Quote:
Originally Posted by Dark Lord Galen
Spot on Erin... EXCEPT above... they tried on more than one occasion to eliminate competition via that... it was tossed, and not derivative....
Tunnels & Trolls in late 70s was first that came to my mind and was attacked by then TSR, and later again by WOC in 2005.
Gygax Magazine (yea that Gygax) was a periodical in similar form to Dragon Magazine and again was attacked via WOC/Hazbro, and again tossed as not related to the IP they held over World of Greyhawk (something I keep up with in detail). And after personally speaking with Luke Gygax on this, the basis of claim ironically was the very name itself. The court ruled that a man has the right to his own name was the basis of dismissal. Unfortunately in this particular case, it ended up quagmired in an internal family battle and died.
And lastly...
Mazes & Monsters, which by any standard was a blatant aim at D&D... and any growing up in the late 70s / early 80s will tell you an impact on the game... but again tossed not once but twice since they (as you note in your post above) were not RPGs but a Novel & made for TV Movie....
The follow up book "The Dungeon Master" couldn't get any bolder at "re-use" of a name...
And while WOC could continue filing suits... at some point they reach the law of diminishing return... I suppose....
DLG
|
The sad thing about that is after Gary's ex wife sold TSR to the Dille Family Trust, the people who own the Buck rogers IP, and Gary was forced out of the company he wrote a new RPG called Dangerous Journeys: Mythus which was quite good even if it has some undeniable flaws. In particular the magic system was far ahead of its time. But Lorraine Williams, head of the Dille Trust and at the time Ceo or some such of TSR, sued Gary over the game claiming it was too close to D&D even though it wasn't. It drained Gary of cash and kept him from releasing product until he finally had to settle and the settlement included turning over rights to the game to TSR who promptly shelved it to never see the light of day again simply out of spite since it is well known Lorraine hated the hippy Gary.