Recruit Them When They Are Young

Your saving throw against cuteness FAILS

Let the dice fall where they may

I think Gary Gygax has reincarnated into my cat. I don't know; it's frightening. His eyes keep following me around the room as if to say "roll your initiative dice". It's just plain eerie. I know some tabletop gamesmasters wear capes when they referee their pen-and-paper games, so when I walked into the living room and found my cat dressed up like a hairy sort of Galadriel (yes, I know it's a male cat, but I have had suspicions that he is a pre-op cross-dresser, actually, now I come to think of it--he's a post-op crossdresser, since he's already been neutered), my first instinct was to grab my character sheet and yell "I disbelieve!".

But of course, he patiently waited for me to settle down and ease back into the game. He meeowed at me; I had no idea what he was trying to convey (flavor description of the setting? the stats of an unconquerable foe? His determination to kill the party?); I felt like I was trapped in a crossover between Pizza Cats and Call of Cthulhu, where one false move would see me imprisoned in the Abyss for ever--err...I mean my character.

My Maker Has Passed Away

The man who is responsible for who I am today, whose works have graced my book collection ever since I was young--has passed away. I cannot begin to express the sadness I feel at this. I got my first AD&D books when I turned 11, and I can still remember the feel and smell of those big hardcovers; they were filled with magic and mystery, they made me want to discover ancient worlds and have terrific adventures--they dared me to fantasize. I had thousands of hours of fun playing in the sandbox he gave me, and I met some of my best friends because of his creation. Many years later AD&D would put me on the ultimate path leading to where I am now (a creator and producer of games). In many ways we owe a debt to Gary--for the worlds he chose to share with us, for creating a hobby that stimulated millions of gamers to embrace their dreams and fantasies, helping them to express themselves creatively and socially . Truly, with my mother having passed away several years ago, and now the Dungeon Master himself--the source of me has been erased.

My heart goes out to his loved ones. The world is a lesser place without Gary in it.

Baby May Cry

I hear you ask: "What's this? Infant Imagery on the Blog?"

Yes indeed. :) This is my son Finn, born on the 8th of february, 2008. His release was marred by problems with the goldmastering process and the Q/A cycle went on for 13 days longer than originally scheduled, but we finally got manufacturing approval and we went gold at 4:32 AM in the morning. Needless to say his mother is very happy to be in post-production :)

So what is my little mini-me doing here? Well, he's only 4 days old in this picture and already he's claimed the Xbox360 (an Elite naturally, he wouldn't go for the other "regular" xbox360). What is he playing? Devil May Cry 4. I can't really tell from his expression what he thinks about it though. Is it "yeah!" or is it "Meh"? Have to wait until the little runt can give me his review verbally I guess.