Contrary to what many of you believe, the Dev team does read the boards. Below is a short post from Daniel James about this.

As I've said before, we're lurking if not posting. Often we are really impressed by your ideas - particularly when they are spot on! Alas, the most accurate and interesting ideas are often those we're reluctant to follow up...

We are looking forward to the time when we can blow the trumpets and reveal details - then watch the roaring flames erupt! laugh

I do not foresee a time when 'input is no longer needed' - you folks will be (I hope) our players, and we'll always need your input...

BTW Jay Esparza is no longer with Middle-earth; he moved over to Berkeley a while ago to work on a certain Tolkienesque project there. I think he had spooky advance warning of Yosemite's closure and was determined to stay in California... (g)

Daniel

Daniel James stopped by our Developers Board today to comment briefly on the skill system in MEO.

I can assure you that the skills system will be quite unique, and that we are carefully considering how to make the game fun in the early stages, e.g. offering alternatives to the rat syndrome.

Beyond that I need to quote the FAQ:

-------

What about the Role-playing System and Skills?

The design for the role-playing system is being detailed as we speak. We feel it is more auspicious not to reveal any of these details at
the present time.

Be aware, however, that previous information on class titles, the nature of skill progression and so forth may no longer be applicable.

---------

Daniel

You can directly to his post by clicking here.

Daniel James, Middle-earth designer, took the time to reply to several posts on our Developers Board today. Below are the highlights:

Regarding Ships: I believe that ships are planned, although how much opportunity we will have to include complex sea-faring abilities, unusual islands and so on is another question. These are not priority features, as most players will be land-lubbers.

Regarding Mounting Animals as Trophies: I really like the trophy idea, too. We've talked about it for a while, now.

In Response To "Me wants language filter so me no understand the filthy language of the humies or elf.": Great, really great. No further comment!

Thanks Daniel!

This week, I have a special treat for you; a Riddle Contest! Solutions should be submitted before Monday, June 21. Those who solve the whole riddle and those who only get the sub-riddles will get their names posted. Below are the riddles and rules.

----------

What's in a Name?
by Jonathan Adelman

The answer to my challenge is a single word. I will give 5 riddles; the answer to each riddle provides the necessary clues...but first, a bit of advice:

Take only what you need:

From the first, the last.
From the next, the middle.
From the third, the first.
From the fourth, the whole.
From the last, the last.

Also, some rules:

1. Please do not post your answer on the boards. Send them here instead.
2. One answer per person, please.
3. Watch your spelling; it actually is important here. ;)
4. Only send FINAL ANSWERS. If you get one riddle right, you still have not completed the challenge.
5. Good luck.

And now, the riddles:

I. Put me on a bridge and none shall pass.
Put me in your britches and all would laugh.
Put me in your pack and nothing will you carry.
Yet I do not itch or bite,
Yet I do not steal or smite,
I am still and solitary.

II. I flee dawn's brilliant light,
I come with dew and sea.
The more of me there is,
The less that you will see.

III. Brothers three I have, I have,
Red and Green and Yellow-O!
Red retreats and Green brings heat,
As I do come and go-O!
But yellow stands as sure as day,
Opposite my throne-O!
He brings the children rushing forth,
I chill them to the bone-O!

IV. I am a letter, but not a letter sent.
I am a question, small with large intent.

V. I wear a dress of purest white,
My fine repose on water light.
Although at times I skyward take,
'Twas Frodo saw me near the Lake.

Part III of Max Vonlindern's The Dead Ringer Cometh is available for your reading pleasure. Be sure to take a look.

Wraithes and Elves, boyhood dreams of evil and glory just may have caught up with him at last, and here he was an olde man. He was glad that people were most concearned with the Wargs, a evil they had dealt with before, well a few of them, anyway. But the Village had no idea what terrible danger they all could be in, if the Smith be true in his tale, and Ol’Tyke had no reason to see it different.

We have a new peice of Featured Artwork this week from Enoreth. Below is his description of the piece.

These runes are an ancient burden and great loss to the Mordorians. The runes are located on the edge of gondor, and tell of a lost tale of sorrow, you can even tell this from the picture.

You can view this new pic by clicking on the thumbnail image on the right menu or through the Featured Artwork link on the left menu. I am fresh out of new pictures to display so if you created a piece of Middle-earth related artwork that you'd like to share with us, please send it here.

I'd like to apologize for last week's Top 10 List. I didn't think about the list from other people's point of view. So it may have been insulting to some people. Again, I apologize for the lack of good taste shown.

This week's Top 10 List topic is The Top 10 Excuses You Give Your Boss for Missing Work Becuase of MEO. Send your entries or topic suggestions here.

The Dead Ringer has fled, but there may still be evil about. It must be dealt with. Be sure to read part II of Max Vonlindern's story The Dead Ringer Cometh.

The men of Harlan stood in the night, staring at the cleaved remains and knew what the answer should be. Wolves in the forest meant beating the brush, hunting them down, clearing the forest before winter. But was there a Ringer, a Wraithe in the woods as well? The men of Harlan fell silent, and the Gaffer knew thier minds.

I just recieved the following announcement from Spyre of Future Games Network.

Future Games Network is proud to announce that we have conducted an interview with Steve Nichols, the head cheese in the Middle Earth project. This two part interview starts at http://www.fgnetwork.com/features/interview_me.htm asking general questions about the game, and then continues to ask general programming questions of Mr. Nichols, including influences, tools and advice at http://www.gdse.com/ezine/issue1a/midearth.shtml. Future Games Network believe that Middle Earth is the most ambitious project of its kind, and believes that Sierra will be the first company to properly make an online Role Playing Game.

For those interested in following the progress of the trilogy of Middle Earth movies currently in production (and who isn't?), New Line Cinema has put up the official site. The site kicks off with a bang, with nine absolutely stunning pieces of pre-production artwork that gives viewers a good idea of the vision Peter Jackson has for the movie.

Many people have asked what the requirements for being an elf will be and how you will actually become one. Stephen Nichols discussed a few possibilities on our Development Board.

Our plans for limiting elves are fairly complete although there are a few options that we're still considering:

1. Let the existing elves grant someone the ability to be an elf. For example, to become an elf you must recieve the blessing of 5 other elves. Each existing elf character gets the ability to bless someone once a week (or so). If you get your 5 blessings, then you can create an elf character. In this way, good role-players can decide who gets to be in the club. I'm somewhat against this because it allows the existing players to play favorites and the whole system could degenerate.

2. We could set in-game goals to be reached so that only players who have a good deal of knowledge can make an elf character. You may need to get some level of in-game elven knowledge before you get the option to make an elven character. This could work.

Of these two systems, which would you prefer? If you have another idea entirely, let me know!

steve

You can go directly to his post by clicking here.

What is to stop someone from killing your character and stealing his name? Stephen Nichols answered this question on our Developers Board.

No, we most certainly will not let someone steal your name. The name of your character will be reserved for your account for a few days so that you can reclaim it.

steve

You can go directly to his post by clicking here.

Today, I am pleased to bring you two stories from your fellow ME enthusiasts. The first tale, The Dead Ringer Cometh was written by Max Vonlindern and is the beginning of his new story about a sinister evil and its sinister plans. Below is an excerpt from his story.

Gasgaroth stood at his forging bales and shook the beads of sweat from his eyes, his great, domed forehead shiny and slick from the heat. Twas a hard living, this Smithwork, yet he would not do else, it was in his blood. And his blood ran hot at the sight of the blade that he forged now.

Comissioned by a dark and shifty-looking man, the blade was to be made for much gold, more gold than Gasaroth had ever seen in his life. More gold then perhaps the blade was worth...

Our second story brings an end to Elenduil's story of The Legend of Luvenor. If you enjoyed The Desert Stranger and The Paths that the Bold Tread... you must read The Fury of the Forsaken. Below is a small excerpt from this story.

There comes a time when a man loses hope; when the infinite doubt and despair that fills the world bears down so strong upon a man that he loses all will and purpose. When a man succumbs to this terrible burden, when the driving force that sustains his soul is ravished into nothingness, then he shall die.

I just recieved the following announcement from Conan, the Guild Vault and Player Vault creator.

The Guild Vault is temporarily back up now. I will leave it up for at least a week after the Player Vault has complete guild functionality installed. You will not be able to add your guild to the old Guild Vault but you can edit your existing information and use everything else that was working before it went offline. I don't have any images on the server anymore. If you had images you'll have to re-upload them by editing your guild entry. Thank you for your patience. I appreciate all those who have stayed loyal and extremely patient with me while I worked things out.

The PlayerVault is back online again and the GuildVault should follow by the end of the week. Unfortunately, guilds will have to re-register at that time.

Last weeks Top 10 list, the Top 10 Reasons MEO Will Be Better Than EQ or UO, has been posted. Be sure to take a look.

The topic for this week was suggested by Tav. Send your submissions for the "The Top 10 Reasons why playing MEO beats spending time with your girlfriend" here.

This week's Featured Artwork is from Andos and features Lady Eowyn confronting the Nazgul in the battle before the gates of Minas Tirith. You can view Andos' work by clicking on the image on the right menu or through the Featured Artwork link on the left.

If you have a piece of original Middle-earth related artwork that you'd like to share with us. Please send it here.

The Vault Network is pleased to announce the launch of the Hero's Journey Vault, providing coverage for Simutronic's upcoming massively multiplayer world of Hero's Journey. Be sure to stop by and check out some new screenshots of the game, read our interview with the development team. In cooperation with Simutronics, the HJ Vault will also serve as a forum for fans to interact with the development team during the creation of the game, and provide input on a number of critical issues. We're very excited about the potential of Hero's Journey, so swing on by and find out more about the game!

As many of you know, there hasn't been a newsletter or site update to the Official Middle-earth site for quite some time now. Daniel James, the Middle-earth Designer, posted an update to the Developers Board explaining the state of their website.

Salutations, noble Middle-earth émigrés.

I note with concern questions regarding the newsletter and updates to the site, posted here and on the comments form of Middle-earth.com.

Alas! we have been unable to send out a new newsletter for quite some time, due to hiccups in arrangements now that we are part of Sierra Studios. I can't promise an imminent major update to the web site, and for this you have my apologies. It is 'in the pipe', however long that may be.

In the meantime, I would like you to post here, or if you feel it is appropriate to me directly, your thoughts on the future direction of the Middle-earth.com web site.

Specifically, as you are no doubt aware, I have fostered the design of detailing each area of Middle-earth, with a plan of rolling out new areas on a (ideally) monthly basis until we launch - when these areas would begin to change and shift to reflect the live cultures.

In moments of doubt I wonder whether this approach is, from your point of view, worth the considerable resources that it requires?

Would a more traditional, smaller 'features and FAQ' site be more helpful?

I should say that positive comments on the present site's structure may help to keep its development on the same (admittedly temporarily de-railed) track.

I appreciate that most of you want to see screenshots, and in time they will be presented to you. Assume that screenshots will become available and that game-style art will begin to be incorporated throughout.

I am interested in your thoughts regarding the overall direction for design and content.

May the hair on your toes never fall out,

Daniel

You can go directly to his post by clicking here.

The official log file for this months Middle-earth House of Commons meeting has been posted. You can go directly to the log by clicking here.

I just recieved the following announcement about this months Middle-earth House of Commons.

We'd like to remind everyone that the next ME House of Commons Open House chat between the players and creators of Middle Earth is scheduled for Tuesday, June 1, at 6 PM PT (8 PM CT, 9 PM ET). Be sure to attend!

The chat will be available to you at #me on Stratics IRC, on one of three networked servers:

• irc.stratics.com (randomly selects one of the below IRC servers)
• intworks.stratics.com
• irc.stratics.dhp.com
• stratics.sanman.com

If you are new to IRC, please visit Stratics IRC for an online tutorial and instructions for connecting to our IRC server.

Last weeks Top 10 List was "The Top 10 Ways to Get Into the Beta." We got some great entries so be sure to take a look.

Our next List will be "The Top 10 Reasons MEO Will Be Better Than EQ or UO." If you have a suggestion for this list or a future topic, please send it here.

This week, we have another piece from Rob Aaldijk; showing what he thinks Hobbiton may have looked like. You can view this weeks artwork by clicking on the thumbnail on the right menu or by following the "Featured Artwork" link on the left. Thanks Rob!

Also, I recently ran out of artwork to display. If you have any Middle-earth related artwork that you'd like to share with us, please send it here.

This isn't really MEO news, but there is a new site dedicated to the upcoming Lord of the Rings Movies. LordoftheRingsMovie.com features daily news, rumors, and discussion on the upcoming films. It's worth a look if you're interested in the movies.

Contrary to rumor, Stephen Nichols is still working on Middle-earth. Here is his post from our Developers Board.

I have not stopped my work on Middle-earth in the least. I have been picking up some slack for The Realm the past few days, but I'm not doing just Realm stuff. We've been gearing up for an internal milestone meeting to show off what we've got to date. It's quite exciting. ;)

steve