system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[LOTR] The rings were designed to preserve the world. What was causing the world to deteriorate and were there alternative methods to prevent it?
gpt
In contrast to how many people view real-world history, a slow decline over time is the natural way of things in Middle-earth. Outside of the Undying Lands, the magic is fading and the world is becoming more mundane over time. Alongside this, great heroes/leaders/craftsmen/etc. are becoming rarer and the fantastic realms of the first two Ages give way to smaller, more mundane kingdoms inhabited and led by ordinary people. This is just one of the fundamental metaphysical properties of Middle-earth, like souls being immortal and indestructible or humanity having the gift of free will.

As a side note, the fact that the Three Rings were used to offset the natural state of the world puts them in a morally grey area. They're not *evil* like the One Ring, but they're not purely good either. They were basically made for selfish reasons by the elves who wanted to have their cake and eat it too: have realms that were preserved from decay (like the Undying Lands) but which also had the elves as the wisest, most powerful people around (like everywhere else in Middle-earth).