The world is rife with properties ideal for the MMO treatment, but few are as suited to this style of game as Middle-earth. With enough built in lore to often rival humanity's own storied history, any MMO developer working on a Tolkien-inspired game should consider itself lucky. Popular wisdom would dictate that, anyway.

But if you talk to the developers of Turbine -- who are currently busy cobbling away at Lord of the Rings Online -- you'll hear a different story. They'll quickly tell you that working with the Tolkien license is a bit like a double-edged sword. Dipped in poison. With an Icy Crusader enchantment thrown on it. Such is the fury of Tolkien's fanbase, if properly stoked, and, they assured us, woe to anyone who they perceive as doing it wrong.