GAME DESIGNER

Dave Arneson

1947 - 2009

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David Lance Arneson (; October 1, 1947 – April 7, 2009) was an American game designer best known for co-developing the first published role-playing game (RPG), Dungeons & Dragons, with Gary Gygax, in the early 1970s. Arneson's fundamental early role-playing game (RPG) genre work pioneered now-archetypical devices, such as: cooperative play to develop a storyline instead of individual competitive play to "win"; and adventuring in dungeon, town, and wilderness settings as presented by a neutral judge who doubles as the voice and consciousness of all characters aside from the player characters. Arneson discovered wargaming as a teenager in the 1960s, and he began combining these games with the concept of role-playing. He was a University of Minnesota student when he met Gygax at the Gen Con gaming convention in the late 1960s. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Dave Arneson is the 40th most popular game designer (down from 23rd in 2019), the 10,053rd most popular biography from United States (down from 6,767th in 2019) and the 12th most popular American Game Designer.

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Among GAME DESIGNERS

Among game designers, Dave Arneson ranks 40 out of 77. Before him are Hideki Kamiya, Eiji Aonuma, Chris Taylor, John Romero, Yuji Horii, and Tetsuya Nomura. After him are Yuji Naka, Tim Cain, Jeff Kaplan, Mike Harrington, Scott Cawthon, and Jens Bergensten.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1947, Dave Arneson ranks 727. Before him are Thanos Mikroutsikos, Dieter Riedel, Jeanne Shaheen, Kinga Göncz, Enrique Chazarreta, and Tanith Lee. After him are Mike Krzyzewski, Yulia Ryabchinskaya, Cemil Turan, Peter Nogly, Elena Solovey, and Arantxa Urretabizkaia. Among people deceased in 2009, Dave Arneson ranks 339. Before him are Zygmunt Chychła, Arturo Gatti, Zena Marshall, Kristina Brenk, Lou Albano, and Chris Connor. After him are Eva Dawes, Gino Munaron, Ernst Benda, Ricardo Londoño, Rashidi Kawawa, and Vladimir Fedotov.

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Dave Arneson ranks 10,055 out of 20,380. Before him are Alexi Lalas (1970), Rebecca Latimer Felton (1835), Jeff Stryker (1962), Barbara Loden (1932), Milt Kahl (1909), and Luke Grimes (1984). After him are Roy Bittan (1949), Lori Petty (1963), Earl Wild (1915), Rand Paul (1963), Jerry Sanders (1936), and Alice Davenport (1864).

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Among GAME DESIGNERS In United States

Among game designers born in United States, Dave Arneson ranks 12. Before him are Todd Howard (1971), Steve Jackson (1953), Carol Shaw (1955), Will Wright (1960), Roberta Williams (1953), and John Romero (1967). After him are Jeff Kaplan (1972), Scott Cawthon (1971), Ron Gilbert (1964), Ed Boon (1964), Jordan Mechner (1964), and Mark Cerny (1964).

American born Game Designers

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