Lord of the Rings Online devs try to put fans at ease over Amazon’s LOTR game announcement

Standing Stone has said that its MMO lord of the rings online “It’s not going away,” despite future competition from Amazon.

Speaking in a forum post, senior community manager Cordovan assured players that the game will not be shutting down anytime soon.

“Over the past few days, we’ve received a number of notes from community members who are excited and concerned about a new MMO coming to the Tolkien-verse from Amazon Games.” read the forum post.

“Some people have asked what this means for LOTRO. We wanted to give everyone in the community an update and reassure you that LOTRO is not going away. Like you, we and our partners at Middle-earth Enterprises are huge fans of LOTRO. It’s beloved, he is sixteen years old, he is evergreen.

“Standing Stone has every intention of growing and supporting this community.”

You see, earlier this week, Amazon announced that it was once again ready to develop an MMO based on the Lord of the Rings IP. He tried once before, only to cancel the project due to co-publisher Tencent backing out over licensing restrictions.

It’s not surprising to hear that there were restrictions in place, which were not disclosed, but it’s safe to guess that some of the problems may have stemmed from Middle-earth Enterprises (formerly known as Tolkien Enterprises). The body is well known for being quite strict about deviations from Tolkien’s works, and for good reason.

But apparently this has been resolved by Amazon Games. According to its vice president, Christoph Hartmann, Amazon seems willing to take risks by deviating from tradition to create “the biggest MMO there is” that will last “ten years.”

“It’s still very important that it’s a game first and then a reflection of the books second. So while I have to stay true, I’m already reminding the team, ‘I get it, but it’s not about every single person going and point to find out if that detail is 100% perfect,’ Hartmann said.

“I definitely want to put the game first to make sure it’s a great game, because like I said, we want people to play for ten years, and it’s not going to help me if someone says, ‘That’s a perfect representation of the book in a game. If you really like that, read the book. Read it another five times.”

Basically what he’s saying is, if you don’t like the deviance, go back and read the books, nerds.

Talking with GI.bizHartmann made another rather interesting comment, this time geared towards Tolkien’s current MMO Lord of the Rings Online.

According to the former 2K co-founder and chairman, who left the company in 2017 and joined Amazon in 2018, LOTRO is not a threat because he believes the two can coexist, yet despite this, Hartmann directs some rather condescending comments. . in the game of 16 years.

“First of all, I have a lot of respect for them to keep it up for so long,” Hartmann said. “They have, not a huge, but a very dedicated fan base. But just looking at the technology, where we are now and where we’ll be in a couple of years, they’re worlds apart.”

“It’s a bit of an exaggeration if I say it’s going to be like a black and white movie to color in, but that’s the approach I want to take. It’s a whole different world.”

“Even the most likely scenario is that people just switch, because the other one is an old game. It’s not a bad game, but the industry moves forward at some point, and it’s been a long time from release to ours.”

Granted, LOTRO is older, needs some work, and definitely needs to be fully 4K capable so the text isn’t so small, but still. Don’t make fun of something that has managed to stick around for 16 years, while many of its MMO peers fell by the wayside. You have to give the game and its team some credit and show some respect, especially as a fellow developer.

Granted, Amazon may not see LOTRO as competition and may even consider Tolkien’s current fanbase as purists, I get that, but Hartmann could have worded his comments differently as they are a bit, a For lack of a better word, tacky. He apparently is not fully in touch with Tolkien’s audience. While there are certainly sticklers when it comes to something challenging, there are many who wouldn’t care if a developer wanted to stray a bit within reason. I am one of that camp.

There are many characters in the books whose stories could unfold. Surely Barliman Butterbur was up to something while Frodo and the rest of the Fellowship were on a mission to destroy the One Ring. And then, there’s the bandit Bill Ferny. We imagine Saruman’s spy did all sorts of misdeeds before colliding with his former pony Bill and taking a swift kick to the chest. He’ll see, there are all kinds of stories to tell, and as long as he stays true to the vision, he can take some creative liberties without straying too far from the source material. Standing Stone does this all the time with LOTRO.

While I agree with Hartmann to some extent when he says, “A game is all about playing, and they have to be fun, so there has to be a little bit of rule-bending to make it a great game,” you can’t alienating Tolkien fans early on by telling them to “just read the books if you don’t like it.” Such comments are not intended to build trust or goodwill towards the company.

Subtle, indirect praise directed at other developers who have put blood, sweat, and tears into their work is not very polite. No one appreciates it, respects it, or really wants to hear it, especially a fanbase that needs to trust Amazon’s second attempt at a Lord of the Rings MMO.

And once again, LOTRO may be an old game, but it’s amazing how dedicated the team at Standing Stone Games is to MMOs. In my opinion, it is a very underrated game. It’s diverse, has some great stories, and has a large, fairly developed world thanks to the many, many volumes, expansions, and updates released over the past 16 years. And let’s not forget the friendly and highly dedicated community. That always helps. If there is a troll, the game moderators are quick to take action, unless the community takes matters into their own hands and excludes anyone who is persistently a jerk.

Maybe I’m being too hard on Hartmann. He maybe he didn’t mean to sound like he was making fun of LOTRO or his development studio. Perhaps I, and others who have criticized his comments, are misinterpreting his message. But we only go by the quotation marks, which are certainly quite biting.

As far as Amazon’s Lord of the Rings MMO goes, it’s a long way off. The early game was a long way off as well, and I was prepared to place my trust in it, given the source material. I can still give Amazon’s new stab at the game the benefit of the doubt, but that depends on the company’s attitude going forward. I don’t like to throw my money or my support at those who put down what I consider an underdog for no reason.