ความคิดเห็นที่ 11
Iron Crown Enterprises (I.C.E.) got a license from the Tolkien estate to produce role-playing games based on the Middle-earth property. This resulted in the acclaimed MERP (Middle-Earth Role Playing) RPG system and games, which lasted quite a while. In 1985, they released a pair of Tolkien Quest gamebooks. In 1986, they followed up with a third book, changing the series name from Tolkien Quest to Middle-Earth Quest. It was somewhere around this time that the Tolkien estate objected to these books -- apparently they considered them to be books, not games, and thus not covered by I.C.E.'s license. The books quickly disappeared from the market and I.C.E. presumably lost quite a bit of money. It seems that the licensing issues were eventually sorted out, though, because in 1988, the Middle-earth Quest series rose again, starting at #1 as if the original three had never existed. Four titles were published (and five more announced but left unreleased) before the series disappeared again. Interestingly enough, I.C.E. cited the Middle-Earth Quest licensing disaster as a major reason for their decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1999. Since then, the company has been re-organized and re-launched with a new line-up of RPGs based on original titles.
Books in both the Tolkien Quest and Middle-Earth Quest series are very well-written and challenging. The books could be played by themselves using the built-in QuestGame system, or they could be used as solitaire modules for the MERP system, which incidentally is one of the best RPG systems I have seen. Every book ships with a map (included as color insert in the book) of hex locations you can move to as you play the game. With solid writing, excellent RPG system, and sheer length (over 400 paragraphs each), this series remain one of the best gamebooks ever made, and one of the most sought-after. Thanks once again to Zarkob Martianbeast for scanning these rare oldies for us :)
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10 ม.ค. 48 00:07:06
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