MERP: I need help fixing the info on the fan sites

Posts: 80 · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 12:16 pm

I just made a big update to the MERP printing & edition reference:
http://homepage.mac.com/guyf/MERP/PrintingEditionReference.html

There are a lot of added products (though still not quite complete ... 13 left to go), a navigation section with a color-based overview of where the variations are, fixed css for compatibility with more browsers, and more.

The additional information has provided some clues about some variations that probably exist, and I need your help to prove it:

8040 Hillmen of the Trollshaws is the only early adventure module that doesn't appear have any edition variations. But I don't believe that. Please take a look at your copy to see if it's different from the edition I have listed on my page. Things to look for include: A UPC Barcode on the back, a "STOCK #8040" at the top-right of the cover, or a picture of the 1986 version of the MERP rulebook on the back. (These are just some possible differences that it might have, based on the variation differences for other adventure modules.)

2300 Angmar Land of the Witch King has two variations that I've identified. However, both of these variations list 1983 products on their catalog pages, which is odd, given that a) Angmar was released in 1982, and b) Umbar was also released in 1982 and has a variation with only 1982 products on its catalog page. I suspect there is a variation of Angmar that has only 1982 products on its catalog page. Please check yours!

Posts: 2504 · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 1:07 pm

Fantastic looking resource! Nice big scans (maybe a bit too big in some cases Wink

) and a lot of good information. Much nicer than the old ICE webring site.

Posts: 3151 · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:00 pm

Wow!

Really nice work you are doing here. You thought about porting that over here as a subweb? (plus you get a nice forum to go along with it Smile

)

ShaneG.

Posts: 1179 · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:16 pm

Just a picky comment, but I find the green text on the yellow background very difficult to read.

If you used a darker GREEN it might be easier for us old guys. Very Happy

The color above is 006400.

Posts: 80 · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:51 pm

Thanks for the feedback. (I darkened the green somewhat, and it will go live on my next upload of the site.)

Plaag, porting it to a subweb may eventually occur, but not now. See my earlier posts for some thoughts about that.

And I have an answer to one of the questions I listed earlier: There is another variation of 8040 Hillmen of the Trollshaws. I don't have images that I can display just yet, but I've seen visual proof of a copy with a UPC barcode on the back and a $7 price, which dates it around 1986 or later.

Posts: 973 · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:50 pm

I have checked my Hillmen and Angmars (I have three). They match the descriptions on your site.

I see that you have no plans to cover 2nd edition MERP, but what about:

- the LOTR Adventure Game + 2 module from 1991
- the Solo Game and Quest Game books, which ran from 1985 to 1988
- the five board games based in middle-earth being
* The Battle of the Five Armies (1984)
* Lonely Mountain (1984)
* The Fellowship of the Ring (1983)
* Riddle of the Ring (1985)
and later:
* The Hobbit Adventure Boardgame (1994)

The reason I ask is that I have two sets of 'The Fellowship of the Ring' and found that they are distinctly different prints.

Posts: 80 · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:55 pm

Thanks for the data points on Hillmen and Angmar.

I'm not planning on covering the LOTR Adventure Game stuff, the Solo/Quest game books, or the board games. I'm sticking to MERP proper.

But my long-term goal is to get this information onto some site that can be modified by anyone with the energy to do so ... possibly subject to some kind of moderation. Basically, I don't want to have to be responsible for updating the site for posterity. I'm thinking some sort of wiki would be best.

This is one reason why an Acaeum subweb isn't particularly attractive to me. It still requires one person (or specific group of people) to manually receive, format, and then publish the info.

To me, there's a big difference between having to do all the work and having my finger on a button that says "undo this change."

Posts: 973 · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:00 pm

When I first joined the Acaeum, I had a very similar idea and started this discussion in the Collecting General thread:

Building an RPG database Wiki-style

I still think this would be a great idea. There is a tonne of useful research material hidden away in these forum threads, which seems to get buried and lost. But it would take a lot of dedicated work to initiate.

Posts: 1179 · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:09 pm

I still think that it is a shame that Blackdougal's Dark Sun subweb never went live.

http://home.flash.net/~brenfrow/acaeum/DarkSunCode.htm

I was not around that far back, but it looks impressive. Smile

Posts: 1210 · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 12:41 am

well, i am also supporting the idea of having a subweb for MERP here (as well as a CoC one!)...

the point is that, the forum here is extremely living and up to date... other pages are not... afaik, the only working people are Plaag and friends for the JG subforum... hance i wonder if it is worth or not...

just not to be misunderstood: dont want to attack acaeum, but i have seen a situation unchanged for too long to say that the pages are updated...

Posts: 2269 · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:25 am

There are a lot of great subwebs that could be created here. I have thought about doing a nonTSR or TSR other games subweb but it requires a lot of time and dedication.

The Tome of Treasures does a lot of this now and the format is such that the information is there and available through the development stages of the website. So even though things might plod along a bit, further progress does eventually get made. Its also nice to have a few people working on it together. The Tome has also uncovered a number of new prints for TSR games (and other as well, Arduin comes to mind) that I never realized even existed. I think that in itself shows the need for such a website, be it here or on the Tome.

This also reiterates the hard work that has been done on the subwebs.

Posts: 80 · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 4:22 pm

Another update, with 10 more products (all the Fortress Modules #8201-8205, the rest of the Sourcebooks #8003-8007), and some new-but-incomplete details for a couple new minor variations (8040 Hillmen of the Trollshaws, 8003 LoME2).

http://homepage.mac.com/guyf/MERP/PrintingEditionReference.html

Thanks to those who have already contacted me with help! (And I'm always looking for more help, if you have the time to compare your versions to those I have listed.)

Posts: 112 · Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:07 pm

the boxed fellowship of the ring game was rushed out for origins/gencon and the ones they sold at the con that year were short some stickers (iirc) so they included 64 extra dice to be used instead. i bought it at the time but never played it because it didn`t have a military component like spi`s war of the ring.

Posts: 1179 · Posted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 10:10 pm

I can actually read the green text now! Very Happy

Thanks!

Posts: 4704 · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:13 pm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250270559585&ssPage Name=ADME:B:EOIBSA:US:1123

This is Merp #2024, a boxed map of Middle Earth. Quite rare, and usually goes for a lot.

Posts: 973 · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 6:59 pm

Nice pick up!

Posts: 1736 · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 7:00 pm

Nice buy Frank !!!
Especially to get it in the original box (toblerone shaped).

Posts: 4704 · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 8:00 pm

It was. I e-mailed the seller to figure out exactly what it was. I still need the 2-map set, it'll turn up eventually.
I should throw a dart at Coward for starting this thread. Here I thought I was close to having all printings and variations of MERP, and he tips over my apple cart. Damn you!
BTW, I'll unpack my MERP soon and go through the ones I have to help out with your site. It is quite well-designed and easy to read, though it does take a while to load.

Posts: 4449 · Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:49 pm

Deadlord39 wrote:

It was. I e-mailed the seller to figure out exactly what it was. I still need the 2-map set, it'll turn up eventually.

How much do the two map sets (#2008 if I'm not mistaken) go for? Troll and Toad had one for awhile, I think but they don't anymore.

Mike B.

Posts: 4704 · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:05 am

Not sure, I've only seen them once. Well over $50.