What a great legacy to leave the world
So I realized yesterday that I have a good amount of friends who most likely don't realize what happened yesterday. (People who aren't really "gamers", but who've had their lives touched by this man in some way, shape, or form.) So if my friend Anthony doesn't mind I'm going repost his words from his LJ because I think he summed things up pretty well...
"Now, I'm sure anyone out there who reads my journal has already heard the news. Ernest Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, passed away today at the age of sixty nine.
Mr. Gygax had a truely great imagination. He created an entire media out of something as simple wargaming. Without Gary Gygax there we would be missing so much today. There would be no video game RPGs, so that means no Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, World of Warcraft, or any of their clones. There would be no modern war gaming; Warhammer models were first and foremost D&D models back in the day. Most importantly an entire generation would have been changed, never having been able to sit and involve themselves and their imagination in the grand tradition of story telling through the game called Dungeons and Dragons.
Gary Gygax was sort of a ledgend in his own time amoungst the gaming community. For people my age, old enough to remember D&D from the Second Edition onwards, he was a driving force. He advocated a lot of things that the current incarnation of D&D doesn't. Skill over Power. Role Playing over Roll Playing. Fun over everything else.
For him it was about the game. The chance to be with friends, tell a great story, and have fun.
Gary, the next game is for you. I hope you're rolling Twenties in Vahalla.
E.G.G.
1938-2008"
I also think Newsday did a good job as well - here
"Now, I'm sure anyone out there who reads my journal has already heard the news. Ernest Gary Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, passed away today at the age of sixty nine.
Mr. Gygax had a truely great imagination. He created an entire media out of something as simple wargaming. Without Gary Gygax there we would be missing so much today. There would be no video game RPGs, so that means no Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, World of Warcraft, or any of their clones. There would be no modern war gaming; Warhammer models were first and foremost D&D models back in the day. Most importantly an entire generation would have been changed, never having been able to sit and involve themselves and their imagination in the grand tradition of story telling through the game called Dungeons and Dragons.
Gary Gygax was sort of a ledgend in his own time amoungst the gaming community. For people my age, old enough to remember D&D from the Second Edition onwards, he was a driving force. He advocated a lot of things that the current incarnation of D&D doesn't. Skill over Power. Role Playing over Roll Playing. Fun over everything else.
For him it was about the game. The chance to be with friends, tell a great story, and have fun.
Gary, the next game is for you. I hope you're rolling Twenties in Vahalla.
E.G.G.
1938-2008"
I also think Newsday did a good job as well - here