SSG what is the date for the games closing?

[Christian.S]

This isn't a LotRo is dying thread. It's already a foregone conclusion. What I'm requesting is the actual date.
You know this truth and its time you put it forth. Don't be one of these kind of gaming businesses that perpetrate a falsehood for a last cash grab before shutting the servers down.

I do know you will want to keep that date to yourselves but,I at least have to put this out there to offer SSG a way to keep some dignity. Not just for you but for the 100s of thousands who have taken part in the LotRo experience. Be up front and I think you will find there are many who will stay for the ride. Yes even I myself would,want to revisit to finish up my own personal adventure,knowing my last post was a farewell post.

After some 6 months or more,I was thinking about you all and couldn't help but to be reminded of a Tolkien quote,which brought me here this evening.


“Where did you go to, if I may ask?' said Thorin to Gandalf as they rode along.
To look ahead,' said he.
And what brought you back in the nick of time?'
Looking behind,' said he.”
? J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit

The quote is so timely,and yes I know I am not Gandalf. Well at least not before a good strong cup of coffee in the morning. After that I could stomp a Balrog np

OK back to where I left off. Why the quote? Same for me as Gandalf,I come back to the forums and can see the grafitto bright and clear. You are having troubles and I'm here tonight to tell you its ok. The ring has dropped and you have made good on your promise the best you could. I applaud the tremendous task Turbine/SSG,you have accomplished. Its time for you and all the LotRo loving players to accept the finality as well.


Some might question who are you to be so bold to make a request? A nobody from no where. So it is,and so it was that Frodo was a nobody from no where. Imagine that

I said my piece Cordovan. Now get Sev to step up and say his.




Edit: Cordovan get that dang WB logo off the top of the LotRo forums. You know,the one hiding behind the LotRo logo. After nearly 2 years its annoying to know you are still using the same formatted website from the WB era.

[Spilo]

It's likely that SSG will rollback the P2W changes to an extent, and keep folks happy. I hope they do a decent job with the PvP/Raid scene, and manage to keep those folks happy too. But keep in mind, even if they don't, LOTRO isn't likely to die for sometime, as they have a huge population of Lore-fans/Casuals who love the game for its quality world-building, story-telling, and Middle-Earth experience.

I wish LOTRO had done a better job with end-game and balance, and it's paid the price for poor decisions by Developers, but it's hardly going anywhere.

[Christian.S]

It isn't likely to die for some time? You're joking right?
Was a time when,whole 1st page of nearly every forum subject was filled up and replaced every day. At times they scrolled so fast a thread one hour old was pushed back to the 2nd page. Today the most used subject(general topic) thread's 1st page has over a months time of topics. I wont even bother to mention the myriad of items,features and choices that have disappeared since say 2010. Things created and maintained by the LotrO team that no longer exist. I did enjoy the leaderboards for pvp.

The current license cycle ends in almost 12 months if my memory still serves correct. Most would say "Big deal. What of it?". Even the SSG team has said its business as usual. That's for those who like to echo,can repeat that if they choose. However this next cycle SSG will have very stiff competition for that very license. There is no way if challenged SSG will outbid a competitor determined to have it. Amazon will have that license. There is no way they wont. 250 to 300 million for Tolkien rights for a new tv series. The game's license will be a token gift to Amazon. Just purchasing the tv series rights at such a price means Amazon is going BIG.

You were saying...

Edit: Actually I don't want to know.I'm not interested in long forum exchanges. My thread/post was and is to SSG. SSG can do what they want with it. Hell,Cordovan can delete for all I am concerned.

[elianidd2]

The current license cycle ends in almost 12 months if my memory still serves correct. Most would say "Big deal. What of it?". Even the SSG team has said its business as usual. That's for those who like to echo,can repeat that if they choose. However this next cycle SSG will have very stiff competition for that very license. There is no way if challenged SSG will outbid a competitor determined to have it. Amazon will have that license. There is no way they wont. 250 to 300 million for Tolkien rights for a new tv series. The game's license will be a token gift to Amazon. Just purchasing the tv series rights at such a price means Amazon is going BIG.

I doubt anyone, not even Amazon and its billions, will be making a brand new LOTR MMO, so I think we'll be fine. More, different games? Sure, but the Great Age of the MMO is past until a technological breakthrough that begets new forms of play for the medium arrives. And no, VR isn't it yet (too expensive, too finicky, too bulky still).

[Jillymala]

Maintenance mode can last a long time.

[Yula_the_Mighty]

SSG will tell us what the shutdown date will be. Only after they have decided:

1) To shut down Lotro. Once this decision is made.
2) The date has arrived when SSG will announce the month day and year that the servers will be shut down.

Until we reach the date in point 2, the answer from SSG is always going to be:
There are no plans to shut down the service

[Thurallor]

There is no way if challenged SSG will outbid a competitor determined to have it. Amazon will have that license. There is no way they wont. 250 to 300 million for Tolkien rights for a new tv series. The game's license will be a token gift to Amazon.

You're uninformed. The video game rights are owned by a different company (Saul Zaentz) than the movie rights (Tolkein Estate). Negotiations with one company doesn't bear in any way on negotiations with the other. Amazon would have to have an actual reason to want the video game rights. And AFAIK they aren't in the game development business.

[kickman77]

with how things are recently going if the game were to close we would find out about 12-18 hours prior.... just like all recent down times

[Beorthnoth]

You're uninformed. The video game rights are owned by a different company (Saul Zaentz) than the movie rights (Tolkein Estate). Negotiations with one company doesn't bear in any way on negotiations with the other. Amazon would have to have an actual reason to want the video game rights. And AFAIK they aren't in the game development business.

This is incorrect. Tolkien sold the movie right to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings in the 1960's in order to pay off a tax bill when sales of the books exploded at that time. This was subsequently extended to cover video material after a prolonged legal dispute with the Tolkien Estate. You're confusing Tolkien Enterprises (Saul Zaentz's company) with the Tolkien Estate (run, until his recent retirement by his son, Christopher Tolkien), which manages the estate left by Tolkien when he died.

[Yula_the_Mighty]

You're uninformed. The video game rights are owned by a different company (Saul Zaentz) than the movie rights (Tolkein Estate). Negotiations with one company doesn't bear in any way on negotiations with the other. Amazon would have to have an actual reason to want the video game rights. And AFAIK they aren't in the game development business.

All of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit rights are owned by Saul Zaentz which is now called Middle Earth Enterprises.

The Tolkien Estate run by Chris Tolkien holds the rest of the Middle Earth IP. The Tolkien Estate is totally opposed to any games, movies, cartoons... Hence the estate typically sues companies Warner Brothers every time they use the Lord of the Rings or Hobbit IP claiming that the rights that were sold many years does not include what Warner Brothers or other companies planning to do. Odds are they will sue Amazon some time in the future.

[Pontin_Finnberry]

It isn't likely to die for some time? You're joking right?

As far as i know, The game is still making money and Cordovan has already said there will be more lotro in the coming years, so its not going to die anytime soon, if you think that you are thinking wrong.

[greetingsdownunder]

I find it funny that people think this game is shutting down soon. You act like these SSG guys bought DDO and LOTRO from WB Games, only because they planned to shut down lotro in 12-18 months, lol.

They likely have all the capital they need for at least 5 years from Daybreak Games.

Population logins are at most -10% as before Mordor launch. So within normal range of the slow decline we've had for the last 6 years.

Chill peoples. If the game ends, it reached beyond it's 10 year anniversary. Something truly wonderful, and celebrated.

[peachy16]

As far as i know, The game is still making money and Cordovan has already said there will be more lotro in the coming years, so its not going to die anytime soon, if you think that you are thinking wrong.

LOL first of all you have no clue how much money they are making & 2nd just because Cordovan says it doesn't mean it's gonna happen.

Given there track record I take anything they say now with a grain of salt. Until I actually see it then I will believe it.

[siipperi]

On this rate at the end of 2018

[Denhith]

They likely have all the capital they need for at least 5 years from Daybreak Games.

LMAO...that was hilarious. Many thanks to you and yours.

[Pontin_Finnberry]

LOL first of all you have no clue how much money they are making & 2nd just because Cordovan says it doesn't mean it's gonna happen.

Given there track record I take anything they say now with a grain of salt. Until I actually see it then I will believe it.

Nope, but SSG didn't buy Lotro/DDO to shut it down with in a year... so saying its gonna die soon is false, I've seen it for years players saying "this game is dead" mean they are trolling by saying that...

[TharbadThief]

with how things are recently going if the game were to close we would find out about 12-18 hours prior.... just like all recent down times

Launcher would say:

"The LOTRO servers will be brought down at 9:00 AM Eastern (-5 GMT) for a permanent shutdown of the game on Tuesday, November 21st. Thanks for your patience, and we will not see you back in game."

[Snowlock]

This isn't a LotRo is dying thread. It's already a foregone conclusion.

LOTRO's not dead, Splay. It's different now. I'm not saying you have to like it. I'm just saying others do. I miss the old days, but I enjoy the new ones too. I liked Mordor. I'm looking forward to the future, I think there will be one.

The LOTRO you loved died in 2013. It actually received its death blow in 2011. The game's diminished, but it still exists. And that too is part of Tolkien's lore.

[Gandolf_TheOld]

All of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit rights are owned by Saul Zaentz which is now called Middle Earth Enterprises.

A small correction here, if I may; The Saul Zaentz Company owns certain "exclusive worldwide rights" and Middle Earth Enterprises is a division of The Saul Zaentz Company.

[Denhith]

Nope, but SSG didn't buy Lotro/DDO to shut it down with in a year...

Turbine didn't invest millions in Infinite Crisis thinking that it would shut down a couple months after it went live...but it did. Sometimes, things just don't work out.

[Snoopy]

Launcher would say:

"The LOTRO servers will be brought down at 9:00 AM Eastern (-5 GMT) for a permanent shutdown of the game on Tuesday, November 21st. Thanks for your patience, and we will not see you back in game."

I LOL'd. So true.

I do think the OP has a viable question. Whether you believe the login numbers on lux or not if you look at the cumulative logins we are back to where we were before the game went F2P. If I remember right the game was in bad shape then and going F2P is what kept it afloat. On top of that the change in SST (or Tomb stone games as someone else put it) financial strategy gives us some sort of hint something is going on.

Personally I don't believe the game would just shut down but would rather go into maintenance mode for a few years until it just gets financially to a point where it just not worth it for SST to run the server. But that's just my two cents.

[djheydt]

Just FYI:

When Asheron's Call 2 shut down, they gave us eighteen weeks' notice.

And a lot of extra freebies, since the game wasn't going anywhere at that point: leveling pills, and Power pills in such abundance that we could swim out to the edge of the world -- literally -- and see where the landblocks stopped.

Do you see any of that happening?

I took one week to think, and then wrote a 17-chapter fanfic, giving us the closure we weren't going to get otherwise; I posted chapters weekly on Warcry's AC2 site.

Sometimes I consider putting it up online; but it would need a whole lot of footnotes for those who didn't play AC2.

[Pontin_Finnberry]

Turbine didn't invest millions in Infinite Crisis thinking that it would shut down a couple months after it went live...but it did. Sometimes, things just don't work out.

Its like Final Fantasy XIV shut down then remade it to Final Fantasy XIV: A realm reborn. but some games don't get remade.

[Schmidster]

Worst topic ever.
Try again, friend.

The game is not based on ten people going after end-game çorrections to suit your needs.
When will YOU ALL shut down?

Some how we keep playing. Some how the game keeps evolving, despite your doom blanket. Just play something else if this is SO troubling for you.

Plink plink, although I would rather spend my few coppers for a Deed doubler. Or anything better than Forum Warriors.

And the recent few months of insulting/calling out staff...seriously, they are workers like you and me. You don't shine brighter. They do. In this.

[clrsf06]

Worst topic ever.
Try again, friend.

The game is not based on ten people going after end-game çorrections to suit your needs.
When will YOU ALL shut down?

Some how we keep playing. Some how the game keeps evolving, despite your doom blanket. Just play something else if this is SO troubling for you.

Plink plink, although I would rather spend my few coppers for a Deed doubler. Or anything better than Forum Warriors.

And the recent few months of insulting/calling out staff...seriously, they are workers like you and me. You don't shine brighter. They do. In this.

Agreed. Thanks for saying what I was thinking