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Beta journals testify about the LotRO store
While the new version of Lord of the Rings Online is still under NDA lockdown, Turbine's opened a crack in the door to allow a few beta testers to jaw about the LotRO store. On the EU site, beta testers were encouraged to submit their thoughts and experiences with the new store for non-testers to assimilate, with four stories chosen to be posted. Although these stories come with the caveat that they were hand-picked to be shared, they seemed free to share both likes and dislikes about the store. Some of the positive mentions include the speed of the store's delivery to player inventory, the sheer amount of items available, fun items like emotes and mounts, and general ease of use. They report that cosmetics are a big hit with beta testers. On the flip side, the authors were critical of the unfinished feel to the store and the fact you can't see the items you're purchasing in the dressing-room window. Generally, however, the four testers are upbeat about this new LotRO feature. You can read their full thoughts at LotRO EU's site.
Americans spend $3.8 billion on MMO gaming in 2009
Do you feel like you spent a lot on MMOs last year? Well, you're not alone. It's no secret that the MMO industry is a huge one, and all of those box sales, Steam downloads, sub fees, and item shop purchases added up to a pretty impressive number. Gamasutra reported today that MMO gamers in the US spent $3.8 billion on their hobby in 2009. What's interesting about this figure is that it follows the trend you find in free-to-play games these days: of the 46 million Americans playing MMOs, only 46% of them spent any money at all on games. The rest, approximately 25 million, were completely free-to-play. Even so, American gamers are clearly more enthusiastic about opening their wallets for games than other countries, with the total coming to about 15 times more than any European MMO market. You can take a look at the full report and more number crunching at Gamasutra.
