Skyrim’s Middle Earth Roleplaying Project Halted

Skyrim’s epic, anticipated gaming mod, the Middle Earth Roleplaying Project (MERP), has been brought to a halt by Warner Brothers Entertainment. Warner Brothers, who owns the rights to the Lord of the Rings in the gaming industry, sent out Cease and Desist letters to the developers of this highly ambitious gaming modification.

Consequently, the Cease and Desist orders have prevented the project from progressing. This comes as a painful shock to Skyrim, Lord of the Rings, and game mod fans.

However, there is still some hope for MERP. Unsurprisingly, MERP has become incredibly popular since its origins back during The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion age and has amassed a significant following. The MERP mod currently places 6th out of 17,000 in popularity on Moddb.com. Fans of MERP can even sign a fast growing petition to pressure Warner Brothers into lifting the restriction. Any readers or supporters interested can sign the Save MERP petition and show support by liking the Save MERP Facebook page. The MERP Twitter hashtag (#SaveMERP) is another way of showing some LOTR/Skyrim love. Many MERP fans have showed their loyalty by posting on forums “You have my sword!” and “You have my axe!” In addition, Team MERP has also reported hiring a lawyer to assist in their appeal of Warner Brothers’ C&D letter.

For any readers unfamiliar with the MERP mod, MERP developers describe their creative masterpiece as a “Lord of the Rings total conversion for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.” Developers take their project seriously, respecting J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision and approaching their designs with maturity and accuracy. The quality of the Skyrim/LOTR mod takes design concepts from the movies but also heavily relies on LOTR book descriptions. To read MERP’s official goal statement, visit this link. The mod aims to provide a full Ringbearer storyline where the gamer plays as Frodo Baggins, an open world “over 9 times” the size of Skyrim including memorable LOTR towns and landmarks, Middle Earth weaponry and armor, Middle Earth creatures, in depth and related LOTR quests, and signature War of the Ring battles. The Middle Earth Roleplaying Project, although currently trapped in irons, seems to cater to the fantasy, RPG lover’s dreams. Support and protest has been growing steady and strong and it is possible this Skyrim/LOTR mod may eventually be freed from its legal fetters.

If you’re interested in voicing concerns, support, or want to ask questions, visit MERP’s forums. If the project can continue at a later date, the mod would be released for Windows.