So to recap, on January 1st, 2021

[Hawthorne]

1. Nemesis Forge will be gone, and thus also the ability to transfer to Shadow of War. No questions there.
2. Vendetta Missions will just plain be gone as well, no questions there either. The Achievement "Repaid in Blood" seems like it will just be unobtainable, I won't say that's 100% clear, but maybe 95% clear (5% chance they just give you the achievement somehow, etc).
3. WBPlay Linking for stuff will be gone. However, the items will instead just be given to you. Pretty clear.
4. Trials of War (the "Tests of..." modes) *will* still be available, there just won't be a leaderboard for it? This is my main question, really.
5. As a continuation of the above question, the two Achievements related to Trials of War will or will not be achievable?
-Possibly will be: players have said they're able to do it even offline, as the achievement registers before trying to upload.
-Possibly won't be: "a dev" said that the achievements won't be obtainable anymore. However, upon looking at the source of this, it was actually someone who had emailed (I think?) what looked like a CM person, and (I think?) no statement like this was publicly made. Hence, the inconsistency here -- it's possible the CM person was just covering their bases to be safe but didn't actually know.

So points 4 and 5 are the real questions, I think.

Source for what I think is the only public statement made on the matter: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/product/UP1018-CUSA01939_00-SHADOWMORDORGOTY


Source for the statements about the Trials of War achievements: https://www.truetrophies.com/n18886/shadow-of-mordor-server-closure-trophies

Please confirm/deny anything I said, but make sure to include the source.

[MarylandManson]

Monolith_Mark01/04/2021
Right!
[3:02 PM]
Also:
[3:04 PM]
FYI to all Achievement Hunters
The server shutdown was pushed out to mid-January. I don't have anymore info atm, but in case you were wondering.

And yes, I'm still very optimistic (but not 100% certain until VERIFIED) that the online achievements discussed earlier will still be achievable.

I'll update as soon as I can, but that's where we're at right now.

Thanks, all!



Spectra01/04/2021
Interesting! Thanks for telling!
[3:07 PM]
Will await until then with the rest of achievements I'm missing, since I'm intentionally leaving them locked so that I can try unlock them after the shutdown.
[3:08 PM]
Gotta have someone confirm they can be unlocked after it, might as well be me.
[3:09 PM]
...
Mark, when it comes to "mid-January", do you already have the exact date or it is just an estimation?

Monolith_Mark01/04/2021
Estimation. A tentative date has been discussed but it's not shareable yet.




Monolith_Mark01/05/2021
Hi @Kolm, welcome to the Discord!

@Spectra, @Bambi gigante, @Trap - adding you also so that we can again all get on the same page here.

Achievement Hunter and Trophy Hunter, as awesome as they are, did not make or publish the game.

They do not have access to all the tools and information that we do.

That makes sense, right? That the developer and publisher of a game might know more about the back-end (i.e. server) than even the most-informed community site?

In the end, it might not work. That's why I haven't been able to give a 100% assurance. Until it's tested and approved, I can't commit.

You're just going to have to trust me when I say, there is good reason for hope.

The final implementation may not be pretty, but the intent is to preserve enough functionality to make those achievements fire even without connectivity.

Thanks, all -




Monolith_Mark01/05/2021
Thank you for the kind words and no worries about the other stuff. I totally understand; it is a lot to review and you shouldn't be expected to read everything before making a post! It's all good.

In this case, fwiw, I believe the sunsetting of the current server is not about cost-savings but implementing a better solution for all future WB titles. More efficient, more robust features for developers, etc. Unfortunately, it's a publisher-wide switch, which means the back catalog of games using the current tech take a hit.

Behind the scenes, part of what I've been doing is advocating for our players - i.e. you all here - to ensure the transition is as fair and least disruptive as possible. In this case, that's working with the WB team to find the best workaround for keeping these achivements unlockable.

And I have to say, WB has been great. 100% on board and supportive. I know pubs sometimes get a bad rap (and sometimes totally earn it) but in this case, it's worth pointing out. A lot of talented people have been working hard for months to get the best outcome. And as a software developer, I'm sure you know, the ROI here isn't profitable from a money standpoint. It really is all about doing right by our players.

So anyway, I truly hope I can come back with good news someday soon. Then we can gather 'round and bury one more 2020 anxiety. Hopefully.

Until then, I shall be here, standing my post. Assuring as best I'm able.

Cheers!(edited)
January 6, 2021

[AvoX]

This is great info, but the fact that individuals have to go on discord to contact a developer instead of them just making a public post here or on twitter is dumb.

[Hawthorne]

That is nice news. By the way, I never thought to question this before but when that quote says it may be a publisher-wide thing:

does Shadow of War have no news regarding any disappearing servers and resulting lost achievements or features -- just this game?

[Lucathegreat]

Anonymoose님이 먼저 게시:

does Shadow of War have no news regarding any disappearing servers and resulting lost achievements or features -- just this game?

This is an older game, no doubt SoW will also close down in a couple years

[Foxhack]

The thing about these achievements going offline is that most of the time, the devs want to do something about it, but they can't do anything until the publisher approves it. Patches cost money and sometimes they think it's not worth paying the price.

So this shutdown was entirely on WB Games, not the developers. They're allright.

[FireDrakeZ]

All Shadow of Mordor achievements to remain unlockable after server closure, dev confirms

https://www.trueachievements.com/n44405/shadow-of-mordor-server-closure-achievements

It's good news for achievement hunters! Monolith Productions has confirmed that all achievements in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - Game of the Year Edition will remain unlockable after servers for both games close. The developer will be rolling out a patch for both editions early next week.

Now, over in the Monolith Discord, a developer by the name of Monolith_Mark confirmed that all three achievements in both games will still be unlockable once the servers close thanks to a new patch. "All three achievements will unlock. Barring some rare last-minute, unforeseen complication, a patch is on deck for early next week. Until that patch is live, I won't be able to offer more details, but I'll be happy to discuss once it drops."

"Thanks for your patience — and most importantly — thanks for caring enough to raise your concerns. Sincerely, your passion here helped propel this up the chain and demonstrate the need to find a good solution. And I have to give props to WB [Games] again. They really worked hard with us to find the best possible outcome."

The patch for both Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - Game of the Year Edition will roll out to all users early next week.

[Hawthorne]

Well! That's a happy turn of events. And just to confirm, that does seem to mean that all modes will also still be playable.

[SmaSh it Up]

It's great news indeed. I picked up and then put down Shadow of Mordor a couple of years ago, and only returned to it in the past couple of weeks. It's an amazing game and will move onto Shadow of War hopefully soon. The achievements are challenging and satisfying, only one left to do now!

[MeisterJohnny]

Nice, so the best possible scenario for all achievement hunters! 🙂

But it could have been communicated better... instead of days after the planned server shutdown.

The stress I made myself to get all those achievements as fast as possible was pretty exhausting. I made it at the evening of the 2nd January 2021... before the 15 day extension of the online servers and the new patch were announced... so this alleviating news comes too late for me. 😅

[AvoX]

I also finished the achievements in panic, but this is great, thank you to the devs for doing this.