Interesting post over at Grognardia today regarding Gail Gygax

[JoeGKushner]

I think the article would be just in a bothersome tone otherwise, but in the context of a man recently passed away, I think it is self-entitled and rude crap.

The fans of the work of Gary Gygax doesn't have a right to experience his (now her) property, it's a pure privilige. Yet, this article and many posters on forums, behave as if they have a right to learn the Truth about what is going on with Castle Zygag. They are starting borderline insulting conspiracy theories of what is happening with the module, saying that "they will need proof before they believe that Gary had a plan" and stuff like that.

Gail Gygax doesn't have to give any proof of anything. No lights need to be shed on any of this. People should be grateful if someone goes out with information and no nerd rage is excused over this. The man is barely cold in his grave before the "fans" start acting up, second guessing his intentions and discrediting his widow.

Jesus Christ.

And yet.... if she wants to sell to these fans of hubby's work....

Gygax's name is legend buti t's not infailible. If it was we'd all be playing Cyborg Commandos, reading the new adventurers of Gord the Rogue and busing out some fantasy via Dangerous Dimensions (aka Dangerous Journeys?)

 

[The Little Raven]

And yet.... if she wants to sell to these fans of hubby's work....

If they are going to treat a grieving widow like this less than a year after her husband's death because they think they know her husband better than she did, they don't deserve it. This article has the tone of a selfish, petulant child who deserves a smack in the mouth.

 

[jdrakeh]

As I mention elsewhere, the real tragedy here is not TLG losing the Gygax IP, Jeff T. losing a job title, or even the release of things like CZ being delayed indefinitely but, rather, Gail Gygax losing her husband of many years. IMO, anybody who doesn't understand this has some serious social failings and frightening entitlement issues.

 

[RFisher]

This would assume the notes are comprehensible to anyone or clearly marked for their purpose, and even then, if they end up composing a significant product.

<shrug> I managed to glean useful stuff from Gary’s DMG and Dave’s First Fantasy Campaign. How much worse could it be? ^_^

Although I’m really more interested in any insights into the process of being a DM from looking at the artifacts of that practice than about making sense of the content itself.

 

[Treebore]

As I mention elsewhere, the real tragedy here is not TLG losing the Gygax IP, Jeff T. losing a job title, or even the release of things like CZ being dealyed indefinitely but, rather, Gail Gygax losing her husband of many years. IMO, anybody who doesn't understand this has some serious social failings and frightening entitlement issues.

I think we understand this, I know I do. I also understand that Castle Zagyg was finally coming out, being well done, and being profitable, and then they were pulled. Why? I deserve to know that. Why do I have to wait even longer? Will whatever they do next make my current CZ purchases less viable? Will they do new versions of what I have making it necessary for me to buy the new versions if I wish for completeness?

I have a very legitimate reason for wanting to know, grieving widow or not. She's "in the business" now, time to answer to her customers. She has made decisions, so she can explain them, let us know her general plans, let us know if we can support them or not. Keeping me in the dark just angers me and makes me less likely to support anything she does, and I know I am not alone in this. Far from it.

All she has to do is say, "I desire to have Mongoose publish our work under their Flaming Cobra imprint. I am doing this because Mongoose has proven to me to have better market distribution and therefore substantially higher sales than TLG is able to achieve. We own all releases of CZ so far, so they will be released via our Flaming Cobra imprint as hardbacks. (or, Since we don't own all the previously released material we will be doing our own versions for the sake of completeness under one license/imprint.) We hope to have our first Flaming Cobra release available for Gencon 09 (Or Christmas 09, or Summer 2010, whatever).

Thats all she has to do to satisfy me, at least. Grieving widow or not, if she wants to run a business, then she has to run it. Since I have invested over $100.00 into the CZ line I am most definitely owed an explanation. If I am not given one I feel no need to support any new endevours. I already own Gary Gygax's CAstle Zagyg. The original. The one he actually worked on. Anything Gail does is a pale imitation. An interpretation of his notes. She replaced the only person who knew exactly what Gary wanted done.

So if she wants to convince me she is doing Gary Gygax's Castle Zagyg I want to know what she is doing to ensure I am getting as close to the original as possible. Something I have a hard time believing can be done since she replaced the only person who worked closely with Gary on this project. Who heard all the verbal information that was never written down in notes. Who was fully indoctrinated on Gary's vision for this product.

I am interested in Gary Gygax's Castle Zagyg, not a second hand interpretation from his notes. So I want to know how Gail thinks they are going to do this with Gary and Jeff gone. As it looks now they may as well as have anyone write it and call it Castle Zagyg, but it sure isn't going to be Gary's. I would rather just buy a copy of Gary's notes and make my own interpretation. I'm certainly not interested in someone elses. At least with Jeff on the project I knew someone was doing it after having Gary's direct guidance for a few years. Now that is gone too.

 

[Korgoth]

As I mention elsewhere, the real tragedy here is not TLG losing the Gygax IP, Jeff T. losing a job title, or even the release of things like CZ being dealyed indefinitely but, rather, Gail Gygax losing her husband of many years. IMO, anybody who doesn't understand this has some serious social failings and frightening entitlement issues.

Definitely true. I imagine that if Gail could trade Gary's legacy for 5 more minutes with the man, she'd do it in a heartbeat.

To a certain degree, I can understand the impatience of some of Gary's "followers" (though anyone who levels an insult at Gail ought to be run out of the Internet on a rail). For most of them, they only ever related to Gary through his work. So naturally his "magnum opus" looms large in their minds. Of course, the truth is that the published work, in whatever form (well- or mis- handled, raw or cleaned up, etc.) will almost surely not display the genius and flair that it displayed when wielded by Gary himself, since it won't be animated by his active talents, and any elaborations by people other than Gary will only muddy the waters. Still, I expect that when it does come out (if it does, but I assume it will) people will be conducting the archaeology of personal insight for a long time to come.

Ars longa, vita brevis I guess.

 

[The Little Raven]

She has made decisions, so she can explain them, let us know her general plans, let us know if we can support them or not. Keeping me in the dark just angers me and makes me less likely to support anything she does, and I know I am not alone in this. Far from it.

Unless you are a stockholder in her company, you are entitled to nothing in terms of information on business plans. Any entitlement you claim is false.

Since I have invested over $100.00 into the CZ line I am most definitely owed an explanation.

Bull****. You paid $100 to get exactly what you paid for: the products you own. Purchasing a product in no way entitles you to know their future business plans, unless it happens to come with stocks in the company in question. This is exactly the kind of false entitlement that makes the internet difficult for business people to interact with.

 

[Korgoth]

...I deserve... ...Why do I have to wait... make my current CZ purchases less viable... making it necessary for me to buy the new versions... I have a very legitimate reason for wanting to know, grieving widow or not.... Keeping me in the dark just angers me and makes me less likely to support anything she does... Thats all she has to do to satisfy me... Grieving widow or not... Since I have invested over $100.00 into the CZ line I am most definitely owed....Anything Gail does is a pale imitation...

*headdesk*

Um... no.

Gail doesn't "owe" you anything. You paid money for a physical product and you now have the product. There was no further contract.

Also, you shouldn't have written "Grieving widow or not". You should have stopped at "Grieving widow". Seriously, you need to cut the nice lady some flippin' slack, OK? Her beloved husband is dead. I understand that you want to know the details of CZ's future... so does everybody else who has any interest in it. I understand that you want it to come out in a form that you consider good rather than bad... again that's true of just about everybody. And I understand that you want Gary's work to be carried on in a way that he would have wanted. Anybody who cares about Gary wants that, too.

But there's no way you care more about Gary than his wife. She's still drying her eyes and you're throwing this impertinence at her? Not cool.

Proclaim your speculations if you like, but aspersions and demands ought to be left out of it.

 

[jdrakeh]

I think we understand this, I know I do.

Your actions and words do not convey this understanding.

You're absolutely right in stating that Gail Gygax is running a business — and running business means not divulging many of the details that you (and others) feel she should divulge until the time is right for her to do so. Negotiations are apparently still in progress, documentation is likely still being hammered out, there may even be attempts to dispute the will, etc.

As somebody who has assisted in inventorying numerous estates for an attorney, I can bear witness to the fact that these things take time (both due to legal and contractual stipulations, as well as family matters). For Gail Gygax to reveal the substance of these proceedings before they are concluded would be foolish, both legally and as a matter of business.

The time is right when law and mediation resolution dicatates it is, not because a screaming legion of fans says that the time is right. What fans need to learn is that they aren't the be-all-end-all determinant in how businesses are run. That, and patience.

 

[jdrakeh]

Righteous and spirtually-centered reason.

I tried to give you some XP for your contributions to this thread, but apparently I've given out too much XP today. At any rate, your thoughtful insight and commentary here is welcomed. The same goes for Mr. Troy.