Gary Gygax, Creator of Dungeons & Dragons, passed away today.

http://www.freeyabb.com/phpbb/viewtopic.ph...=trolllordgames

Without Gary's decision to quit Insurance and make a commitment to a game he worked on and sell it, we would have a very different world. Most of the RPGs you play today, be them computer or tabletop come from that root of the vine, as well as the spin-offs, novels and anime, all influenced by the presence of D&D. While Zork also has an influence on these MUDs, I doubt Matt would have created Achaea and Estarra would have creating this old campaign world that became Lusternia, so I doubt any of us would be here without his efforts.

He was also a very good friend of mine.

Rest in Peace.

RIP

That's sad.

Adding to my list of people I miss, along with Robert Jordan

:sniffle:

The Architect of Our Times.

Rest in Peace.

RIP Garry.

I have faith that his phylactery will restore him to life in the next 1d4 days though.

Edit: In a way I'm glad he isn't around to see the trainwreck that 4th edition is going to be though.

The impact that Gary Gygax has had not only on the fantasy gaming but also on our modern culture simply cannot be overstated. Some of us have been touched more than others--indeed, I still play in a 20 year campaign where we use old second edition D&D books!

His influence spans from gaming to literature to movies to computer games to MMORG communities, and certainly to MUDs and Lusternia. I hope one day he will be recognized as one of the great shapers of our times that he was.

I'm indescribably saddened.

The world is an emptier place now. Rest in peace, Father of Gaming

I am not at all into DnD, and not by choice. I've never had the opportunity or the wherewithall to find a group to play. I do, however, wish to offer my respect to the man who has pioneered an industry and a hobby that saved my life -- no exaggeration.

I'm curious, most curious in fact, Phred. How did you come to know him? See, this only adds to the thought that I think you're part of the illuminati of old-school gaming.

My coworker said, and I quote:

"He must have rolled a 1."

Failed his saving throw, eh.

These guy left a very interesting legacy behind, to say the least.

No Illuminati. I don't really like gaming that much and never really played tabletop D&D either--Lusternia was my first dedicated time at role-playing. But I always loved reading the books and using them as imaginary springboards. And I loved Gary's style of writing and his creativity.

I was always a big fan of him, Sorcerer's Scroll, and loved his prose and game writing. I was really looking forward to the "AD&D Second Edition" he had promised, then was disappointed when he was forced out of TSR. When he did Dangerous Journeys, I wrote to him. We ended up corresponding a lot, I ended up writing some small bits for him, and we ended chatting a lot more when he went online in the latter half of the 90s. I ended up reviewing his products in draft form and making suggestions, some minor contributions, etc.

I miss him already. I spent 3 days with him back in November. I got a tour of Lake Geneva, spent time chatting, played a few boardgames (but no D&D or RPG, it was Settlers of Cattan and a nice little Treasure game with Tom Wham and Ernie Gygax--it was a mixed experience, I was getting homesick). It was fun seeing his human side--friendly arguments with Gail, watching him "channel surf" (an annoying habit--he was watching Romeo Must Die and Ultimate fighting and flipping back and forth between the two!), talking about the past, etc. I was hoping to take another vacation to Lake Geneva this year. No can do now.

I'm really happy people are recognizing him. With all the changes to D&D and the evolution of the computer RPG, I was afraid he wouldn't register with some of the younger fans.

Estarra is right, the cultural impact of D&D's creation can't be ignored. Even if you didn't like Gary or D&D you have to admire what he did since I truly think this fandom circle we travel in would be much different. While I'm sure Zork and Kings Quest would have been created, Ultima and Wizardry were based on D&D-style rules--without that, no Final Fantasy or World of Warcraft would exist. I think since 1980 or so most people's first exposure to the world of fantasy fiction is at least touched by D&D--I think people nowadays will play D&D, another tabletop RPG, or a computer RPG before they read Lord of the Rings or another novel. Whole authors such as Raymond E. Feist, Tracy Hickman, and R.A. Salvatore all had backgrounds from the game. Anime such as Record of Lodoss War were adaptations of D&D campaigns.

I wish he could've had a few more years. He had a stroke a few years ago and a heart attack from medication--that forced him into a semi-retirement, then he had an abdominal aortic aneurism (which is like a sword of Damcoles, if it breaks you will die ), so that got me to see him the first time (and when I visited he was suffering from shingles), then recently he had bad reaction to medications and also fell. In short, the last few years have been tough on him.

But I am so glad he wasn't suffering from a long painful disease, such as Alzheimer's or Cancer.

Ouch, threw a natural 1?

Even though he wrote "Tomb of Horrors," I'm still going to miss him.

I never played D&D. In fact, the first time I heard the name Gary Gygax was in an episode of futurama, where he was one of the Vice Presidential Action Rangers. (Along with Al Gore, Big Blue the chess playing computer, Stephen Hawkings, and one of the people from Star Trek).

That said, being a life long lover of all things cartoon, and having played my first MUD 10 years ago, I have to have much respect for someone who did what he did, and the impact he's had on our culture.

I remember when I was earning my degree, one of my statistics professors would sometimes use phrases like "But, you'll never really need to use this practically unless you play Dungeons and Dragons." I was curious, so I asked him about it, and it turns out that he had done work here and there for games of various types, helping with rulesets. He told me that, in one of it's very first what we'd call "alpha" stages, there were only things like archers and fighters, nothing of a supernatural sort. Then one player decides, out of the blue, to cast a spell and proclaim himself a wizard. This was responded to by deciding that, if he could be a wizard, there could be a monster to eat him in that cave over there.


I don't know how true the story is, but, I found it amusing. Just remember, the first problem player was a wizard.

First found this out through XKCD. Didn't really realise who he was until I thought about it for a few mins.