With all of the issues lately concerning LOTRO, it might be a good time to offer a lifetime pass again

It was an error in 2007 because at the time they had no other form of revenue besides the subscription. That is very clearly NOT the case anymore. The game has had a freemium model for the better part of a decade now.

You know what's really funny, STO has been around for over 10 years now, and through the ENTIRE time has had a lifetime subscription option along side standard subscriptions up until late 2018 when they removed the normal subscriptions and kept ONLY lifetime. That wasn't a sign of the game "dying" since they're currently in the process of revamping the klingon side of the game.

I would argue that LotRO is dying in the sense that its engine is holding it back. And the fact that there's going to be a new LotR MMO coming out eventually built on a modern game engine.

I really wonder what you people think the current subscriber numbers are. Since the majority of players especially new players would only have VIP for a month every now and then to get the benefits of it especially with the sale on expansion content and the free quest pack code. Which renders the need for VIP to have access to the zone quests a moot point. Most of the games revenue nowadays isn't from the subscriptions, it's from the LotRO Store.

/r/lotro Thread Parent