[spartan_0214]

     I know I'm a few days behind on posting this, but I've been fairly busy with school due to the closing of the third quarter tomorrow, so here it is.

      Gaming God and Co-Creator of DnD Gary Gygax passed away a few days ago. Gygax, if you didn't know him by name or haven't played DnD, created, along with a few other people, the game mechanics within DnD. As you all know, or should know, DnD has affected every game since its popularization in the late 60s and early 70s and has also influenced most RPG and RTS/TBS game released for either the PC or any other platform. I have encountered a few websites that have posted in memory of Gygax, and I'd like to share some of the better ones:

Penny Arcade:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2008/03/04

The Order of the Stick:
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0536.html

[Ghostavo]

http://www.duelinganalogs.com/

[Herra Tohtori]

He's been sent to the past...

[karajorma]

As you all know, or should know, DnD has affected every game since its popularization in the late 60s and early 70s and has also influenced most RPG and RTS/TBS game released for either the PC or any other platform.

More than just the RPG genres. Even when I'm writing missions for Freespace I remember the rules of good storytelling that I learned as a DM. Stuff like not railroading, avoiding deus ex machina (not the campaign ), rewarding off the wall ideas etc.

And I doubt I'm the only one who thinks that way.

EDIT : http://www.xkcd.com/

[NGTM-1R]

I normally withhold my praise from D20 products, and it looks like the upcoming D&D 4th edition will have me laughing my ass off since they reportedly White Wolf-ed it out, thus bringing an end to the reign of the pure class-level systems. (Feeling slightly cynical, perhaps his death has something to do with what the hell they did to his game.)

But never let it be said that I refuse to give credit where it is due. Gary showed us the way to better tabletop gaming, and his system stayed the course a long time, long after many dissolved to mushy-ruled mishmashes or simply faded away. There are other schemes to how to do things. Some of them actually work, too. (Pity the rulesets tend to murder them.) But D&D was the first that gave you something both easily playable and that you could sink your teeth into. It wasn't the best, but the job of the pioneer is to put things on the map, not to survey them, so it didn't have to be.

[Roanoke]

As you all know, or should know, DnD has affected every game since its popularization in the late 60s and early 70s and has also influenced most RPG and RTS/TBS game released for either the PC or any other platform.

More than just the RPG genres. Even when I'm writing missions for Freespace I remember the rules of good storytelling that I learned as a DM. Stuff like not railroading, avoiding deus ex machina (not the campaign ), rewarding off the wall ideas etc.

And I doubt I'm the only one who thinks that way.

EDIT : http://www.xkcd.com/

what is desux ex machina then ?

[Dark Hunter]

It's a literary term. It refers to one sudden event that magically makes everything work out ok and solves all problems.

Considered a cheap and lazy way to end a story... yet I can think of dozens (especially in TV shows).

[spartan_0214]

Literally translated it means "god out of a machine."

EDIT : http://www.xkcd.com/

Was just about to post this.

[General Battuta]

Should it maybe be permanent-linked, for those who read this thread later?

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/ultimate_game.png

Will that work?

[spartan_0214]

Yep, that works. Though it's almost unnecessary; XKCD updates on Monday.