LotRO Targets A Million Players -- new article

Andos · 21-04-2006, 10:58 PM

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=16272

In a new article, David Solari says Lord of the Rings Online will be aiming for more than a million players in the western market.

A great read!

Bart_Lotro · 22-04-2006, 06:31 AM

Pretty risky statement: if LOTRO will score less than a million now, it will look like a failure and such a sentiment has a negative impact on your customer base. SWG and SIMs online pulled a similar thing and eventhough they had a good customer base, they scored less than the projected numbers.

Andos · 22-04-2006, 06:46 AM

I agree that while it's great to see such a high level of confidence in the title, it's also setting a very high expectation level.

I also think it's a mistake to make any sort of comparison with WoW. In most of the MMO forums I've seen lately there are player comparisons of those games to WoW which are quite irrelevant as the gameplay is quite different. These invariably lead to flames and "go back to WoW"-type comments.

Surferosh · 22-04-2006, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bart_Lotro

Pretty risky statement: if LOTRO will score less than a million now, it will look like a failure and such a sentiment has a negative impact on your customer base. SWG and SIMs online pulled a similar thing and eventhough they had a good customer base, they scored less than the projected numbers.

i would agree on that.. its better to keep mum for the time being and let the game and the gamers do the talking after the release.....
but if the devs are that confident then we can expect a good polished product from them..

Stormwitch · 23-04-2006, 09:02 PM

I DO believe that people have been attracted into the market by WoW and will be looking for the Next generation / Next big thing in MMORPG's.

However, I DO NOT think its a good idea to look to "attract" the WoW audience.

Its been stated many times before that WoW is in essence the combination of all the best elements of the first generation of MMORPG's. If we are looking towards that audience we are looking backwards!

Let the WoW subscribers follow US to the promised land.

The Lore and Legend of LOTR should be the anchor of the Next generation of MMORPGs. A generation of more involvement in world and character. A feeling of belonging to a world and making a difference to that world. A larger sense of place.

Setting targets like this brings expectations of immediate results. How is success or failure measured? Will the financial people see 600k subscribers as a failure? Will they insist on changes if that is so? A dumbing down after "only" achieving that number? It worries me to see figures like 1 million set. YES 1 million for a franchise like LOTR should be easily achievable however other similar projects have failed in it.

I firmly believe that a quality game with next generation characteristics is going to be the next big thing. I suspect that the growth figures on this game will not be the spectacular "buy straight away - Peak figures immediately and the slow long decline" that is traditional with MMO's at the moment.

Lets establish the game . Play the World . Walk into the future. The Process has begun and everything I read on the site excites me and enthuses me.

Build it and they will come!

Mercenarri · 29-04-2006, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andos

I agree that while it's great to see such a high level of confidence in the title, it's also setting a very high expectation level.

I also think it's a mistake to make any sort of comparison with WoW. In most of the MMO forums I've seen lately there are player comparisons of those games to WoW which are quite irrelevant as the gameplay is quite different. These invariably lead to flames and "go back to WoW"-type comments.

Totally agreed, this is what happened with many a RF Online player, and the majority of ratings and negative feedback towards RFO came from WoW players that trusted reports of comparison with their beloved game. The only way I can compare LotRO and WoW is the fantasy theme, otherwise I agree that nobody should really compare the two, let alone any two MMO's.

01-05-2006, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bart_Lotro

Pretty risky statement: if LOTRO will score less than a million now, it will look like a failure and such a sentiment has a negative impact on your customer base. SWG and SIMs online pulled a similar thing and eventhough they had a good customer base, they scored less than the projected numbers.

Yes .... they will need the good graces of gaming journos to set it right if their roll of the dice turns up snake eyes ..... word of mouth will take too long and many new players will go somewhere else if they remember disappointments of joining late like many Ultima Onliners etc ....

But still ... their bean counters must have backed the play ... fingers crossed

Dramen_Daemonsoul · 11-05-2006, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercenarri

Totally agreed, this is what happened with many a RF Online player, and the majority of ratings and negative feedback towards RFO came from WoW players that trusted reports of comparison with their beloved game. The only way I can compare LotRO and WoW is the fantasy theme, otherwise I agree that nobody should really compare the two, let alone any two MMO's.

It also affects the quality of gamers you get into the game as well.
To be honest i actually hated Warcraft. Not because it killed off diablo 2 on the european servers but i never was into the warcraft thing.
To me the game is cartoony fluffy and generally looks like a kids game in comparison to the rpgs i play.
But your right the only way you can compare the two is by the fantasy link and nothing more.
We will keep on getting WoW junkies slating other games just because of the sheer fact they dont want what happened to D2 happening to them.

1 Mil isnt really that big a boast i think for a Lotr title when in comparison the past games set on this scene have been a total faliure (note most where single player) but i think that because of the books and the already premade and redone films it has a bigger following that is projected.

11-05-2006, 02:36 PM

To hit the magic number it will need to have a pretty good bug free launch as well, unlike SWG's first few days lol

lional · 12-05-2006, 10:22 AM

I actually still play WoW at the moment and have a number of characters on differrent servers and i find myself becoming more and more fed up with the game as a whole.I say this because i think im not alone a lot of friends i play with feel the same way so i think the migration from wow to tlotr may be better than expected as long as it is a polished product with a bug free start up.Personally i have been waiting for an online lotr game for a long time!

21-04-2006, 10:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
Andos Moderator Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 3,291	LotRO Targets A Million Players -- new article http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=16272 In a new article, David Solari says Lord of the Rings Online will be aiming for more than a million players in the western market. A great read! __________________ "I desired dragons with a profound desire." -- JRRT

22-04-2006, 06:46 AM	#3 (permalink)
Andos Moderator Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 3,291	I agree that while it's great to see such a high level of confidence in the title, it's also setting a very high expectation level. I also think it's a mistake to make any sort of comparison with WoW. In most of the MMO forums I've seen lately there are player comparisons of those games to WoW which are quite irrelevant as the gameplay is quite different. These invariably lead to flames and "go back to WoW"-type comments. __________________ "I desired dragons with a profound desire." -- JRRT

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22-04-2006, 06:31 AM	#2 (permalink)
Bart_Lotro Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: The Hague, The Netherlands Posts: 653	Pretty risky statement: if LOTRO will score less than a million now, it will look like a failure and such a sentiment has a negative impact on your customer base. SWG and SIMs online pulled a similar thing and eventhough they had a good customer base, they scored less than the projected numbers.

23-04-2006, 09:02 PM	#5 (permalink)
Stormwitch Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Barnsley UK Posts: 33	I DO believe that people have been attracted into the market by WoW and will be looking for the Next generation / Next big thing in MMORPG's. However, I DO NOT think its a good idea to look to "attract" the WoW audience. Its been stated many times before that WoW is in essence the combination of all the best elements of the first generation of MMORPG's. If we are looking towards that audience we are looking backwards! Let the WoW subscribers follow US to the promised land. The Lore and Legend of LOTR should be the anchor of the Next generation of MMORPGs. A generation of more involvement in world and character. A feeling of belonging to a world and making a difference to that world. A larger sense of place. Setting targets like this brings expectations of immediate results. How is success or failure measured? Will the financial people see 600k subscribers as a failure? Will they insist on changes if that is so? A dumbing down after "only" achieving that number? It worries me to see figures like 1 million set. YES 1 million for a franchise like LOTR should be easily achievable however other similar projects have failed in it. I firmly believe that a quality game with next generation characteristics is going to be the next big thing. I suspect that the growth figures on this game will not be the spectacular "buy straight away - Peak figures immediately and the slow long decline" that is traditional with MMO's at the moment. Lets establish the game . Play the World . Walk into the future. The Process has begun and everything I read on the site excites me and enthuses me. Build it and they will come!

11-05-2006, 02:36 PM	#9 (permalink)
Guest Posts: n/a	To hit the magic number it will need to have a pretty good bug free launch as well, unlike SWG's first few days lol

12-05-2006, 10:22 AM	#10 (permalink)
lional Junior Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 2	I actually still play WoW at the moment and have a number of characters on differrent servers and i find myself becoming more and more fed up with the game as a whole.I say this because i think im not alone a lot of friends i play with feel the same way so i think the migration from wow to tlotr may be better than expected as long as it is a polished product with a bug free start up.Personally i have been waiting for an online lotr game for a long time!