Slate article on Gary's legacy (Merged with Gary Gygax Slandered)

[Felon]

I believe that in this author's world view, anything remotely connected to war or violence or weapons is "morally reprehensible". The fact that mostly males and often whites play Gygax's game also makes him inherently evil.

You're straw-manning. The sentiment the author is expressing is one I've been sympathetic with, and so have others in this forum. It's the poor taste of issuing this so soon after Gygax's demise that I think needs highlighting.

 

[Zinegata]

Well, Stephen Jackson (or someone claiming to be him but I kinda doubt it) had just posted in the Slate boards and quite frankly said "It's too stupid to give a long reply to, but it's too offensive to ignore".

Despite the high praises for GURPs, SJ has pretty much said he is ashamed he was even mentioned and that the author was a twit who would have criticized the Wright Brothers for not inventing the Jet Plane before the prop plane.

Like I said in the WoTC boards, just ignore this Erik Sofge and then make fun of him when his obituary comes up. He's so bad at judging technology and games he even bet against the Wii in 2006.

 

[Enforcer]

Nitpick: when written, it's libel, not slander. Slander is spoken. Ask any lawyer, or pop Spider-Man 1 into your DVD player...

That said, I don't think it's libel in this particular case. In extremely poor taste, yes, but not libel.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

WOW the direct descendant of D&D?? Oh please..

Uh, of course it is.

The Warcraft universe started off as an AD&D homebrew heavily influenced by Warhammer (which is, of course, also a descendant of D&D).

It involves playing a character who is a member of one of several fantasy races (all of which Gygax would recognize), one of several fantasy classes, and going into dangerous environments, meeting the natives, killing them and going through their pockets.

It's hard to pick a game that's more clearly derived from D&D than World of Warcraft. Now, granted, the stuff that MMOs don't do well that D&D does well, WoW (mostly) doesn't attempt -- there's few opportunities for one player to change the world for the other five thousand people on the server, and non-combat responses to problems are few and far between -- but the entire paradigm of playing one of a party going on missions in a fantasy universe, typically underground or in some mysterious ruin, and carrying out the loot at the end, is absolutely D&D derived.