Lorraine Williams: Difference between revisions
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'''Lorraine Williams''' is the grand-daughter of John F. Dille, who had been president of the National Newspaper Service syndicate, and had arranged for [[Buck Rogers]] to be turned into a [[comic strip]] for his [[print syndication|syndication]] company in the 1920s. Ownership of Buck Rogers and other works passed into the hands of the Dille Family Trust. Lorraine, therefore, was an heiress to the Buck Rogers fortune.<ref name="believer">{{cite journal | last = La Farge | first = Paul | title = Destroy All Monsters | journal = [[The Believer Magazine]] | year=2006 | month=September | url = http://www.believermag.com/issues/200609/?read=article_lafarge |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.believermag.com%2Fissues%2F200609%2F%3Fread%3Darticle_lafarge&date=2008-10-04|archivedate=2008-10-04}}</ref> |
'''Lorraine Dille Williams''' is the grand-daughter of John F. Dille, who had been president of the National Newspaper Service syndicate, and had arranged for [[Buck Rogers]] to be turned into a [[comic strip]] for his [[print syndication|syndication]] company in the 1920s. Ownership of Buck Rogers and other works passed into the hands of the Dille Family Trust. Lorraine, therefore, was an heiress to the Buck Rogers fortune.<ref name="believer">{{cite journal | last = La Farge | first = Paul | title = Destroy All Monsters | journal = [[The Believer Magazine]] | year=2006 | month=September | url = http://www.believermag.com/issues/200609/?read=article_lafarge |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.believermag.com%2Fissues%2F200609%2F%3Fread%3Darticle_lafarge&date=2008-10-04|archivedate=2008-10-04}}</ref> Lorraine is the sister of writer [[Flint Dille]].<ref name="believer"/> |
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[[Gary Gygax]], partner in the company [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] had been in Hollywood working on licensing the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' brand when he met |
[[Gary Gygax]], partner in the company [[TSR, Inc.|TSR]] had been in Hollywood working on licensing the ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' brand when he met Flint Dille, with whom he collaborated on a series of choose-your-own-adventure-type novels. While Gygax was involved in the making of the [[Dungeons & Dragons (TV series)|''Dungeons & Dragons'' animated television show]] and exploring the possibility of a film adaptation of the game, he left the day-to-day operations of TSR to his fellow board members, Kevin and [[Brian Blume]]. By the time he came back to Wisconsin, the company was $1.5 million in debt. Flint Dille arranged for Gygax to meet Lorraine Williams, although she turned down his request to invest in TSR.<ref name="believer"/> However, Gygax hired Williams, who had management experience, to manage the company.<ref name="Wired">{{cite web | last = Kushner | first = David | title = Dungeon Master: The Life and Legacy of Gary Gygax | work = Wired.com | url = http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/news/2008/03/ff_gygax | accessdate = 2008-10-16 }}</ref><ref name="believer"/> In an act many saw as retaliation, the Blumes soon sold their stock to Williams,<ref name="magicnmemories2">{{cite web |url=http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/539/539197p1.html |title=Magic & Memories: The Complete History of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' - Part II |last=Rausch |first=Allen |work=[[GameSpy]] |publisher=[[IGN]] |date=16 August 2004 |accessdate=2008-12-20}}</ref>{{rp|5}}<ref name="believer"/> removing Gygax's controlling stake in the company.<ref name="Wired"/> Gygax tried to fire Williams, and replace her with his future wife Gail Carpenter, but was advised not to.<ref name="believer"/> Gygax tried to have the sale of stock declared illegal; after that failed, Gygax sold his remaining stock to Williams and left TSR in 1985.<ref name="Wired"/> |
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Williams was a financial planner who saw the potential for transforming the debt-plagued company into a highly profitable one. However, she supposedly disdained the gaming field, viewing herself as superior to gamers.<ref name="Gygax-GygaxFAQ">{{cite web |
Williams was a financial planner who saw the potential for transforming the debt-plagued company into a highly profitable one. However, she supposedly disdained the gaming field, viewing herself as superior to gamers.<ref name="Gygax-GygaxFAQ">{{cite web |
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Revision as of 05:29, 25 December 2008
Lorraine Dille Williams is the grand-daughter of John F. Dille, who had been president of the National Newspaper Service syndicate, and had arranged for Buck Rogers to be turned into a comic strip for his syndication company in the 1920s. Ownership of Buck Rogers and other works passed into the hands of the Dille Family Trust. Lorraine, therefore, was an heiress to the Buck Rogers fortune.[1] Lorraine is the sister of writer Flint Dille.[1]
Gary Gygax, partner in the company TSR had been in Hollywood working on licensing the Dungeons & Dragons brand when he met Flint Dille, with whom he collaborated on a series of choose-your-own-adventure-type novels. While Gygax was involved in the making of the Dungeons & Dragons animated television show and exploring the possibility of a film adaptation of the game, he left the day-to-day operations of TSR to his fellow board members, Kevin and Brian Blume. By the time he came back to Wisconsin, the company was $1.5 million in debt. Flint Dille arranged for Gygax to meet Lorraine Williams, although she turned down his request to invest in TSR.[1] However, Gygax hired Williams, who had management experience, to manage the company.[2][1] In an act many saw as retaliation, the Blumes soon sold their stock to Williams,[3]: 5 [1] removing Gygax's controlling stake in the company.[2] Gygax tried to fire Williams, and replace her with his future wife Gail Carpenter, but was advised not to.[1] Gygax tried to have the sale of stock declared illegal; after that failed, Gygax sold his remaining stock to Williams and left TSR in 1985.[2]
Williams was a financial planner who saw the potential for transforming the debt-plagued company into a highly profitable one. However, she supposedly disdained the gaming field, viewing herself as superior to gamers.[4][5] Williams implemented an internal policy under which playing games was forbidden at the company.[citation needed] This resulted in many products being released without being playtested (some were playtested "on the sly") and a large number of products being released that were incompatible with the existing game system.
Through Williams' direction, TSR solidified its expansion into other fields, such as magazines, paperback fiction, and comic books. Through her family, Williams personally held the rights to the Buck Rogers license and encouraged TSR to produce Buck Rogers games and novels. TSR would end up publishing a board game and a role-playing game, the latter based on the AD&D 2nd Edition rules.[3] Lorraine Williams decided to merge Buck Rogers and D&D to make the XXVc game setting, which came out in 1990 and was based on the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Second Edition rules, but there are some small differences. It was a new incarnation of the Buck Rogers world created by Williams's brother, Frank Dille. Its universe was limited to the solar system, and revolved heavily around interplanetary travel and terraforming. A few dozen expansion modules were published, as well as a line of novels and graphic novels.
TSR owned Advanced Dungeons and Dragons at the time and had worked with SSI on a computerized version of the rules. SSI developed their "Gold Box" game engine for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons, so it was natural for them to use the engine for the XXVC rules.
Lorraine Williams sold TSR to Wizards of the Coast in 1997.[4][1]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g La Farge, Paul (2006). "Destroy All Monsters". The Believer Magazine. Archived from the original on 2008-10-04.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ a b c Kushner, David. "Dungeon Master: The Life and Legacy of Gary Gygax". Wired.com. Retrieved 2008-10-16.
- ^ a b Rausch, Allen (16 August 2004). "Magic & Memories: The Complete History of Dungeons & Dragons - Part II". GameSpy. IGN. Retrieved 2008-12-20.
- ^ a b "gygaxfaq: What Happened to Gygax - TSR?". gygax.com. Archived from the original on 1999-01-28. Retrieved 2006-07-04.
- ^ "Magic & Memories: The Complete History of Dungeons & Dragons - Part III: Mazes & Monsters". Gamespy. 2004-08-17. p. 1. Retrieved 2006-07-04.