tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post963887176797114651..comments2023-06-19T10:45:56.724-04:00Comments on Player Versus Developer: ACME Falling Anvil Flattens DDO Offer Wall?Green Armadillohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15564045048380177626noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-1715277750218560262010-04-22T23:56:18.199-04:002010-04-22T23:56:18.199-04:00I've been saying for a while now that Turbine ...I've been saying for a while now that Turbine seems to be saving the bulk of the new LOTRO content for future paid updates - the relatively sparse <a href="http://playervsdeveloper.blogspot.com/2010/03/end-of-eriador-era.html" rel="nofollow">most recent patch</a> did not do much to dissuade me on that front. The fact that they're making diminished monthly revenue from lifetimers (and almost everyone else on the $30/3 month plan) only increases the pressure to release something that costs money. <br /><br />Incidentally, the survey when you cancel your LOTRO subscription asks if you'd come back if the game were free-to-play. I have no idea how they'd make that work - DDO's instancing model makes paid mini-expansions easy - but they're at least considering it.<br /><br />My DDO comments <a href="http://playervsdeveloper.blogspot.com/2010/04/are-one-time-purchases-bane-of-item.html" rel="nofollow">became a separate post here</a>.Green Armadillohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15564045048380177626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-7932136766001182182010-04-22T16:08:01.665-04:002010-04-22T16:08:01.665-04:00Actually, I fret less for DDO than for LotRO in th...Actually, I fret less for DDO than for LotRO in this case. Turbine made a big deal of saying that income for DDO went up five-fold when they started dabbling with free-to-play. Given that there is now a direct correlation between adding content and getting income, DDO is probably going to see a lot more focus.<br /><br />LotRO, on the other hand, may not be quite so lucky. The talk about "unifying" the licenses could mean that LotRO gets a bunch of additions that were previously restricted. Or, it could mean that the focus will be put on a new game, while the current incarnation languishes. Yeah, that might be the stupid thing to do, but big companies aren't always known for making the best choices.<br /><br />One twist here is the lifetime subscribers. The Mirkwood mini-expansion was pegged as a way to get those people to pony up more money for playing the game. Is that how things are going to be going forward? Maybe they'll decide to flip over to a similar "free to play" setup to keep people interested?<br /><br />Not sure. A shame given how much my GF and I are enjoying LotRO currently.Brian 'Psychochild' Greenhttp://www.psychochild.org/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-90682857635162339832010-04-22T08:40:02.965-04:002010-04-22T08:40:02.965-04:00Well, I think we can draw our own conclusions from...Well, I think we can draw our own conclusions from the limited amount of content being added to LOTRO and near total abandonment of DDO before the free-to-play revamp. In the short-medium term, Warner made a bit of a big deal of having unified The One License to kill the game (though obviously it has to remain profitable). DDO is probably still a lower profile game, and might be deemed more expendable if it isn't turning a decent profit.Green Armadillohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15564045048380177626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-826986957606858027.post-74267867590364730532010-04-22T02:32:23.443-04:002010-04-22T02:32:23.443-04:00The uncomfortable truth here is that an independen...The uncomfortable truth here is that an independent company doesn't get sold when things are going well. One business analysis I read said that the likely purchase price didn't exactly deliver a good return for previous investors. (With the caveat, of course, that the terms of the deal were not public, so it's mostly speculation.)<br /><br />But, I worry that this might be a sign of things getting a bit rough for Turbine. As much as I love them and their games, I can't see them being able to stay the course. The way things are going currently obviously weren't enough to keep everyone happy.<br /><br />We'll see, I guess....Brian 'Psychochild' Greenhttp://www.psychochild.org/noreply@blogger.com