Kotaku
This year has seen a steady flood of 'top-quality' Korean MMOs into the U.S., so it's high time we showed them how it's done repaid the favor by giving them another of ours. Turbine has announced a partnership with Korean internet company and gaming site NHN to distribute Lord of the Rings Online in the Land of the Endless Grind. Already operating in North America, Europe, the UK, and Japan, LotRO should be available to Korean players sometime next year.
"The Lord of the Rings Online will redefine the MMORPG genre in Korea, with amazing graphics and high-quality game content, along with a game system that Korean gamers are familiar with," said Kim Chang-Keun, Director of the publishing division of NHN.As opposed to all of those Korean MMOs with their crappy graphics and low-quality content. I didn't say it. *points to Kim Chang-Keun*
TURBINE PARTNERS WITH NHN CORPORATION TO BRING THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE(TM) TO KOREA2007 PC Game of the Year is Coming to World's Largest Market for Online Games
WESTWOOD, MA - December 10, 2007 - Turbine, Inc. and NHN Corporation today announced a distribution agreement for The Lord of the Rings Online(TM): Shadows of Angmar(TM), the 2007 PC Game of the Year*. Under the terms of the deal, Turbine will work closely with NHN, the largest Korean Internet company and the #1 gamer site in Asia, to localize The Lord of the Rings Online for the fast-growing Korean market.
"The Lord of the Rings is a powerful franchise with global appeal, and we are committed to bringing the game to fans around the world," said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "NHN is a powerful force in the Korean gaming market and we are very excited to work with them to bring The Lord of the Rings Online to Korea next year."
"The Lord of the Rings Online will redefine the MMORPG genre in Korea, with amazing graphics and high-quality game content, along with a game system that Korean gamers are familiar with," said Kim Chang-Keun, Director of the publishing division of NHN. "We expect the title will be a strong contender in the world-class Korean online game market, giving it a global competitive edge."
The Lord of the Rings Online delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places, and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the quaint surroundings of the Shire to Angmar, the vile kingdom of the Witch-king, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before. The Lord of the Rings Online was recently awarded the 2007 PC Game of the Year at the 25th Annual Golden Joystick Awards and is currently operating in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. For more information about The Lord of the Rings Online, please visit www.lotro.com.
Comments
THEY'RE TAKING THE HOBBITS TO ISEN-KOREA
*dances to remix*
lol? :) you've seen that film too many times :)
Redifine? It's a WoW clone with LotR poorly slapped on it. There's nothing innovative or fresh about it, it's not a great success here, but I suppose Korea loves MMO's. I doubt they'll put WoW down to play this though...
More monies for Turbine. Maybe now there will actually be people online so you can finish the damn forced group quests.
Did they forget that Lord of the Rings is most succesful in the English-speaking world? This is like selling a Shakespeare-themed RPG to France. Better to bank on an original IP (*cough WoW cough*) than one promoted (mostly) by a movie trilogy in a foreign language.
@Gantz: I couldn't help but laugh. ^^
Maybe if we inundate the Koreans with MMOs that have quests, theirs will stop being grind-fests? Nah...doubt it.
I believe the game is much more mature than WoW, both in community and gameplay mechanics. But, that does take some of the fun out of it. I believe it will have some success in Korea.
I played LOTRO for about 3 months. Fun, but ultimately the lack of true PvP and no Mordor races was a killer for me. Probably going to be an expansion.
Korea, Isengard, same difference.
I recently took a look at LOTRO as my girlfriend became interested in the idea of a LOTR game in an MMO, with a story she loves so much. And I'm actually quite impressed. It strikes a nice balance between WoW and EQ2 in complexity, difficulty, and immersiveness. And the community is far more friendly than any of the others.
This will give some Korean grinders pause as you gain far more XP by completing quests and advancing the story than just grinding wolves, boars and spiders.
"in Europe, the UK..."
Believe it or not:
although some Britons (and many more continental Europeans) may not want to admit, but the UK is a part of Europe.
@Strangelove: Those are pretty much the reasons why LotR is so great, heh.
Its not a game for the PVP types.
It stays close to its source material, you wouldn't have Orcs or Goblins wandering into the towns and cities of rohan or gondor.
LotRO is great the way it is. The expansions are simply going to give more land-areas, Rohan, Gondor, and finally, most likely Mordor.
It was a good game, but I couldn't tolerate the poor end game content. The PvMP kept me paying monthly for a good while though. The first pvp that's really got me interested. Hopefully it'll be a model that's picked up in newer MMO's, it would be a crime if not.
oh GREAT, the only thing that kept me playing Lotro is my loathing hate for koreans *snaps disc in half and uninstalls*
Damn you gold farmers!
=\
Thats a joke, but even though i quit lotro because i dont have time for another mmo, and i have no soul left after WoW (quit a year ago). LotrO has a MUCH better community than WoW, very mature and cool, loads of fun as far as mmo's go, especially for LOTR fans.
Well, if they're lucky and a handful of people genuinely likes it, then the entire country will play. That's how Korean marketing works. [/Korean]
@kyosen:
There's tons of end-game content, just wasn't much when the game launched. Course, there's never much end-game content when a game launches.
High-def graphics and endless questing simply isn't a priority to most Koreans. Unlike the majority of American MMO gamers, Koreans play MMOs moreso for the social networking aspect. It's fairly common for entire guilds to know each other in real life and have weekly get togethers whatever the game.
A few of my friends were in one of them "elite" guilds in Lineage II, and their leader required every member to attend meetings irl where they would eat and drink while chatting about random stuff, both in-game and real life matters. I tagged along once and it really is something else. Everyone knows each other very well to the effect that the guild is like a second family.
I don't know, all my friends around me don't really have much interest in this. Since most of the games produced here is MMO. We already have plenty of online "free" games to play. But I bought 15 stocks in NHN just in case.
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