[Rumor] Lord of The Rings Online: Free To Play?

After enjoying an enormous success via free Dungeons & Dragons Online, Turbine seems to have another free game plan, Free Lord of The Rings Online.

Quote from MMOHut Since re-launching as a free to play, micro transaction supported game, DDO's 'subscription numbers', the total number of users paying monthly, has increased 40%. Although the game is free to play, users can pay a $9.99 monthly fee to access special 'VIP' privileges.

Though none of the above is official yet, It's quite obvious that F2P market is huge. Turbine is smart enough to realize that the F2P DDO arise from the crisis, let alone Lord of The Rings Online has a large player community around the world. Free to play can attract many people to log into the game without a subscription. In modern analysis on MMOs' profit, analysts frequently talk about a new concept, As for Average Pay Per User. According to this concept, MMO company needs more players to play the game. In traditional monthly fee and subscription, many prudential people prefer to remain their own MMO world rather than to entor a totolly new world. "If the game is not my style, I just plays ducks and drakes with money."

Free to Play opens a gate to all people who want to try something new. Everyone becomes a prospective buyer. It is a potential business model in MMOs' future. Turbine is not the only company succeeding in Free to play , and of course, DDO won't be the only F2P MMO either.