No, I know perfectly well what it means.
1) Start by reading this article:
In particular, this here passage:
Maintenance mode is the point when an MMO is being maintained reliably but isn’t being actively developed any longer. This is almost always a net result of the game being older and not having much in the way of budget and/or active playerbase left to really appreciate active development.
2) Now, start reading all of this post earlier in this very thread:
If you had read that (which you obviously did not), you would have found out that LOTRO is still being actively developed. The amount of stuff added to the game over the last year alone, and all the stuff that has been announced already clearly states that this game is not in maintenance mode, still being actively developed, and it is still generating revenue and profit.
LOTRO really is NOT in maintenance mode and will not be any time soon. You may be as stubborn as you want to be and believe what you want to believe, but that does not make it true.
First of all, I do not ignore you. Quite the opposite is true: I like you.
Otherwise, I wouldn't even bother to answer to your posts.
At one point in life, you will learn that definitions are fine as long as reality don't hit.
If you read the definition on wiki you will find another definition. There are indeed many type of maintenance mode, like preventive, opportunistic, selective, predictive, traditional, just to name a few.
If you read my post, you saw that I never said, that we don't get content updates.
You can look at "massively" for sure, but what you read there is their interpretation of the EG7 stream. So if you want first-hand information, just watch the stream.
I quote the "interesting" part again:
Existing live games will be maintained with:
Investment necessary to fully support the existing titles and community
But no major investments
A major investment would have been something like the remastering or the console version of the game, finding & fixing the reasons for the lags, new hardware etc.
But of course, we can start a discussion about what the word "necessary" and "fully" means here.
However, if you fallowed the video link to the older video, you would know what the plan was for LOTRO etc.
Now is clear that nothing from that will happen, what was promised. No additional investment, no additional human resources etc.
You don't have to worry, LOTRO will not see a shutdown (at least not very soon) as it still brings enough money to cover its costs. No one will lose his/her job etc.
SSG will be SSG as it is. And the game will be the game also, as it is. More stuff to find and fix lag issues? Nope. More stuff to help with testing, bug fixing? Nope.
New hardware? Nope. I am long enough in the software business to know that a phrase like "
Investment necessary to fully support the existing titles and community" exactly means when said by a CEO.
If SSG decide to do something about some issues of the game, they are on their own. And such time investments will collide with the "business plan" which SSG have had to deliver to EG7
.
When you watched that long stream, you will recognize how well EG7 knows about the loyalty of LOTROs customers. They know exactly, as long as the game is running, those loyal lemmings will play and pay.
You can say "that is business as usual for LOTRO" and you will be right with it. But that's exactly the problem. Everything what we got and will get in the future is only on top of these decade old engines and systems with no chance to replace or rewrite them because that is not considered as necessary. More content: yes. A better performing game: no! You can use as many definitions as you like, but SSG will just and only maintain the status quo and nothing else.
PS: one thing you maybe should know, why this is all happening. After the debacle with Cold Iron the stocks of EG7 dropped around 20% in value. Guess what would make investors happy?
