When I picked up dragon #323 the other day, I started looking at the Wyrm's turn, then the scalemail. Then I saw something missing. I checked back to see if I had accidentally skipped a page, but no, there was no "up on a soapbox article". Oh, the shame of it all. That was an excellent article, one of the most entertaining I've read in dragon. And if you can have article completely worthless in actual play like Knight vs. Samurai, why can't you spend one page each month for the man who wrote the bloody game?
Who needs the Father of Roleplaying when you have Wesley Crusher? :(
Contributor
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why can't you spend one page each month for the man who wrote the bloody game?
There seems to be some unfortunate misconception that we cut Mr. Gygax from Dragon.
That is simply untrue.
It was Mr. Gygax who told us that he wasn't going to write "Up On the Soapbox" anymore because he no longer had the time.
We would love to have him come back and write for us, but he's a very busy guy.
"There seems to be some unfortunate misconception that we cut Mr. Gygax from Dragon."
Really? I always heard it was because he didn't feel like it anymore.
Go figure.
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Contributor
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Really? I always heard it was because he didn't feel like it anymore.
Go figure.
Glad to hear that! We're certainly glad that the truth is out there and the whole community doesn't blame us for his departure. ;) As you can see from the original post of this thread, though, not everyone has been able to hear what really happened. So until everyone hears the real story we'll just keep repeating it. :)
My apologies for the misconception. Perhaps it was caused by the fact that "up on a soapbox" stopped the issue after a letter by someone saying he didn't like it.
~Pffft! Just Geas him!~ Lol!
It was a shame he stopped the column because it was so interesting hearing the old "war stories" simply because his early games had such a strong shaping effect on the game we all love.
A lot of people hated Gary's editorials.
Why? I never understood- His "war stories" of "days gone by", while certianly not useful, were amusing and very often funny, if not, at least entertaining.
At their worst, they made me happy that D&D has progressed so far... ;p
Ah well. I hope he's doing well for himself.
Hm. I liked the editorials. . . sad to see 'em go, they were certainly amusing/interesting. :)
Ah well, perhaps some other "big name" in D&D can start writing articles of a similar nature? Interesting to hear another perspective at least. :)
Oh well. I did like those articles.
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Hhhhmm... I guess, I am gradually growing unpopular on these message boards, commenting on about everything... ;)
I started playing AD&D when the first FR campaign box hit the shelves. Already by then Gary Gygax, the game and his campaign world were a legend. If it had been possible by then to start playing Greyhawk (without having to buy a dozen adventures and/ or supplements), I had gladly done so!
When I realized first that he would make an appearance in Dragon, I was very enthusiastic. Even more so while reading about characters, whom players like me only know from spell names. It was like reading about your state's local past for the first time: you walk the streets but you never wondered what that street got its odd name from (o.k., I am from Europe! Bad example! :p).
Reading the anniversary issue of Dungeon showed me, how deeply the first D&D products are rooted in most players' "common" memory - and most of these products bear Gary Gygax' name.
I would be very happy to read more articles of his - not necessarily war stories. ;-)
Greetings from Germany,
Guenther
I would _love_ to have Gary Gygax in the pages of Dragon again. Personally, I'd prefer something "meatier" than war stories, but I'll take what I can get.
That reminds me that I need to write Gary a few emails. . .
Actually, it's the "war stories" that he tells that I find so appealing. As a long-time D&Der (1981), I love to hear about the game was shaped particularly tales from the early Greyhawk campaign.
Then again, after seeing how good Maure Castle was perhaps it might be time to tap that creative mind of his for something new (as long as someone else is there to write the crunchy bits and ensure it is submitted on time [sorry, Gary, but I've never forgiven you for the delay with ToEE ;)]).
Gary had a serious stroke earlier in the year and I heard on Dragonsfoot.com that he's cut back his work load to focus on Castle Zagig with Troll Lord games.
Mike
To follow-up, apparently Castle Zagyg is going to be a multi-part epic collection of adventures and I can only imagine that Gary has 30+/- years of notes and such to go through to bring his classic castle to print. With that, his recovery, and focus on healthy living, I can understand why he stepped down from the soapbox. :)
I, for one, cannot wait until Castle Zagyg is in my possession.
Zudrak