Why Copyright can be good
minus the History
Games-Workshop found themselves in a boatload of trouble after Chapter House… For Warhammer 40,000, for the most part, all of their ideas were, original enough just the names they used weren’t that great. Indeed they were anything but, the ideas were solid, so they had a solid copyright. Fantasy was a completely different story.
As with most fantasy stories they are straight rip from Tolkien at least on the surface, and with them having the Lord of the Rings franchise, most people could see it clearly now even if they couldn’t before. But the problem is that people could make straight rips of their work, because of their bungling with Activision their particular ‘Orc’ had become far more generic. Same with everything else so what do you do?
Well, something that upset a lot of people but in the end created a whole other world.
Age of Sigmar
Now the initial offerings of the Age of Sigmar weren’t that great, their idea to create super super soldiers that looked oddly reminiscent of space marines had people… let’s just say it upset but, where I want to focus is on the more recent creations.
Idoneth Deepkin
Ask D&D player there is an elf for every occasion, I am sure there are even birthday elves so how do you make truly unique elves? Well like this
Sweet Jesus Mary and Joseph, Allah, Vishnu and Buddha someone save me from this horrible fish people!
So if that isn’t metal enough for you.
The lore
In the cold depths of unknown space and time, Teclis one of the now two eleven deities who came from the world that was, had sorrow in his heart. His people were gone, swallowed by the great devourer, the prince of pleasure, the one known as Slaanesh. He sort to make a people in his own image mighty in the ways of magic and able to read its tides.
Little did he know how literal their ability would be.
He created the Deepkin, hidden from the prying eyes of chaos. In the cold depths. Except, there was something wrong, as most masters of magic do, he forgot something basic, essential, even fundamental. Reaching beyond his grasp, he created a people without the most fundamental fuel of creation.
Souls
They begged him for what they needed most, but he was disgusted by his own creation. He disappeared, leaving them in the cold depths of the water to rot.
Abandoned by god, cold and soulless, these creatures of the careless depths crawl out into the light and with them, they brought the dark tide. An oppressive weight of soulness, hatred and hunger.
Soon the new worlds knew an ancient fear once more realised. Pirates not looking for plunder and booty, wealth and women, no something far more base was their desire. Something so terrifying that perhaps your mind recognises it and refuses to at the same time.
They come, for your souls.
If that isn’t Grimdark enough for you, I am sorry there is no helping you.
Elves riding turtles on a dark tide of soulness, dude. That is amazing. It is Games-Workshop return to form! Look at these models!
These are the models painted by ‘Average Joe’s’ not by the Games-Workshop studio, look how beautifully they come up! Absolutely tremendous, fantastic and other words for beautiful I don’t know how to express.
When one is constrained by copyright and they must make something original, beautiful things happen, look at these models, look at that snippet of lore. That was me just retelling their tale in short.
Nesscitiy is the mother of invention
And this, being forced outside of the box, this is what happens when a massive company of means is forced outside of their box.
Imagine what you could make if you went outside of your box…
Imagine what you could create.