Long Term Repurcussions?

[krypto182]

Not sure why I am making yet another thread but I don't think this has been discussed at least not in detail by the community.

I have a lifetime account I will always be around no matter what until the day the game worlds go dark for good. But I fear that many paying players are throwing in the towel right now. These server problems are getting worse and worse and am I starting to worry about the long term viability of the game. The lack of transparency on the part of SSG, is also not helping matters. While I do not think they need to go into the nitty gritty of the problem a more detailed explanation then it is out of our control needs to be provided. I also understand there are contracts and other parties probably involved but you can word and present something without harming your reputation and the reputation of another company. There is even a change.org petition about LOTRO out there now due to these problems. Also the folks at MMORPG.com are writing more and more negative articles about the game right now. SSG and LOTRO are in a PR crisis right now. While they have done a lot of nice things this year with VIP Rewards and the free quest coupons all the good stuff is being overshadowed by the current server issues.

So what are your thoughts on the long term repercussions of these technical problems how many players will we be losing for good this time.

[vobex16]

Not sure why I am making yet another thread but I don't think this has been discussed at least not in detail by the community.

I have a lifetime account I will always be around no matter what until the day the game worlds go dark for good. But I fear that many paying players are throwing in the towel right now. These server problems are getting worse and worse and am I starting to worry about the long term viability of the game. The lack of transparency on the part of SSG, is also not helping matters. While I do not think they need to go into the nitty gritty of the problem a more detailed explanation then it is out of our control needs to be provided. I also understand there are contracts and other parties probably involved but you can word and present something without harming your reputation and the reputation of another company. There is even a change.org petition about LOTRO out there now due to these problems. Also the folks at MMORPG.com are writing more and more negative articles about the game right now. SSG and LOTRO are in a PR crisis right now. While they have done a lot of nice things this year with VIP Rewards and the free quest coupons all the good stuff is being overshadowed by the current server issues.

So what are your thoughts on the long term repercussions of these technical problems how many players will we be losing for good this time.

Here we need to think about whether the game will survive in principle, I hope that the developers did not escape to another country(laughter)leaving the game idling(laughter).

[JH15547]

Not sure why I am making yet another thread but I don't think this has been discussed at least not in detail by the community.

I have a lifetime account I will always be around no matter what until the day the game worlds go dark for good. But I fear that many paying players are throwing in the towel right now. These server problems are getting worse and worse and am I starting to worry about the long term viability of the game. The lack of transparency on the part of SSG, is also not helping matters. While I do not think they need to go into the nitty gritty of the problem a more detailed explanation then it is out of our control needs to be provided. I also understand there are contracts and other parties probably involved but you can word and present something without harming your reputation and the reputation of another company. There is even a change.org petition about LOTRO out there now due to these problems. Also the folks at MMORPG.com are writing more and more negative articles about the game right now. SSG and LOTRO are in a PR crisis right now. While they have done a lot of nice things this year with VIP Rewards and the free quest coupons all the good stuff is being overshadowed by the current server issues.

So what are your thoughts on the long term repercussions of these technical problems how many players will we be losing for good this time.

Certainly there is a risk that the reputation of the game takes such a hit that LOTRO loses enough players to bring the financial viability of SSG into question. I just hope the decision makers at SSG factor that into their communication strategy. While more frequent and candid communications do open up risks from a liability perspective, that needs to be weighed against the risk of not communicating enough. There will be no business liability to protect if the company is bankrupt because no one subscribes or buys LP.

[Gildoriel]

Not sure why I am making yet another thread but I don't think this has been discussed at least not in detail by the community.

I have a lifetime account I will always be around no matter what until the day the game worlds go dark for good. But I fear that many paying players are throwing in the towel right now. These server problems are getting worse and worse and am I starting to worry about the long term viability of the game. The lack of transparency on the part of SSG, is also not helping matters. While I do not think they need to go into the nitty gritty of the problem a more detailed explanation then it is out of our control needs to be provided. I also understand there are contracts and other parties probably involved but you can word and present something without harming your reputation and the reputation of another company. There is even a change.org petition about LOTRO out there now due to these problems. Also the folks at MMORPG.com are writing more and more negative articles about the game right now. SSG and LOTRO are in a PR crisis right now. While they have done a lot of nice things this year with VIP Rewards and the free quest coupons all the good stuff is being overshadowed by the current server issues.

So what are your thoughts on the long term repercussions of these technical problems how many players will we be losing for good this time.

It definitely has the appearance that the current situation is more than they can handle, tech-wise and communications-wise. The former might be able to get sorted with time even if it's out of their control. But leaving your customers in the dark for the large part and not talking to them on a regular basis (several times per day) when you can't provide the service they paid for is worst case, because they will lose their trust in you. I myself go only VIP once per year for two months, but I bought quite a lot of Lotro points this spring because of universal solvents for my T4 essences. In the past few days I swore to myself that I won't spend another cent on this game until they come up to par with what a customer can expect. I always wanted one of those Rohan houses, but now I rather spend the next 6 months doing deeds instead of buying the points (what I would have done if the performance of their tech had been ok now). That is if the servers ever let me play long enough to actually finish a deed ...

[Arandhras]

I can give you my story.

I've been a player since 2011, loved the game for the community and the general atmosphere of the game, particularly friendly and welcoming -- something I've never found in any other MMO until recently. Back when WB was unsatisfied with how Turbine was going I was almost ready to throw in the towel because I saw that the game sorely lacked guidance; I was however relieved that the people who were in charge to make the game in the first place stepped in to found an independent company to continue development of both LOTRO and DDO.

I knew that the game was bugged.
I knew it needed severe reworkings.
But I believed that the very same peple who worked on it for years would be up to the challenge, so I kept spending good money on it (together with my family, since we're all players).

Fast forward to today, it turns out I was very, very wrong.

The server-wide lag that has always been lingering around made a turn for the worst with the introduction of Minas Tirith and kept getting worse and worse with every expansion, be it a major one or a simpler quest pack, and it culminated with Minas Morgul. I was so angry with the game that I've left for about 6 months and never really cared about continuing the story because it was just un-fun to go on.

Around in June I wanted to give it yet another chance, so I resumed to play again. I got all excited for the new event in July, only to find yet again ugly lag spikes due to the influx of other new and returning players... then the First Great Server Instability Debacle hit, and the rest as they say is history.

Even if SSG does a complete 180° turn on their policies of non-communication and problem-tackling, they have lost me and my friends. We gave them our trust and my good money time and again, and yet they keep on failing the most basic expectations of players while expecting them to support them through financial means. I personally believe this to be unacceptable.

[Arabani]

Unfortunately too many people are very impatient nowdays, so yes the population will decline because of the issues. The core players will stay of course, some will return, but we'll probabbly lose most of the newcomers, who came here because of the free content event. I just hope they game will recove, I wish it long life, and I want to play it for at least 20-30 years more.

I will continue to subscribe of course. I love this game. The best story-driven and exploration game out there. Thank you everyone involved in the creation of this wonderfull game!

[Elmagor]

I can give you my story.

I've been a player since 2011, loved the game for the community and the general atmosphere of the game, particularly friendly and welcoming -- something I've never found in any other MMO until recently. Back when WB was unsatisfied with how Turbine was going I was almost ready to throw in the towel because I saw that the game sorely lacked guidance; I was however relieved that the people who were in charge to make the game in the first place stepped in to found an independent company to continue development of both LOTRO and DDO.

I knew that the game was bugged.
I knew it needed severe reworkings.
But I believed that the very same peple who worked on it for years would be up to the challenge, so I kept spending good money on it (together with my family, since we're all players).

Fast forward to today, it turns out I was very, very wrong.

The server-wide lag that has always been lingering around made a turn for the worst with the introduction of Minas Tirith and kept getting worse and worse with every expansion, be it a major one or a simpler quest pack, and it culminated with Minas Morgul. I was so angry with the game that I've left for about 6 months and never really cared about continuing the story because it was just un-fun to go on.

Around in June I wanted to give it yet another chance, so I resumed to play again. I got all excited for the new event in July, only to find yet again ugly lag spikes due to the influx of other new and returning players... then the First Great Server Instability Debacle hit, and the rest as they say is history.

Even if SSG does a complete 180° turn on their policies of non-communication and problem-tackling, they have lost me and my friends. We gave them our trust and my good money time and again, and yet they keep on failing the most basic expectations of players while expecting them to support them through financial means. I personally believe this to be unacceptable.

First week of wedding event don't have much lags, and after they fix everything we can enjoy few weeks without problems. It's clear example what servers can handle current updates without much lags. Also, during summer time when people get free stuff, we have 1300+ non anon players on Brandy. Once again, without much lags. I don't believe they can broke something within game code and now game can't handle 300+ players. More likely they did something with data center somewhere during spring 2020 and now can't rewert that decision.

[Dusalan]

Unfortunately, I see a level of hypersensitivity in the user community, particularly since the system crash in July 2020.

I've been trying to document what might be going on and I see mulitple issues.

1) Possibly my computers (failure to reboot regularly, background software updates, etc.....). Some of the play issues I've seen recently correct themselves after a hard reboot. Example: around 1:30 EDT, Crickhollow got very laggy. Rebooted the computer, relogged in, and no issues running any of my alts through Festival quests.

2) Possibly "the Internet", i.e. all the connections between my computers and SSG servers. I've noticed periodic failures to connect to primary websites, such as news, weather, etc.... on the first attempt and after two or three, bingo, I'm there. Example: accessing this forum to post this message (failed first two attemps to get to this thread)

3) Possbily "the servers". No clue if that's really a factor or not

4) Possibly "the game engine". No clue if that's really a factor or not.

While everyone has been complaining "it's broken and unusable", to the contrary, I've seen the system playable about 90+% of the tme when I've been able to play. I'm not doing "Raids" or other multi player instances, but any and all solo/duo instances I've run (at least 3 per day) have performed normally, with no notable issues.

[RevinX]

I doubt I'll be giving them any more money after what I've already spent runs out unless we get compensation and a real apology for how they handled it. On top of that, this is a very bad look for new people, so good luck coaxing them to come back.