7/26/00 - Latest News

Furcadia turned Tolkien
Berendir @ 3:10 pm EST

I got this interesting mail from a fellow who calls himself Drogo Baggins:

I am a big tolkien fan who has been playing online games for about three years now. During that time, I found a game called 'Furcadia', a free, graphical,
online roleplaying game. The game is free and can be found at www.realtime.net/furcadia I've been playing this game for quite a while, and recently started making a patch for the graphics, that would change players into elves, men, hobbits, dwarves, or orc/goblins. The patch is nearing completion, and I asked some players on furc if they'd join a Tolkien-based guild in furcadia, and most sounded interested. I think this game, though simple, would be a really fun way for tolkien fans to find an free online RPG
with a tolkien-based guild. The only problem is getting support for a tolkien- based guild. In furc, there are many guilds (organized groups of players, who have their own self-made levels, called "dreams" on furcadia) some of the guilds do extremely well, and have more than 5000 members. Others simply die or
don't have many members.

I haven't gotten a chance to play this game yet, but for anyone whose interested, it sounds like its worth a shot.

7/16/00 - Latest News

Media Watch: Incite PC Magazine
Xoanon @ 2:26 pm EST

From: Jason

Incite PC Gaming magazine this month features a shot of Boromir (Sean Bean) gazing at the One and this small news blurb about LotR..

EA, Infogrames and Hasbro Interactive are all rumored to be in the running for the hot game license for the movie based on The Lord of the Rings. If one of these companies snags the rights, consumers may have a pair of competing games to choose from when the first film The Fellowship of the Ring hits theaters during Christmas 2001. Sierra is already developing a massively multiplayer Middle-Earth game.

7/14/00 - Latest News

LOTR Board Game News
Xoanon @ 12:06 pm EST

Game designer Dave Farquhar gives us the latest dish on the new LOTR Board Game currently in development!

Latest news on release dates is that an English edition will be released in the fourth quarter of 2000. This is earlier than I had expected, but fits nicely with the October German release. As well as a German, English, and I believe US release, the game will be coming out in New Zealand and Australia. The Lord of the Rings Board Game will also be published in other languages.

Reiner Knizia has designed a sophisticated game, that is by no means 'roll the dice and move round the board'. LOTR plays in around an hour, which represented a huge design challenge considering the length and thematic depth of the books. Earlier test versions lasted hours, so we attempted to compress the story into key episodes. These are played through by the 'Fellowship' (the players), to form a continuous story. Tension really cranks up as you are desperately trying to get out of Moria, before it is too late, or trying to make those last desperate steps toward Mount Doom, as Sauron's influence has almost reached you. As well as Sauron's direct threat, an ever present concern to the Fellowship is the corrupting influence of the Ring.

While Reiner's name is well known to fans of European board games, it is probably worth giving a little more info here. Reiner Knizia is German, based in England, but operating as a designer world-wide. The current Games 100 list in the United States contains 10 of Reiner's designs, and I hope to see this one listed at the top next year.

I am hoping to gain permission for a small amount of John Howe's artwork to be shown on your site. Having seen it, I know many LOTR fans will be interested. However, it is all copyright, so I shall keep you informed on that one. Just a hint; there are four large boards in the game, all painted by John in poster style. These are my favourites, but in addition there are stacks of cards. This project kept John out of mischief for some months.

Here is a link to some early information on Mik Svellov's excellent board game site. It is no longer entirely accurate, and the picture although used for the press release is not the final version. It will give you some idea of what the box will look like though. Incidentally, the game now plays with 2 to 5 players. I can testify to that after dozens of lunch time two-player test sessions, after which I returned to work an exhausted wreck. Finally, here is a site where you can hear Reiner Knizia interviewed, during which he talks a little about the project.

Dave Farquhar

7/12/00 - Latest News

More Middle Earth Card Games
Berendir @ 10:37 pm EST

A fan emailed some information on various other Middle Earth based card games out there. There are various different sets of Middle Earth gaming cards in the main
categories of

-Middle Earth The Wizards(METW) in which you take command of the fellowship in an attempt to overthrow Sauron and his forces of darkness.
-Middle Earth the Liddless Eye(MELE) in which you take command of a party of Sauron's minions tasked to return The One Ring to its rightful owner
-Middle Earth Fallen Wizards in which you can command a force such as Saruman's in attempting to become ruler of all youn survey
-Middle Earth The Balrog(METB) in which you command the Balrog and his dark forces in attempting to break free from the roots of the earth where you
have been trapped for many years
- In addition to these main sets there are also many add on decks including Dragons and their Hoards, ths Dark Minions who will work for whoever pays them the most,and others.

This is a gaming system that should be mentioned on your site even though it is obscure and is played by very few people it is a well constructed and fun
system.

Sierra and New Line partners
Berendir @ 10:29 pm EST

This news comes from the Daily Radar.

mmWire reports that Sierra games will be marketed in New Line Home Video DVD releases. Game titles will get promoted in films that appeal to similar demographics. A deal between the two companies calls for New Line to insert $10 rebate coupons for Sierra products and mention the titles on DVD packages, with Sierra mentioning New Line releases in its products and promoting them with banner ads at the Sierra website. Future games may be developed specifically to correspond with New Line releases, the studio said.

7/11/00 - Latest News

Is the MEO Development team hiding?
Enoreth @ 11:19 pm EST

G'day Ringers.
Scrolling through MEVaults message boards, I came across a most interesting topic. It all started with Balims innocent post of hearing a rumor at this years Dragon*con - "...Sierra really does have a dev team and they have been told to keep their mouths shut to the public. So we can expect to see elves with big pointy ears ect. ect." Balim states.
Now while everyone gave an insightful reply, the most noticable is ex-development team member, Steve Nichols' - "This could be good news, or bad news," he continues, "If I were Sierra's management, I would keep my mouth shut about the new MEO as well. For one thing, the negative PR they received when we were all canned has got to be plaguing them. Why should they open up to the public again, just to get reamed (as it were).
You can rest assured that they are developing SOMETHING. It's obvious that the new management does not adopt the same stance that we had regarding public discussions. That may be a good thing, although these works are subjective enough to require a large amount of discussion and debate to nail just right. I'll bet that Sierra's on the money with focus groups.
It's kinda sad that no public debate is taking place. However, it's probably in Sierra's best interest not to make their position and direction public until there's a product in your hands. You see, to disclose what they are doing (which is IMHO probably very much derivative) would mean that they care about keeping the public informed. If it were me in there, I'd keep as much information in the public eye as was allowed. Of course, I assume that the current development team (sans management) cares a great deal about the product. I'd put a dollar down that management is the one keeping a tight lid on the game.
Personally, I can't wait to see what they've come up with. It'll either be great (I hope) or it'll fall under the rest of Sierra's drivel (Blizzard excluded... those guys know how to make kick ass games). "

Reporting from the havens,
- Enoreth

Source: VN Msg board Topic
Source: http://vnboards.ign.com/message_flat.asp?topic=6039517&replies=11

7/04/00 - Latest News

LOTR Board Game Confirmed!
Xoanon @ 12:16 pm EST

Rumors of the LOTR Board Game have recently poped up at DragonCon this past week-end. TheOneRing.net can now confirm that there WILL be a LOTR board game designed by Reiner Knizia!

This is a very quick note to confirm the rumour of a new Lord of the Rings board game. Reiner Knizia is the designer, and I have worked as developer with him on the project from the beginning.

I wanted to just make initial contact while I have a moment. A couple of points that I am sure will interest you. Firstly the game sticks very closely to the spirit of the book, secondly the artwork (lots of it) is by John Howe.

The German edition by Kosmos will be released at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, followed by the Essen Game Fair around a week later. English edition early 2001 I think.

The LOTR has been my favourite book since I was in my teens, and the chance to work on the board game version with one of the world's top game designers, with artwork by someone who'se LOTR illustrations I have long admired was a dream come true. And it is a VERY good game. I have a pretty solid knowledge of the board game world, and I believe the design Reiner has come up with is unique.

In essence, the Lord of the Rings Board Game is a co-operative game. You, the players, are hobbits, forming part of the Fellowship. Your role is to destroy the ring at Mount Doom. The 'role' of Sauron is played by the game system. If his influence reaches the Ringbearer before the Ring is destroyed it is all over. The game is tense, tough and great fun. I have played at least sixty times in development and testing, and still find it exciting and stimulating.

6/23/00 - Latest News

Sierra and LOTR
Berendir @ 11:20 pm EST

Heres an interesting article from gameinformer.com:

New Line Cinema is planning to span J.R.R. Tolkien's classic trilogy, Lord of the Rings over three movies set to be released one per Christmas, starting in 2001. Sierra has signed on for the gaming end of the planned media blitz over several different consoles. Although a specific platform has not been named, it's a sure bet that we'll see a next-gen version of some sort.

A real-time adventure spread out over the lands of the Middle Earth universe would be right up someone's online capability alley. Since the first movie isn't due out until the end of next year, even Sony's PlayStation2, Nintendo's Dolphin, or the X-Box could easily get in on the action.

Sierra will be showing its goods at this year's E3, but plans to give us a glimpse of any upcoming games may be moot, due to the fact that it's still a little early. Who knows what might happen.