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Blind Adoration

Saturday, September 5, 2009

There's some question if 20 bucks is an appropriate price for what might be argued is a glorified book update. Before I even knew the price (though 20 was my guess) I knew I would pay it. I'd probably grumble if it cost 30 or 40, but I'd still have paid it. Why? Because I love this game. I love playing this game. But is that enjoyment translating into blind adoration? Is my willingness to shell out cash without question a sign I'm just a rabid fanboi? Indeed, I do not see 20 bucks as too steep; although I really don't want to spend money right now, I will, for this. I'd even pay five bucks for the book updates if Turbine charged for them.

Perhaps my loose pocket book for LOTRO has to do with my lifetime subscription purchase at launch. I've gotten my money's worth and more out of this game so far. Indeed, it paid off after the first year going by $10/month (the lesser known lifetime sub option). Maybe it's a case where I feel I've gotten a lot out of Turbine with this game and I'm perfectly willing to give back a little when I know my money goes directly into the product/service I'm consuming. I don't think a willingness to pay for well crafted content makes me or anybody else blind to where their money is going - we're just quick to decide it's worth the cost.

And for the record, nobody has called me a rabid fanboi, or said I'm blinded by love for LOTRO. This is a purely hypothetical post based off of comments seen on the forums in various places and a thought on Stroll to Mordor (see above link). I'm essentially ruminating on how I didn't even flinch at spending 19.99 on this new expansion.

4 Responses to "Blind Adoration"

Yeebo Says:

I completely agree, $20 seems like about the right price point. However I have to acknowledge that my opinion is skewed a bit by being a started-in-the-beta lifer. I'm not sure that I'd be so delighted to "only" pay 20 bucks if I had been paying $15 a month this whole time.

Sean Says:

I think the reason people may be grumbling is because it hasn't fully caught on exactly what it is we are getting. In MOST of the free expansions, we've gotten a new region with quests, environments, etc., usually some sort of instance/raid to go along with it, and a handful of fixes and changes. When you look at what we are getting with SoM, though, I feel that thhe skirmishes alone justify the need for cost, and I also feel that the information we have only a day after the announcement will not be NEAR complete...I'm willing to bet there will be plenty of other features to come out in the near future.

Jaxom92 Says:

Oh, we definitely only have the "highlights", or big deal items, known so far with the press release. I'm sure there's lots of little stuff to come, and more depth with the big features as well.

Merric Says:

No, I don't think it makes you a fanboi at all, and you can bet that Goldenstar and I will be paying the price as well for the expansion. ;) I think that there was just some confusion about what it was that was actually being released in the expansion.