D&D General When D&D Co-Creator Dave Arneson Asked WotC For A Job!

Back in 1997, after WotC had purchased the failing TSR (and D&D), and just prior to the launch of D&D 3E, Dave Arneson -- who co-created D&D in the 1970s along with Gary Gygax -- wrote to WotC president Peter Adkison asking to be put in charge of TSR.

Ben Riggs -- author of Slaying the Dragon -- discovered Arneson's letter to Adkison while researching his history of D&D.

Newly Discovered Letters Reveal D&D's Co-Creator Asked to be put in Charge of D&D in 1997 and it Did Not Go Well — Ben Riggs

While writing my book, Slaying the Dragon , I discovered a number of fascinating historical documents hidden from public view until now. Over the coming months, I’m going to be sharing some of these captivating documents with you. The first is a 1997 letter from D&D co-creator Dave Ar

www.writerbenriggs.com

The letter was full of typos -- Arneson even got Adkison's name wrong! According to Riggs, Adkison did not reply, and Arneson wrote to him a second time.

 

[R_J_K75]

The first thing I do is scan the resume to see if they meet the minimum qualifications for the job regarding education and experience, and if not I reject it right then and there.

Generally speaking, how long do you take to scan a resume?

 

[MGibster]

Generally speaking, how long do you take to scan a resume?

Generally speaking, the only time I assist with recruiting is with interns and entry level positions. It typically takes me 30-60 seconds to scan a resume and move on. What I'm doing is checking the resume to make sure the applicant has minimum qualifications in order to move on to the next step. If there's something on the resume I'm not sure whether it fits the minimum requirements, I'll take a little extra time to make sure. When you submit a resume, make sure it contains all the qualifications the job description requires.

 

[R_J_K75]

Generally speaking, the only time I assist with recruiting is with interns and entry level positions. It typically takes me 30-60 seconds to scan a resume and move on. What I'm doing is checking the resume to make sure the applicant has minimum qualifications in order to move on to the next step. If there's something on the resume I'm not sure whether it fits the minimum requirements, I'll take a little extra time to make sure. When you submit a resume, make sure it contains all the qualifications the job description requires.

Thats reasonable. I was told rule of thumb is that HR or whoever is doing the hiring will usually scan your resume for 30 seconds, but that you don't need to meet all the requirements, but a good portion of them. Also, that not submitting your resume because you don't have all the qualifications can be doing yourself a disservice. It just goes to show how things differ depending on who you talk to. The subject of proper resume and cover letter writing, and submittal seems to change over time and as technology advances.

 

[adamantyr]

"The Game Wizards" is definitely a good book, I'm in the process of reading it and so far, Arneson's attitudes and actions match up perfectly with that cover letter.

I always thought a biopic or similar of the founders of RPG's would be kind of fun. The only problem is it probably wouldn't work with "real" people. Something like how "Halt and Catch Fire" handled it would be cool.

 

[MGibster]

Thats reasonable. I was told rule of thumb is that HR or whoever is doing the hiring will usually scan your resume for 30 seconds, but that you don't need to meet all the requirements, but a good portion of them.

With more than 10,000,000 employers in the United States, practices can vary quite a bit. At my company, HR reviews the resumes and passes on the most promising ones to the hiring manager. If you do not meet the qualifications for the job, the hiring manager will never see your resume. If you submit a resume, the worst thing they can do is just not read it. So it's not like you're hurting yourself by sending one in. I suspect that's what Arneson was doing.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

As @Von Ether mentioned, it's not so much removing that a candidate went to college at all, just the name. Whether it's an Ivy League or HBCU institution, people could make assumptions based off of just where a person went.

I can understand removing names. What benefit is there from removing a person's education? Wouldn't that be biased to younger people just out of college and entering the work force in favor of someone who has 20 years of experience?

It's still a big variable, depending on where you're applying and what industry. My feeling is that people should know how to write a cover letter, but should not provide one unless it is specifically asked for.

I was speaking to some students at a local university and one of them asked me about cover letters. I told them I don't read them, but some recruiters do. The first thing I do is scan the resume to see if they meet the minimum qualifications for the job regarding education and experience, and if not I reject it right then and there. The recruiter told them that she absolutely reads the resumes. So you never know.

 

[Mercurius]

I stand by my appraisal that Arneson's limited success was because he was around at the right time around the right people who did all the work for him.

That's probably true of the majority of "successful people."

 

[Von Ether]

I don't see the big deal. Adkinson knew enough of the history of D&D to recognize the good and ill of Arneson. The letter quickly confirmed the hearsay. Arneson was not hired or even considered for anything because WotC was buying a dead company's assets out of a sense of nostalgia and appreciation. I am not going to drag Arneson. Both he and Gygax, rightfully, have a lot of warm feelings for what they brought into the world, but neither could have done any of it without a lot of luck and a lot of help. We like to, as a society, elevate individuals as being the 'parent' of ideas or inventions, but it is never the case. It is a cult of personality and a desire to simplify things. It is also a bit of a projection of what we want. We want some untapped genius in the wings to solve our gripes with the game. The rightful heir who will return to fix all our problems with the game. Arneson was not that guy. There never is, and never was a 'that guy'. They are all human beings with ugly parts and bad habits who threw a bunch of ideas into a stew. D&D was the result.

And I think that if people were really honest with themselves, they also recognize the bad in themselves through the mistakes of their "heroes" and feel more awkward about it.

I've lost count on the conversations I've had in DM on social media explaining to excited newcomers that no, they can't just use other's IP will nilly or that using non-public domain art they didn't paid for is stealing. (I am bit more tactful in those discussions.) It makes me wonder if "learning about IP the hard way" is like part of game designer evolution since it's been done since the early days of the industry. Same for learning how an OGL vs community content vs fan work.

All of these things could be avoided by doing due diligence, but I assume the excitement and passion for making your own game in a hobby you love makes you forget to doing some research before you publish.

 

[Von Ether]

That's probably true of the majority of "successful people."

There's a great article by one of the original investors of Amazon. He was approached by two friends. One was selling luxury watches online, the other books both wanted him to be their angel investor. He figured more people bought books but he doesn't hold that up to being a genius just a lucky guess.

He also says something like My income equals 10,000 middle class families, but I don't buy 10,000 pairs of jeans. [paraphrasing from memory.]

 

[Warpiglet-7]

That's probably true of the majority of "successful people."

It is a to an extent. But there is more to it. Most successful business people have had several failed businesses first. So persistence is a thing.

Entrepreneurship is an input to business—-so taking risks and keeping at it is also necessary.

Lightning in a bottle stuff surely has some “luck” and some insane things that disrupt could not easily be predicted.

Knowing people who run successful businesses has taught me not to be too jaded. Of course No one predicts Amazon or Facebook and how far they would go.

But I don’t want to discount Gygax’s work or Arneson’s idea as a total fluke, personally.