Ben Riggs

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book!
As someone who really enjoys D&D but only recently got into playing it for myself, this book unlocked a part of the game that I'd never delved into before, the history of the company that published it. I'm not usually big on nonfiction reads, but this was engaging, informative, and had, at times, a fun sense of humor to go along with the mind-boggling story of this game and TSR.
I was going to give this one 4 stars, because I normally need something really memorable about a book to give it all 5, but that didn't come until the final chapters of the book. I found myself actually excited and overjoyed at the way things played out and how Riggs included them in the history of the company, and I think he managed, the entire time, to remain very neutral on some topics in a way that I really appreciated. It was a great story, well told, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys RPG's or gaming in general.… (meer)

While Riggs can be a bit exhausting in his fan-boy enthusiasm, and slings around the word "genius" a bit too much for my liking, he does give you a good account of how an industry gets created, and how the original business at the center of the industry gets run into the ground. A particular plus is that Riggs doesn't believe in the myth of Gary Gygax as "St. Gary," as Gygax made pretty much every mistake that a person going from penury to almost instant wealth can make, which is why he lost control of his creation.

The silent force in this story is Lorraine Williams, the businesswoman who took control of TSR after Gygax, and who initially did rather well with it. However, what became an addiction to quick profits, and the lack of serious market research, led to a business plan that almost destroyed the company and would have led to its intellectual property being scattered to the winds. Williams didn't deign to be interviewed by Riggs, but he mostly respects her accomplishments.

This finally gets you to the take-over by Peter Adkinson of Wizards of the Coast, the company that gave you "Magic: The Gathering," and who was finally the perfect conservator of the legacy of "Dungeon & Dragons." This is seeing as he was an enthusiast himself, had the deep pockets to undo the financial damage while not making money in the short run, and was willing to "get right" with all the players who had a monetary interest in D&D, but who had been stiff-armed by various management figures over the years. Arguments over intellectual property is a big part of this book.… (meer)

Great stuff. A lot of it I knew from other books on the subject, but much I had never heard it read anywhere before. It doesn't engage in the Gygax worshipping that many writers bathe themselves in which is a very good thing, and gives Lorraine Williams a much fairer shake than many takes. It's a well-researched and put together tale of a company that was plagued with nonsensical business decisions and ill-advised money expenditures no matter who was in charge and a lot of things that seemed to be successes back in the day simply were not. The author occasionally loses me when seemingly every creative talked about is either "a genius" or "brilliant", but this does not detract from the book.… (meer)