Post originally by Sang at 2003-11-12 19:26:15
Converted from Phorums BB System

Peter Knutsen wrote:

<i><b>Anyone who claims that D&D belongs to the same genre as "Lord of the Rings" or "Earthsea" has a severe perceptual bias.</b></i>

Because you say it's so?

This is ad hominem. If you really think it is so, then make your case by telling us why it is so, not merely by denigrating those who beleive it.

FYI, FH does not lump in LotR and D&D; I explicitly point out this in the review, so you are, in part, refuting a claim that was not made. It calls LotR Epic Fantasy and Earthsea, Dying Earth and D&D High Fantasy. The characteristics of high fantasy as the book defines it is potent and/or common magic... which is true of all the aforementioned sources. Now no one is claiming those sources are identical, but in citing the common elements, it is perfectly accurate. To deny this seems to me emotive, or as you say, biased.

That said, even though the book doesn't make the claim that LotR and D&D are the same genre, I will, to the extent it is true, defend it. As the book defines epic fantasy, it states that the quest is an everpresent edifice in Epic Fantasy tales. Quiz my players sometime on whether or not D&D has quests (not an unusual edifice at all in D&D, mind you.) That said, the "personal journey" aspect of Epic Fantasy is often absent in D&D (as much of a symptom of the RPG medium as anything else), so I can understand why the author would have reasonable reservations claiming this is D&D's most identifiable genre.

You accuse bias, but I think you are the one betraying it.

-Sang