User blog:LOTRMod/Non-Canon Things

What is 'canon'? Canon in Middle-earth is The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and to a slightly lesser degree, The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The Children of Hurin, and other posthumous / incomplete works of Tolkien.

We do not consider the movies canon (although it must be said, the LOTR trilogy is far closer to being 'canon' than the Hobbit was) but we may look to them for design inspiration.

Within canon, there are certain things mentioned but not detailed much, if at all. For the mod's purposes this mostly includes the lands of Far Harad and Far Rhûn, as well as things like Half-trolls, Near Haradrim, Easterlings, the Lossoth, et cetera. Since we always planned to include the entire world of Middle-earth in the mod, obviously there are problems when it comes to those areas, so we have had to invent new non-canon features.

I am interested in seeing what the community generally thinks on this matter. So, if you could take the time to answer these questions, that would be quite nice.

What do you believe the approach of the mod should be when it comes to non-canon content? Only include canon things. There should be no non-canon things at all. Stick to canon things wherever possible, but invent non-canon things if they are needed to fill gaps in the canon. Stick to canon things where possible, and use non-canon things where needed, but from already-existing non-canon works like Shadow of Mordor. Stick to canon things and freely invent non-canon things with no restriction.

(The approach of the mod team is #2.)

And another related but different question:

What is your opinion on the current non-canon content included in the mod? (In particular, the Far Harad factions) I don't like the non-canon content. The mod should stick to canon and canon only. I am satisfied with the non-canon content. I like the non-canon content in general, but some parts of it should be changed to be 'more canon'. I like the non-canon content. There should be even more non-canon content, even in areas that don't need it.

And finally one more.

What is your opinion on Harad and Rhûn? I like how they are now (or will be in the future, in the case of Rhûn). The lands of Far Harad and Rhûn should be in the mod, but left empty, without any non-canon content. Far Harad and Rhûn should not be in the mod at all.