• 8Apr 09

  Yet another gaming divinity lost to us.

  I find myself losing a lot of heroes lately. Now, not long after the death of E. Gary Gygax, I learn of the unfortunate and sad death of the other creator of Dungeons and Dragons, Dave Arneson. Mr. Arneson lost his long battle to cancer yesterday, dying with his family at his side.

  I'll admit, I don't know a great deal about Dave Arneson, at least not in comparison to Gary Gygax. He was somewhat less famous for his achievements in the gaming industry than EGG, for whatever reason. But, while Gary was better known, there can be no doubt that Dave is equally responsible for the development of the original RPG, and therefore is responsible for the RPG as a game form as we know it today. It deeply saddens me to lose such an individual, one who was admired and loved by his friends and family.

  In my post about Gary's death, I already described what Dungeons and Dragons meant to me, and how it changed and improved my life. I won't rehash those things here. I'll just say that Dave was one of the original "old school" gamers, and I'll always be grateful to him for his contributions to my favorite hobby. I'm sorry I never got to tell either him, or Gary, what their creation meant to me.

  Dave, tell Gary to keep that seat open at the table, and keep the dice warm. It's gonna be a hell of a game. I'll see you both on the flip side.

  • Posted Apr 8, 2009 11:00 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 4Mar 08

  The death of a demi-god

  Today, I'm having a rough go of it. I'm typing this through a haze of tears, as grief fills me. Today, a luminary of the gaming community has passed from this Earth. E. Gary Gygax is dead.

  Gary is one of the single greatest contributors to the gaming world. Before there were computers everywhere, before every house had a PS2, there was Dungeons and Dragons. A game unique in the world, a game that unlocked the imagination of young men and women everywhere, a game that ecouraged, nay demanded, dreaming and fantasy. A game that I discovered as a boy of only 10 years old, in the year 1979.

  I encountered the game in a book store, and was curious. The fantastic cover on the DM Guide had my attention. I had heard about this game in Scouts (I can't remember if I was still a Webelo or a Boy Scout at the time), but had never had a chance to play. I had birthday money, and on a whim, I purchased the Dungeon Master's Guide, took it home, and started to read. Fortunately, I was always ahead of my class in reading and comprehension, because the DMG was a thick book. The dense text was littered with unusual words that one does not normally see in average reading. I found myself forced to pull out a dictionary a few times that day, but I persevered. And so I was trapped, caught up in Gary's fantastic world. Soon, I convinced my father (who wouldn't give me a quarter for an arcade game, but would give me $20 for a book) to get the Player's Handbook and the Monster Manual for me. I got my brother and a couple other kids together, and we played.

  That was the start of a journey that has lasted 28 years now, and shows no sign of ending. I have travelled through dozens of game worlds since then. I have explored the galaxy in Traveller. I have fought the mutant hoards in Gamma World. I saved the city time and time again in Champions. All thanks to Gary Gygax. All thanks to a man I've never met, but always held in high regard. Without his game, I doubt I would be anything like the man I am today.

  I've seen D&D change throughout the years. I remember when Gary was effectively shut out of TSR, though we didn't know exactly what was happening at the time. 2nd Edition came, then 3rd. Now a 4th edition is being produced. My, how we have grown. But in the beginning, there was Gary. And everything that has come since has been because of him.

  Gary, thank you. Thank you for giving me the tools to allow my imagination to run free. Thank you for giving me a reason to learn a larger vocabulary. Thank you for the friends I gamed with then, some of whom are still very much in my life today. I never met you, I never spoke to you, but you were one of my family regardless. Save me a spot at the table, I'll bring the munchies.

  There is an empty chair at the table this day,
  A hallowed place where a friend once played.
  The roll of his dice my ears long to hear.
  Or perhaps it would suffice if he should suddenly appear,
  With character sheet in hand, and a bag of Cheeze-doodles to share.
  All his friends would stand, as he sat in the empty chair.
  I hear his voice a-callin', and it ties my heart in a knot.
  For he cries, "Though a comrade has fallen, you must play for those who cannot."
  We conquered worlds on the run, he and I in the name of fun.
  And as others may come and go, I make both friend and foe.
  But what I long for most is our past, now long a ghost.

  -The Empty Chair, Eulogy for a Gamer, originally by Jolly Blackburn, creator of Knights of the Dinner Table

  • Posted Mar 4, 2008 7:47 pm GMT
  • Category: People
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• 24Dec 07

  Modded blog entry.

  Apparently, I was recently modded by having a recent blog post regarding the behavior of one mod, by name of Solidruss, deleted. The reason, apparently I was trolling. While I think this is a bull**** situation, I'm not going to even bother to protest it in the Ask the Mods forum, I've never seen the mods do anything but leap to one another's defense there, even if it is absolutely clear to anyone else that the moderation was improper or worse. I don't have the time or the energy for that nonsense at this time.

  That said, I absolutely stand by everything I said in my deleted post. I do not consider it a trolling entry, I consider it a flat out statement of informed opinion. Yes, it was meant to create a reaction, if I didn't want to create a reaction, I wouldn't bother writing any bloody blog posts at all. That's the whole reason to create a blog post, to create a reaction of some sort. Unless you live in an imaginary world of candy and gumdrops, sometimes that reaction is going to be a negative one.

  It is my opinion that the only reason my post was deleted was because I was harshly criticizing a moderator who I felt had overstepped his bounds. The only change I might make, in retrospect, is I might not use the word "jerk" so freely. I don't apologize for that, but I wouldn't use it again, it was inflammatory and rude. I regret that someone was offended enough to report my post, but I really do think you were being a little overly sensitive there. I can't, and won't, alter my words to avoid bruising the feelings of every living person on the site, it's impossible to do that and say anything of meaning. So I suggest, respectfully, that you try to get a slightly thicker skin, as I assure you that my statements are quite mild in comparison to a lot of other people.

  I have edited this section of my post, as I have decided that I was acting in an immature fashion, something I don't wish to do. While Gamespot has clearly lost most of its integrity, the community is still active and still the best I know of. I just have to remember to take any Gamespot review and anything officially posted with a large dose of salt. Stick to the player reviews, they will tend to be more accurate.

  • Posted Dec 24, 2007 8:55 am GMT
  • Category: Rant
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