Standing Stone Games has released LotRO's letter to the players this week, highlighting some of 2024 while looking ahead at 2025. The roadmap shows some features, such as an update to birding, a deed log refresh, and more, as well as a new expansion on the horizon in 2025.
In the letter, developer Allan "Orion" Maki recounted all that The Lord of the Rings Online accomplished in 2024, and it was a lot. From the 17th anniversary content, new birding hobby, and launching the latest expansion, Legacy of Morgoth, 2024 was a busy year for the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.
One of the highlights was the release of the new legendary servers, Angmar and Mordor, which also brought the first 64-bit servers to the MMORPG. This is one of the features the team is bringing broadly to the MMO starting next year, though there seems to be a big caveat based on the way Orion describes it.
"In the early part of the first quarter of 2025, we plan to open new 64-bit servers in Europe and the United States," Orion details. He continues, "The new servers will be open to all players and will not require VIP status to access. We will have more information about servers and transfers to these new worlds in early 2025. This has been a long effort, and we appreciate your patience and support while we get all the details right."
However, the way it's being described looks like it's not an overhaul of existing servers getting a 64-bit upgrade but rather new servers being spun up with character transfers opening up to let players resettle. The details are light, but Orion's note that these are open to any player and that the team is excited about what "the 64-bit servers and opening transfers will afford" makes me think that these are brand-new servers and not upgrades of existing worlds.
Anxiety has already started to populate the MMO's forums, with players worried about whether this will split communities and Kinships that have been long established. However, community manager Cordovan gave some clarity on where the transfers will come from: closed legacy servers.
"At least initially the transfers to these new 64 bit worlds will not be from our 32 bit worlds, and will instead focus on our closed legacy servers. We'll have more details about the specifics of our plans in January."
[Update: 3:10pm PT]: Orion attempted to clarify the transfers and timing of its 64-bit server transfers, and in the response contradicts Cord's previous statement. While Cord mentions that the transfers initially are from "closed legacy servers," Orion's statement says that "When the 64-bit servers come online" the team will "allow free and optional transfers off existing 32-bit worlds for all players." So confusion abounds. Here's the statement in full:
"When the 64-bit servers come online we will allow free and optional transfers off existing 32-bit worlds for all players. More information about the timing, name reservation, etc. will be handled in a Q&A sit down with Corodvan and Severlin in the early parts of the new year. In the weeks following the opening of the 64-bit worlds, we will also open "dark world" transfers to the 64-bit servers to allow characters on those worlds to move over."
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However, we will have to wait till the New Year to understand exactly what the team plans with this upgrade, as the 64-bit server is an exciting announcement, especially as LotRO's servers continue to suffer from lag and performance issues.
Looking ahead to 2025, the roadmap provides some high-level details about what's the come, but doesn't necessarily have the granularity that roadmaps in the past have provided. Orion explains that this is change in how the roadmap is presented is in the pursuit of "better clarity and communication."
"First, we are reducing the number of details on the roadmap to provide more concise and accurate information. Details explained beyond six months often shift due to priorities or resource demands and become irrelevant or wrong. To avoid this, we plan to provide an overview of the year ahead and then modify the roadmap quarterly with insight into development six months at a time. This should allow us to communicate the current state of implementation and potential shifts in goals and priorities."
At the start of 2025, we can expect to see a "quality-of-life update," though what that means is unclear right now. Additionally, the first quarter of the year will see the six-boss raid promised with Legacy of Morgoth, as well as what's being called a "refresh of the Deed Panel." Q2 2025 will see a new instance and raid drop along with the 18th Anniversary celebration, while Q3 and Q4 are more nebulous on the roadmap.
However, we do know that Q4 has planned a new expansion pack (marking the third year in a row the team is releasing an expansion), which will come with a new landscape and a level cap increase (which Legacy of Morgoth did not this time around).
Notably absent, though, is any mention of a long-requested Kinship refresh update, which we last heard about in September, with Orion saying that the revamp will take some time. However, with its notable absence on the roadmap it makes me feel like it's either so far in the distance it's not worth mentioning right now, or it's one of those items that might be filled in with Q3 and Q4's updates once we get closer. Additionally, while the Deed Log refresh is nice and welcome (depending on how it's implemented), there really was no mention of an update on the overall UI refresh, especially for those playing on 4K displays.
Regardless, it's going to be an interesting 2025 even based on what we do know, though the letter does leave more questions than answers right now for many LotRO players (myself included).
