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Building a Gary Gygax Memorial
An anonymous reader writes "It looks like approval to build a memorial to E. Gary Gygax has been granted in Lake Geneva City, Wisconsin. The Gygax Memorial Fund is still taking donations for the memorial that may begin construction as early as later this year. I (like many on Slashdot) spent many years of my youth using Gygax inspired creations as an excuse to socialize, roll dice, and eat chips at impromptu gatherings before computers intruded on the RPG realms."
http://laughingsquid.com/mit-hackers-pay-tribute-to-gary-gygax-with-giant-20-sided-die/
Will the map be on plain square graph paper or since it's outdoors, will it be on hexagonal graph paper?
...be underground.
...have traps leading up to it.
...have someone narrating your way.
...involve a strength check to open the door.
...force you to roll dice constantly.
If the memorial isn't a 10-foot, bronze D20, I'm going to be very upset.
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
Would it have been so hard to use the summary to reveal who Gary Gygax is? It's not like he's a famous geek like John Bardeen.
I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you to turn in your geek card. You... (rolls dice) ...disgust me.
Demanding constant attention will only lead to attention.
Put a sphere of annihilation in the statue's mouth.
Would it have been so hard to use the summary to reveal who Gary Gygax is? It's not like he's a famous geek like John Bardeen.
Unless you are under 25, you must turn in your geek card...Gary Gygax was the founder of TSR, which produced the RPG Dungeons and Dragons, now owned by Wizards of the Coast.
"If stupid things work...then they are not stupid."
I have to admit though, if I were passing through I would totally visit the memorial and scream 'Black Leaf is dead! Get out of here, you don't exist any more!'
I'd endorse and support memorials for all 3.
Gary Gygax: For giving geeks and nerds something to do while all the popular kids were out drinking and having sex.
John Wayne: For not taking shit from anybody (his bronze statue needs to be electrified so he doesn't even take crap from pigeons).
You know, forget the memorial.... We just need to clone the Duke.
Madonna: For the "Like a Virgin" years....when she was still hot....I want to remember the hot Madonna.
"Lame" - Galaxar
Incidentally, it's a 503(c) organization -- tax-deductible in the US.
People can build memorials to whomever they want. Towns can choose to commemorate notable citizens in whatever way they see fit. No offense, but honestly who cares what you feel "comfortable" with?
I hope the memorial succeeds. I believe Gary Gygas deserves one. I also believe Dave Arneson should get one. It is often glossed over that Dave Arneson was the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons. I have read different postings concerning the origins of Dungeons & Dragons, and many of them point to the main idea of it was created by Dave Arneson, and Gary came along and said that it could be made into a product. Then Garry spent a long time categorizing the rules and expanding them. What a great game it was!
I was out having sex AND playing D&D - you loser
Sounds fun! I put on my robe and wizard hat.
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it's not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance. - Terry Pratchett
When I was in junior high I went to a gaming convention where I played D&D with Gary Gygax, Tracy Hickman (author of the Dragonlance series), and Larry Niven. It was the Ravenloft module that Tracy had written, so naturally he was the DM. Watching those guys spin the fable was an amazing experience I've never forgotten, and it set a bar for fantasy gaming that no computer game has ever come close to surpassing. Maybe it's because in a computer game no one ever gets into character and brings pathos to the role. Sure, the mechanics and special effects of computers are great, but nobody really gets emotionally attached to their character (beyond how much time they spend levelling up) and...the storytelling just isn't there.
All these years later I realize that that evening with Gary, Larry, and Tracy and the other players was like our generation's equivalent of hanging out with Jack Kerouac and Allan Ginsberg at the height of the Beat era.
I hope they build Gary a monument that pays proper homage all the young imaginations he fired and lives he influenced. RIP, Gary.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
...exhume his skull, embed gems into it, and put it on a table. That would really screw with those in the know.
"I'm an old-fashioned type of guy. I worship the Sun and Moon as gods. And fear them."
you got pussy they got, well, they know who gary gygax is. I'll take the pussy 7 days a week.
Clearly you've never played DnD.
My sister opened a computer store in Hawaii. She sells C shells by the seashore.
statue of John Wayne
You mean that famous one at the John Wayne Airport in California? Or the one of him on horseback on Wilshire Blvd, Beverly Hills? Or the one in the Cowboy Musuem? Or the one at the future $5.5m John Wayne Birthplace Museum And Learning Centre?
[statue of] Madonna.
Then never visit a catholic country.
and glorifying entertainment at the expense of more important things.
Dude, they're taking public donations. It's not like they're somehow taking statues out of the mouths of starving children in Africa. I promise you people piss their money away on stupider things than a bunch of geeks memorialising someone who did something they spent a lot of time on when they were kids.
Science is all about firing a drunk pig out of a cannon just to see what happens.
I wrote about the Gygax Memorial effort last year in the online gaming magazine The Escapist, Issue 251 (April 27, 2010): "The Tower of Gygax : Honoring the man who started everything."
While I semi-agree...a part of me thinks we should probably start admitting we're just getting old and haven't done our jobs in passing the torch down to the younger generations. Alienating some poor lad isn't going to help them on their epic quest. /diplomacy.
How am I supposed to know who the hell he was?
Futurama. Duh.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
I grew up playing plenty of DnD in the 1980s.
One of the neatest things in my lifetime was when I got my first "computer-related" job in a small industrial park a few doors down from the old TSR Hobbies. They still had a sign out on the end of the road.
I don't expect anyone to be impressed by that, but I sure found it to be cool.
do() || do_not();
...Gary is to be reanimated into a 12 foot tall iron statue with a poisonous breath attack.
He died as he lived - immune to most magical attacks (except lightning, which acts as a Slow) and to weapons less than +3.
John Fucking Wayne. Our family would build our own memorial to that man.
Every family reunion for as long as I can remember... there would be a fight over John Wayne. The rest of us had bettintg pools over him.
One relative was a real Macho tough SOB. The Duke? You don't insult the Duke and walk away.. you crawl away.
One relative was a flaming gay man. With conspiracy theories.
I won the pot one year by guessing how many glasses of wine and at what time the Duke would be accused of being gay and part of the grand homosexual conspiracy in Hollywood and how many minutes it would take for us to have to hold the first relative back from killing the latter relative.
We had first aid kits handy :)
Ahhh.... the memories. Thank you Duke.
That better be a crotchless robe.