What does the future of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO) look like now that the One Ring has been destroyed in the story? The developers still have many ideas.
What have the developers said? The One Ring has been destroyed in the story of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. With that, the underlying story of the original novels by J.R.R. Tolkien also came to an end.
However, the developers are already telling further stories, as the Minas Morgul update shows, and they want to continue to do so in the future. Standing Stone Games, the studio behind the MMORPG, stated that they could essentially support the game forever. At least there are content ideas for the next 20 years!
Much is possible, but not everything
What content could still come? The developers explain that the continent of Middle-earth is huge and there are still plenty of regions that have not been addressed yet.
The team would like to address areas such as Harad (the desert region in the south of the continent) as well as Umbar, Núrn, and Rhûn. These are all lands that have interesting histories but have only been mentioned in passing so far.
What is problematic? The content of The Lord of the Rings Online must be set in the Third Age of the world and beyond. There is currently no way to use the stories from Tolkien’s Silmarillion, which deal with the events of the First and Second Ages.
However, with Amazon’s upcoming series on The Lord of the Rings, which apparently takes place in the Second Age, this could change. It might then be possible for Standing Stone Games to acquire the rights and create content for this period in the history of Middle-earth.
The MMORPG is doing well
How is the new MMORPG set in The Lord of the Rings? Amazon is currently working on a new MMORPG in Middle-earth. However, Standing Stone Games does not see this as a problem. The developers simply continue as before and do not believe that the two games will interfere significantly with each other.
The Lord of the Rings Online is currently doing quite well and the fans are very loyal.
How is The Lord of the Rings Online MMORPG doing right now? The Lord of the Rings Online has a loyal fanbase and even today over twelve years after release it is still well-received. The ratings on Steam were at 82 percent and Very Positive in the past 30 days.
The number of players on Steam has steadily increased over the past four months. On average, about 624 players were playing the MMORPG concurrently in the last 30 days according to Steamcharts. At peak times, there were 1,352 players. And this only includes players who are playing through Steam and not through their own launcher.
If you are planning to join LotRO, you can expect plenty of new content.
