Gary Gygax R.I.P.

[Andrew Mayer]

Confirmed here.

There really isn't a person in the video game industry who doesn't owe him at least a some small debt.

[Alan Dunkin]

Oh I dunno, I don't think the board wargamers--a field that helped put computer games into the mainstream just as much as RPGS--or flight simmers really owe that much to Gygax, but what he did helped grow this industry and gaming in general.

--- Alan

[Joel]

We did an interview with him in 2003 on a site that is no longer around, so I republished it. Pardon the self-linking, but I think it's appropriate in this case.

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/0...agons-cre.html

I love this part:

Q. As far as you know, what was the basic evolution of polyhedral dice? If they existed prior to the creation of Dungeons & Dragons, what were they used for?

A. To the best of my knowledge I introduced them to gaming, en masse, with D&D in 1974. I found sets of the five platonic solids for sale in a school supply catalog back in 1972, and of course ordered them, used them in creating the D&D game.

[Skipper]

Wow ... that's very sad news.

[Gordon Cameron]

Is this definitely confirmed? I did a search on Google News and found nothing... was looking for a mainstream news agency to corroborate.

Assuming it is true, this is a very sad day for gamers everywhere, IMO. Above all RPG gamers.

Gygax is one of the true giants... he'll be missed.

[Timemaster Tim]

Sad news. I was a big D&D player in my highschool and university days.

[Joel]

The message boards that announced it are from his current publisher so I think it's probably true.

[Andrew Mayer]

Originally Posted by Alan Dunkin

but what he did helped grow this industry and gaming in general.

--- Alan

Hence the phrase "some small debt".
:shakes head:

[flyinj]

Originally Posted by Alan Dunkin

Oh I dunno, I don't think the board wargamers--a field that helped put computer games into the mainstream just as much as RPGS--or flight simmers really owe that much to Gygax, but what he did helped grow this industry and gaming in general.

--- Alan

Wasn't Chainmail (the precursor to D&D the Gygax made) basically a board wargame?

[Theodore Rex DX]

Oh man. RIP.

[Skipper]

Originally Posted by flyinj

Wasn't Chainmail (the precursor to D&D the Gygax made) basically a board wargame?

Yes, and he co-authored it. You could say he was key, if not the person responsible for role playing as a game form.

Did Gygax ever work on a computer game project?

[Hetzer]

Sad news indeed, without gary my youth wouldnt been what its been...

[Matt Perkins]

That is indeed sad news. I guess at the very least he didn't have to see his system raped yet another time with 4.0. :(

[Podunk]

Very sad news. May he RIP.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by Matt Perkins

That is indeed sad news. I guess at the very least he didn't have to see his system raped yet another time with 4.0. :(

Oh jesus. Go away.

[Hawkeye Fierce]

That's too bad. Maybe I'll get a group together and run Tomb of Horrors in his honor or something.

Originally Posted by Matt Perkins

That is indeed sad news. I guess at the very least he didn't have to see his system raped yet another time with 4.0. :(

God, shut up.

[madkevin]

Man that bums me out. I still remember the day I talked my parents into driving me to a slightly bigger town that had a decent gaming store so I could buy the Blue Box Basic D&D set. Didn't even have dice; it had those little chits you had to manually cut out. Hard fucking core, my friend.

From there, my little group of misfit gamers would make a pilgrimage to that gaming store every few weeks. From the Basic set we hopped to stuff like Boot Hill, Gamma World, Traveller (still my favourite) and of course the 1st edition AD&D books. I spent countless hours lost in those worlds, those Friday nights spent playing D&D were probably the happiest moments of my otherwise irritating childhood.

I stopped playing D&D after discovering punk rock and girls, pretty much in that order, but I never stopped being a D&D nerd in my heart. I hope Gygax knew how much fun he brought to us kids back in the day.

[Brian Rucker]

I met him at a Sci-Fi convention (Imaginecon?) at Virginia Beach back in 2000. It was funny listening to him taking swipes at the advances, at least as I saw them, in how games better supported roleplaying elements. Mocking elitists and roleplayers. Evidently the success of games like Vampire: The Masquerade among others didn't sit well with him or it was the way the new generation of roleplayers looked on AD&D as what kids play until they want to get "serious".

That said, I held my peace until he was done and when I finally got to shake his hand I had to thank him for, well, changing my world. (It was either that or threatening a lawsuit for screwing it up by introducing me to such an addictive pasttime - the former seemed the better way to go.) What I do remember best is that I'd totally forgotten to tell him who I was, I was actually a little nervous oddly enough, but he asked me for my name.

I'm gonna swing by the 7-11 tonight and pick up a 20. This one's for the homies. You'll be missed GG.

[uddi]

Originally Posted by Brian Rucker

I'm gonna swing by the 7-11 tonight and pick up a 20. This one's for the homies. You'll be missed GG.

They sell d20s at your local 7-11? I don't think mine even has d6s.

A sad day. He will be missed.

[BlueJackalope]

Originally Posted by madkevin

Man that bums me out. I still remember the day I talked my parents into driving me to a slightly bigger town that had a decent gaming store so I could buy the Blue Box Basic D&D set. Didn't even have dice; it had those little chits you had to manually cut out. Hard fucking core, my friend.

From there, my little group of misfit gamers would make a pilgrimage to that gaming store every few weeks. From the Basic set we hopped to stuff like Boot Hill, Gamma World, Traveller (still my favourite) and of course the 1st edition AD&D books. I spent countless hours lost in those worlds, those Friday nights spent playing D&D were probably the happiest moments of my otherwise irritating childhood.

I stopped playing D&D after discovering punk rock and girls, pretty much in that order, but I never stopped being a D&D nerd in my heart. I hope Gygax knew how much fun he brought to us kids back in the day.

Note to madkevin: Stop having the same childhood I did! (Traveller is what I wanted Mass Effect to be)

I'll be hoisting some drink to this magnificant bastard of a geek tonight (Gary, not madkevin).

[Nick Walter]

Originally Posted by Matt Perkins

That is indeed sad news. I guess at the very least he didn't have to see his system raped yet another time with 4.0. :(

Seriously Matt, in this thread, at this time, that was in very poor taste. And as someone who is generally in very poor taste I know of what I speak.

This is sad, the man performed a great service for all of nerd-dom. If I had a flag I'd fly it at half mast.

[Andrew Mayer]

Originally Posted by madkevin

Man that bums me out. I still remember the day I talked my parents into driving me to a slightly bigger town that had a decent gaming store so I could buy the Blue Box Basic D&D set. Didn't even have dice; it had those little chits you had to manually cut out. Hard fucking core, my friend.

Blue box was my first set as well. I put all the chits into Dixie cups. I tried running it, but we really couldn't get the rules to make much sense to us.

I can't remember where I got my first "real dice", but they were lumpy and mis-shapen, and you had to blacken the numbers with a grease pencil.

Ultimately we connected with some older gamers who showed us the magic of the "Advanced" rules.

[Zylon]

Well this sucks.

(memo to self-- catch Colbert Report tonight)

And for no particular reason...

[Dirt]

I'm going to go and dig up some old dice and roll them in his honor. RIP, Gary Gygax.

[Hetzer]

Talked to a few of my gaming buddies, we will play a tomb of horror scenario in rememberance of gary.

[metta]

Failed his save versus death.

Rest, mate. And thanks.

[Cold Blooded]

RIP for one of tabletop gaming's founding fathers and true pioneers.

[ElGuapo]

I was a DM for years and years and years. In middle and high school the valedictorian, the salutitorian (or whatever number two in the class is), and me played pretty regularly. We went through tons of systems (Amber, Marvel, RIFTS, etc.) but always came back to DnD. In fact when I was in Wilmington, NC I went to a sweet comic book store that had a lot of the old hardcover first edition AD&D books with his name on them. I bought Dieties and Demigods for old times sake. They even had the original Player's Guide (with the people tunneling around) and DM guide (with the efreeti).

Fond memories. Farewell sir.

[Mark Crump]

I still have all my first edition stuff.

[Mink Staccato]

D&D (and role-playing games in general) changed my life, so it's quite sad to hear of his passing. I hope he lived well and was happy. I'll have a whiskey tonight in his name.

-Mink-