Without any direct information, of course, it’s hard to tell but a business isn’t going to give up a revenue source unless it’s not giving them anything. In fact, given the supposed success of DDO and the resulting announcement about LOTRO going F2P, my guess is Hi-Rez figured out how to squeeze a higher margin out of box sales.

That combined with the F2P carrot drawing people in to pay that margin out would be a good reason to F2P. But, of course, that means that few people were willing to pony up for the subscription/premium membership…otherwise, why throw away money?

Also, if you think about it, their most loyal players–the ones that are probably hogging the servers most of the time–are the types that would pay for that premium membership (since the AvA content is where those guys will want to be. Since there are only so many large agencies out there, I figure they aren’t exactly raking in the dough on those players.

To me, they made the mistake of giving away the main pot of gold: PvP/PvE. For most casual players (who will always outnumber the hard core types…at least until the game’s run its course), they don’t have the time to dedicate to an agency. They’ll just want that shooter content. And, of course, they’re used to games like COD, BF, and the like that don’t charge you to use a server. Then again, those servers are hosted by third-parties/clans and are kept up by donations and such so the free ride ain’t so free.

It’s a hard call for the devs. After a long development cycle, they want their money. Forcing the public to pay the box fee AND a subscription for a shooter might have been a tough sell but there are people who are and would pay. Maybe if they’d rolled out more interesting features or implemented a lot of the MMO-style features from the get-go (I’m talking to you crafting), people might have been more willing to pay the sub fee and keep it going.

I think Hi-Rez essentially got so excited by the shooter they forgot the MMO or rather they re-scoped the MMO out so they could get their shooter gold and out the door. Unfortunately, I think they cut their legs off at the knees because of that.

Game over? Not really. I know a couple people who are more likely to head back into GA now that it’s free (they already bought it at launch…as did I) and take another look. I haven’t checked out the Sandstorm changes but if they’re anything like the press releases and previews seem to make them out to be, it might be worth playing GA again.

I guess the real question is: how long will Hi-Rez be able to keep the lights on with this model. If they can really keep up with a short expansion schedule then they might have a chance. Of course, if those expansions are effectively paid patches then Hi-Rez might end up being another case study in some game degree program out there.

g afk

Anyway, you go, girl. I guess LOTRO must be bringing in enough money for them to spend money and time testing out F2P on DDO…and to give DDO another chance before they pull the plug. It could also be helped by the recent round of funding they collected.

Honestly, from a business perspective, cool. Let’s see if F2P will save a game (along with the updates they’ve put together for the expansion that will bring the game into F2P mode)…Of course, from a game design/gamer perspective, just because it’s free doesn’t mean people will swarm. Still, they might actually see a bump in income as people opt to toss money away in microtrans and as some people who want to keep their WoW (or even Aion?) subscriptions running while trying another MMO.

But, with Guild Wars out there, is it worth it? Guild Wars is prettier and has a ton of content. GW2 is coming out some day and Aion’s about to launch. Oh, and we can’t forget Cataclysm’s going to pop it’s head out there sometime soon (I can’t imagine Activision Blizzard won’t want to take advantage of the coming holiday season to release that baby…especially if they’re already demoing it at PAX in September.

Again, we’ll see but I’m not holding my breath. Might be worth it to consider new MMO IP…maybe in a non-Fantasy genre?? Hmm?? Hey, Turbine, if you’re interested in licensing a new IP, call my people…

g afk

The big question is will it make them any more money? Sure people will be more likely to sign up to try and play the game if they haven’t already but is it going to be worth the effort and time if you’re getting chainmail while the guy next to you throws down some bills and gets plate +2?

They’re going to be using a sort of in-game currency so we’ll have to see. If they make it possible for you to earn enough money to unlock the stuff that the rich guy next to you (in-game since that rich guy obviously doesn’t live near you) bought six months ago, then MAYBE they’ll have something.

I guess my problem with it is they’re ignoring the main issue. People aren’t playing the game because of the price. People aren’t playing the game because there are other games they’d rather play.

g afk