Thread: 5th Anniversary Gifts - Not rewarding the most loyal, just the oldest.

I just read this on the web site:

"This year marks LOTRO’s 5th Anniversary! As part of the celebration, we would like to give you a gift as our way of saying thank you for joining us on our journey over the last five years! During the Anniversary Festival, which runs from April 16th through April 31st, all players will be eligible to receive gifts based on your account status* as of 11:59 DST on April 15th. Gifts will range from a new, unique set of fireworks and special anniversary cloak that all eligible players will receive to more exclusive items for our most steadfast premium and VIP players."

"Accounts created on June 30th, 2007 or earlier
The first to answer the call to arms, you have roots in LOTRO that run as deep as the mallorn trees of Lothlórien.
You will receive:
• A 5- year character portrait frame
• Festive Azure Steed
• New Azure Festival Clothing to match your steed
• Fireworks
• An Anniversary Cloak"


I think it is fantastic that Turbine is putting together an anniversary festival. I'm sure everyone is going to be very excited about receiving a free gift.

I must admit, thought, I am disappointed that the Festive Azure Steed will only be available to 5-year veteran players. You also need to be a 4-year veteran to receive the full set of anniversary clothes. It seems that events such as these reward the long standing players, not just the VIP players. On the surface, this makes sense. Reward loyalty, right? However, I would argue that players who haven't been here for 5 years are equally loyal.

There is nothing we can do to become founding players. If you aren't one now, you never will be. Despite paying the same monthly fee as long-time veterans, and making many contributions to the social and raid scenes on our servers, we will never be as rewarded as they are. If you spent twice as much money on Turbine Points, you're still out of luck. That leaves me feeling just a little left out in the cold. How about you?

Basically, I'm saying that time is not the best measure of loyalty or financial contribution.

The fine folks who run server-wide events and raids, give generously of their crafted goods, and otherwise make their server a fun place to be are more important than players who created their accounts way back in the day, but might be playing Star Wars or Guild Wars 2 today. I became VIP because of community contributors, and I'm willing to bet a lot of other people did as well.

I think it would be wonderful if we had some way to upgrade our status or purchase some of the higher level gifts. If the rewards are financially motivated, it might also be nice to upgrade people who have spent certain amounts of money on Turbine Points and expansions.

What say you?