Also, Turbine has apparently spent $20 million on the game so far, which makes the fact that Alexander alluded to it as a free-to-play title even more surprising. Although, we imagine Turbine will find some way of extracting cash from the willing.
Also, Turbine has apparently spent $20 million on the game so far, which makes the fact that Alexander alluded to it as a free-to-play title even more surprising. Although, we imagine Turbine will find some way of extracting cash from the willing.
Reader Comments (28)
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 1:24PM Manifest37 said
Does anyone even know what kind of MMO they're working on??
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 1:29PM (Unverified) said
I've really been digging how they made Dungeons and Dragons Online a free to play title. The designers did there job well because it made me subscribe heh. I'm getting my moneys worth. I really really really hope this is AC3 (even though it won't be). I also really hope its not Harry Potter Online.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 1:43PM Ballistic H said
Lifetime Subscription or Micro-transactions are the way to go to appeal to a broader list of gamers who do not want to spend to much.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 1:44PM JuanLovesHorror said
I've never played a MMO so I am looking to debut with anything (especially if free).
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 1:45PM Nobledevil Gaming Optimist said
"Cash From The Willing" should be the nickname for the MMO.
Like "Aion: Cash From The Willing."
Like "Aion: Cash From The Willing."
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 1:57PM PN04 said
If it's another generic fantasy MMO I wouldnt even play it for free.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 1:58PM Kaio said
Hope its not a fps MMO
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 2:07PM ArchiGamer said
Seeing what some are saying, I bet it will be a generic Fantasy-FPS MMO.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 3:38PM Softserve said
Turbine's clearly doing fine. DDO's change doesn't imply much. Keep in mind that LotRO is the only "big" MMORPG that's released since WoW that hasn't had to cut or combine servers, for one. Additionally, Turbine is a private company. They have no obligation to release numbers like Blizzard does because we can't buy shares in it.
I'm not worried about it. Turbine is a good company overall.
Furthermore, you can't really think about this money as just going to one game. I have to imagine that a lot of this cost was getting used to both systems, developing an engine that works for both, coming up with the concepts related to console gaming, etc. It's tech and ideas that'll be used for any future console titles.
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I'm not worried about it. Turbine is a good company overall.
Furthermore, you can't really think about this money as just going to one game. I have to imagine that a lot of this cost was getting used to both systems, developing an engine that works for both, coming up with the concepts related to console gaming, etc. It's tech and ideas that'll be used for any future console titles.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 2:09PM Kratos said
I wonder where they got 20 million dollars from.
Turbine are not exactly a very successful company.
D&D had to go free because the game wasn't doing business, Asherons Call is a niche MMO nearly nobody knows about and they even took the Lord of the Rings franchise, one of the most coveted nerd franchises and made an MMO that butchers it and practically has a fraction of the subscribers less famous nerd franchises have.
If Turbines console MMO is as successful as their current MMO's I can't wait to see where Turbine are in 5 years.
If they sink hopefully the LOTR MMO will sink too and then maybe Bioware or Blizzard will be contracted to make a new LOTR MMO thats actually bearable to play.
Turbine are not exactly a very successful company.
D&D had to go free because the game wasn't doing business, Asherons Call is a niche MMO nearly nobody knows about and they even took the Lord of the Rings franchise, one of the most coveted nerd franchises and made an MMO that butchers it and practically has a fraction of the subscribers less famous nerd franchises have.
If Turbines console MMO is as successful as their current MMO's I can't wait to see where Turbine are in 5 years.
If they sink hopefully the LOTR MMO will sink too and then maybe Bioware or Blizzard will be contracted to make a new LOTR MMO thats actually bearable to play.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 2:22PM Kratos said
sonofman Bioware would do a better Tolkien MMO IMO.
Theres just too much to the Silmarillion to take an MMO set in Tolkiens world and dumb it down to what it is.
I suppose everybody has their own opinion but I'd ideally like Bioware to take Tolkiens MMO and use heavy instancing like in The Old Republic to design a story driven MMO.
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Theres just too much to the Silmarillion to take an MMO set in Tolkiens world and dumb it down to what it is.
I suppose everybody has their own opinion but I'd ideally like Bioware to take Tolkiens MMO and use heavy instancing like in The Old Republic to design a story driven MMO.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 2:25PM (Unverified) said
yeah, you really don't know what you are talking about. LOTRO is definitely one of the best out there and brings in a TON of money for Turbine.
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Posted: Sep 21st 2009 2:31PM Kratos said
Uhmm yeah tons of money.. thats why Turbine release their sales and subscriber figures like every other MMO maker does...
LOTRO is a commercial failure compared to its successful peers which include Guild Wars that has shipped 6 million copies and World of Warcraft which has 11.5 million subscribers.
LOTRO is a complete and utter failure compared to the competiton unless your going to tell em LOTRO makes more than WoW(or even a tenth as much).
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LOTRO is a commercial failure compared to its successful peers which include Guild Wars that has shipped 6 million copies and World of Warcraft which has 11.5 million subscribers.
LOTRO is a complete and utter failure compared to the competiton unless your going to tell em LOTRO makes more than WoW(or even a tenth as much).
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 2:53PM The Bodyguard said
There is no information on whether or not heavy instancing is used in The Old Republic. They have hinted at the open worlds exploration so it isn't likely. Also LOTRO does have a dedicated fanbase and is considered among some to be one of the better MMOs. Numbers do not always mean greatness. Though WoW is quite a good game, Guild Wars may have sold so many copies, but how many actually play it?
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Posted: Sep 21st 2009 2:58PM BorgMorgue said
Tony,
You would be hard pressed to find any MMO developer which freely gives out it's subscriber numbers. For whatever reason they do not seem to like to publically release that information. Just because Blizzard does it every now and then, does not mean that every company likes to do it.
You have to remember that WoW is more of an exception than a rule for all other MMO's to be compared to. A game does not need anywhere near the subscriber base of WoW to be sustainable.
Have you played Lord of the Rings Online recently? You seem to suggest that you would like Bioware to take it over so they could “use heavy instancing like in The Old Republic to design a story driven MMO”. As I understand it, Lord of the rings online is pretty unanimously praised for its story driven approach to the genre, and it uses a lot of instancing in order to do so.
As for where Turbine has acquired the $20 million you’re asking about, they raised a lot of money through last year from private investors. I remember reading several stories on Joystiq about it. Here is one of them: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/01/turbine-secures-40-million-investment/
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You would be hard pressed to find any MMO developer which freely gives out it's subscriber numbers. For whatever reason they do not seem to like to publically release that information. Just because Blizzard does it every now and then, does not mean that every company likes to do it.
You have to remember that WoW is more of an exception than a rule for all other MMO's to be compared to. A game does not need anywhere near the subscriber base of WoW to be sustainable.
Have you played Lord of the Rings Online recently? You seem to suggest that you would like Bioware to take it over so they could “use heavy instancing like in The Old Republic to design a story driven MMO”. As I understand it, Lord of the rings online is pretty unanimously praised for its story driven approach to the genre, and it uses a lot of instancing in order to do so.
As for where Turbine has acquired the $20 million you’re asking about, they raised a lot of money through last year from private investors. I remember reading several stories on Joystiq about it. Here is one of them: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/01/turbine-secures-40-million-investment/
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 2:09PM Frostfell said
Here's hoping its Asheron's Call!
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 2:30PM b4dmash said
Damn, I'll be "too old for that shit" by then.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 2:32PM AwesomeTown said
Free to play MMO on consoles? I'm no MMO player but that is pretty interesting.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 3:09PM Kaio said
FFXIV looks like it will be uber casual, I just Turbine will give us an alternative.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 3:36PM (Unverified) said
Bitching LOTRO? While LOTRO isn't perfect, it's a really enjoyable game. DDO? It's the new game I play. I even putted $30 of new quests in it. Turbine do real quality stuff. The MMO industry is really hard however. Bioware never ever finished ONE MMO! Turbine has at least 3, currently working, MMO. They're masters of the genre. WoW is really an exception and a lot of people play it because they ignore the existance of the others. Guild Wars is fun... but it has flaws too.. lot of flaws. DDO is innovative and not much people played it because Atari couldn't advertise it correctly. Now that it's free to play, tons or people are in-game and I'm sure a lot of them will play.
I have a lot of respect for Bioware and Blizzard but saying they would automaticly do a better than Turbine at doing an MMO? Forget it. Bioware lack the experience. Blizzard never did anything that wasn't their own story (Diablo, SC, Warcraft). If it was blizzard, we wouldn't see anything released until 2015 either. Seriously, people should stop bashing Turbine for no reasons.
I have a lot of respect for Bioware and Blizzard but saying they would automaticly do a better than Turbine at doing an MMO? Forget it. Bioware lack the experience. Blizzard never did anything that wasn't their own story (Diablo, SC, Warcraft). If it was blizzard, we wouldn't see anything released until 2015 either. Seriously, people should stop bashing Turbine for no reasons.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 3:38PM (Unverified) said
I just want to know what it is first before i get all excited
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 4:33PM Frostfell said
I know, right? I was always more partial to the original, but AC2 had a fun experience too.
Posted: Sep 21st 2009 5:55PM MDizzy said
Everyone who's not WoW is using "free to play" to attract the masses from Blizzard's 200 pound gorrilla. Free to play unless you want useful weapons or skills, access to higher level environments, a greater choice of classes than Warrior or Thief, etc, etc. etc.
Posted: Sep 22nd 2009 9:46AM (Unverified) said
A subscription to play most mmo's is insane...Especially since they only add content once a year. I have found that most players enjoy pvp and/or rvr, but have pve restricted areas. A console mmo might be pretty cool to try out, just don't know how many options you would have on a controller compared to a keyboard, but i guess time will tell. Until then, I will enjoy Dark age of Camelot on Uthgards freeshard =). graphics are dated, but gameplay is solid, and that is what matters most.
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