http://www.wbay.com/global/story.asp?s=7963395
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080304/ap_en_ot/obit_gygax
Gary Gygax has passed on today. A man with a simple desire to make people happy that changed the world in ways that will never be fully appreciated. A man that made it "okay" for grownups to play pretend.
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The death of a Legend.
Even though he had nothing to do with the newer editions of D&D, I think it is fair to credit him as one of the most important people in the role playing world.
Here's a lovely tribute.
Some people were harsh and said his ego was too large, but I like to stop for a moment and consider what the entire roleplaying world would have been like without him. Boring and most likely nonexistent. D&D was the first, and everything from Final Fantasy, to the Elder Scrolls, owe a lot to Gary Gygax.
69 is like that. ;)
Ah, without Robert E Howard and Tolkien Gygax would never have done the RPG thing, hahaha.
I'm not a D&D person myself, but I would say the biggest contribution to the world that GG would have had would be the broad dissemination and re-conceptualisation of fantasy archetypes: Dragons, gnomes, elves, wizards, orcs, demons, whatever; all forever redefined and refined along with new ones created.
For much of pop-culture D&D became the new primary source for all fantasy lore. That's a pretty big thing.
If they're the 1st to come up with the concept of characters attacking each other's health points by rolling dice modified by attack/defense ratings, then they certainly influenced my life.
I never cared for D&D, but after learning the basic concepts behind the battle system, I started designing and having fun with my own rudimentary ones. Many hours of fun with childhood friends.
I was telling my World of Warcraft guildmates about Gygax's passing and they said, "…Who's Gary Gygax?"
…Blasphemy. Pure blasphemy. Even Blizzard posted news about it on their official website, so the kiddies could know who he was.
Were you talking to the Alliance or the Horde? Everyone knows that all the brains and wisdom are in the Horde. Alliance is full of 12 year olds.
Unfortunately I was talking to Horde guildies. My server (Mok'Nathal) is also full of 12 year olds, no matter what side you're on. Really sucks.
Cool comic from Penny Arcade today:
xkcd has a tribute as well… nicely done.
xkcd has a tribute as well… nicely done.
I don't normally care for xkcd, but that one made me laugh. Simply wonderful.
Truly, we mourn the loss of the first and greatest among us. Where would our bespeckled, pock-faced, and overweight brethren be without the solace of Dungeons & Dragons? I know not and I fear what the answer might have been. So, light a candle, my friends, and roll your d20s for the man without whom our lives would have been that much bleaker.
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