[quote name="gandalfDK" post="1281270" timestamp="

Since you didn't read all of the story and certainly not the Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales, it may be a bit hard to explain, but there never was a Ranger who was occupied by Celebrimbor his ghost in the years after the end of the so called Watchful Peace. This would have been a too big of an event to leave out, even for Tolkien (who forgot about a lot of his own tales if you ask me)

This is the attitude that I think is soooo stupid. "Tolkien didn't write it so it can't have happened!" Just admit that you will never be happy with anything that wasnt actually written by Tolkien. I believe that as long as he never said that it didn't happen then it could have.

Hmm.. I don't know how to reply... Tolkien didn't write about how I should respond to anything that he didn't write.

I find your answer a bit offending in my turn. I am not going to admit to a statement or opinion that has been given to me and is not mine at all. In fact it doesn't matter to me that much. If I was going to admit to something stupid as you stated above, I wouldn't even be playing this game, let alone attend this forum.. In the funny debate that I was having about lore in video games we were just talking about which game broke the lore more than others. To quote myself I play them all for my lorecraving " especially about its inhabitans, canonial or not, ".

[quote name="gandalfDK" post="1281270" timestamp="

Since you didn't read all of the story and certainly not the Silmarillion or Unfinished Tales, it may be a bit hard to explain, but there never was a Ranger who was occupied by Celebrimbor his ghost in the years after the end of the so called Watchful Peace. This would have been a too big of an event to leave out, even for Tolkien (who forgot about a lot of his own tales if you ask me)

This is the attitude that I think is soooo stupid. "Tolkien didn't write it so it can't have happened!" Just admit that you will never be happy with anything that wasnt actually written by Tolkien. I believe that as long as he never said that it didn't happen then it could have.

You can make a story inspired by another created world or series, but if you're going to actually make it in that world (Middle Earth in this case), you're doing an interpretation of it, and you're not doing a good interpretation if you go against what has been written of that world without giving a good explanation for it. Sure, you can make whatever fanfiction you can using names and places of Middle Earth, and the story on its own can be good, but that doesn't mean work as an adaptation is good, since it contradicts the canon. Without knowing much about the game, but based on what had been said about it here, it seems the developers didn't even research enough to know a dead elf as a wraith (FFG has done this, Lost Soul of Lorien) is somethng that does not happen, or at least didn't give a good justification for it.

And that is why I always say, why do fanfiction? If your story is good and you're not going to do enough research so that there's no incompatibility with the source material, why make it then? Why does it have to be in Middle earth at all? Why not create your own universe? But that's another discussion.

I am ok with spin-offs and derivative works bending the lore a bit, because its basically glorified fan-fiction: and fan fiction never really fits in with the established setting. That doesnt mean its bad to indulge in it however. I mean, how many times can we retread the same story? I'd rather have made up stories instead. Just take it for what it is, a non-canon delightfully indulgent video game.

So I have had my hours with this game and man I love it. (disclaimer, I may spoil ahead)

The lore.. We talked about that and I might even say it is worse..

The gameplay and the game itself.. AWESOME!

I can't stop myself from yelling Lets Hunt some Orc! every time I go out on a mission. The killing of Orcs is satisfying. But I'm making a mistake, the game talks about Uruks, being a stronger breed of Orcs.... (in ME these words should mean the same)

And when I jump into battle Baruk Kazad escapes my mouth. The story is also cool, I like the missions with Gollum (I also love Gollum in this role very much, and hearing him speak and even sing is a lot of fun) I think the designers did do a cool job on the Orc-society.

I already bought a Season Pass for 10 euros, and I love to see the Hunter DLC too!

Very interesting discussion... I can't describe myself as a "lore nerd." I've been through The Hobbit and the LOTR a couple of times, but have failed miserably to make it through the Silmarillion. Therefore, I don't really feel qualified to make a strong statement about the validity of the lore, but I'll echo GandalfDK in saying the game is really fun.

Creeping along the ruins drop assassinating an orc from above before putting arrows into the two nearby orcs that witnessed it before they can do anything is awesome. The nemesis system is also pretty interesting (though I've yet to manipulate it very much).

The lore may indeed be questionable (or even completely broken), but I've found it to be a very fun game.

I spent much of the weekend playing and got up to the Sea of Nurn. Gotta say, game owns bones and will probably be my game of the year if the new Dragon Age and Assassins Creed games don't knock it out of the park. This is just super fun as an orc murder simulator and when you get that one orc who keeps coming back after you it can get pretty intense.

Yeah, I agree. And finally killing that one Orc you just couldn't beat is really cool! I'm still at the Black Gate, but the textures are really great! Ac in Paris... Meeh..

Just finished the game and everything related to it, except for hunting challenges (couldn't find that dire warg, and didn't bothered to because already beaten the game). Medicore, one-time slasher, nothing more.

What system did you play it on? The Nemesis system is greatly nerfed on the 360 and PS3 and without it I think the game would be pretty lackluster, fun Arkham-style combat notwithstanding.

PC. That nemesis system you're talking about is something presented as complicated in a good way, but is extremely simple in the end. Notable orcs just remember what happened, which is done by simple variable manipulation. The only thing I actually enjoyed in this game was Ratbag, and they have removed him in most stupid and ungrateful way possible.

What freaked me out most of all, is the bestiary. Why invent those warg-like creatures if LotR already has wargs? Why invent those "totally not ghouls" Ghuls while LotR has so many different cool kinds of undead already? Why with all that variety of orc faces and stuff, 99% of men in the game are bald, shaved, have the same face, wear the same clothing?

I will have to agree with MNT on the whole. Especially the beasts! I was really looking forward to riding Wargs! Why those Caragors? And fighting Trolls would have been so much more fun than Graugs..
Do you own a Season Pass? I do, so I'm hoping the DLCS will be great

No, I don't think that DLC's will add something really fresh to the game, just another mob of orcs to slice through.

PC. That nemesis system you're talking about is something presented as complicated in a good way, but is extremely simple in the end. Notable orcs just remember what happened, which is done by simple variable manipulation. The only thing I actually enjoyed in this game was Ratbag, and they have removed him in most stupid and ungrateful way possible.

What freaked me out most of all, is the bestiary. Why invent those warg-like creatures if LotR already has wargs? Why invent those "totally not ghouls" Ghuls while LotR has so many different cool kinds of undead already? Why with all that variety of orc faces and stuff, 99% of men in the game are bald, shaved, have the same face, wear the same clothing?

Simple or complicated does not make something better or worse, personally I thought it added something really cool to the game. Levelling up and being decent at the game removes some of the fun though as dying is part of what makes it interesting.

I honestly think that when it came to wargs and trolls, they wanted to go complete movie license but weren't allowed to. While Jackson and his company did collaborate on the art design for the game I think they weren't willing to let them copy the designs for wargs and trolls for the movies.

No, I don't think that DLC's will add something really fresh to the game, just another mob of orcs to slice through.

They announced a DLC where you play as Celebrimbor when he was still alive that sounds like it could be interesting. I hope they change up his combat style slightly, like the differences between Batman, Robin and Catwoman in Arkham City.

They could design their own wargs and trolls, it's not a big deal. And the Gollum was exact copy from the movie, by the way.

You can call the system cool, but its nothing special. Technically, it's the only thing that keeps this boat afloat and prevents it from being a complete boredomfest. Dying is not what makes the game interesting, being hard to stay alive does.

Man, finished the game today and I will not spoil, but I definitly did not like some things they did there.

At least were sure there will be a sequel!

Also indeed did not like the way the let Ratbag leave play....

Yeah. He just left for the sake of it. Worst way to remove a character.

It could be a sequel, but also could be a massive dlc.