Thread:LOTRMod/@comment-26149161-20170428015210/@comment-26149161-20170428021622

Well, we on occasion disagree about the best philosophy to serve the mod further, and I think an exchange of views could go a ways towards bridging that divide. Sadly, I have to go to sleep shortly, but here is my general belief:

You and the rest of the team are creating a mod for Middle-earth, to bring it to Minecraft, not the other way around. If we want to succeed in creating such a world, one that Tolkien could look at and recognize as his own, we should try whenever possible to adhere to the lore itself. Whether that means chainmail to certain features, I believe that with all things we should try to work in the will of Tolkien.

Now, that does mean that certain, fun gameplay features might be scrapped due to being unfriendly to the lore. I respect that the mod team and yourself doesn't want to remove things such as Angmar, the Mallorn Ent, etc, butin the future, it is my opinion that we should avoid such things. Our overall goal should be to make a Middle-earth replica, while still being playable. Other mods for other games have done this, with varying degrees of success. One of my favorite examples is The Last Days, which doubtless you know of. I really like that game, because they were able to stick to the lore in almost all cases while still keeping an incredibly fun and playable game. A common misconception is that sticking to lore will make things boring. This is really not true-the wonderful depth of Middle-earth means that there is so much to add without breaking away from established canon.

I realize that you and the mod team have on occasion groundbreaking and fun (though lore-unfriendly) ideas, eg. Khamul's Fire or Utumno. I'm not saying we should avoid these things like the Plague. But more conservatism could go a long way here--focusing on lore features as opposed to adding new things, or finding lore alternatives. Khamul's Fire could easily be replaced by an improvement to Orc Bombs and the addition of Orc Brimstone, and Utumno could have been a Moria dungeon instead. Basically, we should look at the mod and ask ourselves if Tolkien would have intended, or approved, of the addition. If it is not within his bounds, caution should be given before proceeding.

The above is a general summary of my thoughts on the matter. I am interested to hear your own, and of course, I should disclaim that the above isn't a command on you in any way. It's your mod, and you can choose to follow or ignore my ideas. I'm just giving a personal recommendation, and I'll be sure to reply to your thoughts in the morning.

Thanks,

Ithilion, Discussions Moderator (Auta i lómë) 02:16, April 28, 2017 (UTC)