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Would J.R.R. be proud?
MychemFreak
Member Posts: 23
Would J.R.R. be proud of this creation Turbine has made for his Fantasy world?Myself thinks yes.This game has been very fun for the time i did play it.But i left for Eq2 but i expect to return to it one day.Any way what do you guys think??
graphics-9/10
sound-8/10
gameplay-9/10
community-10/10
customer service-8/10
Comments
Nope, its rubbish.
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WAR is coming, are you prepared?
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I think he'd have everyone involved in it killed and then crush you with religious implications and the fact that all we apparently got out of a book he meant as a giant metaphor was. ZOMG I'M A HOBBIT AND I PWN PPL N TEH FACE
That's also the problem I have with the wonderful Conan lore being used in a MMORPG.
You guys do have a good point there can't argue with that..And idk about the Conan MMO.
graphics-8/10 - I thought the world was rendered beautifully, character models, not so much, I felt my Guardian was wearing chest pieces that were one step above a trash can lid through most of his 30 levels.
sound-6/10 - meh...nothing special, I found myself turning it off to not interfere with voice chat (which was a nice touch)
gameplay-7/10 - typical quest based fantasy fare....deed grinding was boring, not enough monster types, horses at 35 is way too late (better than WOW, much worse than VG). Monster play just wasn't doing it for me....
community-8/10 - True, mature community, not many jerks, but game design means you only group to complete specific task, then disband..not much chance to get to really know folks
customer service-6/10 - they made me call them to cancel my account.... a big no-no....
LotRO was one of the best made games that I've ever quit early on (COV/GW's being the others) due to it not really catching my interest, and not really any major flaw of the game.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
No question at all- Tolkien would have thrown up in his mouth a little before hunting down the people responsible, beating them with a book, and shouting "Did you idiots even read this?"
Bite me, Turbine.
No, I don't think so. He may appreciate it as a technical piece of work but as a recreation of his world....not even close. He was a Philogist and academic, highly educated and a thinker. His stories were carefully planned out and crafted right down to the languages and lineages of the characters. If he saw the "kill 10 rats" carelessness that this thing was made with he would probably dismiss it as a childs toy.
Video games, especially ones that required almost no reading, no intelectual challenge, kill centered with little deeper meaning other then to gain numbers would have probably irritated him. He more then likely would see this entire genre as a wasted opportunity at something better or greater. He was a powerful story teller and that is what MMOs are missing.
People who are good at math / coding are not necessarily the best story tellers as we have seen over the last 15 years.
Thats my opinion anyway.
Take a look at this guy and you be the judge.
Tolkien in 1972, in his study at Merton Street, Oxford. Source: J. R. R. Tolkien: A Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter.
Bloemfontein, Orange Free State
Bournemouth, England
man you guys are bringing up some great points....
I think he might possibly confuse AOC for the game based on his book, since it is more traditional in appearance.
I think he would have loved it on the basis that Turbine have repected the world he created and enchanced and fleshed out what was only hinted at. As well have give form and shape to his written ideas.
That's not say he probably wouldn't have had major "artistic" differences with some of the things that are in the MMO. But then this is a commerical venture, where at the end of the day the objective is to make money (through giving customer/players what they want).
Now a more interesting question is would he be proud of the playerbase?
I have seen a mixture of some good (and not so good) attempts at roleplay (mine included, its a long time since I last re-read LOTR, I much prefer the Hobbit); and I have come across the usual MMO idiots (this game suxs I'm going back to WOW). So should player have to pass a LOTR test before being allowed to play?
Are you kidding me? Aside from place names, there is absolutely ZERO respect for the Tolkien works, and not one single thread of commonality. It is by miles the worst use of an IP I have ever witnessed. Anyone who thinks Turbine showed a shred of respect for the original lore and world is just plain ignorant of Tolkien's writings.
Bite me, Turbine.
I don't think its the worse use...I think SWG and the Matrix still hold that one. I do think its the laziest use of an IP for MMO's I have ever seen although there are only a few. At least SWG and Matrix went out into uncharted waters in their time. Those two games mainly failed for technical reasons. LotR, although not a bad game, just doesn't do anything to be differnet from competition. IP's are tricky business, in all gaming genres they have a very spotty history. Most of them are a flat out grab to cash in on a name.
LotR isn't a bad MMO at all, in fact its pretty good as far as MMOs go but it doesn't do a very good job at recreating Middle Earth.
I think all the people saying he would hate it and hunt down the people responsible are giving the old professor a little too much credit here - he wrote a bunch of fantasy books; lots of people did that before and after him. He 'invented' a language - man, so did 'Star Trek' - I have a Klingon translation of Shakespeare on my shelf right now. From everything I've read about him, he just wanted people to enjoy this world he created, to 'live' his fantasy. That's exactly what LOTRO is doing, for a whole new group of people who mighht never have even picked up one of his books before - and I've talked to plenty of folks in-game who said they started reading or re-reading The Hobbit and LOTR BECAUSE of the game - I KNOW he'd love that.
And I've read The Hobbit four or five time, LOTR at least three, and I really think Turbine has accurrately captured the look, feel, and dynamic of Middle Earth - no, it's not a digital retelling of the books, but why should it be? It took what Tolkein wrote and expanded it - accurrately, I might add - and allows us the chance to experience life in Middle Earth during the War of the Ring. I think it's awesome.
When scary things get scared, that's bad...
Well, from what I have read about JRR, he was not a fan of modern technology so I doubt who would like LotRO. I could see him being repulsed by people playing in his creation on computers.
I dont think hed be too keen on the idea of his masterpiece being exploited for Turbine to make loads of cash.
His son seems to like and trust Turbine and I would think he would know and respect his father's work and wishes. A snippet from a recent interview
www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php
IT'S NICE, BUT IS IT TOLKIEN?
Steefel: We understand that Middle-earth is the fantasy destination, and it's got to be right. Tolkien Enterprises have been great though: they know we're making a game, and there has to be a magic-using class. People really want magic, and they want it to be fun. People want things that flash and explode, and lasers that fly through the air, and clearly nobody did that in Middle-earth.
But as long as you wrap it up right, and you make it clear he's doing these things through learning and wisdom and is understanding how to summon the natural energies in Middle-earth, then everyone's fine with it. They've come to really trust us, and that helps a lot. Especially with Angmar, which isn't described much in the books, and doesn't exist as a viable entity in the third age.
I miss DAoC
Having fought in two world wars, he would have appalled the carebear aproach in this game.
He would have said: "in the world I created the danger was around every corner... here they have rats. I mean, where's the pwn maaan, where's the PWN?!"
Thank you for enlightening us with your Tolkien wisdom.
Yes, the setting was partly a metaphor, but in no way only, or EVEN a "giant" metaphor. Tolkien wanted dragons, and elves, and hobbits, and magic, and he created a WORLD of mystery and lore. This is exactly what LotRO has tried to recreate. Screw your metaphors.
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Resplendent
In pendants
(Natal trophies torn from bellies of desanctified nuns)
A demon, bewinged, bedight
In scum, prowled their circle seeking entry to run
An arctic tongue upon Her vulva
Where rubies smeared to alabaster thighs
Glittered like a contract in the purse of a whore
Receiving sole communion from the body of christ
Couldn't have said it better myself... so I'll just quote you.
Just right!
You are incorrect. Christopher Tolkien has nothing whatsoever to do with Tolkien Enterprises. Tolkien Enterprises is owned by Saul Zaentz Co., which bought the film rights to the Hobbit and LotR in the 1960's (which is why Turbine's game license is limited to The Hobbit, LotR and only parts of the LotR appendix). Christopher Tolkien is the chair of the Tolkien Family Trust, which owns the literary rights to The Hobbit and LotR (and all the rest of Tolkien's work). Given that Christopher Tolkien forbade his family to have anything to do with the movies, it is quite plain he would have the same attitude about the game. This is the reason you most likely will never see a Silmarillion movie or game (in this century anyway).
As far as JRR Tolkien's views, according to his letters he disliked technology, but even moreso he despised people trying to alter his stories in any way, shape or form. He made his son Christopher the sole executor of his work , because he was the only person Tolkien trusted enough to edit his material in a proper manner (Tolkien did much of his writing in long-hand and Christopher did the typing).
Morthoron the Moriquendi
Maybe one day we'll see Middle Earth Online.
^ not unless that 'trust' is put to use monetarily to fund the entire programming crew, servers, and billing department.
the whole shi-bang, or nada
mheh
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