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This is a fascinating discussion and I regret that I don't have more time to post my reactions to its finer points in more detail (hey!-- I heard those sighs of relief!).
Here's what compelled me to post: Fordim (greetings, welcome to the Downs, and all that good stuff), your analogies tend to pit author against reader in a titanic struggle, with the free will of the latter at stake. As the conversation has gotten a bit abstract for a pragmatist like myself, I wonder if you might be so good as to provide examples of the chief battlegrounds on which this war is fought. Or more plainly, where exactly are author and reader (potentially) at odds? What freedoms do you seek that Tolkien as author might restrict? Does the subtext of this concern have mainly to do with RPGs, or does it have broader application?
Kudos to all for a very thoughtful and thought-provoking thread.
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