Why only CODA?

[Evan van Eyk]

Just a small question to the moderators. Why is that only for Coda system and not for others as well? We have all the others in the Trek-Era and since I love to play MERP still, it would be great to do it here as well. I mean the Council would need to hear all the opinions - Boromir was also allowed to speak.


BTW Wonderful update to Trek-rpg.net

[Dan Gurden]

I would presume that the support of CODA only has direct connections to the Decipher Product.

Just as over on Trek, GURPS, PD and FASA are still very rare, ICON and CODA are both the lifeblood of the forums, specially for those of us who have been here pre-CODA...

Meanwhile the only other LOTR systems are covered by other groups for MERP and Games Workshop...

But thats just a guess.

[Lee T Holstein]

Too bad,

As Middle-Earth Roleplaying was by far the superior product of the two. As I own the complete collection of I.C.E.'s MERP titles, and was given the Decipher version as a gift, Im not basing my opinion on no information.

Besides if you want to go for closer to canon, MERP is the only choice, as it was liscensed by Tolkien Enterprises, and said company had to proof read all books before print. (And no Arwen as the awesome warrior protecting Frodo from the Nazgul.)

Deciphers version, licensesd from New Line Cinema. Comparison, not much.


To bad the company that deserved the title lost it.

[Lancer]

Originally posted by Lee T Holstein
To bad the company that deserved the title lost it.

Okay, maybe this is not the time or place to start this discussion...

Anyway, I haven't followed the LotR forums too closely, but has anyone actually tried to talk about MERP and been shut down by the moderators? If not, then why not just go ahead and talk about whatever you want, as long as nobody shuts you down?

[Jason Durall]

Originally posted by Lee T Holstein
Too bad,

As Middle-Earth Roleplaying was by far the superior product of the two. As I own the complete collection of I.C.E.'s MERP titles, and was given the Decipher version as a gift, Im not basing my opinion on no information.

Besides if you want to go for closer to canon, MERP is the only choice, as it was liscensed by Tolkien Enterprises, and said company had to proof read all books before print. (And no Arwen as the awesome warrior protecting Frodo from the Nazgul.)

Deciphers version, licensesd from New Line Cinema. Comparison, not much.


To bad the company that deserved the title lost it.

To each his own, I suppose.

I greatly prefer the Decipher one in tone and style, and whatever its flaws, the mechanics are far more enjoyable and flexible than MERP, to me, at least. I greatly prefer the lower-magic feeling and tone than MERP's many spell lists.

I played MERP for a couple of years when it first came out, and frankly, it didn't seem overly different from D&D at the time, with endless treasure lists and dungeon maps. I know it changed over a while, but first impressions die hard.

However, I have been led to understand though that Tolkien Enterprises was less than happy with the liberties taken by I.C.E. in their product lineup over the years.

I'm not sure why you make a distinction between the new LotR and MERP, as both have been licensed by Tolkien Enterprises.

Additionally, according to Steve Long and Matt Colville, since TE is also checking Decipher's material (they've said it's even the same person), it is bound to be close to their vision as well, right?

[Greg Davis]

Originally posted by Lancer
Okay, maybe this is not the time or place to start this discussion...

I'd offer a hearty agreement to this idea. This seems like a topic destined to result in bad feelings and bitter words, as comparing the two games is, in my opinion, like comparing apples to oranges. Better to just let it go, in my opinion.

Anyway, I haven't followed the LotR forums too closely, but has anyone actually tried to talk about MERP and been shut down by the moderators? If not, then why not just go ahead and talk about whatever you want, as long as nobody shuts you down?

To the best of my knowledge, no one has been shot down for discussing the old MERP game, but, like I said (above) this might be a hot-button issue, so I'd encourage treading carefully, especially when making comments like "the best company lost the liscense". It may (or may not) come as a surprise, but there are probably some of us here (like me) who likes the Decipher version quite a bit more than the old MERP version (which I played for many years).

Also, as a bit of a licensing note, the Decipher game is licensed through New Line Cinema, but also through Saul Zaentz, doing business as Tolkien Enterprises, so to say that Tolkien Enterprises has no say in the Decipher version of the game isn't entirely accurate.

I'm sure that Doug can shed a little more light on this subject than I can, though...



Greg

[Doug Burke]

Originally posted by Lee T Holstein
Besides if you want to go for closer to canon, MERP is the only choice, as it was liscensed by Tolkien Enterprises, and said company had to proof read all books before print. (And no Arwen as the awesome warrior protecting Frodo from the Nazgul.)

Deciphers version, licensesd from New Line Cinema. Comparison, not much.

Um... Check out the Copyright section on the credits page of the core book, Lee. Decipher holds the license from both Tolkien Enterprises and NewLine. Both licensors have to give approval for any published product.

[mattcolville]

Originally posted by Lee T Holstein
Too bad,

As Middle-Earth Roleplaying was by far the superior product of the two. As I own the complete collection of I.C.E.'s MERP titles, and was given the Decipher version as a gift, Im not basing my opinion on no information.

Besides if you want to go for closer to canon, MERP is the only choice, as it was liscensed by Tolkien Enterprises, and said company had to proof read all books before print. (And no Arwen as the awesome warrior protecting Frodo from the Nazgul.)

Deciphers version, licensesd from New Line Cinema. Comparison, not much.


To bad the company that deserved the title lost it.

As a big fan of Rolemaster, I'm still surprised to find people who think the system was a good fit for MERP. Unlike CODA, MERP was not designed for the Lord of the Rings, and the collision of the two is more of a kludge than anything else.

Also, others have pointed this out, but Decipher has the exact same license that ICE had. If you read the credits page of the book you were given, you'd see the Tolkien Enterprises legal text.

[Jason Durall]

Originally posted by Lee T Holstein
(And no Arwen as the awesome warrior protecting Frodo from the Nazgul.)

I didn't see Arwen "the awesome warrior" in the film... did you?

I saw a scared Elf-maiden draw a sword and make a doomed defiant boast against unbeatable odds, tricking the Nazgul into entering the water (and their bane).

If she had swung the sword, or fought any of them, your comment might have some validity.

[Meneltin]

Originally posted by Jason Durall
Additionally, according to Steve Long and Matt Colville, since TE is also checking Decipher's material (they've said it's even the same person), it is bound to be close to their vision as well, right? [/B]

Now, that would be the ultimate dream job for the Tolkien purist, proof reader for Tolkien Enterprises :-)

[Sarge]

Getting paid to read Tolkien all day... Yeah, I think I could handle the stress of that job.

Welcome to the boards, Meneltin. Don't worry, we don't bite here. Not much. Well, except Liz, but you'll meet her soon enough.

I'm going to chime in and agree with the people who said MERP had too much magic. I still have the MERP core book, and it reads more like D&D with ME names than true Tolkien, IMO. I also felt that the character classes were too restrictive. I couldn't find a way to convert some of my character ideas to MERP stats, but they fit neatly and easily into DEC stats.