Honestly? Probably for the best.
LOTRO is an outright anomaly among commercial Tolkien adaptations in how faithful to the spirit of his books it is.
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I would be very sad if Lotro was lost to a competitor. Especially since I doubt said competitor would draw from the books, and instead be more focused on the action, war and combat that the more typical Lotr media and games are.
It’s kinda weird honestly, with how Tolkien who had served as a soldier himself and despised war and violence, his legacy now days is mostly focused on the “epic” fantasy battles and fighting monsters. Most Lotr games have combat as a core focus.
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Making a LOTR mmo but actually it’s just multiplayer Barbie’s Horse Adventures set in Rohan.
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you say that like its a bad thing…
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Yes.
A running theme in Tolkien’s books is that war is hell. It’s regrettable and unglamorous. His heroes are defined by how they cherish life rather than end it.
Meanwhile, Tolkien imitators and adaptations are like: sword go slash! Bow go twang! Fireball go boom! Violence is AWESOME, man!
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Hobbit themed farm sim when?
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I’d unironically play it.
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https://store.steampowered.com/app/2016460/Tales_of_the_Shire_A_The_Lord_of_The_Rings_Game/
No release date yet but it’s expected sometime this year
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Even Lotro that I like alot has some glorification of violence due to it being an MMO. But the quest text and writing often makes it clear that it’s a matter of thing needed to be done to protect things. Or to just “scare” things away(with the morale instead of HP).
But it also has all that calmer thing too. The professions, especially farming and cooking, the more whimsical quests of exploration and simple aid to townspeople. And just how beautiful the wilds are, even in more corrupt and darker zones there is beauty in the nature.
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I would love to play a Rohan Horse girl just tending to my steeds and riding through the Eastfold. It sounds absolutely lovely.
THAT LOOKS SO GOOD! I NEED IT AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE!
I love the aesthetic, its so beautiful and cute.
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I’ve been peeking at it for a few months and it seems so cozy.
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The vibe of tending to my little garden farm, going to the market in Bywater and then settling into the evening with a warm, home-cooked meal and enjoying the sunset from the porch.
It’s so perfect and comfy.
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Time to git farming all that sweet Longbottom Leaf…
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Also an anomaly in the MMO genre by still being actively developed with expansions despite a small playerbase. Most other games would have been canned years ago or put on eternal maintanence mode.
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The fact it’s also gone through at least 2-3 completely different dev teams and still stand is also kind of wild. Vivendi together with Turbine, Turbine on its own(The dark years) and currently Daybreak.
Daybreak have also been wonderful for the game. They’ve shown so much care for the game despite its small audience compared to the other MMOs. It’s also alot more accessible for free to play now than it ever was.
I would be more interested in the void in general if it wasn’t just… a very pale imitation of Lovecraftian Horror.
Its like they did read Lovecraft but didn’t get it. Or just read The Call of Cuthulhu and The Dunwich Horror because monsters.
Even just copying Bloodborne and Darkest Dungeon would’ve been better.
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The biggest plus ‘The Void’ had was its special effects. To have a lovecraftian horror movie where all the effects were practical instead of CGI was quite impressive for a mid 2010’s film. Especially when they were good.
The story however is rushed and on the worse side of things, not great, but not terrible.
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Yeah, the whole ‘forbidden knowledge’ thing is never done well.
The example I always liked was the analogy of taking an ant, showing them how a computer works, and then putting them back into the ant world with knowledge they have no way of making anyone understand and an entire way of existence utterly alien to them
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Watch Prince of Darkness by John Carpenter, basically the exact same plot by Cuthulhu.
Also then watch The Resurrected that had similar effects (but actually based on a Lovecraft story)
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