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.

 

[Sacrosanct]

A new article on Rascal News is related to this thread: “No Politics” is always a red flag, even when defending your tabletop business

I’ve long said, “If the mere mention or existence of an LGBTQ character in a book is political, and you say keep politics out of gaming, you’re literally saying keep LGBTQ people out of gaming. You can’t have it both ways.”

 

[mamba]

Being raised sexist IS pressure.

how did mankind ever make any kind of progress with that kind of pressure that parents passing on their ideas to their children creates Sorry, not good enough, he chose to be a sexist, pure and simple

 

[Chaosmancer]

That's fine I'm saying tge criticism might be counter productive though.

The authors basically went on Twitter throwing chum into the water. They're either stupid or doing the same thing Elons doing. They're not stupid so.....

Don't be Jane Fonda using my Vietnam comment earlier.

The chum being... stating that these reprints of historical documents have things like racism, sexism, and other things in them which are no longer acceptable by society?

Are people's fandoms so fragile that "the table of pseudonyms for [****] was sexist" is enough to send them into a frenzy? That "making a book detailing how to kill and loot the corpse the god of an active religion was insensitive" is somehow going too far?

We've been putting "contains graphic language and depictions of cartoon violence" on animated films for decades, but a bit of a warning of "Yeah, there is some legit problematic stuff here, but we felt it was too important not to include in this love letter to the origin of the game" is going too far?

 

[Chaosmancer]

In a democracy it's exactly that. To change things you need a consensus failing that you need to win.

Um... I'm sorry. What do you mean by stating that if you fail to reach a consensus you need to "win"? Win what? Democracies win things by consensus.

 

[Maxperson]

B-but that's how all the Free Speech Men keep using it!

Not all. And those of us who truly value free speech for what it is, can't stand the hypocrites who try(and fail) to use it that way.

 

[Zardnaar]

The chum being... stating that these reprints of historical documents have things like racism, sexism, and other things in them which are no longer acceptable by society?

Are people's fandoms so fragile that "the table of pseudonyms for [****] was sexist" is enough to send them into a frenzy? That "making a book detailing how to kill and loot the corpse the god of an active religion was insensitive" is somehow going too far?

We've been putting "contains graphic language and depictions of cartoon violence" on animated films for decades, but a bit of a warning of "Yeah, there is some legit problematic stuff here, but we felt it was too important not to include in this love letter to the origin of the game" is going too far?

Alot of history books wouldn't use a disclaimer.

I assuming they knew what they're doing. They're all intelligent people.

The reaction was easily predictable. Hell I can predict it. Don't engage on Twitter they did. I don't use Twitter never have. A gopher can see this happening.

And yes they made it political by their actions. They're essentially doing the same thing the chud griifters do on the other side. Deliberately provoking a reaction.

So they're either stupid (doubtful) or playing fun and games themselves (like Musk).

Obviously they're marketing it. They made that choice. Putting Gary's writing in a book isn't a big deal. Putting your own opinion in it blurs the lines as to if it's history book or not.

 

[Maxperson]

how did mankind ever make any kind of progress with that kind of pressure that parents passing on their ideas to their children creates Sorry, not good enough, he chose to be a sexist, pure and simple

Because there are always exceptions, and the exceptions raise their kids to be different. That's one reason why progress is generally very slow. It takes a lot of time to shift viewpoints, because of how hard it is to overcome being raised a certain way from a young age.

If you note, I keep saying very hard to overcome. Not impossible to overcome.

 

[Chaosmancer]

People here have been doing it. You're with us or against us.

As I said I know Older generations. They don't match up 100% on various things. More politically incorrect vs American BS.

But they broadly support the right side as such where it matters.

According to some posters thoughl....


They were born 1930s maybe early 40s.

So which is the right side on whether or not women's brains are capable of experiencing and enjoying a Role-Playing Game? Or does a woman's ability or inability to enjoy something she enjoys "not matter"?

 

[Zardnaar]

So which is the right side on whether or not women's brains are capable of experiencing and enjoying a Role-Playing Game? Or does a woman's ability or inability to enjoy something she enjoys "not matter"?

Nice straw man. Never claimed Gary was right I don't like his product.

I have said he's a product of his time.

From personal experience with parent contemporaries there's a lot worse than Gary.

It's really hard to get away from your up bringing. As I've said previously there's 8 billion people in the world. The vast majority don't swing my way. Why? Culture, social mores etc.

My country has 5 million people. It's generally in the top 10 or so of the nicest places in the world. Most of the rest are comparatively small population wise.

Basically I'm self aware most people don't swing my way. Why they don't doesn't really matter.

 

[Steampunkette]

A new article on Rascal News is related to this thread: “No Politics” is always a red flag, even when defending your tabletop business

What a great article! I love it.