Last Meeting for GG posted 2008-04-29 16:22:30
Hello again, everyone! Just so that we all are informed, this Saturday (May 3rd) is the last Gamers' Guild meeting of the 2007-2008 school year. We think that the last meeting should be a good one, so we're going to have a party! We will have pizza ordered and will also be holding a raffle. For members who paid their dues will get free tickets. For everyone else, tickets may be purchased.

Also, I personally would like to send a special congratulations to all of those who are graduating this year! You will surely be missed!

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe summer! We can't wait to see you all in the fall!

Alicia Hampton
External Assistant Guildmaster for 2008-2009

Elections posted 2008-04-20 10:48:03
Welcome, one and all, to the Gamers' Guild news. I figured that everyone who wasn't at Guild on 4-19-08 would like to know that we held elections. Please allow me to introduce the 2008-2009 Executive Cabinet for the Guild!

Guild Master: Eric Christian
Internal Guild Master: Brett Leer
External Guild Master: Alicia Hampton
Librarian: Arron Roberts

Cheers to those who were nominated! Cheers to those who made it! Cheers to a new year!



Gary Gygax, Game Pioneer, Dies at 69 posted 2008-03-09 12:34:02
Gary Gygax, a pioneer of the imagination who transported a fantasy realm of wizards, goblins and elves onto millions of kitchen tables around the world through the game he helped create, Dungeons & Dragons, died Tuesday at his home in Lake Geneva, Wis. He was 69.

His death was confirmed by his wife, Gail Gygax, who said he had been ailing and had recently suffered an abdominal aneurysm, The Associated Press reported.

As co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, the seminal role-playing game introduced in 1974, Mr. Gygax wielded a cultural influence far broader than his relatively narrow fame among hard-core game enthusiasts.

Before Dungeons & Dragons, a fantasy world was something to be merely read about in the works of authors like J. R. R. Tolkien and Robert Howard. But with Dungeons & Dragons, Mr. Gygax and his collaborator, Dave Arneson, created the first fantasy universe that could actually be inhabited. In that sense, Dungeons & Dragons formed a bridge between the noninteractive world of books and films and the exploding interactive video game industry. It also became a commercial phenomenon, selling an estimated $1 billion in books and equipment. More than 20 million people are estimated to have played the game.

While Dungeons & Dragons became famous for its voluminous rules, Mr. Gygax was always adamant that the game’s most important rule was to have fun and to enjoy the social experience of creating collaborative entertainment. In Dungeons & Dragons, players create an alternate persona, like a dwarven thief or a noble paladin, and go off on imagined adventures under the adjudication of another player called the Dungeon Master.

“The essence of a role-playing game is that it is a group, cooperative experience,” Mr. Gygax said in a telephone interview in 2006. “There is no winning or losing, but rather the value is in the experience of imagining yourself as a character in whatever genre you’re involved in, whether it’s a fantasy game, the Wild West, secret agents or whatever else. You get to sort of vicariously experience those things.”

When Mr. Gygax (pronounced GUY-gax) first published Dungeons & Dragons under the banner of his company, Tactical Studies Rules, the game appealed mostly to college-age players. But many of those early adopters continued to play into middle age, even as the game also trickled down to a younger audience.

“It initially went to the college-age group, and then it worked its way backward into the high schools and junior high schools as the college-age siblings brought the game home and the younger ones picked it up,” Mr. Gygax said.

Mr. Gygax’s company, renamed TSR, was acquired in 1997 by Wizards of the Coast, which was later acquired by Hasbro, which now publishes the game.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Gygax is survived by six children: three sons, Ernest G. Jr., Lucion Paul and Alexander; and three daughters, Mary Elise, Heidi Jo and Cindy Lee.

These days, pen-and-paper role-playing games have largely been supplanted by online computer games. Dungeons & Dragons itself has been translated into electronic games, including Dungeons & Dragons Online. Mr. Gygax recognized the shift, but he never fully approved. To him, all of the graphics of a computer dulled what he considered one of the major human faculties: the imagination.

“There is no intimacy; it’s not live,” he said of online games. “It’s being translated through a computer, and your imagination is not there the same way it is when you’re actually together with a group of people. It reminds me of one time where I saw some children talking about whether they liked radio or television, and I asked one little boy why he preferred radio, and he said, ‘Because the pictures are so much better.’ ”

T-shirts posted 2008-01-30 05:20:23
This semester...preferably early...I'd like to have T-shirts made. This is an all call for designs, if you have a design that you think would make a great shirt then by all means send it to me via email or track me down and hand it to me in hard copy. The guild will vote on the best design when we a.) have enough at least 3 or more, and b.) one week after the announcement of a vote during the business portion of our meetings. Check the site if you miss a day to see the minutes from the previous meeting, as I will do my best to post the minutes from each. Also, there WILL be a booth in DUC this semester, probably a week or so before spring break when people are using up their meal plans, meaning more traffic through the DUC lobby. As I am going to be making the arrangements this semester instead of leaving it to another all such details as games, placement in the lobby, and reservations will be worked out at least a month prior to the event. Again, this will be posted on the site and announced in the meeting so if you can lend games, systems, or time to help then get with me whenever. That's it for this edition of Guildmaster's News, and don't forget POST LOTS OF FLYERS. :)

Baladune posted 2007-12-16 05:40:02
Attention Players! New and current

The long awaited information on the the races on the famous Baladune campaign is available under articles. If you ever wanted to be a imp and worship a god who drinks more alcohol than all of Ireland, you're in luck. Or if you just want to play a crazy and fun game you're also in luck. Remember look under articles under races. Good luck and happy gaming.

No Meeting Today posted 2007-11-10 17:04:51
Attention All Guild Members,
There will be no meeting on the saturday of November 10th nor the following sunday due to homecoming.

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