10/01/99 - Latest News

Middle Earth Fans Unite?
Berendir @ 2:25 pm EST

Theres lots of talk on the MEDev Board. The people that have been following MEO for all those months, have decided its time to stop feeling badly about it, and start taking a proactive approach to the situation.

Some of the ideas are to build a great fan based web site, and the theme of the site might be for a game they want to make, or play in. Some plans for creating a game from scratch were thrown around, however another one, probobly more probable was thrown onto the table by Aulė.

I'm going to try and round up all the ideas so far for creating our own version of Middle-earth, specifically using Neverwinter Nights.

NWN is going to be a complete package. The Solstice Toolset that will be included is going to allow even people who have no background in programming whatsoever (like me hehehe) to help in creating our own version of Middle-earth. Because there are rules that will be already set in place, everyone will be able to simply debate which ones we want to use. They can all help in building the world, and can always make new adventures. This means the project is VERY grass-roots oriented. You're not limited to a very few people putting in massive hours before the game engine is even ready. You have an entire army of volunteers.

The excitement started when Spiritwolf, the designer of the Middle Earth Role Players Alliance web page, spoke out about some alternatives we could do, instead of feeling badly about what seems the loss of MEO. Heres part of what he had to say:

I believe with enough player donations, and the revenue gained from a website, or the marketing of products through the website, there would be enough money to get a game through the initial design phases and into the hands of a publisher, who has a lot more money. Along the way a new community would be built. One that has a greater influence on the games development and where the developers ARE the company.

I'll keep you up to date with this situation, could be interesting to watch it unfold, or even help out and take part in it.