Het rommelt al een tijdje op het LoTRO forum i.v.m. het verlopen van de licentie van Turbine van Lord of the Rings IP in 2017 maar gelukkig was er deze week een interview met de executive producer van het LoTRO team en met zeer goed nieuws voor de game tot 2018!.
Op de vraag hoe zit dat nu precies met de licentie van LoTRO kwam het volgende antwoord:
“Right now we have a two and a half year plan [taking us in to the end of 2018 -ed.], and the reason we don’t want to plan far beyond that is because we want to see where the player’s heads are at after that much time. We are currently focused on not only telling the Epic Story leading up to the Gate but sort of what happens beyond. We have already kind of hinted to the players that an expansion is on its way. I do not want to say too much about that because if I talk about the expansion now we are still early enough that things may change and I do not want to disappoint the community. This is one of the reasons we don’t usually talk about it; not because we do not have long term plans, just the opposite. We want to tell the epic story, and we all know Mordor is coming. We want Mordor to satisfy not only the story buffs, but also make the experience of entering Mordor really epic because it is something other than the two Halflings, something we did not see much of.” – source
een ander lid van het LoTRO team kwam nog met deze aanvullende informatie:
“I would like to chime in on the licensing thing too, it is something that comes up on the forums quite a bit. What we do with LOTRO is not particularly different from other video games that operate under a licensing agreement for intellectual property (ex. super hero games, etc.). They all have license holders and LOTRO is no different. Typically these kind of agreements are pieces of business that are not really disclosed to the public. As part of the corporate business decision making that is involved with the creation [and maintenance -ed.] of a game like LOTRO. The LOTRO community has historically had some particular sensitivity over the licensing agreement, but the agreement itself has basically always been a routine piece of business from the very start. So while we can understand that some folks like to talk about it on the forums and as you said; “doom say”, the reality is that it is just a private piece of business that has been routine (lawyers getting together). Ultimately if there was a major issue with the license you guys would probably find out about it because the game would no longer be operating after a certain point. This is not a reality show “are they going to get kicked off the island” thing worth speculating month after month, year after year. It is basically just a routine piece of business and we have no reason to think this won’t be a continuation of that.”
Resume: we kunnen nog tot 2018 'gerust' vertoeven in Middle Earth en er wordt toch een expansion uitgebracht en dat is ook goed nieuws !
Nu maar hopen dat de populatie van de servers op peil blijft want dat is zeker een steunpillaar om 2018 te halen en misschien daarna.
Wat is jouw mening over de licentie/expansion?
Het hele interview kan je HIER nalezen.
Ook komt de hele discussie van Lag aan bod.
LOTRO en bijv. SWTOR doen het prima qua microtransacties en spelersbase, op deze manier als beide niet minder worden, kunnen de games het wel overleven t/m 2020.
Maar de aantal servers zou best minder kunnen zodat de populatie per server omhoog gaat, ik geloof dat Turbine dat al heeft gedaan afgelopen jaar?
The Mandorine
Nou Turbine staat nog al onderdruk na deze move van WB (Warner Bros)
“Turbine is transitioning into a free-to-play, mobile development studio, and as a result we are eliminating some positions. The Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons online games will continue to operate as they do now. Re-focusing and reducing the studio size was a difficult decision for the company, and we are grateful to all of the Turbine staff for their considerable contributions.”
Het zou kunnen betekenen dat er na Mordor geen grote, nieuwe expansions uitkomen. Mordor is een de enige echte end-game van deze MMO.
Je krijgt dan wellicht verbeteringen van en/of aanvullingen op, bestaande gebieden.
Maar voorlopig kunnen we nog wel even zoet zijn met Lotro.
Yup helemaal waar
The Mandorine
Gelukkig wel!. LoTRO is denk ik van de laatste grote FILM IP MMO?
Misschien komt er voor Mordor nog een uitbreiding met Mina's Tirith of een uitbreiding met diverse nieuwe kleinere gebieden of gebieden uit de tijd van de Hobbit verhaallijn.
Mina's Tirith - die zit er al in 😉
Het was update 17 van LoTRO:
Update 17 Release Notes
New Region: Old Anórien
Explore the besieged city of Minas Tirith, ancient seat of the Kingdom of Gondor. Outside the fortress city, the Enemy has broken through the walls of Pelennor Field, and their forces now assemble and prepare for the assault to come. North of those broken walls, in the countryside of Talath Anor, yet more hosts of the Enemy bear down upon Gondor. It is from here that Gondor hopes and watches for the coming of the Rohirrim. And while they wait, a young lord of Caer Andros finds himself beset by fierce bearded Easterlings, known as the Suhalar.
Two New Epic Battles
Experience Sauron’s first assault on Minas Tirith through two new Epic Battles. In The Defence of Minas Tirith (solo/duo and three player), the foes make their first foray, marshalling great siege towers and the elements of fear and dread against Minas Tirith’s seemingly impenetrable walls. Then, in The Hammer of the Underworld (solo/duo and six player), fight to hold the city gates against the great siege ram Grond—and the Witch-king of Angmar himself!
These Epic Battles feature thirteen exciting secondaries, including Epic Foes, with “soft” failure conditions that end only when the wave ends. Victory boxes for these battles contain roughly 50% more Supreme essences than prior Epic Battles and, for the main quests, grant three times as many Stars of Merit. With this update, Epic Battle Promotions have been raised from 236 to 256.
Epic Volume IV, Book 4: Siege of the White City
The city of Osgiliath has fallen to the enemy, and now you must flee with its defenders across the plain to Minas Tirith. Prepare for the coming siege with Gandalf the White, Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth, and Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, as the armies of Sauron move to destroy Gondor. This thirteen-chapter Epic Book is a new on-ramp to the story, so you can play through it without having played the previous Books… but it is recommended that you play the adventure to this point for maximum context.
of gebieden uit de tijd van de Hobbit verhaallijn. dat zou wel leuk zijn O0
