Would D&D or RPGs have been invented without Gygax or Arneson?

[Ranes]

Hey John, I'm not cut up or anything but you slightly misrepresent my argument. I did not say that Traveller would have caught on without D&D, only that it would have emerged anyway or that something along those lines would have, regardless of genre.

Forgive me if you think I'm arguing semantics. I'm just re-iterating my case to be clear. If you understand and disagree with the assertion, that's cool.

 

[Silver Moon]

Would the Allies have won WWII if those evil lizard aliens hadn't landed? Yes.

I would like to point out Dirigible, that you have made a common mistake with history. The lizard aliens had no impact on WWII, as they did not crash in Roswell, NM until 1947. It was actually the Korean War that they had an influence on.

And in answer to the other question, I say yes and no. Yes, that other RPG's would have developed. And no, because it was the simplicity and ease of play of this specific game developed by Arneson and Gygax that prompted the D&D fad of the early 80's, becuase the game was already out there having been developed and initially promoted immediately prior to that. Timing is everything.