quote:
Originally posted by fable:
I thought of that von Goethe reference as kind of a fun tip-of-the-hat to one of the great writers of the past, and enjoyed it. [img]smile.gif[/img] Bioware and Black Isle both tend to do that in their games, though there's a long history behind those professional nods. In one city in Betrayal at Krondor there's a tavern called The Green Cat, which was a deliberate bow to Fritz Leiber (author of the novel, The Green Cat, as well as the Fafhrd and Grey Mouser series), the great fantasy author who was also a distinguished psychologist. And books have done that sort of thing for years--Tolkien borrowed names from many medieval sources to show his indebtedness to the original authors' styles and goals.
Whoa, take it easy there, mate!
All I was saying is that I found it a bit corny to have a quest about a sold soul and name the two main characters Marlowe and Vongoethe.
I love both authors, I wasn't suggesting anything to the contrary. I'm personally just not a big fan of such things - as if Goethe needs a tip-of-the-hat from a computer game! [img]tongue.gif[/img]
Actually I love these kinds of references in books and games, but I prefer them a little more subtle - these were pretty blatant.
And about Tolkien: sorry, but that's a different thing entirely, though I see your point.