Dave Arneson Sick?

[Surfing HalfOrc]

I received an email stating that Dave Arneson has been diagnosed with late stage cancer, and may only have days to live. Unfortunatly, it is at a web site I cannot access from work.

Has anyone else heard about this?

[Vectner]

I don't know the details but I did see a post at RPG.net and ENWorld saying as much. Very sad news indeed.

[Boo]

From OD&D Discussion boards:

I got this message yesterday from Bob (Robert the Bald) Meyers regarding the health of Dave Arneson. As everyone knows, Dave is co-creator of our favorite hobby game and has been a frequent poster here.

David's cancer has unexpectedly worsened just this week, to the point that he is in the hospital. He is heavily sedated and not doing well. He is not expected to live for more than a couple days, if that long.

Clearly, this is devastating to Dave’s family as well as his gaming friends. Updates will be posted here as I get them.

Added later:

I made the mistake of releasing the information about David before I checked with his daughter. She does not want anyone trying to visit David or sending him anything. I have just talked to her and explained what I had done, and she said that it is okay for it to be on this forum. She understands how people feel about her father. Greg's post was in response to an e-mail I had sent to him. It is just fine to keep this post up, and I apologize to everyone(especially Greg) for my mistake.
I did visit David with some of his other friends and it went very well. He was able to participate in the conversation easily, and we ended up staying with him for a couple hours before he tired too much. I think this should be the last update I should provide until afterwards.
Once again my profound apologies to everyone.

Just googled it.

[mercurymaline]

From Wikipedia:

David Arneson died at the age of 61 on April 7, 2009, after a struggle with cancer.

[DraPrime]

Rest in peace Arneson, and have fun meeting Gygax again.

[Ossian]

Sad news indeed.....

[The Giant]

There is some confusion as to whether or not Dave has died. The website that originally reported the fact has retracted it, and we all know that Wikipedia should not be trusted on such breaking news. As of right now, we don't know what sources to trust, as many blogs are repeating what other blogs have repeated.

If something official gets released (one way or the other), I will be sure to note it in the website news.

[arguskos]

There's actually a thread about this with updated info in Gaming: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108607

Apparently, his family posted an update, in case you hadn't seen it.

[Surfing HalfOrc]

Based on the front page news, it would appear that the sad news is indeed true.

Rest in Peace.

[T-O-E]

Oh no... First Gary and now this?

Rest in Peace

[Katrascythe]

Really terrible news... Rest in Peace... Two great legends now gone :(

[Trog]

Gary won the initiative... Dave goes next.

*small moment of silence*

[SMEE]

Goodbye Mr. Arneson. You'll be greatly missed.

[DoomedPaladin]

Goodbye sir. Thank you.

[KerfuffleMach2]

I first heard this from a teacher at my school, who not only had the pleasure of meeting Dave, but actually used to work for the company that owned DnD before Wizards of the Coast did. Can't remember the name of the company.

Any ways, he started the class by sharing this news with us. Needless to say, since it is a game production school, many people were saddened.

[Seffbasilisk]

Beats high mountain down...

Slowly, the legends are lost.

[Trizap]

Beats high mountain down...

Slowly, the legends are lost.

but more legends will come.

[arguskos]

I first heard this from a teacher at my school, who not only had the pleasure of meeting Dave, but actually used to work for the company that owned DnD before Wizards of the Coast did. Can't remember the name of the company.

TSR. Just for your memory.

[The Blackbird]

but more legends will come.

Perhaps, though not as great as the ones before.

[multilis]

I will be sure to note it in the website news.

"but he was a pivotal part of the birth of the hobby we all play" - News

Not all of us play DnD, not all of us would be interested in that style of roleplaying. There are many other forms, some of which probably have existed for thousands of years. So for us he is another unknown famous person dying, it doesn't have same significance.

Dying of cancer is no fun, have seen that personally, can sympathise.

(I personally would find DnD style too restricting on my "values" and style of story/fantasy. One thing on plus side of the relatively free form nature of DnD is how stuff like "Head of Vecna" is possible http://www.blindpanic.com/humor/vecna.htm)

[Zeb The Troll]

Thank you, Mr. Arneson, for inspiring so many for so long to imagine merely for the sake of imagining, even if they never knew your name.

[Blackfang108]

Remembering The Giant's newspost, I feel compelled to post this.

See, Rich, a major media outlet DID post a story about his death. On their website's front page, no less.