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.

 

[polyhedral man]

What they said, their words, are the evidence you are inferring from.

The words "Gary Gygax was sexist" do not appear in the passage. His name is not there. The word "sexist" is not there. So, you must be processing what they do say, and coming to the conclusion, "They are saying that Gary, personally, was sexist."

That thought process is what we call "inference".

You're conflating "their words" with "evidence". Evidence is Gary's text. Not their words.

In the pages of Greyhawk... The misogyny is revealed as a conscious choice.

Passive voice. But we all know Gary wrote Greyhawk. So it's an indirect way to say the same thing.

 

[Reef]

I think this approach is not proving to be a winning strategy for most companies lately

If you’re trying to say “go woke, go broke”, I think that completes my BINGO card…

 

[Bedrockgames]

If you’re trying to say “go woke, go broke”, I think that completes my BINGO card…

I am saying leaning into either side of the culture war loses customers

 

[Justice and Rule]

I am saying leaning into either side of the culture war loses customers

I dunno, they've been leaning towards one side pretty decidedly (even if they make mistakes) and it seems to have worked out for them?

 

[S'mon]

Many, many misogynists hire women. Gary hired 19 year old Jean Wells with a promise of a job as a designer, put her up in his house while she was interviewing (which, if I'm estimating the timeframes right, might have been while he was on the outs with or actually in the middle of divorce proceedings with his wife) and then completely failed to train or support her, so she actually worked as a secretary. And the one writing project she got was demolished.

I don't think he treated male staff any better. Did any of them get training & support? But I do think Gygax was often sexist (& if your inference is correct, possibly horny), and I wouldn't be surprised if he had treated a woman differently. His colleagues at TSR seemed very annoyed he had hired a female at all, worked hard to undermine Wells, and complained EGG was "protecting" her. But didn't she do Sage Advice in Dragon? So she was still more than a secretary.

We had a discussion upthread about definining misogyny. Google's Oxford Dictionary "dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women" fits my definition. Or Wikipedia's "hatred & contempt - Misogyny - Wikipedia - by those standards, which are different from Sexism, I don't think Gygax was ever misogynistic, including in his D&D writings.

 

[BookTenTiger]

I am saying leaning into either side of the culture war loses customers

"Culture War" is one of those terms that should make you stop and consider if you're actually writing about your own opinions and thoughts, or just repeating the ideas of others.

 

[FrogReaver]

"Culture War" is one of those terms that should make you stop and consider if you're actually writing about your own opinions and thoughts, or just repeating the ideas of others.

I don’t get it?

 

[S'mon]

I dunno, they've been leaning towards one side pretty decidedly (even if they make mistakes) and it seems to have worked out for them?

It's hard to say. They weren't leaning hard in the early 5e era ca 2014-18, which saw explosive growth. But I don't think they've had the same sort of disaster as befell the recent MCU either - despite similarly lacklustre products! And I think Paizo generally does well, while leaning in pretty hard. Overall I think "Go Woke Go Broke" is a lot less applicable in RPGs than in more mainstream products like films and video games. In some areas such as small press Kickstarters it can be more "Go Woke, Get Rich"

 

[Justice and Rule]

I don't think he treated male staff any better. Did any of them get training & support? But I do think Gygax was often sexist (& if your inference is correct, possibly horny), and I wouldn't be surprised if he had treated a woman differently. His colleagues at TSR seemed very annoyed he had hired a female at all, worked hard to undermine Wells, and complained EGG was "protecting" her. But didn't she do Sage Advice in Dragon? So she was still more than a secretary.

We had a discussion upthread about definining misogyny. Google's Oxford Dictionary "dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women" fits my definition. Or Wikipedia's "hatred & contempt - Misogyny - Wikipedia - by those standards, which are different from Sexism, I don't think Gygax was ever misogynistic, including in his D&D writings.

I dunno...

I feel a whole lot of contempt in that one, especially that penultimate sentence. But if you don't see it...

 

[S'mon]

I don’t get it?