Snarf Zagyg
Notorious Liquefactionist
So I have a full review posted, and after seeing that people are genuinely excited by the book, I thought I'd post a thread for people who have read the book to discuss it!
THIS IS THE SPOILERS THREAD. DO NOT READ THIS THREAD IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK!
So, to start the thread off, I thought I'd throw out a few of the general observations I had, and that I've been thinking about, ever since I finished reading the book-
1. I referenced Arneson in the "Stock Down" part of the review. I will elaborate here- I think Arneson has long benefitted from a confluence of factors (and I still think he came up with the core innovations in terms of tabletop roleplaying), but reading this account, in his words, was brutal. Gygax went through his revisionism already, but Arneson flew under the radar.
Reading this, it really hammers home, over and over again, that Arneson couldn't or wouldn't put together rules. Period. That he continually hurt potential business partners by promising things he just wouldn't deliver. And that he made a ton of money off of D&D despite what appears to be ... well, both a minimal contribution in the original rules (as opposed to concept), and an active campaign against D&D for some time.
This doesn't make him a bad person, by the way- just human. As we all are. But I think that the pendulum might have swung too far in that some people began to view Gygax as stealing all of Arneson's idea and just "copyediting them" and then trying to steal all of Arneson's royalties, whereas the book presents a more nuanced picture- it doesn't exonerate Gygax, but it does show that Arneson kept (to use the expression) biting the hand that fed him. He was singularly interested in the credit, but not as interested in the work.
2. People think of TSR as being formed for D&D; it was funny to see how, in the early days, they kept the pipeline going with wargame rules. They genuinely had no idea.
3. We usually think of 2e as the capitulation to the Satanic Panic; but we can see the formation of task groups to "soften" D&D in the early 80s- leading to, inter alia, Legends & Lore.
4. Gygax did an amazing job in the 70s making TSR (and D&D) a success. Really, He might have been kind of a messianic jerk at times, but he worked it. But the accumulation of details about the 80s- all the missed meetings, all the concentration on Hollywood, everything else going on. Not to mention how he would promise things to TSR employees, then disappear when the Blumes hammered them. Also? There was no way he could keep running TSR. None.
5. The Purchasing Department. My ... goodness. If I had to single out one employee that got so screwed (and trust me, there are a lot) ... poor Mike Carr.
6. Seriously, the Blumes. That's all I'll say.
Okay- have at it, with spoilers!
THIS IS THE SPOILERS THREAD. DO NOT READ THIS THREAD IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK!
So, to start the thread off, I thought I'd throw out a few of the general observations I had, and that I've been thinking about, ever since I finished reading the book-
1. I referenced Arneson in the "Stock Down" part of the review. I will elaborate here- I think Arneson has long benefitted from a confluence of factors (and I still think he came up with the core innovations in terms of tabletop roleplaying), but reading this account, in his words, was brutal. Gygax went through his revisionism already, but Arneson flew under the radar.
Reading this, it really hammers home, over and over again, that Arneson couldn't or wouldn't put together rules. Period. That he continually hurt potential business partners by promising things he just wouldn't deliver. And that he made a ton of money off of D&D despite what appears to be ... well, both a minimal contribution in the original rules (as opposed to concept), and an active campaign against D&D for some time.
This doesn't make him a bad person, by the way- just human. As we all are. But I think that the pendulum might have swung too far in that some people began to view Gygax as stealing all of Arneson's idea and just "copyediting them" and then trying to steal all of Arneson's royalties, whereas the book presents a more nuanced picture- it doesn't exonerate Gygax, but it does show that Arneson kept (to use the expression) biting the hand that fed him. He was singularly interested in the credit, but not as interested in the work.
2. People think of TSR as being formed for D&D; it was funny to see how, in the early days, they kept the pipeline going with wargame rules. They genuinely had no idea.
3. We usually think of 2e as the capitulation to the Satanic Panic; but we can see the formation of task groups to "soften" D&D in the early 80s- leading to, inter alia, Legends & Lore.
4. Gygax did an amazing job in the 70s making TSR (and D&D) a success. Really, He might have been kind of a messianic jerk at times, but he worked it. But the accumulation of details about the 80s- all the missed meetings, all the concentration on Hollywood, everything else going on. Not to mention how he would promise things to TSR employees, then disappear when the Blumes hammered them. Also? There was no way he could keep running TSR. None.
5. The Purchasing Department. My ... goodness. If I had to single out one employee that got so screwed (and trust me, there are a lot) ... poor Mike Carr.
6. Seriously, the Blumes. That's all I'll say.
Okay- have at it, with spoilers!
