D&D General Let He Who Is Without Sin Cast the First Magic Missile: Why Gygax Still Matters to Me

[Scribe]

There is a sentiment in this OP which I think needs to be amplified, for the sake of our community, and geekdom in general.

I'm just not sure that we can survive the amplification.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

There is a sentiment in this OP which I think needs to be amplified, for the sake of our community, and geekdom in general.

I'm just not sure that we can survive the amplification.

To quote myself...

I live by a few, simple ideas-

1. People like what they like.
2. Elves are dead-eyed, soulless abominations.
3. It is better and easier to convince someone to try something by telling them that this is new thing is good and fun, than by trying to convince them that they are bad or ignorant for liking what they like.
4. There are only two things in the world that I cannot abide; people who are intolerant of the roleplaying choices of others, and bards.
5. It's better to try and understand why people like what they like than to assume people don't know better.
6. I don't know about you, but I take comfort knowing that he's out there. The Dude. Takin' er easy for all us sinners arguing on enworld.

Simple ideas, happy life. But if we all actually did this, there'd be a lot fewer threads.

 

[Bedrockgames]

To quote myself...

I live by a few, simple ideas-

1. People like what they like.
2. Elves are dead-eyed, soulless abominations.
3. It is better and easier to convince someone to try something by telling them that this is new thing is good and fun, than by trying to convince them that they are bad or ignorant for liking what they like.
4. There are only two things in the world that I cannot abide; people who are intolerant of the roleplaying choices of others, and bards.
5. It's better to try and understand why people like what they like than to assume people don't know better.
6. I don't know about you, but I take comfort knowing that he's out there. The Dude. Takin' er easy for all us sinners arguing on enworld.

Simple ideas, happy life. But if we all actually did this, there'd be a lot fewer threads.

The Dude abides!

 

[SteveC]

I've told this story before, but it explains what I think about Gary. I was a very young kid when I went to Gen Con at UW Parkside. I got into the "official" D&D tournament and somehow got seated with him as a DM. He was fantastic. He put up with a kid being creative and problem-solving in this round of an adventure. He consistently came back to me to see what I thought and what I was doing. And my character survived the round when some other older players didn't. He was a great ambassador for the game for me and my parents (who were watching me play!)

Gary is someone who we should always remember and celebrate as a part of this hobby. I'm not sure how much he has to contribute this time in terms of design theory in 2024, but I admit I enjoy his writing style sometimes.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Gygax's life story is like a dungeon. There's great treasure to be had, but also monsters lurking about. Get the good stuff and don't tarry too long.

 

[Scribe]

Simple ideas, happy life. But if we all actually did this, there'd be a lot fewer threads.

Fewer, or different? I very much wish that this place was different, that we could all meme, and discuss, and enjoy the Elf Games, and the discussion thereof.

Celebrate the good.

Not sure how badly I want to get deeper, but the sentiment of the thread stands.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Fewer, or different? I very much wish that this place was different, that we could all meme, and discuss, and enjoy the Elf Games, and the discussion thereof.

Celebrate the good.

Not sure how badly I want to get deeper, but the sentiment of the thread stands.

I agree that it's a little rough now, but I will say this-

I have been far and wide on the internet. And ... it's not good. Things have gotten a little weird in our Elf Game discussions recently, but dollar to donuts, I think that EnWorld is still one of the best and most pleasant places to converse.

Why? Because of our awesome moderators, and because we have a lot of amazing commenters who, even if they get heated at times, are good folk.

So yes, celebrate the good! Write comments that keep it positive! But remember it could be a lot worse, like, say, the comments section on youtube shudder.

 

[Nefermandias]

Beautifully written.
Reasonable too.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Gygax said and did things much worse than what he said on forums or wrote as rules. More than one TSR alum has told me directly some of the really awful things he would say to them.

We also know that many of his comments if he felt challenged were to double down in sarcasm. For instance, when asked if early D&D was sexist, he replied with, "If I wanted to make sexist, I would have done X, Y, and Z (things pretty awfully misogynistic). Some people took only the second part to illustrate just how bad he was when his answer in context was to intentionally be over the top because he hated being challenged and reacted extremely defensive, not that he actually wanted to put those things in the game.

That all being said, (and I've said this before), none of this is really shocking or new information. The man is dead. No one will change his mind. All these never-ending discussions do is put his kids in a bad position. I don't think that's really fair to them. Having the last name of Gygax, they are tied forever whether they like it or not, and it's reasonable to expect them to defend themselves due to guilt by association. And who wants to constantly hear people lambast your dad over and over and over and over. My dad is a garbage human being who should be in jail, but I don't want to keep hearing that over and over.

Personally, I view him like I do David Eddings, or Michael Jackson, or Led Zepplin. At some point art is separated from the artist. I won't defend him, but I will ask people to remember his kids are still active in the hobby and to take that into account. Do we really need to have a perpetual discussion about what kind of person Gary was? Is it really important for me to start listing all the bad stuff he did on an internet forum or social media? What am I gaining by doing that, compared to how am I impacting his family by that?

 

[damiller]

From the couple of threads I've read about this subject, and participated in, as well as my own readings on the subject, I am just blown away at how Gygax, of all people, was the guy who made RPGs digestible for others. HE. Gygax. Wrote a technical manual for how to play RPGs when most of the time, at that time (fi at all), you just had to learn by doing/watching/playing.

NO wonder it blew up.

He taught us to code.

That, is incredible, especially knowing he wasn't much of a technical writer, technically.