Gygax Dead at 69

[Hank Harwell]

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080304/D8V6PL180.html

[Vulcan Stev]

Funeral arrangements are pending. Besides his wife, Gygax is survived by six children.

Though apparently not by Gnomes.

[Deidzoeb]

Hmmm, a little like the coincidence that the last Peanuts comic strip was published on the day that Schulz died.

[Berin Kinsman]

Coincidence, you think?

Just remember, NO ONE walks away from the Syndicate. NO ONE.

[Berin Kinsman]

Tonight's Random News Table at UncleBear.com will be an all-Gygax tribute roundup.

Twilight of the Grognards, indeed.

For my own part, two reactions. First, that I cried. It came to me ho much this man's work directly or indirectly affected so many aspects of my life.

Second, how empowered I felt as a roleplayer looking at how widely reported the news is and how few jokes are being made (and the ones that are being cracked are good-natured or D&D in-jokes, which Gary would have appreciated). It almost lends us an air of legitimacy.

[Murat, Esq.]

Wow. Gygax is dead. Huge deal.

I read all his Gord novels. They were bad.

But, here I am, thirty years after I first played his game, still playing an iteration of it.

[Sir Golgotha, KEoPS]

Wow, just wow.

[Berin Kinsman]

For many years I gamed with a guy who hated Gary Gygax. HATED the man. Because this guy had bad experiences with D&D, saw the flaws in D&D, hated the system once more elegant second and third generation systems hit the market, and essentialy though Gary was an imbecile and a clod for creating such a crappy game.

When I finally got tired of his bitching and pointed out that there wouldn't be ANY roleplaying games without Gygax, that bitching about the clunkiness of 1st edition D&D was like bitching that Henry Ford's Model T didn't have air conditioning or the Wright Brothers' first plane didn't have an in-flight movie or the first motion pictures didn't have sound, that everything needs to start someplace and grown and develop and improve, well... that ended the friendship.

In retrospect, I should probably thank Gygax for that.

[Hank Harwell]

Somehow, it just seemed appropriate...

[Berin Kinsman]

Thank you. That was perfect.

[Lon Sarver]

Nah, he already spent a few novels telling us about his rogue.

[Berin Kinsman]

Rogue? Nay, THIEF!

[matholwch]

The work of Gygax and his compatriots has dominated my life for thirty-two years. Without him I have no idea how my life would have panned out - I'd probably have ended up as a politician or worse.

Although he got a bit sadder as he got older, and not all his projects reflected his early promise, I will miss the old curmudgeon. Somehow it seems appropriate that he should go before the corporate hacks finally destroy D&D.