In conjunction with today’s announcement Kate Paiz, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online, released a letter on the forums to the general community concerning these changes and her opinions on the matter:
Today we announced a couple of big changes for LOTRO, and I wanted to take a moment to talk about them. Last year my esteemed colleague and friend Jeffrey Steefel moved over to a new project at Turbine and I am now the Executive Producer for LOTRO!
As far as my background goes – I have been a producer in MMO development for 10 years. My career began in the industry working on the social world of There.com, where I designed and managed the implementation of There’s new player experience and commerce suite, including There’s 5000 product in-game catalog. I joined Turbine in 2005 and helped launch Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach. I’d been leading the DDO development team for some time when we decided to transform the game with our hybrid business model, and after Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited launched I joined the LOTRO team as Jeffrey segued onto his next project.
Now, I’m not sure if this means that she had a hand in LOTRO moving to Free-to-play, but I definitely thinks it means she has experience with a game moving from a paid structure to a free-to-play model. This is good though, because it means she has experience and will be able to make the transition much smoother for all of us.
Given my background, it’s hardly surprising that I believe very strongly in the power of providing gamers with a choice in how they pay and play our games. By adding a free–to-play component and store offering we will open up LOTRO to millions of players who simply won’t play a game that requires a subscription fee. I’m sure many of you have lots of questions about this decision, and I want to say clearly that the decision to introduce a free-to-play option was based on the desire to take the game to a new level by bringing even more players into the world of Middle-earth. LOTRO is one of the most successful MMOs in the world and has been doing very well as a subscription-only game, but with the success we’ve seen with DDO it seemed clear that this move is going to be hugely beneficial for the LOTRO community.
I tend to throw in with Ravious on this point. I don’t see going free-to-play as a bad thing. Really, I don’t. I mean I don’t have any costs because I’m automatically made a lifetime VIP member. I’m getting 500 points per month once-a-month upon release, plus additional points for being a lifetime member (1000) and a founder (500) before the release; current subscribers are receiving 500 points a month before the launch. From what I am reading, it seems additional points will also be able to be earned through game play and not just through purchasing them from the store. So the more I play (and longer I live) the more points I earn. This sounds pretty good to me!
Yes, there is a chance for the community to degrade, but there is also a chance for it to expand with even better people. It will be up to those who continue to take pride in LOTRO’s community to uphold those standards and hold others to them as well.
For our LOTRO VIPs the game will not change, except there will be more players around to group with, and there will be the ability to use the new LOTRO Store, which is completely optional for all players and gives access to hundreds of convenience, cosmetic and consumable items! You’ll be able to check out the Store in the Beta Program, and I encourage any of you who are interested to click here to sign up for it! For more details, and to learn about the differences between VIPs, Premium players, and Free players, click here.
I think the key thing here is to remember that if you’re a VIP (aka subscriber or lifetime member) you will not have anything change. If you have purchased the expansion packs, nothing will change. You will not be losing anything. Plus remember, anything you purchase separately as a subscriber (such as shared space, character slots, etc) will remain if you decide to change to a free player.I know change is scary and I’m not a huge fan of change in general, but sometimes it’s necessary. I think with the popularity of DDO, iPhone/mobile apps, facebook games, downloadable content on console games, etc. we are seeing a change in how people want to pay in general for games and LOTRO is just following this trend.
When we launch LOTRO Free-to-Play this fall, the change will bring with it more than just the transition to the hybrid business model. We’ve revamped the game’s starting areas, added the new region of Enedwaith, and will continue the journey of the Rangers south in Book 2 of our epic story.
Oh yeah, it was confirmed that Enedwaith would come with Volume 3: Book 2. 
Which I stress confirms that development on LOTRO hasn’t ended or shifted. It’s still the same company with a different pricing structure.
As we go forward beyond this major update, we’re going to be giving our players the same great content and feature releases that you’ve come to expect from LOTRO. In late 2010 and into 2011, we’re going to be working on improvements to the Item Advancement / Legendary Items system, to Radiance, and to the monster play system. I believe this is going to be a very exciting time for LOTRO, and hope that you all continue to share your perspective on the game as it grows and changes as we continue our journey toward Mordor. Please sign-up for the Beta Program and let us know what you think about the way Book 2 is shaping up!
I look forward to seeing you in Middle-earth!
Kate Paiz
So ultimately what we have here is a post from Kate stating that she is aware of our concerns, as are all the Turbine employees. Now that the fear has somewhat subsided I think we can see that there is little cause for alarm. This is not a “re-launching” of the game, merely a “pricing re-structure”. If you are a subscriber and you’ve been happy with your subscription you won’t see any change if you stay a subscriber. You will not be losing anything that you have paid for. If you’re a lifetime subscriber, you have VIP access “for life” just as before. And as Mordor or Bust points out if it works like DDO that means all “quest packs” are free. Sounds good to me!
June 4, 2010 at 12:58 pm
If I decide to do nothing but just continue playing, does my subscription just automatically go into the free-to-play program, cutting off the monthly withdrawels from my bank account?
I’m fine with them doing this as long as there aren’t hoops to jump through in order for me to get it going, that graphics won’t change, etc.
June 4, 2010 at 1:16 pm
I pulled this from the FAQ. So as long as you keep paying your subscription, you’re golden. If you stop, you won’t see any decrease in graphics or anything like that.
I am a regular subscriber on a monthly or multi-month subscription plan. What will Free-to-Play mean for me?
As a subscriber to LOTRO, you are automatically upgraded to VIP status. You will keep all your membership privileges as long as you keep paying your monthly fee. You will automatically receive 500 Free Turbine Points every month like the other VIPs, and you can spend the Turbine Points at your leisure in the LOTRO Store to enhance your game experience and keep playing the way you want.
June 4, 2010 at 1:41 pm
My issue is that this seems like a desperate attempt to get more people and not fix the problems that exist with the game. From all the people I’ve talked to on my server, the real issue is that Turbine doesn’t give people a reason to continue playing between content patches. Something new comes out, they renew their subscription for a month or two, do everything that there is to be done, then stop paying. (if they’re lifetime members, they just stop)
Turbine doesn’t give us any reason to get excited about the game. They don’t tell us what’s coming. They don’t give us screenshots or hints or anything like that. I see articles about things currently in the game but for people who are bored, there is nothing to say to them “oh look what’s coming up. You’re going to love this.”
This is the first I’ve heard about a new zone. It’s been months since Mirkwood. So they release a new zone when they go F2P and then…we’ll most likely hear nothing again for months. They didn’t need to make the game F2P to get peopel interested; they just needed to give us things to be interested about.
June 4, 2010 at 1:58 pm
Actually the zone has been “rumored” for a while and was mentioned to another media outlet at PAX East, but they didn’t release it for a long time for some reason.
(http://www.casualstrolltomordor.com/2010/05/next-lotro-region/)
As far as content between releases, this could be argued with any game out there. In WoW we had the same issues where people would drop and resubscribe when the next expansion or patch would come out releasing new content. However, I do agree that Turbine has been very quiet recently.
June 4, 2010 at 1:54 pm
I love your optimism and think you’re right, there is nothing wrong with LOTRO going f2p. But I will admit that my knee jerk reaction was shock. And even though in the back of my mind LOTRO going f2p would happen, I really didn’t think it would happen. Hope that makes sense.
Turbine has been releasing content for DDO on a fairly consistent basis since moving to f2p, I figure LOTRO will be the same, and that’s good news for everyone!
June 4, 2010 at 1:56 pm
It makes a ton of sense. Trust me, I was in shock as well, but thought that this might happen. I think that it’s a good move that might also be a well needed move.
June 4, 2010 at 3:36 pm
I am not looking forward to this. One thing that has kept me in LOTRO is that is has such a mature and sensible community. I cannot see how that will continue to be the case 3-6 months down the line. Especially for those of us more rp-minded.
June 4, 2010 at 6:00 pm
I’m a Lifer, so the F2P doesn’t really affect me other than the influx of WoW kids checking out the game. My biggest concern from the announcement is that the next content patch isn’t until this Fall. Bountiful content is what drives MMOs. For all of WoW’s failings, lack of content isn’t one of them and that’s how they remain the 900 lb gorilla. Star Trek Online is bombing because it lacks significant content.. LOTRO is heading down the same road. I have a hard time swallowing the fact that I can stop playing right now, come back in November and not miss one damn thing. I guess the coding for F2P takes priority over content creation.
June 4, 2010 at 6:23 pm
I certainly had the typical knee-jerk reaction when I read the announcement. Now that I have digested the information, the f2p will not really effect me. Sure, we may see more players in the lower zones, but contrary to the popular belief of the doom and gloomer’s, there is no direct correlation between someone playing a game for free and being a total jerk that would completely ruin the game for us current subscribers. It may even make it easier to get fellowships together in those area.
The thing that I am most disappointed about is no new content until some time in the Fall. I am trying to be optimisitc that once the f2p goes live, we will start seeing some more frequent content updates again.
June 4, 2010 at 9:17 pm
With all this stuff, I want them to open lifetime subs back up before this fall.
June 5, 2010 at 8:26 pm
My panics have died down as well. However, I worry for the rp groups. Community is the only thing that will affect us subscribers, and, of course, in a very indirect way. However, I think a good example of where it will be direct is Ales and Tales. I’ve only been once, but I loved it! I was shocked when I heard a guy yell “get in single file line” and, well everyone did it! (including me
) It is hard to say weather or not these events will be respected with free to plays. They take place in F2P areas and require maturity to go down well. However, the rest of gameplay seems unaffected to me. Oh P.S. Turbine has been way too quiet lately, it will have been about 6 months since a small content update when Enedwaith comes out, regardless of how excited I am.