What do you think of MiddleEarth RPG?
Vikram Prabhu
You've probably heard of the Middle Earth RPG that's being worked on.
Leaving aside the matter that I believe that the format is unsuitable
(it being designed for online play) what do you think about a company
licensing the Middle Earth world like this? I was shocked when I
found out; both because I've heard the Tolkien foundation is very
conservative and because I would not envy the developers the task of
producing a game matching Tolkien's vision. I remember when I heard
about Blade Runner my immediate reaction was WTF closely followed by
"if they mess this up in any way I'm personally gonna fly over there
and smash some heads together." Thankfully that wasn't necessary ;-)
However I do feel that Yosemite has bitten off more than they can chew
with this one. Only time can tell I suppose, as with UA...
--
Vikram Prabhu
vik...@prabhu.clara.co.uk
Jonric
In article <35900573...@news.clara.net>,
Yes, I've heard of it. 8-) Our site hosts the Middle-earth Dev Board, and
my interview with some key members of the Yosemite team went up about this
time yesterday.
I think it is rather premature to be making statements like "Yosemite has
bitten off more than they can chew". You may end up feeling this way with
good reason after you have seen the game, but there is still a full year to
go before the projected beta date.
Also, it is likely that each of us has a somewhat different interpretation of
"Tolkien's vision", so capturing that vision is not likely to happen in all
cases. And don't forget that their target market probably also includes
people who don't have a clue who Tolkien is, just as a segment of UA players
never played an Ultima game before.
Jonric
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Kevin Badgett
>I hope that the essence of the game is not being diluted down so that
>folks who are ignorant of Tolkien can play it. It would be better to
>leave the game intact but include a copy of LOTR for such people.
>
>--
>The Polychromic Dragon (Michael Cecil) of the -=={UDIC}==-
Not going to happen. It would not make any business sense to exclude people
who haven't read certain books from enjoying a game. Hopefully they will find
some middle ground on this issue (no pun intended).
Kevin
Fortran Dragon
My glass typewriter shows Kevin Badgett saying...
[Snip]
> Not going to happen. It would not make any business sense to exclude people
> who haven't read certain books from enjoying a game.
Actually, it does make business sense _if_ your target market are the
LOTR fans. On the other claw, if they are using the name for some hype....
--
Fortran Dragon -==(UDIC)==- | "There isn't enough darkness in the world
-=={MDLAM}==- | to quench the light of one small candle."
Hidalgo Trading Company: http://home.earthlink.net/~fortran/index.html
ken
Vikram Prabhu wrote in message <35900573...@news.clara.net>...
>You've probably heard of the Middle Earth RPG that's being worked on.
>Leaving aside the matter that I believe that the format is unsuitable
>(it being designed for online play) what do you think about a company
>licensing the Middle Earth world like this? I was shocked when I
>found out; both because I've heard the Tolkien foundation is very
>conservative and because I would not envy the developers the task of
>producing a game matching Tolkien's vision. I remember when I heard
>about Blade Runner my immediate reaction was WTF closely followed by
>"if they mess this up in any way I'm personally gonna fly over there
>and smash some heads together." Thankfully that wasn't necessary ;-)
>However I do feel that Yosemite has bitten off more than they can chew
>with this one. Only time can tell I suppose, as with UA...
>
>--
I was very disappointed to find that it was not going to be single player.
It seems to me that you can do a lot better job trying to match Tolkien's
world with lots of NPCs doing Tolkien type things than a lot of online
players each with their own agendas.
ken
Vikram Prabhu
On Wed, 24 Jun 1998 05:03:07 GMT, "Jonric" <jon...@vaultnetwork.com>
wrote:
>Yes, I've heard of it. 8-) Our site hosts the Middle-earth Dev Board, and
>my interview with some key members of the Yosemite team went up about this
>time yesterday.
Hmm. I missed the dev board ... I'll check it out.
>I think it is rather premature to be making statements like "Yosemite has
>bitten off more than they can chew". You may end up feeling this way with
>good reason after you have seen the game, but there is still a full year to
>go before the projected beta date.
I'm not stating it as a fact, more a premonition. I read LOTR about 8
times a year (and I managed to get a few more converts this year as
well) and I don't think *anybody* would be happier if they pulled it
off. Look at my pessimism as a way of preparing for an extremely
pleasant surprise.
>Also, it is likely that each of us has a somewhat different interpretation of
>"Tolkien's vision", so capturing that vision is not likely to happen in all
>cases. And don't forget that their target market probably also includes
>people who don't have a clue who Tolkien is, just as a segment of UA players
>never played an Ultima game before.
Tolkien has fairly wide exposure in the general prublic (in the UK at
least). I wish they wouldn't dumb it down as it would probably get a
lot of attention anyway. You might know about the fuss that was
kicked up over Ralph Bakshi's cartoon adaptation by the more
conservative fans. I feel that Yosemite might create a lot of
negative feeling in the fan community... licensing truly is a
double-edged sword. As for UA I'm happy to wait and see.
>Jonric
>The Vault Network
>http://www.vaultnetwork.com
>The web's #1 source for CRPG news and information
>
>-----== Posted via Deja News, The Leader in Internet Discussion ==-----
>http://www.dejanews.com/ Now offering spam-free web-based newsreading
PS Keep up the good work on the sight.
--
Vikram Prabhu
vik...@prabhu.clara.co.uk
Vikram Prabhu
On Wed, 24 Jun 1998 13:31:23 -0400, "ken" <krah...@cmsa.gmr.com>
wrote:
>I was very disappointed to find that it was not going to be single player.
>It seems to me that you can do a lot better job trying to match Tolkien's
>world with lots of NPCs doing Tolkien type things than a lot of online
>players each with their own agendas.
>
>ken
I feel this is an inherent problem with CRPGs as opposed to
pen-and-paper. There is no dungeon master to make sure the story
adapts to the players and to fine tune gaming situations. With online
games the problem is compounded by the divergent tastes and wishes of
a massive cohort of players. Each player becomes a small part of the
game world and their role is ill-defined. I've seen UO referred to as
thousands of people playing Daggerfall simultaneously. Let's hope the
same doesn't happen to this well-loved world.
--
Vikram Prabhu
vik...@prabhu.clara.co.uk
Vikram Prabhu
On 24 Jun 1998 13:03:07 GMT, bad...@cyberramp.net (Kevin Badgett)
wrote:
>>I hope that the essence of the game is not being diluted down so that
>>folks who are ignorant of Tolkien can play it. It would be better to
>>leave the game intact but include a copy of LOTR for such people.
>>
>>--
>>The Polychromic Dragon (Michael Cecil) of the -=={UDIC}==-
>
>Not going to happen. It would not make any business sense to exclude people
>who haven't read certain books from enjoying a game. Hopefully they will find
>some middle ground on this issue (no pun intended).
>
>Kevin
Not totally related but... I remember that when I bought Champions of
Krynn(?) for the C64 I got a free back called "Dragons of Autumn
Twilight." Prior to this Krynn meant nothing to me. I never played
the game but I now own at least 20-30 book in the Dragonlance series.
To stay on-topic I agree that it would not make the kind of good
business sense the suits are looking for. Including the book would be
kinda cool though... my copy's rather tattered.
--
Vikram Prabhu
vik...@prabhu.clara.co.uk
Jonric
In article <6mrdae$2...@rcsuna.gmr.com>,
"ken" <krah...@cmsa.gmr.com> wrote:
> I was very disappointed to find that it was not going to be single player.
> It seems to me that you can do a lot better job trying to match Tolkien's
> world with lots of NPCs doing Tolkien type things than a lot of online
> players each with their own agendas.
>
> ken
>
>
Yosemite's licence covers the MMORPG and *multiple* CRPGs. If you're
interested in keeping up with news on Middle-earth, the best place is the the
Middle-earth Dev Board which can be found on our site. We also put up an
interview with members of the ME team earlier this week.
Paul Rattner
Give them a break! The Tolkien foundation has indeed been very
conservative, and those gaming products they have approved have been
of good quality, IMHO. I've run several pen and paper campaigns using
ICE's vision of Middle Earth, and I think it worked out rather well.
Obviously, a massively multi-player game is tough to pull off, but
they are a long way from beta. I, for one, am hopeful about the
project. I would like to see them succeed, and I think they stand a
good chance. They will have several examples of what went right and
wrong with other online games by the time their product is ready for
the shelves.
vik...@prabhu.clara.co.uk (Vikram Prabhu) wrote:
>You've probably heard of the Middle Earth RPG that's being worked on.
>Leaving aside the matter that I believe that the format is unsuitable
>(it being designed for online play) what do you think about a company
>licensing the Middle Earth world like this? I was shocked when I
>found out; both because I've heard the Tolkien foundation is very
>conservative and because I would not envy the developers the task of
>producing a game matching Tolkien's vision. I remember when I heard
>about Blade Runner my immediate reaction was WTF closely followed by
>"if they mess this up in any way I'm personally gonna fly over there
>and smash some heads together." Thankfully that wasn't necessary ;-)
>However I do feel that Yosemite has bitten off more than they can chew
>with this one. Only time can tell I suppose, as with UA...
--
Paul Rattner
Designer
New World Computing
Mike Simpson
On Thu, 25 Jun 1998 18:16:00 GMT, pa...@nwcomputing.com (Paul Rattner)
wrote:
>Give them a break! The Tolkien foundation has indeed been very
>conservative, and those gaming products they have approved have been
>of good quality, IMHO. I've run several pen and paper campaigns using
>ICE's vision of Middle Earth, and I think it worked out rather well.
>
>Obviously, a massively multi-player game is tough to pull off, but
>they are a long way from beta. I, for one, am hopeful about the
>project. I would like to see them succeed, and I think they stand a
>good chance. They will have several examples of what went right and
>wrong with other online games by the time their product is ready for
>the shelves.
>
Right on! I can't imagine the types of discussions going on in
Yosemite's development groups right now. This will be a huge
undertaking. I'll bide my time, and keep up with the news and offer my
opinions as they come.
Mike Simpson
-Can you say Umberto Eco? It's less filling.
-ICQ #543245
-Remove NoSPaM to email-