How The Game Is Played

Passing of an era

Well, the EGG is dead.

E Gary Gygax, or EGG as those of us who have been in the pen and paper roleplay game hobby since the beginning were won't to call him, has passed on. I'm sure they will be brief spat of glowing tributes about "the creator of D&D" and so forth. As one who lived a bit closer to the story, I remember him somewhat differently.& And in that memory, there is a cautionary tale of Greek proportions about greed and hubris.

I was living in Madison, WI during most of the early history of TSR and had, if not a front row, a first-row balcony seat to the drama that unfolded. This is from my memory. Dates may be off, but I think the important events are fairly accurate...

In the beginning. &EGG, Dave Arneson and the two Blumes were all wargamers together playing miniatures based wargames. Together they developed and published the original D&D rules, which were extension rules for a miniatures game called Chainmail to add (heavily LOTR inspired) fantasy and heroic elements.

In one line in those original rules it says "or you can dispense with the miniatures and just play with your character sheets." In this one sentence, they accidentally invented pen and paper roleplay gaming. Tactical Studies Rules (TSR) is born.

On the heels of their success they start publishing other pen and paper RPG games including Metamorphosis Alpha (the original one, which was a rip-off of the TV Show "Starlost") and Boot Hill. During this time hey also publish four extensions to D&D (Blackmoor, Greyhawk, Eldritch Wizardry, and "Gods, Demi-Gods and Heroes") & &The money starts coming in, and trouble begins in paradise...

EGG and the Blumes push Dave Arneson, who wrote all the original monster stats, out of the company. At the same time, JRR Tolkien, who never cared much about rights and derivative works, dies. His son inherits the rights to LOTR and threatens to sue over D&D's use of Tolkien creatures such as hobbits. As a result, TSR issues AD&D, which makes such superficial changes as changing the word "Hobbit" to "Halfling"

The first AD&D book published is the new "Monster Manual." It contains no acknowledgment of Dave Arneson's previous work.& He sues in court and wins rights to the Monster Manual as a derivative work of his original D&D monster booklet. They have no choice but to pay him royalties on
that but its is his last TSR product.

TSR does very well for awhile publishing AD&D and then 2E. Within a few years, however, the Blumes wrest control of TSR totally to themselves and kick out EGG.

EGG goes off and writes "Dangerous Journies", which is a flop. He has a few more flops over the years and basically lives the rest of his life kicking around the industry on his "old man of gaming" reputation.

The Blumes nearly destroy the company in the long run and end up selling out to the family of the originator of the Buck Rogers serials. What the Blumes couldn't manage to destroy, they basically finish. As TSRs financials get worse, TSR gets more and more and more desperate and start trying to chase third party suppliers of D&D related materials out of the market with bogus claims of copyright and trademark infringement.

They only go to court twice ... and lose both suits. &As the result of losing a suit against Mayfarie Games' "Roleaids" product line they agree to buy out the Roleaids products. They buy them and they are never seen again, but this further stretches their money problems.

The end can be seen to be finally approaching when they start suing their own fans for putting up freeware D&D modules and aids on internet ftp sites. A general truism is no business can survive when it becomes regular practice to sue ones own customers (look at whats happening right now in music, as another example.) TSR goes bankrupt and is bought, lock stock and barrel, by WOTC.

And thats the story as best I remember it. A tale of a company born of a common love of a hobby, and destroyed through the greed and hubris of its founders.

Like EGG himself, who was never actually all that great a Dungeon Master, it had its warts and faults, but many of us still loved it for what it brought into our lives. So godspeed E. Gary. And thank you from those of us whose lives your touch indirectly brightened.

Posted at 01:03PM Mar 05, 2008 by gameguy in General  |