Thoughts on “Classic LOTRO”
Cordovan (AKA Jerry Snook), Community Manager for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, stated in the last Developers Live Stream that “the idea of a formal classic (server) is never off the table”. Naturally, this comment has led to a lot of speculation on the official LOTRO forums. Many players by inference have concluded that the original code does exist for the game as it was at launch or immediately thereafter. As you can imagine this has resulted in much debate as to whether a classic LOTRO server based upon the original Shadows of Angmar release could be created. Assuming that this is the case and technically developer’s Standing Stone Games can do this, it raises the question of whether they should or not. Because a classic server is a different beast to the previous legendary progression servers. 14 years has seen a great deal of change within the MMO industry and with LOTRO as well. Let us take a moment to reflect.
A classic LOTRO server would differ greatly from the game as it stands today. In the original version of the game the world map was subject to the “fog of war” meaning you had to explore each region of Middle-earth for the map to show what was there. Players did not get a mount until level 35. It cost a lot of gold and was tied to the successful completion of a specific series of quests. Talking of which, there was no quest tracker with quest locations marked on the in-game map. Players were given a broad location such as “visit southern Chetwood” and had to find things for themselves. The trait system was radically different, skills had to be bought from trainers as you levelled and gear came from quests, crafting or players trading via the auction house. There was no barter wallet so storage frequently became an issue. The current cosmetic system also didn’t exist back in 2007, so the level of sartorial elegance was much lower. And perhaps the biggest difference was that the game was still heavily focused on group play and not all PVE content was soloable.
LOTRO in 2007 was very much a product of its time. Clearly, as the forums show us, there is a percentage of the existing LOTRO community that would be happy to play such an iteration of the game. However, it would take a lot of developer resources to bring Shadows of Angmar back in a form that is playable on contemporary PC architecture and hardware. Modern screen resolutions and the need for a fully scalable UI are just a few examples of technical problems that would need to be addressed. Gamers often use World of Warcraft Classic as an example of how an older version of an MMORPG can be brought back. However, a completely different development team was established to achieve this and the project had the financing of Activision Blizzard underpinning it. SSG do not currently have such resources at their disposal. Are their current owners EG7 going to fund such an undertaking such as classic LOTRO server, with its limited appeal, or spend their money modernising the existing game, upgrading the current engine and porting it to console? The latter seems like the more fiscally prudent business decision.
I personally would not be interested in a classic server. I enjoyed the game, as it was back in 2008 when I started playing, by default. It’s systems and mechanics were what they were back then but I cannot in all honesty say that I want to give up all the quality of life improvements that have come to LOTRO since then. Furthermore, I was at a point in my life where I could sink time into an MMO as was required by the genre back then. Those days have gone. I think the most I would ever do in classic LOTRO would be to log in to the game, recreate my existing Lore-master and potter around Bree. I do not think my interest would endure beyond a few hours of nostalgia. If a classic server follows the business model of the existing legendary servers it will require an active subscription for access. I don’t consider that to be worth my while. And then there’s the entire issue of the presence of the LOTRO store in a classic version of the game.
If LOTRO is to survive, it needs to modernise and requires a major overhaul. There are systems and mechanics to fix and some that need to be removed. If EG7 can afford to do this as well as provide a version of classic LOTRO, then so be it. But I don’t think that is the case and therefore I believe the first option is the most likely option. However, this entire debate is yet another example of what I call “gaming myopia”. Some gamers habitually forget that video games are consumer products and not public services. There are dozens of products that have been discontinued during my lifetime that I’d like to see return but the realities of business mean that none of them ever will. Producing classic LOTRO at the expense of the existing game would be a mistake. Churn and new customers are a reality that drive business. Do potential new players really want a game from 2007? I think not.
NB: This subject last became a talking point within the LOTRO community last November. The matter was addressed by SSG developer Jeff Libby (AKA MadeOfLions). Whether Cordovan’s recent comments indicate a policy change or whether he was just talking theoretically, I will leave to readers to decide.
