In the ttrpg community, there are cadres of Arneson partisans and (probably fewer) gamers who take Gygax’s side. Given Jon Peterson’s track record, I expected this to be a thoroughly researched and detailed account. What I hadn’t expected was for both Dave and Gary to come across as such children: Dave as someone who struggled to finish much of anything, and Gary as petty, myopic, and vindictive for much of the saga. Barely anyone thinks well of Lorraine Williams, but you almost exhale when she sweeps in at the end, thankful that some adult had finally entered the picture.
You do wonder about the alternate history of TSR, though. There was surely enough egregious corporate mismanagement to sink most companies. At the same time, it was clear that TSR adopted the approach of conventional corporate governance, and fairly early on, during the Gygax/Blume/Blume era. Peterson quotes an October 1981 mission statement that frames the goal of the company as “maximizing shareholder wealth and promoting the growth of the company.” (216-7) There’s a real tension between that statement and Gygax’s purported devotion to the hobby and his game. You wonder if there would have been any opportunity for a different ending if they had been a more mission-driven company. (Heck, you even wonder if some of the malfeasance might have been avoided if they had gone public at some point.)
More personally, the fact that Gygax really struggled to succeed as an executive, in a job he was probably unsuited to, does give me pause about my own career and split loyalties.
This is a good read– maybe more detail on TSR than some readers will want, and more corporate drama than you can shake a stick at– but I found it very compelling.