Pure Fantasy: What videogame could TOR be?

[Falenthal]

I'm pretty sure lots of us are still hoping for a Middle-earth videogame that does justice to Tolkien's world as TOR does.
Sure, there are some really good games out there, but do you feel satisfied with them?

Just out of speculation and fun: What kind of videogame would you like TOR to be adapted to?

Like in the old days, when we could find D&D based games like Baldur's Gate, who knows what the future may bring to TOR. Of course, I know there's the license problems with MEE, but we're just having fun here.

My own desire goes in two directions:
1) The massive one, where I'd like to see a TOR meets Skyrim. I think there's a general consensus that the visual beauty and exploration part of Skyrim -and the Elder Scrolls Saga as a whole- fits perfectly what we want to do with Middle-Earth. Only thing I'd try to avoid are those harvesting quests so typical from videogame RPGS: "Collect 25 bear pelts and bring them to me". I hate those quests.
Did you know there was a project called "The Grey Council" by Electronic Arts that was described as "Elder Scrolls in Middle Earth". It got cancelled. Shame, even if I don't give EA much credit myself. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lord_o ... te_Council)

2) A smaller approach. Nowadays I don't have plenty of time for videogame (or not as much as I'd like). I'm discovering little gems in the indie world, games that can be completed in a few hours (from 1 to 3 or 4) that are really original and inmersive. One of them catched my eye. Its called "Sorcery!", and it's like a Choose your own adventure book, where narrative is really important. You can see it here: http://www.inklestudios.com/sorcery/
The game is, in fact, a story divided in chapters, and every game (Sorcery!, Sorcery 2!,....) is a chapter of a whole plot. This could be type of game that could fit TOR.

What other games would you like to play with the Middle-earth licence on them?

[Glorelendil]

My dream game is a PbP-specific app for iOS, integrated with TOR rules. I've been playing in a few PbP games, and the LMs are brilliant, but traditional BSS software is barely acceptable. In the sense that emacs is a barely acceptable word processor. (OMG incoming hate mail from Richard Stallman fans...)

I want to get an alert when something important happens, or when my input is needed. I want OOC threads integrated with IC threads (and with auto-generated "mechanics threads"), so that the OOC comments are attached but suppressible, and if I write "I attack..." the dice roll...which knows the TN it needs...is visible in a sidebar/popup/mouseover/whatever. I don't want to have to go look at my character sheet to remember my Athletics skill. I want the software to track rounds and stances and endurance and weapons skills so that I (as LM or player) don't have to. I want the software to keep tallies and present summaries of AP-earning events. And in-game dates. And a histogram showing who has posted how frequently (mostly so I can tell if I'm either being a forum hog, or not pulling my weight.)

In other words, I want no bookkeeping or clicking between views. I just want to write, and see what others write.

And I want to do it all from my phone.

And a pony.

P.S. Not Middle Earth but....KOTOR on iPhone. Seriously. It's fun (again).

[Falenthal]

Do you want it with chocolate on top or better with cookies?

[jacksarge]

How about something like a totally revamped LOTRO mixed with Mount & Blade Warband (Brytenwalda Mod)? Take out all the high fantasy armour and equipment from LOTRO, the annoying crafting system, the Loremaster class etc., etc., and mix it with the gritty Dark Age combat, equipment and stuff from Brytenwalda (or similar). Build the TOR mechanics into the code, make it possible for characters to be killed if they take on something beyond them, not just respawn somewhere close by. Something a bit gritty without settlements all over the place and handy roadside vendors, and no teleporting to Bree - travel should be tough and challenging just like in TOR.

[shipwreck]

I, too, would like to see an MMO with a combat system closer to M&B and the epic (I daresay to scale) landscape, similar to Skyrim. The difference would be, to avoid the grind, limit each server to a small number of players so that things still feel epic -- no spawn-camping Nazgul!

In other words, I would prefer a digitized version of TOR. You still play with a small group of players and the game doesn't really exist outside of your players. The game would handle the storytelling and crunch. Players could pick and choose how time passes when they're at rest or during the Fellowship Phase and the game would handle the various goings-on of the region. Travel would still be important and time-consuming. Combat would be sparse and deadly. There would be very low magic (even if the 'magic' of TOR was kept it would be visually represented very simply, rather than extravagantly the way it is with LOTRO). Preferably first-person perspective.

[Seosaidh]

I, too, would like to see an MMO with a combat system closer to M&B and the epic (I daresay to scale) landscape, similar to Skyrim. The difference would be, to avoid the grind, limit each server to a small number of players so that things still feel epic -- no spawn-camping Nazgul!

In other words, I would prefer a digitized version of TOR. You still play with a small group of players and the game doesn't really exist outside of your players. The game would handle the storytelling and crunch. Players could pick and choose how time passes when they're at rest or during the Fellowship Phase and the game would handle the various goings-on of the region. Travel would still be important and time-consuming. Combat would be sparse and deadly. There would be very low magic (even if the 'magic' of TOR was kept it would be visually represented very simply, rather than extravagantly the way it is with LOTRO). Preferably first-person perspective.

This might work better at a regular multi-player enabled game. You could play over LAN or the internet. In this way, you retain the small number of people. However, it could also be interesting to have all these individual games have an effect on each other. A new MMO/single-player game just came out. Its a space game called Elite: Dangerous. It is an MMO, but has a single-player option. You still need to connect to the internet to play single-player, because the world economy, events, and map are all governed by the collective play of everyone (single and MMO players). I think the way it works is that if you select single player, no other player can directly interact with you. If this was changed to add a 'party mode' in addition to the single player and MMO modes, you could have a game where you only see yourself and your company running around, but which is still governed by the collective playing of all the players.

There was actually a mod for Skyrim that was going to transform Skyrim into LOTR. The planned map was going to be to scale (and would have been over twice as large as Skyrim's map). Unfortunately, due to programming issues (how Skyrim handled the world map and whatnot), as well as licensing issues, the project was shut down.

[Rich H]

One of them catched my eye. Its called "Sorcery!", and it's like a Choose your own adventure book, where narrative is really important. You can see it here: http://www.inklestudios.com/sorcery/
The game is, in fact, a story divided in chapters, and every game (Sorcery!, Sorcery 2!,....) is a chapter of a whole plot. This could be type of game that could fit TOR.

It is actually based on a gamebook from the mid-80s by Steve Jackson, called Sorcery! Split into four parts the overall quest objective was to reclaim the Crown of Kings that had been stolen. Using the Fighting Fantasy system from the same-name series of gamebooks it bolted on a spell system to make things a little more interesting. As gamebooks went it was pretty okay but was more famous for the sheer size of the last part of the series - that book had a whopping 800 references! The app that you mention is very nicely done though - far more engaging than the original gamebooks.

[Rich H]

I'd personally like to see something a little indie/retro.

There's a couple of old classic Spectrum games, The Lords of Midnight and Doomdark's Revenge, that have recently been 'remastered' and re-released for tablets and PCs. They were certainly influenced heavily by Lord of the Rings and I'd love to see it go full circle and a "Lords of Middle Earth" version get done in the same guise.

That would be awesome.