Posted by Vengerin
on 3/5/2008, 4:31 pm, in reply to "Re: In memory of Gary...."
--Previous Message--
: One of the things I always seem to hear is that Dungeons and
: Dragons is a plagerized game, having borrowed heavily from
: Tolkien, but Tolkien only borrowed from those before him.
:
: It is an ancient and honorable tradition that each storyteller,
: each generation, take the stories that were passed to them, add
: something of their own, and then pass them on again to the rest
: of us. Gary did that, and more.
:
: That doesn't lessen his achievement, it confirms it. Gary Gygax
: took the same material, the same tradition, and told a new kind
: of story that everyone could enjoy: young and old. It is fitting
: that he be given the same high praise once given to Tolkien
: himself.
:
:
: "He is a great enough magician to tap our most common
: nightmares, daydreams and twilight fancies, but he never
: invented them either: he found them a place to live, a green
: alternative to each day's madness here in a poisoned world. We
: are raised to honor all the wrong explorers and discoverers -
: thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses. Let us at
: last praise the colonizers of dreams."
: - Peter S. Beagle
:
: Farewell, Gary.
:
:
D&D is a game, LoTR is a saga of books. You can plagiat something in the same line: Took a drawing for a drawing, a book for a book... When are different things can be called inspiration and never plagiarism. And in the case of Tolkien is funny 'cause he took traditions and folklore for his stories and books... isn't taking from writers or autors, is took some in the traditions in the common memory to mix in something new but with that old taste... the taste of something everybody knows.
That is almost the case of JK Rowling... speaking of plagiarism in things common in the media like dragons, unicorns, trolls... is stupid.
Gary Gygax created a game, something free where everybody could let the mind fly and enjoy a moment with friends using something so devalued as imagination.
Sure there are dragons, trolls, elves... but is common, well-known mythology. Is only a fantasy enviroment, complete free, there aren't Trancos or Frodo or Sauron...
For that I even don't like LoTR like a rpg, is bored. All is writed, you can't touch a single rock for free 'cause maybe Gandalf will use that rock in the future.
Anyway, my point is.. If I draw a dragon I don't copying Tolkien, not even taking references from him 'cause he doesn't invent dragons, elves, orcs, trolls... Only created a beautiful full of wonder world with all of the them, with a complete history and all.
Gary Gygax was far away from that... He even created a free fantasy world, a world with no limits, only a few patterns to guide people into that world.
I think that was the most beautiful gift that someone can possible let to us: a place where we are free, with only the limits of our minds.
He deserves his place in Heaven for that, I think.
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