Can LotRO pull it out?

[Palantir]

With the ongoing debacle know as the "Spring & 4th Anniversary Events" for the first time I'm wondering if "Middle Earth Ent." will extend Turbine's license past the Rings Destruction or if they (WB) even deserve it.

I have no doubts the design guys are doing their best with what they are allowed to "do" and can re-make the game into an "A+" experience if allowed. Unfortunately it's clear that the WB management is severely handicapping them in what they are being allowed to do & create.

The past idea of Turbine - "we're doing ok, holding our own and making a great game" has been replaced by a WB idea of, "maximum profits in as many ways as possible with as little product expenditure as possible to keep it alive."

If they had just revamped the housing situation / neighborhoods into an "A+" experience they could have rode the sales of new housing "stuff" forever and everyone would have been happy. Doing it now will just be seen as, "another way to suck more money out of players" situation.

It's amazing that a company (WB) is given a absolutely long term "cash cow" by Tolkien Ent. and they can screw it up for blatant "mass profits" greed. I'd have happily played the game past the Ring’s destruction following Aragorn as he campaigned to subdued Far Harad & Rhun- if it was quality work. (But first I have to start wanting to play THIS game again...)

I honestly don't know if they can pull it out into a long term game or what they can do now to turn around their "greed-first game-play second" business plan. I’m convinced that WB has no vested interest in the LotRO product and will suck it dry, dump it and merrily be on their way. Unlike Turbine who started it because they were interested in LotR and making it into an A+ gaming experience…

 

[Redwolf]

To me it looks more like Kate Paiz is screwing things up. It's not too likely that the total disregard for the player base comes down from WB so shortly after a takeover and in any case it started before. It started when somebody made the decision to polish Turbine up for sale and replaced the original producer with Paiz (that doesn't mean the original producer did everything right, but he wasn't openly disregarding players).

Despite what they say the team is also obviously reshaped. Although it might be a coincidence that Patience left and Sapience brushed up his skills from a Gestapo training manual it is overall more likely that Paiz went into the web team room and had people with no conscience raise their hands, and the rest could take their hats.