Akrasia - Actually, I based HARP off of RM2 for the most part. I wanted a game that was similiar enough to Rolemaster that moving from one to the other would not be too difficult. Of course flexibility was a major concern as well.
However, I am not listed as the only author. Plus, I was not the one in charge of the editorial process for it, and there are a few things in there that I would have like to have done differently.
The Development points is one of those things, as I am actually a proponent of a static number of DPs. In fact, an article I wrote for
The Guild Companion shortly after HARP was released gives guidelines on how to play HARP without levels. In that article, I recommend using something along the lines of 45 or 50 DPs per level.
As for Tolkien, I don't hate everything Tolkien. I don't like Tolkien's works, as I think that they are somewhat dull and boring, but I don't hate them. Now, Tolkien Enterprises, them I hate. They deliberately killed the old ICE. Even ignoring judicial orders to disrupt and kill the old ICE. TE was one of the reasons that I never bothered to look for the MERP game, as the new ICE did not want anything that might cause TE to focus its lidless eye upon us.....
As for the old MERP modules, I think that they are some of the best ever done (I have a number of the module, just not the game itself... hehe).