November 1st, 2007 - Did you know that this coming Saturday (November 3rd 2007) is Worldwide Dungeons & Dragons Game Day 2007? I didn't until word reached us from Wizards of the Coast. You can click here for a full list locations celebrating the event. Letting Wizards of the Coast explain...
"Now in its fourth year, World Wide D&D Game Day is set to break all records for sites and attendance internationally. Last year we saw over 1300 locations provide the setting for our trip to the horror realms of Ravenloft. Over 25,000 estimated heroes from as far a field as Singapore to Iraq, from Alaska to Buenos Aires threw down their dice in celebration of this D&D extravaganza! This year our would-be heroes travel to Icewind Dale, home to one of D&D's best known heroes, Drizzt. Once again we will be providing every successful location with two special kits.
The first will be the marketing kit filled full of items to advertise the event within stores and locally. These will arrive with locations one month prior to the day.
The second, and more akin to a treasure chest of goodies, is our event kit. These come with everything your store needs to turn it into the center of fun you’d expect from such a global celebration. This includes: character packs keyed to one of five different player characters. In each of these packs are the painted miniature, character sheet, d20 and pencil. Basically everything your players need to have an action packed adventure. For the DM there is a, special to game day, adventure and a pack of dice (d4,6,8,10,20,100) and a unique RPGA rewards card offered nowhere else! Lastly there is a full instruction pack on how to use the material.
All this is free to all stores participating."
That count of 1300 participating locations is up from their previous total of 1105 stores which is pretty solid numbers if you ask me. I'm not sure that comes the least bit close to the number of Magic tournaments taking place each weekend, but it's a promising sign for those sympathetic to old ways of polyhedra dice pushing.
I'll be the first to proudly admit to spending a fair amount of my youth across the table from good friends casting dice, eating pizza, downing Mountain Dew, casting spells and slaying my fair share of dragons, goblins, orcs and green slimes. My life with D&D began when my grandmother bought me the original 1977 blue and white boxed set. She mistook it for a jigsaw puzzle and was pretty surprised to see that the box contained books and dice. I sat down and read those little manuals and a full blown hobby followed. From 1977 to 1984, I was pretty active playing AD&D. That evolved into an eight year run playing Hero Games' classic superhero RPG, Champions. All in all, this comic fan was a pretty steady gamer for the better part of fifteen years. There are a lot of good memories to be had there While talking memories, here's the official story of D&D as told by Wizards of the Coast...
Dungeons & Dragons: 30 Years of Milestones in Gaming History
1974-1984: The D&D Revolution
1974—After being invented by wargamers Dave Arneson and Gary Gygax, the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game is introduced by partners Gary Gygax, Don Kaye and Brian Blume. In one year, the entire hand-assembled print run of 1,000 games sells out.
1975—TSR Hobbies Inc. publishes the D&D campaigns Greyhawk and Blackmoor. The following year, TSR Hobbies hosts the first Gen Con Game Fair, where they introduce the first Dungeons & Dragons open tournament.
1977—The first D&D Basic Set is introduced, to make the game easier to learn and play. Sales double as a result. TSR Hobbies publishes the illustrated Monster Manual, the first hardbound book ever published by a game company.
1978—TSR releases Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. The comprehensive and detailed AD&D rules are contained in two books, one for players and one for Dungeon Masters.
1980—To meet growing international demand, a branch company, TSR Ltd., is formed in England. TSR Hobbies forms the Roleplaying Gamers’ Association (RPGA) to promote quality roleplaying and unite gamers across the nation.
1981—Climbing sales result in TSR being listed in Inc. magazine as one of the hundred fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States.
1982—Sales break the $20 million mark. Exclusive distributors for D&D are established in 22 countries. D&D is translated into French, Danish, Finnish, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Swedish and more. Eventually, TSR products are translated into more than 16 languages in 30 countries.
1983—The Dungeons & Dragons cartoon series premiers on September 17. This series spawns more than 100 different licenses and leads its time slot for two years before going into syndication.
1984-1994: The D&D Evolution
1984—TSR releases the Dragonlance saga. This property grows into an enormous line of novels, games, calendars, computer games, and art books. The Dragonlance saga makes TSR the number one publisher of fantasy and science fiction novels in the nation.
1987—The immense Forgotten Realms campaign setting is released. Work begins on a second edition of the AD&D game.
1988—TSR publishes one of the best-selling war games of all time—The Hunt for Red October game, based on the hit novel by Tom Clancy. The Gen Con and Origins Gaming conventions join forces to host the largest U.S. gaming event of the decade. The RPGA Network becomes an international organization with branches in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, the U.K., Israel and Australia.
1991—The Dark Sun campaign setting and a new version of the D&D game aimed specifically at beginners are introduced.
1992—The first-ever hardcover game-related novel, Legacy, by R.A. Salvatore, leaps up the New York Times bestseller list within weeks of its release. The Gen Con Game Fair breaks all previous attendance records for any U.S. gaming convention; over 18,000 people attend.
1994-2004: A New Direction
1995/1996—TSR releases new versions of the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide. But sales of roleplaying games drop in competition with the new trading card game market. In December 1996, the company lays off substantial numbers of employees.
1997—TSR ceases publication in January. In June, TSR is acquired by the Renton, Washington-based Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a privately held company best known for the Magic: the Gathering trading card game.
1999—Wizards of the Coast celebrates TSR’s 25th anniversary by introducing a starter D&D game. The online roleplaying game, Dragon Fist, is released in November.
2000—Wizards of the Coast produces the third edition of the D&D core rules set, reflecting more than a decade of game design advances. The new edition of the Player's Handbook lands in the top three on Amazon.com’s Not-Yet Released List. Wizards of the Coast establishes the Open Gaming License, which is an open license to use certain of the D&D gaming rules.
2001—D&D fantasy games and novels see a surge in sales and popularity after the release of major blockbuster fantasy movies like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.
2002— A flood of d20 product builds new interest in roleplaying in general and D&D in particular. R.A. Salvatore's D&D-inspired novel The Thousand Orcs hits the New York Times best-seller list and remains there for ten weeks.
2003—Wizards of the Coast releases an update of the Third Edition, based on player feedback, plus its first-ever pre-painted line of iconic D&D Miniatures, drawn from the core books and supplemental materials. R. A. Salvatore's book The Lone Drow debuts at #7 on the New York Times best-seller list.
2004—Wizards of the Coast celebrates D&D’s 30th anniversary with releases of a new introductory Basic Game with miniature figures, a new young adult fantasy imprint called Mirrorstone, a book with essays on D&D by celebrity players, more expansions to the miniature line and festivities throughout the year, including World Wide “Learn to Play D&D” Day!
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