Echoes of Angmar Stress Test Begins
On Saturday 20th August the stress test began for the private LOTRO server Echoes of Angmar. This project is offering a version of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online as it were in late November 2007. I have spoken to several players who have participated in this and other tests and so far the results have been positive. The server crashed on several occasions and the longest uninterrupted period of stability was two hours. Character creation is proving to be a slow process and some players have found that they cannot see other players when logging in. However, the majority of players could create alts and progress through the game as normal. The data generated from these tests has proven useful and the team overseeing the project are currently working on a revised build to improve stability. Further server tests are scheduled for Friday 26th August.
All information regarding these tests and the private server Echoes of Angmar is in the public domain and can be found via a simple Google search. The recent cease and desist request from Middle-earth Enterprises seems to have had little or no impact upon the project which is continuing with its testing schedule. It will be interesting to see if the new owners of Middle-earth Enterprises, Embracer Group, escalate the matter or whether this grey project will continue unhindered, like many other private servers. There certainly appears to be a lot more interest in this “original” version of LOTRO than some may have initially thought, judging by the activity on the Echoes of Angmar Discord Server and subreddit. As and when the stability issues are resolved, I am curious to see what sort of population this private server sustains and whether people will be content with the original base version of the game
