Gary, we hardly knew ye...

[rengadeirishman]

Ernest Gary Gygax has died today at the age of 69. A god among geeks, we'll miss ya Gary.

 

[Remec]

Ernest Gary Gygax has died today at the age of 69. A god among geeks, we'll miss ya Gary.

*putting the flags throughout Oerth at half-mast*
*setting black armbands on most of my characters*

I briefly met him at a Winter Fantasy several years back. Way laid back and mellow, not so much what I was led to think of him. Although he hasn't done much of note gamingwise (that I'm aware of, mind you) in recent years, he will always have a spot for helping to establish the hobby beyond its niche beginnings.

 

[LoquaciousLady]

Would it be bad to let him have an NPC walk-on in this weekend's game to honour him one final time?

Gosh, a world without Gary Gygax seems a sad place indeed.

 

[MrsDeathlynx]

*pouts* makes me sad in pants, without him opening the world of gaming to new frontiers like LARP I wouldn't have met hubby...

 

[rgraham666]

Well, crap.

 

[Belegon]

Lift a mug of mead, my compatriots, to a sage who truly opened the doors to new worlds...

Gary, you inspired millions to see new vistas and brought them around tables to actually interact with other humans while exercising our imaginations. All by talking about elves, dwarves and halflings....orcs, dragons and bugbears... gold, jewels and the joy of finding a +3 Flametongue!

If the true measure of a life is in it's impact on other lives, you are indeed a wizard! Thank you for the joy you brought. You will not be forgotten.

 

[rengadeirishman]

Lift a mug of mead, my compatriots, to a sage who truly opened the doors to new worlds...

Gary, you inspired millions to see new vistas and brought them around tables to actually interact with other humans while exercising our imaginations. All by talking about elves, dwarves and halflings....orcs, dragons and bugbears... gold, jewels and the joy of finding a +3 Flametongue!

If the true measure of a life is in it's impact on other lives, you are indeed a wizard! Thank you for the joy you brought. You will not be forgotten.

that was beautiful man, set up that big gaming table in the sky Gary, i'll bring the +10 potions of inebriation.

 

[Carnevil9]

The Geek has inherited the Earth.

 

[Lee Chambers]

A great visionary lost, but his legacy will always live on in every adventure we have.

 

[kimbalee]

Hubby was reading over me and said click on this thread. He told me who he was and is sad too.

 

[rgraham666]

A lovely tribute in one of my favourite webcomics.

 

[LoquaciousLady]

Milholland has another one over at Something Positive. I kind of feel a bit like Mike right now.

 

[raphy]

Here's one from Penny Arcade

 

[LoquaciousLady]

Yeah, the one from Gabe and Tycho made me a little teary.

Dueling Analogs has this one too.

I wish Shamus and Shawn over at Chainmail Bikini would do one.

 

[3113]

It's really something to start not only a phenomenon on something so simple and fun, but a phenomenon that gets stores built. I well remember a model and hobby store with an owner who said that but for D&D, they would have closed. Thanks to D&D, the store was reborn and had many successful years of thriving business, just by selling D&D figures and paints, and games, including those that were off-shoots from D&D. They ran games every weekend.

And here's another, Gary-in-Heaven remark that was just passed onto me, in memorandum:

So, a gamer dies and goes to Heaven. As he is checking in; getting his name badge and registration swag, checking out the program, etc, he says to Saint Peter, “I see you have a regularly scheduled Dungeons and Dragons game, and that the Lord is Dungeon Master.”

Saint Peter gives him a big smile. “Well, usually He is, but tonight we have someone REALLY special running the game.”

 

[galaxygoddess]

http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0536.html

hmmm it's not working for me...


edit to add: I need to finish my posts before running off (damn maintenance guy)


edited again to add these:

http://www.exiern.com/
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/index.xml

 

[john-the-author]

I'm very sad. I actually had published a bunch of stuff in issue #10 of "The Dragon" (that ought to date me pretty badly) and knew a few of the people who were at the original company.

Gary failed his saving throw vs. Death.

 

[rengadeirishman]

It amazing how much effect one man can have on an entire genre even outside the immediacy of hobby gaming. So much fantasy work owes its existence to his influence.

 

[slyc_willie]

It's really something to start not only a phenomenon on something so simple and fun, but a phenomenon that gets stores built. I well remember a model and hobby store with an owner who said that but for D&D, they would have closed. Thanks to D&D, the store was reborn and had many successful years of thriving business, just by selling D&D figures and paints, and games, including those that were off-shoots from D&D. They ran games every weekend.

And here's another, Gary-in-Heaven remark that was just passed onto me, in memorandum:

So, a gamer dies and goes to Heaven. As he is checking in; getting his name badge and registration swag, checking out the program, etc, he says to Saint Peter, “I see you have a regularly scheduled Dungeons and Dragons game, and that the Lord is Dungeon Master.”

Saint Peter gives him a big smile. “Well, usually He is, but tonight we have someone REALLY special running the game.”

I like that.

I remember learning the anachronistics with the Basic Set in my youth. Loved the Jeff Dee and Bill Willingham illustrations. Later, as I became better versed in the game, I got into Dragon magazine and the sporadic mentions of such legends as Bigby, Rigby, and Mordenkainen. Couldn't help but think that I had enjoyed a glimpse into the hidden heart of tabletop gamer geekdom.

Rack up the dice, St. Pete! Papa needs a new vorpal blade!

 

[fieryjen]

It sucks that the friends I usually play with are scattered all over the country right now. I'm sure we'd come up with an appropriate in-game gesture otherwise.

I miss playing, now even more than usual.

 

[Tarakin]

D&D caused me to overcome the still unforgettable line of my english teacher ("you'll never understand that language") and start to read english books.

 

[snowy ciara]

Would it be bad to let him have an NPC walk-on in this weekend's game to honour him one final time?

Nope, my group's doing something similar. Actually, it's intended as an NPC walk-on, but our NPC's walk-ons frequently refuse to walk-on, and become NPC wanderers who come back through quite often.

 

[LoquaciousLady]

Nope, my group's doing something similar. Actually, it's intended as an NPC walk-on, but our NPC's walk-ons frequently refuse to walk-on, and become NPC wanderers who come back through quite often.

One of the games I run is a nice little family game (the family that splatters orc heads together stays together and all that jazz). The kids have only just started in the past year and aren't terribly aware of Gary Gygax anyway. So he'll be joining us Sunday afternoon for sure. You have to teach the n00bs their roots, y'know? Maybe I'll even let him become a semi-regular NPC wanderer. If Elminster can pop up all over creation, why not Gary Gygax?

 

[galaxygoddess]

http://www.xkcd.com/

this one's awesome

 

[LoquaciousLady]

That's awesome, GG! And thanks for another webcomic to catch up on and add to my daily readers.