LOTRO: Resetting the Economy
If you go to the auction house on Laurelin server, you will see all the hallmarks of an established, long term playerbase that have multiple characters at level cap. IE Mainly nothing but high-end crafted items being sold at ridiculously high prices. MMO inflation is a weird thing. Naturally people who have played LOTRO for a long time have substantial reserves of in-game gold. Gold therefore is not an asset of value in itself per se. Yet due to peoples complicated relationship with money, be it real or virtual, there is still a propensity to hoard it and increase one’s reserves. Hence, relatively sought-after items tend to be posted for sale on auction house at grossly inflated prices. Now regardless of the reasons why this inflation happens, the net result is always the same. A skewed economy with increased prices at one end of the gear spectrum and a shortage of items at the other, because no one is crafting anything beyond what they need for their new alts.
If you go to the auction house on Laurelin server, you will see all the hallmarks of an established, long term playerbase that have multiple characters at level cap. IE Mainly nothing but high-end crafted items being sold at ridiculously high prices. MMO inflation is a weird thing. Naturally people who have played LOTRO for a long time have substantial reserves of in-game gold. Gold therefore is not an asset of value in itself per se. Yet due to peoples complicated relationship with money, be it real or virtual, there is still a propensity to hoard it and increase one’s reserves. Hence, relatively sought-after items tend to be posted for sale on auction house at grossly inflated prices. Now regardless of the reasons why this inflation happens, the net result is always the same. A skewed economy with increased prices at one end of the gear spectrum and a shortage of items at the other, because no one is crafting anything beyond what they need for their new alts.
However, the launch of the two new Legendary Servers on November 8th provided an interesting opportunity, economically speaking. Some resources, perks and benefits in LOTRO are account wide, such as cosmetic items associated with the purchase of expansion packs. However, gold, mithril coins and skirmish marks are all server bound and can only be shared between alts therein. Thus, no one came to Anor and Ithil with the advantage of previously earned wealth. As a result, it has done wonder for these servers’ economies. Players are having to craft all the items they need and sell the surplus. There is also a healthy trade in the resources that sustain crafting. Two weeks on from launch and the acquisition of gold is still a relatively balanced process. Subsequently, buying new gear is still a viable option beyond that which you earn through questing. There are also lots of new kinships which support the needs of their members. So far, the game economy is not derailed.
As ever, it will be very interesting to see if this balanced and broadly equitable situation continues over the month to come. Perhaps the release of further content in four-months’ time will alter the status quo. By then there will likely be a percentage of wealthy players at level cap, along with those who are doing “okay” and some who are neither at cap or have a proverbial “pot to piss in”. Such is the nature of MMOs and those who play them. The other thing to keep an eye out for on the new servers is the presence of gold farmers. As gold is not transferable between existing servers, it has to be earned from its current location. So far, there is not a sufficient surfeit of gold to be assimilated and “redistributed” by such third party “institutions”. This again main change when the Mines of Moria expansion is added to both legendary servers. In the meantime, I am already buying any potential bargains I find on auction house, not only for my primary alt’s current needs but for the future as well. It certainly is a pleasant change from the dearth of choice currently found on the older LOTRO servers.
LOTRO: Legendary Servers Launch
First off, fellow blogger Wilhelm Arcturus wrote a blog post that predicted pretty much everything that happened today, with regard of the launch of the new Legendary Servers. Yes, you read that right. Servers, plural. Apparently, there was so much interest in Anor, it led to massive login queues, so Standing Stone Games very quickly set up a second Legendary Server named Ithil to deal with the over flow. To ensure that folks get to be with their friends and kinmates, there’s also a free transfer grace period. I guess there’s no such thing as a smooth launch, be it a new game or a variation of it. The more cynical among us, may even go so far as to postulate that the server queues were planned to generate a “buzz” and the “need” for a second server. However, it’s more likely that SSG just miscalculated and had to think on their feet. There could well be server merges ahead when the excitement, queues and possibly player numbers die down. Either way, the job is now done and LOTRO now has two progression servers.
First off, fellow blogger Wilhelm Arcturus wrote a blog post that predicted pretty much everything that happened today, with regard of the launch of the new Legendary Servers. Yes, you read that right. Servers, plural. Apparently, there was so much interest in Anor, it led to massive login queues, so Standing Stone Games very quickly set up a second Legendary Server named Ithil to deal with the over flow. To ensure that folks get to be with their friends and kinmates, there’s also a free transfer grace period. I guess there’s no such thing as a smooth launch, be it a new game or a variation of it. The more cynical among us, may even go so far as to postulate that the server queues were planned to generate a “buzz” and the “need” for a second server. However, it’s more likely that SSG just miscalculated and had to think on their feet. There could well be server merges ahead when the excitement, queues and possibly player numbers die down. Either way, the job is now done and LOTRO now has two progression servers.
I logged into Anor shortly after 5:00 PM GMT today. The launcher initially showed that I was some ridiculous number in a queue and it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t decreasing, and the client had indeed stalled (Ctrl-Alt-Delete and Task Manager are your friend). So, I started multiple copies of the launcher and logged in the game and eventually one connected with the new server. I knew what class I was going to play and what my character name was in advance, so setting up a new avatar was not an issue. I skipped the tutorial, loaded my saved custom UI and then pushed ahead with the intro quests. Needless to say, the starter zone was heavily populated, and it took a while to kill the standard number of Boars or Wolves as required. However, the zerg had its benefits and tricky areas like the spider filled basement under Sprigley’s Farm was easy to navigate.
World chat was very active and relatively civilised, and players broadly seem to accommodate each other. Orderly queues formed to kill the likes of Jagger Jack and people were happy to group to make clearing quests easier. Eight hours on from launch and there was already crafted items appearing on Auction House for sale. Despite the “all about the journey” mantra your often see banded around on the official forums by many traditionalist LOTRO players, by the time I logged off there were already people approaching level 30 or so. It was also pleasant to see a lot of Kinships recruiting. Judging from world chat, there are a lot of retuning players who have been absent for quite a while. I have set up a Contains Moderate Peril kin, mainly just for fun and larks but if players stay the course, I see no reason not to run some of the endgame content.
Nostalgia is a curious thing. I liked the way the SSG has re-instated the original music at the character select screen. Playing with a low-level character is pleasingly uncomplicated with only a handful of skills. There is also a very re-assuring sense of familiarity with the game when it’s presented like this. The sheer volume of players bustling about also reminded me what the original allure of the MMO genre was; a thriving living world or at least the appearance of one. More than a decade on simply being online with others has lost its mystique and is something you just take for granted. This evening gave me a pleasant reminder of how exciting it was back in 2008 to see a town filled with other people. However, there are a few things that bring you back down to earth, such as the absence of all the items you have purchased on your regular server. Vault space was quickly filled and at present there is no kinship or personal house to use as an overflow. I also just couldn’t get used to wondering around without my standard cosmetic outfit, so I’ve already put my hand in my pocket and bought it again, which was probably SSG’s motivation all along.
It will be interesting to see if player numbers are sustained before the release of new content to Anor and Ithil in four months’ time. There’s is no real reason to leave if you’re a returning player because they are not burdened with over familiarity with the content or harbour a grudge over previous changes to game mechanics. But there will be an inevitable decrease of player as some get bored and kinships find it harder to run content due to a lack of “bums on seats”. Personally, I don’t see any problems getting to level 50. I always liked this part of the Epic Story and I tend to level quite fast due to structured and planned sessions. It’s what comes next that is a stumbling block for many. Even a revamped Moria is still a big ask for some players. However, the LOTRO community is very tenacious and often flies in the face of established wisdom. So, I shall simply wait and see how things pan out on the Legendary Servers, while having fun progressing through Bree-land and beyond.
LOTRO: Legendary Server
Standing Stone Games announced today the launch of a new LOTRO "Legendary Server" later this autumn. This is essentially a progression server by any other name. It will be accessible to VIP monthly and lifetime subscribers allowing access initially to core content from levels 1 to 50 via The Shadow of Angmar story. It should be noted that this is not “classic” LOTRO as it existed back in 2007. The new server will offer the game as it is now with all its revised systems. Hence High Elves and Beorning classes will be available as will the skills tree system. SSG intend to update content every four months but will keep it all within the parameters of the level cap on the"Legendary Server". The developers have also made it clear that this new service does not come at the expense of regular new content for the existing game. “We have no intention of adjusting our frequent, regular, and active development of the non-Legendary game worlds, and have plans for them well into the future”.
Standing Stone Games announced today the launch of a new LOTRO "Legendary Server" later this autumn. This is essentially a progression server by any other name. It will be accessible to VIP monthly and lifetime subscribers allowing access initially to core content from levels 1 to 50 via The Shadow of Angmar story. It should be noted that this is not “classic” LOTRO as it existed back in 2007. The new server will offer the game as it is now with all its revised systems. Hence High Elves and Beorning classes will be available as will the skills tree system. SSG intend to update content every four months but will keep it all within the parameters of the level cap on the"Legendary Server". The developers have also made it clear that this new service does not come at the expense of regular new content for the existing game. “We have no intention of adjusting our frequent, regular, and active development of the non-Legendary game worlds, and have plans for them well into the future”.
I have never been a great one for alts and replaying old content. The most I’ve managed in ten years of playing LOTRO, is to get one new character to level 55 and then used the Aria of the Valar booster that that came with the Mordor expansion, to auto level to 105. Oh, the countless alts that I’ve created to try other classes, only to delete roundabout level 30 or so. However, I can see the appeal of running through the game with both old and new friends. I guess that is one of the major obstacles for a lot of lapsed players or those who want to start playing but are put off by the immense level gap. As have purchased all expansions and I’m currently a VIP and will likely remain so for the immediate future, I may well consider the new server if friends intend to do the same. That for me is the main appeal of this service. It’s been a long time since I’ve group consistently. I played essentially the first 60 levels of the game with friends. How things have changed.
It remains to be seen if this new service will attract much interest, although I suspect that it may. Its appeal may well attract players of all kind and its subscription only option means that it should eliminate any problem element. I’m interested to see how well the actual levelling works because many of the early zones in LOTRO such as Evendim and The Lone Lands have been revised several times and progression from 1 to 30 is quite rapid then changes pace again from 31 to 50. Stepping back from this new service and considering the wider changes that have come to LOTRO of late, it certainly appears that developers SSG are trying to maximise the flow of revenue into the game. The recent experimentation with lockboxes that came with the Mordor expansion appears to have been dialled back, possibly due to the ongoing legal scrutiny such mechanics are currently coming under. There was talk not so long ago of a new class, which has subsequently been down played. But when it does arrive, it will doubtless be chargeable. In light of the news about the "Legendary Server" I wonder if SSG will make any further announcements of this kind before the year ends?