Where is TOR going?

[Glorelendil]

The other big factor is the focus on a specific area at a specific time. It's clear that it's been deliberately chosen to offer instant familiarity for those who have read the books or seen the films; the people and places players encounter will be recognisable in a way that a game set in a different time or place wouldn't. At the same time, it avoids the actual events of the books so the heroes are never going to be overshadowed by existing characters. Sure, Gandalf and Aragorn are running around doing important things, but the players' escapades can be just as, if not more, important in a way that wouldn't be possible while Frodo and chums were going on a very long walk.

And yet, I'm harboring a hope that after this narrow window of time is thoroughly explored, C7 investigates some other eras. Maybe the conflict between Fornost and Angmar?

[Beran]

"Firstly, it's because the rules have clearly been built from the ground up to fit the content and tone of the books."

See, this is why I am currently running a PbP game of TOR. Because, when my group was playing our campaign I really did not get this feeling at all, and I want to see if I had missed something.

Speaking for myself I have already given up on Yggsdrasil and Keltia (and it hasn't even been released) because of the pace of the release schedule. You think the releases of TOR is slow, it is now over a year since the Ygg book came out with no other release since. I also gave up on Qin, but that was because I found I couldn't work with the fantasy and historical frame work of the game. I am content to stay with TOR now that they have released DoW, which as has been stated it gives you alot of stuff to work with while C7 works through the approval process on other releases. Though it would still be nice to know what we can expect after Rivendell.

Right now the only C7 game I actively support (ie my favourite) is Vic 3rd Ed and that is because of all the available info...even if you do need to carefully read through it to weed out the 1867 stuff of 2nd Ed in favour of what was around in 1856.

[Glorelendil]

...and they're still faster on releases than George R. R. Martin.

[Hermes Serpent]

AFAIK the licence that C7 are working with restricts the material that they may produce to a period between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings because those are the limits of the licence originally granted by the Professor and now mostly owned by M-e E.

As I see the situation C7 have every line of the material they produce closely scrutinised by the IP lawyers at M-e E to avoid indirectly antagonising the Tolkien Estate and allowing licence infringements. We've seen law suits on a regular basis over the last few years concerning the limits of the licence so M-e E do not wish to jeopardise their, or one of their, cash cows. The Tolkien Estate has gained some USD 133 million out of fairly recent law suits so M-e E aren't going to tread with a light step on C7 if they fall out of line. Note the withdrawal of the C7 PDF only material that did not fall under the licence terms.

Because of licence restrictions we are never going to see material outside the current era officially provided by C7. Even material that is in areas mentioned in the two works but not covered in any detail is not going to appear in depth from C7 or is going to be so limited as to be of little use as RPG material. So don't waste your time or effort is lamenting these things and enjoy what you have already got from C7 and what they are going to be putting out in the rest of 2014 and 2015.

[beckett]

This is quite simple, really. If you love someone you support them to the best of your abilities. It seems to me that also applies to the consumption of entertainment: If you love George R.R. Martin, you buy his novels regardless of the release schedule. One might even say, if you are a fan, you wait with anticipation for the next book in the series to come out.

Therefore, it goes without saying, if you love The One Ring role playing game, you support it to the extent that your personal finances allow. To say otherwise, in my personal opinion, makes little sense.

Support the thing you love.

[Melkor]

I think this is a great role play, but they release at a very slow pace, IMHO

[Otaku-sempai]

I think my earlier post from page one warrants a repost:

Re: TOR in Barnes and Noble - great isn't it? That's the result of a lot of hard work. I'm not sure if I'm liberty to give thanks to the appropriate parties so I'll remain tight lipped, lest I say something I'm not supposed to. But it's very good news for TOR. Doctor Who Adventures in Time and Space is also being stocked by Barnes and Noble.

TOR has always been in hobby distribution. Naturally it's up to individual stores to decide whether to stock it or not, but the vast majority of sales of TOR (and other purely c7 titles) come from brick and mortar stores. Which is also good news.

More importantly: We'll have an update for 2014 releases this month. A few more bridges to cross before we can say any more.

Tabletop rpgs in general have gone through a rough patch due to the rise of powerful game consoles and MMORGs. Many game stores have been on the ragged edge of survival and have had to be very conservative when ordering product. The well-run shops should be happy to special order items that they might not otherwise be confident about selling. However, that does limit the potential for spur-of-the-moment sales.

Then there are the poorly-run stores with employees who would rather tell you that a game is out-of-print or canceled or that a company has closed down rather than deal with a special order. Don't laugh, those people do exist.

[Hirobumi]

I am agreeing with becketts post.
We already had a wave of frustrated postings a long time ago and I am a little surprised that a new release triggers another wave of such posts now.
I love the releases for TOR so far and have to bring again the "quality over quantity" argument. Nobody is forced to buy TOR. And my feeling is that the negative posts are meant to change the release policy of C7. But they are already doing what they can, can't you feel that?
This forum is a positive place of inspiration and good ideas. To tell the world that you will not buy the system doesn't help anybody. This is your decision and I can understand that. But such a post will surely not bring more motivation to C7, resulting in a faster release pace.

[Mim]

I've been reading & mulling over these posts & have some quick comments:

@James, thank you for your insightful points. This is a superb game & let's hope we can support it. If any of you haven't read The Darkening of Mirkwood yet; what a beauty! You'll be pleased when your pdf/book arrives.

...Some folks here need to check their hostility at the door. You can recognize the value of the product and still lament the glacial pace of releases, cant you? It's called being 'nuanced'...But I do think the laser-focus of the product line (high-quality but sporadic releases, very limited geographical area, constrained ethnicities/races, etc...) may ultimately hurt its longevity.

Well said!

@Shieldmaiden, you summarize my reasons for purchasing a game to a letter (& I'll bet some others agree).

@Elfcrusher, your post:

"...but I think it's indicative of TOR's special appeal..."

I agree about the game's "special appeal" & how we fans of Middle-earth are a persnickety lot - & probably never satisfied that a company can match our expectations

@Hirobumi, you raise a great point about inspiration - reading these posts often inspires me to write adventures.

BTW, I don't know the numbers crunching about sales/marketing or the legal angles, however, I've been gaming for more than 30 years, & the slow pace of their releases concerns me about the future of the game. I have a gut feeling that I've seen this before, but I hope I'm wrong. No one wants a glut of D&D style modules, but one or two a year just won't suffice for those of us who lack the time to write our own.

Jon & the others have posted more than once that they're aware of all of these issues (they read these Forums) & they're doing what they can to pick up the pace.

[Beran]

For my part mentioning the lines that I no longer have interest in because of the delays was to illustrate that there are others who do think the same way that Finnian does. It isn't negativity, but in my case I don't have the time or inclination to do in depth research and write up scads of background info just to run a game. That is why I give C7 money for.

And really the "quality v quantity" argument really doesn't apply. L5R has been cited previously and is a good example. When I was collecting the game in the beginning AEG was putting out 4+ high quality supplements per year. I realize that L5R isn't haunted by the same approval process but surely a release rate of 2-3 supplements shouldn't be out of the question. Especially 2.5 years into production.