LOTROCON: Gauging Interest

Hello fellows!

A few of the other LOTRO commentators and I (I’m host of Moormur’s LOTROCast) have been kicking around the idea of a LOTROCON. This community is very strong and supportive. The one major step we haven’t taken yet is to have a mass meeting of some sort (at least, not that I know of). I’m not really asking for commitment as an idea such as LOTROCON is so abstract right now that it may never happen. The economy being what it is now, something like this would probably have to wait a while anyway, at least until the end of the year or into 2010. But you never know until you ask, so I thought I would. All we are doing right now is seeing if there is even interest in an event like this. There are other LOTR related conventions out there, but this would be one just for us (although we may desire to open it up to DDO and AC players, as well).

What would you do at LOTROCON?

This is a very fair question. The major concern I have is that if we are going to put on some sort of group meeting, it needs to be worthit. I would hate to be someone who flew in to wherever the convention would be only to spend a few hours at a dinner and mingling session, play live with some peeps, then hit the road. We have come up with a few ideas and we would like your input on them. In addition, if you have any sort of inkling of an idea, please list it so we can consider it. Please note that none of us have contacted Turbine in any way to see if they would be willing to take time out to participate in some of the events so any event including Turbine is PURE SPECULATION (although I hope that their commitment to their players so far is an indication of what may come…)

Some of the more specifically game and player centered ideas for events so far include:

-Player Meet and Greet
-Developer Panel Sessions
-Making of Middle-Earth
-Preview?
-Community Panel Sessions
-Gameplay Tournaments
-PvP
-Sparring
-Chicken Runs
-Scavenger Hunts, etc.
-Turbine could design some cosmetic items specifically for people who attend the convention (this would probably add to the cost of the convention)
-Battle of the Bards
-Symposiums on Tolkien

The main obstacle I think we face in creating some sort of LOTROCON is making it worth the trip. As it stands, I don’t think we are at that point yet in terms of events. But I feel that with input from the community here, we could get some interesting things cooking.

Some things for you to think about:

-Should we include non-Turbine LOTR games? If we can show that it will be worth their while, EA and Warner Brothers (who just gained the license) along with the hardware companies that frequent these types of things may be interested in sending reps and goodies.
-Should we include non-LOTR centered events? Communities that embrace LOTR, RPGs, Gaming in general have other interests. Comics? Card games? Or should we keep it specifically LOTR centered?
-Do we want to open this up to DDO and AC players? I know for a fact that DDO has a strong community. We may be able to add more variety to events if we include some of Turbine’s other games.

Like I said, these are only ideas. LOTROCON may never happen. But do any of these ideas sound interesting to you? I should note that if we have a dream of involving Turbine, we will need to hold the event in Boston, Massachusetts (in general), Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New York, New Hampshire, or perhaps Pennsylvania.

Anyway, let me know what people think. I have set up a spot on the Official Forums to discuss it publicly. You can find the link here.

See you in Middle-Earth,

Moormur
Host of Moormur’s LOTROCast
Lotrocast.blogspot.com