In Memorial of Ernest Gary Gygax
The Greatest Dungeon Master of All Time died at the age of 69 in his Lake Geneva, Wisconsin home on the morning of March 4th due to his failing health after having been diagnosed with an inoperable abdominal aortic aneurysm. He had been in semi-retirement for at least four years, but continued to make contributions to the gaming community even after suffering strokes and a near heart attack. Up to his death, he remained active as a gamer and had Q & A forums on several websites.
Many remember the original pen-and-paper game that was one of the predecessors for today's MMOs - Dungeons & Dragons. Some of you might even remember its original incarnation as Chainmail, created more than thirty years ago. I am certain that nearly all of us, new and old gamer alike, have tokens leftover from his original works. These things are now parts of him that we can hold onto. Gary Gygax’ greatest gift to us was the ability to divest ourselves of our normalcy and delve into a place where we could be anything we wanted: our own imaginations.
He gave us the one thing we lacked for such an endeavor: universal rules that we all could agree on. Along the way, he gave us even more - protagonists, antagonists, environments, magic, and tools. This world limited by only our mind’s eyes grew larger and larger, greater and greater, until a small handful of books just couldn’t contain anymore.
Then, Gary Gygax gave us new worlds.
Oerth, Krynn, Abier-Toril, Mystara… and on and on. He drew in collections of others who could expand this dream. We were given guidelines on how to make our own gaming worlds. He gave us gods and heroes, both good and evil.
But, most of all, he gave us fun and joy. He gave us laughter and smiles and tears. Our hours spent amongst old friends and new, sharing adventures in the kitchen, the basement, the living room… This was what he wanted for us.
Many of us, as children, dreamt of being knights and princesses. We bore our stick-swords proudly in defense of the kingdom of our imagination. We donned our floral crowns and we gazed upon our subjects. We ruled these lands that only we knew so well, populating them with anything we desired. Dungeons & Dragons gave us the chance to see our imaginary realms come to life. Our friends became our greatest heroes and defenders or our most brutal marauders.
Had it not been for Ernest Gary Gygax and his efforts, we may never have seen those places realized. His work inspired others to create their own worlds and their own gaming systems. He helped us give life, voice, and personality to our innermost heroes and villains.
Let us show Ernest Gary Gygax that we can truly share his gaming dream even if we can’t share the dice.
~ Mishaela
Many remember the original pen-and-paper game that was one of the predecessors for today's MMOs - Dungeons & Dragons. Some of you might even remember its original incarnation as Chainmail, created more than thirty years ago. I am certain that nearly all of us, new and old gamer alike, have tokens leftover from his original works. These things are now parts of him that we can hold onto. Gary Gygax’ greatest gift to us was the ability to divest ourselves of our normalcy and delve into a place where we could be anything we wanted: our own imaginations.
He gave us the one thing we lacked for such an endeavor: universal rules that we all could agree on. Along the way, he gave us even more - protagonists, antagonists, environments, magic, and tools. This world limited by only our mind’s eyes grew larger and larger, greater and greater, until a small handful of books just couldn’t contain anymore.
Then, Gary Gygax gave us new worlds.
Oerth, Krynn, Abier-Toril, Mystara… and on and on. He drew in collections of others who could expand this dream. We were given guidelines on how to make our own gaming worlds. He gave us gods and heroes, both good and evil.
But, most of all, he gave us fun and joy. He gave us laughter and smiles and tears. Our hours spent amongst old friends and new, sharing adventures in the kitchen, the basement, the living room… This was what he wanted for us.
Many of us, as children, dreamt of being knights and princesses. We bore our stick-swords proudly in defense of the kingdom of our imagination. We donned our floral crowns and we gazed upon our subjects. We ruled these lands that only we knew so well, populating them with anything we desired. Dungeons & Dragons gave us the chance to see our imaginary realms come to life. Our friends became our greatest heroes and defenders or our most brutal marauders.
Had it not been for Ernest Gary Gygax and his efforts, we may never have seen those places realized. His work inspired others to create their own worlds and their own gaming systems. He helped us give life, voice, and personality to our innermost heroes and villains.
Let us show Ernest Gary Gygax that we can truly share his gaming dream even if we can’t share the dice.
~ Mishaela