There were lots of questions about Dungeons and Dragons Online Unlimited (DDOU) when it switched from a subscription only model to free-to-play hybrid model: how will it support itself and will it be successful Millions of users later and more success than ever, the premium free-to-play model is an established success, and Turbine is looking to kick things up another notch with The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) with help from the team at Ayzenberg. We talked to Jerome Lalin, Turbine’s Vice President Marketing, about the even larger push for awareness in making LOTRO free-to-play.
So tell me about the significance of this move for The Lord of the Rings Online and why Turbine is doing it.
Over the past few years, we have witnessed radical changes in MMO players wants and needs. 4 years ago, retail distribution and subscription only was the model for MMOs. Today, digital direct distribution and flexible hybrid business models mixing micro-transactions and subscription better fit a growing audience of players. To put it simply, players want to play and pay their way.
In 2009, Turbine created an event on the market with the launch of DDOU introducing the hybrid free-to-play model, sometimes referred to as the Turbine model. The success was immediate both in terms of audience but also in terms of monetization. DDOU is today the 2nd most played MMO in North America. And we are witnessing an ever growing audience of players who take advantage of micro-transactions to enhance their game experience or become VIP / subscribers.
Turbine naturally launches today LOTRO free-to-play as we have demonstrated the superiority of the hybrid free-to-play model over the subscription only model. The appeal of The Lord of The Rings brand and the premium quality of the game make a powerful combination to create an even bigger event on the market. And our campaign will contribute to maximize that.
Describe some of the basics of how free-to-play works.
Free-to-play is a hybrid model that mixes entirely free gameplay, micro-transactions and subscription. At any time players can elect to purchase Turbine points in the LOTRO Store, earn Turbine points through gameplay, and use these points to buy 5 types of items. These are the 5 Cs of the Free-to-play model. The first is Content, like new regions, expansions, quest packs. The second is Consumables such as potions. The third is Convenience like buffs and boosts. The fourth is Cosmetics such as outfits and other appearance items. Finally, the fifth is Concierge or premium services like an extra character slot or a character transfer from one server to another.
Turbine points can also be earned through gameplay. The more you play, the more you earn free points.
So it is really about your gameplay style. If you are willing to play extensively through the 1,000 hours+ of gameplay that LOTRO offers, you can really pay your way by earning free points. If you rather play shorter and more intense sessions, then getting some Turbine points will definitely enhance your experience. Finally, if the convenience to be able to access to it all is more important for you, then the subscription option will be the best and most economical option
What were some of the keys to this campaign?
The key piece of the campaign is the advertising clip. You shall not pay. A massive crowd of players is chanting Free Middle-earth outside of the LOTRO headquarters. Inside, at her desk the Hobbit receptionist is aware but too busy playing the game. As the elevator dings, the executive in charge at LOTRO steps out. With a staff, a beard, a hat and a suit, our modern Gandalf is going to save the day. Stepping out in front of the crowd, in an epic moment, he delivers the you shall not pay! message, striking the ground with his staff creating a wave of happiness among the protesters. Gandalf is both happy and almost surprised at the effect of his magic pure Gandalf style.
The message is pretty clear: LOTRO is now free-to-play and that means that we have heard the massive audience of players out there and we just wanted to celebrate that moment with our fans while making fun of ourselves at Turbine.
The challenge was not simple however. Using the image of Gandalf required a very close relationship built over the years with our licensor (Saul Zaentz Company), a good understanding of the values and pillars of the LOTRO brand (epic, fantasy, scale, heroism) and superior production values to avoid the cheesiness of a lot of advertising for free products and services.
I think that the director Jamie Sterba and the [a] team just nailed it. It is an advertising masterpiece in my opinion. And I am sure that fans and players will like the style, the humor and the overall feel of it.
Sounds great.Tell us about the other parts of the campaign.
The TV piece is important to raise awareness but it does not work in isolation. Other core components of the campaign are in play.Our online advertising plan with core MMO and gaming sites is aimed at saturating our target audience throughout the launch phase (heavy up) but most importantly throughout the pull-thru phases that follow. In addition, we have over the years developed numerous performance based programs leveraging search engines and other networks.Online and TV make a powerful combination. And while TV is hard to measure, we do see an increase in click throughs and view throughs when the online media is used with TV. Obviously, online is best to measure efficacy and we do track the performance of each publisher throughout the phases of our acquisition funnels.We break down our online plan across three main unit types. The direct response units, like Google ad words, the branded direct units like site wraps and take overs and other rich media units, and the pure branded awareness units, such as TV for instance where the performance measurement is trickier.For this campaign we are testing online as an alternative to broadcast. Sites like Hulu have grown significantly their audience over the past years. The ability to both target and measure while having the benefit of the video format is interesting for marketers. So we are looking forward to see some good results there.
Going back to what you said about F2P that really seems to be where the MMO industry is shifting.
The audience has shifted. The industry is not entirely shifting though. It takes some guts I must say to change a business model and many have failed either by changing or by not changing. But overall I would be concerned if I was to launch a game that only offers a subscription model to players in the future.Going free-to-play means a lot of headaches and additional work for the development and marketing teams. You are best positioned when the game is designed as a free-to-play game from the start. Retro-fitting free-to-play is a design and organizational challenge. Given the nature of our games, we were able to take on the design challenge quite well. It s a lot of effort to think in constant terms of monetization and content itemization while building a game that is fun to play and balanced over 1,000+ hours! It s a lot of work but it is a greater reward as well.The organizational challenge was harder to solve but I must say that over the past 4 years we turned our organization successfully from a boxed product retail base business to a leading digital publishing organization with its corollary of customer lifecycle management, direct and community marketing and digital distribution/e-commerce. We do have a retail strategy though with POSA cards (point of sale activate cards). We are excited that Gamestop, Best Buy and Target are going to offer that method of payment to the segment of the audience who does not have credit cards.
Tell me about the launch of this campaign on Family Guy.
The campaign has 3 phases. The ignition phase starts with online media featuring the 60 second version of our clip embedded in site take-overs and rich media flash units, followed by 15 second versions on Family Guy Sunday 12th and syndicated spots over the week end.The awareness phase will deliver the 30 second version from 9.15-18 in variety of channels such as G4, Adult Swim, MTV2 and Fuse.The reminder phase will deliver the 15 second version from 9.22-25 in the same channels.Throughout these phases, our online campaign will saturate the target audience online for maximum efficacy.
When will LOTRO Free-to-play be available?
We are launching Free-to-play on Friday September 10th
