The Fall of a Hero

It should come as no surprise that I'm a bit of a geek.. So when I also come out that I am deeply saddened by the passing of Gary Gygax, one of the founding fathers for the infamous role playing saga "Dungeons and Dragons", you shouldn't be surprised or taken aback.. I've read several eulogy type postings by folks on various sites, so I won't try to mimic what has already been done -- except to convey My joy to see how many people embraced D&D and to establish the history of video games and role playing games in general -- are owed to Gary and to Dave Arneson for creating the game that revolutionized the gaming industry..

I have to chuckle at the likes of some of the posts of how they wish they could roll a "saving throw" for Gary or to throw some sort of spell that would have him reincarnated ... he'd get a kick out of that, I'm sure..

My introduction to D&D was rocky at best -- because My mom was paranoid and thought bad things were going to happen to Me.. She was very protective and after seeing the Tom Hanks: "Mazes and Monsters" movie -- she feared for My life.. Everytime, I'd sit down with her and explain that it was not real, it was imaginary, and that I would be okay.. She tentatively would allow me to play - and even if I asked her today, I think she'd be still fearful that I was enjoying a game of Neverwinter Nights or some other game..

I had a circle of friends in elementary & middle school that played often, but I was too insecure and shy to even play to their level.. But that never stopped Me from wanting to play.. Eventually I would gather My own group of guys and we'd play D&D and Top Secret down in the basement of our house.. It would be an all-night fest full of Doritos, M&M's and Coca Cola.. It was amazing and I treasure those memories very fondly.. I still remember riding My bike down to the local hobby store to check out the latest D&D stuff.. I couldn't afford any of it because it was pricey, but as time went on, I could get the Advanced D&D book and some other games..

Unfortunately, I didn't play an organized campaign like that ever again - mainly because gaming changed dramatically after that thanks to computers.. There were the text-driven mazes that we played on the TSR-80 computers, the "Adventure" game that I spent hours playing on the Atari game console.. And I forever love playing games that make Me think, troubleshoot, diagnose, and develop strategies on how I was going to best My opponent the next day..

And that's what I love about strategy games like Neverwinter, Command & Conquer and Civilization ... they make you think..

So..

What was born from graph paper and beautiful colorful polyhedral dice was a tremendous amount of creativity, ingenuity, and the belief that you can overcome virtually anything.. That's not to say that My characters never met death -- oh, I've died many a death, let Me tell ya'.... but you learn from your mistakes and you capitalize on what you've learned to do better next time..

And what a valuable lesson in life really..

The premise of dusting yourself off after a nasty fall, getting smarter because of it, and taking the risks you need to in order to make it each day.. That's what living is all about -- and what better way to learn the lesson, but by way of the game..

Thank you Gary - you will be missed..