Quote:Full Sail recently held a dedication ceremony for the new game development facility, Dave Arneson’s Blackmoor Studios. Arneson was the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons, and joined Full Sail’s gaming staff in 1999 – serving as the course director for the Rules of the Game class for nearly ten years, before his passing in 2009.

“Dave Arneson was a pioneer in gaming entertainment and we are honored to name the Full Sail game studios, BlackMoor, after his works,” said Rob Catto, Director of Game Studios.

Full Sail President Garry Jones hosted the event, and was joined by a number of guest speakers, including Duke Seifried, former Executive Vice President of TSR (publisher of Dungeons & Dragons), and Arneson’s daughter Malia Weinhagen.

“They gave very moving and funny talks about Dave and how he touched their lives,” says Liam Hislop, Department Chair for the Gaming Project class. “He was a great friend and teacher, and it was really special to see so many people close to him share their stories.”

The studio is named after the first Dungeons & Dragons campaign Arneson wrote, and features an exhibit with memorabilia from his nearly four decade career as a game developer. The facility also includes eight game studio offices, four game development studios, two asset development rooms, a research room, and a conference room.

Following the opening ceremony guests were invited into the studio where staff hosted gaming sessions throughout the day.

“It was a phenomenal experience,” Hislop says. “We had people that Dave worked with, program advisors, and a few students together. They even did a version of the original Blackmoor campaign. It was a really nice tribute.”

Quote:DAVE ARNESON SPEECH AT FULL SAIL UNIVERSITY, 10-30-10

By “Uncle” Duke Seifried



Dave Arneson and I shared an all-consuming interest in both historical and fantasy gaming. There is little difference other than the subject material.



I had coined the name “Adventure Gaming” as a descriptive for the entire category, as I was always uncomfortable with the term War Gaming. I was really flattered when Dave called to ask permission to name his new company Adventure Gaming. Dave and his staff released a number of products under that banner.



Dave was up in the twin cities in the early days while I was in Dayton, OH. We all played with Napoleonic tin soldiers at that time and exchanged propaganda letters which eventually began to involve lore and legend subjects. When I released a new line: 15 mm Napoleonettes, Dave acquired my massive 25mm Napoleonic collection.



Dave was particularly interested in the American Civil War and Naval battles. I recall he became involved with a re-enactors group in full uniforms!



Obviously his greatest effort culminated in the historic creation of Dungeons & Dragons with Blackmoor Castle. He was the originator of the concept of Fantasy Role Playing. While others played a part in the explosion of this idea—make no mistake—Dave Arneson WAS the creator of Fantasy Role Playing. I was there!



In that time frame I released Fantastiques—which in truth were tin soldier miniatures of the characters in Tolkiens “Lord of the Rings.” These served as ideal playing pieces for 3-dimensional versions of Dave’s D & D games. I believe they were helpful in fueling the amazing growth of the game.



Through the years, this unassuming, gentle man - had dealt with a number of difficulties and challenges - yet he always presented a warm, caring and friendly attitude.



I am So pleased you are honoring him by naming this facility after him. He is most deserving—and we who knew and cared for Dave offer our considerable appreciation. You have assured his name will be known long after his leaving us.



DAVE, we miss you.

chirine ba kal Wrote:Very nice video, and thank you for posting the link. It was nice to see both Rick Loomis and Larry Bond there; we used to have a lot of fun gaming and selling the good at conventions. Also very nice to see the model of Blackmoor Castle in the display case, too.

Quote:When I dropped off a full set of all the photos from the last three years we've run our Dave Arneson event on Sunday, Malia gave me a copy of the program and one of the 'dogtag' keychain fobs from this event. They really loved Dave at Full Sail, and he really loved teaching there.

gsvenson Wrote:I was there, too. As were Dave Wesley and Dan Nicholson.