Something rolled a crit on Gary Gygax... :-(
I think I join everyone else on my flist today in mourning the passing of Gary Gygax.
The man changed my life, as much as did Chris Hyatt (another bright light we lost recently)- if not more. Gygax' contribution to the world, and specifically my life, opened up worlds of imagination (as some slogan goes). D&D was- and IS- a way for me to be something I am not IRL: a warrior, a rogue, an elf, a ranger, and so on. Through D&D I made lifelong bonds with family members and friends who also enjoyed wandering the infinite vistas of worlds our minds either created or populated.
So life seems a bit dimmer this morning. If you aren't a gamer, you might not appreciate it, but to many of us this is more painful than losing your favourite dice & bag, or worse than when your favourite charater dies and can't be reincarnated or regenerated. It is a time when all of us will think or our own mortality; it is the end of an era. We will look back on gaming memories, the good, the bad and the hysterically funny ("It's a gazebo, Eric")and should take a few minutes to toast the legacy of Gary Gygax.
Maybe I'm strange- or maybe I just have too much time to think- but I feel most people wonder at some point in their life just what their legacy to the world will be. It isn't necessary that we all be heroes, it isn't in the cards that we all be great political activists, or make sweeping social reforms. Not everyone can be a celebrity, and not everyone is destined for world-shaking changes. But in the case of Gary Gygax, when he goes on to roll his next character, I hope he somehow knows that he indeed left a HUGE legacy. He made the world a place of fun and wonder for so many of us. That is a huge achievment. (And he helped create geek-chic! Huzzah!)
R.I.P. Gary Gygax- and thank you for making my life fun for the past thirty years.
The man changed my life, as much as did Chris Hyatt (another bright light we lost recently)- if not more. Gygax' contribution to the world, and specifically my life, opened up worlds of imagination (as some slogan goes). D&D was- and IS- a way for me to be something I am not IRL: a warrior, a rogue, an elf, a ranger, and so on. Through D&D I made lifelong bonds with family members and friends who also enjoyed wandering the infinite vistas of worlds our minds either created or populated.
So life seems a bit dimmer this morning. If you aren't a gamer, you might not appreciate it, but to many of us this is more painful than losing your favourite dice & bag, or worse than when your favourite charater dies and can't be reincarnated or regenerated. It is a time when all of us will think or our own mortality; it is the end of an era. We will look back on gaming memories, the good, the bad and the hysterically funny ("It's a gazebo, Eric")and should take a few minutes to toast the legacy of Gary Gygax.
Maybe I'm strange- or maybe I just have too much time to think- but I feel most people wonder at some point in their life just what their legacy to the world will be. It isn't necessary that we all be heroes, it isn't in the cards that we all be great political activists, or make sweeping social reforms. Not everyone can be a celebrity, and not everyone is destined for world-shaking changes. But in the case of Gary Gygax, when he goes on to roll his next character, I hope he somehow knows that he indeed left a HUGE legacy. He made the world a place of fun and wonder for so many of us. That is a huge achievment. (And he helped create geek-chic! Huzzah!)
R.I.P. Gary Gygax- and thank you for making my life fun for the past thirty years.