant costs and uncertainties involved. Plus this kind of practice would damage the Turbine brand name, which is never good business. Hence I've decided to revel in this novel feature. Smart marketing!
- Sveral
My one fear's that too many people buy a life-time subscription and subsequently Turbine loses important incentives to develope new content as they already received their money up front. I've dismissed this, however, as I expect only a fraction to get this life-time subscription due to the significant costs and uncertainties involved. Plus this kind of practice would damage the Turbine brand name, which is never good business. Hence I've decided to revel in this novel feature. Smart marketing!
- Sveral
# posted by : 25/4/07 07:58
: 25/4/07 07:58
Presumably the marketing wizards at Turbine figured out that the average length of time that a player stayed with an mmorpg is something like twelve or fifteen months. By selling lifetime subscriptions they get more money AND they get it all up front.
What worries me is that if they've taken all their revenue up front, they suddenly have an incentive to scrimp on money for servers, bandwidth, and support. With a monthly subscription, the operator has to keep an eye on customer satisfaction or people will cancel. Will LOTRO keep the quality up as time passes and most players are lifetimers who aren't providing any new revenue?
What worries me is that if they've taken all their revenue up front, they suddenly have an incentive to scrimp on money for servers, bandwidth, and support. With a monthly subscription, the operator has to keep an eye on customer satisfaction or people will cancel. Will LOTRO keep the quality up as time passes and most players are lifetimers who aren't providing any new revenue?
The idea of a lifetime subscription is more of a business model decision than anything else, from a developer's point of view. It's not a new concept, as some online games have had this for a while (arguably Battle Net games like Diablo offer this, and more recently Guild Wars offers more of your "Massive" gameplay experience with no monthly fee).
From a customer's point of view, the decision is a bit more emotional. Having a game you need to pay for to enjoy casually is hard for some, and closing a subscription (even if you could renew it) is hard for others. If we look at the Guild Wars model, they pump out a lot of content with each expansion that provides "value" without you having to engage in any of these pesky emotional decisions.
For my part, I'm not sure if I'm done paying monthly for games - I certainly pay for Xbox Live, and would probably pay for other services if they gave me what I want. But there's a lot of compelling alternatives to a monthly subscription model.
I suspect that when the next WoW expansion is released I'll re-fire up my sub and consume it in about two months again. That's not necessarily bad, it's a good lifetime for a game! It's just not what I was expecting of the game experience when I purchased TBC. I'll admit I was dissapointed by this experience but I still had fun - enough so that I'd get another expansion of the same, play it for 3 months, and then cancel my account again :)
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From a customer's point of view, the decision is a bit more emotional. Having a game you need to pay for to enjoy casually is hard for some, and closing a subscription (even if you could renew it) is hard for others. If we look at the Guild Wars model, they pump out a lot of content with each expansion that provides "value" without you having to engage in any of these pesky emotional decisions.
For my part, I'm not sure if I'm done paying monthly for games - I certainly pay for Xbox Live, and would probably pay for other services if they gave me what I want. But there's a lot of compelling alternatives to a monthly subscription model.
I suspect that when the next WoW expansion is released I'll re-fire up my sub and consume it in about two months again. That's not necessarily bad, it's a good lifetime for a game! It's just not what I was expecting of the game experience when I purchased TBC. I'll admit I was dissapointed by this experience but I still had fun - enough so that I'd get another expansion of the same, play it for 3 months, and then cancel my account again :)
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