Shadow of Mordor

[Zigûr]

Interesting article here about how the game contradicts Professor Tolkien's themes by presenting violence and revenge as entertainment:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/arti...ien-Fanfiction
A highlight is this remark which I think could also apply to a lot of commentary on both the books and adaptations:

It thinks the defining characteristics of Tolkien are fussy world building and lack of brevity.

It's bizarre to see people saying "Just because it's set in Middle-earth doesn't mean it has to follow Tolkien's themes!" As if Middle-earth is the 'Marvel universe' or something, as if it's a fictional setting that was built specifically to service a franchise and not the other way around.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

It's bizarre to see people saying "Just because it's set in Middle-earth doesn't mean it has to follow Tolkien's themes!" As if Middle-earth is the 'Marvel universe' or something, as if it's a fictional setting that was built specifically to service a franchise and not the other way around.

That's not surprising, unfortunately. I seriously doubt the majority of those who would buy the game have ever read the books, and many probably haven't bothered with the movies. Thus, they would have only vague notions of what Tolkien was about. If one is unfamiliar with the source material, what is Shadow of Mordor but another hack-and-slash exercise in gore? It would seem the only reason it even had to have anything to do with Tolkien at all was to attract those who did see the PJ films.

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

That's not surprising, unfortunately. I seriously doubt the majority of those who would buy the game have ever read the books, and many probably haven't bothered with the movies. Thus, they would have only vague notions of what Tolkien was about.

The odd thing is a lot of people were actually saying they were 'fans' of the books but didn't care how the games etc represented them, which leads me to think that they're probably more fans of the surface details ("Elves are cool") than they are of any of the thematic content.

That's the problem with a lot of Tolkien discourse, I think. It's so muddled between critical thinking and pop-culture-style consumption. I get the impression it's been this way since long before there was anything but the books, though.

[Tar-Jêx]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

The odd thing is a lot of people were actually saying they were 'fans' of the books but didn't care how the games etc represented them, which leads me to think that they're probably more fans of the surface details ("Elves are cool") than they are of any of the thematic content.

That's the problem with a lot of Tolkien discourse, I think. It's so muddled between critical thinking and pop-culture-style consumption. I get the impression it's been this way since long before there was anything but the books, though.

I think that this whole 'fan' business has mainly been going on since the movies started coming out early 2000s. It's a bit silly when someone says they are a fan of the books, but don't care that the game basically just ignores everything they have read for the sake of a fun, but lorebroken, game.

Being a fan of the books means that you care about what happens, and while you can be a fan of both, I find the story of Shadow of Mordor to just be insulting and ungood.

[Zigûr]

Unfortunately I have just learned that a sequel to this game is coming out, which apparently (absurdly) involves the main character making his own Ring (something even Saruman seems to have failed to properly do) and challenging Sauron for supremacy.

Just another piece of consumerist sputum vomited out of the adaptation meat-grinder I suppose.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

Unfortunately I have just learned that a sequel to this game is coming out, which apparently (absurdly) involves the main character making his own Ring (something even Saruman seems to have failed to properly do) and challenging Sauron for supremacy.

Just another piece of consumerist sputum vomited out of the adaptation meat-grinder I suppose.

I'm by no means a gamer, but it seems to me that there would be little, if anything, to set the Middle-earth themed games apart from their competitors. Is there an increased fun-factor for Tolkien fans? Or are those titles purely aimed at drawing sales through the LOTR association?

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Or are those titles purely aimed at drawing sales through the LOTR association?

I think that is it.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

Unfortunately I have just learned that a sequel to this game is coming out, which apparently (absurdly) involves the main character making his own Ring (something even Saruman seems to have failed to properly do) and challenging Sauron for supremacy.

Just another piece of consumerist sputum vomited out of the adaptation meat-grinder I suppose.

Here we go again. Cue a bunch of articles explaining how very, very canonical this actually is.

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Here we go again. Cue a bunch of articles explaining how very, very canonical this actually is.

I've already seen someone say it's "true to the spirit of Tolkien". It's almost like there's a standard-issue crib sheet or something for these people's opinions.