Yesterday I only had time to post the news of his passing. Yeah I know, you may be saying "but you didn't know the guy so what's the big deal?" Well as the Discourser puts it, if you don't understand what "the big deal" is, then you never will. You don't have to either, just be respectful of a Human Beings passing and leave it at that. By the way, any comments along the lines of "freaking loser Geeks" will be deleted and ignored. I call this a tribute because if it wasn't for the Mr. Gygax and his creation, I wouldn't have had an outlet for the creativity I have bottled up inside me. I sucked at drawing, my writing isn't that great (I'm working on it though) and the only thing I really was good at was playing pretend as it were. I had/have an active imagination that is always working. I was the kid with the glasses who wasn't very big, strong, was allergic to everything etc. I was different. When I played Gi Joes we dug trenches and had elaborate bases and such for an Action Figure (not dolls, Action Figures). When I was in Jr. High I met my good Friend Mike who introduced me to this game that came in a big mauve box called Dungeons and Dragons in High School. We would go to his house and play this game with his brother Brian and some others. It was a great game!!!! Finally an outlet for my imagination. These two Brothers are still my friends to this day. Heck Brian and I have been slowly developing a series of novels based on two of our D&D characters (I know, who hasn't right?) We played alot of D&D eventually meeting other friends through the game. The Discourser, SuperGoober, Warden, GM, Ntt, Perfect Line, Duff, Joker, the Acupuncturist, Mook the Boy and others were all met playing Role Playing Games. We had diverted to other Game systems because of D&D's simple rules which didn't allow you to do everything you wanted with a character (but that was the beauty of the game and what Gygax wanted I highly recommend starting with D&D if you want to get into RPG's) but we never forgot the game that started it all. The importance of this game on the gaming industry is felt even today. If it wasn't for D&D you would never have had a little game called World of Warcraft or Everquest, two of the most popular monthly subscription to play online game worlds ever. There would be no Sims (it's an RPG if you think about it), no Starcraft. Heck Magic the Gathering and Pokemon wouldn't exist if it wasn't for the spark that Gary Gygax made that started the fire. The game taught me teamwork (you need to work as a team with the other players to achieve most goals). It taught me that I didn't have to be afraid to be myself (okay I am as guilty as the other GoG of not openly admitting I was a gamer when I was single) and that I didn't have to conform and be something I wasn't to have friends. There were other people like me out there. The game got me interested in History and Mythology, stuff you couldn't get your average Teenager interested in at all I loved! If it wasn't for Gygax and his Game several generations of literature wouldn't have been written (until Gygax's game, The Lord of the Rings was just some kind of fringe series of books....Papa Tolkien inspired Gygax to make D&D which in turn brought many a new reader to the works of Tolkien and made it the masterpiece that it is to this day). I never met the man, nor do I know the man, but I owe him thanks. Thanks for inspiring me, for long lasting friendships, for introducing me to one of the biggest and most welcoming communities ever; Gamers. Call us Geeks, Nerds, Losers......that's fine. Those that make those statements in anger and spite and hatred have never had friendships like we Geeks have. They are "poplular" but really the popular kids were always the loneliest.
So to E. Gary Gygax I raise a toast. Thanks for years of memories and a lifetime of inspiration. May you always roll 20's.
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