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Return to wilderland?

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:31 pm
by thewisewizard
I know once Rivendell is released a new cycle of products about eriador will be released but. Is there any chance if more products about wilderland. Will there every be anything about dale and erebor? The iron hills? Lothlorian? Or even Moria? Cause I have a hunch that I'm not the only tor fan who would like to see that.

Re: Return to wilderland?

Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 7:56 pm
by Mim
Gareth mentioned in an interview (search the Forums for the link) that they will probably have additional supplements that cover Wilderland. In addition, he stated that he'd love to write a book on Moria.

Re: Return to wilderland?

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 11:54 am
by Hermes Serpent
I spoke to Gar briefly yesterday (at Dragonmeet)but quizzed him about Laundry stuff rather than TOR material as he's still in chrage of teh C7 Laundry material while working for Pelgrane. Pity I didn't remember this or I might have tied him down and beaten him with a rubber hose for more information ;)

Re: Return to wilderland?

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 5:41 pm
by Beran
I'm sure the plan is to cover all the main regions and named cities, equally well. Though I must admit surprise that a Moria book hasn't already been started or even planned by now.

Re: Return to wilderland?

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 6:47 pm
by Hermes Serpent
As I understand it the Sophisticated Games/C7 licence from M-e E covers material written by the Professor in the Hobbit and possibly the Lord of the Rings. I don't know if the earlier versions of The Hobbit come under the licence (something mentioned I think by Gar says it does and may even be part of the licence as in 'material contained in the published material known as the Hobbit including prior & revised versions').

Anything not mentioned in the licensed material isn't allowed so stuff from HoMe or the Silmarillion is prohibited from official publication by Sophisticated Games/C7. So bearing that in mind any material regarding Moria is limited to material published in the Hobbit and LotR as is material for anywhere else in M-e.

The message is - Don't get your hopes up about what is down the pike for publications under the Sophisticated Gamnes/C7 licence from M-e E.

I'd expect something about the Shire to be somewhere in the future and probably the Lone lands and Trollshaws, maybe even Gondor but AFAIK with the licence limiting Sophisticated Games/C7 to the years between the Hobbit and LotR the area that can be considered available is relatively small compared to the material put out by ICE and it's successors.

Re: Return to wilderland?

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 7:05 pm
by Beran
Well, from what I remember reading when The One Ring originally came out they had planned on 3 releases 1) The game as is, 2) The events leading up to the WotR (I guess based on the LotRs appendix) 3) The WotR. Now, this may have changed in light of the legal silliness that seems to plague this franchise. So, going on that I would say the Hobbit and the LotRs are fair game (Gondor, Isengard, Rohan, Mordor, etc should be covered.)

Re: Return to wilderland?

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 7:49 pm
by Hermes Serpent
While I appreciate your enthusiasm Beran I think we have to consider what's feasible for Sophisticated Games/C7. I'm thinking that the licence is not one that allows the licencees to print money and, considering the money issues that ICE had, probably never was.

A core set - the current One Ring in slipcase probably sells well enough but not fantastically. I know that it's likely that C7 will reprint in hardback once they finish their current stock of the softbound version. How much this will get people to part with money remains to be seen.

Supplements - only the Heart of the Wild so far, sells well especially as it's hard bound, but it's late out of the gate so has some ground to make up. Background material for the official campaign so it should pick up sales when Mirkwood is released, perhaps as a bundle?

Adventures - only Tales from Wilderland so far, sells less well than core rule books as only the LM really needs it. Possibly the source for regular material for LM's if C7 can find a way to easily get material out and have people buy in decent numbers.

The Darkening of Mirkwood campaign - probably appearing in the first half of 2014, will possibly revitalise sales of the core rulebooks if it's a showstopper in terms of look and feel. Many people seem to have been waiting for this or something similar before committing to the game. No doubt my thoughts about older gamers and lack of prep time tie into this.

A good proportion of gamers currently seem to buy material just to have it on their shelf and admire how pretty it is. These gamers will never buy a pdf as they want to look not necessarily play. Threads on various fora often concentrate on the look of the book, its design and layout and the art rather than any playability. As long as C7 keeps up the quality on terms of the look of the line these gamers will continue to support the least likely books just to have a complete set or for the pictures.

A Supplement volume covering the Shire or Rohan along the lines of Heart would sell well enough I feel but the same for Arnor or Gondor might not provide the sort of return on investment that C7 seek.

It's possible that Sophisticated Games/C7 will see a bit of a boost with part 2 of the Hobbit next week and part three in the Summer but if they aren't the success LotR was then I don't know how much the line might continue.

The first reviews of part 2 aren't great but I'm going to see it next weekend and shall make up my own mind, but the merchandising machine isn't ramping up for other Hobbit-themed products as much as I would expect so the public may not be as enamoured of Jackson's vision as he hopes.

Re: Return to wilderland?

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 8:14 pm
by Beran
Not really my enthusiasm. Says so on pg 10 of the Adventures Books; the game was, originally, to be put out in three major releases. Though I may have been off on what the other two sets were to cover. On pg 10 it just says "The second and third sets...will progressively widen the geographic boundries of the setting." However, I am 90% sure I did read that the 3rd set was to cover the WotR. The plan was changed as it was deemed that purchasers would be put out by having to buy the same rules 3 times over to get the expanded background. So, they broke everything up into sourcebooks. Unless the legal terrain had changed considerably since the original plan was thought up I would say that the info in the Hobbit and the LotRs is fair game for The One Ring line.

Re: Return to wilderland?

Posted: Sun Dec 08, 2013 8:30 pm
by Mim
It's great to see such loyal fan support :D

Yes, they originally intended to release the game in three sets:

1. Adventures over the Edge of the Wild (or some variant of the title) - From what I can tell, we pretty much have this as is.

2. Errantries of the King - Aragorn & his Rangers & the Elves fighting the spread of the Shadow across Eriador in the period leading up to The War of the Ring.

3. The War of the Ring - The Gondorians & Rohirrim, perhaps with Saruman, Mordor, et al.

They've opted instead for briefer but more detailed books, which most of us seem very pleased to purchase. Thus, they should have plenty of wiggle room in their license for covering the themes we've discussed.

IIRC, Gareth once said that he perceived of The Shire as a Sanctuary (I don't know about Francesco), so it's probably off limits for the servants of the Enemy: but just imagine Black Riders & Bill Ferny searching for Frodo in the Bree-land; or having Moria as a supplement; or trying to out scheme the Corsairs of Umbar. They have lots of possibilities for years of supplements.

Re: Return to wilderland?

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2013 10:17 pm
by thewisewizard
Hopefully the c7 can get to books on all this stuff in our lifetimes haha. But a lake town source book sized book about Moria with a player map of it I could give my players would be sweet.