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A geek legend passes
Mar. 4th, 2008 06:32 pmhttp://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/04/obit.gygax.ap/index.html
Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, has died at the age of 69.
I can't even begin to calculate the impact that D&D had on me in my teen years. It was an outlet for creativity; it got me writing and drawing again, cooking up adventures, drawing character portraits, creating comics based on our characters' exploits (it should surprise no one that Glorianna got her start as a D&D character). It taught me a lot about thinking abstractly and strategically, and a fair bit about math and statistics. And perhaps most importantly, it dragged a shy, introverted kid kicking and screaming into the world of social interaction.
D&D remains, hands down, the Most Fun Game Ever. Gygax and co. created a whole new genre of gaming, inspiring countless knock-offs in both pen-and-paper and digital form. Without D&D, there'd be no Magic: The Gathering, no Vampire: The Masquerade, no World of Warcraft. A good Role-Playing Game can get your adrenaline pumping like nothing else. I will always carry vivid memories of our treks through The Keep on the Borderlands, the Barrier Peaks, the Demonweb Pits, and the Tomb of Horrors (never was an adventure more aptly named; Gygax's sadistic genius at creating inescapable traps was much cursed among our group).
Hail and farewell, almighty Zagyg! We tip our Helms of Underwater Action to thee, and hoist a Potion of Heroism in thy honor.
Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, has died at the age of 69.
I can't even begin to calculate the impact that D&D had on me in my teen years. It was an outlet for creativity; it got me writing and drawing again, cooking up adventures, drawing character portraits, creating comics based on our characters' exploits (it should surprise no one that Glorianna got her start as a D&D character). It taught me a lot about thinking abstractly and strategically, and a fair bit about math and statistics. And perhaps most importantly, it dragged a shy, introverted kid kicking and screaming into the world of social interaction.
D&D remains, hands down, the Most Fun Game Ever. Gygax and co. created a whole new genre of gaming, inspiring countless knock-offs in both pen-and-paper and digital form. Without D&D, there'd be no Magic: The Gathering, no Vampire: The Masquerade, no World of Warcraft. A good Role-Playing Game can get your adrenaline pumping like nothing else. I will always carry vivid memories of our treks through The Keep on the Borderlands, the Barrier Peaks, the Demonweb Pits, and the Tomb of Horrors (never was an adventure more aptly named; Gygax's sadistic genius at creating inescapable traps was much cursed among our group).
Hail and farewell, almighty Zagyg! We tip our Helms of Underwater Action to thee, and hoist a Potion of Heroism in thy honor.
