Elon Musk Calls for Wizards of the Coast to "Burn in Hell" Over Making of Original D&D Passages

Elon Musk, the owner of the app formerly known as Twitter, is calling on Wizards of the Coast and its parent company Hasbro to "burn in hell" for the publication of Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons. On November 21st, former gaming executive turned culture warrior Mark Hern posted several passages from Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons on Twitter, criticizing the book for providing context about some of the misogyny and cultural insensitivity found in early rulebooks. These passages were pulled from the foreword written by Jason Tondro, a senior designer for the D&D team who also worked extensively on the book. Hern stated that these passages, along with the release of the new 2024 Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide for D&D's "40th anniversary" (it is actually D&D's 50th anniversary) both "erased and slandered" Gary Gygax and other creators of Dungeons & Dragons.

In response, Musk wrote "Nobody, and I mean nobody, gets to trash E. Gary Gygax and the geniuses who created Dungeons & Dragons. What the [naughty word] is wrong with Hasbro and WoTC?? May they burn in hell." Musk had played Dungeons & Dragons at some point in his youth, but it's unclear when the last time he ever played the game.

Nobody, and I mean nobody, gets to trash E. Gary Gygax and the geniuses who created Dungeons & Dragons. What the [xxxx] is wrong with Hasbro and WoTC?? May they burn in hell.

- Elon Musk​

Notably, Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons contains countless correspondences and letters written by both Gygax and Dave Arneson, including annotated copies of early D&D rulesets. Most early D&D rules supplements as well as early Dragon magazines are also found in the book. It seems odd to contain one of the most extensive compliations of Gygax's work an "erasure," but it's unclear whether Hern or Musk actually read the book given the incorrect information about the anniversary.

Additionally, Gygax and Arneson are both credited in the 2024 Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. The exact credit reads: "Building on the original game created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson and then developed by many others over the past 50 years." Wizards of the Coast also regularly collaborates with Gygax's youngest son Luke and is a participant at Gary Con, a convention held in Gygax's honor. The opening paragraph of the 2024 Player's Handbook is written by Jeremy Crawford and specifically lauds both Gygax and Arneson for making Dungeons & Dragons and contains an anecdote about Crawford meeting Gygax.

Musk has increasingly leaned into culture war controversies in recent years, usually amplifying misinformation to suit his own political agenda.

 

[I'm A Banana]

This post would have been much better if you had left the smugness and certainty of your position you're decrying from the 'other side' out of it. Calling the other side flat earthers? That's not a good look for you. There is a lot of hypocrisy and holier-than-thou here that is beneath the sentiment you're trying to put across, and subverts your intentions. Your goal here seems to be inform everyone that 'you of the other side are fools, and I am pure wisdom and the holder of the moral high ground'. Your disdain and dehumanisation of those who disagree with you is showing. And this coming from someone who is actually on your side. Come on man... not cool.

I hope you feel better because I need a shower after reading this. Sorry for the strong language, but reading your post really grossed me out. I can see you put a lot of effort into it though.

None of your feelings actually contradict the facts of the situation: Gygax did sexist things and will be rightly judged to be sexist for doing those sexist things.

Some folks seem to prefer it if that particular fact disappeared down the memory-hole, and THAT's what makes me want to take a shower. That some folks think that's it's more wrong to publish factual history than to do misogyny. That it's some kind of hypocritical arrogance to value facts. That sexist behavior is something to be hidden, not to be talked about, not that big of a deal, not who he REALLY was. That this history is not worth knowing or acknowledging for what it truly is.

That's the kind of behavior one should be disgusted with.

I honestly don't think there is much disagreement between us about what Gary said and did. If the impression that foreword makes of him is accurate though? Maybe we disagree there.

Caring more that "the impression the foreward makes of him is accurate" than about the impact his sexism had on the hobby and the people who love it is caring about the wrong thing.

And if you care about the impact his sexism had on the actual people who love the hobby, you can see that simply acknowledging it in the foreward is an important part of addressing that impact.

 

[Azzy]

I don't have a lot of time right now but my short response is yes humor matters because humor often involves exaggeration for effect (so it isn't necessarily a literal expression of a persons views). Sometimes people mean it, sometimes they are exaggerating existing beliefs. On the Heidi Gygax, part I would not want to put words in her mouth but I think she was making a very qualified statement about his sexism

When people tell you who they are—even (or especially) in jest—you should absolutely believe them.

 

[Umbran]

But Dustyboots, that would mean that claiming a person was "of their time" wouldn't be an excuse for their behavior being inappropriate.

It is, at best, an explanation. It was never an excuse.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

But Dustyboots

Please, my father was Mr. Dustyboots.

 

[Alzrius]

'Black' and 'Dark' especially in the realm of mythology doesn't usually directly correlate to color.

It does in this case; there's a reason why the very first line in the Wikipedia entry for the Dökkálfar says that they have a dark complexion.

 

[Bedrockgames]

When people tell you who they are—even (or especially) in jest—you should absolutely believe them.

My experience with people is things often aren’t this simple

 

[Bedrockgames]

Yes. She said he was sexist. And you involved her in this "attempted humor" as well.

I am only replying to this part of your post because I have two mod warnings in this thread so I think it is not a great idea for me to respond to all your other points. Like I said I would not want to put words in her mouth but her post mentioned that she acknowledged he was a man born in 1938 with views that would be considered sexist by today’s standards. To me that reads as a qualified statement, especially with the additional sentiments she included.

I am not trying to involve her in anything. She and Mentzer both mentioned they believed the quotes were not being understood in their context. Mentzer suggested he was joking in one instance.

 

[Azzy]

My experience with people is things often aren’t this simple

On the contrary, it is this simple. People out themselves when they say bigoted things or self-identify as a bigot (typically using humor as an excuse to hide behind if the reaction to what they say is negative). We've got Gygax doing both. I choose to believe him.

 

[MGibster]

This guy? Is sexist. It's not that deep.

What's weird, is I can see where he's coming from. I grew up in an era when toys were pretty strictly segregated by sex and it seemed perfectly natural that boys liked GI Joe, Atari, and football while girls like My Little Pony, Barbie, and not playing video games. But then I saw evidence to suggest otherwise and adjusted my worldview accordingly.

Here's the thing, by the time Gygax made that post in 2002, he must have been aware of how many teenage girls and young women had gotten into role playing games with the introduction of Vampire the Masquerade back in 1991. I know my experience is just one anecdote, but Vampire was the first time I saw anything approaching parity between boys and girls in a role playing game. Gygax had the evidence right there that girls and women were interested in RPGs and still clung to his beliefs.

 

[EzekielRaiden]

On the contrary, it is this simple. People out themselves when they say bigoted things or self-identify as a bigot (typically using humor as an excuse to hide behind if the reaction to what they say is negative). We've got Gygax doing both. I choose to believe him.

Further, I find that something C.S. Lewis wrote really takes all of the air out of the "oh, it's just an intentionally provocative thing to say, it's not actually what that person thinks/believes/does":

"Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed."

Just sub in "more sexist" for "stupid," or any other negative trait, and the same thing holds. Saying something you know is offensive but don't personally believe is one of the best ways for that to become something you personally believe.