Should be a simple discussion though?
Option 1: License to continue with LOTRO and having revenue for a LOTR based MMO on the market.
Option 2: No LOTR based MMO on the market.
Should be, but when you’re dealing with the Tolkien Estate nothing is simple. They’re infamously prickly about the way their IP is used, and they don’t seem to care about money beyond the sales of the books.
Daagar
2923
Yet the Hobbit movies still exist?
(I don’t dislike them as much as many seem to)
They’re not fans of any of the Peter Jackson movies, but they couldn’t do anything about them due to the way the film rights were sold early on.
What a weird life. Can you imagine you entire (professional) existence being predicated on the novels your father/grandfather wrote 50-90 years ago?
Nesrie
2927
He has my empathy. That’s a lot to live up to.
At least it keeps the money flowing though.
Or does he live in poverty?
LOL’d at that. Bravo sir, bravo.
Christopher Tolkien is an ass. What the hell did he think was going to happen when they sold the film rights to New Line Cinema? Did he seriously think they were going to make a trilogy of movies examining his father’s work from an academic standpoint with commentary on how, despite it’s age, it is every bit as relevant to socio-political happenings now as it was when it was first published. If he did then he’s a moron in addition to being an ass.
Peter Jackson, New Line and WETA did what probably nobody else in Hollywood could have done, they brought Middle Earth to life in a way that showed the greatest respect for the source material while still making a film the masses could (and did) love. I’m not ashamed to admit I had tears in my eyes the first time I saw Fellowship of the Ring in theaters. It was like they had taken the images of The Shire, Rivendell and Moria right out of my imagination and hand-crafted them onto the screen. As a Tolkien nerd since the age of 9, I could not believe that 22 years later someone had taken the world I loved so dearly and brought it to life so perfectly. That trilogy is easily one of the most masterful pieces of filmmaking in the past century, and he acts like it was Waterworld or something.
I can see the argument that The Hobbit movies were not nearly as good, but then again, I still loved all three of them for mostly the same reason. The Hobbit was my gateway to the LotR Trilogy. Tolkien wrote it to appeal to younger readers than he targeted with the trilogy, and the movies had that same sense of being more broad-spectrum, appealing to younger viewers. In the end Christopher Tolkien should be praising the films for, if nothing else, raising awareness of his father’s works. My kids LOVE all 6 films, and I would never have been able to convince them to read a Tolkien book (or other fantasy for that matter) had the films not ignited a love of all things high-fantasy in them.
Christopher Tolkien’s ass-ness isn’t really in dispute, but a couple of clarification points are needed.
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Christopher Tolkien didn’t have any say in the film rights. They were sold by J.R.R. Tolkien to United Artists in 1968 and have been sold and re-sold without the Estate’s approval since then.
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Part of the ire between the Tolkien Estate and Hollywood is that New Line is doing that “Hollywood accounting” thing and claims that they’ve made no profit from the movies yet. Everyone knows that’s ridiculous, but that’s how the studio has gotten out of paying the Estate any of the contractually obligated cut of the profit. They’ve been in court battles over it since 2008. (They partially resolved their differences in 2012, but the new movies are now in the same situation.) I can cut some slack to anyone that’s getting screwed by that slimy studio accounting tactic.
But yeah, regardless, Christopher Tolkien is infamously cranky.
Nesrie
2932
Money doesn’t necessarily bring happiness, and there’s actual data out there to prove it. He sounds frustrated, and generally it doesn’t make me feel much more than empathy to know that Tolkien’s heir might not enjoy his father’s legacy as much as struggle to live up to it and be judged by it.
Well that would certainly help explain his feelings towards the movies then. I didn’t realize the film rights had not been in control of the estate for that long, and I remember reading about the studio math thing with the profits, but didn’t realize it was quite that shady. I can certainly cut him some slack given those circumstances, though his comments about the movies are still ridiculous.
Given such a terrible past experience, it’s little wonder the estate in general is hyper-protective of the rights it still does own. Still, LOTRO is the only Middle Earth themed MMORPG out there, so if it’s making money it would seem like a no-brainer for both sides to renew the license agreement. X% of something is always better than x% of nothing at all.
Personally, I’d rather be rich and unhappy than poor and unhappy.
Nesrie
2935
Fair point, but does that mean we can’t feel for someone else no matter how materially wealthy they are?
DTG
2936
I’m coming up on being a player for 10 years. I’m not a “founder”, but I did start playing a month after it started and my one gaming regret is not paying $200 for a lifetime sub before WB took over. I was a constant player for years, left for 1.5 to 2 years (except to transfer my characters for a couple of days when Nimrodel closed), and in the last few weeks came back to reacquaint myself with the place. Like Slainte, I basically re-learned the interface by polishing off old deeds. Now I’m wading into Eastern Gondor with Deet, the burg I started when QT3 had a thing on Nimrodel.
I’ll be happy if they just put this game in park with the engine running, so that we can hop in and take it for a drive whenever. I’d pay $100 / year for that. I think I’d pay more than that. Heck, Ultima Online is still a thing and presumably makes enough to keep going, although I guess the big difference is that EA owns its IP and Turbine doesn’t.
Canuck
2937
All this talk of LOTRO has got my interest piqued. Is it a good game to be able to solo?
It’s pretty much ALL soloable at this point, so you’re good to come back and join us!
Daagar
2939
From what I’ve read, Captain, Guardian, and Minstrel are all excellent classes for soloing (not that the others can’t, just these 3 seem to come up fairly often for similar questions).
My Guardian can solo very easily, but his defense to damage ratio is high, so it takes longer to bring down non-trivial stuff (but you get hurt less doing it).
My Champion on the other hand…he’s a Cuisinart. Dual wielding with high damage fervor chains and some multi-mob attacks in the mix, it’s impressive how fast a well built Champion can take things apart. Very nice for solo play as long as you keep in mind that they get into trouble faster than other melee classes when fighting above their level, so keep an eye on your bars and slot the skills that regen morale and power mid-fight, cause you WILL use them.
The Warden was a fantastic solo class when it was introduced. Not sure how they’ve fared since then as I don’t have an active one. Honestly though, pretty much the whole game has been made solo friendly for just about all the classes at this point. Some are just a little easier than others.
