The Ambush at Sheridan Springs:
How Gary Gygax Lost Control of Dungeons & Dragons
by Jon Peterson (via Medium.com)
In the fall of 1985, Gary Gygax was the most famous and powerful figure in hobby gaming. He was President and Chief Executive Officer of TSR, Inc., the company that published Dungeons & Dragons. Gygax had personally directed the development of the game for the last decade, most recently producing new titles for its Advanced Dungeons & Dragons line: earlier in 1985, he was the lead on Unearthed Arcana, and in the fall they were putting the finishing touches on his Oriental Adventures. He had been featured inPeople magazine, and appeared on national television. His name and his game seemed inseparable.“
Such an interesting article, I suggest you read the whole thing.
We have now had forty years of Dungeons & Dragons, and Gary Gygax was the man who started it all. Moby is no expert at the game, and not it’s biggest fan or anything like that. But this story is about more than just about D&D.
The newer generations of players are now playing versions of the game merely derived from that created and controlled by it’s creator and this article tells us how that happened, and does so in great detail. The history of the game itself defines it’s future.
D&D fans should also check out Peterson’s blog, Playing the World for plenty more on this. Or you could just read his book.
I think I will do a follow up post to this, about my own experience as a Dungeon Master and player. Might be fun.
