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Maybe that's the reason for the OTU's longevity; if it were perfectly consistent then all arguments would be long over by now and we'd all have moved on to something else. But with many of us having become invested in one vision or another we keep having unresolvable debates ad infinitum. And while this does little to draw in new players it keeps many old players around longer than otherwise. It fact it sometimes feels like we loose more players to age and illness than to other games.
Maybe that's the reason for the OTU's longevity; if it were perfectly consistent then all arguments would be long over by now and we'd all have moved on to something else. But with many of us having become invested in one vision or another we keep having unresolvable debates ad infinitum. And while this does little to draw in new players it keeps many old players around longer than otherwise. It fact it sometimes feels like we loose more players to age and illness than to other games.
Ha! No, it's just a characteristic of humaniti. Grognards in particular, perhaps. Consider other fan-based forums where the rules have evolved over time (Battlestar Galactica, maybe, or Babylon 5, maybe, or Gamma World, maybe), and you'll see versions of Edition Wars. We might have it in spades, but it's a common trait.
There have been 3 official RPGs for Middle Earth: ICE's MERP; Decipher's LOTR RPG; Cubicle 7's The One Ring.
MERP had incredible setting fluff... and a game that didn't match it well, and the game was a blast, but didn't feel very Tolkienesque. (It was Rolemaster Light...) The magic was too mechanical, too powerful.
LOTR was Good setting fluff, and a playable game, but again, it really didn't capture the feel of Tolkien in play mechanics, and again, made too much mechanical magic of discrete spells. Very strongly grounded in the Peter Jackson movie version.
TOR has Excellent setting fluff, and mechanics that support the fluff. Magic everywhere.... but it's low powered stuff. 9 discrete spells published to date. No Istari PC's (yet). Social mechanics. Emphasis on the "Go and Do" rather than the "Kill them all and take their stuff" mode of play. An overland travel mechanic that is both engaging and yet doesn't turn into a hex-crawl snail's pace.
And then, there are the games that many use in attempts:
D&D - which the designer notes he didn't go for the feel, only borrowed the races. The magic is much more powerful short term. Hell, most of what Gandalf does in LOTR and The Hobbit is prove that he's a multi-class fighter-wizard... and only about 5th level as a wizard. (Given AD&D multiclassing, he'd be a 6th level fighter & 5th level wizard). Nerf the magic or fail the feel.
RuneQuest - about the only game I can say has TOO MUCH low powered magic... EVERYONE has a couple spells. (I'm talking the older Chaosium editions - not Mongoose.)
Palladium - has the races better, but has the wrong magic again. Worse, due to the way the system is written, Gandalf is unlucky, and about 3rd level, and Elrond only uses a single 1st level spell...
Tunnels and Trolls - Gandalf is about a second level T&T wizard with high stats.
The Fantasy Trip - Probably the closest old-school game in feel. It emphasizes the combat. And the Dragons of Underearth "beginner box" version includes a fight with a dwarf, an elf, a few humans (including a wizard), 4 hobbits, all versus a balrog... In the right hands, it can feel tolkienesque - but it doesn't actively support that feel. (Unlike the others on this list, it doesn't actively impede it, tho'.)
And GURPS - The magic system is not quite right - as with TFT (by the same author), it's capable of doing it, but doesn't actively encourage that feel. In GURPS, Gandalf would have a lot more spells that he never uses, many of which he should have.
As for Traveller - Each Game Engine produces a subtly different feel.
take, for example, one-shotting someone with a Body Pistol. All based upon rules as written - no house rules, no "fixes"... and no armor.
CT: I can only kill total wimps.
MT: I can kill buff guys, but only at close range.
TNE: I can only kill wimpy PC's. NPCs, wimpy or not, have to be double-tapped. Buff PC's can take at least 2 to the head.
T4: Only wimps.
T20: Only the unhealthy, unless I crit. A crit can kill 90% of people outright. (It only does a d8... x2 on crit)
GT: if I get lucky, I can kill an average joe with one shot, or a tough guy with a crit. More than likely, tho, I don't kill him. It takes two to kill him. And at least 5 to assure that he can't survive. More, if he's buff.
