Gygax doesn't matter?

[Mallus]

Cylon?

That doesn't work. Cylons are religious.

 

[Mallus]

I'm not willing to concede that we should be denigrating the guy.

Like I said earlier, people grieve in their own way... sometimes by pouring derision on some Internet guy who didn't pay what they believed to be the proper amount of respect towards the deceased.

 

[Felix]

That doesn't work. Cylons are religious.

Oh no; shilsen is an irreverent Cylon! The most dangerous kind!

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I dunno, but it feels like Mr. Snyder doesn't appreciate the wisdom of Sir Isaac Newton's famous quote: "If I have seen farther than others it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants."

I'm just sayin' . . .

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

In truth, what I read from Mr. Snyders blog is that he probably really DOES care about Gygax's death, but for whatever reasons he finds it necessary to defy that fact - loudly and publicly. If he simply DIDN'T care (as he wants to insist) he wouldn't have bothered. As noted upthread when you take that many words to insist that you don't care you protest o'ermuch and thus actually suggest to the contrary.

Now what it is about Gygax's passing and peoples reactions to it that really bothers him is open for speculation, but something about it is under his skin. He blogged rather stridently about the situation. Q.E.D.

I say he's just conflicted in his own loyalties and emotions. So LET him write what he wants. Clearly it's colored a lot of peoples perceptions of HIM when people had no idea whatsoever who he even was. May not be what he wanted or thought he'd get in response. I think it deserves no more notice HERE than the excess that it's already gotten.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

RE: Disrespect

I find myself torn between the two sides. I don't know what to think, really.

Really? I'm just reminded of my favorite Conan quote:

Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.

-Samir Asad

 

[+5 Keyboard!]

I ..didn't post to every messageboard I frequent waxing nostalgic and announcing the various ways I planned to honor his passing.

Is this wrong, or are you simply observing that you don't choose to mourn this way?

Just saying that I could have done that but decided not to. Not actually saying there's something wrong with it. I chose to honor his passing privately with my friends.

 

[Rykion]

Like I said earlier, people grieve in their own way... sometimes by pouring derision on some Internet guy who didn't pay what they believed to be the proper amount of respect towards the deceased.

The blog post really isn't about Gary's death. Mentioning that he doesn't really care that much about Gary's death seems to be just an attention grab. Using Gary's death that way, plus his message is what I suspect upsets most people here. The point of the blog seems to be that those who have come out and mentioned how important Gary was to them are the wrong kind of roleplayers. They're the ones that play in their parents' basement, and scare away the cool kids because they make RPing a "lifestyle." The vast majority of people in the world don't care that Gary Gygax died, and that's fine. Implying people who do care about Gary's death shouldn't and that those people are the problem with RPGs isn't fine.

The Gary's death blog post was a set up for his next blog post which is about his mission to "un-geek" roleplaying games. It's not that he wants the "geeks" out of roleplaying, he just wants them to act normal so they don't offend his sensibilities. Maybe he'll "un-jock" sports, and "un-nerd" math and science while he's at it.

 

[jdrakeh]

Implying people who do care about Gary's death shouldn't and that those people are the problem with RPGs isn't fine.

Bingo. Of course, for a small group of Indie publishers, this kind of crap is par for course. They're too cool for the mainstream and the mainstream is wrong.

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Pawsplay, just so you'd know, there's a term called , by defining Shilsen as suffering from a personality disorder you remove him and his feelings from accepted discussion, and mark them as "a medical issue", which is unfair, seeing as the thing he is guilty of is what most "Madmen" were guilty of historically; not being like the majority. But who said that the majority is alright?

Unfortunately, the fact that a point can be used abusively does not mean that the point is always abusive. By giving it a name as an internet fallacy, you are being just as dismissive as you accuse Pawsplay of being.

Frankly, it can be quite awkward to deal with a poster you otherwise have no issues with self describing a mental or emotional disorder, especially when the poster seems to take great pride in it. The fact that there are also people who like to claim certain disordered attitudes because they think it makes them sound "too cool for society's rules" makes the situation even more confusing, and "do you really mean that, because...?" is about the best you can do sometimes.