http://www.facebook.com/LOTRO or http://www.lotro.com/news/709
I just saw that Lotro is going 'Free to Play' .... so ... (I thought it was a joke at first)..
http://www.lotro.com/betasignup/faq.htm
Notice at the bottom, you need to be a VIP member to participate in PvMP.
A chart on the different 'Free' tiers: http://www.lotro.com/betasignup/vipchart.html
I want a new skill that lets me wield a two-hander for more DPS. I'd burn all my damn Turbine points on it, too. We'll have to wait and see what happens; too bad the free players can't PvMP as that would have given the Moors a real shot in the arm. Those forum surveys Turbine did a while back apparently weren't all fluff, since Item Advancement/Legendary Items, Radiance, and PvMP were the top three mentioned by the hundreds of responders. My guess is that the promised "late 2010 and into 2011" timeframe winds up being later than that, though.
lol turbine points
Most founders/lifers are gonna get about 5000 off the bat, not to mention every subscriber right now is getting 500/month from this day forward.
I'm guessing they'll release this stuff in October... Thats a few more points to tack on lol
If I can buy a skill that lets my reaver throw that F'ing sword on his back, I'd spend top dollar on turbine points.
This little tidbit made me happy, but the rest made me facepalm so hard. Way to cheapen the game!
"As we go forward beyond this major update, we’re going to be giving our players the same great content and feature releases that you’ve come to expect from LOTRO. In late 2010 and into 2011, we’re going to be working on improvements to the Item Advancement / Legendary Items system, to Radiance, and to the monster play system."
Source: http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=335117
That's still a long ways off though. And we'll probably have to spend Turbine Points on it. :P
*poke*
To add perspective, DDO is another Turbine game. When it went free-to-play, PAID accounts increased over 40% in the first month and it's been growing ever since. It brought a lot of new players to the game that never would have given it a chance due to the purchase price and monthly fee. Many of them decided it wasn't for them. But many of them found it to be the game they've been looking for.
So what has Turbine done with the influx of DDO cash? So far, we've seen a return to their original 2-3 month expansion plan. The adventures being cranked out now are absolutely amazing. They've expanded the loot dramatically at the low and middle game (I've played forever and have never leveled past 13).
What did Turbine points add? Options. You can buy experience boosts, LOW level equipment, healing potions, hirelings, stat boosts, character re-rolls.... You can also buy resurrections which at first caused a lot of concern -- but they do NOT work in raids, they cost you $1.50 or so and in the end, the game is for fun and it's PvE oriented...just like LOTRO. You can also buy temporary access to dungeons for friends that don't subscribe or don't pay for the dungeon.
Will free-to-play bring wankers? Yes. Will it bring fence-sitters as well? Yes. Will it increase PAID players? Without a doubt, yes. Will LOTRO be a better game as a result? Yes.
Will free-to-play change LOTRO? Yes. Based on my experience with the roll-out in DDO, the dev's response to concerns and increased content as a result of cold hard cash inflow for Turbine, I'm 2000% in favor of it. It's a no-brainer win for players.