Some Interesting Gary Gygax Comments

The Subject of Basic D&D came up over at Enworld, and Gary had this to say:

I would indeed have kept a boxed intriductory set of the D&D game in print...just as the publishers of Monopoly have kept that game on the shelves. Also I would have consolidated the remainder of the D&D game into a large book as was done by TSR after I left.

Another poster name Geoffrey responded with this:

I think that's something that hurts D&D in the long run: Not having a single boxed set that is essentially unchanged from decade to decade (just like Monopoly). Having such a set, of course, would not preclude all kinds of additional D&D products for hard-core gamers. But only a small fraction of people want to essentially game full-time. But lots of people are amenable to an occasional 2-hour D&D game. That sort of casual gaming would be best served by a static boxed set with a short rulebook (say, 64 pages) that stays the same except to fix typos. That way people would always know how to play rather than having to digest 1,000-page "core" rules that change all the time.

The Hero Guide's Comments:

This is why I'm working on Heroes of the Dungeon Crawl. A simplified game is needed, in my opinion. The old Basic D&D only served to draw new players into the world of RPG's. Now, I'm not under any assumption that the rules I put together will sell big or make it into any stores, but I'm confident that people will be able to get a copy of the rulebook online if they want it.