An Interview With Gary Gygax

[gbbgu]

Bill The Dungeon Delver shares the audio from a telephone conversation he had
with Gary Gygax in 2002.

They talk about the history of TSR, a D&D film, and the future of RPGs.

[gbbgu]

Post by gbbgu
Bill The Dungeon Delver shares the audio from a telephone conversation he had
with Gary Gygax in 2002.
They talk about the history of TSR, a D&D film, and the future of RPGs.
http://youtu.be/t4A1IsQY2D4

Here's the transcript of the audio that is mentioned at the start of the
video:

http://thedelversdungeon.blogspot.com/2016/01/happy-2016.html

[Spalls Hurgenson]

Post by gbbgu

Post by gbbgu
Bill The Dungeon Delver shares the audio from a telephone conversation he had
with Gary Gygax in 2002.
They talk about the history of TSR, a D&D film, and the future of RPGs.
http://youtu.be/t4A1IsQY2D4

Here's the transcript of the audio that is mentioned at the start of the
http://thedelversdungeon.blogspot.com/2016/01/happy-2016.html

Thank you for that. I find transcripts much more valuable than audio.
Easier (and faster) to parse and search, easier to archive... a whole
bunch of reasons.

I might have listened to the audio - but I might not have. But the
transcript? When I saw that, it was a must-read.

As to the content itself... it's very 2000s. There's still a lot of
aggressiveness towards TSR and 2nd Edition, which - fortunately - has
mellowed over the years. Still, this was only shortly after TSRs most
litigious era, when it was even threatening to sue players who posted
fan-made stuff on the Internet, so I can understand there being
lingering ill will. Mrs. Williams - CEO of TSR - gets a lot of flak,
not all of it undeserved, but Gygax's take is fairly one-sided but -
because he was the 'inventor' of D&D, most fans sided with him. But
many of the problems TSR contended with in its latter days were
started under Gygax's management.

And Gygax was hardly a seer when it came to RPGs anyway; he could be
equally aggressive towards business partners and players, and arrogant
about the 'right way' to play the game (even mellowed as he is, you
can still see some of that in the posted interview). Plus, there's
this famous quote from the very same interview: "I fear that 3rd
Edition won’t have legs."

So Gary, we'll always love you and remember you for what you helped to
create... but I'm not putting you on a pedestal.

Still, I'm glad this interview exists. Thank you for posting it.

[gbbgu]

Post by Spalls Hurgenson
Thank you for that. I find transcripts much more valuable than audio.
Easier (and faster) to parse and search, easier to archive... a whole
bunch of reasons.

Just to let you know, it's not an exact 1:1 transcript, but I'd say it's close
enough from my brief checks.

Post by Spalls Hurgenson
As to the content itself... it's very 2000s. There's still a lot of
aggressiveness towards TSR and 2nd Edition, which - fortunately - has
mellowed over the years. Still, this was only shortly after TSRs most
litigious era, when it was even threatening to sue players who posted
fan-made stuff on the Internet, so I can understand there being
lingering ill will. Mrs. Williams - CEO of TSR - gets a lot of flak,
not all of it undeserved, but Gygax's take is fairly one-sided but -
because he was the 'inventor' of D&D, most fans sided with him. But
many of the problems TSR contended with in its latter days were
started under Gygax's management.
And Gygax was hardly a seer when it came to RPGs anyway; he could be
equally aggressive towards business partners and players, and arrogant
about the 'right way' to play the game (even mellowed as he is, you
can still see some of that in the posted interview). Plus, there's
this famous quote from the very same interview: "I fear that 3rd
Edition won’t have legs."

You're not wrong about it being a very 2000s interview. It's amazing how that
came across.

For anyone else interested in the history of dnd, I highly recommend the two
books:

* Game Wizards: The Epic Battle for Dungeons & Dragons by Jon Peterson

and

* Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons by Ben Riggs

I really enjoyed reading both of them and learning about how much of a mess
TRS was. It's like a how-to on what not to do. It reminded me of people who
win big lotto prizes and don't know how to cope with suddenly becoming
wealthy. The way TSR was randomly throwing money at projects was just insane.
Success can cover up a lot of problems, but not forever.

I wonder how differently things would have turned out if Don Kaye didn't pass
away.