Xenite.Org News

Sierra Talks to Middle-earth Stratics...sort of - Lord of the Rings news - J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings

March 12, 2001 at 02:04:47

Middle-earth Stratics got a half-answer from Sierra Online about the status of the Middle-earth Online game.

Essentially, Sierra is taking the position that game news watchers should not exclude their company from the snails-paced race to bring a Tolkien online gaming world to the masses of gamers with any desire to play in Middle-earth.

Target data once published in various articles about the now-defunct Middle-earth Online game estimated an audience of approximately 100,000 players by the end of 2000. Rumor stipulates that new management at Sierra wanted the game to be less faithful to Tolkien and more appealing to the "mass market" of online gamers.

Persistant rumors of a move by Electronic Arts to take on a movie-derived license failed to move into fact by the end of 2000. No official statements have been issued by Sierra Online, New Line Cinema, Tolkien Enterprises, or any other entity since September 22, 1999, when Sierra, which has since become part of Vivendi Universal's media empire through its Havas Interactive subsidiary, fired the development team (which came out of the Yosemite game devlopment company Sierra acquired several years ago).

Middle-earth Stratics recently designed its Web site and announced "confirmation" that the Sierra game was still being produced. But the confirmation proved to be nothing more than a reference from the December 2000 issue of PC Gamer, which Xenite.Org had reported on November 13, 2000. In an effort to acquire new information, the Middle-earth Stratics Webmaster contacted Sierra, which despite a widespread reputation for ignoring inquiries responded with obscure answers.

A recent inquiry (March 1, 2001) on Sierra's own forums has so far gone unanswered, except for a promise by the forum moderator to ask for more information.