I have been wondering this since they announced the on-going chapter system being implemented last march.  Turns out that right now only about 25% of the world that will exist currently exists, so I'm just wondering if this game is just getting started or if it is dying out.

I know years back when I beta-tested then purchased wow, I had gotten to level 60 and quit before it ever became a top contender as a videogame giant.  In fact part of the reason I stopped playing was that I thought the world was getting smaller and I was buying in to all of the doooooooom hype!! lol...  Couldn't have been more wrong as it is now so embedded in the mmo genre that as long as the servers are up, there will be lifers.  Kinda regret leaving on that respect since I could be "pwning newbs" instead of writing in forums.

But I digress, what does everyone think?  Is this game just blooming or is it on the decline?

growing slowly,no real 'new' areas yet,more an extension of whats already there.
the first expac will have the new land mass in it,depending on the storyline of the lotr trilogy.

hard to tell much of anything until Turbine decides to release their playerbase info  (and not characters made)

In my opinion the game is growing slowly and they are wanting it that way. It is alot better to have a game grow slowly and be under control than to grow to fast and for them to loose control of it.

I love the new areas they have added. They have expanded upon the questing system. There is talk that they will be adding rep to quests that are faction based. They have done this some in the misty mountains and the new trollshaws area. They are talking of retofitting quests in the original areas to do the same and giving us rep for the quests we already did up to the point we are at.

This is suppose to happen in book 12. If they do do this it will in my opinion deepen the questing system and make the rep system less of a grind.

I know it can be relative but on my server Nimrodel, I have seen a decline.  Chap 11 did cause the servers to have a short wait for about 24 hours, then it was over.  I hope it grows because I like the game but my server may be dying.  Can't speak for the other servers...

Turbine has hinted that the expansions will follow the fellowship through their journey, so the next expansion will probably not be Rohan (at least in full), but quite definitely the road south to Moria, and Moria itself which is incredibly huge. My guess is that Lothlorien will round it out because they'll need a place where the characters can be "still" and be able to interact with the players, and Lothlorien is their next resting point after Rivendell.

To speak to the main point, I think it's a slow burn upwards.

This game already has it's steady playerbase, it will not grow or decline any time soon.

The whole "follow the fellowship through the story" sounded good on paper, but i think it was a really bad idea.  We want to see Rohan, Gondor, Mt. Doom, etc.....not Eriador.

This linear progression is really bad, they should've launched with multiple zones covering the entire map.  By the time we get to even see the Black Gate, this game will already be forgotten and old.

Originally posted by observer

This game already has it's steady playerbase, it will not grow or decline any time soon.

The whole "follow the fellowship through the story" sounded good on paper, but i think it was a really bad idea.  We want to see Rohan, Gondor, Mt. Doom, etc.....not Eriador.

This linear progression is really bad, they should've launched with multiple zones covering the entire map.  By the time we get to even see the Black Gate, this game will already be forgotten and old.

The "follow the story" was a good idea in this kind of game, and for the development of this game. Turbine didnt have 100 mil to spend on this. I would rather have a game dev'd like this, than vanguard where you got the whole world, broken, buggy, empty, ect..ect. Following the story gave players the chance to feel somewhat a part of the story that they loved, at the same time gave Turbine a way to develope the game they want to make and still give the players the quality and content they deserve. I think everyone has learned the SOE and SIGIL way of doing it wont work anymore. WAR.more time and money, AOC..more time and money..they get it now, for others its too late and will have bad launches or get canned.

I think they did pretty good with the linear progression. Im not a big fan of the linear, i like open ended sandbox type games, but for this type of game they did a good job. And again, who cares if you can see the black gate if the game is an unpolished, nearly unplayable frustration. You'd rather your money go to fixing an extremely large turd or towards adding the rest of the world in a polished playable state. Or do you assume they could have done what your saying they should have done with the money they had. Couldnt be done..you know that. What Turbine is doing is all you can ask out of an mmo dev company. Want more?..talk to blizzard. This is all stuff you already know though.

Originally posted by observer

This game already has it's steady playerbase, it will not grow or decline any time soon.

The whole "follow the fellowship through the story" sounded good on paper, but i think it was a really bad idea.  We want to see Rohan, Gondor, Mt. Doom, etc.....not Eriador.

This linear progression is really bad, they should've launched with multiple zones covering the entire map.  By the time we get to even see the Black Gate, this game will already be forgotten and old.

This game will progress and only get better. In my opinion it will not be forgotten by the time we get to mordor. It will be an old game yes. But a old game that is well polished and developed. The way they are doing the books is in my opinion the best way to expand on this game.

Originally posted by observer

This game already has it's steady playerbase, it will not grow or decline any time soon.

The whole "follow the fellowship through the story" sounded good on paper, but i think it was a really bad idea.  We want to see Rohan, Gondor, Mt. Doom, etc.....not Eriador.

This linear progression is really bad, they should've launched with multiple zones covering the entire map.  By the time we get to even see the Black Gate, this game will already be forgotten and old.

I disagree as well. I'm curious as to your reasoning that it's "a really bad idea", aside from the supposition that the game will be on the decline by the time Mordor comes around.

I think the linear progression of the main thrust of the game is ideally suited to the IP - a literary source. The heavy use of story and progression mirrors the literary essence of Tolkien's work, and by doing so creates one aspect of remaining faithful to the IP.

That said, I expect that not all the expansion of content (most notably land mass) will be linear. Case in point - the Evendim region as part of Book 9. I expect (and supremely hope) that perhaps Turbine will put in other parts of the world in small chunks to break up potential problems that linear progression might bring.

Is an expansion ever going to come out, if so will we ever get to play as the opposing side like make are own orc or goblin characters.  The monster play is not that great to me.

"When will this game peak out" ?

What difference does it make? Play it or don't play it, thats all it really comes down to.

Originally posted by tkreep

Is an expansion ever going to come out, if so will we ever get to play as the opposing side like make are own orc or goblin characters.  The monster play is not that great to me.

As for playable evil races. The word currently is no you won't be able to make an orc or evil character outside of monster play. I am sorry to hear that monster play isn't doing it for you. But i wouldn't count on them changing this aspect of the game.

If you check out this interview: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/2005/mmo_magic_turbine_talks_lord_of_.php

Which was highlighted in this thread: http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/154885

You will have an answer to if there'll be expansions as well as the monster play aspect.