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The Lord of the Rings Online: A Timeless Adventure
Standing Stone Games’ The Lord of the Rings Online is still going strong nearly twenty years after it first launched. Today, there’s a big focus on player numbers and how successful a multiplayer game can be, even before it comes out. It often feels like many games are battling the tough “dead on arrival” label.
It’s refreshing to see a game like LOTR Online still has a loyal player base and continues to get updates from its developers. In a world where online games can start, gain popularity, and then shut down in just a few years, this is a rare sight.
The Road Goes Ever Ever On
An example of the vibrant LOTR Online community is the annual ‘Great Hobbit Run’ event hosted by Twitch streamer BurkeBlack (props to GamesRadar+ for coverage).
The Great Hobbit Run is straightforward: a group of hobbits walks from Bilbo’s home in the Shire to Mount Doom, just like Frodo and Sam did. The journey ends with a hobbit throwing themselves into the flames, as envisioned by Elrond and Gandalf, presumably.
This year marked the third attempt at the Great Hobbit Run, following two unsuccessful tries. The hobbits for this event are newly created characters and remain underpowered since no quests are done along the way.
A famous Gondorian once said, “One does not simply walk into Mordor,” and he was right, as the group of hobbits struggled in previous years to reach their goal.
This year’s event was different. After reaching Mount Doom, the party rallied and shouted “Death!” as many hobbits jumped into the flames, sending everyone back to Rivendell.
While the hobbits were successful, BurkeBlack hinted at more to come: “Thanks to everyone who helped this year, but I forgot the ring back in the Shire, so we’ll try again next year!” he shared in a post.
Though hobbits may seem unimportant, this group of little heroes has shown what they can achieve.
The Lord of the Rings Online
- Released
- April 24, 2007
- ESRB
- T For Teen due to Blood and Gore, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Standing Stone Games
- Publisher(s)
- Daybreak Game Company
ChatGPT
Perplexity
Gemini AI
Grok AI
