Stereotypes

[Roa_Aoife]

Just adding my two cents:

Almost al of my fellow D&Der's (and I know quite a few) are big Tolkien fans, and the general theory is that First Edition took alot of inspiration from the professor, as did such games as Magic: the Gathering. (You can read direct Tolkien quotes on many of the earlier editions.) Second Edition moved away from Tolkien's influence during the rise of mysticism and similar new religions such as Wicca in the US, and took a darker turn as well. A lot of media was doing this at the time as the youth began to try to break away from the previous generation and a great movement towards the "edgier" began. Third Edition has evolved even further. Admittedly, I haven't seen Fourth Edition, yet.

Other games that have come after have attempted to distinguish themselves from D&D, as fantasy authors have tried to distinguish themselves from Tolkien. Thus, details have been changed regarding the races and the landscape so that each new product appears to actually be new. You could say that even though the images we see are not of Tolkien's design, he is still responsible for them, by the simple fact that he set the standard that everyone is trying to overtake.