tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post5385778975459807253..comments2024-03-19T07:56:00.031-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Sympathy for the DevilJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-87667603303601471632011-11-22T00:57:15.408-05:002011-11-22T00:57:15.408-05:00Regarding Lorraine Williams:
Having spoken to a f...Regarding Lorraine Williams:<br /><br />Having spoken to a few people who worked at TSR in the later days of the business, I'm not entirely convinced that she was as much of a villain as she's been portrayed. There's no doubt that bad business decisions occurred, but I'd love to hear her side of the story. I suspect it would be very illuminating.R Parkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18411907126909551409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-73514315975288956752009-10-30T13:45:26.918-04:002009-10-30T13:45:26.918-04:00Paul Stormberg knows all, is supposed to be writin...Paul Stormberg knows all, is supposed to be writing a book.<br /><br />I lost his cell phone number or I'd call him.<br /><br />Gary had two different audiences he talked to, and two different tones he took. With the first, he did not take himself seriously, but wasn't keen to encourage them to carp or kvetch.<br /><br />With the other he was much more blunt and honest. You need to read his more public statements with that in mind, that he isn't fully serious (or even trying to encourage disagreement, as with the made up "female dwarves have beards" line).<br /><br />As for the Blumes, I'd really like to hear what they have to say.Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00219023897626648057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-84653188092959216362009-04-07T13:27:00.000-04:002009-04-07T13:27:00.000-04:00Did you ever hear from Mr. Blume?No comment at the...<I>Did you ever hear from Mr. Blume?</I><BR/><BR/>No comment at the present time. :)<BR/><BR/>More seriously, when I have something I can share, I will certainly be doing so.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-77893641713228027462009-04-07T10:19:00.000-04:002009-04-07T10:19:00.000-04:00Did you ever hear from Mr. Blume?Did you ever hear from Mr. Blume?Michael S/Chgowizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052820400496340137noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-52187494230470979682009-02-07T10:07:00.000-05:002009-02-07T10:07:00.000-05:00Speaking of conversations, I was wondering: are yo...<I>Speaking of conversations, I was wondering: are you still planning on interviewing Mike Mornard?</I><BR/><BR/>I'm waiting on his reply. I should probably go and poke him again to see if he's still willing to answer some questions.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-62331255706682858852009-02-07T10:06:00.000-05:002009-02-07T10:06:00.000-05:00Perhaps, write him an old fashioned handwritten le...<I>Perhaps, write him an old fashioned handwritten letter...</I><BR/><BR/>That is, in fact, my current plan.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-15976655711442082512009-02-07T09:56:00.000-05:002009-02-07T09:56:00.000-05:00Certainly, it does not qualify as a tragic flaw to...<I>Certainly, it does not qualify as a tragic flaw to me, merely one typical to human nature.</I><BR/><BR/>Very much agreed. While I lament the grudges that Gary nursed, I'm not willing to point fingers or deem them beyond the pale, as I myself have been guilty of similar behavior in the past and none of it was born out of a business dispute in which I lost control of the company I founded and the game I co-created.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-67060049189155331672009-02-06T01:05:00.000-05:002009-02-06T01:05:00.000-05:00Speaking of conversations, I was wondering: are yo...Speaking of conversations, I was wondering: are you still planning on interviewing Mike Mornard?<BR/><BR/>I'd love to see his recoollections gathered and organized more thoroughly, beyond just the snippets he posts here and there.FASERIPhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14858463803195240463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-78449707779368817862009-02-05T17:49:00.000-05:002009-02-05T17:49:00.000-05:00Perhaps, write him an old fashioned handwritten le...Perhaps, write him an old fashioned handwritten letter...maybe because I am a librarian but this old fashioned form of correspondance...I find gets the most effective response (even if all other correspondance takes place on IRC).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-73231932056392582122009-02-04T11:44:00.000-05:002009-02-04T11:44:00.000-05:00Actually, I would have held up those very examples...<I>Actually, I would have held up those very examples as cases where I failed to see EGG admitting any mistake on his part. When I've seen him writing on those topics, I've seen him (a) blame other fans or proponents for "forcing" him to include those pieces, and (b) rather scornfully dismiss anyone who didn't consider it as obvious that those pieces should be ignored by more discerning gamers.<BR/><BR/>If you had links showing otherwise I would sincerely be very interested in seeing them. It's something that's bugged me for a while that I couldn't find myself.</I><BR/><BR/>Right, he does tend to insist that other people persuaded him to include those things, but he always takes the ultimate blame for them by agreeing to include them. As regards this subject, I was thinking of the following:<BR/><BR/><I>Forget weapons speed factors. I must have been under the effect of a hex when I included them in the bloody rules!</I> (DF, 3.9)<BR/><BR/><I>Psionics. as with weapons speed and the table of comparison of varying damage by armor type, was something I got talked into.</I> (DF, 3.8)<BR/><BR/>As to errors of his own creation:<BR/><BR/><I>One of the most satisfying compliments I ever received was from one of the principals of Game Designer's Workshop, that laud in regards to the detail of the Order of Battle of the forces involved in the "Dunkirk" game. Since originally designing it, I have done more research, corrected some errors I discovered in the German OB, and one day I would very much like to see the campaign in play as a computer game.</I><BR/><BR/>As to business mistakes:<BR/><BR/><I>Lastly I stated that I planned to call a shareholders’ meeting<BR/>soon and at that time there would certainly be a considerable<BR/>change in the composition of the board. That was an error,<BR/>certainly, But I was so full of indignation at how the stooges<BR/>had facilitated the near-ruin of the company I could not<BR/>restrain my better judgement.</I><BR/><BR/>OD&Dities #10, p. 40.<BR/><BR/><I>At that point I was ready<BR/>to discharge her immediately, but I was advised against it,<BR/>for the company was still very shaky. I decided to wait and<BR/>that was a gross error indeed. Meantime, a third tender offer<BR/>from the Blumes was presented.</I><BR/><BR/>OD&Dities #10, p. 40.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps Gygax was often unwilling to admit to be wrong, but I find that is true of most people. Certainly, it does not qualify as a tragic flaw to me, merely one typical to human nature.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05646247954542936623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-83021460067594766492009-02-04T10:59:00.000-05:002009-02-04T10:59:00.000-05:00We would need someone willing to ask hard question...<I>We would need someone willing to ask hard questions, but asking them tastefully enough to get useful replies.</I><BR/><BR/>That's the real trick. It's also the reason why I'm reluctant to call him up out of the blue and start interviewing him, even though I'm sure it'd be fairly easy to get in contact with him by phone.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-69755023707223818262009-02-04T10:58:00.000-05:002009-02-04T10:58:00.000-05:00Brian Blume still lives in Lake Geneva and showed ...<I>Brian Blume still lives in Lake Geneva and showed up at the first LGGC a couple years back and played some card or board games -- I think someone got a picture of him.</I><BR/><BR/>I have heard that he occasionally shows up at conventions and quitely plays games without making a big deal of his identity. That's the sort of setting in which I'd love to be able to catch his attention and chat for a while. I don't want to interrogate the guy, but I would love to hear his memories of the old days and what he thinks about them now.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-19658078445081384792009-02-04T10:55:00.000-05:002009-02-04T10:55:00.000-05:00Perhaps James should try to seek out Brian and get...<I>Perhaps James should try to seek out Brian and get his side of things? Just an idea.</I><BR/><BR/>I'd love to chat with Mr Blume for a few hours someday, but I'm not one to go out pestering a guy who's laid low for 20 years without good cause. Perhaps I am too polite.James Maliszewskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-63977903658355898832009-02-04T08:00:00.000-05:002009-02-04T08:00:00.000-05:00I'll never understand the Unearthed Arcana hat...I'll never understand the Unearthed Arcana hate...but I digress...<BR/><BR/><BR/>All this assumes that Brian Blume wants to be interviewed, of course.<BR/><BR/>I don't think people haven't ever attempted to interview Brian Blume before. I do think that he's probably not as willing to do interviews.<BR/><BR/>There's a lot of people from the "old guard" who just sort of drift away into life, and/or distance themselves from the old days. Dave Trampier is probably the most extreme example. But Len Lakofla has left D&D and gone back to bridge, Roger Moore hasn't been interviewed and actually sold his D&D collection when he left TSR as it became WoTC. Some people want to put the past behind them.<BR/><BR/>While this seems strange to us fans, it's probably easier if you look at TSR as a job rather than a hobby. There are some jobs that give you bad memories, there are some things you don't like to talk about. The Blumes seemed less about writing games than managing the business. <BR/><BR/>And since he was part of the business (as in accounting and finance), you never know if he signed NDAs or something when Lorraine took over.JRThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06028363896728357260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-78769708027571503472009-02-04T03:02:00.000-05:002009-02-04T03:02:00.000-05:00Add me to the circle of people who would like to h...Add me to the circle of people who would like to hear Brian's views. I find the contributions he had made to OD&D quite intriguing (EW being my favourite supplement of all), and am definitely interested to hear about his vision of the game, or even how he saw the business at that time and how he sees the whole thing in retrospect. We would need someone willing to ask hard questions, but asking them tastefully enough to get useful replies.Melanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07165894144553629675noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-4309133062736014642009-02-03T19:42:00.000-05:002009-02-03T19:42:00.000-05:00Brian Blume still lives in Lake Geneva and showed ...Brian Blume still lives in Lake Geneva and showed up at the first LGGC a couple years back and played some card or board games -- I think someone got a picture of him. AFAIK he and Gary didn't cross paths.Trenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01889179660165006042noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-7831226247798042292009-02-03T17:32:00.000-05:002009-02-03T17:32:00.000-05:00Chris:"Bad example in this case. UA (and OA, ...Chris:<BR/>"Bad example in this case. UA (and OA, too) was rushed out in 1985 after Gary temporarily retook control to get some quick cash to get TSR out of trouble after years of the Blumes' alleged mismanagement..."<BR/><BR/>Umm, he could have rushed out a good product though (which I believe OA was), not one like UA which did a lot of damage to the game. I started playing D&D with 1e and UA, the sales guy told me I needed it... but my game would have been much better if I'd never heard of it.Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173759805310975320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-36711630918387246612009-02-03T15:46:00.000-05:002009-02-03T15:46:00.000-05:00I'd personally like to talk to that *#$!@ Lorr...I'd personally like to talk to that *#$!@ Lorraine Williams. In reading up on her, It kind of sounds like she was the Freddy Krugar of D&D. I mean, apparently she didn't let gaming happen at the company, so if a game was going to get playtested before shipping, it had to be done by employees on the sly on their own time. Jesus Christ.Kevin Machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14122665488285424578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-50282554151962358802009-02-03T15:45:00.000-05:002009-02-03T15:45:00.000-05:00I started to track down Brian Blume at one point t...I started to track down Brian Blume at one point to find out the origin of Vecna. I got some phone numbers that did not pan out and then someone told me to read Corum. <BR/><BR/>-Jester47, Vecna's Left Hand Man.<BR/><BR/>captcha: kabfrood<BR/><BR/>Great name for an ODD god.Steamtunnelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02597332921872904036noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-19969399823695288252009-02-03T15:08:00.000-05:002009-02-03T15:08:00.000-05:00Oh, I don't mean to bash Gygax, exactly. I mean o...Oh, I don't mean to bash Gygax, exactly. I mean only to pinpoint the moment I realized the side of the story I knew came from your classic Unreliable Narrator :).TyBannermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13241483332119936529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-34036116438144961492009-02-03T15:00:00.000-05:002009-02-03T15:00:00.000-05:00I dunno, I have read him fess up to mistakes here ...<I>I dunno, I have read him fess up to mistakes here and there. Certainly, weapon speeds, weapon versus armour class modifiers and psionics were all things he claimed to regret including. I have the nagging feeling I have read him admitting to one or two business errors as well.</I><BR/><BR/>Actually, I would have held up those very examples as cases where I failed to see EGG admitting any mistake on his part. When I've seen him writing on those topics, I've seen him (a) blame other fans or proponents for "forcing" him to include those pieces, and (b) rather scornfully dismiss anyone who didn't consider it as obvious that those pieces should be ignored by more discerning gamers.<BR/><BR/>If you had links showing otherwise I would sincerely be very interested in seeing them. It's something that's bugged me for a while that I couldn't find myself.Deltahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00705402326320853684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-66315858260179311552009-02-03T14:19:00.000-05:002009-02-03T14:19:00.000-05:00Boot hill is awesome. I had a chance to read throu...Boot hill is awesome. I had a chance to read through it once thanks to an old friend.<BR/><BR/>Hm... Perhaps James should try to seek out Brian and get his side of things? Just an idea.Rachel Ghoulhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04765944479141792643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-55225865260158713872009-02-03T13:06:00.000-05:002009-02-03T13:06:00.000-05:00"EGG certainly did things that harmed D&D..."EGG certainly did things that harmed D&D too, though - look no further than Unearthed Arcana!! >:)"<BR/><BR/>Bad example in this case. UA (and OA, too) was rushed out in 1985 after Gary temporarily retook control to get some quick cash to get TSR out of trouble after years of the Blumes' alleged mismanagement (including accusations of gross nepotism). If this hadn't been done then, TSR might have gone under 10 years earlier than it actually did (although, I probably wouldn't use all the fingers on one hand counting the products put out in those 10 years that I would have actually missed).<BR/><BR/>Blume has received credit (blame?) for some of the quirkier rules in AD&D such as unarmed combat and psionics. Most people don't like that stuff, but it fascinates me.<BR/><BR/>I for one would love to hear the other side of the story. I love reading Gary's opinions on gaming, agreeing with him way more often then not, and think that he has one of the best records in gaming in terms of attaching his name to quality products. That said, he could certainly be a cranky old coot (can't we all?) and hearing the other side of the story would be nice.Chris Tichenorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11866673632888599928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-72471717106440620082009-02-03T13:03:00.000-05:002009-02-03T13:03:00.000-05:00I would love to hear Brian’s side of the story.Gar...I would love to hear Brian’s side of the story.<BR/><BR/>Gary once said something about occasionally seeing him around, but Brian would immediately flee the scene.<BR/><BR/>If the Blumes had been all bad, they would’ve never entered the picture. Gary was not 100% saint, and Brian wasn’t 100% devil.<BR/><BR/>As a student of the hobby and TSR, I’m more interested in having more perspective on what happened than on laying blame.<BR/><BR/>I’d also love to hear Ms. Williams’ side of the story.Roberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16733274876782876659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-5819036000292715422009-02-03T12:54:00.000-05:002009-02-03T12:54:00.000-05:00Kudos to you, James, for having the stones to say ...Kudos to you, James, for having the stones to say "I want to know the full story, even if it's not the story I want to hear."<BR/><BR/>You definitely get a beer or two bought for you someday..Michael S/Chgowizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02052820400496340137noreply@blogger.com