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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 early work was fundamental to the role-playing game (RPG) genre, pioneering devices now considered to be archetypical, 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. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Dave Arneson has received more than 737,343 page views. His biography is available in 21 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 20 in 2019). Dave Arneson is the 30th most popular game designer (up from 33rd in 2019), the 9,171st most popular biography from United States (up from 9,206th in 2019) and the 9th most popular American Game Designer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 740k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 42.60

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 21

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 2.29

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.57

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of Dave Arnesons by language


Among GAME DESIGNERS

Among game designers, Dave Arneson ranks 30 out of 56. Before him are John Carmack, Hidetaka Miyazaki, John Romero, Yu Suzuki, Eiji Aonuma, and Tetsuya Nomura. After him are Yuji Horii, Yuji Naka, Hideki Kamiya, Ron Gilbert, Roberta Williams, and Scott Cawthon.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1947, Dave Arneson ranks 614. Before him are Gregg Rolie, Charles Rabemananjara, Mumtaz, Theda Skocpol, Sally Struthers, and Ilona Gusenbauer. After him are Volodymyr Troshkin, Siegmar Wätzlich, Menachem Bello, Anne Fine, Shmuel Rosenthal, and Fabián Alarcón. Among people deceased in 2009, Dave Arneson ranks 302. Before him are Jackie Pretorius, Péter Bacsó, Francisco Valdés, Nizar Rayan, Uma Aaltonen, and Mildred Cohn. After him are Chau Sen Cocsal Chhum, Lou Albano, Nelson Demarco, Howard Zieff, Jacques Sylla, and Umaga.

Others Born in 1947

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Others Deceased in 2009

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In United States

Among people born in United States, Dave Arneson ranks 9,171 out of 18,182. Before him are Spring Byington (1886), Francis Hopkinson (1737), Shaun White (1986), Richard Florida (1957), Ken Burns (1953), and Tony Kushner (1956). After him are Edith McGuire (1944), Thomas C. Hart (1877), Dale Crover (1967), Charles B. Cory (1857), Justin Francis Rigali (1935), and Nestor Serrano (1955).

Others born in United States

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Among GAME DESIGNERS In United States

Among game designers born in United States, Dave Arneson ranks 9. Before him are Lizzie Magie (1866), Gary Gygax (1938), Steve Jackson (1953), Will Wright (1960), John Carmack (1970), and John Romero (1967). After him are Ron Gilbert (1964), Roberta Williams (1953), Scott Cawthon (1971), Ed Boon (1964), Carol Shaw (1955), and Tim Schafer (1967).

American born Game Designers

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