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Message: <blockquote data-quote="barsoomcore" data-source="post: 1901138" data-attributes="member: 812">J_D: I disagree on your treatment of Middle-Earth. Tolkien's world is very specifically about the passing of the Third Age. Once that's done, there really aren't any more interesting stories -- which we know because Tolkien didn't write any stories set AFTER that date. He created a vast amount of history to support the story of the end of the Third Age, but note that the Professor himself didn't publish ANY of that material. It's all been published after his death, without his approval.So it seems much more likely to me that he did a lot of world-creation (like any DM would) in order to produce a world that could support his one primary story -- the story of the destruction of the Ring and the end of the Third Age. The passing of the Elves and the rise of Men. That is the story for which Middle-Earth was created.The fact that after his death people went through his notes and published them does not support your contention.Now of course we can't ask him and get his point of view on things, but the evidence more strongly supports the one world = one story position than your post indicates.I also disagree on your suggestion that worlds created to support a single story are necessarily shallow. That the worldbuilding process stops at some point doesn't imply that it's been shortchanged or done in a cursory fashion. All worldbuilding processes stop at some point. The fact that the creator no longer feels the urge to tell more stories set in that world doesn't signify anything beyond that simple fact itself.A shallow, poorly conceived world is just as capable of supporting a large number of stories as a rich and well-conceived one.</blockquote>

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