Hehe, "the black sluggard", indeed. :D

It's a reference to the character from the novel "Ivanhoe" - I love that book since my childhood days,
and actually most of my screen names are references to Ivanhoe, since pretty much forever.

The reason behind the name change is rather simple: I am trying to get a novel published later this year,
and I don't want to jeopardize my chances by being overly identified as "The Blackmoor Guy".

So, at least until that is done, I'll carry an alias for a while. :)

I worked closely with Dave for years and I can tell you that every single time he was overlooked was a brutal slap in the face to him. He felt it very deeply.

I can especially recall the big announcement that WoTC had for the second D&D Movie. The play was to communicate how the actors had read the rulebooks. They showed pictures of them doing so in the clips to promote the movie. Then comes up Gygax's title as the "Creator of D&D". Very weak spin by Eric Mona attempted to recognize Dave, who was in the front row and had been a huge supporter of the movies. Afterwards, he commented that it was like they had put this big group of people together in a room with the sole intent of humiliating him in public.

All Dave ever wanted to do was help promote the game and be an Ambassador and all he got for it was a sharp smack in the jaw every time. For this, I will never forgive the powers that be.

People can rationalize why it would be ok to ignore Dave's contribution. They can talk about how many people made contributions to D&D. None of those points is as relevant to the fact that Dave's efforts created a new genre. He was a co-father of the Roleplaying Game and he's almost never given his due. I wouldn't think that this would be in such dispute on a Blackmoor specific board.

Thanks for sharing this Dustin. It makes me truly sad to hear about it. There was a time when the D&D publishers had an economic interest in keeping Dave's name out of things. Today, it seems like there is nothing but ignorance keeping WotC from doing the right thing. It is about respect and also about truth.

D&D could not have existed without Gary Gygax, but it also could not have existed without Dave Arneson. Many others certainly contributed along the way, but those were essential to the game coming into existance.

-Havard

At my OD&D boards, I'm really proud of the fact that Blackmoor gets a "higher" billing than Greyhawk, and that Dave actually posted in my forum. I'm a firm supporter of giving Dave recognition where it is due, and wish more in the gaming community were the same as we are.

Not to take away Gary's contributions. He clearly was the driving force for AD&D and other projects. But he also gets recognition on his own.

I just wish more folks gave Dave his due. :cry: