The Energon Pub

I was surprised not to find a related topic about this yet.

Today Dungeons and Dragons creator Gary Gygax passed away at the age of 69.

http://us.i1.yimg.com/videogames.yahoo. ... 69/1192688

He was a brilliant man who helped shaped the gaming world. You can see evidence of this in Final Fantasy and World of War Craft. Even here on Seibertron in both the RPG and Heavy Metal War. I was personally effected by him and his work in multiple ways. Playing the game helped me increase my confidence, bond with some of my friends in my college days, and get a liking for Chinese buffets (one of the groups I played with would go after an 8 - 10 hour session). I was also effected by the Gary in other ways as my father was both a friend of his and a game tester. It is because of my father's work at TSR that my family moved to Wisconsin before I was 2 (some lands in Greyhawk are named after my father). Every friend I know that I met before the age of 18 I owe indirectly to him.

Thank you Gary, you will be missed.

RIP.

here's my original post from my local boards:

"Gary Gygax, universally known as the cofounder of the Dungeons and Dragons universe and TSR, and acknowledged as the father of Role-Playing Games (RPGs), has passed away at March 4, 2008. he was 69.

if not for this man's inventiveness and imagination, RPGs might not have developed into the rich, colorful (and addictive) alternate-life-forming genre it is now today.

though the Modern Orcs and Elves Fantasy Genre was not his original creation (i would arguably link it to Master Tolkien himself, though that was not his intent - only he provided the ideas), he took hold of this rich mythology and gave it a set of rules so that anybody can be who he/she wanted to be - be it a human knight, and elven ranger, a dwarven berserker, or an orc barbarian. he gave POWER to those with the imagination and the desire to be more than what they are in reality.

rest in peace, sir Gygax. the world of RPGers mourn thy passing."

RIP Gary... We'll miss you...

i'd like to share Penny Arcade's graphic eulogy to the man who started it all:



paladins, rangers, warriors, clerics, wizards and mages everywhere owe their alternate lives to this wonder, imaginative man.

It's a terrible day in gaming, of any kind.

We're going to miss you, O King of Geekdom.

Blessed are they who change the world for the better.

He will be missed.

Although he didn't like the way D&D was heading, he will be greatly missed. I can only hope he's up there influencing d20 rolls on gaming tables everywhere.

I was saddened to hear this news as well. Although I'm relatively new to the tabletop part of roleplaying, the many, many related things that D&D brought forth - Magic and console/PC RPGs especially - have been a big part of my geekiness ever since I was a kid. Thanks for being such a great inspiration of creativity everywhere, Gary... we who have ever taken joy in creating stories with our friends around a table (or on a monitor) will miss you.

Raise your dice in salute, boys and girls.

I don't know if roleplaying would have been around without him, but it certianly wouldn't be what it is.



http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0536.html

I mourn for the loss of a great person. However, I am joyous that he lived to a grand age, and created what he did for the enjoyment of tabletop gamers everywhere.

Hopefully his coffin adds +8 to Armor and Str. He deserves nothing less than the best.

R.I.P
No! Nooo! Can't be? This can't be happening! Oh well, im not a Level 20 Cleric, so he's dead for good. May the great creator rest in peace...

i doubt that if he did not introduce the world of D & D, geeks everywhere would not have the same cred they have now.

i mean, take a look at how he revolutionized "dragons". before, we used to think of them as mythical monsters that only belong to books and eastern religions. but he took that concept, allowed wannabe heroes to party up, head to an imaginary dungeon, and he gave us geeks the right tools and spells to take on these creatures.

even sickly kids who are frequently bullied on schools can now become level 5 Warriors who can surely beat the snot out of their human tormentors (if they dared to venture into our imaginary realm that is )

all the great games of today definitely owe some sort of homage to this man. heck, i doubt computer games would even be as interesting today if not for his influence. if i remember, the earliest games were text-based dungeon crawls which are definite homages to D & D.

i hope and pray the family's coping up right now.