14 DAY TRIAL // The Hobbit was one of the biggest movie releases of 2012, but in the game universe, The Lord of the Rings franchise has long been a discrete presence, with the Turbine MMO currently offering the most complete experience to fans as long as they can accept the general concept of the genre.
Recently, The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age was launched to attract fans of the series and offer them a browser-based social experience.
I have played the game and came away largely unimpressed with the mechanics of the Hobbit and the way it pushes players to pay in order to improve their performance.
The fact that Lord of the Rings characters and themes are used cannot mask the limited gameplay choices and the repetitive nature of the entire experience.
I wanted to love The Hobbit: Armies of the Third Age, but I just couldn’t and I had similar feelings when playing the Command & Conquer browser video game that Electronic Arts created during 2012.
These are two huge franchises, with millions of fans, which have been reduced to simple browser-based experiences designed mostly to get money out of fans, with no shred of innovation and no contribution to the larger game universes.
I understand that publishers want to get a revenue stream from their biggest intellectual properties, but they are actively working to push players away by putting in so little effort and expecting player engagement and interest in return.
I am ready to play browser-based social games, as my continuing love for Game of Thrones Ascent can show, but I can’t stand titles that only seek to exploit my love for certain ideas.
The big problem is that I might be less inclined to pay for and play the next Lord of the Rings or Command & Conquer game because of the current situation.