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Lord of the Rings Online Is Closing Ithil, One Of Its Legendary Servers, On June 15th | MMORPG.com

SystemSystem Member UncommonPosts: 12,599
edited May 2021 in News & Features Discussion

imageLord of the Rings Online Is Closing Ithil, One Of Its Legendary Servers, On June 15th | MMORPG.com

The Lord of the Rings Online is closing one of its Legendary Servers, Ithil, on June 15th, Standing Stone Games announced today. Characters will be able to be transferred to any server they wish, including the other Legendary Server, Anor, for free until December 31st.

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  • TillerTiller Member LegendaryPosts: 11,485
    This must mean the game is dying....
    mrneurosisCondarFreedViper482Agent_Joseph
    SWG Bloodfin vet
    Elder Jedi/Elder Bounty Hunter
     
  • mrneurosismrneurosis Member UncommonPosts: 316

    Tiller said:

    This must mean the game is dying....



    Yes it has been dying for over 14 years and will keep dying for another 10.
    enesisxlr8cheyaneCondarFreedmcrippinsNeoyoshiScotScott_JeslisViper482[Deleted User]Sandmanjwand 1 other.
  • UngoodUngood Member LegendaryPosts: 7,534
    Did you know.. once you are born, you start to die, it's just a question of how long it takes.

    Same seems to be true for MMO's.
    Theocritus
    Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.

  • FrodoFraginsFrodoFragins Member EpicPosts: 6,057
    I mean they made no effort to balance these legendary server or to make them even close to the original experience. They also rushed their expansion release schedule, most likely to get players to Rohan(I believe) and the P2W shop elements that come with the legendary item revamp.

    The whole thing was a soulless cash grab anyway.
    ashiru_1978Mendel
  • NeoyoshiNeoyoshi Member RarePosts: 1,489

    mrneurosis said:



    Tiller said:


    This must mean the game is dying....






    Yes it has been dying for over 14 years and will keep dying for another 10.



    Sounds about right. xD


    Fishing on Gilgamesh since 2013
    Fishing on Bronzebeard since 2005
    Fishing in RL since 1992
    Born with a fishing rod in my hand in 1979
  • AkulasAkulas Member RarePosts: 3,029
    Only started playing recently. Got as far as I can with the price of 1 sub and no expansions in about 15 days of casual play. Paywalls exist that's the nicest way to put it. Worth grinding the deeds out for sure or else it gets too pricey to buy everything as a total newb.

    This isn't a signature, you just think it is.

  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    CondarFreed said:
    This actually makes me a little sad, just created a new character on the server so I could feel like the lone Adventurer. Probably why they are closing it.
    Pretty much... the plan was a legendary server (singular) but nostalgia was strong and one couldn't handle the load, that's why Ithil started.
    Probably over the years Anor has dropped to the numbers where it can comfortably take over Ithil's players...

    What's more interesting is the transfer itself. A simple merge would've been the logical move.
    Maybe they want to check the actual demand on the "return" option, since LS so far was closed off from the Live servers by design.
    Also a test run on the transfer mechanic as well, since this will be the first time of transferring to both EU or US servers, without the bound of the character data structures.
    Scotcheyane
  • ashiru_1978ashiru_1978 Member RarePosts: 818

    FrodoFragins said:

    I mean they made no effort to balance these legendary server or to make them even close to the original experience. They also rushed their expansion release schedule, most likely to get players to Rohan(I believe) and the P2W shop elements that come with the legendary item revamp.



    The whole thing was a soulless cash grab anyway.



    Come on, you can't be THIS poor! I was also ripping in LOTRO for being expensive, but when I realized I can no longer enjoy playing Vanilla WoW for the 15th year in a row, I found out that LOTRO was my only option for an experience close to Vanilla WoW. Then I coughed up $60 for the Expansion Trove, got all the content up to level 50 from the 2020 Friends Forever event so now I have everything up to level 115 (130 is the level cap) available.

    Even I who was ripping on LOTRO and hating on it for being expensive managed to pay a small sum, which I would have otherwise wasted on booze and it's not that bad.

    You're either poor as hell or stingy as hell. You remind me of that fable about "The Fox and the Sour Grapes" - the fox could not reach the grapes, because they were too high so he convinced himself that they were sour and not worth it anyway, you are the same. xD
  • Gobstopper3DGobstopper3D Member RarePosts: 970
    I have a toon on that server. I first started on Anor, but deleted that character when I saw how toxic that community was. I will just transfer the two toons to one of the current servers I guess.

    I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.

  • cheyanecheyane Member LegendaryPosts: 9,404
    edited May 2021
    Correct me if I'm wrong but this is like the Everquest TLE and Classic WoW server right? Surprising that considering the success of both classic and TLE it is not doing well.

    Everquest has like the 9th iteration of TLE. They will open the tenth soon. It is hugely popular with many hour long queues to get in at launch of the servers. One was even called Aradune in memory of Brad which was without doubt  very congested on launch.
    Po_gg
    Garrus Signature
  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    cheyane said:
    Correct me if I'm wrong but this is like the Everquest TLE and Classic WoW server right? Surprising that considering the success of both classic and TLE it is not doing well.
    Yep, the same concept (subscription needed for access, launch with base content and add the expansions over time), just doubled... so maybe it was time for some consolidation.

    With the EQ example you mentioned, it's like the congestion at launch would have handled by launching an Aradune2, with the same rules and content progression, etc. (unlike the actual EQ launch with Rizlona, which has different rules)

    After 2-2.5 years the initial congestion is long gone, probably that's why the close now.
    At least that's what they're reasoning the move with... but sounds believable.
  • Viper482Viper482 Member LegendaryPosts: 4,101

    Tiller said:

    This must mean the game is dying....



    Really hope this was sarcasm and not ignorance.
    [Deleted User]
    Make MMORPG's Great Again!
  • Viper482Viper482 Member LegendaryPosts: 4,101

    Ungood said:

    Did you know.. once you are born, you start to die, it's just a question of how long it takes.

    Same seems to be true for MMO's.



    This is a legendary server....it has an indicator factor of zero of the game's overall health.
    Make MMORPG's Great Again!
  • Viper482Viper482 Member LegendaryPosts: 4,101
    edited May 2021
    I'm not going to reply to each ignorant post here....you fools have no clue what a legendary server is....obviously. The closing of this server means nothing at all in the grand scheme of the game. Legendary servers were basically like classic servers and at first there was a huge demand, then the novelty wore off. The regular servers are as populated as they were when Legendary servers came out.
    [Deleted User]
    Make MMORPG's Great Again!
  • UtinniUtinni Member EpicPosts: 2,209
    These servers would do much better if the companies treated them like blizz did classic. Just level capping the retail version of the game (EQ, AO, LOTRO) is extremely lame.
    [Deleted User]
  • tokcistokcis Member UncommonPosts: 4

    Mars_OMG said:

    Maybe just maybe, people used there stimulus for something else besides a game ? A lot of Americans still out of work atm



    Well the world isnt made of just americans. Might be shocking news to many but theres quite a good sized population outside america. =D
    [Deleted User]Erinak1
  • TillerTiller Member LegendaryPosts: 11,485
    Viper482 said:

    Tiller said:

    This must mean the game is dying....



    Really hope this was sarcasm and not ignorance.

    Sarcasm
    SWG Bloodfin vet
    Elder Jedi/Elder Bounty Hunter
     
  • FrodoFraginsFrodoFragins Member EpicPosts: 6,057
    Viper482 said:
    I'm not going to reply to each ignorant post here....you fools have no clue what a legendary server is....obviously. The closing of this server means nothing at all in the grand scheme of the game. Legendary servers were basically like classic servers and at first there was a huge demand, then the novelty wore off. The regular servers are as populated as they were when Legendary servers came out.
    They weren't like classic servers at all.  What they did was to make a progression server using the exact same client and server as retail.  They just locked out how far you could go.  A whole lot changed over the years since the content was originally released.

    They also didn't bother to rebalance the content to be more balanced/challenging.  They just put it together quickly and charged people subs for access.  The interest in it died pretty quickly all things considered.



    [Deleted User]MendelkitaradPo_gg
  • MendelMendel Member LegendaryPosts: 5,609
    FrodoFragins said:
    I mean they made no effort to balance these legendary server or to make them even close to the original experience. They also rushed their expansion release schedule, most likely to get players to Rohan(I believe) and the P2W shop elements that come with the legendary item revamp.

    The whole thing was a soulless cash grab anyway.

    I'm not entirely sure they could have returned to the actual original code.  Chances are there's not anything like a backup of the code and initial server setup from then.  These game companies are building an ongoing experience, and seem to be making changes in place.  How much actual IT discipline is actually being done to backup code and world elements anyway?



    Po_gg

    Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.

  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    Torval said:
    Mendel said:
    I'm not entirely sure they could have returned to the actual original code. 
    It also doesn't help that a lot of the community couldn't agree on what features made classic Shadows great and what sucked.
    Yep, the implementation was kinda lacking with only a simple progression server instead of a "real" classic, and both of those points were there.

    SSG said it's impossible to go back to the original code (which I believe was to be translated as "we're lazy and cheap, don't want to put money and effort into it"), and there were lengthy debates within the community on what should be present in a classic server.

    Personally I won't mind the combat-related reverts Torval mentioned, LMs aren't more "fun" now, they're simply just more OP... back then it was one of the most difficult classes to play, just to survive you had to use everything at disposal and plan the fights beforehand, use the knowledge spell to measure the mobs, etc.
    I longed even more for the minstrel revert (and the trait trees to disappear...), they were much slower to level and dedicated to heal.

    I was against the comeback of the crafting vs. rare named mobs shenanigans :)
    Spawn camps and stucked crafting progression due to it ain't fun, and wasn't in the past either.
    [Deleted User]Mendel
  • angerbeaverangerbeaver Member UncommonPosts: 1,273
    For me it was sort of a dumb idea anyways. Legendary server, but kept all the new mechanics, "balancing", and trait system etc etc...
  • NeblessNebless Member RarePosts: 1,877
    In reality all they were selling was a 'Fresh Start' server.  Some of the early ads even talked about 'getting to experience the game as it was' = meaning everyone started at lvl 1 and leveled up together without the handouts from players more experienced characters.

    While there is a big draw for things like that, it's only of limited duration, since after the first 3 months or so everyone is scattered all over the level range and it becomes meaningless.

    Age of Conan has done the same thing 3 times so far; they're great, they're packed and they close the server after 3 months so it doesn't drag out to it's death.
    Sovrath

    SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter

  • FrodoFraginsFrodoFragins Member EpicPosts: 6,057
    edited May 2021
    Mendel said:
    I mean they made no effort to balance these legendary server or to make them even close to the original experience. They also rushed their expansion release schedule, most likely to get players to Rohan(I believe) and the P2W shop elements that come with the legendary item revamp.

    The whole thing was a soulless cash grab anyway.

    I'm not entirely sure they could have returned to the actual original code.  Chances are there's not anything like a backup of the code and initial server setup from then.  These game companies are building an ongoing experience, and seem to be making changes in place.  How much actual IT discipline is actually being done to backup code and world elements anyway?
    They couldn't have returned to the code - but they could have done plenty of testing and balance changes for the content they had.  WOW classic is on a modern client but balanced properly.

    That's at a minimum, as they could have also branched out a separate client with modified skill trees, trait systems and such.

    It really was a bare minimum effort and they even ended up going back on their word and progressing servers faster than they advertised.  Add in the fact that their communication on it all was bare minimum as well and they made a server that really didn't please many at all. 
    Mendel
  • MendelMendel Member LegendaryPosts: 5,609
    FrodoFragins said:
    Mendel said:
    I mean they made no effort to balance these legendary server or to make them even close to the original experience. They also rushed their expansion release schedule, most likely to get players to Rohan(I believe) and the P2W shop elements that come with the legendary item revamp.

    The whole thing was a soulless cash grab anyway.

    I'm not entirely sure they could have returned to the actual original code.  Chances are there's not anything like a backup of the code and initial server setup from then.  These game companies are building an ongoing experience, and seem to be making changes in place.  How much actual IT discipline is actually being done to backup code and world elements anyway?
    They couldn't have returned to the code - but they could have done plenty of testing and balance changes for the content they had.  WOW classic is on a modern client but balanced properly.

    That's at a minimum, as they could have also branched out a separate client with modified skill trees, trait systems and such.

    It really was a bare minimum effort and they even ended up going back on their word and progressing servers faster than they advertised.  Add in the fact that their communication on it all was bare minimum as well and they made a server that really didn't please many at all. 

    SSG really has dropped the ball on LotRO.  I can't tell what actually was the holdup, not having server code to revert to, not having a copy of the initial world settings (PC placement has changed significantly in some cases), or not having a reasonable mechanism to revert the client side to the initial state.  I suspect very strongly that there isn't any Change log, at least one that could be used to unravel the changes made over the years.  Plus, documentation for a game?  Preposterous!



    Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.

  • FrodoFraginsFrodoFragins Member EpicPosts: 6,057
    Mendel said:
    FrodoFragins said:
    Mendel said:
    I mean they made no effort to balance these legendary server or to make them even close to the original experience. They also rushed their expansion release schedule, most likely to get players to Rohan(I believe) and the P2W shop elements that come with the legendary item revamp.

    The whole thing was a soulless cash grab anyway.

    I'm not entirely sure they could have returned to the actual original code.  Chances are there's not anything like a backup of the code and initial server setup from then.  These game companies are building an ongoing experience, and seem to be making changes in place.  How much actual IT discipline is actually being done to backup code and world elements anyway?
    They couldn't have returned to the code - but they could have done plenty of testing and balance changes for the content they had.  WOW classic is on a modern client but balanced properly.

    That's at a minimum, as they could have also branched out a separate client with modified skill trees, trait systems and such.

    It really was a bare minimum effort and they even ended up going back on their word and progressing servers faster than they advertised.  Add in the fact that their communication on it all was bare minimum as well and they made a server that really didn't please many at all. 

    SSG really has dropped the ball on LotRO.  I can't tell what actually was the holdup, not having server code to revert to, not having a copy of the initial world settings (PC placement has changed significantly in some cases), or not having a reasonable mechanism to revert the client side to the initial state.  I suspect very strongly that there isn't any Change log, at least one that could be used to unravel the changes made over the years.  Plus, documentation for a game?  Preposterous!
    I'm not sure that they would have done anything differently if they had access to everything from launch and such.  I think they wanted to jump on the bandwagon and make it as low risk as possible.  but I honestly don't know.
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