GotMMOG?

Wow, the latest expansion for LOTRO, Siege of Mirkwood, is (at least for now) online-only. I almost missed it since there isn’t a box out there to grab in a store or find on Amazon. Instead, you’ll find yourself directed here.

$39.99 buys you the expansion and an adventurer’s pack that gives you more slots of characters and items amongst other things.

To me, while it makes sense (it’s an online game after all), it seems like they might be limiting themselves for a game that is already limited to it’s base slice of players in the market. Why wouldn’t you use this as an opportunity to bring people back so you can get a nice little blip or maybe grab some returning players for longer because of expanded content or new updates to the interface/gameplay? It’s almost like they just gave up…kind of like many of SOE’s games that just make due rather than try to reinvent themselves to reinvigorate their subscriber base.

Sorry but I have a feeling LOTRO’s days are numbered. It won’t die tomorrow but it’s definitely not looking like 2010 will be good for them.

g afk

Gamasutra’s reporting that Turbine has chosen a third party company to handle its microtransactions platform as it moves to a F2P model for Dungeons and Dragons Online. Supposedly, the switch to F2P was a “planned” transition over the course of a year. Uh, but I think your subs were pretty lackluster for that year and earlier. Long enough that Penny Arcade had a little fun when you tried to push content to bring people in. That was January 2008. 18 months ago.

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

Dungeons and Dragons Online (Turbine)

Like a phoenix, DDO rises again into view again. This time, it’s to tote the fact that they can’t seem to sell it so they’ve got to give it away.

We played the intro/tutorial level a bit and it was…well….boring. I mean, their model mimics Guild Wars with instanced content and public waiting rooms. Watching the wait as a switch is pulled and the barren caverns we traveled through during the tutorial (where, ironically, you’re escorting high level NPCs who are letting you do it…to humor themselves or what?). At least you can skip it when creating your second character.

I don’t know. I think they’re really searching for relevancy for this MMO. I hate seeing MMOs close down but seriously. If you want free to play, instanced, fantasy-themed gameplay, you can pick up Guild Wars and view a pretty engine too. If you want a “real” MMO with a fantasy environment thrown in, you can pick WoW, WAR, and Aion in a few weeks. And if you’re tired of fantasy, there are tons of choices out or coming out including Champions Online, CrimeCraft, Eve Online, and the coming (though still relatively far off) Star Trek Online.

Good luck, DDO. Turbine? Maybe you should focus more on LOTRO and finding a new MMO…

g afk