Oblivion style LoTR RPG announced

[CptStern]

"EA Announces Open World Lord of the Rings RPG"

Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today the development of The Lord of the Rings™, The White Council™, an all-new role playing game (RPG) for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, and PC.

Players have the freedom to explore the open world of Tolkien’s Middle-earth™ in The Lord of the Rings, The White Council. Players can choose their role as a man, an elf, a dwarf, or a hobbit. Each role’s destiny is to become a hero allied with the White Council, whose members include the famed characters Gandalf, Saruman, Galadriel, and Elrond.

http://www.shacknews.com/docs/press/071306_lotr_white_council.x

I think if I get this game the first thing I'll do is go around and extreminate every last hobbit in the game


btw this game was formerlly known as Project Gray Company

http://www.ea.com/official/projectgraycompany/


"The action takes place in a massive open world where you can go anywhere you want, and the characters in the world are powered by an incredible simulation AI based on the same technology used by the makers of The Sims 2. The story of the game is built around a series of Story Quests. You can choose to follow specific Story Quests, embark on a range of other types of quests, or set off on your own adventures in the massive open world environment. To creat this amazing new world, we have assembled an all-star team of RPG veterans from around the world. By combining our talents, skills, and passion for all things RPG, we are committed to optimizing the most state-of-the-art graphics and animation technology, the best character simulation AI, and our powerful new story mechanic to create an unparalleled new RPG experience."

 

[DeusExMachina]

So it's basically Oblivion with the LOTR license attached?

It seems we can't be evil.

 

[Asknoone]

Oblivion came off as a little dull at times because there was never really anything threatening lingering in the woods. I hope this turns out awesome, that way I can wander into Mirkwood and slaughter a whole bunch of scary spiders.

Oh, and I hope the enviroment is more diverse than that of Oblivions.

I might be more excited if it wasn't in connection with EA...

 

[CptStern]

I probably shouldnt have mentioned Oblivion ..nowhere does it compare it to oblivion, I just mentioned it because both games are open ended ..but I think that's where the similiarities end

 

[VictimOfScience]

I have been waiting for the new official announcement of this title. It sounds pretty darn awesome, but it depends on the timeframe it is set in and what events are going down in Middle Earth during play. Hopefully the devs will learn from Oblivion's successes/failures and create a seriously awesome Tolkien game (something I have waited for since War in Midde-Earth).

 

[Ren.182]

I love LotR's. I hope this will be an awesome games, sounds like it will.
Hope it turns out to be beautiful too, in an art sense. I want it to look like i imagined it to be in the books.

 

[knut]

Hurrah! Many a time, whilst lieing in bed, I have looked my my Middle Earth poster and thought ''that'd be so cool to roam like Morrowind''

 

[CptStern]

to be honest I'm not too fond of the world of LoTR ...too black and white and just a little too juvenile

 

[VictimOfScience]

to be honest I'm not too fond of the world of LoTR ...too black and white and just a little too juvenile

Too black and white?? How much Tolkien have you read? In my mind, the world Tolkien describes is vibrant and beautiful. Even the evil areas are beautiful in their own way. His language goes a long way above what most sci-fi/fantasy writers use to try to help the reader envision their world(s).

And The Silmarillion is anything but juvenile. Its an amazing mythology not at all unlike many of the great myths that are taken more seriously in schoolrooms around the globe these days. Granted, The Hobbit started out as a book for kids, but with the rest of the development of Middle-Earth through The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings we are all treated to an immensely rich and full world, rife with very serious and timeless issues that are accessible, certainly, to a young reader, but are infinitely more meanigful to an adult audience.

 

[Vigilante]

Hopefully it'll be decent. You've gotta love developers exploiting book/movie names as much as possible.

 

[CptStern]

Too black and white?? How much Tolkien have you read? In my mind, the world Tolkien describes is vibrant and beautiful. Even the evil areas are beautiful in their own way. His language goes a long way above what most sci-fi/fantasy writers use to try to help the reader envision their world(s).

I've read hobbit and the trilogy ...when I was a kid

heh I meant ideologically speaking: good vs evil and no in between

And The Silmarillion is anything but juvenile. Its an amazing mythology not at all unlike many of the great myths that are taken more seriously in schoolrooms around the globe these days. Granted, The Hobbit started out as a book for kids, but with the rest of the development of Middle-Earth through The Silmarillion and The Lord of the Rings we are all treated to an immensely rich and full world, rife with very serious and timeless issues that are accessible, certainly, to a young reader, but are infinitely more meanigful to an adult audience.

again I point to the black and white ideology throughout tolkien's books ..it's not exactly John Steinbeck

 

[DeusExMachina]

Perhaps this would be a good way to get into the lore and mythology of the LOTR universe. I can't get into the books, they're far too boring.

 

[VictimOfScience]

again I point to the black and white ideology throughout tolkien's books ..it's not exactly John Steinbeck

Well, many of the recurring themes Steinbeck has in many of his works also appear in the works of Tolkien like an unequivocal ecological vision, the nature of friendship, the nature of dreams, the struggle of the working classes, the idea of the 'other,' the notion of power, etc etc etc. There is a lot more at work at any one time in Tolkien than you give him credit for I think....

 

[CptStern]

I'm sure there is ..however the stories are told through the eyes of a child like being ..it comes across as somewhat one dimensional ..I mean the characters have either pure or evil motivations ..most people in reality arent on either side of the extreme they exist somewhere in the middle and motivations arent always as clear cut

 

[VictimOfScience]

I'm sure there is ..however the stories are told through the eyes of a child like being

This is true because its also about a loss of innocence and what it means to grow up and become a different person than you were before you set out on this or whatever journey you might go on (the journey of life that we are all on).

it comes across as somewhat one dimensional ..I mean the characters have either pure or evil motivations ..most people in reality arent on either side of the extreme they exist somewhere in the middle and motivations arent always as clear cut

I don't agree here either because many of the characters that were decent and with good intentions either die or become evil through some very base animal characteristic. Others are very ambiguous (Strider, for instance) and no one knows what to make of them for quite some time, just as he himself lacks any large amount of self-confidence that might make him desire to be king. The spiders and trolls of The Hobbit even were not entirely evil--they just wanted to feed! Its an interesting presentation that Tolkien lays out in whatever he writes and I hope that maybe you will go back and read them as an adult and appreicate what else there is between those pages. Reading them as a child and reading them as an adult are two very different and unique experiences.

 

[CptStern]

This is true because its also about a loss of innocence and what it means to grow up and become a different person than you were before you set out on this or whatever journey you might go on (the journey of life that we are all on).

but that's the basis of the majority of myths from Perseus to jason ..it is the journey that leads to the moral lesson ...most myths started as children's stories

I don't agree here either because many of the characters that were decent and with good intentions either die or become evil through some very base animal characteristic. Others are very ambiguous (Strider, for instance) and no one knows what to make of them for quite some time, just as he himself lacks any large amount of self-confidence that might make him desire to be king. The spiders and trolls of The Hobbit even were not entirely evil--they just wanted to feed! Its an interesting presentation that Tolkien lays out in whatever he writes and I hope that maybe you will go back and read them as an adult and appreicate what else there is between those pages. Reading them as a child and reading them as an adult are two very different and unique experiences.

well I cant comment because I dont remember the books all that much ..however at the time I was reading books by Robert E Howard ..Howard's Conan was much more realistic ..he often crossed the line in terms of morality and sometimes had questionable motives ..his nobility came through in his brutish chilvary but he was equally mericiless for even the slightest affront ..he had real fears and real emotions ...I guess in comparison LoTR is more about epic fantasy rather than individual accomplishments ...then there's Michael Moorcock and Karl Edward Wagner ...they defined the "anti-hero" in fantasy literature ...incidentily I stopped reading fantasy during the mid 80's when the genre had devolved into countless Dungeons and Dragons clones (esentially LoTR)

 

[Kyorisu]

Damn, now if only I didn't hate LOTR so much. The books I've happily read/going to read, but those movies have really ticked me off.

 

[DreadLord]

I think if I get this game the first thing I'll do is go around and extreminate every last hobbit in the game

Poor Ennui!

 

[VictimOfScience]

but that's the basis of the majority of myths from Perseus to jason ..it is the journey that leads to the moral lesson ...most myths started as children's stories

Hahaha! Okay, I get it: you have a problem with the majority of mythologies in the world right now. Explains a lot here.

well I cant comment because I dont remember the books all that much ..however at the time I was reading books by Robert E Howard ..Howard's Conan was much more realistic ..he often crossed the line in terms of morality and sometimes had questionable motives ..his nobility came through in his brutish chilvary but he was equally mericiless for even the slightest affront ..he had real fears and real emotions ...I guess in comparison LoTR is more about epic fantasy rather than individual accomplishments ...then there's Michael Moorcock and Karl Edward Wagner ...they defined the "anti-hero" in fantasy literature ...incidentily I stopped reading fantasy during the mid 80's when the genre had devolved into countless Dungeons and Dragons clones (esentially LoTR)

I totally see your point and the undertakings of all of these writers have been very different indeed. Some of the Dragonlance books were pretty good in the 80s, but you are right, most of everything that followed was a pale clone. It just depends on what your into in the end. :cheers:

That said, this game should be killer if you can really free roam around Middle-Earth. I just wonder how many landmarks and environments they will include--the place is pretty dern big!

 

[CptStern]

Hahaha! Okay, I get it: you have a problem with the majority of mythologies in the world right now. Explains a lot here.

heh no, I loved mythology ..from greek to roman to celtic ..I was obsessed with stories out of Erie when I was a teen

I totally see your point and the undertakings of all of these writers have been very different indeed. Some of the Dragonlance books were pretty good in the 80s, but you are right, most of everything that followed was a pale clone. It just depends on what your into in the end. :cheers:

I forgot about the drangonlance books ..ya the first 3 were pretty good

That said, this game should be killer if you can really free roam around Middle-Earth. I just wonder how many landmarks and environments they will include--the place is pretty dern big!

ya the open ended nature of the game will probably be what I'm attracted to most

Poor Ennui!

lol!

 

[Cormeh]

The words "Electronic Arts" are a big turn off.

 

[Warbie]

The words "Electronic Arts" are a big turn off.

Yeh, but if done well this game could kick all kinds of ass. Fingers crossed.

 

[DreadLord]

The words "Electronic Arts" are a big turn off.

Yeah, they should definitely be the Bisexual Electronic Lesbian Arts.

 

[knut]

Just looking at my map on my wall now, its going to be pretty impressive if they can get the whole of Middle Earth down. :O The Misty Mountains is the first thing I saw, and thats impressive alone as a hugggge mountain range. Then I started look at things like the journey from, say, the town of Bree to the home of the Elves in Rivendell. This game is going to be many a time bigger than Morrowind or Oblivion, I think. Going by looking a the maps anyway. And thats a good thing.

Looking forward to more information.

 

[Asknoone]

Poor Ennui!

We struck gold.

 

[Shadow-warrior]

Give me a first person pov and I'll be happy.

 

[destrukt]

if there is any license (or whatever) that they could make an amazing game with, it's anything related to tolkien.

i'm hoping for something which covers the early years of the lotr 'universe' like that which is covered in the silmarillion.. but of course, this will end up to just be a mediocre game or just a fairly good one, and not amazing like i want.