Our Deepest Sympathies

[Cairenn]

Last March we said a sad farewell and RIP to Gary Gygax. Now we have to say them to David Lance Arneson.

Many of us got our start in gaming with Dungeons & Dragons or one of its computer adaptations and have fond memories of rolling dice, poring over rulebooks, braving dark caverns and castle keeps, battling kobolds and hill giants. As avid D&D players we are all saddened by the news of his passing; we feel we've lost a true adventuring companion. Thanks for everything and farewell, David. You will be missed.

[Gemini_II]

Sad times. We've lost alot of good, influential people in the past decade. Pen & paper gaming, and today's computer games would not be what they are without these brilliant visionaries.

[Wimpface]

RIP.

(too short -.-)

[voodoodad]

Wow. I remember starting to play D&D back when the game was just published. The manuals where published in a boxed set and were hardly any more than pamphlets, really. They were only about the size of manuals for most video games these days. My friends and I spent hours either around one of our kitchen tables or at the library playing this game. Paper, pencils, dice and a lot of imagination were all that was needed. No system requirements back in those days, lol. Gary and David were gods to us. I wish that the younger generation understood how much these guys contributed to every rpg on the market, computer-based mmo or otherwise. Without their work all those years ago, WoW wouldn't even exist today. I hope you guys are rolling all 100's up there. We miss you.

[Sythalin]

R.I.P. to both. Original D&D was the ****, nothing compared to the crappy systems rolling now (no pun intended).

[voodoodad]

I used to collect and hand paint metal miniature for D&D. I had at least a dozen of those drawer bin thingies (can't remember what they're actually called lol), 20 drawers each, I custom cut foam peices for each miniature, 2 or 3 miniatures per drawer. They were all sorted and labeled by race, class etc. Wish I could remember where I put all that stuff, lol. Come to think of it, I oughtta be eligable for the geek hall of fame!

[Gemini_II]

Originally Posted by voodoodad2000 I used to collect and hand paint metal miniature for...

Of all the things that have been lost or stolen over the years, my miniature collection is one I miss an awful lot. I had a bit of everything... humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, giant rats and frogs, ents, elementals, beholders, dragons, big dragons... /sigh. Good times I tell ya...

I'm trying to get some friends together so I can massacre... errr... run them through some Paranoia.

[voodoodad]

Agreed Gemini. I particularly remember a "full size" dragon laying on his treasure horde that I was really proud of. BTW to our kind admins, I realize this has gotten a bit off topic and I apologize for that, but these two losses to the gaming community have really brought a lot of fond memories for me.

[Cairenn]

As far as I can tell, the thread is exactly on topic. What is more appropriate than geeking out over the wonderful times they brought us?

[voodoodad]

Thanks Cairenn. I just wish remembering all this stuff didn't also remind me of how very, very old I am lol.

[Kupotek]

I grew up in the late 80s playing traditional D&D, I loved the classic books. They were such a wonderful spark for my creativity and inspiration. Gary Gygax is a hero and will be missed.

[Bomyne]

Is it bad that I have no idea who Gary Gygax or David Lance Arneson are? Or what Dungeons and Dragons is?

[jonathon]

Originally Posted by Bomyne Is it bad that I have no idea who Gary Gygax or David Lance Arneson are? Or what Dungeons and Dragons is?

it is, and yet it is not... your knowledge depends a lot on your age and hobbies.

As for Gary Gygax, and David Lance Arneson, we would probably not have games like WoW without DnD, everquest, and the like.

[voodoodad]

100% agreement, Jonathan. None of this (wow, mmo's in general) would have happenned if not for the work and dedication of those two gentlemen.

To Bomyne; it's not bad in any way. Just a little saddening for us who were around at the beginning to realize that the younger generation missed out on the experiences we had with just paper, pencils, dice and imagination. And as far as not knowing what D&D is/was, take a look at the rpg games at any software store. Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2... I've forgotten how many pc rpg's were licensed by and used D&D rules for their programming.

[Seerah]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons

[voodoodad]

Originally Posted by Seerah http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dungeons_%26_Dragons

Wow, it's been so long that I'd forgotten all about Chainmail starting it all off...

[OldHarry]

It is sad to see the demise of the people who brought us such imagination filled games. And rather mind boggling to think that so many who play wow now would never have had the patience or imagination to sit around a piece of graph paper with polyhedral dice and imagine the battle and the journey in their mind. Kind of makes me want to go find my dice set and keep them within sight of the computer to remind me that the core of the game needs to take place in the mind not just on the screen.