Did Gygax owe a bit of thanks to WotC?

[MerricB]

In fact, he probably spent at least 3 hours a day reading and writing on the various boards and checking e-mails instead of writing manuscripts and other things. I think fans should appreciate the time he spent with us--especially AFTER the stroke hit and reduced his time to write. Its possible he could have gotten a few levels of Castle Zagyg published if he cut off all public communications. But he chose to spend a lot of time here fielding questions and making jokes.

Speaking as someone who was looking forward greatly to Castle Zagyg... I'm very glad Gary did spend the time posting on message boards. Ultimately, getting to know Gary the gamer was far more valuable to me than CZ.

Cheers!

 

[Henry]

I think fans should appreciate the time he spent with us--especially AFTER the stroke hit and reduced his time to write. Its possible he could have gotten a few levels of Castle Zagyg published if he cut off all public communications. But he chose to spend a lot of time here fielding questions and making jokes.

Quite frankly, if I were seriously ill, that's the way I'd want to spend my time. Life is too short, and I think after the second stroke Gary knew that intensely. I do feel a bit guilty because I personally benefitted from all his playtime on forums and gameday events. Gaming with him the one time I got the chance was my equivalent of shooting a casual game of hoops with Michael Jordan.

John, if you read this, do you know if he ever got to play around with 4E test rules at all? I want to say I read somewhere he got to mess around with an early version and played a dwarf of some sort, but didn't think much of those rules, either -- but I may be getting this conflated with a 3E story I read.

 

[JohnRTroy]

Speaking as someone who was looking forward greatly to Castle Zagyg... I'm very glad Gary did spend the time posting on message boards. Ultimately, getting to know Gary the gamer was far more valuable to me than CZ.Cheers!

I feel the same way.

 

[rounser]

Consider that WotC brought about 3e. 3e brought about EN World. EN World had the Gygax Q&A threads. Does anyone have a strong argument that this did not bring some Gygaxian wisdom to at least hundreds, and possibly thousands or tens of thousands that would not have otherwise heard it?

So, yes, a nod of thanks would be appropriate. And I think he gave that in his dealings with Peter Adkison.

Sorry Umbran, but I don't see it. He may as well have "offered thanks" to the creators of the internet, the PC, and AC/DC current for enabling this.

If anyone's on the hook for what's "appropriate", a word of thanks (and IMO, in some cases, apology) to Gygax and Arneson from the 3E and 4E designers for having their heads with their legacy makes much more sense. If memory serves, a Gygaxian quote on 3E was "let them play their little game." And as a fan of D&D, 4E IMO requires at least a paladin's atonement for what it's done to our community alone.

 

[Erik Mona]

Didn’t Gygax owe a little thanks to WotC and new D&D? Don’t we all owe them a little thanks for bringing the man back on stage for us?

Absolutely.

It makes me sick that Gygax himself is too dead to come on here and apologize to the EN World community.

The nerve of some people.

--Erik

 

[the Jester]

Gary Gygax was an awesome guy from what I saw of him here on ENWorld. I don't see how he owed WotC anything, and I much prefer having had his honest opinion on matters over him being a simple party line speaker.

I mean, it's not like WotC owned him or anything. Heck, he was more akin to an outside consultant than anything.

 

[AllisterH]

Absolutely.

It makes me sick that Gygax himself is too dead to come on here and apologize to the EN World community.

The nerve of some people.

--Erik

Contrarian opinion.

Given the fact that he was never a fan of the OGL, I do think you would actually be more appreciative of Ryan Dancey than Gygax.....

 

[Erik Mona]

Surprisingly, I can differentiate between a person's opinions and my estimation of their character.

Therefore, I appreciate both Gary Gygax and Ryan Dancey. Ryan made it possible for me to have my current job. Gary Gygax made it possible for me to have my entire career.

Which means I owe them both a bit of thanks!

--Erik

 

[Nikosandros]

Contrarian opinion.

Given the fact that he was never a fan of the OGL, I do think you would actually be more appreciative of Ryan Dancey than Gygax.....

Without Gygax in the first place, Ryan Dancey wouldn't have had much to work with regarding the OGL...

 

[jmucchiello]

I don't think it was WoTC that brought him "out of obscurity", but the rise of the Internet itself.

Not to pick on John specifically, but I find the word obscurity dubious. Gary voiced himself in an episode of Futurama that first aired in May 2000. He probably did the voice work the previous year. The Futurama producers probably contacted him about that over a year ahead of time. So he was famous enough for the producers of a mass market prime time sitcom to want him before 3E hit.