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A group of hobbits gather every single year in The Lord of the Rings Online to make the trek from The Shire to Mount Doom, and after three years of attempts, their quest is finally over… or it should be, but someone forgot The Ring.
In an era where multiplayer games are being shut down within a matter of months like Ubisoft's XDefiant, or even weeks like Sony's Concord, there's a shocking amount of MMORPGs still going strong decades later. You can still play Final Fantasy 11, for example, which first released on the PS2 and is now approaching its 25 anniversary in 2027 and still has a strong playerbase despite Final Fantasy 14's popularity. Going back even further you can play 1996's Meridian 59 and 1997's Tibia.
I say this, because I was shocked to learn that 2007's The Lord of the Rings Online is still going strong and getting expansions into the 2020s. In a show of what that game's fans can do, Twitch streamer BurkeBlack has been hosting the "Great Hobbit Run" for three years now. During this event, hobbits gather at Bilbo Baggins' house in The Shire, and run all the way to Mount Doom, and as they won't be taking on quests, the hobbits make their way into a level 112 zone as weak as possible.
After 3 years of attempts, the Hobbits finally made it to Mt Doom and threw ourselves into the lava! Thank you tobthe helpers and everyone that joined this year long, but saddly I forget the ring back at the shire so we'll try again next year! pic.twitter.com/SaKSDuYQ7iJuly 8, 2025
Well after three years, the hairy-toed heroes pulled it off. After an almost seven hour adventure, the hobbits made it to Mount Doom, thus completing their journey. And to celebrate, the group of hobbits submitted themselves to the lava and launched themselves into the fires of Mount Doom, spawning back at Rivendell.
Now that the journey is complete, that may be the end of the Great Hobbit Run, but BurkeBlack notes: "I forget the ring back at the shire so we'll try again next year!" Granted, you can't acquire the One Ring in The Lord of the Rings Online, so until they figure that out, the Great Hobbit Run shall continue.
If you need something to keep you company until the next Great Hobbit Run, why not check out our list of the best MMORPGs?
