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Mar. 4th, 2008 02:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
felis_ultharusOne of geek culture's greatest icons died today. Gary Gygax -- co-inventor of Dungeons & Dragons with Dave Arneson -- died today at the age of 69.
Gygax wasn't the inventor of the role-playing game, which is often claimed. But he did bring it out of total obscurity and popularized it. Dungeons & Dragons led toward a massive boost in the popularity of fantasy novels and the increasingly popularity of old favourites like Lord of the Rings. It led to other RPG systems, like the White Wolf games. It led to RPG video games, like the Final Fantasies, which are often the only video games with a decent story. In short, it's altered the cultural landscape.
The game and its players have been mocked throughout the last twenty-five years. Concerned parents' groups (of which there should be fewer) raised fears that the game could warp kids' minds. The religious right attacked it repeatedly. Three generations of bullies have tormented the kids who played it.
Yet -- with only two exceptions -- the dozens of folks I've known raised on this game and its progeny have often been the most intelligent, most creative, and most social people I've ever known. Gygax created something that encouraged kids to stretch their imaginations and boost their math skills while their peers drooled in front of their television sets.
That's got to count for something.
Gygax wasn't the inventor of the role-playing game, which is often claimed. But he did bring it out of total obscurity and popularized it. Dungeons & Dragons led toward a massive boost in the popularity of fantasy novels and the increasingly popularity of old favourites like Lord of the Rings. It led to other RPG systems, like the White Wolf games. It led to RPG video games, like the Final Fantasies, which are often the only video games with a decent story. In short, it's altered the cultural landscape.
The game and its players have been mocked throughout the last twenty-five years. Concerned parents' groups (of which there should be fewer) raised fears that the game could warp kids' minds. The religious right attacked it repeatedly. Three generations of bullies have tormented the kids who played it.
Yet -- with only two exceptions -- the dozens of folks I've known raised on this game and its progeny have often been the most intelligent, most creative, and most social people I've ever known. Gygax created something that encouraged kids to stretch their imaginations and boost their math skills while their peers drooled in front of their television sets.
That's got to count for something.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-04 09:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-05 12:21 am (UTC)As someone on the board of his latest gaming company put it, "He'll now be rolling on the Outer Planes encounter table for eternity."
(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-05 04:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-03-05 04:08 pm (UTC)