Company News Rumor - Warthog Texas making LotR CRPG

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Lord of the Rings cRPG

Per <A href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/news/news_story.php(que)id=94267">this news item</a>, <a href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/">C&VG</a> is reporting that <A href="http://www.feverpitchstudios.com/">Warthog Texas</a> is working on a new CRPG based on the <i>Lord of the Rings</i> novels. Here's the juice:
<br>
<br>
<blockquote>We can reveal that the Warthog Texas - formerly Fever Pitch Studios - is working on a PC RPG for Vivendi Universal Games, believed to be known as 'Shadows of Mordor.' Rumours linking Warthog and Lord of the Rings have been rife of late, with a UK financial publication suggesting that Warthog Texas was working with EA on a title.
<br>
<br>
But we can confirm that Warthog's title is not the widely rumoured LOTR Trilogy game for EA, but instead a brand new RPG for Vivendi, the holder of rights to Tolkien's fiction.
<br>
<br>
One highly placed source, speaking to us anonymously, said: "The rumours about Warthog doing a Lord of the Rings title for EA aren't true - but there's one coming for Vivendi..."</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
Wonder if our good buddy <b>Fallout's Chris Taylor</b> is working on this one.
<br>
<br>
Spotted this at <A href="http://www.homelanfed.com">HomeLAN Fed</a>.
<br>

 

[Araanor]

One interesting aspect of Middle-Earth is that magic isn't very common. How many wizards are there in LOTR? Two, three? And then there's Sauron, Galadriel and maybe someone else. Demi-gods and very old elves.

This doesn't translate well into a D&D-type generic fantasy game, so we're likely to see some freedoms exercised by any developers...

 

[Whipporowill]

Troika did a protype thingie back before they started ToEE, but it never happened. I wonder what they'd have done with THAT franchise...

 

[Azael]

One interesting aspect of Middle-Earth is that magic isn't very common. How many wizards are there in LOTR? Two, three? And then there's Sauron, Galadriel and maybe someone else. Demi-gods and very old elves.

This doesn't translate well into a D&D-type generic fantasy game, so we're likely to see some freedoms exercised by any developers...

There were five Istari, Gandalf, Saruman and Radagast and two blue wizards who aren't named in the books (according to other writing by Tolkein and his son Christopher they were named Alatar/Morinehtar and Pallando/Rómestámo). I guess that great elven lords and ladies like Galadriel and Elrond could be considered something like wizards as well and then there are forces like the Nazgûl and Tom Bombadill. Even so, magic is a rare thing in Tolkien's world, a lot rarer than in the countless copycat settings it has spawned. Could be interesting to have a high fantasy setting with little magic.