As I write this, it’s been a full week since Lord of the Rings Online activated its most recent pair of legendary worlds, Angmar and Mordor. And what a week it’s been! There was the initial flood of players in the beginner zones, excited discussions in world chat, several people speed-leveling to 50 in what seemed like 17 minutes, and a whole lot of collaborative moaning over wraith bullies.
While it might be tempting to talk about how much fun it’s been on these worlds so far (and it has been), today I want to take a longer view of LOTRO’s special ruleset worlds, why they can’t seem to maintain the enthusiasm — or population — over the long haul, and what might be done to counter it.
At this point in LOTRO’s lifespan, we’ve seen three sets of legendary servers (plus that weird PvP shard that was around for like a month), debuting in 2018, 2021, and 2024. So if you don’t get on board this progression server train, your next departure looks to be 2027.
In any case, despite the first two legendary world releases boasting varying rulesets, we’ve seen the same pattern arise. These servers are immensely popular at the start (anyone remember how LOTRO briefly emerged on the front page of Twitch in 2018?), everyone grooves on the Shadows of Angmar old-world content for a good five or six months, and Mines of Moria releases to another shot of enthusiasm.
But starting with Siege of Mirkwood, the subsequent spikes of returning or sustained interest seem to dip, culminating with the population falling off a cliff by the time Riders of Rohan comes out. Then it’s a slow limp to the finish line before SSG shuts off the servers and transfers everyone to a more permanent home.
It’s not a sure thing that this will be the case with Angmar and Mordor, but I’ve already seen a lot of concern among players that history is doomed to repeat itself. Part of the problem is the very nature of these servers, as they’re popular at the start because everyone is enjoying the same content together. But as time goes by, it becomes increasingly more difficult for a new player to catch up with the bulk of the leveling crowd, a crowd which sees natural attrition. So you don’t have a lot of new blood infusing the server to create a positive churn.
Again, it may not be like that with these new worlds. I can think of three reasons in their immediate favor: The 64-bit server architecture (which is currently only found here), the fact that Mordor is located in the EU, and the planned Nazgul world event bosses to bring players together for a common goal. But is it enough for the long haul?
Is there more that SSG could do to keep the legendary server vibes going strong?
It could well be that the studio doesn’t really care too much about the long-term health of these worlds. I’m sure that it profits the most from the initial influx, which would result in a lot of store purchases as players set up characters and houses. If and when a legendary server peters out, the only effort it takes is character transfers and all of the database headaches they brings with them.
But maybe SSG does care. Maybe it’s worth the extra effort to keep Angmar and Mordor a little extra spicy as an incentive to draw in new players. If that’s the case, here are a few ideas that could help the vibes of these servers to stay strong over the coming years.
I’d hope that the studio is keeping a close eye on the interest in the whole Nazgul/wraith mechanics and maybe change things up between expansions. What if players in Moria had to thwart the Nazgul trying to claim territory in this underground kingdom? What if a dread debuff started to sweep across the world unless the Nazgul were beaten back? Heck, it might be as simple as continually introducing new rewards for these encounters or vendors.
It might also be worth investing in a “catch up” period prior to each expansion release for potential players who would like to come onto these servers but are afraid that they’re too far behind. Just activate a bit of a speedy XP buff for a week or so, advertise the heck out of it, and maybe even give incentives to experienced players to team up and help these lowbies out. First-time player gifts for latecomers are not a bad idea either. Hey, bribes work!
Finally, SSG could do more to promote legendary servers past their launch and the sporadic “hey we’re increasing Treebeard to level 100 this week” notices. It might be as simple as putting a little bit of marketing or promotional muscle behind these shards. Do a week where the studio asks progression players to share their favorite memories from expansions and share a post on that. Foster conversation and interest in wherever the legendary server community is currently leveling, playing the strings of nostalgia as hard as possible.
Sure, it doesn’t fall to only the studio to keep these servers alive, but it shouldn’t be the community’s sole burden either. I’d love to see these shards be more or less as busy and thriving several years from now as we continue our journeys through Middle-earth.
Every two weeks, the LOTRO Legendarium goes on an adventure (horrid things, those) through the wondrous, terrifying, inspiring, and, well, legendary online world of Middle-earth. Justin has been playing LOTRO since its launch in 2007! If you have a topic for the column, send it to him at justin@massivelyop.com.
