Due to Heavy Demand, a Second Lord of the Rings Online Legendary Server Opens - MMORPG.com News

SBFord

Due to Heavy Demand, a Second Lord of the Rings Online Legendary Server Opens - MMORPG.com News

A lot of players are pretty jazzed about the Lord of the Rings Online Legendary server program that allows them to participate in the game "the way it was", though with a few modern enhancements and additional races / classes to spice things up. Demand is so high, in fact, that a second Legendary server is now open with free character transfers for those willing to shift to "Ithil".

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SBFord

Simply awesome.

Albatroes

Its nice and all but only time will really tell.

FlyByKnight

"Mister Frodo! Mister Frodo! Where are you?!"

"Sam? SAAAM! I'm trapped on another server! Help!"

  

MadCoderOne

Having a blast

Asheram

Is this going to be ongoing or is it one of those up for a limited time only thing?

Nebless

Asheram said:

Is this going to be ongoing or is it one of those up for a limited time only thing?

Ongoing. SSG is going to slowly release all the current content (presently in 4 month intervals) and at some point the legendary servers will catch up to the current servers content-wise.

Current characters will not be allowed to transfer to either of the legendary servers, although once the contents all match I could see them doing it since it wouldn't matter then.

Nebless

"Legendary server program that allows them to participate in the game "the way it was", though with a few modern enhancements and additional races / classes to spice things up."

Not really accurate since it's the same game as currently on the other servers, the only 'way it was' would be not all the content is accessible right away.

mcrippins

Tempted to give this a try as I missed this game before. Is the cash shop actually bad like some are saying?

Viper482

mcrippins said:

Tempted to give this a try as I missed this game before. Is the cash shop actually bad like some are saying?

Not game-breaking.

Po_gg

FlyByKnight said:

"Mister Frodo! Mister Frodo! Where are you?!"

"Sam? SAAAM! I'm trapped on another server! Help!"

  

"Hurry, Sam!"

"Mister Frodo, if I take one more relog in the launcher, it will be the fartherest away from the server in the queue I've ever been."

maskedweasel

Glad to see there's interest in it, and I do think that it's going to do well, but.. I wouldn't anticipate they'll need both servers for very long.

TheDarkrayne

mcrippins said:

Tempted to give this a try as I missed this game before. Is the cash shop actually bad like some are saying?

It's in your face but when you have a subscription.. and you need one to play on these new servers.. you don't 'need' anything from the cash shop to have a good time. There's plenty you could get if you wanted to but it's convenience really. You earn cash shop currency by completeing deeds (achievements) in the game. If you save them up, you can get the expansions without having to pay real money.

mcrippins

TheDarkrayne said:

mcrippins said:

Tempted to give this a try as I missed this game before. Is the cash shop actually bad like some are saying?

It's in your face but when you have a subscription.. and you need one to play on these new servers.. you don't 'need' anything from the cash shop to have a good time. There's plenty you could get if you wanted to but it's convenience really. You earn cash shop currency by completeing deeds (achievements) in the game. If you save them up, you can get the expansions without having to pay real money.

Good to know - gonna give it a shot. Thx!

Po_gg

mcrippins said:

Tempted to give this a try as I missed this game before. Is the cash shop actually bad like some are saying?

With the sub (which is mandatory for the new servers) you won't need anything from the shop. You can still use it for convenience though, especially as a fresh player, without any of those.
Based on your core playstyle,
if you're a hoarder, and the gold increases aren't enough, you can further increase the vault, inventory and housing chest capacity via the shop
if you plan a ton of alts, shared storage is nice to have (mailing the items all the time is tiresome)
if you wander off often, additional milestones (port to home skill) and/or reducing their cooldown can shorten the travel times
if you don't like the legwork, you can buy the riding skill right at the start (at level 20 you get it for free as a subscriber)
if you like festivals, reputation grinds, etc. you can buy the premium wallet, it will take off a severe load from your inventory (almost a must-have at the endgame, but since the new servers are only in Eriador, I'd leave that purchase to the last, if you don't have anything else to spend on your Points)
or
you can save up your Points (sub gives 500 each month) and buy Moria when the server gets there.

corvas

Good time for me to dust that lifetime account i have off and start over .

lol, just checked and guess its not lifetime after all :P. "Next Billing Date: 12/31/2037 9:00:00 PM"

saurus123

not smart to open new servers becouse start hype that last a week or less

Scorchien

Have fun Folks , its a really great journey

mcrippins

This game takes forever to install, even on a gigabit connection and fast computer lol.

Scot

I have asked before when we see this happening in other MMOs...Do MMOs need F2P players?

Po_gg

Scot said:

I have asked before when we see this happening in other MMOs...Do MMOs need F2P players?

Only time will tell, even SSG will see more clearly after a month, but I don't think they will get much out of it on the long run... the demand is heavy right now, that's for sure. I wonder though, how many of those players are subbing just for the new server feel, and how many were already VIP or LTA.
I think the LTAs alone, normally stretched over 10 servers, together with those LTAs who just now returned for a spin, could fill one server when try to login at once. Throw in the mix the already VIP players, and you have the queues. And all those players bring nothing extra to the table...

The extra money SSG can take out of this enterprise comes from those who subbed only for this server (and the extra subbed months beyond December). It will turn out next month how successful (financially, since as fun it sure is successful ) the new servers are.

While at the other side stands the large mass of level 50+ players on the 10 servers (ok, more like 70+, where the tweaks really start to show their teeth), f2p and VIP alike, who are pissed right now about the changes. Mostly their money fueled the game since 2010, don't forget LotRO hasn't switched payment model due necessity, they did it because it made them more money than sub alone. The leave / stopped spending of those players should be countered by that extra cash the new servers make for the overall happiness of SSG.

Do MMOs need f2p players? Only time will tell.

Utinni

Playing it for the first time on this server, lvl 23 now. Pretty cool game that still uses support classes, cc etc. The cash shop is definitely in your face though. Practically every panel on the UI, and even the sub panels of those, have the cash shop icons all over them. None of it is necessarily "needed" but I can already see I'm going to need to buy lots of extra inventory slots. Also the equivalent of a Currency Tab is locked behind a paywall. If I end up enjoying this for any significant period of time I'll end up spending $40-60 just on basic features from other games (not including each expansion). Not a deal-breaker per se, just unfortunate that the money will go to things of this nature instead of fun things.

And yea. You get 500 coins a month for subbing, which is half what the currency tab costs(fast riding skill is currently 2396 coins on sale). Deeds seem like a decent way to get more as they also give you other things you'll want in the game. I've made 190 coins without focusing at all on deeds.

tldr : Fun mmo with lots of interesting systems. Somewhat overbearing in-game cash shop but not quite rift level of "feeeed meee". p.s.edit - Experience is reduced 40% on the server but I have not felt the urge to purchase any boosts.

Wizardry

Sounds like the same ideas SOE had going on.The idea of the so called free coins for subbing is an idea i think people don't realize and that is that WHY do you need such coins.The game should not have ANY added cash shop after you pay a subscription,you should then have full access to every last bit of the game.
Obviously it is there to encourage you to spend in the cash shop,get your feet wet and hope you keep spending.IMO it is a very greedy setup,it is like disrespecting your loyal subscribers with added costs.

titanofdoom

I have played from day one, what the hell is the point of starting over from a a time erstwhile?

Utinni

Wizardry said:

Sounds like the same ideas SOE had going on.The idea of the so called free coins for subbing is an idea i think people don't realize and that is that WHY do you need such coins.The game should not have ANY added cash shop after you pay a subscription,you should then have full access to every last bit of the game.
Obviously it is there to encourage you to spend in the cash shop,get your feet wet and hope you keep spending.IMO it is a very greedy setup,it is like disrespecting your loyal subscribers with added costs.

I'd agree if it wasn't a more old school style MMORPG. Games like this are a dying breed and have to be supported somehow. The amount of folks you see with all of the $130 pre-order expansion rewards is staggering. The loyal of this game support it with their wallets. It's not like SSG is some billion dollar company and everyone at the studio drives a lambo. They have bills to pay just like the rest of us. Believe it or not $15/mo isn't much money. I spent more than that on lunch today.

Only thing I'd change is having the UI ruined by gold coins littered about.

mmrv

LOL, its funny ITS THE EXACT SAME GAME just essentially a new server there is nothing really lgendary about it beyond its legendary how people will pay for something that is free and prove the placebo effect is real....

YOU CAN START ON ANY OLD SERVER AND GET THE EXACT SAME PLAY EXPERIENCE lol. Man the gaming community gets worse and worse. at this rate we may never get another new game ever they will just keep re releasing the same game and have all the sheep pour in saying how awesome it is the second time hahahah.

Don't get me wrong the new server rush is fun but that is literally all it is just a fresh server you are forced to pay to play on so if you want to save money and dont care if the server is a fresh start just play the normal servers lol. Less placebo please.