Which Server?

[Validoom]

So, after a few years out I am going to come back and try out the new class.

 

So, which server is the most populated and more important, friendly. 

 

Also I have a stupid amount of TP to spend, what items would you advise to buy to make the leveling up process more bearable

[Grumpy]

• Server : Brandywine
• Item : Gift of the valar, +25% permanent XP boost (Token of the Hornburg I believe), 100% XP Boost (1 hour) if you really want to burn money.

There are plenty of other boosts which are worth trying, as xp craft boost, reputation boosts, deeds boosts, etc.

[Trilwych]

more bearable

PUNISHMENT

[LasraelLarson]

EDITED:  info relevant to the date of post.

 

North American Rankings as of Nov. 6, 2014.

 

1.) Gladden @ 22% of NA logins

 

2.) Brandywine @ 15% of NA logins

 

3.) Landroval @ 9% of NA logins

 

4.) Crickhollow @ 7% of NA logins

 

5.) Arkenstone, Meneldor & Silverlode

     @ 5% of NA logins

 

6.) Dwarrowdelf, Elendilmir, Firefoot, Imladris, Vilya, & Windfola

     @ 4% of NA logins

 

7.) Nimrodel & Riddermark

     @ 3% of NA logins

[Castorix]

Actually,  Brandywine is first again.

Nb conn. since last reboot (yesterday) =>

 

1.Brandywine         12365
2.Gladden            11694
3.Gwaihir [DE]        7863
4.Landroval [EN-RE]   7007
5.Crickhollow         6350
6.Snowbourn           6303
7.Laurelin [EN-RP]    6186
8.Sirannon [FR]       5913
9.Evernight           5875
10.Belegaer [DE-RP]   5504

[LasraelLarson]

Actually,  Brandywine is first again.

Nb conn. since last reboot (yesterday) =>

 

1.Brandywine         12365

2.Gladden            11694

3.Gwaihir [DE]        7863

4.Landroval [EN-RE]   7007

5.Crickhollow         6350

6.Snowbourn           6303

7.Laurelin [EN-RP]    6186

8.Sirannon [FR]       5913

9.Evernight           5875

10.Belegaer [DE-RP]   5504

 

yeah, the Lux pie charts are weekly snapshots, the server graphs are dailies.

 

and with Brandywine being the legacy beta server, it would make sense that bump is from the update surfers taking a peek.

 

by two weeks time out.  Gladden will be back on top again...  if it remains recommended.  and IMO it should, with no plans for future server consolidation.

[Agra]

This is the order from the Login-Server.

Crickhollow
Gladden
Withywindle
Silverlode
Firefoot
Windfola
Evernight
Arkenstone
Riddermark
Dwarrowdelf
Vilya
Imladris
Elendilmir
Landroval [EN-RE]
Brandywine
Gwaihir [DE]
Nimrodel
Vanyar [DE]
Meneldor
Eldar
Anduin [DE]
Sirannon [FR]
Maiar [DE]
Belegaer [DE-RP]
Laurelin [EN-RP]
Gilrain
Morthond [DE]
Estel [FR-RP]
Snowbourn

[Castorix]

by two weeks time out.  Gladden will be back on top again...  if it remains recommended.  and IMO it should, with no plans for future server consolidation.

 

As Agra noticed, Crickhollow is the recommended server since the reboot (it has the value Order=0 from Soap data)

[LasraelLarson]

As Agra noticed, Crickhollow is the recommended server since the reboot (it has the value Order=0 from Soap data)

 

WOW!  so they finally did move the recommended.  it was Gladden for such a looong time.

 

will be interesting to see how Gladden sustains over the coming months without those freshly installing the game seeing it as recommended.

 

i will say this, at least they are directing players to a smaller server, but one that isn't:

[LasraelLarson]

EDITED: info relevant as of date of this post:  North American server rankings as of November 10 2014.

 

1.) Gladden at 18% of North American logins, (down 4% less than a week after losing recommended status.)

 

2.) Brandywine at 16% of NA logins

 

3.) Crickhollow at 10% of NA logins, (up 3% in less than a week since becoming the recommended server.)

 

4.) Landroval at 9% of NA logins

 

5.) Arkenstone, Meneldor & Silverlode at 5% of NA logins

 

6.) Dwarrowdelf, Elendilmir, Firefoot, Imladris, Nimrodel, Vilya, Windfola at 4% of NA logins

 

7.) Riddermark at 3% of NA logins

 

so less than a week after beta, new update launch and recommended server change and some small shifts.

 

i wonder how long it will take Gladden to fall, or Crickhollow to take it's spot?

[LasraelLarson]

edited: info relevant as of date of this post, Nov, 17 2014.

1.)  Brandywine at 16% of North American logins.

 

2.) Crickhollow (up 4%) & Gladden (down 4%) at 14% of NA logins.

 

3.) Landroval at 9% of NA logins.

 

4.) Arkenstone, Meneldor & Silverlode at 5% of NA logins.

 

5.) Dwarrowdelf, Elendilmir, Firefoot, Imladris, Nimrodel, Vilya & Windfola at 4% of NA logins.

 

6.) Riddermark at 3% of NA logins.

 

so aside from the anomalous data showing in the daily extrapolated graphs, it didn't take long for Crickhollow to catch up to Gladden.

 

i wonder if in another weeks time, Crickhollow will pass Brandywine?

[Wrath of Winter]

Thank you for doing this, interesting dynamics to watch. Never thought a server's stats could prove so flaky from mere change of which is recommended.

 

Does it mean then that the players who actively bloat up a "recommended" server's stats are the brand-new incomers installing the game for the first time to try it out? I thought older servers just have more stable communities, but the stat comparison from the week above seems to suggest otherwise. Didn't expect such a constant wave of new players (or server tourists, or 'action seekers'?) keeping the numbers up - the bored ones presumably quitting and new ones flowing in.  

 

Crickhollow's gain and Gladden's loss over the past week is greater than the entirety of Riddernark's current population... embarrassing.

[Castorix]

so aside from the anomalous data showing in the daily extrapolated graphs, it didn't take long for Crickhollow to catch up to Gladden.

 

i wonder if in another weeks time, Crickhollow will pass Brandywine?

 

Possible, although Brandywine has atm 10 000 more connections (since November 10)

 

1. Brandywine   103899

2. Crickhollow   93076

3. Gladden       91082

4. Gwaihir [DE]  66785

5. Sirannon [FR] 58333

[Danys]

All the numbers in the world won't give you an accurate intelligence quote. I'd advise skipping Evernight if you are looking for people that know what they are doing. We are inundated recently with trolls, morons and idiots spamming world chat. Of course, if you like slotting 19 power essences along with might for your hunter and nothing else.. this might be the just place for you.

[Validoom]

All the numbers in the world won't give you an accurate intelligence quote. I'd advise skipping Evernight if you are looking for people that know what they are doing. We are inundated recently with trolls, morons and idiots spamming world chat. Of course, if you like slotting 19 power essences along with might for your hunter and nothing else.. this might be the just place for you.

 

Lol.. I started on Evernight when Lotro was released and it was actually a pretty cool server. Met lots of very nice and cool people there, shame to hear that it has fallen so far.

[Danys]

Lol.. I started on Evernight when Lotro was released and it was actually a pretty cool server. Met lots of very nice and cool people there, shame to hear that it has fallen so far.

 

It used to be a good server til we became recommended for like 4 months and then they stopped making actual and real grouping content. 

Trash invaded, most of the decent people left and we are stuck with ... players...  who think they are raiders because they afk'd in OD t1 when the FA symbols dropped. Even Ettens is garbage now. The same 20 people fighting each other and relogging to fight each other. Its very sad to see actually. The new motto for Evernight is now.. Sammy forever!

[nosam9]

Does it mean then that the players who actively bloat up a "recommended" server's stats are the brand-new incomers installing the game for the first time to try it out? I thought older servers just have more stable communities, but the stat comparison from the week above seems to suggest otherwise. Didn't expect such a constant wave of new players (or server tourists, or 'action seekers'?) keeping the numbers up - the bored ones presumably quitting and new ones flowing in.  

 

There is a big inflow of new players to Lotro, and just as big a flow of people leaving. A lot of people who don't play Lotro talk about it with it's old reputation, and are willing to recommend Lotro as an MMO to try. Almost always, they don't know that oputput of new content has slowed down, and the population of the game is much slower. Worse, IMO, is that they don't know how expensive Lotro is if you want to buy all the expansions. 

I see people on reddit and other forums recommend Lotro in a list of big MMOs (without knowing much about the current state of the game). So I can see many new people coming to try it out. That it is F2P also must bring in a lot of people who want to try a new MMO.

[LasraelLarson]

Thank you for doing this, interesting dynamics to watch. Never thought a server's stats could prove so flaky from mere change of which is recommended.

 

whilst the recommended change is still very recent, it does seem that of the new players...  only a very VERY small percentage seem to get hooked.

 

Gladdens loss, matches up fairly evenly with Crickhollows gains.

 

which admittedly, i do find rather odd.

[LasraelLarson]

EDIT: relevant as of date of this post, Nov. 24 2014.

 

1.) Crickhallow (up 2%)& Brandywine @ 16% of North American logins:

 

2.) Gladden (down 1%) at 13% of NA logins:

 

3.) Landroval (down 1%) @ 8% of NA logins:

 

4.) Arkenstone, Meneldor & Silverlode @ 5% of NA logins:

 

5.) Dwarrowdelf, Elendilmir, Firefoot, Imladris, Nimrodel, Vilya & Windfola @ 4% of NA logins:

 

6.) Riddermark @ 3% of NA logins:

 

so 2+ weeks as recommended and Crickhollow has caught up with Brandywine.  should definitely pass next week.

 

as ever, Gilrain is in a solid last spot.

[FundinStrongarm]

How long was Gladden the recommended server?

[Castorix]

so 2+ weeks as recommended and Crickhollow has caught up with Brandywine.  should definitely pass next week.

 

It is even first for a few days.

Top 10 =>

 

1. Crickhollow       80044

2. Brandywine        79539

3. Gladden           64908

4. Gwaihir [DE]      53691

5. Landroval [EN-RE] 41902

6. Sirannon [FR]     41284

7. Evernight         40048

8. Laurelin [EN-RP]  36703

9. Snowbourn         34620

10.Belegaer [DE-RP]  33447

[nosam9]

Crickhollow shows that a large percent of Lotro players are new players, and will leave within 2 months. This has been Turbine's strategy in the last 3-4 years: keep a steady influx of new players; some of them will spend in the store.

 

That is why they did not really care about long term players or end game problems in the game. Even now they still have so many new people trying out Lotro. So what if they quit in a few weeks or months - some of them give money in the store. Lotro is just a money machine at this point - it doesn't matter how good the game is, as long as new people come and spend.

 

Looking back at the game after F2P, it is clear that they chased after this steady stream of new players. I think they got a huge inrush of players duringF2P, saw all the money they could make from them, and decided to just keep milking new players as long as they could. They also used the "expansion" pre-orders to get as much from players as possible while putting out cheaply made, hyped-up expansions. Again not really minding if those players left after giving Turbine $60 for an expansion.

[Agra]

How long was Gladden the recommended server?

Gladden was recommended since "update 13" in april 2014 until "update 15" in november 2014 for 29 weeks.

[FundinStrongarm]

Gladden was recommended since "update 13" in april 2014 until "update 15" in november 2014 for 29 weeks.

Thanks. I'd like to see how long it will take to drift back down to the 4-5% range and if it falls that far.

[LasraelLarson]

Crickhollow shows that a large percent of Lotro players are new players, and will leave within 2 months.

 

the "churn" factor is actually much quicker than that.  look how quickly Gladden went from 22% of NA logins down to 13%...  less than 3 weeks.  and it continues to diminish, at only a slightly reduced pace with each passing week.

 

Thanks. I'd like to see how long it will take to drift back down to the 4-5% range and if it falls that far.

 

the drop from that peek of 22% has decelerated as time has passed, but the attrition continues.  i'd guess it will begin to settle somewhere below Landroval, but ever so slightly above Arkenstone, Meneldor & Silverlode.  2 to 3 weeks of continued decline would be my guess, before it falls into a similar overall pattern of decline on all servers.

 

ironically, even though comparatively, the lengthy recommended status helped; because of the general overall decline, it will still settle below numbers it had prior to ever becoming the recommended.

 

additionally, with regard to merges, i truly think that something of that nature is now outside of Turbines capacity.

 

at this point, the only feasible way, would be to open up free transfers off the smaller servers (roughly half of the current 28) but because i foresee a hard shutdown...  not even that will happen at this point.