The players Turbine rewards in Lotro
Turbine has chosen to create two types of players in Lotro, those who get a free mount at level 25 and those who don’t. To Turbine and to those who received the free horse this seems to be no big deal, but to those that did not, and now can never get one, it remains a point of contention. For those of you who do not understand, let me explain. Turbine unveiled the plan to reward those players who are Founders, i.e. they pre-ordered the game, or those players who chose the Lifetime membership on or before Dec.3, 2007, with a free mount at level 25. While the mount in question is slower than the level 35 mount, it is both free and remains a good 30% faster than running. To be fair Turbine did offer a reduced monthly fee to those customers who did not qualify for the horse. But this is where the plan falls apart. The reduction in price is nice, but hardly equates to the value of a mount, free of charge, a full 10 levels before everyone else. As a marketing strategy this promotion also fails, if it was offered along with the ability to subscribe for a lifetime, than it would act as an incentive for players to purchase a lifetime account. But no, the lifetime horse deal closed before it was announced, so there is no incentive. What is left is a player base split in two, one who have the gift horse and those who don’t, and never the two shall meet. Of course the players who received the gift horse are very supportive of the decision by Turbine. But their support could be shortsighted. What this really shows is that Turbine values their customers differently. Founders, and to a lesser extent, lifetimers, are more appreciated, than their other customers. For now that doesn’t really matter to Turbine, as they are still flush with Founders. But as the game ages Turbine will have less and less founders to hold them over, and if they continue to neglect their newer players, well that in itself is a dangerous game.
Many players have defended Turbine, although someone who didn’t receive the gift horse come to their defense. It is possible that this is just a form of veteran rewards, and that Turbine is just honoring their loyal customers. But this isn’t a veteran reward, because there is no chance, no matter how long you play the game, to ever get this reward. You could play from now till the servers are shut down., but you will never get this gift horse. So no, it is not a veteran reward, veteran rewards are based on loyalty measured by length of play, not by whether or not you pre-ordered or decided to buy a lifetime membership. A veteran reward should be obtainable by any player who stays with the game long enough, thus it serves two proposes, it rewards loyal customers, and gives new players an incentive to remain with the game. This free horse did neither. Long standing players, who pay a monthly fee, but did not pre-order or chose the lump sum lifetime option are forever relegated to the inferior statues of not having a mount at level 25. In the end Turbine has created two camps within their game.
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