Gygax doesn't matter?

[Harr]

Not trying to incite any flames or anything, but this genuinely baffles and shocks me.

http://www.chimera.info/2008/03/06/a-guy-who-made-a-game-the-end/

Clinging to Gary so you, the self-conscious gamer, can avoid feeling alone and awkward in your nerd shame is giving Gary a lot more credit than he deserves.

It just got me to thinking. I really did feel very sad when I heard Gygax passed. I even shed a few tears. When I read that post by Rouse confirming that 4th would be dedicated to him, I genuinely felt a surge of emotion. It was real.

Now I read this, it's very logical and cold, and I myself am usually a logical and cold person. I find myself torn between the two sides. I don't know what to think, really. Do we really feel a connection to this man, or are we just 'clinging'? Is it normal to want to honor and praise the man for his contribution to our life, or are we deluding ourselves to a certain extent?

 

[Treebore]

Not trying to incite any flames or anything, but this genuinely baffles and shocks me.

http://www.chimera.info/2008/03/06/a-guy-who-made-a-game-the-end/



It just got me to thinking. I really did feel very sad when I heard Gygax passed. I even shed a few tears. When I read that post by Rouse confirming that 4th would be dedicated to him, I genuinely felt a surge of emotion. It was real.

Now I read this, it's very logical and cold, and I myself am usually a logical and cold person. I find myself torn between the two sides. I don't know what to think, really. Do we really feel a connection to this man, or are we just 'clinging'? Is it normal to want to honor and praise the man for his contribution to our life, or are we deluding ourselves to a certain extent?

Thats just another example of someone who thinks they "know" what they are talking about.

Your heart is in your body, only you know what it says.

 

[Henry]

Now I read this, it's very logical and cold, and I myself am usually a logical and cold person. I find myself torn between the two sides. I don't know what to think, really. Do we really feel a connection to this man, or are we just 'clinging'? Is it normal to want to honor and praise the man for his contribution to our life, or are we deluding ourselves to a certain extent?

No disrespect meant to Matt Snyder, and this is my opinion, but The Man Died Tuesday. He died two days after Mr. Snyder wrote that. Let People Grieve in their own way, for God's Sake.

Besides that, Mr. Snyder misses the transformative aspect of Gary's and Dave's initial work on the culture of the past 30 years. All those basement nerds, and not-so-basement nerds, ended up making huge marks on the world; they would have made a mark had they not been D&D nerds, of course, but the mark would have been a different one, and it's so all-encompassing I can't even figure out HOW different it would have been.

But the man died less than a week ago. I say let people do their little and big tributes the best way they know how, and later on THEN figure out how big a role Gygax had to play on Baby Boomers' and Generation X's Zeitgeists.

 

[malraux]

Gygax created something much bigger than himself. So does his influence on the game is limited, but that's because he created something that became so big. In many ways its a more impressive accomplishment than his direct influence touching the entire game.

 

[Michael Morris]

This is the internet. Trolls are a dime by the dozen. I'll reserve any further commentary on this at CM where the vitriol and bile it deserves isn't out of place as it would be here.

 

[justinsluder]

This is how I look at it.

The death of E. Gary Gygax is to gamers as the death of Neil Armstrong will eventually be to the whole world.

All of us, I think, at one time wanted to be an astronaut. I know I did. Now, I want to be a game designer similar to the great Mr. Gygax.

 

[MrWildman]

I got all weepy, sure. Reading his "Up On A Soapbox" column in early Dragon magazines helped shape my DMing style, and left me with a (perhaps undeserved) feeling that I knew him, or at least would like to meet him.

I heard about his death the day before I heard about a dear lady who used to be a neighbor dying. That week we also welcomed two new players to the D&D group. Our game friday had a keep on the borderlands and an owlbear, of course, and a wise woman in the woods who greeted the party with "Hey, bay-bees".

We got all maudlin and teary. And we enjoyed it, we took responsibility for it. It felt good and today we feel refreshed and hopeful. We decided to mourn in a mature manner.

So there, Matt Snyder!

 

[DM-Rocco]

His creation is greater than any one nerd or any one game. If not for Gary, you wouldn't have things like World of War Craft or Evercrack. You wouldn't even have movies like the Lion the Witch and the Wadrobe or The Lord Of the Rings. Yes, those authors would have been famous and a side note next to their work for a good writing job, but you would not have fantasy movies based on those films, period.

He changed the way people viewed fantasy and the way that we view everything else. Just because some Ahole doesn't understands how everything Gary touched effects them doesn't mean you need to follow suit and think the same way. D&D didn't have any relovance in this one persons life since 1989 and I could agrue that if not for D&D he might not be were he is today or have some of the friends he has today.

I know for a fact, I would have far fewer friends if I didn't share the gaming table with many people of the course of my life. Think of all the people you met because of D&D and ask yourself if you would have the same life if not for a one man who created a simple game of fantasy.

 

[shilsen]

My two bits? The death of Gary Gygax makes no difference to me. I got into gaming in 1999, when his direct influence on D&D was very low, if not non-existent, and from what I've seen of 1e and things Gary has said here on ENWorld, his gaming philosophy and style were mostly very different from mine. I didn't know him personally, and even if I did it wouldn't really matter, since death doesn't bother me at all whether it happens to friends or family or strangers. Everyone dies and since getting excited about it won't change anything, I don't.

That said, I'm very happy that Gary invented D&D, a game which has given me more pleasure than anything legally should And if other people who had a much greater connection to him and/or are more emotional than me about death have a strong reaction to his death, do I think there's anything wrong with it? Hell, no! I thought it was fascinating to see the outpouring of emotion and sentiment here and elsewhere, and I saw some very classy and thoughtful responses to his death.

In short, I think it's silly that Matt Snyder assumes that there should be one response to Gygax's death or that everyone who is upset about it is upset for the same reasons.

 

[Mark]

I think it’s sad that this guy from Wisconsin died a tad bit earlier than most folks do these days, and sad that he had a wife and several kids.

It is not sad that Gary had a wife and kids. Is he also saying that he wishes more people would die earlier? This guy is kookie.

This existential grief notion that “OMIGOD, Where would I be without Gary?!?” is baffling to me.

I have not seen anyone phrase their grief in this manner. It seems to be the crux of his entire blog entry.


"Well, hey, I didn't spend all those years playing Dungeons and Dragons and not learn a little something about courage." - Blaine, as portrayed by Allan Zinyk, in a scene from the X-Files episode Jose Chung's 'From Outer Space' (Season 3, Episode 20, originally aired April 12, 1996)