Lord of the Rings Online

It can’t be denied just how much of an influence JRR Tolkien has had on the world of fantasy, in literature, fantasy role playing games, video games, film and even in music. The hippy equivalent of N4G users may have knocked the six books and their author in the sixties (including Gary Gygax, creator of Dungeons and Dragons), but the increase in sales of all sorts of fantasy, plus the widespread acceptance of it as a genre, can largely be attributed to that body of work. Perhaps it is for that reason that the Tolkien estate is so protective of their property, why you’ll only ever find hobbits in official Lord of the Rings games (or the upcoming Hobbit games). This over-protectiveness changed up some of the freedom of people writing D&D style games, but continues to have an effect on MMO games today.