The Numbers Dont Lie

[Lyria]

OK here is the point your missing.

lets say EVERYONE does what i suggest.On a 1 year time scale.

Turbine makes lets say 2 million(just a number off the top of my head)

BUT they would make 8 million IN vip subscriptions in the same 1 year time frame.

Lets say in that year, they release 4 mods(ha ha ya right), and they are priced point wise as mods are now.

And on those 4 mods lets say they make another 2 million(HIGH figure)

They have now made 4 Million on everyone buying points and the new mods.

But they have STILL LOST 4 million in possible revenue from VIP accounts.

And in following years, if they lose that UP FRONT 2 million, so now there up to losing 6 million a year. THAT is also considering they put out 4 mods a year. WHICH THEY DONT.

Are you seeing were it is POSSIBLE for them to really lose money on this?

Is my Point clear now? The Point is this, On the front end yes, it could create a huge revenue jump for turbine, but on the back end, in the long run, they could lose a TON of money! I never said they WILL lose it, just that it is POSSIBLE.

Except these numbers are so woefully inaccurate it completely blows your "point" out of the water.

If they had enough subscribers to make 8 million in one year off subs (that's around 45,000 subs, btw), and all those people bought into this "just buy all the content, you'll save money!" thing, and dropped $200 for everything?

Turbine would make almost nine million.

The $200 you spend to buy all the content, character slots, etc, is the same as it would cost a VIP to sub to the game for about 18 months. In that 18 months, if they come out with (let's say) 3 new adventure packs, each of which are around 500-800 points, that's another $30-50 you're spending. And the VIPs get that content for free. Let's say they add a new race (half orcs? half-elves?), or a new class (druids?). You're going to have to pay to unlock that, too. Etc, etc, etc.

Yes, in the LONG run (as in, around 3+ years) it's cheaper to go free to play and just buy everything. However, if Turbine starts churning out a lot more content (3-4 adventure packs per year, let's say), that time frame starts extending further.

For me, $15/month is a MUCH better price point than $200+ all at once.