As I write this, it’s Tuesday morning, and we are well underway in what I’m calling the Great Server Migration of 2025 in Lord of the Rings Online. By the time you read this, you’ll know whether or not everything went smoothly. Me in the past? I’m casting pennies in that big ol’ well in Moria and wishing for the best.
(Hey, this is Justin of Thursday evening, and now I know that my wishing pennies were defective. Sorry about that! Yes, it’s been a massive mess and frustrating experience for all of us, studio and community alike, and I’ll have a lot more to say about this early next week. But for now, I invite you to read my thoughts on the transition to these new realms, in case they really do happen today as planned.)
In all of the craziness of name reservations and transfer details and virtual house moving, there’s something even greater happening: The entire community of this MMORPG is being reshaped virtually overnight. How LOTRO existed last week and for years prior is completely different to what’s emerging right now from this migration.
It hit me hard and unexpectedly on Tuesday evening. Everyone was all flush from the excitement (and some disappointment) of the name reservations. But then as I took my Burglar through Archet to clean up some lowbie quests, I realized: This was the last day I’d ever be on Landroval.
That was it. Years and years of making this one server my home-away-from-home, years of enjoying the unique atmosphere and quirky kinships, years of identifying as a resident here… ending. That was it. Landroval and the other 32-bit realms may limp on with some stragglers who refuse to move along — for various reasons — but the server as it was is done for good.
I know that I can log in anywhere else and see the same places and NPCs in Middle-earth, but it’s really the community that can’t be replicated. It’s not the same.
And as these servers wind down, we have the opposite as Pippin, Merry, and a couple of swords ramp up their shiny new realms. I’m really hoping that the expected chaos of players, characters, houses, inventories, and kinships moving won’t be as intense as it could be, but there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s going to take weeks for all the dust to settle.
This is moving-in week for thousands of us strange and wonderful LOTRO players, and probably most people will spend those initial days focused on themselves. There are inventories and shared storage and housing escrow to check. Characters need to be renamed and rosters organized. There’s going to be a rush to grab homes and neighborhoods, then the arduous (yet fun!) task of setting these places up once more.
But once we turn our attention outward, we’ll see something else emerge: New server identities. I kind of envision this as the first day of college, when you have all of these individuals descending upon a campus, setting up their rooms, and getting a feel for the place. Yet after a mixer or two and a couple weeks of classes, the greater community grows and develops.
We’re going to see kinships that have never existed on the same server before now be in close proximity. People will be jostling each other for attention in world chat as we get to know each other. And knowing the LOTRO community as I do, there are going to be tons of player-run events to create those bonds.
I’m a little nervous and a lot excited to go through this server migration with all of you and to see what comes out of it in the end. It’ll be wonderful to have more people existing together on these larger realms, and the opportunities we’ll have for adventures and celebrations in the days ahead are endless.
So farewell Landroval… and hello Peregrin. It’s time to move.
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.
