LOTR RPG Update

[Sulimo]

I consider myself a casual fan.

The book are ok, but sliced bread has nothing to worry about.

FD

Yes, well as much of a Tolkien fan as I am even I realise that an average loaf of bread goes a whole lot farther to my daily dietary requirements than a copy of LOTR.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I guess I don't see the irony.

I don't see how.

Discussions of the type you're talking about have an entirely separate forum - the one Morrus split off for discussions about books and movies. This forum is General RPG Discussion, and this discussion is specifically about LotR as it relates to a new RPG by Decipher, and to an extent, d20. This discussion is hashing out these minutiae because we want to figure out just what magic was used in the books so the magic system of a game can better simulate it. Are we supposed to dumb down the discussion? My post above discusses why that wouldn't be all that profitable. Again, there's a whole forum about discussing the books and movie just for the sake of discussing the books and movie.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I consider myself a casual fan.

The book are ok, but sliced bread has nothing to worry about.

FD

OK. No offense, and I mean this in the spirit of discussion, but what is your point?

If you don't like the books much - which is implied by your post - then this entire discussion will be of little interest to you in the first place. I don't see why anyone should tailor their responses to appeal to people who don't like the books very much.

If you are replying to my assertion that I've rarely seen a casual LotR fan, I still don't see the point of what you are saying. I didn't say I've never seen a casual LotR fan. I said I've rarely seen one.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Yes, well as much of a Tolkien fan as I am even I realise that an average loaf of bread goes a whole lot farther to my daily dietary requirements than a copy of LOTR.

Which, in a way, points up further irony in what mmadsen was saying. This whole board is filled with people obsessing over minute details of a game - I've seen mmadsen do it a lot, with the discussions about classes in D&D. But then when a discussion about the minute details of LotR as it relates to a game comes up, somehow that goes too far; we're too into it.

 

[Desdichado]

CH: I'm probably more of a fanatic about Lord of the Rings than I am about D&D, actually. Most of the threads here don't interest me much, to tell you the truth. But don't get me started about the origin of orcs, or something esoteric like that, or you won't shut me up 'till I've written at least three or four paragraphs!

 

[ColonelHardisson]

CH: I'm probably more of a fanatic about Lord of the Rings than I am about D&D, actually. Most of the threads here don't interest me much, to tell you the truth. But don't get me started about the origin of orcs, or something esoteric like that, or you won't shut me up 'till I've written at least three or four paragraphs!

I was wondering where you were!

What happened to your ME Story Hour?

 

[mmadsen]

But then when a discussion about the minute details of LotR as it relates to a game comes up, somehow that goes too far; we're too into it.

I'm not arguing that you're too into LotR, or that the LotR game shouldn't accurately reflect Tolkien's work, or that you shouldn't discuss LotR on this site.

I've just noticed that detailed, thought-out posts -- in this case, on LotR -- tend to kill discussion, not encourage it, unless your audience is full of hard-core fans and experts on the subject you're discussing. Detailed D&D-rule discussions naturally find their audience here. Detailed Silmarillion discussions tend to kill a thread here, even amongst throngs of casual fans.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I'm not arguing that you're too into LotR, or that the LotR game shouldn't accurately reflect Tolkien's work, or that you shouldn't discuss LotR on this site.

I've just noticed that detailed, thought-out posts -- in this case, on LotR -- tend to kill discussion, not encourage it, unless your audience is full of hard-core fans and experts on the subject you're discussing. Detailed D&D-rule discussions naturally find their audience here. Detailed Silmarillion discussions tend to kill a thread here, even amongst throngs of casual fans.

There are, and have been, discussions by casual fans - check out the movie and book forum. They also don't last long, even without the presence of a fanatic. So I know that I, and others like me, don't kill all such discussions. They just exhaust their knowledge of the topic and move on.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Detailed Silmarillion discussions tend to kill a thread here, even amongst throngs of casual fans.

By the way, there hasn't been any discussion of the Silmarillion here, except in tiny ways. Most of what has been brought up comes right from LotR, the book. I count the appendices as parts of the book.

 

[mmadsen]

Well, let me drop this whole sub-thread about hard-core vs. casual fans and point out that Decipher has posted another sample page, this time a list of spell stats.