MERP- Why so hard to get & expensive?

[BLOOD AXE]

Why are the MERP books so damn expensive?

Are these available anywhere as cheap downloads?
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[serleran]

There are many reasons something increases in price, but its usually caused by demand. Why the demand? Well, possibly because people appreciate the older system than the newer one? Maybe they perceive something about the ICE method as "better" in some way. Or,. maybe its people collecting the items again... not really sure. I don't consider them rare or valuable (some of them may be exceptions.)

As for whether they are "available..." I'll assume you mean legally. And, I do not have an answer for that other than "I doubt it" since the company that released them (ICE) does not have rights to sell MERP.
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[Piperdog]

Ebay has some good buys if you keep an eye open. I found that the new Rolemaster Express is almost identical in mechanical aspects. MERP still has fewer attributes than RMX, which I like better than the normal Rolemaster boatload of attributes.
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When in doubt as to who is in charge on the battlefield, listen to the man with the bloodiest sword.

[Traveller]

Forget about PDFs. None are available legally, and the books themselves will likely never be reprinted again. Limited supply and high demand equals high prices. That and the fact it's LotR. The collectors and gamers simply won't give the game up. I'm one of them who won't give the game up, though I own very little MERP myself.
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[BLOOD AXE]

I saw a disc with all the PDFs on it for sale on Ebay awhile back- i should have bought it.....
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[tylermo]

Like they said...collector's. The fact that it's somewhat older material NOT stamped with pics from the later movies, or the books are not the 19 millionth printing(in other words...rare), and that LOTR role players seek material for that sort of thing. I only have a couple of merp items I'm sad to say. I LOVE the lotr books, and would love to have all the books to read. Maybe I'd even draw some inspiration for my fantasy rpg'ing. That said, playing in Middle Earth seems weird because Bilbo, Frodo, Aragorn, and the rest are established players in that tale. How can somebody's character really do that without a rewrite, etc.? Anyway, I'm off topic. Good luck with your search. One item I recommend is actually Decipher's LOTR maps for their rpg. Those were a thing of beauty.

[Traveller]

BLOOD AXE wrote:
I saw a disc with all the PDFs on it for sale on Ebay awhile back- i should have bought it.....

Save your money.
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NOTE TO ALL: If you don't like something I've said, PM me and tell me to my face, then give me a chance to set things right before you call a moderator.
My small homage to E.G.G.

[BLOOD AXE]

Traveller wrote:
Save your money.

Why?
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[Omote]

Traveller wrote:
Save your money.

I know I certainly didn't.
~O
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> Omote's Advanced C&C stuff <
Duke Omote Landwehr, Holy Order of the FPQ ~ Prince of the Castles & Crusades Society

[maasenstodt]

BLOOD AXE wrote:
Why?

I'd guess that it's because Traveller thinks intellectual monopolies are legitimate, and passing along the .pdfs (whether for sale or not) without the explicit permission of those granted said monopolies is, in the land claimed to be under the jurisdiction of the United States and at time I write this, declared to be against intellectual monopoly law.

I may be mistaken in this assessment, and expect that Traveller will step in to let me know if that is the case.
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Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once? -- Henry David Thoreau

[anglefish]

If you want to try for something even more rare, and probably more in line with C&C, try finding original ICE Lord of the Rings Adventure/Tolkien Quest/QuestGame rule set. It was a more simplified MERP system that had several solo adventures and made magic more rare, thus more in line with the world that MERP had been.
http://rpggeek.com/rpg/1570/tolkien-quest

[Traveller]

BLOOD AXE wrote:
Why?

I'd guess that it's because Traveller thinks intellectual monopolies are legitimate, and passing along the .pdfs (whether for sale or not) without the explicit permission of those granted said monopolies is, in the land claimed to be under the jurisdiction of the United States and at time I write this, declared to be against intellectual monopoly law.

I may be mistaken in this assessment, and expect that Traveller will step in to let me know if that is the case.

It's not what I think. It's what I know. The way you phrase your response exposes your bias.

I'm not going to get into a fight with you over this. In fact, I agree with you. Copyright law is messed up in this country and needs serious reform. But, until that happens, the only thing that matters is that PDFs of MERP material are illegal. Such discussions have no place on these boards, as they could open up Steve and Davis to potential litigation for promoting copyright infringement.

[dutch206]

MERP has been out of print since the mid-90's. "He who must not be named" yanked the license from ICE when they declared bankruptcy. The company re-formed, but the other party would not re-issue the license.

[Lord Crimson]

It's not what I think. It's what I know. The way you phrase your response exposes your bias.

I'm not going to get into a fight with you over this. In fact, I agree with you. Copyright law is messed up in this country and needs serious reform. But, until that happens, the only thing that matters is that PDFs of MERP material are illegal. Such discussions have no place on these boards, as they could open up Steve and Davis to potential litigation for promoting copyright infringement.

I don't think he was arguing with you or even trying to belittle your position (nor was he exposing his own "bias"). In fact, it reads like he was trying to state what he believes your position to be as unequivocally and as unbiased as is possible when talking about someone else's opinion on what is (clearly) a fairly touchy topic.

In other words, he was just trying to sum up to the other poster as to why you responded as you did.

[Traveller]

First, welcome. Though I really don't think you wanted me as your first response. I'm not as friendly as some of these guys.

I'm half inclined to tell you that what you think about his post and my response isn't relevant, but I read it anyway. Your thought process is flawed because it assumes that maasenstodt's response was impartial when it was proven to be anything but.

maasenstodt exposed his bias by referring to intellectual property law as "intellectual monopoly". His entire response centers around his belief that IP law is unjust and unfair. My response however shows no bias. While I do agree with him, I also point out that until the law changes, we all have to comply with it, regardless of our personal feelings on the matter.

The main reason I wanted to avoid an argument is in an attempt to let this thread die, because it is advocating piracy on the Trolls' personal webspace. While it may be unlikely they'd ever get called on it, prudence dictates that the Trolls be proactive about this sort of thing on the new boards. There are places for that sort of discussion. This isn't one of them.

[Omote]

THUNDERDOME!!!!

~O

[Breakdaddy]

Let's get this thread back on topic please.

[GreyLord]

Seeing I have both MERP 1e and 2e, along with the Tolkienquest and Middle Earth Quest books, does that make me, well I can't say old because I don't think those books even come close to being the oldest stuff I have in my collection. I guess lucky I got them when they were originally released?

[anglefish]

Seeing I have both MERP 1e and 2e, along with the Tolkienquest and Middle Earth Quest books, does that make me, well I can't say old because I don't think those books even come close to being the oldest stuff I have in my collection. I guess lucky I got them when they were originally released?

So how do they all stack up to each other?

[GreyLord]

Seeing I have both MERP 1e and 2e, along with the Tolkienquest and Middle Earth Quest books, does that make me, well I can't say old because I don't think those books even come close to being the oldest stuff I have in my collection. I guess lucky I got them when they were originally released?

So how do they all stack up to each other?

?

I'm not certain I'm understanding what you are asking.

The back of the MEQB have stats for the characters for MERP, but I've never tried the conversion, same goes for trying to convert MERP 1e to MERP 2e, if that's what you are asking.

I like the cover to MERP 2e better, but the layout and illustrations inside the books of the MERP 1e better. the MEQB were better put together then the TQ books, but I normally have them either on the bookshelf or in an RPG carrying case (a file case which I put RPG's in for better mobility) rather than actually stacking them on each other.

[anglefish]

Seeing I have both MERP 1e and 2e, along with the Tolkienquest and Middle Earth Quest books, does that make me, well I can't say old because I don't think those books even come close to being the oldest stuff I have in my collection. I guess lucky I got them when they were originally released?

So how do they all stack up to each other?

?

I'm not certain I'm understanding what you are asking.

The back of the MEQB have stats for the characters for MERP, but I've never tried the conversion, same goes for trying to convert MERP 1e to MERP 2e, if that's what you are asking.

I like the cover to MERP 2e better, but the layout and illustrations inside the books of the MERP 1e better. the MEQB were better put together then the TQ books, but I normally have them either on the bookshelf or in an RPG carrying case (a file case which I put RPG's in for better mobility) rather than actually stacking them on each other.

Well, each version has a varying degree of simplicity and level of magic. Did one seem to hit a sweet spot for rules vs. flexiblity?

[GreyLord]

I don't think I ever played the books as an independant system.

The one that I played the most was 1e. 2e was pretty, and most would say it was more polished, but I probably prefer 1e. Most likely that's because it's the one I played the most of.

[Joe]

I played MERP extensively back in the day.

We began playing MERP with a group that had played Rolemaster. The magic seemd to simplistic at the time so we went with Spell Law.
I played MERP with the rules as written, RM rules, and 2E rules.
I just loved the setting and the quality of ICE products.

They are too expensive by my blood nowadays but thats because the stuff was classic.

I suggest you refrain from buying any MERP stuff for yourself.
I suggest you send me the stuff you buy instead.