Chasing D&D: A Short History of RPGs

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The history of computer role-playing games (RPGs) starts not with a bang, but a dice roll...

Dungeons and Dragons was a cult in the 70's that sparked the beginning of the Role Playing Game, which millions of players actively use and enjoy with a wide variety of games. Most of us on the boards will be familiar with some sort of Dungeons and Dragons based game and although we know many different editions, the basic game that is now legend remains the same. Here's a snippet of an article from 1up on how Dungeons and Dragons changed the gaming community forever:

D&D's most important and lasting gift is that of roleplay -- the act of becoming another person and leading him or her through open-ended fantasy scenarios. Gygax and Arneson's creation isn't about character sheets or stat crunching; it's about storytelling, creativity, and imagination. Over hand-drawn maps and thrown dice, ordinary people could transcend their day-to-day grind and become extraordinary, morphing into wizards, barbarians, or paladins -- heroes.

It's a theme RPGs have chased since their invention, always trying to capture the magic of those Mountain Dew-fueled Saturday night D&D sessions. And while the technologies may improve and the quests may change, the games still -- and may forever -- linger in D&D's shadow.

This became especially clear after Gygax's death in March. "Gary Gygax was pivotal to the development of the gaming industry, and to my own career," Richard Garriott, creator of the Ultima series, said in a public statement. "Millions upon millions of players around the world live and play in imaginary worlds built on the back of what Gary first conceived.

You can find the full article here.