For the last three years developers Standing Stone Games have followed a twelve monthly expansion schedule for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. Sadly that has not been the case this year. All we had so far in 2022 is two generic new zones that offer “same meat, different gravy” content. Both Update 32: Rangers and Ruin and Update 33: Yondershire, although enjoyable, have not brought anything substantially different to the game. A further small release, Update 33.1 The Further Adventures of Elladan and Elrohir, went live on Tuesday 19th July offering 5 new themed missions. To say that they are lacklustre is being generous. All of which raises the question, what is going on? 18 months ago there appeared to be a LOTRO renaissance after the game was acquired by EG7. Is the lack of an expansion this year an indication that things have changed and not for the better?