One Response to “R.I.P. Dave Arneson – 1947 to 2009”

1. Justin Alexander says:

   ARCHIVED HALOSCAN COMMENTS

   Justin Alexander
   Epy/Iron Mongler/Anonymous has been banned from his new IP address, as well. I’m leaving up a few of his comments here, as others have used them as springboards for eloquence.

   I won’t tell you not to respond to him if you see his posts again, but you can also rest assured that if he does decide to get another IP address I’ll be deleting those posts and banning him again.

   I’m sure this will lead to my e-mail being peppered with more of his homophobic slurs.

   I find it particularly vile that this troll decided to use the occasion of Dave Arneson’s passing to really unleash his bile here. But the thoughts expressed by Matthew and Tetsubo in response are true: Arneson’s work transformed my life.

   Is the L’Aquila earthquake a tragedy? Of course. Do I feel compassion for those affected by it? Yes. But those people didn’t completely change the way I’ve lived my life, so my direct emotional connection to the event is not as significant.

   Are there people whose lives have been transformed by those who died in the L’Aquila earthquake? Of course. And I’m sure they’re feeling a much more powerful grief over those deaths than over the death of Dave Arneson.

   You can’t care equally for 6.7 billion people. (And if you did, you would never stop mourning.) But that doesn’t mean you should stop caring.
   Saturday, April 11, 2009, 10:40:13 AM

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   Tetsubo
   Dave Arneson helped to lay down the very foundation of my greatest hobby. The hobby I have pursued for 30+ years. I owe him a debt of gratitude. I’ve gone to the extent of getting a sympathy card for his family, which I will mail out today.

   Certainly I didn’t know the man. But his work effected me and has provided me literally with a lifetime of enjoyment.
   Saturday, April 11, 2009, 5:39:19 AM

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   Matthew
   The point is that this man DID affect our lives and so, his loss is felt. The L’Aquila Earthquake is tragic, yes, but I can not name one individual person who died there. I’m sure there were many wonderful people who, sadly lost their lives in the quake, but not one of them had an impact on my life in any way, shape or form. Dave Arneson affected my life through D&D. That makes his loss more palapable to me. If it doesn’t for you, that’s ok, I’m not telling you to care or even saying there’s something wrong with you for not caring, but Wyvern’s right; telling others what they should and shouldn’t care about makes you look like a jerk.
   Friday, April 10, 2009, 11:43:17 PM

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   Wyvern
   “I’d have a moment of silence, but that would imply you or I actually care about Dave Arneson. I know I don’t, and I doubt that you do.”

   And yet you cared enough to take the time to tell us how little you care, not once but three times.

   You’re entitled not to care. But telling other people they shouldn’t care just makes you look like a jerk.
   Friday, April 10, 2009, 4:27:20 PM

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   Scott W.
   I am sorry that you have lost your sense of compassion.

   Please try to understand the following, though: just because you are dead inside, it does not mean that everyone is.
   Friday, April 10, 2009, 2:12:23 PM

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   Iron Mongler
   How am I trolling? It’s the truth. It’s not like he was a member of your family or anything. I haven’t felt sad over the death of people, even relatives, in years. How can -you-, over someone you only indirectly know?

   Not to belittle his accomplishments, I just find it silly that everyone mourns for a person who they have literally never met. Is it a sad event? Yes. But that applies to any death, and you’ll have to excuse me if I feel the need to be more saddened over the L’Aquila Earthquake which killed around 279 people and left 28,000 others homeless, rather than a man who created a game that I play.
   Friday, April 10, 2009, 1:20:34 PM

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   Matthew
   I’m aware Iron Mongler is trolling, but I feel the need to address what he said.

   It’s not so much that we care about Dave Arneson himself, although I’m sure he was a wonderful man and will be missed by his family and friends, those people whose lives he directly impacted by interacting with them personally, the fact remains we did not have the opportunity to know the man personally. I think what we’re all feeling is the loss of the INDIRECT impact he had on all of us through our gaming lives. To know that one of the creators of a game that has changed my life, and thus the person I have grown to become in many subtle, but (I feel) positive ways, is gone, and will not be able further have that impact, saddens me and I feel a sense of loss. Stating that you don’t think we care is not only offensive, it’s downright ridiculous.
   Friday, April 10, 2009, 9:50:44 AM

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   Iron Mongler
   I’d have a moment of silence, but that would imply you or I actually care about Dave Arneson. I know I don’t, and I doubt that you do.

   Not to say I don’t find it terrible that someone is -dead-, oh no, the problem is that you guys pretend to even care. Going to have moments of silence for anyone you hear about that dies in the news?
   Thursday, April 09, 2009, 6:59:10 PM

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   Pteryx
   ; ;
   Thursday, April 09, 2009, 3:20:53 PM

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   Matthew
   …
   Thursday, April 09, 2009, 12:00:53 PM

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   Scott W.
   …
   Wednesday, April 08, 2009, 11:21:44 PM

   April 14th, 2011 - 3:26 pm

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