All I can say is the creatives that I have sat in conventions with and talked to claim he was. When We Were Wizards the designers that worked for him claim he was. I am not necessarily qualified to make that assessment. I liked Gord the Rogue so that is all subjective.
I've read and I've played Dangerous Journeys. "A work of genius" is not the term I would use for that game. It's certainly expansive, but just because you can create a lot of stuff that doesn't mean that the stuff you create is any good.
Nobody can take away the role Gygax played in the creation of RPGs as we know it. Although it's ironic Gygax himself was dismissive of the role of others, like Arneson, in the creation of RPGs as we know it. Gygax was and will continue to be an icon of the industry like Ford is to the automobile, Chef Boyardee is to canned Italian food, and Thanos is to the zero population growth people.
Having been defunct since 1997, the business Gary started, TSR, does not exist. TSR was wholly consumed by Wizards of the Coast and only exists as a memory. I know I've been pretty critical of Gary in this thread, but I don't think he was just another guy. I know I couldn't have accomplished the things he did.
Wizards of the Coast was a financially successful company flush with cash allowing them to purchase TSR lock, stock, and barrel. TSR is no more. It has ceased to be. It is bereft of life. It rests in peace. It is an ex-company. It's true that D&D the game still exists, but the company Gary Gygax created in October of 1973 ceased to exist at all by 2000 when WotC stopped selling D&D under TSR's name.
This happens to companies all the time, however, the flagship brand, D&D, which was the company, it is still around.
Yeah, one of the biggest takeaways I got from reading through some of the Alarums & Excursions back-and-forths between Gary and others was how much contempt there was even then. It seemed like it was still a minority, but there was obviously a vocal one that didn’t really want someone in Geneva telling them anything and considered TSR as negative influence on the hobby because of it’s perceived profit seeking.
His story strikes me as a perfect example of “right place, right time”. There’s a tendency to mythologize people who achieve success but there’s plenty of luck that goes into the mix, as well as an ability to recognize an opportunity. It doesn’t mean those people will always be successful - they’re not geniuses.
