Quote from: Bradford C. Walker;352775I'm right, and that's what counts.

You're pompous, and wrong, and that's what is so goddamn hilarious. And beautiful!

Much luv, you funky thing you.

Once again: in the real world, common usage trumps pseudointellectual wank. Every. Time.

- The "Lord of the Rings" movies coming out together with 3E and helping new people to get in the mood for some RPGing, IMHO. Back in the day I remember a lot of new kids in my gaming club playing 3E with pictures of either some LotR character or Legolas () for their characters, and using LotR miniatures.

- The laptop (and now the Netbook) as a practical tool for the GM: PDFs, character builders et al. Not to mention creating on the fly "ad hoc" soundtracks to play while gaming thanks to iTunes.

- I agree that the passing of Gygax and Arnesson was, at least, symbolic. And let's not forget Tom Moldvay: many a player lost his virginity with "The Lost City", "The Palace of the Silver Princess", "Chateau d'Amberville", "The Isle of Dread" and the like.

- The "Indie" movement pushing for new ways to play and create/distribute games. These two achievements have nothing to do with the fundamentalist part of the movement, and maybe something good will come out of them in the future.

- The implosion of the World of Darkness. I never played WoD, but I liked reading (and thus buying) some supplements. I only needed to buy the first book of the new Vampire to see an omen of things to come (with this I mean 4E). However, I still have to check what Monte Cook did with the setting.

- On the personal front, a decade-spanning AD&D/D&D 3.5 campaign, and the formation of a gaming loving group with whom I plan to game for years to come, both at new games and old (Call of Cthulhu, Rifts) - merrily insulated from what actually happens in the market.

Quote from: rezinzar;352814Once again: in the real world, common usage trumps pseudointellectual wank. Every. Time.

The bright side being, at least we won't be seeing every retrospective thread derailed by this pedantry come January 2011.

Quote from: ggroy;352746*** blasphemy warning ***

In the end, how much of a big deal was Gygax, Arneson, etc ... passing away?

Besides being an "elder statesman" in the rpg world, how relevant was Gary Gygax after he was ousted from TSR in 1985?  Other than maybe the first Castle Zagyg titles, Gygax's output after TSR wasn't particularly memorable.

Gygax's death (and to a much lesser extent some of those others named here) gave a big big push to the whole "Old School" movement. He was worth more to them dead than alive, really.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;352838Gygax's death (and to a much lesser extent some of those others named here) gave a big big push to the whole "Old School" movement. He was worth more to them dead than alive, really.

RPGPundit

Fuck that.  I'd still rather be working off my old Rules Cyclopedia copy and have Gary alive than have any of the product we've seen since he passed.

That's not to say it hasn't been good product, but I'd trade it all to have Mr. Gygax back around.

Quote from: RPGPundit;352838Gygax's death (and to a much lesser extent some of those others named here) gave a big big push to the whole "Old School" movement. He was worth more to them dead than alive, really.

If you want to do a strictly mercenary analysis, I see your point.  But people already in the scene weren't exactly popping champagne corks or dancing jigs.  One or two seemed more upset that Castle Zagyg died with him, but no one was celebrating.

Most relevant? The slow, agonising death of RPGs as a viable business model and their fading from the public consciousness. How was that, again? "You know Ken [Rolston]'s old because he still calls them CRPGs." That so. Remember this quote.

Personally most interesting? Old school ideas resurfacing and being used in new, creative ways. Fanzine and DIY culture finding new venues on the Internet, because what gaming is really about is shared creativity.

Defining products? D&D 3rd edition, The Wilderlands box (for different reasons).

Most entertaining web community? RPGNet ca. 2002-2003, TheRPGSite ca. 2006-2007. They are being missed.

Zachary, jrients: Please don't assist the troll in his desperate attempt to build a new Goldstein to hate on.

Quote from: RPGPundit;352838Gygax's death (and to a much lesser extent some of those others named here) gave a big big push to the whole "Old School" movement. He was worth more to them dead than alive, really.

I dunno about that. His Q&A threads over at ENWorld seem to fuel a lot of old school love. And served to show Gary as a wise and good natured man, as contrasted to the noisy cantankerous asswipes that were starting to become the de facto face of old school love.

QuoteIt's lazy thinking, and ought to be stopped because this can fuck things up for folks--like me, a historian--that deal in records; digging through parts of China's history gets damned aggravating due to errant numeracy like this.

Having worked as a professional Chinese-language translator, I'd say that accurate timekeeping is one of the standout features of their history; assuming you understand lunar & dynastic cycles, Imperial nomenclature and have a solid grasp of classical Chinese. Additionally, modern Chinese (and most other Asians as well) always consider themselves 1 year old AT BIRTH.

Want some really mind-boggling chronology? Try Khmer, Lao or Naxi.

Quote from: Kellri;352917Having worked as a professional Chinese-language translator, I'd say that accurate timekeeping is one of the standout features of their history; assuming you understand lunar & dynastic cycles, Imperial nomenclature and have a solid grasp of classical Chinese. Additionally, modern Chinese (and most other Asians as well) always consider themselves 1 year old AT BIRTH.

That is the specific error that fucked things up over here.  Constantly and consistently correcting for their errant numeracy is quite an aggravating thing; just because everyone does it wrong doesn't make it right.

QuoteWant some really mind-boggling chronology? Try Khmer, Lao or Naxi.

Indeed.  It's one of the background issues of the local Lao community with regard to assimilating into American society and integrating their oral and written histories into our archives.

Quote from: Bradford C. Walker;352921Constantly and consistently correcting for their errant numeracy is quite an aggravating thing; just because everyone does it wrong doesn't make it right.

Good God, Bradford, you're quite the imperialist.  I can see why you're a historian and not an anthropologist, I suppose.  Here's a tip for free: stay away from precolumbian mesoamerica - it'll drive you batty.

Quote from: Kellri;352917Additionally, modern Chinese (and most other Asians as well) always consider themselves 1 year old AT BIRTH.

We-e-ll-ll...it's more that they consider themselves "in their first year" from birth until one year is completed, then they start being "in their second year" and so forth.  It's really just a conceptual issue of "where you are" versus "where you've been".

Quote from: Bradford C. Walker;352921That is the specific error that fucked things up over here.  Constantly and consistently correcting for their errant numeracy is quite an aggravating thing...

Hah, hah.  That's really very cute.  Really.

!i!

Quote from: Melan;352901Zachary, jrients: Please don't assist the troll in his desperate attempt to build a new Goldstein to hate on.

Its not a troll; I'm not suggesting that anyone wanted Gary Gygax dead, or even that exploitation is going on in his name. All I was saying was that Gary's death acted as a huge propellant for the whole Old School movement. In losing Gary Gygax, people's thoughts naturally turned back to the elements of play that his name was most associated with, and remembered it with more fondness.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;353116Its not a troll; I'm not suggesting that anyone wanted Gary Gygax dead, or even that exploitation is going on in his name. All I was saying was that Gary's death acted as a huge propellant for the whole Old School movement. In losing Gary Gygax, people's thoughts naturally turned back to the elements of play that his name was most associated with, and remembered it with more fondness.

Can you quote or link anything to support that?  My memory is that the OSR was rocketing along nicely well before Gygax went.