http://www.castleblackmoor.com/
This is daves site and he explains very well the hisotry being a history buff himself.......you can also goto:
www.gygax.com and ask the man himself...or if you can find Rob Kuntz ask him.
Now as to your points (i guess i am not going to get any sleep tonight now am I) .......
"One common myth is the Chainmail, by E G Gygax, was the origin of the rules for D&D. This is not the case. Dave had been playing for quite some time before then and when a new combat system was requested he looked into Chainmail, only to find it too complicated and hard to adapt for his players."
I am not talking about when stuff was premiered but when it was being play tested and played for real by real roleplayers.
I have been to the website you posted and it is a nice place to visit. It goes by published dates only. We all know that just publishing it does not make it set it in stone as correct.
For example:
http://www.steigerwaldedv.via.t-online.de/vintyri/canon.htm
Tells the history of the forgotten realms as releted by Ed Greenwood and also details what WOTC anbd TSR did to ED's world. It will be under the Northern Journey campaign guide:
http://www.steigerwaldedv.via.t-online.de/vintyri/njdownld.htm
Adventures in Blackmoor and Temple of the Frog both set in the Known World, came out in 1986 according to the same website.
Adventures in blackmoor and the temple of the frog are modules and not cannon for the actual Blackmoor. Have you yourself read those modules? Blackmoor was an entirely self contained area of a world that was not Blackmoor (by Arnesson). You can now purchase the ESD for $5 and read it and compare it to the original book which is a free download at
www.blackmoor.com
Since we know that Dungeons and Dragons got its actual start in 1974 (because the Silver Anniversary boxed set was released in 1999), that means Blackmoor, which was still Mystara, was released about a year after the D&D came out.
Actually it was published in 1974 but it got it's start much earlier by a group of 'guys' that loved wargames and wanted to expand on it. Again ask Gary or Dave about the origin it was 1968 or 1969 when they really started to play with it. TSR began to publish it in 1974 - 1975. The silver anniversary was to mark the publishing debut of the basic set. They gave out the first books in 1972 or 1973 and they were self published and given mostly as gifts to the core players.
Your basic premise is that the original Blackmoor is not truely part of Mystara, which later products prove it is.
I did not say it was not truely part of Blackmoor but it was added to it and becme the world for which Basic D&D was based on. It WAS NOT part of the original map published by Dave and copyrighted 1969 - 2002. It was supported to be sure because TSR had to have Basic, Expert and the rest to play in that world as a basis and Greyhawk was used for AD&D.
Remember do not ever rely on only one source for your information. By doing that you limit your knowledge base and limit your thinking allot.
Now I have just given you about 300pages of further reading. Please remeber that just cause it is published it is true....or that the publishing date is the true origin of something like a roleplaying game.
I played in Forgotten Realms in 1983-1984 at a convention. I played with guys who told me the history of the game....some were right some were not. IT IS A GAME...you should ask why do we need to know the history ? cause we are geeks? sometimes..but more importantly someone should write it all up and publish it someday right.....Who invented Monopoly ? is that a roleplaying game?? some would consider it so...some play it like it is.
Is chess a board game or is it a sport?
Is go a just a game or does it contain elements of roleplaying in it?
How long has Role-playing exsisted? As long as charades or some 700+years?
Is basic good story telling a form of role-playing and if so then role-playing is as old as man but the rules are now written down for all to see and utilize for storytelling. Think outside the box .....
Traveller was published in 1975 as well.....Starfleet battles was published around 1978 or so (memory is a funny thing it is) is that as important as the game itself? it can be i guess. But it is secondary to the game itself living on.
These same things about history are present in three of my hobbies at present:
Magic
Prop Collecting
D&D
History is not an essential part of the enjoyment of any of these hobbies to me. But it is a way to pay homage to the pregenators of my crafts. (Magic and Prop making). Less so with D&D than the other two.
How many people will remember that Hofzinzer created modern card magic? None if it never comes up in casual conversation.
Marlo created hundreds of sleight of hand card magic but, many remember him as never letting the spectator shuffle cards.
Who would like to own a screen used Lucas arts Lightsaber?
Any Star wars fan right and some woulf pay 30,000+ to own it.
Wouldn't it be cool to have the original props from the Trk TV show? sure but the originals look like crapazoids and cost more than a small house. Why? Cause people pay for history. Can they prove it ? most of the time no they cannot prove it was screen used unless it comes from the studio itself. COA's can be created by anyone with a computer now a days. so people are very careful about how they buy now.
My point is if your not in the hobby or your in the hobby who cares unless it is brought up or will cost ya some cash....
Darius
p.s. the 'true print' that is discussed at the site in the post above this one does not mention what GK stands for----it stands for Gygax and Kuntz and these were done up to pass out when it was shown around. Well, sold actually. They make no mention of the hand typed rules that went out and all these little books were self published as the beginings of TSR.
zzzzzzzzzz
