4/24/01 - Latest News

Sierra and MM3D weigh in
DarthCaeser @ 6:44 pm EST

And what do they have to say? Not a whole lot. According to Sierra, they never got served with the lawsuit, and according to MM3D, Sierra knows all about the lawsuit, I don't know if that means Sierra has been served and their just playing dumb or not. But it seems both companies are eager to settle this dispute and get back together. I'll look in to this further, hopefully I can uncover some details.

Sierra in legal trouble yet again?
DarthCaeser @ 2:41 pm EST

Inside is reporting that Sierra is the focus of yet another lawsuit, this one by the Las Angeles based Game Developers MM3D. Kudos to Tehanu for posting this story before I even heard anything at all related to it. So, now I'm going to delve deeper in to the issue. MM3D has temporarily closed their website
to the general public, they have this to say on their front page: "MM3D is hopeful about working this out with Sierra Online. We have enjoyed a good relationship with Sierra in the past and we would like to enjoy a positive relationship with them in the future. We hope Sierra Online will honor it's agreements." I'll be contacting MM3D and Sierra about this, not that I'm expecting them to say anything. On a lighter side, check out Penny Arcade's view on Sierra's business practices here. Stay tuned to the Havens for updates on this breaking news story.

Red Herring Magazine: The Battle for Middle-earth
Calisuri @ 10:53 am EST

Thanks to Krosshair for sending in these scans from the April 15th edition of Red Herring Magazine. The article discusses the corporate battling over the Lord of the Rings gaming licenses and the potential for making a lot of money from the huge fanbase .

4/22/01 - Latest News

More on LOTR: The Search
Xoanon @ 1:22 pm EST

From: Olorin

I saw the articles about the new LotR game, "The Search", and I've attempted a translation of the German translation. It's not perfect though, and may have lost a bit in the translation. Anyway, here it is, and hopefully it helps for people interested in the game.

The Search

The Search For Mount Doom

A " game for two " from the Lord of the Rings cycle of the Kosmos publishing house

The large " Lord of the Rings " board game appeared in the autumn 2000 with KOSMOS associates and now there is a game for two people, in which the two Hobbits Frodo and Sam go on the search for Mount Doom. Only in the fiery glow of this seething mountain can the fateful Ring be destroyed, which threatens to throw Middle-earth completely into ruin. For those who know Tolkien's " the Lord of the rings ", there are, as with Reiner Knizia's large board game, many central motives from the book to recognize. But similarly as with Knizia's opulent work there is also the " search " for Mount Doom, which is a main aim in Tolkien's famous book, and the sole aim of this fun game. Of 48 small landscape cards, the landscape will consist of under 8 dark-green cards for the forest, 8 lightgreen cards for the plains, 8 blue cards for water and 20 cards for the mountains, which the players with their two Hobbit figures, Frodo and Sam, wander through and discover - In the peaceful land of the Shire the adventure begins.

The " Shire " is sorted out from the small landscape cards before the beginning of the game and put into the center of the table. The remaining 47 small cards are mixed and stored in three face up piles. There are four different landscape types: Forest, plains, water and mountains. The small landscape cards are divided into four sections and therefore offer different combinations of landscape forms. The putting together of similar landscape segments results in larger and smaller mountain courses, forests, plains and water the course of the play. Also the colours of the landscapes appropriate adventure tile are mixed and laid out - the playing field is structured in the course of the play by the players. Here the first small landscape cards must be set so that on the start small card, thus the " Shire ", two landscape axles crossing in the " Shire " develop themselves. Naturally therefore only the same landscape forms may be put together. As soon as a final landscape from equivalent paragraph is formed, an adventure tile in the colour of the landscape is put face down on the final area. After putting a small landscape card by the face down pile one draws tight again. If a player does not have a suitable small card, then he puts all three small landscape cards, which he has in his hand, openly to the supply and draws three new cards of the face down pile. That applies until the one small card axle from 6, which consists others of 8 cards. The cross developed now limits the length and width of the playing field. The Hobbit figures are set on the Shire. Alternating players now carry out the following three actions: Card from the hand create - draw play figure - card pull tight. The players draw their Hobbits from landscape to landscape, (not (!) from small cards to small cards) and collect adventure tiles, which bring either victory points or, as the blue adventure small cards, in addition also bestow special abilities aswell. In order to be able to draw a blue tile however on a lake, one needs a boat. This boat provides one with the help of grey adventure wafers; these give the players bad surprises in addition, e.g. an assault of the Orks.

If the face up small landscape card pile is used up and both players have also no more cards in their hands, Mount Doom can be found. The player immediately takes cards from the open supply (consisting of cards, which, because they did not fit, were stored). If none of the cards from the open supply fit, Mount Doom comes into play.

The active player sets any landscape card with the neutral rear side face up on two any cards on the playing field. This card is now Mount Doom. Since all landscapes fit the neutral sides, one now again may find it easier to find suitable small cards - follow these steps in the further run of the game: if the situation is that no suitable card is available again, then proceed again as described above, and Mount Doom " moves " thus to a new place.

Only if Middle-earth is completely uncovered, i.e. all 48 small cards are placed, will the Hobbits know where Mount Doom is really situated. The players now breach to a " final spurt " on Mount Doom. The Hobbits, whichever one first achieves this, receives special points. Then the game and " The Search " are over.

The Search by Peter Neugebauer, 2 players starting from 10 years, spieldauer 30-50 min., Kosmos (2001), approx. 29 DM

Fritz Gruber

4/19/01 - Latest News

GAMING: LOTR: The Search Update
Xoanon @ 11:28 pm EST

From TORN Staffer Ostadan:

This game is already available in Germany from Kosmos. Kosmos has a series of very good two-player games in small boxes; this appears to be in that series. This appears (considering that I cannot read German without a lot of help) to be a simple game in which Frodo and Sam "explore" Middle-earth (looking for Mount Doom) by drawing tiles that create a landscape. There is a picture and article in German at here. The author is said to be Peter Neugebauer, and the game is listed at 30-50, age 10+.

4/18/01 - Latest News

Lord of the Rings: The Search
Xoanon @ 9:55 am EST

Here is an interesting tidbit from Rio Grande Games at www.riograndegames.com:

We are also working on a game based on the Lord of the Rings books. It will be released this summer and be called Lord of the Rings: The Search.

Rio Grande is the U.S. publisher of many fine German games, including several creations by Dr. Reiner Knizia, author of the Lord of the Rings boardgame that appeared late last year.

4/03/01 - Latest News

Games Workshop Updates
Xoanon @ 11:26 am EST

New info and some pics!

Lord of the Rings Progress Report, April 2001

Concealed by mighty spells of secrecy and hidden from the sight of mortals Games Workshop's Rick Priestley has spent the best part of a year working on the Lord of the Rings battlegame. The game and associated model ranges will be going into production shortly and will be ready in time for the release of the first of The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy The Fellowship of the Ring.

As with Games Workshop's premier Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 games, the latest offering features armies of model warriors, each about an inch high, destined to battle for supremacy over kitchen tables throughout the land. The model design accurately reproduces the appearance of the characters in the movie from the ragged Orcs to the resplendent Elves with their intricately detailed wargear. Even the tiniest models of Frodo and Sam bear an uncanny likeness to their screen counterparts.

Games Workshop's intention is to produce three editions of the game to coincide with the release of the three movies in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Each game will build upon the last by adding models and gaming rules to expand the scope of the battlefield action as it unfolds from film to film. The Fellowship of the Ring edition of the game lays the foundation for what is ultimately envisaged as a complete gaming system based upon the entire Lord of the Rings movie trilogy.

The game will be available as a boxed starter set containing the rules manual, 48 models, and scenic ruins. All the models in the starter set are plastic and separate components such as shields have been designed as plug-fits for easy assembly. The remainder of the model range is metal and is planned to include 5 boxed sets and 28 different blister pack assortments. In addition there will be a special paint set and the plastic models from the starter set will be available separately.

The instantly recognisable imagery and well-known story of the Lord of the Rings trilogy will undoubtedly inspire many people to attempt their first tabletop battle. With that in mind the games manual includes plenty of material on painting the models and making scenery as well as the rules of the game. Indeed, the manual sets out to serve as a guide for the collector and painter, and includes numerous colour illustrations of painted miniatures as well as pictures taken from the movie itself. In a similar vein the game attempts to present the complexities of tabletop gaming in a digestible format.

For those who already play either Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000 the Lord of the Rings offers a very different sort of game. The first major difference is rather than progressing by means of alternative turns, both sides get to move models, shoot, and fight at the same time. To keep things organised one player always moves and shoots first - the player with priority - and this is established by a dice roll each turn. This changes the feel of the game completely and introduces a degree of constant player interaction that strongly shapes the game play. The rules themselves offer plenty of scope for individual tactics - especially with the introduction of heroic characters - rewarding careful and intelligent play. [More]

4/01/01 - Latest News

EA and New Line yet to seal the deal?
DarthCaeser @ 4:20 pm EST

Another TheOneRing.net Exclusive, because we're just that good ;)
Looks like New Line jumped the gun in their press release. According to a PR person (he didn't give his title) at Electronic Arts, EA is still in negotiations with New Line, they have not yet picked up the license! It's seems unlikely there'd be a falling out this late in the game, but it's still possible. I'll be asking New Line about this in the near future.

3/23/01 - Latest News

MEO at E3!
DarthCaeser @ 5:25 pm EST

A TheOneRing.net Exclusive!
I Just received a report from one of my many spies inside of Sierra (OK, my ONE spy CLOSE TO Sierra). The report states that it appears Middle-earth Online will make a private showing at E3.This points to Sierra having been absolved in their legal wranglings with Tolkien Enterprises, and also points toward Sierra having resumed work on the game. I will most likely be unable to attend this year's E3 (unless someone has a Private Jet I could borrow), but I will do my best to find out more about this as E3 approaches. The Electronic Entertainment Expo is the biggest Gaming Convention in North America, quite possibly the world. Check out E3's site for more information about the Expo.

EA giving up retail PC Games altogether?
DarthCaeser @ 2:17 pm EST

More news from Daily Radar. Major Gaming company representitives gathered for a discussion called "Consoles Vs. PCs: Is the PC Really Dead?" at the Game Developers Conference, including Bing Gordon, executive vice president and chief creative officer of Electronic Arts.

"Bing Gordon said that EA believes that the future of PC games is in subscription-based, Internet-delivered games. Gordon's words seem to indicate that EA is considering dropping game boxes altogether in favor of allowing players to download games from the Internet. This is the main idea behind EA.com, Electronic Art's upcoming subscription gaming service, where players will be able to sign up for games like Majestic for a monthly fee." [More]