Lord of the Rings Online 'is not going away' just because Amazon's making a Lord of the Rings MMO: 'It is beloved, it is sixteen, it is evergreen'

pcgamer.com:

Amazon Games is taking another crack at a Lord of the Rings MMO(opens in new tab), it revealed on Monday. The news that it will focus on the period covered by the Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit puts it in direct competition with the established Lord of the Rings Online MMO, however, and developer Standing Stone Games has been trying to reassure its community that it's not in trouble. 

Lord of the Rings Online has been kicking around for 16 years and continues to be updated, even as so many of its former MMO peers have fallen by the wayside. But the news of a rival with extremely deep pockets has left some players wondering what the future holds for the classic free-to-play MMO. 

Spotted by Gamespot(opens in new tab), Standing Stone has responded to its community with a brief forum post(opens in new tab). «We wanted to give everyone in the community an update and assure you all that LOTRO is not going away,» it reads. «Like you, we, and our partners at Middle-earth Enterprises are huge fans of LOTRO. It is beloved, it is sixteen, it is evergreen. LOTRO is like the long-lived Ents, Elves and Dwarves; and we mere mortals, are the stewards of LOTRO and its community. Standing Stone has every intention of growing and supporting this community. The road goes ever on…»  

While Standing Stone's statement focuses on its MMO and doesn't sling any mud, Amazon Games VP Christoph Hartmann takes some swipes—albeit diplomatic ones—at its rival in a Gamesindustry.biz interview(opens in new tab). «I think they actually can co-exist. Even the most likely scenario is… for people just to move over, because the other one is an old game. It's not a bad game, but the industry moves on at some point, and it's a long time from their