History OlderThanTheyThink / TableTopGames

** The first truly recreational wargame, designed for that purpose, was published as Little Wars by HGWells in 1913.

* Speaking of ''[[DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]''...the displacer beast (a catlike monster with tentacles sprouting out of its back) is based off of an alien called Coeurl from A.E. Van Vogt's short story ''Black Destroyer'' (later compiled into the novel ''Voyage of the Space Beagle''). So are the "coeurl" enemies in the various FinalFantasy games (although they've generally got elongated facial barbels rather than back-tentacles), and Mughi from ''LightNovel/DirtyPair''. Perhaps ironically, the displacer beast is not included in the open game content.

** The first truly recreational wargame, designed for that purpose, was published as Little Wars by HGWells in 1913.

** There are plenty of similarities between the ''Warhammer Fantasy'' setting (published in the 1980s) and Tekumel (published in the 1970s), as well; both exist in a pocket universe, have two moons, are caught between the usual Forces of Chaos and Order, have long-lasting Empires with complicated in-story histories, a salad of races drawn from the gene-stock of the external universe. That said, they've gone different directions.
*** They share only tertiary characteristics. ''Warhammer Fantasy'' is a fantastic take on XVI-century Europe and visceral dark fantasy with heavy horror undertones and strongly relying on RuleofCool, while 'Tekumel' is tolkienisque approach to high-fantasy Mesopotamian and Mesoamerican cultures based on actual scientific research. They have hardly anything in common.

* First modern wargame (i.e. close simulation of a real battle with set rules of conduct) was "A Tactical Wargame" designed by Lieutenant Georg von Reiswitz in 1812. It was actually not a pastime but an educational tool for officers. It also featured modular board (that looked much like modern "Carcassonne": http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-42723-2.html), arbiter (gamemaster), multiplayer mode (up to 10 players) and both constant (tables) and random (dice) elements.

** It would be more accurate to say that, while [=WH40K=] fans frequently accuse Starcraft of ripping their setting off wholesale, they're both much more influenced by StarshipTroopers, published in 1959, and both took advantage of the "space marines against insect-like aliens" motif seen in ''Alien'' and ''Aliens'', released in 1979 and 1986 respectively.

* Some newer gamers complain that MagicTheGathering rips off Pokémon and YuGiOh. Magic was first printed in 1993; Pokémon in 1996, and YuGiOh in 1999.

** Magic was not the first TradingCardGame; a baseball card company published rules to a game you could play with baseball cards...in ''1904''. Better in the time when YuGiOh was in idea form called Magic and Wizards (1990-1996), the original monsters were already created (thus being older in design, but younger in published card form).

* Much confusion has resulted from BlizzardEntertainment's popular ''{{Warcraft}}'' franchise being heavily "inspired" by Games Workshop's comparatively obscure ''{{Warhammer}}'' tabletop war game. A new round of this ensued when a ''Warhammer'' {{MMORPG}} was announced with, unsurprisingly, more than a few similarities to the mega-popular ''WorldOfWarcraft'' prompting [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/04/10 this Penny Arcade strip]].

** The illithid are also counted as "product identity" and you can get sued for using them... Gygax got the idea from a creature on the cover of Brian Lumley's ''The Burrowers Beneath'', which was, needless to say, inspired by HPLovecraft's most famous character, Cthulhu.

* The similarities between ''StarCraft'' and ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' are often cited as the source for their comparisons, in truth both were created independent of each other. They did however draw from the same sources, like [[Creator/RobertAHeinlein Heinlein]] and ''{{Dune}}''.

* The similarities between ''StarCraft'' and ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' are often cited as the source for their comparisons, in truth both were created independent of each other. They did however draw from the same sources, like [[RobertAHeinlein Heinlein]] and ''{{Dune}}''.

*** They also drew heavily from fellow Brit MichaelMoorcock, who basically invented all that Chaos stuff ''Warhammer'' uses so willingly, up to its very symbol -- the eight-arrowpoint Chaos Star.

**** Of course, the whole concept of ''Warhammer 40000'' was initially the parody of Grimdark setting. The joke was so subtle though that many people [[MisaimedFandom reveled in the dark and serious atmosphere of the new game]].

** And even Magic was not the first TradingCardGame; a baseball card company published rules to a game you could play with baseball cards...in ''1904''.
*** And even better in the time when YuGiOh was in idea form called Magic and Wizards (1990-1996), the original monsters were already created (thus being older in design, but younger in published card form).

** Naturally, both drew on others as well. ''Warhammer Fantasy'' took from [[JRRTolkien Tolkien]] and ''[[DungeonsAndDragons D&D]]''.

** Likewise, the D&D "frost worm" is identical to a wormlike monster fought by Conan in his original adventure novels -- specifically the short story "The Lair of the Ice Worm" by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. The remorhaz, as evidenced by its name -- the original Conan Ice Worms were also known as Remora -- draws inspiration from the same source.

* Speaking of ''[[DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]''...the displacer beast (a catlike monster with tentacles sprouting out of its back) is based off of an alien called Coeurl from A.E. Van Vogt's short story ''Black Destroyer'' (later compiled into the novel ''Voyage of the Space Beagle''). So are the "coeurl" enemies in the various FinalFantasy games (although they've generally got elongated facial barbels rather than back-tentacles), and Mughi from ''DirtyPair''. Perhaps ironically, the displacer beast is not included in the open game content.

* First set wargame (i.e. simulation of a real batlle with set rules of conduct) was "A Tactical Wargame" designed by Lieutenant Georg von Reiswitz in 1812. It was actually not a pastime but an educational tool for officers. It also featured modular board (that looked much like modern "Carcassonne": http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-42723-2.html), arbiter (gamemaster), multiplayer mode (up to 10 players) and both constant (tables) and random (dice) elements.

** And even Magic was not the first TradingCardGame; a baseball card company published rules to a game you could play with baseball cards...in ''1904''.

** The problem is that Blizzard tried to make a game set in the ''Warhammer40000'' universe but Games Workshop did't granted them the license. And it's the visual similarities that fuel the comparisons, not the concept itself (armor-clad warriors fighting lizard-like monstrosities is an old idea indeed).

* The similarities between ''StarCraft'' and ''Warhammer 40000'' are often cited as the source for their comparisons, in truth both were created independent of each other. They did however draw from the same sources, like [[RobertAHeinlein Heinlein]] and ''{{Dune}}''.
** It would be more accurate to say that, while WH40k fans frequently accuse Starcraft of ripping their setting off wholesale, they're both much more influenced by StarshipTroopers, published in 1959, and both took advantage of the "space marines against insect-like aliens" motif seen in ''Alien'' and ''Aliens'', released in 1979 and 1986 respectively.

* The similarities between ''StarCraft'' and ''Warhammer40000'' are often cited as the source for their comparisons, in truth both were created independent of each other. They did however draw from the same sources, like [[RobertAHeinlein Heinlein]] and ''{{Dune}}''.

** The problem is that Blizzard tried to make a game set in ''Warhammer40000'' universe but the Games Workshop haven't granted them the license. And it's the visual similarities that fuel the comparisons, not the concept itself (armor-clad warriors fighting lizard-like monstrosities is an old idea indeed).

**** Of course, the whole concept of ''Warhammer40000'' was initially the parody of Grimdark setting. The joke was so subtle though that many people [[MisaimedFandom reveled in the dark and serious atmosphere of the new game]].

**** Of course, the whole concept of ''Warhammer40000'' was initially the parody of Grimdark setting. The joke was so subtle though that many people [[CompletelyMissingThePoint reveled in the dark and serious atmosphere of the new game]].

** The problem is that Blizzard tried to make a game set in ''Warhammer40000'' universe but the Games Workshop haven't granted them the license. And it's the visual similarities that fuels the comparisons, not the concept itself (armor-clad warriors fighting lizard-like monstrosities is an old idea indeed).

** Some 4th edition versions of the vampire that do not die in sunlight, including the class, have been accused of ripping of {{Twilight}}, even though {{Dracula}} didn't die in sunlight either.

* Speaking of ''[[DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]''...the displacer beast (a catlike monster with tentacles sprouting out of its back) is based off of an alien called a "coeurl" from A.E. Van Vogt's short story ''Black Destroyer'' (later compiled into the novel ''Voyage of the Space Beagle''). So are the "coeurl" enemies in the various FinalFantasy games (although they've generally got elongated facial barbels rather than back-tentacles), and Mughi from ''DirtyPair''. Perhaps ironically, the displacer beast is not included in the open game content.

*** And in a case of ending where we began, with the release of the 4th Edition of ''[[DungeonsandDragons D&D]]'', some people claim it's ripping off ''World of Warcraft''. Although the developers have explicitly said that they've been inspired by {{MMORPG}}s. And, of course, WorldOfWarcraft's ClassAndLevelSystem being heavily inspired by earlier editions of D&D.