An Interview With Gary Gygax

From 2002, my conversation with Gary on the history of TSR, a D&D film, and the future of RPGs.
#dnd #ttrpgs #dungeonsanddragons #advanceddungeonsanddragons #gygax #tabletoproleplayinggames #interview #garygygax #tsr
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[@Akasen1226]

Gosh dang, wow. it's astounding how little recorded audio there is of Gygax just speaking. It's a little unfortunate that this interview couldn't have been recorded on better equipment but given how little there is, this is a blessing just in of itself. Thank you so much for uploading this

[@thedungeondelver]

I did the best with what I had at the time, for sure. We had very bad analog phone lines back then.

[@Lightmane]

I wish this would go viral. I'm gonna share it. Hope everyone does.

[@thedungeondelver]

I hope it does!!!

[@robbyslilshadow1948]

The Legend lives on!

[@Caspar_old_skool]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing, thanks for keeping it all out there! Gary Gygax interviews....they aren't making many of these any longer. (I tease) But seriously, awesome!

[@thedungeondelver]

glad you liked it!

[@ultrahighgain412]

I just realized how much I would have loved to have met Gary as a fan and had an opportunity to ask him questions. Thanks for posting this.

[@stacyferguson4077]

so awesome. one of my regrets is living so close to him and just never making the trip to meet the legend the myth the creator or the game i love so much.

[@gaborlux]

It's really cool that the audio for the interview has been preserved, and you could share it with us. There aren't many of these, and especially not in long form. Thanks a lot.

[@thedungeondelver]

The only others I can think of are the excellent "D&D Experience" documentary by Jesse Spiro, and a BBC interview that has recently surfaced.

[@BockwinkleB]

Awesome, I was just looking for GG interviews on YT and found next to nothing. Thanks for uploading.

[@thedungeondelver]

No problem! I've sat on it too long. :)

[@DyingBreedTT]

Thanks for sharing this, Delver. While entertaining and informative, this is a priceless piece of history. Thanks for making it publicly available.

[@thedungeondelver]

It's actually on an anniversary video but it is completely jank. It deserved a better "frame", if you will.

[@MemphiStig]

Thanks for putting this out. People need to hear him, and read him, and not just discuss him.

[@johnstuartkeller5244]

Thanks for sharing this. Gary seems like the kind of guy that, even without the gaming industry, I would have loved to meet.

[@thedungeondelver]

No doubt!

[@KabukiKid]

What a joy this is to listen to! :-D I'm simply echoing what everyone else here is already saying... thank you for sharing this! Great nugget of D&D/Gygax history here. :-)

[@thedungeondelver]

Hey it's always great to hear your input! I wish I had lots more of wonderful stuff like this.

[@sirellyn]

Can I vote this up 100 more times? Because I'd like to do that.

[@thedungeondelver]

I would take 100 more subs over 100 likes :D

[@Raycheetah]

@@thedungeondelver Well, here's one sub from an old-timer. Great stuff! =^[.]^=

[@Lightmane]

Hi Bill. I just shared this on every D&D fb group I'm a member of. Not sure why I didn't do this when I first watched it. Here's hoping it brings people to your channel.

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you so much!

[@Terszel]

I just like hearing Gary talk honestly

[@elliotvernon7971]

‘No nutrient value’ - an answer straight out of the Lost Tome of the Wisdom of Zagyg the Sage. Thanks for this Bill, already on my second listen and lapping it up like a cat who has found a pint of cream.

[@thedungeondelver]

Hah! Savor it!

[@playdd1793]

I loved seeing the montage of images as the recording plays!!!

[@thedungeondelver]

I'm glad you liked it!

[@johncartwright3130]

History. I can only hope that it's never lost.

[@thedungeondelver]

That's why I put it out there.

[@GrognardPiper]

Great interview! I’ve spoken to Ernie several times by phone and text. He’s a great guy and I would have loved to have met Gary. I think I would have gotten along with him. I told Ernie several times that I was born in the wrong decade (1979). I would have loved to have been there when OD&D was new and AD&D was being created.

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you so much!

[@GrognardPiper]

@@thedungeondelver you’re welcome!

[@dirtybasementterrain]

An interview with the man himself WOW. Yeah definitely sharing this

[@thedungeondelver]

Share it everywhere, mon frer!

[@snailertheimpaler749]

Wow! What a treat that was! Thank you sir!

[@thedungeondelver]

Quite welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@NemoOhd20]

Fantastic. Thanks.

[@thedungeondelver]

Glad you like it. Glad I can share it!

[@RichardFriendartist]

first off. Thank you so much for sharing this. I am really excited to hear this. Dungeons and Dragons really shaped my life. Started playing at age 11. still playing some 40 years later....the art also had a big impact on me..and I am lucky enough to say I am and have been a professional artist now for almost 30 years....so I owe a lot to this game and Gary and all the amazing people who worked on it throughout the years. I will share this with all my friends I play with and also I can promote it on my youtube channel...so hopefully I can bring you some more views and subscribers!

[@thedungeondelver]

Hey man I really appreciate it, thank you so much.

[@earlteagrey]

This is GOLD!!

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you!

[@cmcanfield32]

Amazing. Thanks for posting this.

[@thedungeondelver]

Quite welcome!

[@dmxoan]

Great to hear Mr Gygax, I envy the chance to talk with him, I would have a heap to ask him

[@matthewsherman1183]

Great stuff Bill, thanks for sharing!!

[@thedungeondelver]

Quite welcome. It was a joy to get to know Gary and that I can share a little with you guys makes me happy. :)

[@UrbanVerse69]

Just had to listen to this first thing this morning. It was great!

[@thedungeondelver]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rdmsh]

It was great hearing you and Gary geek out about all sorts of topics

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you so much! :)

[@roblilley76]

Amazing piece of rpg history. Very enjoyable and insightful. Thank you for sharing

[@thedungeondelver]

Thanks for listening. It's important that we remember Gary and everything he did.

[@KAM1138a]

Fun interview to hear.

[@glen20rainman56]

This is the ark of the covenant of interviews. Thank you

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you!

[@RogerMKE]

Nice, Gary answered my question about how to correctly pronounce "Drow". :)

[@thedungeondelver]

Right?! Finally settled! :)

[@stevenkennedy4130]

Drow. Not Droe.

[@slaapliedje]

Ha, who ever pronounced it as 'Droe'?

[@kevinbrennan-ji1so]

Thanks for posting this. Gary had a great sense of humor and it comes through here.

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you!

[@benmorgan4790]

Thank you

[@thedungeondelver]

You're welcome!

[@AuthoritativeNewsNetwork]

Thank you very much for sharing this Bill.

[@thedungeondelver]

Thanks for listening. I wish that I'd had a video connection and streaming or online video had really been a thing back then.

[@EricNorred-sr9ni]

Man! Thank you SO much for this! All these years, I had no idea of this convo. You’re on DF, yes? Same here. Heheh (Mach Front). Cheers! -Eric

[@thedungeondelver]

Yeah I don't use Dragonsfoot anymore.

[@palindromial]

Nice, glad you posted this.

[@davemills8193]

GREAT INTERVIEW

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you, Dave!

[@clarkwhitten9778]

Thank you so much for sharing this!

[@thedungeondelver]

You are so welcome!

[@pscaglione3]

Great interview! Thank you!

[@thedungeondelver]

You're quite welcome, I'm glad I could share this.

[@dankatz1]

Thanks for this man!

[@thedungeondelver]

Quite welcome!

[@RealTyBeard]

A triumph my friend.

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you, Ty. Getting to talk to Gary then later getting to know him and work with him was truly an experience I'll never forget. Some kids wanna be football players, others race car drivers, me? I wanted to write D&D modules with Gary Gygax.

[@JorgeUribe]

Thanks a lot. Bill!

[@thedungeondelver]

My pleasure!

[@miscprojects9662]

Had a few email communications with Gary back in the early days of the internet. Some fans had paid for him to fly in and DM a game for them at the time.

[@MarkCMG]

Thanks for the video! Interesting that he considered the Survival Guides as 2E. I suppose they were somewhat transitional. I guess he was about as old then as I am now, a bit over 60. I imagine he would have enjoyed the humor of the new D&D movie.

[@thedungeondelver]

Heidi Gygax saw the new D&D movie and she said that she thought he'd have loved it. So this was Sept. of 2002, he would have been 64 at the time. 64 and a few months. Yeah, the WSG and DSG and MotP were...not very 1e, IMO.

[@MarkCMG]

@@thedungeondelver Well said, all around. That was a real treat, Bill. Thanks for sharing it.

[@LogHewer]

Wonderful to stumble upon this. Is the transcript still available, by chance?

[@thedungeondelver]

I don't know if it's still out there lurking on a hard drive or something.

[@Istari68]

Thanks for posting, this is really interesting. I'm happy to subscribe to your channel.

[@thedungeondelver]

Awesome, thank you! Thank you for the sub!

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Very cool

[@kennetth1389]

The comment Gygax stats about losing half their consumer base during the transition from 1e to 2e includes me. I did not purchase any hardback books until i purchased the core rules for 3.5e.

[@thedungeondelver]

People don't like to admit it but Gary _did_ have a head for business.

[@adampender2482]

Gary's wrong about that statistic.

[@owenbloomfield1177]

I pretty much stopped with D&D when 2e came out. It was mostly the change of tone. I didn't come back until 5e.

[@kedabro1957]

This is a treasure.

[@thedungeondelver]

Thank you.

[@snuggiethegoblin7101]

Quantity over quality experience? Wizards of the Coast be like: hold my beer

[@BillWiltfong]

Well, there's another unbelievable rumor to add to the pile of Gygaxian Rumors: Gary thought the third edition D&D system was virtually impossible to change, that it was so tightly done there wouldn't be much tinkering done. I wouldn't have believed that if I hadn't heard it myself.

[@sketchasaurrex4087]

Really good interview. Y'all were way off with your 3e predictions of little tinkering. Wotc did tons. Paizo made their own game. A really fun mode is lvl6 cap for the players. Everything I see 3rd party for 5e makes it feel more like 3e. Heck, I'm even looking at streamlining a 3e version for me & my friends.

[@thedungeondelver]

Hey in our defense D&D 3 was only 2 years old at that point :D

[@sketchasaurrex4087]

@thedungeondelver it sounded like 3e was out even less. It's just fun to laugh at something like that when looking back. Gary sounded like a really fun and chill dude.

[@AdamBlackArts]

I would just like to point out Gary's pronunskiation of Asmodeus at 50:56 :)

[@thedungeondelver]

Well even Gary can get it wrong, I guess :D 😅

[@AdamBlackArts]

@@thedungeondelver I am trying SO HARD not to report this comment 😆

[@thedungeondelver]

@@AdamBlackArts If you're gonna get me struck, let me come up with a real humdinger of a reason and not just you and Gary not understanding how to pronounce Asmodeus :D :D :D

[@AdamBlackArts]

@@thedungeondelver Only if I can be a guest on your show and you refer to me as "The Pronunskiator"