Farewell Gary Gygax
As reported by The Associated Press
Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69, and had been suffering from health problems for several years.
While I might have outgrown Gygax’s numbers-heavy style of gaming, it’s probably true that the RPG hobby as we know it today would not have existed without him, either in the pencil-and-paper form, or the hugely popular multiplayer online games. Without his pioneering efforts, others who came later would have had nothing to build on.
I had the priviledge of meeting him once, at Gen Con UK in Manchester back in 2000, where he was a guest of honour. I remember him as a spectator in the Steve Jackson Games demo room, where I was playing In Nomine. It was only afterwards that I realised who he was.
Update: Ken Hite reminds us that not only has Gygax given the world RPGs, but also introduced a lot of people to the writings of the great Jack Vance.
Steve Jackson adds this comment:
Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson didn’t just remake a hobby. They impacted all of Western culture. Fantasy fiction would still be a backwater had not D&D built an audience and a new generation of writers. Lord of the Rings would be something taught in college English classes, not a blockbuster movie trilogy. And consider: The direct lineal descendant of D&D is Worlds of Warcraft, which is, all by itself, what? A billion-dollar business now?
March 7th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
A real shame. Without Gary, I would never have discovered the wonder and excitement of RPG. I would never have joined compuserve and later Dreamlyrics. I would never have met you (Tim) or the other friends gained through game playing. I still remember the night I watched the Money Programme on BBC2, it was an interview with him about D&D. That night changed my life.
He will be missed.
March 10th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
There are many imperfections in the D&D system and its immediate decendants. Not least the totally spurious system for working out which pole-arm is best against which sort of armour.
However, it was the way in to the genre for many. Without it my world world would have been different. I suspect it would not have been beter.
March 10th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
You mean you don’t know when it’s best to use a Guisarme-glaive, and when to use a Bohemian Earspoon?
As Ian says, I have to thank Gary Gygax for the large number of friends I’ve made though gaming over the past twenty years, including your friends Ash and Tony.