So, I have to own from the start I am a Gary Gygax fanboy. I think he was an authentic genius when he invented D&D, and that though there have been some small improvements in the 5 editions that have followed, the changes from one edition to the next seem to be wholly driven by the need to merchandise rather than improve the game. Editions 2 and 4 were terrible. Edition 5 is excellent, but the central improvement being the use of advantage and disadvantage dice rolls is a tiny thing compared to the towering accomplishment of creating the first tabletop RPG. Gygax was and remains the prime genius behind the game. I say this with 44 years experience in all versions, including the current replacement for 5e.
The debacle is that woke, narcissistic children have actually published in official D&D literature their distain for Gygax as a morally bankrupt cad, whom they assert is misogynist, racist, etc. Pile on all the modern woke tropes. That’s what they say.
I’ll post some analysis here but let me supplement it with a single illustration of the issue.
Gygax, like Tolkien and British mythology before him, all paint Orcs as evil. The modern woke complaint is that to them, Orcs represent black people—African Americans if you prefer, or merely just Africans. Let me point out that the idea of Orcs goes back literally THOUSANDS of years in Britain. It has never in that time been associated with blacks nor any other sort of human. It has always been seen as inhuman. So asserting Gygax and Tolkien are racist for portraying blacks as subhuman is obviously and stupidly wrong. Just what you should suspect from woke ideologues, looking for someone to judge and blame, especially if they think it makes them look better by comparison.
These are children who never had the benefit of a moral upbringing, and who are thus toxic and immoral to their core. Moral people do not make claims about the immorality of others without serious evidence, and there is no evidence Gygax was racist, sexist, nor any of the other standard slander.
Have a look, and may Gygax yet rest in peace.
View: https://youtu.be/Ela6ZMgK-JA?si=79QWdZTxE_Epif4A
The debacle is that woke, narcissistic children have actually published in official D&D literature their distain for Gygax as a morally bankrupt cad, whom they assert is misogynist, racist, etc. Pile on all the modern woke tropes. That’s what they say.
I’ll post some analysis here but let me supplement it with a single illustration of the issue.
Gygax, like Tolkien and British mythology before him, all paint Orcs as evil. The modern woke complaint is that to them, Orcs represent black people—African Americans if you prefer, or merely just Africans. Let me point out that the idea of Orcs goes back literally THOUSANDS of years in Britain. It has never in that time been associated with blacks nor any other sort of human. It has always been seen as inhuman. So asserting Gygax and Tolkien are racist for portraying blacks as subhuman is obviously and stupidly wrong. Just what you should suspect from woke ideologues, looking for someone to judge and blame, especially if they think it makes them look better by comparison.
These are children who never had the benefit of a moral upbringing, and who are thus toxic and immoral to their core. Moral people do not make claims about the immorality of others without serious evidence, and there is no evidence Gygax was racist, sexist, nor any of the other standard slander.
Have a look, and may Gygax yet rest in peace.
