The MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online is currently facing a major problem and the fans do not notice it. A new MMO in the same universe is coming, and the players are isolating themselves. Our author Andreas Bertits has an opinion on this situation
What does an MMORPG need to be successful and stay on the market for a long time?
- A small dedicated community that sticks slavishly to the book?
- or openness to attract as many players as possible.
LotRO has a problem
What is the problem? As the recent hint at a new class for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online has shown, even the fans are skeptical of this new feature.
It is now clear that The Lord of the Rings Online is not yet working on a new class, but is only discussing it. But even the hint has caused waves:
- The new class must fit the lore of The Lord of the Rings – and this refers to the novel by J.R.R. Tolkien. The community accepts nothing that does not conform to this world.
And this includes, for example, an elf shaman, which would be cool but does not fit the story of The Lord of the Rings.
This shaman would be a kind of wizard, and they generally pose a problem.
That’s why there should be no wizards in The Lord of the Rings Online: The Istari are the only ones who can perform real magic in The Lord of the Rings, and even they do not run around throwing fireballs. Basically, there are only a few Istari in the fantasy world of Middle-earth at the time of the novels. Five are mentioned:
- Gandalf, also known as Mithrandir
- Saruman the White, leader of the order
- Radagast the Brown, who is more interested in nature than in humans
- Alatar and Pallando, who went east and never returned
The rune keepers in LotRO are already very close to the line.
However, if one restricts oneself so extremely in terms of gameplay, one moves in a narrow space for interesting innovations. Everything must strictly conform to the lore. Yet innovations are important to keep a game interesting and fresh.
The community could bring about the end of the MMO
A dedicated community: If you look around in the LotRO forum, you will notice that this is a community that is very tightly knit but also shows little openness to new ideas.
Newcomers suggesting new features are immediately confronted. They are told to first engage with the lore before making suggestions.
Such an approach naturally discourages newcomers, who may then quickly lose interest in playing and engaging with the community.
This is how the new MMORPG LotRO could become dangerous: Now that a new MMO in the universe of The Lord of the Rings has been announced by Athlon, this could pose a threat to LotRO. But not because The Lord of the Rings Online is bad, but because the community does not allow innovations that may contradict the lore.
It is understandable that there is this dedicated community that wants an MMORPG that sticks as closely as possible to the novels. However, this also means that they are moving within a niche.
Niche games have the problem of operating on the edge of becoming unprofitable. A niche game only needs a few players to drop out, and the whole product can have a problem. The question arises whether LotRO can afford this focus on a niche in the long term?
Especially, can it afford this when eventually the new MMORPG appears, which may show much more openness toward the lore and thus attract more players?
Lore or fun?
Why lore should not always be so important: Lore and background story are all well and good. But what should always be most important in a game is the fun factor. And if lore gets in the way of fun, then an online game has a major problem.
This applies to The Lord of the Rings Online as well, even if the core fans probably see it differently. An online game is only as strong as its community. The more players participate, the higher the chances that an MMO will survive for a long time. Because without players, online games make no sense.
The LotRO community needs to be more open: If The Lord of the Rings Online is to survive for a long time and compete against the upcoming MMO, it would be wise for the community to show more openness to ideas that might bend the lore a bit. Because eventually, the handful of stubborn core fans who want to stick slavishly to the novels may no longer support the online game. And the end of LotRO would be very unfortunate.
