Exploring lore from all corners of Middle-earth.
During the year I run social RP-lite storytelling events on the Laurelin server of The Lord of the Rings Online MMORPG. I usually host as my main character Ranatuor along with my 2nd account character Heimdalli (a captain) to help get players to the locations. There may be a few surprise guest hosts along the way.
State of play report (June 2022)
The dice have definitely rolled favourably for Middle-earth of late. If you are a gamer and love J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, you have a lot of choice open to you. From board games, card games, roleplaying games, mobile games and PC/console games.
With the hugely-anticipated Amazon TV series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, nearing release date (2 September 2022) and several other big projects expecting to widen interest in Tolkien’s Middle-earth, it’s interesting that we are still waiting to hear about the sale of Saul Zaentz Co.’s Tolkien rights (Middle-earth Enterprises) which includes merchandising and gaming.
The
license as it currently stands (for how much longer?) is explained here.
Previous Gaming in Middle-earth: State of play - 23 August 2021
Below
are the current games, based on the book license, which are out or due to be released.
Please note I don’t cover Games Workshop (mostly due to their license being focused on the films) but you can find their Middle-earth merchandise here.
Note: Images from the various license holders' websites. Used here to illustrate their games.
Upcoming Tolkien-related
events
Each year various special days,
events, talks, seminars, conferences, festivals, exhibitions, tours and more
are organised focused on the life and works of JRR Tolkien.
The following list gives you an idea of the variety of events happening in 2022.
Note: I have focused mostly on UK-based or online events (English language). I've provided a link in the Recommended Websites section for foreign-language events. All times are UK (GMT or BST) unless otherwise stated.
A Letter to Paul Chato, the “former network executive producer”, about his anti-woke stance and his support of Nerdrotic
Context: Paul Chato, a comedian and one-time head of television comedy at CBC Television, has been creating videos about the Amazon series and providing what he says is inside-views (but outside since he doesn’t work for Amazon) of what is going on at Amazon and their production of the Rings of Power.
