A Literal Reversal of Fortune
By
Pig

Here?s the deal, kiddies. Turbine did something that, quite frankly, surprised me. They reversed, at least substantially, a decision they?d made earlier this month. The decision involved unnecessarily limiting players from joining their oversees comrades in playing the upcoming LOTR Online MMO.

The way Turbine chose to implement this decision was an unusual one. They regionalized the game, selling only regionalized versions of LOTR in Europe, North America, etc. These regionalized versions were only compatible with the servers in that region, meaning that you couldn?t buy a copy of the game in Germany and play on a U.S. server. This isn?t all that unusual as a business practice in the MMO industry, and is done predominantly for practical reasons.

Turbine took an additional step, however, of implementing IP blocking. This means that if you bought a U.S. version of LOTR and wanted to play it on your laptop in Iraq, for example, you couldn?t do that. The game would detect your foreign IP and prevent you from logging on.

Further, if you play with international friends, or have guild buddies from various parts of the globe ? and who doesn?t? — you simply won?t be able to play LOTR with them. Ever. The game keeps you from interacting with your friends overseas, and effectively splits guilds up.

Nice, huh?

The purpose of regionalization was to guarantee a fixed customer base for the subcontractors that provide services (billing, server support, GMs, etc) to a local region. It?s not crazy for game companies to want this, as it does have its benefits. The biggest problem is that Turbine went way too far when it implementing the IP blocking thing.

It is simply way too restrictive, and it was completely unnecessary. It punishes the customer, the player, the gamer, while providing an incalculably small benefit to Turbine?s business partners (the aforementioned service providers).

Well, as of a couple of days ago, they fixed it. The announcement, by an administrator named Marketroid, is as follows:

Hello everyone,

Throughout the Alpha and Beta phases of development, we have worked hard to satisfy the enthusiastic community that has risen up in support of LOTRO. We listened to and incorporated your ideas many times throughout development and our game is now stronger for it. As we prepare for launch we wanted to let you know that your feedback still matters. We have been listening and will continue to do so in the future.

Recently, some players expressed their concern about our plans to implement IP blocking. After listening to our fans, we have decided to remove IP blocking in North America.

However, we strongly encourage players to purchase and play the game in their region to receive the best game experience, connectivity and local customer support. Please note that regional clients are only operable with their respective regional services.

In closing, we would like to thank the players for your feedback. Your honest input has been invaluable to us throughout development. We are always listening to your feedback.

Enjoy Middle-earth!

One quick note: Marketroid?s statement is about as clear as mud. By ?removing IP blocking in North America? does he mean that foreign versions of the game can be played in the U.S., or that U.S. games can be played from other regions of the world (which is what I think it means)? And what about the games that are sold and serviced in Australia/New Zealand? No mention is made of them. What, exactly, Marketroid meant needs some serious clarification. Despite this, it appears that Turbine is going in the right direction, allowing players from different parts of the world to play together.

When I first learned of this decision, I?d written a rather lengthy editorial examining why this decision would hurt LOTR Online substantially. I also took Turbine to task because of their past practices of doing just this sort of thing ? making business deals that were bad for their games ? regarding their other online MMOs.

I also wrote that the practice of other online MMOs, including the 800 pound gorilla that is World of Warcraft, was to allow for a workaround to regional blocking practices. Effectively, this means that deals with local service providers ? companies like TheNine and Codemasters ? remain viable for all parties involved. The local service providers retain most of the customers in their region, while allowing some people to play in other regions. By allowing these workarounds, friends and guildmates in various parts of the world are able to play with one another, even if they are all in different regions.

This workaround usually involves buying the game from outside your designated region. Most of the people my wife and I play MMOs with are from the U.S. We have, however, two friends in the U.K. we typically game with, as well as some guildmates from Australia and other parts of the globe. Thus in our particular case (depending on if I?m interpreting Marketroid?s statement correctly), this would mean having my friends and guildmates buy the game from a U.S. retailer. If my foreign buddies all pick up a copy of LOTR from the U.S., we can all play on the same servers.

A better trend, but one that isn?t seen as often, is to allow all players everywhere in the world to play on the same server (or linked servers). This is a bit more complicated and difficult to implement for MMO game companies. However, when it has been done (most notably in the case of Guild Wars), it has been very well received by players. Guild Wars, incidentally, is the second biggest MMO in the world, with more than 3 million customers. I believe that Guild Wars is so hugely popular not only because it?s a good game, but because of the customer-friendly practices that ArenaNet has implemented. These practices include the aforementioned cross-regional play on linked servers.

Thankfully, Turbine chose to reverse their earlier IP blocking decision. This is, I think, a very good move. I believe, very strongly, in the following highly scientific mathematical formula:

Customer-Friendly Decisions ->  Good Sentiment About a Game -> More Customers -> Long Term Longevity and Popularity of a Game

Or, put more simply:

Customer-Friendly Decisions -> A More Successful Game

Companies that have put similar customer-friendly policies into practice have a track record of successful games over the long haul; this is true even if their games aren?t perfect. Earlier I cited Guild Wars as a very solid example of this.  Companies that tend be more draconian, or even ones that take their customers for granted, don?t really have that same track record, especially if the game has flaws. Examples of gimped or utterly failed MMOs produced by such companies are legion.  

What does this mean for LOTR Online? Gotta be honest with you; I think this was an important decision. Turbine made a smart move here. As I documented in my prior article, making customer-friendly decisions hasn?t necessarily been something Turbine has practiced in the past, and my hope is that this is a sign of change. If Turbine can continue going in this direction, making decisions that are good for their customers above all else, I believe that LOTR has the potential to be a major player in the MMO marketplace. 

I documented, in my prior editorial, how Turbine’s MMOs haven’t exactly been, historically speaking, what you might call successful.  I’m doubting that they can afford to have another MMO — particularly one with the potential of LOTR Online — go belly-up.  In short, by making these kinds of decisions, Turbine may be reversing their fortunes — very, very  literally.  These kinds of customer-friendly decisions will contribute to the popularity of LOTR and, combined with continued ongoing improvements to the game,  may make LOTR into the first successful MMO Turbine has had in a long, long time.  

Don?t get me wrong; LOTR Online certainly has flaws. Every MMO does. And it will have some problems at launch. Almost every MMO has problems come launch day. But the game, overall, appears pretty solid. It takes a lot from WoW (just as WoW took a lot from its predecessors), which is probably a good model to follow. It?s based on one of the best franchises in the history of fantasy/sci-fi, and it?s being run by a company with a good amount of MMO experience. But if ? and this is a very big if ? Turbine continues to listen to it?s customers, and make decisions that are favorable to them above everything else, I believe LOTR can and will be a winner.

But that?s still a very big if.

Here?s wishing Turbine success.