To F2P or not…
With the announcement of Bioware and EA’s joint project going to a hybrid subscription model what does that mean for the world of MMOs?
My first thought is nothing, I really believe that it is up to the developers and the MMO community to make that decision final. I mean as long as games like Rift and WOW are able to function with a subscription model that will still be the main goal for larger studios. After all they have to cover their budgets.
However smaller studios and those who don’t feel they need to be the only game you play will take the F2P or hybrid subscription model at inception.
Let’s talk free to play stigma and why it really shouldn’t be that way anymore.
Stigma part one if a game switches from a subscription to F2P they are a dying game and a last ditch effort to save themselves. I believe that this one mostly came from DDO making the switch because it was floundering. But games like Lord of the Rings Online did it completely to increase revenue. Mostly after seeing what the change did for DDO. Both of these game of course being published by Turbine.
I am sure that the swift manner in which Star Wars The Old Republic has decide to change most people are going to see this as a failure. I believe that in the eyes of the studios involved that may be the case. When your actual goal is to hit 13 million subscribers and take over the #1 spot anything less is a failure.
Next stigma if a game comes out as F2P it is low budget and not well made. Low budget maybe but not well made have you seen Firefall it is well polished, it still has some issues but it is in beta. Although most F2P games are Asian ports that don’t always translate well in the US and Canada doesn’t mean they are also bad games just that we aren’t the right audience for them.
With all that in mind are subscription MMOs dying? I don’t think so with WOW still running things. And games like Rift performing like it has. There is promise in a subscription based game. That being said it is going to take innovations like the ones in Rift and those that are being tried in games like The Secret World for that to remain true.
On the flip side games like Guild Wars 1&2, Firefall and LOTRO that are very solid MMOs. That you can play without spending a dime and they can and will continue to make the money needed to continue to develop content and turn a profit.
So what have we learned? That subscription or no there are all types of very strong MMOs out right now. So find one you might like or a couple and give them a try.
As always comment below, email Bor, or follow me on twitter @Th3B0rR3p0rt & @Bor_Jason and let me know what you think.
Bor Plays Rift……..Again
After having a little disagreement with LOTRO I started subscribing to Trion Worlds Rift. I hadn’t played Rift in quite a while ( from the alpha and beta to be exact) and I must say that a lot of the changes made seem to be wholly for the better. Being this is only the second MMO that I have ever subscribed to you would think that I say better just because it is different. But I do have a few other MMOs to pull from. I have to say on the whole I think that Trion is a company that has it almost completely figured out. From small things like aoe looting to larger things like world events it is like they themselves still remember what it is like to be a gamer. I have been playing Rift since mid to late December and I have leveled 1 character to level 40 and multiple other to 20 or better. And the only major issue I have is fining groups for dungeons or group quests, most of which is my fault for not using the chat system. I have mostly just used the LFG option in Rift which seems to be underutilized or just not enough people know how or want to use it. Otherwise I feel that it has been a very solid and enjoyable experience.
I truly believe the given unlimited resources the people over at Trion could make a true WOW contender, although I still contend that WOW is more of an anomaly than the goal that people make it to be. Due to timing and a story in a world that was familiar to a large sum of people was the main cause of Blizzard’s success. Now to get back on the rails I know that people believe that any development team can make a great game with unlimited resources, I do not believe that to be the case. I am not saying the Trion team is infallible but they do seem to get more right than wrong. I know that in the MMO world there is no pleasing everyone but it does seem they come pretty close.
I know that this is usually when I start pointing out the issues with whatever I am writing about. In this case however I really don’t have much to say. The only real problems are just the typical MMO issues. Most of which normally caused by the players themselves. I will issue a final thought to go along with my former article about Rift. Rift is a solid game and quite enjoyable, by no means could it be a WOW killer. After playing for this short time I will say that I don’t believe at this time the game needs to be free to play by any means. Save that my original thoughts on Rift still remain the same.
So thanks for reading if you have any thoughts leave them below or email me at TheBorReport@gmail.com and also try Rift out for yourself here www.riftgame.com levels 1-20 for free and then let me know how you feel. Until next time ~ Bor
A Thought on Role-Playing
I just wanted to take a few minutes to share my thoughts on RP in LOTRO and other games. I am not much of what has been come to be know as an RPer. Although I do believe that anyone playing a game in a fantasy world where they are able to customize their character are technically role playing I do know that isn’t considered RP. RP is taking the story to a new level by going beyond the just the character creation by creating a back story for their character which they play out as they go through the game. Also they will be seen carrying on conversations in character or doing other group events with other role-players. I can’t imagine the amount of work that people go through to play this mostly because my creativity is maxed out with just the facial features of my characters. I do however want to applaud the people who take the time to play any game that way. I also want to say to anyone that thinks RP is weak or lame to remember whether you want to admit it or not you are role-playing just with less effort and thought put it to it. These are just my thoughts you can choose to agree or disagree and feel free to let me know either way. See you next time ~ Bor
Comment below, email me at bor.nimrodel@gmail.com or @Bor_Jason on Twitter
LOTRO Character Panel
Hey guys just a quick video showing the new character panel coming in the Echoes of the Dead update on the Bullroarer server coming “soon” to the live servers. Hope you enjoy it thanks for watching and I’ll see you in Middle-earth ~ Bor
You can read Tim “Raskolnikov” Lang’s new Developer diary here.
Dual Boxing Experiment
So the other Day I decided to try out Dual Boxing in LOTRO. After some trial and error I was able to get it working using the Lavish Software currently I am only running 2 accounts but I believe you can go as high as 5. You may ask why would you want to dual box? Well there are quite a few answers to this question but my answer is mostly to make it a different gaming experience. I am sure you have seen the videos on you tube of the guy running 5 RKs or Hunters with every key mapped so all 5 characters do the same moves at the same time. I have taken the approach of doing classes to support each other my first attempt is a Guardian and Rune-keeper combo. As of right now I am unsure whether this was a good choice or not but I’ll let you know. So far this has been quite fun although I am only at level 9 on my characters but so far I seem to be doing okay. I believe this may be the way I play from now one but we shall see I still have some more tweaking to do and a lot of experimenting I’ll post my thoughts and suggestions and answers to any questions you may have about this also thanks for reading and I’ll see you in Middle-earth ~ Bor.
Welcome to the Bor Report
Hey everyone I have decided to branch out I will now be covering any game that I play whether it be console or PC games. I will still be covering LOTRO and will hopefully be able to get back to doing the Podcast. Until then I am going to concentrate on doing some videos and posts to let you guys check out games you may not have even heard of. I may even start to incorporate the Gondor Awaits podcast into The Bor Report or vice versa. I hope it is enjoyable to everyone because I do enjoy putting it together. Again I would like to thank Mordor or Bust for hosting the podcast archives and the LOTRO Reporter Network for allowing me to write for them. hopefully in the future I will be able to return the favors. If there is anything you would like me to cover you can still email me at bor.nimrodel@gmail.com or call me at 1(304)534-9BOR (9267). thank you for your time and I will see you in Middle-earth or some other such place :).
Gondor Awaits Podcast
Greetings all,
Just a quick post to let you guys know that the Podcast is archived over at Mordor or Bust. For those who use Itunes and Zune to subscribe I do not believe the RSS feed will work anymore we are trying to tackle that problem but you can listen direct from the MoB site. I do not know how long I am going to be gone from the game but I will continue to answer any questions that I can get you an answer for. As to the emails I have outstanding I will get you the answers you want. Thanks you for your support and I’ll see you in Middle-earth ~ Bor
Episode 4 : Hunter's Focus
Episode 4 : Hunter’s Focus
In my haste to get this episode out I overlooked A Comment I received from Njalin which you can read below sorry Njalin. If you do leave a review on Itunes or Zune let me know also let me know what country so I can check the right version 
All episodes available here on Mordor or Bust
Also available on my Mevio Channel
Podcast ideas and suggestions
Hello everyone I just wanted to take a moment to thank those that have helped out with my previous episodes. At this time I would like to ask for more I have post written for all of my episodes through #9 all I am missing is your input. I need any of you that would like to put your opinion out there for others to hear let me know. To anyone interested this is what I am looking for your answers to the Tell the community team thread on the classes. You can submit your answers in writing or email me an MP3 at bor.nimrodel@gmail.com and they will be read on the show, or you can call me on Skype or leave a voicemail at +1(304)534-9BOR (9267) and I’ll play it on the show. If you want to call me on Skype you’ll need to add me to your contacts and let me know what time you are available my Skype ID is bor.nimrodel. I have already completed the show for Captains but if you have thoughts go ahead and share I would love to hear your thoughts. So go to the LOTRO forums and look at the tell the community team thread get your answers together and send them my way. If you have an opinion to add to this discussion I want to hear it. Even if you don’t have a level capped (insert class) it doesn’t matter as long as you feel like sharing. I will also be continuing this into the Monster classes as soon as I find out what questions they are going to be asking. I would also like to get your opinions as to what you would like to hear on the show email me any suggestions you may have. Here are the questions that I would like to cover and do not worry about keeping your answers short I want you to explain why you want the changes you suggest. Just answer the questions you feel comfortable answering and just let me know which class it is for so I can get it in the right episode. So if you love your class and you want to see it improved voice your opinion and help me let everyone know. I also need the information you want me to share i.e. character name, level and server again thank you all very much. Looking forward to hearing from you ~ Theobor
Th3 B0r R3p0rt 