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<blockquote data-quote="Snarf Zagyg" data-source="post: 9427716" data-attributes="member: 7023840">On this, I don't actually think it's the giant mistake people view it as in hindsight.There are <s>two</s> three things we have to remember-1. Yes, Tolkien is always a big deal. But this was after the '60s and '70s massive popularity, and prior to the Jackson movies. So while it's always a big deal, it's wasn't the BIG DEAL then that it seems like now.2. D&amp;D is a fantasy RPG. LoTR would be a fantasy RPG. It's never been clear that a licensed LoTR game would do anything more than cannibalize from D&amp;D, while costing a lot in licensing. In addition, as we can see from various LoTR games that have been made, they all do fine. But none have ever set the world on fire. As much as people like to say how awesome a D&amp;D/LoTR game would be, I have never understood the financial imperative for it from the D&amp;D rights-holder's side. Licensing, especially Tolkien licensing, costs money.3. The books would have been major money makers! Maybe it was an ask too far, but it was certainly an ask worth making.In other words, this is one of those things (that, again, wasn't just a Lorraine thing) that I have trouble seeing as a terrible mistake. Don't get me wrong- TSR made a LOT of terrible mistakes in the '90s. Actually, TSR made a lot of terrible mistakes from the inception of the company. I think it's a testament to how amazing the products were by the creatives that the company kept going despite those mistakes (and with the intervention of Lorraine when Gygax was going to finish it off in the '80s).I also keep coming back to the fact that RPG publishing, after the initial boom in the late 70s to the early 80s, wasn't a great business to be in.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Snarf Zagyg, post: 9427716, member: 7023840"] On this, I don't actually think it's the giant mistake people view it as in hindsight. There are [S]two[/S] three things we have to remember- 1. Yes, Tolkien is always a big deal. But this was after the '60s and '70s massive popularity, and prior to the Jackson movies. So while it's always a big deal, it's wasn't the BIG DEAL then that it seems like now. 2. D&D is a fantasy RPG. LoTR would be a fantasy RPG. It's never been clear that a licensed LoTR game would do anything more than cannibalize from D&D, while costing a lot in licensing. In addition, as we can see from various LoTR games that have been made, they all do fine. But none have ever set the world on fire. As much as people like to say how awesome a D&D/LoTR game would be, I have never understood the financial imperative for it from the D&D rights-holder's side. Licensing, especially Tolkien licensing, costs money. 3. The books would have been major money makers! Maybe it was an ask too far, but it was certainly an ask worth making. In other words, this is one of those things (that, again, wasn't just a Lorraine thing) that I have trouble seeing as a terrible mistake. Don't get me wrong- TSR made a LOT of terrible mistakes in the '90s. Actually, TSR made a lot of terrible mistakes from the inception of the company. I think it's a testament to how amazing the products were by the creatives that the company kept going despite those mistakes (and with the intervention of Lorraine when Gygax was going to finish it off in the '80s). I also keep coming back to the fact that RPG publishing, after the initial boom in the late 70s to the early 80s, wasn't a great business to be in. [/QUOTE]

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