Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons creator, dies, A moment of silence... Options

[Mole]

Gary Gygax, Dungeons & Dragons creator, dies

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (AP) -- Gary Gygax, who co-created the fantasy game Dungeons & Dragons and helped start the role-playing phenomenon, died Tuesday morning at his home in Lake Geneva. He was 69.

He had been suffering from health problems for several years, including an abdominal aneurysm, said his wife, Gail Gygax.

Gygax and Dave Arneson developed Dungeons & Dragons in 1974 using medieval characters and mythical creatures. The game known for its oddly shaped dice became a hit, particularly among teenage boys, and eventually was turned into video games, books and movies.

Gygax always enjoyed hearing from the game's legion of devoted fans, many of whom would stop by the family's home in Lake Geneva, about 55 miles southwest of Milwaukee, his wife said. Despite his declining health, he hosted weekly games of Dungeons & Dragons as recently as January, she said.

"It really meant a lot to him to hear from people from over the years about how he helped them become a doctor, a lawyer, a policeman, what he gave them," Gygax said. "He really enjoyed that."

Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures with the help of complicated rules. The quintessential geek pastime, it spawned a wealth of copycat games and later inspired a whole genre of computer games that's still growing in popularity.

Funeral arrangements are pending. Besides his wife, Gygax is survived by six children.

[Jerky]

I read this a number of times last week and thought about making it front page news, like I did with Robert Jordan. We wouldn't be here without Gary.

[Mole]

True, none of us would be here without Gary. Even though he was not a "video game guy" he was definitely the father of our genre. He will be missed.

This story broke on March 4, the day he died. I meant to post it then, but it got lost in the shuffle. Better late than never with this one.

-Mole

[Brotoi]

Gary Gygax was not a brilliant man, but he was without a doubt, an important one. He took a work of literature that everyone loved and transformed it into a game system that anyone could play. Now, instead of reading about elves, a player could be one.

The impact that Gary Gygax had on the human imagination and the body of cultural archetypes is immense beyond imagining. World of Warcraft and it's millions of players would not exist without the existence of D&D and the hundreds of MUDs it inspired. As pointed out by others, Project Wish itself could never have been dreamed up if not for the influence of Gary Gygax.

The modern world owes Gary Gygax a debt it can never repay. Without Gary Gygax Harry Potter never would have found a publisher and C.S. Lewis would be nothing more than a footnote in textbooks on 19th Century literature.

Like all great men, all too soon Gary Gygax will be forgotten and lesser artists will be credited with the revolution that he started. It is ever so with those who are truly innovative.