Tolkien - The Big Game

[Morthoron]

Oh, Tolkien's Middle-earth is certainly the greatest game-world ever created. Go to nearly any fan-fic site, and Tolkien-related stories outnumber all others by staggering margins. It is the conciseness and millenial nature of the chronology, the enormity and precision of the maps, and the unparalleled depth of the story itself that causes so many acolytes, mavens, fans and freaks to wish to 'live the experience'.

It is unfortunate that none of the actual online games (like Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online) have even the slightest allure for me, because the developers took the original premise of the story, bastardized it, stretched it to fit a preexisting and generic game mold, and then took mechanisms, magic and malarkey from outside Middle-earth, and plopped the offal right into downtown Bree, while all the while beating their breasts righteously and claiming they truly care for the lore. Bah!