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coolboy2009 · 2011-11-05 15:39:03

Hi.

Rather recently, Lego announced Lego Universe will only last untill Jan 31, 2012, due to poor sales.

What can developers learn from this?

The real mistake was the Free to play version. It was a great idea, but the sales collapsed. The free to play gave users far too much. Team fortress 2 allows you to spend money to get hats. There was none of that here. It was all virtual currency. If you give the most major parts of the game for free, and only give the players 5 extra areas, (most of which weren't important besides grinding and getting bricks) if they pay, then it isn't worth it. Some users reported less than 30 people in the Subscription areas after Free to play came along. When I played back when there was no Free to play, I found about 60 people walking around and having fun in areas people made. The game wasn't great, but the idea of creating a interactive space that you built was the real joy of the game, talking to friends and admiring the structures built brick by brick. If you give Free to play, you have to do it at the right time. If your game sells about 10,000 copies, then while at attracts players, also makes the paying players go "So then they make it free when we spent $60?", then become free to play users and stop funding the developers. You need to combine Those who pay and those who don't and give advantages to both sides. Lego Universe didn't.

Anyway, discuss.

mattb777 · 2011-11-05 15:41:31

LU is getting shut down... Most of my friends loved that game... I feel bad for them. sad

I don't play, though.

Animeboy975 · 2011-11-05 15:42:54

I wanted to play it but never did.

agscratcher · 2011-11-05 15:43:24

The reason TF2 went free was due to tremendous sales beforehand, and the fact that it had a few years to rack up a community.

Lego Universe didn't follow that logic.

coolboy2009 · 2011-11-05 15:44:49

Animeboy975 wrote:
I wanted to play it but never did.

Might as well play the FTP version. But if you want to explore fully, buy a subscription that lasts by 31 DEC, 2011, you get a refund and the next month FOR FREE.

coolboy2009 · 2011-11-05 15:48:52

agscratcher wrote:
The reason TF2 went free was due to tremendous sales beforehand, and the fact that it had a few years to rack up a community.

Lego Universe didn't follow that logic.

Exactly. TF2 also helped itself get more sales despite being free by letting people BUY items if they desperately need it, but also encouraged them to get them through skill by not letting them craft, which is sensible because then we don't have N00BS creating the Cow-Mangler 5000. Lego universe Went too Safety-mad and so lost THOUSANDS in cash. The moderation was insane. In most cases you couldn't talk about some objectives if you were stuck. The only good feature was that when you confirm a trade, no-one cane trick you because is shows you what your about to trade.

Last edited by coolboy2009 (2011-11-05 15:50:55)

Dinoclor · 2011-11-05 16:51:47

I'm actually happy about it.
This is why.
I spent AGES making my property, with a dragon that flew that you could ride and a dragon which walked around the property when you interacted with it and roared when you attacked it. I had finally finished it. I went to click the submit button.
Guess what happened next.

I got a Bob message saying "Only members can submit heir properties! Click here to buy a membership!"

The property was the only thing keeping me on Lego Universe.

So I opened up a bug report window, put the send tab on suggestions, ranted about how mad I was, and then said "Congrats, you just lost another player."

BTW, my brother was a beta tester. I was so happy when it became free to play again, because my bro always hogged the game.

But then I found out it sucked.

Last edited by Dinoclor (2011-11-05 16:55:31)

GameHutSoftware · 2011-11-05 16:53:04

Really, Lego needs to make sets, not MMOGs.

Dinoclor · 2011-11-05 16:56:29

GameHutSoftware wrote:
Really, Lego needs to make sets, not MMOGs.

I agree. They should also spend more time thinking of fresh ideas.

coolboy2009 · 2011-11-05 16:56:59

GameHutSoftware wrote:
Really, Lego needs to make sets, not MMOGs.

Lego's interactive media has helped Lego gain INSANE sales. I only bought Lego star wars after I played the Lego star wars games. If Lego released sets based on the game, Lego might have been able to keep Universe running because it would encourage people to buy the game. I really can see the maelstrom being involved in future sets.

Dinoclor · 2011-11-05 17:02:30

coolboy2009 wrote:
GameHutSoftware wrote:
Really, Lego needs to make sets, not MMOGs.
Lego's interactive media has helped Lego gain INSANE sales. I only bought Lego star wars after I played the Lego star wars games. If Lego released sets based on the game, Lego might have been able to keep Universe running because it would encourage people to buy the game. I really can see the maelstrom being involved in future sets.

Ya, but that was a single player game. Not a MMOG.

Animeboy975 · 2011-11-05 17:04:56

GameHutSoftware wrote:
Really, Lego needs to make sets, not MMOGs.

owetre18 · 2011-11-05 17:51:35

I remember millsberry closing. I was sad. It was my favorite website. I NEVER GOT THAT CHERRIOS HOUSE, BUZZ!

The game is awesome, but Lego needs to make toys, not games.

SpriteMaster · 2011-11-06 11:00:29

eh, seemed a bit already-donish

JPY · 2011-11-07 12:57:55

this is unfortunate, and recently my bro has been indulging himself in it to enjoy it while it lasts. unfortunately THOUSANDS of people will be upset that LU is shutting down.

coolboy2009 · 2011-11-14 12:31:01

JPY wrote:
this is unfortunate, and recently my bro has been indulging himself in it to enjoy it while it lasts. unfortunately THOUSANDS of people will be upset that LU is shutting down.

Bless him. smile

Anyway, any last words?

rabbit1131 · 2011-11-14 12:56:34

G'bye LU

nuckelavee · 2011-11-15 16:50:26

it was really expensive hmm

maxskywalker · 2011-11-16 13:27:57

So we should all make our stuff cost $8966867867345687877463535435476897876857464234124547686965879686985948564763454697008985343. Okay. Does Bill Gates actually have that much money?

Daroach1 · 2011-11-16 13:32:06

maxskywalker wrote:
So we should all make our stuff cost $8966867867345687877463535435476897876857464234124547686965879686985948564763454697008985343. Okay. Does Bill Gates actually have that much money?

No where near that much, he has about 43000000000. (43 billion)

werdna123 · 2011-11-16 13:35:46

maxskywalker wrote:
So we should all make our stuff cost $8966867867345687877463535435476897876857464234124547686965879686985948564763454697008985343. Okay. Does Bill Gates actually have that much money?

If you got all the money in the world it wouldn't be a 1000th of that.

my-chemical-romance · 2011-11-16 13:52:34

Looks like World of Legocraft hmm

my-chemical-romance · 2011-11-16 15:42:50

Tried it, and I will put my rating down here:

Graphics 3/10
Sound 3/10
Combat 1/10
Storyline 4/10
Customization 3/10

It reminded me a lot of WoW, the graphics were very glitchy, the combat was very slow and unresponsive and you only got a few character pieces to choose from. I had to deal with an annoying name, TwilightSparkyHorse (I tried) because a custom name was paying members only. The beginning was extremely slow and the combat was really bad. Someone took the name Liru so I had to have LiruOtaku and nobody actually talked anyway and you had to deal with people waiting for you to weaken something then they'll steal the kill.

JSO · 2011-11-16 15:56:41

GameHutSoftware wrote:
Really, Lego needs to make sets, not MMOGs.

I might not even agree with that.

Lego has been focussing on "sets" recently, with more and more set-specific parts that cannot be used anywhere else.

They once offered their customers a box of bricks to be creative with. They gave out idea-books to sparkle kids imaginations.

Now they give something to play passively. It's playmobil that fits together.

EmperorEvil · 2011-11-16 16:03:50

I think they should shut it down, but let the people who payed $50 keep at least an offline mode...

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archived forums

#1 2011-11-05 15:39:03

What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#2 2011-11-05 15:41:31

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#3 2011-11-05 15:42:54

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#4 2011-11-05 15:43:24

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#5 2011-11-05 15:44:49

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

Animeboy975 wrote:

#6 2011-11-05 15:48:52

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

agscratcher wrote:

#7 2011-11-05 16:51:47

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#8 2011-11-05 16:53:04

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#9 2011-11-05 16:56:29

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

GameHutSoftware wrote:

#10 2011-11-05 16:56:59

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

GameHutSoftware wrote:

#11 2011-11-05 17:02:30

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

coolboy2009 wrote:

GameHutSoftware wrote:

#12 2011-11-05 17:04:56

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

GameHutSoftware wrote:

#13 2011-11-05 17:51:35

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#14 2011-11-06 11:00:29

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#15 2011-11-07 12:57:55

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#16 2011-11-14 12:31:01

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

JPY wrote:

#17 2011-11-14 12:56:34

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#18 2011-11-15 16:50:26

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#19 2011-11-16 13:27:57

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#20 2011-11-16 13:32:06

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

maxskywalker wrote:

#21 2011-11-16 13:35:46

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

maxskywalker wrote:

#22 2011-11-16 13:52:34

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#23 2011-11-16 15:42:50

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

#24 2011-11-16 15:56:41

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

GameHutSoftware wrote:

#25 2011-11-16 16:03:50

Re: What can we learn from Lego Universe's closure?

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