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LOTR and D&D (by Robert J. Kuntz)

Started by Benoist, April 19, 2010, 02:04:50 PM

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Benoist

April 19, 2010, 02:04:50 PM Last Edit: March 12, 2011, 04:56:22 PM by Benoist
Interesting article written by Robert J. Kuntz for The Dragon, talking about the relationship between The Lord of the Rings and the D&D game:



Click on the picture to see a greater (readable) resolution.

Nicephorus

#1
April 19, 2010, 02:36:55 PM
A page of poorly written text that could have been summarized as "D&D covers more than just LOTR."

Soylent Green

#2
April 19, 2010, 02:44:21 PM
Relationship? What relationship? D&D ripped off a whole bunch of ideas from LotR. What else is there to add?
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Benoist

#3
April 19, 2010, 03:01:40 PM
Quote from: Nicephorus;374751A page of poorly written text that could have been summarized as "D&D covers more than just LOTR."
Sorry to insult your reading standards. :)

jeff37923

#4
April 19, 2010, 03:13:13 PM
Didn't TSR get sued by the Estate of Tolkien for using such pieces of intellectual property as Balrogs and Barrow-Wights?
"Meh."

Benoist

#5
April 19, 2010, 03:17:13 PM Last Edit: April 19, 2010, 03:21:04 PM by Benoist

finarvyn

#6
April 19, 2010, 03:32:57 PM
It's a nice article in the original post, and it gives a feel for the perspective of game designers "back in the day."

I think when TSR got started the game took off so fast they didn't think much about IP issues. After all, in my homebrew game I never worry about someone breaking down my door because I use the term "hobbit" instead of "halfling" because I'm not trying to publish. If I xerox my rules and give them to a friend, maybe I don't worry about it even then. So it was with TSR when they rose from obscure to high-profile, and suddenly some of their stuff violated IP.

Warriors of Mars. Tolkien references in the LBB. Burroughs and Tolkien hunting them down.
Marv / Finarvyn
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Benoist

#7
April 19, 2010, 04:14:07 PM
Quote from: finarvyn;374767It's a nice article in the original post, and it gives a feel for the perspective of game designers "back in the day."

I think when TSR got started the game took off so fast they didn't think much about IP issues. After all, in my homebrew game I never worry about someone breaking down my door because I use the term "hobbit" instead of "halfling" because I'm not trying to publish. If I xerox my rules and give them to a friend, maybe I don't worry about it even then. So it was with TSR when they rose from obscure to high-profile, and suddenly some of their stuff violated IP.

Warriors of Mars. Tolkien references in the LBB. Burroughs and Tolkien hunting them down.
Absolutely. I'm pretty sure that the IP problems just emerged organically from commercial rise of D&D, whereas copies of the game floated around prior to the "official" publication of the game. The potential problems that would arise from an sudden immense popularity of the game just didn't register on their radar at the time.

StormBringer

#8
April 19, 2010, 04:36:32 PM
Quote from: jeff37923;374760Didn't TSR get sued by the Estate of Tolkien for using such pieces of intellectual property as Balrogs and Barrow-Wights?
Ents, too, so they renamed them Treants.  :)
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The Butcher

#9
April 19, 2010, 05:31:09 PM
Love it, and I'll pass it on to the rest of my gaming group -- a bunch of Philistines raised on AD&D 2e and Dragonlance, who cling to their Romantic high fantasy, bitch out how "ZOMG spell memo iz teh suxxorz" and "ZOMG we should be all Big Damn Heroes" and fail to acknowledge the sword & sorcerous glory of Old School! :D

mhensley

#10
April 19, 2010, 09:51:03 PM
No matter what anyone says, Tolkien is very important to D&D and to fantasy as a whole.  

And I just love that halfling pic.:)

vault keeper

#11
March 12, 2011, 04:51:55 PM
which issue of Dragon magazine does this article come from?

thanks

Benoist

#12
March 12, 2011, 04:59:15 PM
Dragon #13. Just realized there was a problem with the link from the pic in the OP. I fixed it.

Elfdart

#13
March 12, 2011, 11:06:01 PM
Quote from: jeff37923;374760Didn't TSR get sued by the Estate of Tolkien for using such pieces of intellectual property as Balrogs and Barrow-Wights?

They were sued by Sol Zaentz, who held the rights to anything derivative of Tolkien's books (movies, TV shows, toys, etc). Zaentz not only demanded that Tolkien-derived monsters be removed, he also claimed that he held exclusive rights to the words goblin, dwarf, elf, troll and others. The funny thing is, TSR removed the words hobbit and ent, even though Tolkien didn't create them.

But then, Sol Zaentz sued John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival for sounding like John Fogerty on a John Fogerty solo album.

Which only goes to prove that just as property is theft, intellectual property is intellectual theft.
Jesus Fucking Christ, is this guy honestly that goddamned stupid? He can\'t understand the plot of a Star Wars film? We\'re not talking about "Rashomon" here, for fuck\'s sake. The plot is as linear as they come. If anything, the film tries too hard to fill in all the gaps. This guy must be a flaming retard.  --Mike Wong on Red Letter Moron\'s review of The Phantom Menace

DKChannelBoredom

#14
March 13, 2011, 01:58:40 AM
Hadn't heard the Fogerty/Creedence story before - crazy! Also I can't help but think, that Sol/Saul Zaentz is a very D&D arch-villian name. I'm sure there must be a crazy wizard named Zaentz out there somewhere.
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