More:

ZINN: Oh, I believe completely that Gandalf was cannily exploiting Sam's latent hobbosexuality from the very beginning. If nothing else, Gandalf is a sophisticated psychologist with a keen understanding of the plight of the closeted Hobbit in the intolerant, provincial Shire. Why else did he select Bilbo as the burglar for Thorin's party in The Hobbit? Perhaps because he knew the company of 13 male Dwarves might be appealing?

CHOMSKY: You mean Bilbo's hobbosexual, too?

ZINN: Well, you know what they call an eleventy-one-year-old bachelor in Buckland, right?

CHOMSKY: Ohhhh.

In case anyone else is watching, Turbine took over 100% of the development of Middle-earth Online, the MMO. I don't think an MMO should be done at all, but Turbine's probably the best people around to do it.

Lord knows Vivendi Universal did NOTHING for over a year. Launch this year? Beta hasn't even started signing up yet.

much fear

You know, people complaining about the unwieldiness of the acronym MMORPG is the only reason I remember it. Is MMO a little different, or is it just an abbreviation of an acronym?

Some folk advocate using MMO as the generic, covering MUSH, MUD, MUCK, MMORPG, etc. Rarely does "MMO" get used for anything other than EverQuest and it's siblings, however. The MU* crowd genteely despise the graphics-oriented crowd.

There are MMOs that aren't RPGs - the most successful is Planetside, which is like permanent Halo. "War that never ends", very, very little RPG material, just lots of shooting other folk, dying, respawning. MMOFPS isn't much better than MMORPG. :)

Someone's showing off now.

Actually, someone's a gigantic geek. It's what Alfredo and I do every evening - play World of Warcraft. (Since he won't join my Fading Suns tabletop campaign).

I'm not sure he'll play Middle-earth Online, but I will - if for no other reason than to know definitively that it's worthy of much scorn.

Someone's showing off now.

Yeah. I think I understood only about 5% of that post.

I think I understood only about 5% of that post.

Huh.

Yup, playing WoW. Started with UO.

I'm not sure he'll play Middle-earth Online, but I will - if for no other reason than to know definitively that it's worthy of much scorn.

This is what worries me. I think I'll need to go with the pre-emptive scorn.

I've never played MMO of any kind. I just don't have the time (or the money in the case of the ones with subscription fees) to dedicate to them. I almost bought City of Heroes but managed to resist. I have some friends who are heavily into World of Warcraft and keep trying to get me to play, but again, time and money. I have enough CRPGs lying around the house that I haven't finished to pay for yet another one that I'll have to pay for inorder to keep playing.

From Wizard News:

RINGS MUSICAL HOLDS OPEN AUDITIONS NEXT MONTH

Canadian actors who are feverish to play Frodo or gunning to be Gandalf in the upcoming musical version of Lord of the Rings will get their shot at open auditions next month. Those with expertise in stilt-walking, acrobatics and gymnastics are also needed.