A survey arrived in a friend’s inbox tonight that asked some very interesting questions. The survey was adaptive and would cut you off or open up new questions based on the answers you provided. At first it was asking whether or not he thought a MMO on consoles would be a good idea. It then asked which him which consoles he would be willing to play on. Then it asked how open to the idea of an Xbox 360 mmo he would be and then whether or not he would buy it for such and such a price. Then it started asking about microtransaction vs. subscription models. It asked if he would be willing to buy armor, pets, cosmetic stuff, gold, mounts, etc. What it asked next is what shocked me…
It pitched the idea and asked if he would be interested in a MMORPG based in the world of J.R.R. Tolkiens Middle Earth and went on to describe the exact game of LOTRO. There were a few key differences though… it said “8 playable races” and said that you could fight for the side of the Free People OR Sauron and talked about progressing down paths for good or evil. Now whether or not this pitch was just referring to Monster Play or actually letting players experience the MMO gameplay as a servant of Sauron I am unsure, but the information I was given seemed to go beyond just Monster play. I wish I could have seen the survey myself to confirm.
Apprently the survey was really, really focused on microtransactions and the willingness to buy stuff. It asked about Xbox Live account types (Gold, etc) and asked for an expected amount for each type of micro-transaction. One of the highlights of the survey was “Additional areas such as dungeons” and “Additional pvp maps” under the micro-transaction categories. The most interesting though was whether or not he’d be willing to pay for more races and more classes. Turbine was always so sure that there couldn’t be more races added so easily and here this survey is saying 8 playable and the potential to buy more…
Graev is really excited about the idea of a console MMO and I think I am too as long as they don’t dumb down the traditional style that I’ve literally known for over a decade. Playing LOTRO on the Xbox 360 on a large plasma TV sounds great. I’m not too excited about how micro-transaction ridden it would be (if this survey is any indication it would be bloated with them). I think MMOs on consoles could be decent if they’re allowed to play with PC players. I’m a bit bias here though because I want Graev to play with me and he’s more inclined to do so on a console.
So yeah, the survey could be just gauging interest in a MMO or it could be a sign that LOTRO is coming to consoles. I wish I was able to see if there were any other details, but that’s all I could milk from the source. Oh, it did say “The biggest MMO ever made for consoles”.
If anyone out there got the survey personally, what are your thoughts? New races, play as evil, microtransaction model LOTRO?
A MMO on console would be awsome, i also agree they would need to be compatable with PC players, i think that would be lots of fun, the microtransition or whatever sounds a bit strange though, would they make it microsoft point is gold ?, i think that would be a bit unfair cause then some really rich kid could just buy everything, but opefully a monthly fee would be low seeing its on top off an xbox fee
Companies talk a lot about porting their MMOs to consoles but it never seems to happen – AoC springs to mind here. I get the impression that trying to build a scaling, ever adapting game for a console as well as a PC is pretty tricky.
Hopefully as consoles become more like PCs, it will get easier and we’ll see some MMOs available for both. I’d love to see it.
“The biggest MMO ever made for consoles .
… Shouldn’t it be “The only MMO ever made for consoles… so farâ€
I’m not sure they can really claim that PvMP is on par with the PvE game… so it seems odd they mention it like that.
Might they just offer xbox players the PvMP portion of the game? That seems unlikely too…
@CunningB: LOTRO would have to go back in time a number of years to beat FFXI to market. 😛
As to the 8 races, maybe they are counting the monsters? Apparently Turbine confirms that it’s their survey, so it should be legit.
[…] of LotRO, Keen read of a survey which talks about a quite different LotRO than the one we know. A console based version with more action, players playing both good and evil races, more conflict, […]
“LOTRO would have to go back in time a number of years to beat FFXI to market. 😛 ”
Indeed… and don’t forget EQ:OA either.
Many of the current gen MMOs are also targeting various consoles, so it’s no surprise that LotRO would want a slice of that pie too. Off the top of my head I can name AoC, Free Realms, and Champions Online as gunning for both PC and console versions, but I’m sure there are more out there…
[…] go on in the Blogger Hall of Justice — it’s the rumor light! Doing what we do best, eager fingers start jamming keyboards in an eager attempt to be at least the 100th person to talk about this […]
Okay, so it’s as we thought and they’re doing market research. This means that they are indeed thinking about the possibility of releasing LOTRO (or a mmo like it) to the console market and that they’re focusing on microtransactions to an overwhelming degree.
What we should focusing on asking ourselves next is what this means for the game should it ever see the light of day. Porting to the console is a doable task for a game like LOTRO given how story based the game is an how Turbine uses instancing to tell their stories. It’s also a game built around simplistic mob ai with a lot of PvE. LOTRO’s quest-to-level system can be adapted to consoles seamlessly.
What would it mean for the quality of the game though? The microtransaction intensity could mean a “dumbing down” which would coincide with the standard port. It would actually make their job much, much easier and it would prepare the game for the market. We know that console gamers have been dealing with downloadable content far longer than the PC market so they’re somewhat used to being nickel and dime’d. LOTRO’s player housing, cosmetic clothing system, fluffy nature, and fantasy setting are ideal for this. Add in downloadable dungeon content (heck they could take content available on the PC and close it off and charge more for it – like the Rift) and more “battlegrounds” or Ettenmoors and you have the perfect recipe for a console port.
I think it could still be a fun game though. It’s just scary how microtransactions actually make it easier to adapt the game for consoles – not a good sign for those of us who aren’t microtransaction fans.
After 20 odd years of pc and console gaming, I would hate to see an MMO mix console and pc players on the same servers.
Why?
Because I can’t imagine how gimped a controller player would be in a group with a keyboard / mouse player.
FFXI mixes console and PC players and has been for years. You can’t tell the difference. It’s all about the type of game and how it is designed as well as the skill of the players on the console or PC.
More buttons to press does not make a game ‘smarter’ or more complex… especially when they pretty much do the same thing, but slightly different.
I’d rather have several basic actions, then context based special actions (based on que’s)… which would be the special skills.
Have fun playing with pad. Oh wait you won’t…
Any mmorpg, rts and fps on consoles without proper controller will fail in eyes of PC player.
They are able to make unique controllers for games like Guitar Hero? Why not introduce special controller that would just fit all fps/rts/mmorpg games?
I completely forgot about FFXI. That’s pretty cool it mixes seamlessly.
I know about Phantasy Star Online and EQ Online Adventures but they weren’t the best games.
In a land of hypothetical thoughts (and that’s all this survey ever seemed to be), LotRO can be a lot of things. There’s nothing saying it can’t be one thing on the PC and another thing on a console.
I’m not sure why the natural assumption is that if it’s an online LotRO game it just HAS to be Shadows of Angmar or Mines of Moria. I don’t know that the FFXI comparison is the only thing LotRO could be meant for.
It could be a lot of things, honestly. We know Turbine is working on consoles and their strongest license right know is LotR. It’s not an insane jump to make.
Apparently discussing it at all means you’re complicit in it being “fact”, though. I’ve found that much out already lol.
Even though there is a lot of console content to be hand for a fee, I would not call it a small fee in many cases. Some is pretty inexpensive, but others can easily reach $10+, which almost stops being a ‘micro’ transaction.
Personally, I’ve been playing 360 games on/off for a few years and probably only paid for less than $20 of extra stuff. I have yet to see extra content for a game that I play which justifies the cost they ask for.
The other side to think about is what is the cost going to come out as. A new 360/PS3 console title is almost always $60. If this is micro transaction based, I would expect there to not be a monthly fee. Now, as long as the average transaction / month keeps the price under the $15 I would have paid to begin with, then it’s worth considering.
The action side of the controller is easy enough. Heck, you could use your 360 controller to play an MMO on your PC (I’ve done it solo and in group, but not PvP). Sounds like they are targetting the 360, so voice chat would be possible at least with friends/guild. And probably a in-game virtual keyboard if you don’t have a chat pad or USB keyboard.
The problem with having MMO on console + PC, is that you put a cap on graphics, and can’t upgrade them past console ability. (at least thats what the devs for FFXI have always sead).
I thinkmy biggest problem with MMO on console is that you would need a second TV to watch TV while playing MMOs.
“And probably a in-game virtual keyboard if you don’t have a chat pad or USB keyboard.” —Isn’t that a vary slow way of typing?
I’d be in! Especially with Xbox Live’s community so large and vibrant if they could figure the mechanics I think it could be a success. As for system capabilities, I play both 360 and PC on my big LCD screen and truthfully, I hardly notice a differnce in graphic quality and my PC is decently beefed up. I played WoW and WAR on the big screen and loved it, except for alot of text was hard to read.
But I much prefer gaming in my LaZboy with controller over a keyboard/mouse anytime and since MMOs are my genre of choice ,bringing them to the 360 would have me hooked.
“fight for the side of the Free People OR Sauron”
I really hope that they will let people to choose the “dark side” for they characters. Leveling on different areas and PvP-ing only on certain areas should give this game a real bump. Not that the game really need a bump… but still.