They got rid of the executive producer recently who oversaw Helm's Deep (a bit of a flop) and brought back Aaron Campbell, who was around for Moria (probably the most popular of all). There's a major update coming that's currently on the test servers. The licence was renewed last year until 2017.
None of these things suggest imminent shutdown or maintenance mode. It's obviously not a good sign either, but currently things are improving in terms of dev presence on the forums, twitch streams, etc.
Originally posted by clumsytoes44 I feel sorry for the people layed off. I can't say this is a real surprise though, imho the character revamp made alot of player's unhappy and so they left for greener pastures.
This. The classes revamp was completely unecessary and pissed off so many People. Especially since there were plenty of other issues with the game (introduced With the later updates at the time) that were left unchecked.
They also half assed it, with the whole debacle of the hotbar reset every time you switch between builds. Even after the rain of complaints on this, they never bothered to fix it!
The Whole Epic Battle system was also a joke of a dissapointment. Which they could have made better if they didn´t Waste all those resources on revamping all the classes.
And then the biggest issue. Their Complete neglect of real Group content! The Group Dungeons were one of the key strengths of this game. Turbine was great in this and each Dungeon in LOTRO was interesting and fun.
Now since more than two years, they completely abandoned Group instance content altogether! Only driving more players away.
Such a shame!
So I am not suprised that most of these layoffs are happening within the LOTRO team... and like another poster said, it probably won´t be long till this game gets shutdown now. /shrug
Yeah, this is the reason i'll prolly never install LotRO on my HD again. It was one of the last games still somewhat playable in this dungeon finder / easy mode infested gaming scene. Now it's gone, forever.
It's sad these companies can't see strengths of their games. They all seem to think if they go blizzard route the masses will come, but they are all wrong.
LOTRO was/is a beautiful game but I think it's having trouble keeping up with all the newer competition. It definitely had a good run though and everyone will see it as a failure if it eventually closes.
That brings up an interesting point though, how do you really judge if an MMO succeeded or not? I mean, does it have to last forever to be a success? Most people seem to think any game that closes failed. Some day EQ1 will close, on that day will we say "it failed"? Is there a certain amount of years where it passes the success threshold? Sustained playerbase? Gross profit?
I gave up on Lotro after the Gap of Rohan expansion. It's such a shame because I'm such a big Lotr fan who put over 2 years sub into that game, but post launch was not an improvement.
Hopefully someone else picks up the IP eventually and doesn't do a themepark.
Haxus Council Member 21 year MMO veteran PvP Raid Leader Lover of The Witcher & CD Projekt Red
I would say a game succeeds if the company either continues to make new games or another company picks up the rights for a sequel. If those things happen the game made enough money or impression.
At least the players were happy they got to play for " free "..............right................
All the korean localized games have been closing and consolidating on a monthly basis for the last year or so. It is just about time for the big names to follow suit.
Lol, yeah........ right........ It's been running for 7 years........ That's.... so.... so... horrible. There are..... zero games that would like to be in their position...... 7 years is the new 3 months.
/sarcasm
Why not try to make this argument in the forums of these supposed Korean games that are folding and consolidating instead of in the forum of a game that's approaching 8 years old!?!?
Frelorn (Community Manager from Turbine) has posted on their forums,
I can confirm that yesterday a number of people were laid off across Turbine. I can't give you any more details than than, and I would ask that you please respect that. I can say that this does not change our plans with LOTRO and we are moving forward.
Originally posted by clumsytoes44 I feel sorry for the people layed off. I can't say this is a real surprise though, imho the character revamp made alot of player's unhappy and so they left for greener pastures.
The character revamp is definitely what killed it for me, by taking a complex and flexible character (my Champion) and turning him into a one-dimensional warrior type. Granted, I had other characters, one of each class, in fact, but I (admittedly) never got over having "my" character taken away.
Even so, it would be sad to see the game go. It was a lot of fun for me, in its day, and it still is for many. We'll just have to wait and see.
Too little information with the above article to make any type of state-of-the-game prediction.
However, for those of us that are currently playing, you'll find that there are plenty of people playing the game, ranging from the starter zones (on different servers, mind you) up to the higher/highest levels. To be quite honest, I was pleasantly surprised when I started playing again with both the game and the class changes. It is truly one of the best MMOs out there right now, even as dated as it is. The LORE is top-notch, the leveling/gameplay seems to be better than it was (faster-paced than before), and one of the better gaming communities out there (which is really surprising for a free 2 play game to have, it seems).
So, before making your "<Insert Game Name> is ending <Wrongly-Predicted Date>" statements, especially those based on some vaguely worded article that is both misleading (misleading in thinking that <game name> is alone responsible for layoffs) and sorely lacking in information (Turbine has NOT went into detail which departments had these layoffs, or even how many layoffs there are/were), keep in mind that this isn't the first batch of false-predictions to surface on the web. Remember this article? Yeah, many read that but never made it to the end or saw the update, instead perusing the main highlights of the article, rushed to the window, looked into the sky, saw the full moon, then proceeded into full transformation of the most dreaded of internet nightmares, the WereTroll.
Have no fear, though, as Turbine's Andy Cataldo led the way with torch raised high combat it's deadly stench.
Seriously, it is never good to hear of people being laid off. However, this is nothing new in the gaming industry. It comes with the territory, and most understand this when entering the field, to the point of even opening a door when others close. I do hope and pray for these people (and their families) that they'll soon land on their feet and find work soon.
Whatever the case, Lord of the Rings is still kicking with more updates slated for release. Also, DDO saw it's most-recent update on September 29, 2014, so both games are going pretty strong.
Just log into either game and you'll find that many will disagree that either of these games are "dead" or "near-dead".
This "As part of our normal business process, we're routinely looking at the strategic alignment of our company," a Warner Bros. representative told Joystiq should read instead "As part of our normal business process, we already rich people are routinely looking for filling our pockets even more on expense of all others".
For the rest, I would gladly return to LOTRO if the rewrite it or at least update significantly terribly outdated graphics and physic laws in game. This was however problem already at release.
LOTRO is just winding down for its final end really. It's had a very good run (and will always hold a good spot for me as MMOs go) and continues to do well but things like this are just the stepping stones to closing off development and potentially even support.
They laid off people earlier this year and more now. The updates are slowing and the players are dwindling.. it's no different to what happens to any MMO out there; these games have a finite shelf life.
Even the great WoW has dwindled by almost 50% of its player base in recent years. It once had 14 million and now sits at 7.4, 600k of those only returning for the expansion with probably not a lot of intention to stick around.
The things I don't understand:
Why isn't Turbine working on anything else? Are they basically just a skeleton-company now finishing off what's left of DDO and LOTRO with a view that WB will be shutting them down?
Why let such a great IP and piece of development disappear? Why not take all those great ideas, assets and content and pump them into a new engine? Sure it would be a different game and a big project but they'd still save a huge amount of time not developing everything from scratch.
LOTRO had a good run, I had many a fun hours in Middle Earth, I played the game from early beta and about 4 years live, I met the Turbine folks at pax they were a fun bunch.
But in the end f2p is just a short term money maker, it just takes folks a little longer to get bored when thy have no investment.
LOTRO is just winding down for its final end really. It's had a very good run (and will always hold a good spot for me as MMOs go) and continues to do well but things like this are just the stepping stones to closing off development and potentially even support.
They laid off people earlier this year and more now. The updates are slowing and the players are dwindling.. it's no different to what happens to any MMO out there; these games have a finite shelf life.
Even the great WoW has dwindled by almost 50% of its player base in recent years. It once had 14 million and now sits at 7.4, 600k of those only returning for the expansion with probably not a lot of intention to stick around.
The things I don't understand:
Why isn't Turbine working on anything else? Are they basically just a skeleton-company now finishing off what's left of DDO and LOTRO with a view that WB will be shutting them down?
Why let such a great IP and piece of development disappear? Why not take all those great ideas, assets and content and pump them into a new engine? Sure it would be a different game and a big project but they'd still save a huge amount of time not developing everything from scratch.
Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! Play the game the servers are doing well! When they start merging servers is the time to worry.
Anyone whining about the graphics and physics I have just one question. Show me a game with better ones. The graphics are still top notch even after all this time. I still don't get why people whine about the combat either, no better or worse in other games. The class revision actually improved classes. Each class has multiple game play options. If you took the time to grasp the changes you would understand that it is much better than before.
As to this being a f2p, most people that enjoy it, subscribe. This is a freemium game not a f2p game.
Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! Play the game the servers are doing well! When they start merging servers is the time to worry.
Anyone whining about the graphics and physics I have just one question. Show me a game with better ones. The graphics are still top notch even after all this time. I still don't get why people whine about the combat either, no better or worse in other games. The class revision actually improved classes. Each class has multiple game play options. If you took the time to grasp the changes you would understand that it is much better than before.
As to this being a f2p, most people that enjoy it, subscribe. This is a freemium game not a f2p game.
Yeah, I think the graphics are hard to quantify. It has poor animations for sure, and the textures could do with a refresh, but some of it is absolutely stunning. The landscapes are clearly not cut and paste like many MMOs, a ton of work has gone into it. Just take a look at some of the screenshots Turbine puts on twitter.
I'd say it's a mixture in terms of subscription. A lot of people don't subscribe because by playing a couple of alts you can earn enough Turbine points to buy the expansions.
The game clearly makes money so there's no reason for WB to shut it down. Lay offs aren't evidence of that.
Played lotro since its release in 2007 and still enjoy it.But not has much as I did once moria was done.Amazing thing is its still the 4th best lucrative mmo on the western market..it raked in over 100 million last year according to a post on this site.given that its 7 yr old and still pulling in that amount I think we will still see mordor.its inevitable that companies downsize over the years.just hope lotro keeps going.Love the ambience the pace,everything.just wish they hadn't cut everything up.There are no massive dungeons anymore.they split them all up into sections.i hate that..also mounted combat is a lagfest.
The MOBA didn't get out the door before the pile of money from LoTRO started to level off. Time Warner isn't going to allow the pile of money to level off just because the MOBA might make money in the future. Spending has to be cut from somewhere. The money from LoTRO doesn't even have to be leveling off or decreasing. It could just be the cost of the MOBA increasing past some accounting line in the sand.
What. You think they can just spend all the money they make on their other games any way they want? Don't be silly.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Played LotRO since the very beginning, it was a fun PvE game with very "mature" and friendly community. Over time the subscribers started to drop (f2p gave it a short boost but not enough), the developers started to produce content more slowly with more useless "revamps" and changes while removing all the little "fun" things (like jumping on certain roofs in Bree), the environments/models started to look more "dated", the old content kept getting more "trivial" so I quit for a while. Tried to come back recently and there are barely any people still playing it (aside from few idlers near Auction Hall) on most servers (including Brandywine) during most of the time, even during the "festivals" (which just keep giving ugly tablecloths for your mount). None of the people whom I played with a few years ago log in anymore. Which is very unfortunate but not really surprising, considering the fact that WB is only interested in intellectual property and just keeps the game on "life support" now and the current Turbune is just a shell of a company meant to keep the game running in its current state for a little bit longer... Oh well.
Originally posted by Varex12 I'm beginning to think LOTRO might not make it into Mordor.
Ya, I had that same thought 5 years ago and here we are still asking the same question. For a game that was released in 2007 one would of thought that we would of gotten there by now.
The gaming industry is a volatile industry, both for a game's lifespan as well as the jobs of its employees. There's always a lot of employee shuffling, hiring, firing, layoffs, contract workers, etc. going on. Most of these dev shops are under corporate control and there's a reporting process with this type of shareholder industry.
Doom and gloom for LOTRO? Can't tell that from this information. This is just corporate business-as-usual, but some people are happiest in life when they run around screaming that the sky is falling.
Comments
LOTRO was 2nd most played western MMO or close since its launch 2007.
Thats over 7 years now !
But LOTRO is still not WOW and it can not keep players forever despite old graphic and technology. Its wonder it lasted as long as it did.
Honestly kudos to Turbine people.
They got rid of the executive producer recently who oversaw Helm's Deep (a bit of a flop) and brought back Aaron Campbell, who was around for Moria (probably the most popular of all). There's a major update coming that's currently on the test servers. The licence was renewed last year until 2017.
None of these things suggest imminent shutdown or maintenance mode. It's obviously not a good sign either, but currently things are improving in terms of dev presence on the forums, twitch streams, etc.
Yeah, this is the reason i'll prolly never install LotRO on my HD again. It was one of the last games still somewhat playable in this dungeon finder / easy mode infested gaming scene. Now it's gone, forever.
It's sad these companies can't see strengths of their games. They all seem to think if they go blizzard route the masses will come, but they are all wrong.
That brings up an interesting point though, how do you really judge if an MMO succeeded or not? I mean, does it have to last forever to be a success? Most people seem to think any game that closes failed. Some day EQ1 will close, on that day will we say "it failed"? Is there a certain amount of years where it passes the success threshold? Sustained playerbase? Gross profit?
I gave up on Lotro after the Gap of Rohan expansion. It's such a shame because I'm such a big Lotr fan who put over 2 years sub into that game, but post launch was not an improvement.
Hopefully someone else picks up the IP eventually and doesn't do a themepark.
21 year MMO veteran
PvP Raid Leader
Lover of The Witcher & CD Projekt Red
Lol, yeah........ right........ It's been running for 7 years........ That's.... so.... so... horrible. There are..... zero games that would like to be in their position...... 7 years is the new 3 months.
/sarcasm
Why not try to make this argument in the forums of these supposed Korean games that are folding and consolidating instead of in the forum of a game that's approaching 8 years old!?!?
Crazkanuk
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Azarelos - 90 Hunter - Emerald
Durnzig - 90 Paladin - Emerald
Demonicron - 90 Death Knight - Emerald Dream - US
Tankinpain - 90 Monk - Azjol-Nerub - US
Brindell - 90 Warrior - Emerald Dream - US
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Frelorn (Community Manager from Turbine) has posted on their forums,
I can confirm that yesterday a number of people were laid off across Turbine. I can't give you any more details than than, and I would ask that you please respect that. I can say that this does not change our plans with LOTRO and we are moving forward.
want 7 free days of playing? Try this
http://www.swtor.com/r/ZptVnY
Nonsense, Lotro is a money making operation. Plenty of paying customers playing. It is still one of the better MMO's with lots of content.
The character revamp is definitely what killed it for me, by taking a complex and flexible character (my Champion) and turning him into a one-dimensional warrior type. Granted, I had other characters, one of each class, in fact, but I (admittedly) never got over having "my" character taken away.
Even so, it would be sad to see the game go. It was a lot of fun for me, in its day, and it still is for many. We'll just have to wait and see.
Too little information with the above article to make any type of state-of-the-game prediction.
However, for those of us that are currently playing, you'll find that there are plenty of people playing the game, ranging from the starter zones (on different servers, mind you) up to the higher/highest levels. To be quite honest, I was pleasantly surprised when I started playing again with both the game and the class changes. It is truly one of the best MMOs out there right now, even as dated as it is. The LORE is top-notch, the leveling/gameplay seems to be better than it was (faster-paced than before), and one of the better gaming communities out there (which is really surprising for a free 2 play game to have, it seems).
So, before making your "<Insert Game Name> is ending <Wrongly-Predicted Date>" statements, especially those based on some vaguely worded article that is both misleading (misleading in thinking that <game name> is alone responsible for layoffs) and sorely lacking in information (Turbine has NOT went into detail which departments had these layoffs, or even how many layoffs there are/were), keep in mind that this isn't the first batch of false-predictions to surface on the web. Remember this article? Yeah, many read that but never made it to the end or saw the update, instead perusing the main highlights of the article, rushed to the window, looked into the sky, saw the full moon, then proceeded into full transformation of the most dreaded of internet nightmares, the WereTroll.
Have no fear, though, as Turbine's Andy Cataldo led the way with torch raised high combat it's deadly stench.
Seriously, it is never good to hear of people being laid off. However, this is nothing new in the gaming industry. It comes with the territory, and most understand this when entering the field, to the point of even opening a door when others close. I do hope and pray for these people (and their families) that they'll soon land on their feet and find work soon.
Whatever the case, Lord of the Rings is still kicking with more updates slated for release. Also, DDO saw it's most-recent update on September 29, 2014, so both games are going pretty strong.
Just log into either game and you'll find that many will disagree that either of these games are "dead" or "near-dead".
"I am handicapped...I'm psychotic."
This "As part of our normal business process, we're routinely looking at the strategic alignment of our company," a Warner Bros. representative told Joystiq should read instead "As part of our normal business process, we already rich people are routinely looking for filling our pockets even more on expense of all others".
For the rest, I would gladly return to LOTRO if the rewrite it or at least update significantly terribly outdated graphics and physic laws in game. This was however problem already at release.
LOTRO is just winding down for its final end really. It's had a very good run (and will always hold a good spot for me as MMOs go) and continues to do well but things like this are just the stepping stones to closing off development and potentially even support.
They laid off people earlier this year and more now. The updates are slowing and the players are dwindling.. it's no different to what happens to any MMO out there; these games have a finite shelf life.
Even the great WoW has dwindled by almost 50% of its player base in recent years. It once had 14 million and now sits at 7.4, 600k of those only returning for the expansion with probably not a lot of intention to stick around.
The things I don't understand:
LOTRO had a good run, I had many a fun hours in Middle Earth, I played the game from early beta and about 4 years live, I met the Turbine folks at pax they were a fun bunch.
But in the end f2p is just a short term money maker, it just takes folks a little longer to get bored when thy have no investment.
Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense! Play the game the servers are doing well! When they start merging servers is the time to worry.
Anyone whining about the graphics and physics I have just one question. Show me a game with better ones. The graphics are still top notch even after all this time. I still don't get why people whine about the combat either, no better or worse in other games. The class revision actually improved classes. Each class has multiple game play options. If you took the time to grasp the changes you would understand that it is much better than before.
As to this being a f2p, most people that enjoy it, subscribe. This is a freemium game not a f2p game.
Yeah, I think the graphics are hard to quantify. It has poor animations for sure, and the textures could do with a refresh, but some of it is absolutely stunning. The landscapes are clearly not cut and paste like many MMOs, a ton of work has gone into it. Just take a look at some of the screenshots Turbine puts on twitter.
I'd say it's a mixture in terms of subscription. A lot of people don't subscribe because by playing a couple of alts you can earn enough Turbine points to buy the expansions.
The game clearly makes money so there's no reason for WB to shut it down. Lay offs aren't evidence of that.
The MOBA didn't get out the door before the pile of money from LoTRO started to level off. Time Warner isn't going to allow the pile of money to level off just because the MOBA might make money in the future. Spending has to be cut from somewhere. The money from LoTRO doesn't even have to be leveling off or decreasing. It could just be the cost of the MOBA increasing past some accounting line in the sand.
What. You think they can just spend all the money they make on their other games any way they want? Don't be silly.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
Ya, I had that same thought 5 years ago and here we are still asking the same question. For a game that was released in 2007 one would of thought that we would of gotten there by now.
The gaming industry is a volatile industry, both for a game's lifespan as well as the jobs of its employees. There's always a lot of employee shuffling, hiring, firing, layoffs, contract workers, etc. going on. Most of these dev shops are under corporate control and there's a reporting process with this type of shareholder industry.
Doom and gloom for LOTRO? Can't tell that from this information. This is just corporate business-as-usual, but some people are happiest in life when they run around screaming that the sky is falling.