22:59:59
Well, here it comes, the new expansion for LOTRO has been announced. The biggest surprise so far is that it was *not* "Riders of Rohan." Turbine has decided, instead, to take us east, into the southwestern "bulge" of Mirkwood Forest. This should be an excellent, if smaller then expected expansion pack. Mirkwood itself encompasses nearly as much geographical area as the existing Zones in the game, including in it's expanse the stronghold of Dol Guldur - where Sauron fled to recover his strength, later putting it in the charge of the second most powerful of the Nazgul. During the War of the Ring, several assaults were launched from Dol Guldur against one or the other of Lothlorien to the West or Thranduil's woodland stronghold of Silvan Elves far to the Northeast. Also nestled into the edge of the forests western edge, not far to the northeast of Dol Guldur, is Rhosgobel - the home of Gandalf's "cousin" Radagast the Brown.
Mirkwood has the potential to be a very interesting addition to the game.
So, of course, the moment the expansion was announced, people started to complain. And then the pricing was announced, and people started to complain. People that haven't even seen the content of the expansion are pontificating on how it's not worth the $20.00 price tag. Or complaining that getting the XP for free if you buy the newly announced Adventurer's Pack ($20.00 worth of ingame fluff) is a dreaded Microtransaction...
They have no clue what they are talking about. If they want to see true a truly microtransaction based "game" they should check out IMVU - a most totally useless '3d chatter.' It's not a game. It's a chat program that allows youto customise your avatar and environment to a truly astonishing degree - but at a cost *for everything* - want to change your hair, pay a buck, new clothes? A few bucks. Redecorate your "room?" A few more bucks. I may not hold any respect for this game, at all, but I have to say that as a money making device, it's a huge success. They mastered the concept of a microtransaction. You don't buy anything for real cash - you buy "credits" and pay for everything with them. And they make it really simple to stock up on credits. And since you're only thinking in terms of ingame credits, you can easily whip through a few hundred bucks a month.
That's what a microtransaction based program is. They nickel and dime for everything. They make it painless. And then you get your visa statement and find out you're overlimit.
This is *not* what Turbine is doing with the Adventurer's pack. The pack itself is fluff - there is no earthly in game advantage to be derived from buying it. It's non-critical. Anyone with a lifetime sub that buys it is only doing so for one reason: we were gonna spend $20 on the xp anyhow, might as well spend the same amount for the xp *and* the fluff.
Of course, the other rampant speculation is that "Turbine's in financial trouble! Why else would they want everyone to change to multi-month plans!" They're in so much financial trouble that they're offering to put people on a multimonth plan - while giving them the xp for free. Net gain for Turbine: 10 bucks now instead of next month. Wow. I can see how that would entice them.
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