On Mon, 15 May 2000, Faustus von Goethe wrote:
> >From: Joseph Cochran <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > >Maybe so, but with the new "Lord of the Rings" movie currently
> > >in production, I'll bet you could get a lot of mileage out of
> > >a D20 MERP game about the time the first film is released...
> >
> > But once again, it's the IP that would drive those
> >sales, NOT the D20 system. A new LotR release will expand the
> >awareness of LotR into the mainstream, and THAT would drive
> >sales. Nobody'd care about it being D20. MERPers who already have
>
> But it seems like all those millions of D&D players out there who haven't
> played in years would suddenly have the "LotR awareness" and would be much
> more likely to buy a D20 (ie D&D) MERP that they would to buy a
> "non-standard" game based on an unfamiliar system, ie "D20 - that's just
> like D&D - I played that in high school..." (Once again, I AM NOT slamming
> ICE and I have never played MERP)
>
> Or, stated another way, if your thesis is 100% correct, shouldn't ICE's MERP
> have been the best selling game of all time??? LotR was my personal basis
> for WANTING to RPG & I can say this for certain about roughly 80% of the
> people I currently GM for...
To quote directly from ICE's press release on the loss of the Middle-earth
licence (see October 1999 issue of The Guild Companion
http://www.guildcompanion.com/ for full text)
"The gaming public has received our work with enthusiasm. ICE's
Middle-earth Role Playing Game has appeared in 13
languages. It is the second best selling role playing game of all
time. ICE has sold over two and half million units of
MERP and its many fine supplements."
MERP gamers won't flock to a D20/D&D version of MERP. The problems that
MERP gamers have with ICE's rules in representing Middle-Earth, including
the magic system, profession (character classes), levels, etc. are all
present (to an even greater extent) in base D20/D&D. Moreover you cannot
sell setting modules etc. to the ICE-MERP audience - they already have
them all and in multiple editions. The new MERP modules which are in
production (but not by ICE) cover non-mainstream areas of
Middle-Earth.
A new RPG for Middle-Earth would have to be better than ICE's rules at
simulating Tolkien's legacy, and would have to be targeted at the non-ICE
and casual audiences.
Regards,
Nicholas HM Caldwell
freelance writer, and editor for:
http://www.guildcompanion.com/
-------------
For more information, please link to www.opengamingfoundation.org
