Other Files of Historical Interest
From a rec.games.frp.dnd perspective
- History of D&D in Four Days
- A summary of four days of messages about the origins of roleplaying and D&D
by the readers of rec.games.frp.dnd and rec.games.frp.misc.
- Results of Reorganization Vote for rec.games.frp
- The vote results that created the original six rec.games.frp.* groups, including
rec.games.frp.dnd. Includes group charters and voter rolls.
- News.announce.newgroups New Group Creation List (May 26, 1992)
- Gives the official creation date of the original six rec.games.frp.* groups as
May 25, 1992.
- First post to rec.games.frp.dnd
- Announcement of the group's existence and charter.
- Second post to rec.games.frp.dnd
- First post with discussion content, a followup to a rec.games.frp post.
- The Closing of the greyhawk.stanford.edu FTP Archive
- The passing of what was, up to that point, the primary archive for D&D-related
net.books and the like. There were other sites, but in most net-connected D&D fans' eyes, this was THE place to go for everything.
- First post to rec.games.frp.dnd by an official TSR representative
- At the time, heralded as the start of a new era for rec.games.frp.dnd. If only we'd known what would be the primary impact of that official presence on the next three years...
- Letter sent by TSR to FTP site maintainers regarding copyright infringement
- And thus the flames began to sizzle.
- Great Copyright Love-in of 1995
- Link to Google's archive of the start of the largest thread involved in the largest iteration of the copyright wars that constantly simmered and periodically raged from mid-1994 until shortly after the buyout of TSR in mid-1997. This particular iteration is the largest and longest single continuous flamewar in rgfd's history: it lasted from approximately mid May through late August 1995, with the absolute worst coming with the start of this particular thread in mid-July. Quite a messy explosion of vitriol.
- The Hiring of a New TSR Representative
- A rec.games.frp.dnd regular poster makes the leap to the big time--just in time to be the one of the primary targets of the above flamewar...
- TSR Bought by Wizards of the Coast
- After more than 20 years of publishing D&D, TSR goes out not with a bang, but a whimper, becoming a division of another gaming company.
- Debut of the new copyright policy
- It's amazing what new owners (and a new legal department) can do, isn't it?
- Wizards of the Coast bought by Hasbro
- Only two years after buying TSR, Wizards of the Coast sells itself to Hasbro for $325
million, and essentially becomes their RPG & CCG division.
- Third Edition D&D Announced
- The production of the long-rumored 3rd edition of [A]D&D is publically announced. This heralded the end of the use of "TSR" on D&D products.
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