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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 9425601" data-attributes="member: 7035894">I concur that this is a must-listen podcast for anyone interested in the history of this industry, and obviously TSR and Gygax in particular. I pretty much concur with everything Snarff mentions in the OP, and especially that the voice actor for Gygax really nails it. There are a few points where they have actual audio of Gygax, and it's not a jarring difference.Yeah, Hollywood Gary is not an appealing character. And the interviews really showed how much he was in it for himself, by that point. There's a massive irony in that he was ultimately undone by the same contract that TSR used to screw others out of any ownership of IP created while working for the company. Gary himself signed it on the assumption that, since in his mind, he was TSR, it didn't matter. So when push came to shove, he tried to treat the same contract that he had wielded like a hammer against everyone else as if it was a joke that didn't apply to him. The courts saw differently.So really, this was a story of hubris. And not just by Gygax.Gotta add: Stock Down: Arneson. The podcast really emphasized what Game Wizards had already hinted at: nice man and brilliant ideas guy but terrible at execution. He'd have been a nightmare to be partners with, and I don't blame Gygax and the Blumes for wanting out of that partnership. Though the way they went about it was horrible.The podcast reveals that, right near the founding of TSR, Dave Megarry pushed to expand the board of directors to include some business professionals, only for Gygax and the Blumes to overrule him. The history of TSR and D&D would have been a lot different had they listened.Also, the underlying misogyny of TSR really cost them. Most shocking to me was the complete lack of respect shown to Rose Estes, even after she basically single-handedly created the immensely profitable Endless Quest line. She was way more loyal than TSR deserved, and they basically shoved her out the door.Finally: yeah, Lorraine Williams. She's always been cast as this ogre/jezebel figure, but that's not what you get from these interviews, or from the written records cited in Game Wizards. She mostly comes off as competent and fair. TSR was in complete meltdown when she came onboard - totally dysfunctional and weeks from insolvency - and she kept it afloat. She basically got control of the company because a lot of people preferred working with her to working with Gygax, and the podcast makes it very clear why.</blockquote>

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