7 replies to this topic

[Banned1]

Posted by player Klaarg


View ProfileFind User PostsFind User ThreadsJunior Member
Online status:  Reputation:  Join Date:Jan 2011
Posts:16

I love playing LOTRO, but...

...sometimes the way things are handled makes it seem more and more of a rip off, than a game that cares about it's treatment of players. I realize they need to make money and as a VIP who also collects horses, I give them money. What I have a problem with is things like blatantly unfair exchange rates, doubling the price of popular items simply because they can and overcharging for many of the items, with no regard for how it looks to us players. As a result of some of their actions recently, they have actually lost money where I am concerned.

When I went into the new area I was excited to see you could exchange silver and gold tokens for one another, until I saw it takes 25 silver tokens to get one gold token, but the exchange in the other direction is 1 gold token gets you 5 silver tokens. That is absurd, to say the least. I felt the same way seeing this, that I did when I saw the exchange rate for seals, medallions and marks after the changeover.

Doubling the price of task resets, which was an extremely popular item for me, was about as blatant a case of extortion as I have ever seen. It's funny that they doubled the price in an obvious move to make more money off of Turbine Points, but I stopped buying them because it was such a blatant ripoff. There is no reason for raising the price of a popular item like that, except to screw over the customers. It's not like it actually costs them anything to make them, but they felt a need to double the price, rather than raising it a small amount over time. It's funny because they made more money off of me before they raised the prices and when their greed became so obvious, my reaction was to stop buying.

Since they have become so greedy, they also seem to have become careless in their programming and testing at the same time. The lag they introduced in the last full patch is not only a pain, it is costing many of us a lot of silver. Swift travels are often interrupted, as are regular travels point to point. Inductions are wasted or interrupted due to the lag spikes and this is especially troublesome while in battle. Crafting is sometimes interrupted and critting while crafting has become hit or miss on my higher level toons, where it was pretty consistent before the last patch.

LOTRO is a great game, but it isn't bulletproof. Raising prices just because you can, is the start of something dangerous. If it continues, people will start becoming disenchanted and move to other games. General Motors former president said "Americans would drive dump trucks if gas was free." This was his explanation for their push into bigger and bigger SUVs, as gas prices rose. Well he was removed from the equation because of his hubris and failure to meet the needs of his customers. He was out of touch with reality and made stupid business decisions which cost him his job and nearly cost GM it's existence. I think much of the unfairness towards players(customers) recently in this game, is the same kind of poor decision making GM was guilty of. Seriously, if a daily player with multiple toons like me, is getting tired of being taken advantage of, imagine how the casual players are feeling.''...

Before gets deleted

I think this is a good post

[Knowfere]

I agree 100%. This is exactly the reason for my having left the game for 3 mos after 4+ years of solid daily playing. I've since returned, but I've had to change my whole outlook on the game. And stay away from their forums. Another form of rip off imo was the reduction in exp for skirmishes with the introduction of the stupid instance finder. That severely pissed me off. Not that I'm a big skirmisher, and not that used skirmishes to get end game gear even. It was the simple fact that they take away what we've grown used to, in order to push us into a direction they wish us to go. I don't like that subtle force. There was no reason whatsoever they had to do any reduction, they could have added a bonus as they did...but leave the original as it was...that makes people feel ripped off. I see that force with stuff involving the store all the time too. But since I'm determined to play ignoring that store 100%, the only real things that affect me are the systems in the game itself.

[Darmokk]

My reply, saved before the nuke:

"FWIW, I'm spending about 1/5th of the money per year on LOTRO now. And it's not that I don't have the money or that I don't want to spend it.

It's just that I don't buy things that rub me the wrong way or have been forced upon me (that's not how it works, I'm not some kind of schoolboy or addict). And my beloved VIP subscription is an utter joke now and had to be taken out and shot at the tree.

Now, I did buy the barter wallet and had to pay $20 real-world cash for it. I mentally adapted the stance that it is just like buying bag space, and I wanted to buy bag space since I joined the game. But it was a disappointment and the reason why I first spent money and then was disappointed is Turbine's lousy documentation. So I won't do it again."

[Knowfere]

Darmokk, on 27 March 2012 - 01:45, said:

My reply, saved before the nuke:

"FWIW, I'm spending about 1/5th of the money per year on LOTRO now. And it's not that I don't have the money or that I don't want to spend it.

It's just that I don't buy things that rub me the wrong way or have been forced upon me (that's not how it works, I'm not some kind of schoolboy or addict). And my beloved VIP subscription is an utter joke now and had to be taken out and shot at the tree.

Sums up my feeling exactly. I have money that I'm more than willing to spend on the game to support it since I've had a lifetime sub for years now. But I'm tired of buying something only to have it taken away later on and changed in order to re-buy it. It's really sickening. And since Turbines lying, unjustified forum moderating, silent communication, and downright ripping people off don't seem to be getting across to the majority of players, maybe the severe lag will. This whole game is falling apart, in every way and it won't be long.

[Jackalope]

I was watching a documentary yesterday about Pink Floyd, when suddenly some puzzle pieces fell into place. So I made this. It isn't solely applied to Turbine, so I filled in the blanks as it were, but it is universal in application to probably every company in existence.



Yes, the customer is definitely getting burned. [I added the titles for the two men because I was not certain everyone seeing this image would understand it. And I give credit where due to the original photographer, Storm Thorgerson I believe.]

[thordsvin]

I just checked to be sure, but for those that didn't know, that photo was take at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles. And the photographer was Storm Thorgerson.

[Jackalope]

Yeah, thordsvin, I forgot to mention that other little tidbit of irony, that WB was the location of that photo shoot. The level of irony about that photo and what it represents and it's relationship to Turbine, LOTRO, WB, and the customer is just unreal.

I wonder what kind of reception a slightly toned down version of that picture would be received on the official forum?

[Jackalope]

I went back today to check on that thread, hadn't looked in a few days. It's gone now, into the ether. Though I still have the couple of hundred rep points I got in there. I love how the screeny when you attempt to look for a thread they torched tells you that you don't have access because you don't have a valid account. Why don't they just admit it?...  

The thread you are looking for is now under quarantine, due to the subversive nature of the content.
Continued searching for this will label you an insurrectionist and we will respond accordingly. Big Brother has spoken.