Lord of the Rings Online has gone into Alpha release JRR Tolkien and, according to Turbine’s CEO, Jeffrey Anderson,

“Turbine is committed to delivering the most immersive and accurate online Tolkien experience possible and today is a major milestone as we realize our vision for this mysterious and exciting world.”

Oh really? The most accurate online Tolkien experience possible? How interesting. I’m a big fan of accurate Tolkien experiences. Let’s just have a little look-see shall we?

All it took was browsing to their Game Features page, where one can read about creatures that Turbine has invented such as the Rogmul and the Gorthorog, to discover that Mr. Anderson is full of it.

Now, of course, I understand sacrifices to the canon must be made for the sake of an enjoyable MMO experience. Actually, overall, some of the restraint that Turbine has shown kind of impresses me. They claim to have no wizard class, for instance, but instead have a loremaster class. I haven’t done anything more than surface-level research, so I have no idea whether the Loremaster class is just another name for wizard. Judging by their description, it could go either way. The War of the Ring era is almost completely bereft of traditional magic though, and things like projectile spells are pretty much out of the question if there’s a concern about accuracy, at least.

That’s not the point though. I hate nonsense press releases, and claiming that you’re delivering the most accurate experience possible while introducing your own IP into the world of Tolkien is simply a flat-out lie. If you want the most accurate online Tolkien game experience possible, you sure aren’t going to turn to Turbine. I’d recommend checking out Shadows of Isildur, an unlicensed, hobbyist text MUD that IS actually concerned with accuracy. Roleplaying is also required and enforced (and I don’t mean “roleplaying” in the shallow sense that Blizzard or SOE use it), helping to ensure a more accurate experience. Indeed, SoI is one of a very small group of text MUDs called Roleplaying Intensive (RPIs) that are quite fanatical about roleplaying. They have permadeath, no minimal OOC chatter is allowed, and you usually have to file an application that includes your proposed character’s background in order to be permitted into the game world. That’s roleplaying, and that’s fidelity to the source material.

LOTRO might end up being a great MMO and a great game. I have no idea. What it won’t deliver, however, is the kind of reverentially-accurate experience that Mr. Anderson claims it will. Sorry if this seems a bit mean-spirited, but when you issue that kind of press release, you’re just asking to be proven wrong.