History Rhymes: Another Gygax Lawsuit

[Dannyalcatraz]

To be honest, I haven't seen any evidence. Just an assumption that the folks at TSR who were involved with these awards, and with reviews, lacked integrity and/or were outright dishonest.

The fact is that the company who owned or commissioned the winning products in all but 4 categories also owned the magazines & convention, etc.

While the products may actually be deserving and the employees honest, the wholesale lack of contemporaneous accolades from competitors or neutral third parties calls into question the impartiality of the voting.

Personally, I own a copy, purchased new, and I’ve NEVER been tempted to use it, even for inspiration.

Then again, it’s no Forest Oracle.

 

[haakon1]

This is the occasional reminder that Dragon Magazine was a publication of a little-known company called TSR.
....
the following were the modules released (the 1989 award went to 1988 modules):
OA5 (Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw)
...
I will say this- this was one of the worst ever years for module releases in TSR's history.* I've never looked at them systematically, but I'm comfortable saying that it is ... the worst. And yet, I still think that the reason it "won" is because it was the ONLY MAJOR ADVENTURE RELEASE THAT YEAR, and this was a marketing push by TSR.
...
*In my attempt to be fair and balanced, I will say that TSR was a little preoccupied because they were trying to, you know, revamp the core rules at the time. Not a small project.

Hmm, now I understand more about the reason that in my mind, OA stops with OA3 Ochimo the Spirit Warrior.

I thought OA turned bad with its conversion to Forgotten Realms (on the cover of OA5), but it might have been a more general problem with TSR.

 

[MGibster]

I'm starting to think Nintendo Power might not have been impartial in its review of Super Mario Bros. 2.

 

[Voadam]

I enjoyed parts of WG7, I ran at least two of the levels for the group in my longterm AD&D campaign (the party for Asmodeus one and the food-themed chefs one) and they went great. I loved the art, I am a big Jim Holloway fan when he is not doing cross-eyed silliness pictures. I really did not care for the Mordenkainen movie stuff (even not knowing the Gygx in California stories at the time) the culmination end plot did not do it for me, and some humor was too farcically silly for me but a lot was fine. I was also really disappointed it was not actual Gygax Castle Greyhawk, but it was mostly fine as its own thing and I got great game sessions and stories out of using it.

A lot of people really, really did not like it though.

As for the other modules of that year

DL15 & DL16 (short adventure collections)
H4 (The Throne of Bloodstone, Levels 18-100 ... I'll let the level guidance for this speak for itself)
I14 (Sword of the Iron Legion, 1-15+, Battlesystem required)
OA5 (Mad Monkey vs. the Dragon Claw)
OP1 (Tales of the Outer Planes- mini adventure collection)
WG7 (Castle Greyhawk)

I have heard very positive things about Mad Monkey, the most Kung Fu of the OA modules. Which is great but kind of niche for tastes and audience and setting.

I can easily see WG7 selling the best of the ones on that list.

 

[billd91]

I have heard very positive things about Mad Monkey, the most Kung Fu of the OA modules. Which is great but kind of niche for tastes and audience and setting.

I can easily see WG7 selling the best of the ones on that list.

It's sad that Mad Monkey would be relatively niche because, having run it, it's a lot of fun. I'd have voted for it over WG7. That said, WG7 still beat out the rest of the options, none of which are what I would describe as any more niche than a Greyhawk campaign product. It clearly had its fans.

 

[Some Dude]

It's sad that Mad Monkey would be relatively niche because, having run it, it's a lot of fun. I'd have voted for it over WG7. That said, WG7 still beat out the rest of the options, none of which are what I would describe as any more niche than a Greyhawk campaign product. It clearly had its fans.

That's really all I was ever trying to say.

 

[Wolfram stout]

I bought it and tried to run it...My group and I were horribly confused by it. the ropeless got a few chuckles then we realized that was the whole theme. We were running it over Christmas break, and to be honest I was reading it only one level in advance. When one of the players pointed out we were not remotely keeping up with the level requirements (ie levels 1-20). After one long evening of delving we shelved it. We probably spent the rest of the break playing Battletech or Starfleet Battles.

 

[Maxperson]

D. Defamation. This one is a little harder. If you're curious, here's the full text of what Luke posted on facebook (it's also in an exhibit and available elsewhere):

If that's the full text of what Luke wrote, it looks to me like the complaint is taking the defamation accusation a lot farther than Luke actually did.

Lots of people are asking me about a pending Kickstarter called Castle Wolfmoon that’s claiming to be something my father wrote as the primary author. Chris Clark, listed as a second author, did work with my dad in many projects in the late 90s and early 2000s as I recall. I don’t recall my father ever talking to me about a Castle Wolfmoon campaign at all and we talked regularly about gaming and his projects. His focus was Castle Zagyg which is back in development now.

I was asked to contribute to this work and was considering it as Chris has been a friend for many years. However placing my dad’s name cover as the lead author seems a bit disingenuous in my opinion. I am not associated with it. The E Gary Gygax Estate is not associated with it to the best of my knowledge.

Why am I posting this? I don’t want people to back it thinking they are getting a finished work from my father when it is likely something more of a concept/outline from 20+ years ago. I’m not omniscient on all things my father did or didn’t do, however it is worth questioning in my opinion.

I liked this picture of my Dad from People magazine many moons ago. He is making his wolfman-like face which seems appropriate

Gary Con Gaming Convention Gary Con Luke Gygax

This is from the complaint:

"Defendant Luke Gygax posted a lengthy Facebook post deriding Chris Clark’s Castle Wolfmoon Kickstarter and claiming Chris Clark was lying to the public when he listed Gary Gygax as one of Castle Wolfmoon’s authors. Exhibit G, Luke Facebook Post, p. 1. Luke says that Castle Wolfmoon is “claiming to be something my father wrote.” He went on to call the decision to list Gary Gygax’s name on the cover as “disingenuous” and claims that he is not associated with it (but fails to reference his contract that says otherwise)."

That doesn't say that the Plaintiff is lying. Nor does it say that the plaintiff IS being disingenuous. It seems to me that the Plaintiff is overstating what the Facebook post said.

 

[kermit4karate]

Profound waste of time for anyone who isn't directly involved in this case, and those are the litigants and their attorneys. Sigh....

Perhaps also the sushi place where the defense attorney eats their lunch every day.