Dueling Analogs

By Shamus Posted Friday Mar 7, 2008

Filed under: Links 21 comments

Check out the Dueling Analogs tribute to Gygax. Yeah, I know I linked it the other day, but author Pierski has since changed it. The map on the table comes from here, with my blessing. It may seem silly to point this out:

Me: Oh look! I got a mention in a webcomic!

Sensible Person: You’ve written two webcomics of your own, dumbass.

But it’s one thing to put up your own stuff, and another when someone else likes it enough to make it part of their own work. Even more amusing to see my map placed in a context where it’s being used by Gary Gygax and God.

I just wanted to point that out, is all.

 


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21 thoughts on “Dueling Analogs

  1. Tango says:

    There is something about being mentioned by someone else that may not know you all that well that just makes you feel good.

  2. Erekibeon says:

    I noticed the change, but I had no idea it was your map. Congrats!

    BTW, anyone know what map was the other one? I can remember sort of a castle with a circular tower and a square one…

  3. Browncoat says:

    All this time, you’ve been using Gygax’s stuff, now he’s using yours. Congrats.

  4. Phlux says:

    Sweet tribute. Also check out the one from XKCD today. No shamus reference, but it’s the best Gygax tribute I’ve seen all week.

    http://xkcd.com/393/

    On a related note: Is the “challenge death to a game for your soul” an actual legend? I only remember it from Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. That only makes the comic better in my opinion.

  5. Margaret says:

    Did you see xkcd?
    http://xkcd.com/393/

    D’oh! Phlux beat me! =P

  6. Avaz says:

    Awesome.

  7. Snook says:

    Moving up in the internet now, Shamus!

  8. Ptithom says:

    A french webcomic did his part too:
    http://www.monsieur-le-chien.fr/index.php?planche=318

    In french obviously.

    Translation of the bubles:
    – We have lost some of our strength in the last orc attack. We need to eat him to gain some hit points back.

    – Euh. Dorian, this Gary Gygax you are talking about.

    – It is what he would have wanted.

  9. pdwalker says:

    See the comments. The map is of the Moathouse from T1 – The Village of Hommlet.

  10. Davesnot says:

    I looked at some youtube tributes.. It’s one thing to see people talk about him.. or read some comics.. all good.. but what struck me is the stream of “people” in the D&D Online server that made a procession to the graveyard..

    It allows you to see lots of people all thinking about Gary collectively..

    These gamers spending their gaming time to just be with other gamers.. not killing things.. not seeking treasure.. just walking (ok.. online guys never walk..) running together .. to honor Gary.. kinda neat.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkMpbDeMj-I

    though.. the start puts Gygax as a creator of DDO.. according to literature.. “One special chain of quests is even DM'd by D&D co-creator, Gary Gygax himself.” … so the claim isn’t too far off.

    And.. well.. obviously the game’s lineage.

  11. Andy P says:

    XKCD caught it beautifully.

  12. Rick says:

    Phlux: As far as I’m aware, said legend began with the movie The Seventh Seal.

  13. Davesnot says:

    doesn’t the game with the grim reaper relate to challenging the devil for your soul?? crossroads.. etc.. so forth?

  14. Steve C says:

    You rant about the evils of DRM but now others are pirating your work! The loss of your creative property could have been easily prevented. Makes you look kinda foolish given what you’ve been saying recently about how to stop piracy huh?

    With a big watermark* over your pictures you could have extorted money** from Pierski. Alternatively you could have stopped*** it with a DRM scheme**** over your pictures or a complex***** set of scripts****** to prevent your work from being saved to his harddrive.********

    You got no direct benefit******** from your work being used pirated by this thief. With all your talk about what other people should do to stop piracy you let yourself be robbed!**********

    * Making them impossible to read.
    **If he has any.
    ***Unless someone (anywhere) really tried.
    ****Some $ investment required.
    *****Lots of implementation time required.
    ******Significant bandwidth and server processing required.
    *******Unless he presses “print screen”
    ********Personal entertainment and satisfaction do not count.
    *********Just like if they lit a candle from yours without paying a fee, you got robbed.

  15. Retlor says:

    It’s a nice tribute to you and Gary.

    The only thing I should mention is that the DA author is called [Steve] Napierski, not just Pierski.

  16. Shamus says:

    Pierski seems to be the name he usues when signing posts, forum title, etc. He’d sent me an email so I had his real name, but I wasn’t even sure if it was public. I used his forum name just to be safe.

  17. Matt Harris says:

    The map of the keep is from here: http://www.launchpadzero.net/DND/images/MapOfArdivansKeep.png. It is basically a redraw of the moat house from T1: The Village of Homlet.

  18. Deoxy says:

    Hey Shamus – in the spirit of “Gygax memorials”, I threw together an Excel version of Gygax’s Dragon Chess. It doesn’t have an AI at the moment, and there’s no “check” logic (though I hope to add that soon), but all the moves are legal, it makes you take turns, etc.

    Think anyone would be interested?

  19. Deoxy says:

    Hmm… guess that would be a “No.”

  20. Ryan says:

    So, Shamus, I’d really love to get your take on this Gygax “memorial”.

    http://www.slate.com/id/2186203/?GT1=38001

    I can’t figure out if it’s flame-bait or simply ignorance that prompted that editorial.

    I think the worst of it is that he compares anyone who has ever played D&D to genocidal maniacs! Anyway, I haven’t seen any reaction to this article. So, maybe it’s just me??

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