Yes, the big news came out that our beloved game is going free-to-play. I must admit my first reaction (which you can see on my Twitter feed) was “lame”. So, ok, I paid for a lifetime subscription to a game that I assumed would be developed for a good many years. By developed, I mean there would be regular content updates, sizeable expansions, progression, etc. What do I get now?

Well, as it turns out, we lifetime subscribers get “VIP” access which amounts to…. the game we paid for and 500 Turbine points to buy needless sparkly stuff in the new LOTRO store. I admit I’m being somewhat negative but with the recent flood of sparkly crap that has come out of WoW and EQ2, I don’t have high hopes for much different from this “store”. Honestly, if I wanted sequin dresses and My Little Ponies, I would go to the mall. In the real world.

Do I care that other people want sparkly crap? No. Knock yourself out. But when your ability and desire to buy this stuff changes design direction for a game that I paid for, yes, I care.

Companies make games to make money. Except that now, companies make item shops to make money. Where is the incentive to improve game mechanics, to add features, to make life better for the people who pay-to-play? When profit comes from sparkly crap, that is where developer resources are going to go.

Not only am I concerned about the coming direction of design, I am concerned about the fact that as I play a game I paid to play for its life, I am going to feel pressured to buy sparkly crap or “cosmetic” items. I resist that on principle. I don’t like being nickel-and-dimed. I don’t like feeling like I have to buy things because “it’s a good deal”. I don’t like feeling uncool because my horse is the one it took actual play through like quests and stuff (crazy, right?) to acquire, but yours looks so much better because it cost x-number of Turbine points.

Further, exactly what determines if something is “cosmetic”? If I play the game to dress up like a wizard or a southern Tolkien belle or an adventuring miner, that is my game. It might be a “cosmetic” aspect of the game, but it is part of the game. Why should I have to pay extra to play this game in a way in which it was intended to be played? It’s a role-playing game, but now I have to pay extra (yes, it’s extra when I already paid for lifetime) to express my role-play through “cosmetic” items? [For the record, I'm a raider as most of you know, but I feel for the people who aren't and that is from where this argument stems.]

Now I’m not going to delete all my LOTRO files and go cry and rant more than I am right now. I’ll still play. I’ll check it out. But it will never be the same, and I’m worried that in this case, different isn’t better.