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*Dungeons & Dragons
The Human Side of D&D History - From Gary Gygax to Temple of Elemental Evil
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<blockquote data-quote="TiQuinn" data-source="post: 9523147" data-attributes="member: 4871"><p>What’s wrong with it, IMO, is that for every Gary Gygax rags to riches story, there are hundreds if not thousands more who do not achieve that success and are left in dire straits. I’m very wary of these lightning strike stories that make it seem like pursuing your dreams <em>without a plan</em> is somehow a good idea. Gygax did not really have a plan - he had incredible luck. Luck is not laudable in my book.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think because Arneson was worse at this than Gygax does not make Gygax a hard worker. After Gygax’s work on the 1e AD&D PHB and DMG, there’s a strong argument that he tapped out; that in some ways he resented the idea that he needed to keep working at his business - again, based on the podcast.</p><p></p><p>Also, I can’t really put someone who places their family’s financial security in jeopardy because they can’t separate work from their passion on a pedestal. As I mentioned, there are people who are able to separate those two things, and hold down day jobs while working on what they love secondary until the time they can make that move. It always comes with risk but nothing I heard made me believe that it was a calculated decision on Gygax’s part. Again, I don’t applaud luck.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="TiQuinn, post: 9523147, member: 4871"] What’s wrong with it, IMO, is that for every Gary Gygax rags to riches story, there are hundreds if not thousands more who do not achieve that success and are left in dire straits. I’m very wary of these lightning strike stories that make it seem like pursuing your dreams [I]without a plan[/I] is somehow a good idea. Gygax did not really have a plan - he had incredible luck. Luck is not laudable in my book. I think because Arneson was worse at this than Gygax does not make Gygax a hard worker. After Gygax’s work on the 1e AD&D PHB and DMG, there’s a strong argument that he tapped out; that in some ways he resented the idea that he needed to keep working at his business - again, based on the podcast. Also, I can’t really put someone who places their family’s financial security in jeopardy because they can’t separate work from their passion on a pedestal. As I mentioned, there are people who are able to separate those two things, and hold down day jobs while working on what they love secondary until the time they can make that move. It always comes with risk but nothing I heard made me believe that it was a calculated decision on Gygax’s part. Again, I don’t applaud luck. [/QUOTE]
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The Human Side of D&D History - From Gary Gygax to Temple of Elemental Evil
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