In a made up statement earlier today, Turbine announced that the first items available in the new Lord of the Rings Online game store would be the names Legolas1 through Legolas999999 for 50 Turbine points each, and the names Aragorn1 through Aragorn999999 for 100 points each.
In other news, veteran LotRO players seemed most excited about the forthcoming influx of Spunkmaster McGimli and Lukeskywalker vonBigwang37s in to the LotRO starter areas and beyond.
Rumours that Turbine are also planning to sell boars, legendary weapons with decent legacies, and a sparkly Balrog mount that will be the first flying mount in the game (which is fine, because Balrogs have wings), are unfounded at this time.
Patch notes show that one minor change has been introduced to the game’s epic Book content so far: Gandalf now shouts “You shall not pass! Unless you have purchased the You Shall Pass pass[TM} from the LotRO Store for 250 Turbine points. Buy Now!”
Reporting live for Oh MMO Emo News, I’m Melmoth Melmothson.
I expect to see 4 main groups take advantage of this:
1) non-Tolkein generic MMO players (I know this is the group causing fear among the LOTRO faithful)
2) Tolkein lovers who’ve never considered an MMO, but might just try it for free.
3) Existing MMO players who love Tolkein, but could never justify spending yet another subscription fee on top of their existing subscriptions.
4) Tolkein lovers who can’t afford a subscription fee.
I fall in category 4, myself. I also know several fantasy fans who are letting WoW accounts go idle because of financial difficulty, and might join LOTRO if it became free. I’ve been wanting to play LOTRO ever since it first appeared, but couldn’t afford it. So I’ve already applied for the beta.
>.< I'm sorry! I know I'm being a bratty pedant but…
Tolkien! It's Tolkien, darnit! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! SOMEONE IS WRONG ON THE INTERWEBZ!
*pant* Ok… outta my system now… Sorry about that.
@Jonathan B: I think it will capture the imagination of Tolkien fans: it’s a beautifully realised world that includes a lot of lore from the books; I imagine it will be a bit like a museum tour for them, where they can wander around and see the various exhibits which have been made-up to give a representation of what the curator thinks things might have looked like based on the evidence available. I don’t expect many of them to stay because the levelling grind is still a bit too steep in places for non-MMO players, but I imagine the Prancing Pony will be a lot busier for some time to come, especially on the role-playing servers.
Turbine have just recently spruced-up the starter areas, so they do at least stand half a chance of sucking new players in and getting them hooked before the grind begins.
Let us know how your experience goes.
Jonathan, you forgot Group 5 which is really the group causing the current LOTRO players the most concern.
There’s nothing wrong with the non-Tolkein generic MMO players, they’re actually a very nice, quiet, polite person. They know how to play their class quite well, probably know a bit about a couple of other classes, and if someone asks for help or advice they will usually respond with useful, pertinent information.
IMO the group that has the current LOTRO players really concerned are your loud-mouthed, know-it-all, Barrens/Trade Chat & Forum Trolls. They’re the ones who THINK they know everything about every single aspect of the game, but when someone asks for help they will provide one of three stock responses: Chuck Norris; Your Mom; or Alt-F4.