Today, The Hobbit releases in theaters. While it looks like a video game, there's an actual video game you can play: Guardians of Middle-Earth. It's a Lord of The Rings MOBA game released in tandem with the movie. I've been playing Guardians lately.

Guardians isn't a bad title: it's a standard, run of the mill MOBA. There are a couple of small tweaks to the genre, but overall the big difference is that you get to play as characters like Legolas and Gandalf.

Some people might be into that. As for me, confession: I'm not a huge fan of The Lord of The Rings. Even so, I don't think I'm being unfair when I wonder why someone would drop money for a MOBA when free is the standard. Look at League of Legends. Look at DOTA 2 (which will be free once it drops.)

Is wanting to play as your favorite Lord of The Rings character enough to make you want to spend $14.99? On a game that takes all its cues from the free titles, which happen to offer more than the paid games in the genre do on top of that?

Personally, it wouldn't make sense to me. But maybe that's just because this is a Lord of the Rings MOBA. I'd probably drop cash for a not-very-good K-Pop MOBA—never underestimate a fan's desire to support the things they love!

But I must ask you, dear reader: would you pay upfront for a MOBA when the best ones are free?