impactz Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Hi there, I am generally new to this forum and new to "Modern PC gaming" as well. In the last few months I had been closely following the progress of "MERP", a Skyrim overhaul mod that is based on Middle earth from J.R.R Tolkien's Epic "Lord of the Rings" I had been so interested in the mod that I actually started saving for a modern gaming PC, so that when released I would be able play the amazing creation. Problem is, (and I'm sure everyone else in the world knows, I'm just late) is that the team of modders was hit with a cease and desist letter from WarnerBros. blahblahblah I not here to update people with already known knowledge, but what I am interested in, is if there have been any updates about the situation between the 2 groups. Latest I've heard was an interview with the heads of the "MERP" development team about their thoughts on the situation. I was just wondering if anything since has happened. I did some searching, and found their Facebook page, twitter and original mod post, but little info was given about the situation. Their FaceBook was still very active with updates about the petition signs, but I couldn't find anything that explained the situation as of recent.If you have any knowledge about the situation, I would gladly like to hear it :) I also noticed that the Petition against the C&D has quite a bit of signs as well. (21,000+ if I'm correct) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marthgun Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 I was just at the dev forum, where things are being kept tight lipped. I did write a few quest lines for them but at the time they weren't far enough along to yay or nay. I come back and all hell had broken loose. i think you updated everyone as far as its known outside their immediate circle. tbh it looks bad, but merp is playing along. Personally I would ignore them and keep the project moving, but its not my decision. Their argument is based on fair use and idk enough about it, if they were confident they could easily push forward and just accept the inevitable lawsuit. However, when I was there the main aim was to represent tolkien as close as possible, so much so that some of my quests were axed in the outline stages. Part of why I stopped for a bit was not just b/c they weren't ready for quests but b/c their lore demands were too strict. Ultimately that is probably why they haven't pushed forward, b/c its premise is to represent LOTR faithfully w/o any artistic license. B/c of this I doubt they will win any form of petition unless they hand over all of their work to WB. Its a stale mate that probably won't be resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impactz Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 @Marthgun Thanks for the quick reply! I have to solemnly agree with what you have said. I truly hope that something good will come of this petition against WB. Yet at the same time, this is a very large scale task. ( I find this to be the perfect David vs Goliath situation if you ask me.) I really hope the mod will be able to see some public release in the next few months. 21,000+ supporters is a very large number for such a.. hidden situation if you will. Further more, doesn't the fact that they are taking a more traditional route (J.R.R Tolkien's book rather than the movie) make it more or less a matter that should be handled by Tolkien's grandson (Simon Tolkien), since this is in direct correlation with the book rather than the movie? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impactz Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 Ok, 1 more question for everybody.. After this whole situation, I am left with a hatred towards WB. I feel that what they are doing is morally wrong. BUT what about the Hobbit? I was thoroughly looking forward to enjoying the next entry in the series, but now.. after discovering this.. Should I not go see it and support WB? I feel torn in this question. At one end I hate WB, and would rather receive a Scottish claymore to the neck than give the horrible company one cent of my money. but I really wanted to see the Hobbit.. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghosu Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 (edited) The movie will be a success, the one or other way...i don't think several million people will avoid the movie because of MERP. But of course, if everyone thinks this way nothing will happen blablaaah, who cares. WB's action were not nice, BUT as i always mention...seems the mod devs never asked for permission, something I (!) would do before i spend hours, days, weeks, months of development - to avoid even this slightest chance to get into trouble. Only doing a simple mod, weapon, character whatever that takes hours or a few afternoons? Well, who cares...no problem if i have to shut it down. But this thing was muuuch bigger. Though you can be a morally hero, skip the movie, save the world - in fact it doesn't matter. It's not like WB eats babies, i can live with that. :D Edited November 25, 2012 by ghosu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marthgun Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 from what I gathered WB purchased the rights to tolkiens work, which means they own how it can be portrayed and adapted. They would naturally be against MERP b/c it was attempting to follow perfectly that which they have purchased. Its like buying a floor plan from an architect with exclusivity rights only to watch the mason guild build the same thing with community labor. WB made a substantial investment into LOTR and anything that would or could harm their investment would be enemy no. 1. aside from that, WB as an entity probably doesn't care or gave much thought to this project. It was probably picked up by thier lawyers and copyright department. Both sides have a case, WB can't let someone use for free what they paid, probably millions for and they can't isolate a potential market for their product. I had thought that MERP would take creative license, which is why I joined initially. When I found out they were sticking to the lore verbatim I became a little weary of how the copyright owners may do if they found out. Unfortunately for MERP its a mega conglomerate that owns the rights. worst case scenario imo. at best MERP will be given the green light but that may take years of battling, most likely they'll want some form of egregious compensation. At the end of the day its MERP's fault for taking someone else's work w/o permission but it probably would've ended the same since WB owns the rights or w/e even if they had taken serious creative license. I wouldn't look for it to be started up anytime soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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