Middle Earth Is Getting Bigger

[Logan Westbrook]

Middle Earth Is Getting Bigger

Lord of the Rings Online is bucking the trend for new MMOs and actually attracting new customers.

When a new MMO goes up against World of Warcraft it's not just a David and Goliath deal, it's a David and several Goliaths who have combined to form a Voltron-esque gestalt entity, Ultra-Goliath, if you will. So when something stands up to the blizzard (sorry) and survives, it's always a little heartening.

And that's exactly what LotRO has done. In an interview with VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2009/06/19/lotro-growing-no-plans-for-server-merge-says-turbine/], Aaron Campbell, live producer for the game was asked if Turbine had seen a decline in activity, or if there were plans to merge severs at some point in the future. The response was a categorical 'no', and Mr. Campbell said that the user base was actually expanding.

"If anything, The Lord of the Rings Online is growing," he said. "We have no plans to merge servers. And please don't mention it, it makes me twitch unpleasantly."

Source: via Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5297533/lord-of-the-rings-subscriber-base-actually-growing]


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[black lincon]

If March madness has taught us anything it's that turbine has a very loyal fanbase. I'm not surprised there growing, the only way to have a fanbase that devoted is to make a decent product, market it right and it could probably keep growing.

 

[Bat Vader]

I have been meaning to play both WOW and LOTRO. Hopefully they will both be good.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I was in the LoTRO beta. It wasn't a bad game by any means, but the more "realistic" graphics merely gave me headaches as I tried to pick out details from them. It also had far too many Fed-Ex missions, especially one series that had me running back and forth between houses that were within sight of each other.

Oh, and I didn't much care for the player animations either. Still, it wasn't a bad game. If you want to play an MMO but don't want to play WoW, LoTRO is worth a look.

 

[hippykiller]

Can someone please tell me why you cant play as a bad guy in LOTRO? you could be a orc or a goblin or a wannabe-Ring Wraith. but unfortunately you have to be the good guy.

 

[Krakyn]

I actually won one of the LoTR Online sets in a Warcry drawing. I love my One Ring and my map of the mines of Moria, but I've yet to play the game because I don't have a disk drive to install it. I have high hopes for my free month of play, though Turbine's raving fan-base scares me a bit.

 

[kend1]

Can someone please tell me why you cant play as a bad guy in LOTRO? you could be a orc or a goblin or a wannabe-Ring Wraith. but unfortunately you have to be the good guy.

Try being a CREEP if you want bad guys. http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=116017

 

[SirSchmoopy]

I actually won one of the LoTR Online sets in a Warcry drawing. I love my One Ring and my map of the mines of Moria, but I've yet to play the game because I don't have a disk drive to install it. I have high hopes for my free month of play, though Turbine's raving fan-base scares me a bit.

You can simply download the game. No need to install it anymore.

 

[scotth266]

Well, that's interesting. Nice to see a MMO that can buck the trend and keep growing. It must be pretty decent... but I'll stick with City of Heroes.

 

[whaleswiththumbs]

And please don't mention it, it makes me twitch unpleasantly.

Those are the words of an eccentric man.

 

[DRADIS C0ntact]

Can someone please tell me why you cant play as a bad guy in LOTRO? you could be a orc or a goblin or a wannabe-Ring Wraith. but unfortunately you have to be the good guy.

Not entirely true. You can play as an orc, goblin, spider, or warg...but you are restricted to the PvP zone The Ettenmoors when you do. It's not all mindless PvP action either, there are numerous quests to complete when you're playing a monster character. But you will get ganked a lot if you play solo. And I do mean a lot...

Anyways, I'm happy LOTRO is expanding. I've had a lifetime account for well over a year now, but I don't play it anymore. I've just grown tired of MMOs. I can't see myself playing LOTRO again...unless they release a new server. In that case, I may venture back over to the game. New servers are always fun. I'm always up for starting out fresh.

 

[ChocoCake]

Oh great. Now March Madness will be even more distorted.

I was going to say that this just deepens my bitterness towards Turbine, ever since they unjustly won against Bioware.
I am sure LOTRO must be a good game, but I will never play it.
Its too bad that March Madness has had this effect on me.

 

[Nurb]

Well until they offer free trials that aren't only in small windows of time, they arent getting my money

after wasting 50+ bucks on Warhammer Online, I'm not buying an MMO I can't try out first.

 

[spinFX]

Myself and 5 friends loaded up LOTRO for the 10 day trial. None of us stayed. And we are all currently MMO-less. For the first time since 2000, I was MMO-less and LOTRO couldn't pull me in no matter how much I wanted it to. Now I am just waiting for SWTOR.

 

[Scarecrow38]

I guess it isn't that surprising that this one is doing well. It has such a broad universe and, like world of warcraft, it wasn't like it was a universe that had to be created for the mmo. It has genuine depth and it has the benefit of a guaranteed player base (although not overly impressive) of Tolkien fans.

Although I think I shall wait until The Old Republic pops up before wading into the world of MMOs again. World of Warcraft still hurts.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Well, that's interesting. Nice to see a MMO that can buck the trend and keep growing. It must be pretty decent... but I'll stick with City of Heroes.

Stable and staying so, last I checked. I have to agree.