Thread: New Store Item: Hobby Horse

Originally Posted by xRaina

.
1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

At least the price is not funny.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

THIS Item? No way. I am absolutly against the introction of this item.
A accountwide horse? maybe i would buy it.
A fun item Hobby Horse? Maybe i would buy it, if it would be a emote for around 200-300 TP or a bind to account use-item (for ~500 TP) that can always be shared with my other toons (like shop cosmetics) and is not consumed and doesn´t give any benefit expect the optic. Cold be fun for kidding around or some RP-events.

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

A Hobbit with two half coconuts running behind me ervery time i mount the Hobby Horse and simulating the horse clip-cloping. And a bare chest cosmetic for my female elf champion. Well, forget the Hobbit with the coconuts.

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

Constructive commenting and questions ONLY


We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.

Is Turbine evil and greedy? No. Did they totally miss the break-even point, the benefits of their costumers and causing collateral damage to the community with this behavior? Yes.

There is no single item you could ever make that I would pay 5000tp for. Now you could bundle a bunch of things togther, and then I might. But I shy away from non-account wide things, so it would still be a hard sell, but if was a big enough bundle of things I might think abount it...

Like maybe, all the horse dyes, all the steed equipment dyes, and a bunch of steed equipment styles (and I mean almost all, if not all) I would pause and consider it, but anything less than that....no way.

I'm just guessing, but the price is propably that high because they try to keep such "silly" items away from beeing omnipresent ingame. If every hero rides along with this thing... I dont know how I would react. A lot of women already seem to be offended by my muscular dwarf. (... and I don't know why.)
But knowing this one paid a high price for his "special performance", I would propably think he earned it and have a good feeling about what I see, because he supported the game in some way with his purchase. Even if it's paid from lifetimepoints.
On the other side, implementing items to the shop with this funny/childish appearence is propably easy for turbine as long as they were also used ingame in some situations/quests. So why not reuse them to make money, as long as it doesn't end up beeing annoying or against the lore.
Like they said in the first post, nobody is forced to buy such optional things.
But they really should stay optional! I dont want to see things in store like rideable/movable wagons etc... things that really would enhance gameplay.

So after a long day of excitement over your little joke item and after reading about 95% of the responses so far, we can safely say that you need to go back to the drawing board on this one.

Heres a list of things you could be doing rather than thinking of ways to take our money:
-Fix some bugs.
-Fix some more bugs.
-Instance: Ford of Bruinen (one of the oldest ones there is)...Supply the Archers deed is still bugged out last I checked...a relatively simple thing to fix I think..fix it.
-Build Mordor.
-Fix more bugs.
-Please stop insulting us, the players, who literally write your pay checks, with items such as these.

Originally Posted by xRaina

Some of you may have noticed a new item in your store on Bullroarer: the Hobby Horse.

The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

Constructive commenting and questions ONLY


We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.

My comments for this:
1. I'M level headed I know. I'm just wondering if Turbine/WB is.
2. I will be insane before I buy this item for the current price.
3. If this item were 500 TP or less I would consider it.
4. I agree with Goldenstar!
5. Bottom line: I would enjoy this item if it weren't for the price.

Originally Posted by Dinge

would it be possible to have my herald following me with 2 halfes of a coconut as well?

Id buy that for a dollar!

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.
way way overpriced. Anything between deed reward and 500 Tp is okay.But above that.Not really

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?
I would. For a much lower price. Would probably be a blast seeing an entire kin on them riding through towns^^

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
None.Well flying maybe...or the next expansion for Free since its the amoint of TP i'd need for one

Just an idea:
If you really want to sell items with this high prices make them reasonable im some way. Dont just put them in the store with descriptions like every other item and let the customer try to understand why it costs so much.
Instead, add more ... sophisticated advertisment to this item so everyone directly knows why its worth this much.
Why not make it limited? 1 or maybe 12 per server?

The price is fine, since you're obviously whale-hunting and it is a novelty item.

Just do NOT make it fast enough to be a viable in-game mount. It should have no utility at all, just be a silly and notable cosmetic.

The cash shop is the game's life blood, but immersion in Middle-earth is the game's body and soul!

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

I don't see it as a joke, but rather as a foreshadowing of things to come. Bad things.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

No.

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

Making it a War Steed with all three trait lines maxed out.

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

Reducing the price by 90% would make it a better item.

Originally Posted by Moondog548

The price is fine, since you're obviously whale-hunting and it is a novelty item.

Just do NOT make it fast enough to be a viable in-game mount. It should have no utility at all, just be a silly and notable cosmetic.

The cash shop is the game's life blood, but immersion in Middle-earth is the game's body and soul!

If they really wanted to whale-hunt, I think they could probably do better than this. A lot better than this. I don't really have a problem with them putting high-priced "prestige" items in the shop. Other games do it, as I've mentioned before, and it seems to work for them. I just think they could have come up with something much better and less controversial than another mount skin.

If they wanted to make more money, they could offer the Discovering the Descendant questline as an a la cart purchase in the Store. It's actually good, and for myself, personally, I'm more willing to shell out extra money for more, optional content. That is, fun instances and quests that aren't part of what VIPs get, yet isn't "must have" content. It worked for Guild Wars. I think it could work here as well. I'd love to see that. And I'd shell out the money for it.

Originally Posted by xRaina

Some of you may have noticed a new item in your store on Bullroarer: the Hobby Horse.

The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

Yes - if it would cost much less, maybe I would spend 300 or even 500 points on it when I have a good day. Maybe I would buy it for its current price if I won a high amount of TP from a lottery or something like that.

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

Since the whole Riders of Rohan-Expansion costs 4.295 TP the featurs of an item which costs significantly more should at least be a few hundred quests, new landscape, an instance-cluster, something like Mounted Combat or a new class... but if you are asking about features that a mount should have that costs 5.000 TP - i cannot imagine that. At least it should be account-wide.

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

I do not think that it is evil to introduce this item at this price. In fact I would not care if it would cost 50.000 TP since it is a just for fun-item which nobody needs. I suppose that if only one player on each server will purchase it Turbine already can be satisfied. But maybe you could be more satisfied if it was sold for 500 TP and 500 players per server would purchase it?

I would personally not purchase this item at 5,000 TP, and I would highly discourage anyone who is not a millionaire from buying it.

I do see some players buying this at 5,000 TP.

Some of my fellow players may say that it is a waste of money. Money is just an idea, what actually matters is wasting resources. Gigantic diamonds are wastes of resources, because vast resources are used to mine them. This is merely a string of bits. It is 99% profit, only a relatively small amount of labor (programmers/testers/marketers).

For just 11000 turbine points, you can buy your own fell-beast.

Why do I have a feeling that I am going to be seeing an email similar to this sometime in the next year or so?

Originally Posted by xRaina

Some of you may have noticed a new item in your store on Bullroarer: the Hobby Horse.

The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

Constructive commenting and questions ONLY


We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.

1. I appreciate an up front honesty about the price tag. I appreciate that you clarified that this is not a joke, because I certainly thought it was one. That it is not a joke is an enormous disappointment. $50 for a lore-breaking, cartoonish "mount" I would truly like to believe IS a joke, because it makes me terribly sad to see such an atrocity as even a proposed idea.

2. No. In its current form, this item is not only something that I would not purchase, it is down right offending. The price is insane, and the item itself does not belong in the game in this form.

3. Nothing. Nothing you could add to this item would make it worth $50. It should not exist in the first place, but even putting that aside, you could do nothing to make it so valuable. A ridiculous lore breaking "mount" that costs more than an expansion is in no way, shape, or form attractive, and short of making it a "freebie" that I would never use that happens to be attached to an actual expansion pack, I would never drop money on this as a "mount."

4. I don't believe Turbine is inherently evil, nor is the store. It is there for us to buy things to support the game, often fluff or perk type items that strike our fancy. I do believe, however, that they may be misguided if they believe this is the kind of thing Lord of the Rings fans want. This is immersion breaking, lore breaking, cartoonish, and has no place in middle earth in this form, even as a joke item. Especially not as a "mount."

What I would suggest would make this item appealing:
1. NOT a real mount. Not now, not ever. This is middle earth, not looney toons.
2. Make it either a fun cosmetic that is NOT a real mount, or preferably an emote.
3. After doing 1 and 2, price it on the high end of the existing cosmetic scale similar to the bare chested dwarf if its a solo item.
4. For it to be worth $50, it would need to be an entire set of items/emotes. Perhaps different types of emotes (running, rearing up, a "high-ho-silver" sort of thing, bowing, etc.) in a bundle combined with different cosmetic appearances of the hobby horse as a cosmetic item only. Perhaps you can only perform the emote if the cosmetic is equipped, similar to needing to be on a real mount to make it do the mount bow emote. This would preserve the fun, silly aspect without introducing it in a way that is utterly lore breaking and offensive to the spirit of middle earth.

Please reconsider this item. It is one thing for a person to dress up funny for laughs, or perform a short silly emote for laughs. Even in middle earth, I'm sure there were pranksters and jesters. This item could be put to those purposes and still be a palatable, enjoyable thing to purchase. But to actually "ride" this toy as a real "mount" over the landscape is a step to far. It takes out beloved world of middle earth and begins to make a mockery of it. Don't set this precedent. Don't implement this item in its current form. It will do more harm to the community than it could ever generate in profits.

I love the idea it's actually a travel mount. However, seeing as it is a) slower than 68%, and b) has no matching components for a warsteed, I'd say that the max I'd ever pay for this item is 1495 Turbine points. No hesitation at that price point. Also, as an idea if a warsteed cosmetic is added for it, make it just a gear item. The hobby horse gets packed and rides behind the saddle of the warsteed.

Originally Posted by hillard1959

Well, I looked it over on Bullroarer and I have to agree with the above posts. It's not really worth that price point. It's a joke item. And for something that's supposed to be nearly as fast as other premium mounts in the Store, it's really not.

That being said, if there's one thing I've learned from other games is that you can put a bit of in-game fluff in your cash shop and the high price alone will get sales as people who want to set themselves apart will pay for it. Just to be different. (I'm mainly thinking about the $99 engagement ring from Team Fortress 2 and the $80 monocle from Eve Online). The price for those things are outrageous. Yet, people still buy them just to set themselves apart from the crowd.

So, if you really want to sell this item at this price, I don't see why not. It will garner you some money. It just wont be my money.

this is what I thought about this item, too.
I also agree with most posts. just to add to the count:

Originally Posted by xRaina

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

--ok, but still a ridiculously high price for an item that's more of a cosmetic than a real mount

Originally Posted by xRaina

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

--yes for a lower price, around 500TP as others suggested

Originally Posted by xRaina

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

--if not a new expansion, something similar to the sam gamgee starter pack, which includes:
> base expansions (moria, mirkwood, RoI) with at least 2 QPs of choice
> at least 1 account-wide 68% mount with appearance for warsteed
> a 'gift package' per toon with complete armour sets + weapons for every 5 levels up until lvl50
> unique cosmetic sets with dyes
> currency cap removal
> riding skill for all toons
> all bags
> at least 1G for all toons
> stacks of ingredient packs guaranteed to master at least tier5
> enough buff items and exp boosts to reach at least 50 while completing only deeds, epic quests, skirms and maybe some quests of choice
>> this can probably be called breeze-through-the-lowbie-grind pack for alt-oholics or lazy levelers like me.

Originally Posted by xRaina

The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

o.O

When I thought auction house prices were getting silly expensive, I stopped participating in the auction hall altogether. The same thing will happen with turbine store prices - I will simply stop shopping there.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

Theoretically, I would consider purchasing an item like this - when I saw the hobby horse for the first time, I thought, "I want one". Making it a 'real' steed, however... well, it seems quite silly. That's not really a deal-breaker for me, but I can see how it would hurt immersion - just like I don't feel pretzels have a place in Middle-earth (and yet I have one and think they're cute). I should also not be able to run faster with an awkwardly balanced stick between my knees than I could unencumbered - physics and all that. Others have suggested it be a crumbling item like the whistle; that seems more reasonable. Some have suggested it be a cosmetic like the pretzel; I think it should be a consumable or clicky item that lasts for, say, 30 seconds and has a cooldown, kinda like the summerfest fireworks.

Now about the price... I would not be willing to purchase this item or any of the theoretical variants listed above for that price. This is just my opinion, but as it is, regular mounts are too expensive for me at 1995 points. Even at half price, I don't want to pay for it, and the reason for this is that I've moved very firmly into warsteed territory and have little use for regular horses. Right this very moment, there are special edition regular mounts on sale for 648 points. Had this sale occurred in, say, April of this year, I'd have bought one - maybe even two or three. Now, though... I saw they don't do anything for warsteeds and I said 'no thank you', because I won't ever use it. A regular mount hobby horse is also a no thank you because I'd rather be on a war steed, alongside the other reasons I already mentioned.

...Upon proofreading this, I had a "lightbulb" moment. I think if you introduced my idea of having a consumable that lasts for 30 seconds that you could obtain through gameplay, that a permanent version (say, a clicky in your inventory) obtainable in the store would become more popular, and priced reasonably (for a clicky cosmetic toy), you could sell a fair few of them, I daresay.

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

Considering expansions don't even cost that much, I'd say 'expansions plus incentive goodies like more bags or housing items or mounts', and honestly, at that point I'd rather give you straight up cash. I could have purchased the Rohan expansion with my points, but for expansions I think you deserve real money.

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

Constructive commenting and questions ONLY

We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.

I'm not sure what the experiment is, but I can guess from your OP that the hypothesis is, 'people aren't going to like this'.

I honestly think you'll get better return for developing efforts from producing more content and worrying less about seeing how far you can push the limits of people's recreational money for things that are frivolous even in the world of video games.

For $50, I want a heaping dose of game to explore and conquer, not some decoration pixels. I'd rather have Dale or the Lonely Mountain and a mitt full of 6-mans than a fake fake horse. Maybe there are people who are the opposite of me in that regard, and kudos to you if you can find them and make the deal. If it's supposed to be some sort of status item, then power to them for buying status to support the rest of our fun.

I'm not opposed in the slightest to people having fun or Turbine having money - these things are both great. If it goes live like this, I won't have any problem with it. However in this particular case, I myself won't be participating in it, and I can't wrap my mind around the mindset a person would need in order to go for it. So good luck to you.

I can't see how a hobby or rocking horse could be anything more than a fun item, restricted to a few minutes duration (short CD timer, sure whatever). Really, how does this pass anything remotely like a lore sniff test? The skeleton horse was only a gateway, unfortunately.

This is so going here:


And that's in the Demotivational thread posted over a year ago; normally intended for mockery, sarcasm, humour, and jokes. Someone took it seriously....

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.
ok...

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?
never - as a permanent mount, it just doesn't fit within middle earth.... As other people have suggested, at a much reduced price and as a temporary item, it could be fun though.

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?
As a whole payment - probably only an expansion.

Originally Posted by xRaina

Some of you may have noticed a new item in your store on Bullroarer: the Hobby Horse.

The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.

Happy to. Directly and straight to, but with all due respect.

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

That you and/or your colleagues largely believed many players would consider this a joke, so much that this thread and point of clarification is needed, says to me personally that you will not be surprised by the feedback of this thread. I am not quite sure what stats the marketing team is seeing, or what market of players they are aiming for, but overall I think the rational, average player would view this as a prank by the team that decides prices.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

The item itself? For one or two characters, likely. The item at this price? Not even if I won the 100k TP contest from some years back. It is a fun feature, but one fun feature is not worth that price.

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

It would have to auto-win all my loot rolls, or one-shot every mob, or give me the ability to fly In other words, nothing that Turbine can realistically give with the item would convince me to buy it at 5k TP.

At 5k TP, like others, I'd only buy an expansion.

(I'd possibly buy a mansion/fortress/castle with free-form placement and several hundred items to choose from to decorate with, too. But yea, that's about it)

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

Constructive commenting and questions ONLY

I hope that the tone above came above as respectful and as constructive. Text can be a difficult medium to convey expression through properly.

Have a good weekend.

deleted, as this came across more snarky than I intended (though certainly not less than expected...), I'll probably post some new feedback later

A great and funny idea !

But it would add a picture of the horse. Because if a beginner to buy, it will be disappointed by the result of thinking have a real horse.

Originally Posted by xRaina

The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.

You should hear crazypant's feedback, otherwise crazypants will be spending their money elsewhere.

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

Well... If the price is not a joke then it's pointing to a small number of people: those with a big wallet and a small brain to buy exclusiveness in the store.

I can understand this could be a win-win situation where you can earn some money and at the same time serious players don't have to see hobby-horses all over the world. In other words: "please dont buy it, but if you do then you have to pay".

The question is "what is the cost you have to pay?", what about the rest of us who don't want to see more "flying pandas" ruining the game theme because "in the end someone will buy them". What about the people who is already tired of these samples of greediness and zero respect for your own beautiful work, Tolkien's work and LotRO fans.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

NO. This could be something I can buy for festival tokens, just to have one.

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

If it comes with the next expansion

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

Constructive commenting and questions ONLY

We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.

The problem is not the store, the problem are "brilliant ideas". We (yes "we") don't need more experiments, tell those devs to grow up, thank you

note:the forum logged me off and ate my post as usual

Wait, does this provide an actual speed bonus comparable to mounts? If so, that's really the silliest idea I've seen in quite some time and not in a good way. I don't mind it being there as an expensive vanity item, but if it has to break the internal logic of the setting to justify the ridiculous price it'll become really offensive.

As an animation/emote it's pretty fun, but obviously the 5000 TP price tag is a joke which kinda matches the nature of the item. Something like 300TP is an absolute maximum of what I'd personally pay for a toy like this.

Originally Posted by xRaina

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

Then you are clearly aiming at a small 'whale' market for this item, but I'm not so sure that bullroarer is where you will find the whales, so the chances of any/many positive remarks on this topic are slim.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

Not at the current price (500tp would be a max. for this) but then I think all store steeds are over priced and exceptionally so now that we have war-steeds.

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

I can't think of a feature that would be part of the horse that would make me want to buy it at this price. Maybe a 4500tp 'cashback' option?

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

I totally understand why you are trying to sell this item and I have no real problem with this, but asking for responses here before releasing it seems an odd decision, you KNOW that 99.9% of all feedback is going to be negative. Maybe that's the reason, the devs also think it's too expensive and are hoping that asking here in this manner will guarantee a lot of negative feedback to show your managers and get it changed?

But this, and also the change of the festival to a grind / cash grab, leads me to believe that Turbine need the money and are trying to squeeze out every last $ from their customers.

Originally Posted by xRaina

Some of you may have noticed a new item in your store on Bullroarer: the Hobby Horse.

The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

Constructive commenting and questions ONLY


We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.

What did you expect? 5000 tp for a mount with 40% run buff. Not worth it imo. Maybe for the jokes it is oke. But if you seen it one time, the jokes are off.
Not worth spending 5000 tp for something you don't need.
I can not see any reason why buying it on live (I did on BR today) and what the point in using is?
If it was cheaper, I might buy it for the lols.

First: I play with the german loka. This horse (and Travellers Writs) can not buy with the german loka, because it is not in the german store. I must chance to english to buy this items.


2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

Not for this price and not with these inappropriate characteristics. Make it a fun-item with +15%/+25% Speed for 500 TP and i will by it for my hobbit.

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

No property is me 5000 TP worth. Not even an eagle flying mount.

Originally Posted by xRaina

The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.

"Your love for the halfling's leaf has clearly slowed your mind, store wizard."

Unlike barechested dwarves - which is kinda hilarious - this new item clearly serves no purpose other than giving the "store is evil I tell you" fraction some new ammunition.

How about this:

Turn the hobby horse into a emote! 295TP+ would be a fair price and I bet lots of people would want to have this.

....wow...to begin with-your query is condescending and offensive right from the get go. With all the problems the game is currently having, i would expect at least a token show of humility and respect for the people who pay your bills. You have loyal long term players-sticking it out faithfully in spite of the fact that the game is fraught with bugs and mal-functions and delays and you talk to us like we are children informing us what you will and will not listen to.

Crazypants? If you would like non-crazy pants responses to things then i propose that you suggest non crazy pants ideas. It's an assinine item for an assinine price. it would have been cute if it had been a deed reward and not a) a store purchase b)proposed as a regular mount which, as others have said-ruins the middle earth feel. No i would not purchase it. No, there is nothing you could do to it that would entice me to buy it.

it is pretty rare that anything inspires me to want to rant about turbine being evil but this post/item on top of all the current frustrations with so much wrong with the game/so much that we have been waiting years to see revamps on (eg: housing, kinships) nearly did it.

It's funny how they don't want us to criticize them saying this is a joke. But it's just plain and simple at this point from the majority of the comments...and that is that this hobby horse for 5k tp was just a bad idea.

Originally Posted by Zombielord

"Your love for the halfling's leaf has clearly slowed your mind, store wizard."

Unlike barechested dwarves - which is kinda hilarious - this new item clearly serves no purpose other than giving the "store is evil I tell you" fraction some new ammunition.

How about this:

Turn the hobby horse into a emote! 295TP+ would be a fair price and I bet lots of people would want to have this.

Either an emote, or a clicky like the pie you get from Sandson's farm (1 min duration, 10 min cooldown).

i woudynt even paid 500 tp for this 5k just made me BIG LOL

Keep it up turbine fail delay on instance cluster , and fail store thigns attempts i bought 1 year vip on august i am sure if things will go the way like they do now i will leave this game coz its getting worse and worse


i mean 5k ? lol keep dreaming

Originally Posted by xRaina

Some of you may have noticed a new item in your store on Bullroarer: the Hobby Horse.

The store wizards would like your feedback (well-thought out, non-crazypants) on this item.

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

I think 5000 TP is a fair price for this item (no sarcasm intended). An item such as this should be rarely seen in Middle Earth (due to being immersion breaking) so the higher the price the better.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

Not as currently listed.

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

To answer your question constructively, I would have happily paid $70 for RoR (instead of using TP) if I had more good-will towards Turbine. If Turbine can generate good-will from me again by adjusting its approach to marketing and not so easily dismissing unhappy customers as 'crazypants' then I can imagine myself splashing out and spending $50 or more on silly items and fluff (although I cannot imagine spending it on one single item).

For me spending money on lotro is a reflection of my support for Turbine's development of the game. If I am happy with the game's development I will spend a fair bit of money to support it, if I am not happy I won't spend. If Turbine were to generate good-will from me then I would probably buy TP for fluff items and lots more storage instead of getting by on only the TP generated in game.

Turbine did a great job with RoR, the quality of this expansion is far superior to that of RoI and the content of Update 9 also looks promising. As such for the first time since Enedwaith I am feeling more positive towards Turbine and more inclined to spend money on lotro again.

Then comes the XP Disabler which I was considering buying right up until I find out you are also increase xp gained from crafting at which point I shake my head and flat out refuse to buy it. This kind of behaviour takes away the good-will generated via the content and makes me think of Turbine as evil and greedy and not a company I want to give money to.

Simply put, if Turbine wants me to spend this kind of money on fluff in the game they need to change their approach to marketing and the store. I have the money, and with the announcement of F2P we got two lifetime accounts and were planning on buying TP instead of a subscription (so had $240 a year to spend between our two accounts on TP and store stuff). We believed the store to be a good thing for the game in that it offered us options to spend more money to support the development of a game we loved.

The only reason we do not spend money buying TP and for the first time since lotro was released have bought an expansion with free TP instead of cash is because of Turbine's attitude towards its long-term playerbase and its store focus in game development. So long as this holds true we are unlikely to spend any money on lotro in the future.

Turbine's approach to marketing and its attitude towards its playerbase is what I think is evil and greedy - not the existance of the store. I don't mind how much fluff in the store costs where it is optional and will not effect the gameplay itself.

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded.

While this comment does not surprise me, it does concern me. Your players are the people who support lotro with both their money and their time and you should be listening to them even when they tell you things you don't want to hear.

You say that purchasing the item is optional, however if 10% of your players decide to purchase the item then 100% of your players have no say in the matter as to how it impacts their enjoyment of the game. This is an MMO and seeing hobby horses being used all over Middle Earth would be enough to drive a segment of your player base away - this segment will no doubt include a significant number of players who have supported lotro over a number of years and are sad to leave but will still do so on the basis that it doesn't feel like middle earth anymore.

We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item.

Originally Posted by Nellaen

May I suggest perhaps a 'crumbling' verson of the hobby horse, similar to the temporary travel mounts, for a much reduced TP price. As a joke item, it may be a more popular to buy in a 1-2 hour item. I can see it used much more often in kin races, and events in that way.

As constructive feedback goes I really like this idea. A joke hobby horse, especially with one or two special skills attached to it (like chicken-play) which can be good for kin events and things would be great. Although I would hope that something like this only lasts for an hour or two as Nellaen says so they aren't seen all over middle earth consistently.

Another option is for an emote using a hobby horse that players can use for fun.

I think these approaches would be far more popular and generate more fun and good-will than your proposed hobby-horse style steed.

I do believe there are players who are happy to throw money at the game for anything high priced just as a status symbol. While I am not such a player, I would request that if you want to cater to these player-types that you do so without breaking immersion of the game for your general population. Someone else mentioned a special glass spider skin for EM and I guess a really unique horse that is a rare breed but nevertheless fits in with Middle Earth would also be fine. If you target this audience with jokes like this hobby-horse and they ride them around Middle Earth you are likely to continue erode good-will (or generate ill-will) from long term players who care about the integrity of the game.

Originally Posted by xRaina

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

4. Any rants about how evil Turbine is for making store items, even those that are entirely optional and up simply for the fun of those who are willing to pay for them, will be disregarded. This item is an experiment item. We simply want your feedback on the type of item presented and what might be added to it or done to it to make it a better item. We are not forcing you to buy it. No one is forcing you to buy it. It's something to be there and be fun for those who may want it.

1. You're correct on that one. I'm not laughing.

2. Unless the monthly VIP reward rises to 5000TP, no I won't.

3. Realistically? A *whole* lot. 5000TP is 10 *months* worth of VIP monthly points, or close to $50 as a single purchase. That's enough for an entire expansion (or at least USED to be...) Without joking, I think it would have to be in the "account-wide, permanent, non-consumable, important" category before I'd even THINK about ponying up five THOUSAND TP... I think, I *might* be able to justify it to myself if it was something alone the lines of "unlock EVERY travel route (including switfts and rep/deed gated) for each character, permanently. Including any created in the future." Then... maybe. That would be a huge convenience, but it wouldn't still affect my gameplay in any real sense. But maybe.

4. Just the core idea, that you even HAVE to write something like this should ALREADY tell you something that you should be worried about. Just, please, think it over, ok? We do love your game, some of us just don't really like the direction you're currently headed into.

First of all, I usually avoid cosmetic section of the Store and Forums like a colony of lepers. I build whatever feels good from items available, I have a huge collection of mounts as a side effect of deeds, events etc and I barely use few of them. I am fully aware I am as far from your target group as possible.

But this one... this one I just had to answer to. Not just because this kind of ideas are the best possible way of keeping me in current state of mind. It's because such approach feels absurd whether it is about mount, cosmetic or any other *item* imagineable.

Originally Posted by xRaina

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

It's certainly not a joke, it is a PR failure waiting to happen. You suggest silly item for the price of AAA game @ release. It's not even about being able to afford it - more about dissonance between money spent and product received.

Originally Posted by xRaina

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

No. Granted, I am unwilling to purchase *any* cosmetic/mount/etc, but even if something changed my mind, even including virtually unlimited income, this kind of purchase would feel counter - intuitive to me. Sure, I could support the game etc - but this would be also giving you a hint "This kind of product is what we need to focus on more". Not going to happen. See below why.

Originally Posted by xRaina

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

OK, if you ask about *an item*, then nothing, whatever such item might be - not just Hobby Horse, not just cosmetic. No item feels valuable enough - and if we could imagine an item breaking many boundaries, allowing to bypass many rules, like some of previous posters suggested, then I can't justify such purchase either. What makes game a game is certain set of rules - I may complain about some of them, hate the others, avoid content with the most insufferable ones, but it is still better than buying an item that makes them disappear via my wallet. It's dangerously close to cheat codes, not some minor "convenience" anymore - and I can't imagine asking 50$ for just a "convenience", some serious incentive would be necessary after all. So it's bad-or-bad situation for me.


To put things in perspective: I recently spent similar amount of money only because I really liked significant part of U9 pre-release notes. Not all of those notes, obviously, and I am still mildly disappointed with certain details of Instance Cluster etc. But it was enough. I spent them on RoR and on... subscription package. No silly items necessary. For what it's worth, I appreciate the fact you are at least asking first this time, that slightly mitigates intensity of my current facepalm when I think about what I did.

Originally Posted by xRaina

4. (...)
We know store items cause heated discussion. We know some longtime players find them problematic. Please try to be level-headed. We appreciate the passion you all have about LOTRO.

Speaking of heated discussions - I am sincerely hoping this is Round #2, previous one being tied to Apparel Dummies. If someone out there is pushing for this kind of embarassing decision again, I can only hope this thread was suggested when no one reasonable could talk them out of it. So instead of "WTH" kind of reaction like before we can provide pre-emptive negative feedback, and no dev effort is wasted again, whatever pay grade (and dealer) of person responsible is. Then again... it's already developed, isn't it... >.>

Originally Posted by Vahtera

1. You're correct on that one. I'm not laughing.

2. Unless the monthly VIP reward rises to 5000TP, no I won't.

3. Realistically? A *whole* lot. 5000TP is 10 *months* worth of VIP monthly points, or close to $50 as a single purchase. That's enough for an entire expansion (or at least USED to be...) Without joking, I think it would have to be in the "account-wide, permanent, non-consumable, important" category before I'd even THINK about ponying up five THOUSAND TP... I think, I *might* be able to justify it to myself if it was something alone the lines of "unlock EVERY travel route (including switfts and rep/deed gated) for each character, permanently. Including any created in the future." Then... maybe. That would be a huge convenience, but it wouldn't still affect my gameplay in any real sense. But maybe.

4. Just the core idea, that you even HAVE to write something like this should ALREADY tell you something that you should be worried about. Just, please, think it over, ok? We do love your game, some of us just don't really like the direction you're currently headed into.

My thoughts exactly, I have delayed my purchase of TP as the addition of such items for extreme prices makes me incredibly worried about the survival of Lotro and the direction the game is heading.

First let me say I am, overall, a great supporter of the Store. It's brought the game I love back to life and given it a future. I like the way it gives me a choice at times between grinding stuff or taking the lazy route. Sometimes I choose one way, sometimes the other. I've also bought a fair amount of carefully-selected cosmetic items, which just improve my pleasure in the game.

But to be honest, I think you've taken leave of your senses over this. Sorry! I think it damages your credibility. I think it's the kind of thing that will be talked about in the gaming press and make you look bad/greedy, which damages you and damages the game I love, making it look silly. I really want to urge you to think about the wider ramifications of walking down this path.

I cannot imagine anything being worth that amount of points unless it's an expansion pack. I can't imagine anything you could sell at that price that wouldn't look bad to the world at large (where future new players will come from).

Originally Posted by xRaina

1. The price is not a joke. That is the proposed price for this item.

5000TP? Even if it account wide, get the hell out of here!

How can it NOT be a joke that this single "optional" item costs more than an expansion?

Originally Posted by xRaina

2. Would you be willing to purchase this item?

If it was 500TP, even if it was per character, i might buy one or two for the lols.

There is no way in hell I'm spending more than an expansion on a "joke" item, and judging my the comments in this thread I'm not alone.

Originally Posted by xRaina

3. What sort of features might entice you to purchase an item at this price point?

If it was nerfed SUBSTANTANTIALLY, then i MIGHT consider getting it. If you're pushing me for numbers, I'd say ~500TP for it being character, but I'd like to see it account wide. Maybe 1500 TP at tops, otherwise it'll price it out of the range thats realistic for most people.

It's better to have a cheap(er) item that sells lots, than an expensive item that nobody buys!

Given how fun/popular the Harwick Hobby Horse quest is Turbine, you would do better to heed this advice (it would even bank you more cash! You win, we win, everyone is happy!)

No, I don't want one of those at that price. As others have observed, it would appeal to the RP community but 5000 TP is pure insanity.