Since this is a blog, and thus by definition a bit informal, I’m going to indulge in touch of personal reflection. Don’t worry, I’ll be back on-topic by the end of the post.

Over the years I’ve flirted with trying to learn to play the drums. I’d always wanted to do something musical. Guitar didn’t appealed to me because in high school it seemed like everyone was trying to play the guitar (with varying levels of success). Oh and my younger brother is an incredibly talented jazz guitarist, and the thought of being compared with him isn’t exactly the most motivating thing in the world. My most serious musical attempts to date have mostly been focused on the drums. I’ve got a pretty nice MIDI drum unit as well as a djembe that I’ve played with some, but I’ve never been able to stick with them for very long. With the MIDI drum kit I had a catch-22: they were only really interesting when I was playing with other people, which made it difficult to get my skills up to where I could play with other people. I know that lots of drummers will play along with CDs to practice, but that leads me to my second problem: I wasn’t able to identify songs of an appropriate difficulty. The djembe was even worse because it was even harder to tell where to begin. I got to where I could keep a steady beat, but couldn’t really get beyond that.

Cut to last fall when I discovered Guitar Hero. Playing that game undeniably requires a good bit of skill; unfortunately that skill doesn’t transfer to a real guitar because the controller is so different and simplified. The game was fun though. It provided the feedback, scaffolding, and rewards that I needed to stick with it and improve my skills…
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In 1974, Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson wrote the original rules for Dungeons & Dragons. Until that point most tabletop games were about direct head-to-head competition between players. D&D instead cast the majority of the players as individual members of an adventuring group who collaborate to explore, fight monsters, and find treasure. One player takes the role of Dungeon Master (or Game Master for a more broadly-applicable term) and is in charge of creating and presenting the setting, obstacles, monsters, and other antagonists. Over the years Dungeons & Dragons has given rise to several new editions and hundreds of other roleplaying games enjoyed by groups of people all over the world. Some groups focus on the mathematical systems and defeating the challenge posed by the GM; some use the framework as a collaborative storytelling engine; most groups fall somewhere in-between.

Gygax’s legacy extends well beyond the modern day descendants of the fireside storyteller. Dungeons & Dragons had a strong influence on the development of video games. Games such as Rogue, Nethack, Ultima, Diablo, Final Fantasy, Knights of the Old Republic, Oblivion, and Mass Effect started as direct attempts to translate the D&D experience to the computer. MUD 1 similarly translated much of the multi-player aspects of D&D, and has given rise to such games as Meridian 59, Ultima Online, Everquest, and World of Warcraft.

This morning, March the 4th, 2008, Gary Gygax passed away in his home in Wisconsin. His legacy reaches far beyond the little game he created so long ago. Many of the qualities of video games that make them exciting for educators: immersion, exploration, collaboration, and characterization, are the ones that trace their lineage back to Dungeons & Dragons. This web site is but one among many dedicated to exploring the potential for teaching and learning with games. As we look to the future at the challenges and opportunities, it’s only right that we acknowledge the contributions and influences of those who set the stage.