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D&D Fandom Part I: The Dark Ages
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<blockquote data-quote="talien" data-source="post: 7700844" data-attributes="member: 3285"><p><em>Dungeons & Dragons </em>began with fans; co-creator Gary Gygax contributed to many wargaming fanzines before launching D&D. In the beginning fans were welcomed with open arms...until competitors arose to threaten TSR's dominance in the fantasy role-playing game market. TSR's relationship with fans soured as the company shifted its attitude from treating fans as collaborators to treating them as competition. This installment covers the Dark Ages of D&D fandom.</p><h3>D&D for All?</h3><p>Gygax's original descriptions of <em>Dungeons & Dragons</em> made it clear that the onus of a game's development was largely on the shoulders of the players and dungeon masters. The original boxed set of Dungeons & Dragons didn't come with any adventures just two pages of a sample dungeon (one if you discount the map); it was assumed DMs would develop that content as needed. Gygax's own words in <em>Men & Magic: </em></p><p></p><p>This anything goes philosophy extended beyond adventures to the rules themselves. Gygax made it clear in <em>Men & Magic</em>set that players could play anything they wanted, including dragons:</p><p></p><p>For a time, this extended to later iterations of D&D. Gygax continued the free-form thinking in the <em>Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide:</em></p><p></p><p>It wouldn't last.</p><h3>The Rise of the Module</h3><p>For an excellent example of what these heady early days were like, <em>The Habitition of the Stone Giant Lord</em> demonstrates what DMs were capable of:</p><p></p><p>DMs made their own adventures and, while the spelling and grammar must be viewed in light of a pre-spell correct world, created entire worlds just as Gygax had envisioned:</p><p></p><p>Back then, publishing adventures was unheard of. Jon Peterson explains in the foreword to <em>The Habitition:</em></p><p></p><p>TSR was slow to recognize this need at first. Pete and Judy Kerestan, released the <em>Palace of the Vampire Queen </em>in 1976 followed by <em>The Dungeoneer </em>magazine which contained a dungeon in each issue beginning with F'Chelrak's Tomb. The need for adventures accelerated when tournament participants released their dungeons for a small fee by mail, similar to the DM's Guild of today. It wasn't until 1978 that TSR formally entered the distribution of adventures on its own terms, calling the "modules" and selling tournament adventures to the public after they debuted at Origins. Thus the Giant (G) series was promptly followed by the Drow (D) series.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, TSR wasn't leaving dungeon creation to DMs' imaginations. The reaction was mixed, as described by Peterson:</p><p></p><p>The problem was that TSR was in both the business of imagination and innovation, and neither of those made the company money locked up in fandom. As TSR learned from its fans what they wanted, it also became increasingly protective of the D&D brand.</p><h3>Getting Defensive</h3><p>Over time, Gygax and TSR shifted from welcoming all kinds of feedback to sharply defining what was and wasn't D&D. Former TSR employee Lawrence Schick explains in <em>Heroic Worlds</em>:</p><p></p><p>To be fair, this likely had as much to do with the nascent role-playing game industry as it did with sales. D&D was seeing the rise of competitors like <em>Tunnels & Trolls</em> that sought to expand and improve D&D -- and by doing so, competing for D&D's dollars in the market. David Ewalt explains in <em><a href="http://amzn.to/20O0mY7" target="_blank">Of Dice & Men</a></em>:</p><p></p><p>Gygax's tone shifted from welcoming everyone to contribute to the game to defining what was a "D&D experience" and what wasn't. By November 1982, Gygax was sharply defending the game's turf in <em>Dragon Magazine #67</em>:</p><p></p><p>If it wasn't clear that Gygax is saying that TSR has the final word on how D&D should be played, he spells it out a few paragraphs later in the same article:</p><p></p><p>Gygax even directly contradicts his statement in the Dungeon Master's Guide:</p><p></p><p>TSR got stingier with its licensees as a result, with disagreements over how to demonstrate D&D compatibility culminating in lawsuits between Mayfair Games and TSR.</p><h3>Laying Down the Law</h3><p>Shannon Appelcline explains in <em>Designers & Dragons - the 70s</em>:</p><p></p><p>It hurt TSR's reputation among players, who felt D&D was always THEIR game and hadn't stopped writing their own homebrew worlds and adventures. Things got particularly ugly when TSR began going after fan-published works, which sat in comfortable solitude on DM's tables at home but were suddenly exposed to the glare of the public network TSR helped create. Ewalt explains:</p><p></p><p>Joseph Laycock shares the broader perspective of fans in <em>Dangerous Games</em>:</p><p></p><p>TSR's grip on D&D was slipping as the role-playing genre it helped launch evolved in different directions. D&D was no longer the only role-playing game, much less the only fantasy role-playing game. Of course, part of TSR's attitude likely stemmed from its precipitous rise and fall as a business, with litigation the final straw in a long series of missteps before the company was sold to Wizards of the Coast.</p><h3>Wizards in the Web</h3><p>The sale of Dungeons & Dragons to Wizards marked a turning point for the fan too. With the Internet on the rise, the ability to instantly distribute fan works to the public at large was now a very real threat -- well beyond that of a fan selling character sheets for two cents. We'll see how Wizards dealt with the D&D fanbase in the next installment.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="talien, post: 7700844, member: 3285"] [I]Dungeons & Dragons [/I]began with fans; co-creator Gary Gygax contributed to many wargaming fanzines before launching D&D. In the beginning fans were welcomed with open arms...until competitors arose to threaten TSR's dominance in the fantasy role-playing game market. TSR's relationship with fans soured as the company shifted its attitude from treating fans as collaborators to treating them as competition. This installment covers the Dark Ages of D&D fandom. [HEADING=2]D&D for All?[/HEADING] Gygax's original descriptions of [I]Dungeons & Dragons[/I] made it clear that the onus of a game's development was largely on the shoulders of the players and dungeon masters. The original boxed set of Dungeons & Dragons didn't come with any adventures just two pages of a sample dungeon (one if you discount the map); it was assumed DMs would develop that content as needed. Gygax's own words in [I]Men & Magic: [/I] This anything goes philosophy extended beyond adventures to the rules themselves. Gygax made it clear in [I]Men & Magic[/I]set that players could play anything they wanted, including dragons: For a time, this extended to later iterations of D&D. Gygax continued the free-form thinking in the [I]Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master's Guide:[/I] It wouldn't last. [HEADING=2]The Rise of the Module[/HEADING] For an excellent example of what these heady early days were like, [I]The Habitition of the Stone Giant Lord[/I] demonstrates what DMs were capable of: DMs made their own adventures and, while the spelling and grammar must be viewed in light of a pre-spell correct world, created entire worlds just as Gygax had envisioned: Back then, publishing adventures was unheard of. Jon Peterson explains in the foreword to [I]The Habitition:[/I] TSR was slow to recognize this need at first. Pete and Judy Kerestan, released the [I]Palace of the Vampire Queen [/I]in 1976 followed by [I]The Dungeoneer [/I]magazine which contained a dungeon in each issue beginning with F'Chelrak's Tomb. The need for adventures accelerated when tournament participants released their dungeons for a small fee by mail, similar to the DM's Guild of today. It wasn't until 1978 that TSR formally entered the distribution of adventures on its own terms, calling the "modules" and selling tournament adventures to the public after they debuted at Origins. Thus the Giant (G) series was promptly followed by the Drow (D) series. Suddenly, TSR wasn't leaving dungeon creation to DMs' imaginations. The reaction was mixed, as described by Peterson: The problem was that TSR was in both the business of imagination and innovation, and neither of those made the company money locked up in fandom. As TSR learned from its fans what they wanted, it also became increasingly protective of the D&D brand. [HEADING=2]Getting Defensive[/HEADING] Over time, Gygax and TSR shifted from welcoming all kinds of feedback to sharply defining what was and wasn't D&D. Former TSR employee Lawrence Schick explains in [I]Heroic Worlds[/I]: To be fair, this likely had as much to do with the nascent role-playing game industry as it did with sales. D&D was seeing the rise of competitors like [I]Tunnels & Trolls[/I] that sought to expand and improve D&D -- and by doing so, competing for D&D's dollars in the market. David Ewalt explains in [I][URL='http://amzn.to/20O0mY7']Of Dice & Men[/URL][/I]: Gygax's tone shifted from welcoming everyone to contribute to the game to defining what was a "D&D experience" and what wasn't. By November 1982, Gygax was sharply defending the game's turf in [I]Dragon Magazine #67[/I]: If it wasn't clear that Gygax is saying that TSR has the final word on how D&D should be played, he spells it out a few paragraphs later in the same article: Gygax even directly contradicts his statement in the Dungeon Master's Guide: TSR got stingier with its licensees as a result, with disagreements over how to demonstrate D&D compatibility culminating in lawsuits between Mayfair Games and TSR. [HEADING=2]Laying Down the Law[/HEADING] Shannon Appelcline explains in [I]Designers & Dragons - the 70s[/I]: It hurt TSR's reputation among players, who felt D&D was always THEIR game and hadn't stopped writing their own homebrew worlds and adventures. Things got particularly ugly when TSR began going after fan-published works, which sat in comfortable solitude on DM's tables at home but were suddenly exposed to the glare of the public network TSR helped create. Ewalt explains: Joseph Laycock shares the broader perspective of fans in [I]Dangerous Games[/I]: TSR's grip on D&D was slipping as the role-playing genre it helped launch evolved in different directions. D&D was no longer the only role-playing game, much less the only fantasy role-playing game. Of course, part of TSR's attitude likely stemmed from its precipitous rise and fall as a business, with litigation the final straw in a long series of missteps before the company was sold to Wizards of the Coast. [HEADING=2]Wizards in the Web[/HEADING] The sale of Dungeons & Dragons to Wizards marked a turning point for the fan too. With the Internet on the rise, the ability to instantly distribute fan works to the public at large was now a very real threat -- well beyond that of a fan selling character sheets for two cents. We'll see how Wizards dealt with the D&D fanbase in the next installment. [/QUOTE]
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