Gary Gygax dead at 69
It's been reported in both the Minneapolis Star Tribune and CNN (under Tech, oddly).
Like him or hate him, he had a huge impact on the gaming industry. I myself have him to indirectly thank for all the happy hours I've spent playing D&D with my friends. Good times, good times.
RIP, Gary. May you find peace & happiness in whichever afterlife you're now in.
"MTW is not a game, it's a way of life." -- drone
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
I saw this on Slashdot. Pretty much the Father of the RPG. Strangely enough, I owe a lot of my reading and comprehension skills to him. I first played of D&D when I was about 7 years old, and had the AD&D books by 9. For a kid that age, there are some big words in those rulebooks.
R.I.P. Gary.
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Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
I feel idiot when I see someone die and I do not have a clue who was him.
Rest in peace.
Names, secret names
But never in my favour
But when all is said and done
It's you I love
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
Words.... fail me at the moment.
I shall burn a character sheet tonight in honor of how you changed my life.
May your THAC0 dice always roll 20's and your saving throw dice always roll 1's.
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
No random treasure table could ever do justice to the epic loot you dropped to humanity, Gary. Totally ad hoc, totally. May the planes be kind to you.
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
Bah, evil man. About half a year ago, a bunch of my friends started playing D&D, and got addicted to the point where in the end it was just me and my friend, Joe, out all alone because they were all busy writing up their character sheets.
Needless to say, we eventually ended up hanging out with the stoner crowd. That was much more interesting
tl;dr His creation destroyed and then rebuilt my social life, for the better.
EDIT: In retrospect, wouldn't that make his evil creation a good thing?
Last edited by Mikeus Caesar; 03-05-2008 at 14:39.
Originally Posted by Ranika
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
RIP Gary. Thanks for the 30 years of memories and good times I've had playing your game.
I always enjoyed reading what Gary had to say about D&D. And although many pan his novels, I really enjoyed them. In his Gord books, he presented aspects of fantasy seldom touched by other authors and I just ate it up. His modules are pamphlets compared to today's standards, but it was amazing the amount of plotlines and understory he managed to convey with so few words. The Giant/Drow series of modules is brilliant in its simplicity yet having amazing depth in political/faction intrique. He left great tidbits in his modules that had potential for opening up new doors in your campaign. I still pick up the Giant/Drow series every few years and give them a read.
I saw Gary once at a game convention. He was signing his latest Gord book and later hanging around talking to people. I was too shy to approach him to talk and too stupid to buy a copy of his book for him to sign - I already had it and read it, why would I want a second copy? Duh. I always regreted that.
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Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
Must have failed his saving throw.
Don't weep for the immortal.
Reinvent the British and you get a global finance center, edible food and better service. Reinvent the French and you may just get more Germans.
Ik hou van ferme grieten en dikke pinten
Down with dried flowers!
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Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
His roll went wrong. You see, he tried to roll to block the heartattack, and it didnt turn out so well.
Gary, we will miss you.
TosaInu shall never be forgotten.
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
An interesting life to look back on. As the creator of D&D he did spark a whole new line of gaming and has had a great influence on the video game industry. I recall playing D&D many years ago in the 70's. I was always in 2 minds about it. I liked the concept and had many enjoyable evenings playing it. But I always felt uncomfortable with the neverending changes - and associated costly books necessary to keep up with the system - and often felt that some how I was being exploited. The original worked, so why keep changing it? - unless it was just a reason to build in obselence and keep us paying for the next new set of rules or supplements. Ironically it does not seem to have made Gygax a rich man - reading of his business career over the years it all seems a series of bad decisions and disasters.
So perhaps we should just remember his invention in coming up with the concept of a controlled game in a different world. The mind which created that must have been fantastic in deed. Arguebly the concept of most video games stems from that idea so we should acknowledge him for that alone. Throw in the fact he had a cameo in Futurama - a big plus in my son's book!! - then we should acknowledge him as a person who gave us a lot of pleasure. I haven't played D&D since the 70's, but I warmly remember the fun and innovation of it all.
To show he really made it as a man of the 20th century, Gary rated an obituary in The Times (of London fame!!) - see below
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/com...cle3491541.ece
"Some people say MTW is a matter of life or death - but you have to realise it is more important than that"
With apologies to Bill Shankly
My first balloon- for "On this day in History"
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
OOps - double post - sorry finger problems - I blame old age!!
Last edited by King Kurt; 03-10-2008 at 15:31.
"Some people say MTW is a matter of life or death - but you have to realise it is more important than that"
With apologies to Bill Shankly
My first balloon
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
He never changed my life, but I sure had fun playing D&D with friends. Same with Risk and WSIM (Wooden Ships & Iron Men), by the way. Playing games was about the only way not to go mad during the eighties (I'm a true seventies man) and Gigax was up there with his endearing nonsense and fantasy stuff. I should still have those scenario books and dice packed away in a box somewhere.
Oh well, another one bites the dust.
The bloody trouble is we are only alive when we’re half dead trying to get a paragraph right. - Paul Scott
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
RIP Gary
He is arguably one of the most influential figures in computer gaming history. Most of the RPGs that we have now are all based on his DnD ideas, even ones who don't use the exact rules.
"I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." - Issac Newton
Re: Gary Gygax dead at 69
I've just gone out and bought a copy of D&D Basic Ruleset #1 for £1.
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