http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sat, 26 May 2012 05:35:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39316 yabonn Sat, 21 Aug 2004 23:54:48 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39316 I missed the d&d fad, but the nerdism, the social stigma, the overrepresentation of military guys... We're talking everquest here :) As an aside, i think the military crowd in everquest was so important it even shaped some of the lingo. (Confirmation anyone? -if you don't mind the threadjacking?) I missed the d&d fad, but the nerdism, the social stigma, the overrepresentation of military guys… We’re talking everquest here :) As an aside, i think the military crowd in everquest was so important it even shaped some of the lingo. (Confirmation anyone? -if you don’t mind the threadjacking?)

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39315 Steve Sat, 21 Aug 2004 13:26:31 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39315 "Battleship Gothic" -- ? I've never heard of that one, and I've heard of a lot .... http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=105960#105960 Interesting thread. “Battleship Gothic”—? I’ve never heard of that one, and I’ve heard of a lot …. http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=105960#105960 Interesting thread.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39314 dsquared Fri, 20 Aug 2004 23:43:02 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39314 I was actually cool, for about five minutes, for having brought back Dungeons and Dragons stuff from America. But on the other hand 1) only about five minutes 2) this was Wales. I was actually cool, for about five minutes, for having brought back Dungeons and Dragons stuff from America. But on the other hand 1) only about five minutes 2) this was Wales.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39313 Marin Thurber Fri, 20 Aug 2004 21:28:59 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39313 I got hooked on D&D from my older brother, who being a thorough GM, believed that to make a game more immersing it should come complete with hand drawn maps that had been soaked in tea with it’s edges burned and other nifty items for your players to uncover. I, being the younger and more artistically skilled little sister, was called upon to create these jewels of the game. Needless to say I got a taste for the roll of the GM. With the help of my brother’s large supply of reading materials and my own creative drive I enlisted my group of girls friends for a, what I later discovered to be rare, 5 girl gamers group. We had many sleepovers but instead of pillow fights we had sword fights and pretty colored dice. One of the defining moments of our group was after two years of playing with only ourselves we joined efforts with an all boy gamers group for a sleepover campaign of epic proportions. Lets just say we geeked out hard and used sugary substances to keep our constitutions up. Ah the good old days. I got hooked on D&D from my older brother, who being a thorough GM, believed that to make a game more immersing it should come complete with hand drawn maps that had been soaked in tea with it’s edges burned and other nifty items for your players to uncover. I, being the younger and more artistically skilled little sister, was called upon to create these jewels of the game. Needless to say I got a taste for the roll of the GM. With the help of my brother’s large supply of reading materials and my own creative drive I enlisted my group of girls friends for a, what I later discovered to be rare, 5 girl gamers group. We had many sleepovers but instead of pillow fights we had sword fights and pretty colored dice. One of the defining moments of our group was after two years of playing with only ourselves we joined efforts with an all boy gamers group for a sleepover campaign of epic proportions. Lets just say we geeked out hard and used sugary substances to keep our constitutions up. Ah the good old days.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39312 Kieran Healy Fri, 20 Aug 2004 20:33:31 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39312 <i>our nukes are in the hands of guys who have an imaginary life as Quenog the Wizard on the Quest for the Magic Foozle.</i> As any fule kno, Quenog the Wizard was traveling with the elf Barf in the Kingdom of Snarg for the entire duration of the Foozle Quest. Hmph. our nukes are in the hands of guys who have an imaginary life as Quenog the Wizard on the Quest for the Magic Foozle. As any fule kno, Quenog the Wizard was traveling with the elf Barf in the Kingdom of Snarg for the entire duration of the Foozle Quest. Hmph.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39311 Tom Fri, 20 Aug 2004 19:34:08 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39311 "Make no mistake, there are a whole lot of military gamers." This thought is chilling to me: our nukes are in the hands of guys who have an imaginary life as Quenog the Wizard on the Quest for the Magic Foozle. "It took well into high school before I realized that I actually wasn’t a nerd at all." But now, with version 3.5, you can truly become a geek. Remember to wash your hair infrequently, never look a person in the face when you're talking to them, and fake paralyzing fear whenever a woman who isn't your mum or sister speaks to you. It's never too late for a beautiful butterfly to emerge out of their cocoon as an ugly caterpillar. "you all have probably guessed this already, but you know how there was that one girl who played D&D? No? yeah, that was me. D&D rules." Achhh, you were just playing the odds on picking up boys. A woman in the 30% percentile of attractiveness in the real world can easily get a male of 95% percentile of attractiveness of gamer males*. (*Mind you, being in the 95% percentile attractiveness of gamer males isn't much to talk about. The odds are good, but the goods are odd.) “Make no mistake, there are a whole lot of military gamers.” This thought is chilling to me: our nukes are in the hands of guys who have an imaginary life as Quenog the Wizard on the Quest for the Magic Foozle. “It took well into high school before I realized that I actually wasn’t a nerd at all.” But now, with version 3.5, you can truly become a geek. Remember to wash your hair infrequently, never look a person in the face when you’re talking to them, and fake paralyzing fear whenever a woman who isn’t your mum or sister speaks to you. It’s never too late for a beautiful butterfly to emerge out of their cocoon as an ugly caterpillar. “you all have probably guessed this already, but you know how there was that one girl who played D&D? No? yeah, that was me. D&D rules.” Achhh, you were just playing the odds on picking up boys. A woman in the 30% percentile of attractiveness in the real world can easily get a male of 95% percentile of attractiveness of gamer males*. (*Mind you, being in the 95% percentile attractiveness of gamer males isn’t much to talk about. The odds are good, but the goods are odd.)

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39310 Njorl Fri, 20 Aug 2004 18:56:46 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39310 I am always amused about people's impressions of Dungeons and Dragons players. I met my wife playing D&D, and three other couples who are friends of mine got together through gaming. "Gamers" as we call ourselves, are generally very successful and well adjusted people. The experience of dealing with artificially constructed fantasy worlds has come in handy considering the state of journalism and poitics nowadays. I am always amused about people’s impressions of Dungeons and Dragons players. I met my wife playing D&D, and three other couples who are friends of mine got together through gaming. “Gamers” as we call ourselves, are generally very successful and well adjusted people. The experience of dealing with artificially constructed fantasy worlds has come in handy considering the state of journalism and poitics nowadays.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39309 David Salmanson Fri, 20 Aug 2004 15:54:31 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39309 The shockingly large numbers of people that played D&D that went on to become academics is indeed a curious phenomenon. But more curious, and undiscussed thus far, is the large number of metalheads who picked up the game once the satanic rumors started. I knew kids in high school who knew the rulebooks inside and out, all the lyrics to every Iron Maiden song yet couldn't pass their classes to save their lives. They always drove much cooler cars than the more generic D&D geeks too. The shockingly large numbers of people that played D&D that went on to become academics is indeed a curious phenomenon. But more curious, and undiscussed thus far, is the large number of metalheads who picked up the game once the satanic rumors started. I knew kids in high school who knew the rulebooks inside and out, all the lyrics to every Iron Maiden song yet couldn’t pass their classes to save their lives. They always drove much cooler cars than the more generic D&D geeks too.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39308 CJM Fri, 20 Aug 2004 13:36:44 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39308 I was fascinated by D&D as a kid, but as everyone raised by right-wing Christians in the 80s knew, those dice made you worship Satan. I was fascinated by D&D as a kid, but as everyone raised by right-wing Christians in the 80s knew, those dice made you worship Satan.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39307 belle waring Fri, 20 Aug 2004 12:13:12 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39307 you all have probably guessed this already, but you know how there was that one girl who played D&D? No? yeah, that was me. D&D rules. you all have probably guessed this already, but you know how there was that one girl who played D&D? No? yeah, that was me. D&D rules.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39306 Andrew Edwards Fri, 20 Aug 2004 11:56:49 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39306 Gah! Sorry. Gah! Sorry.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39305 Andrew Edwards Fri, 20 Aug 2004 11:55:41 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39305 <i>You know what I really liked though? Reading the manuals. I loved that. I had the player’s guide, the DM guide, and the monster manual of course. Read them cover to cover multiple times.</i> Me too. It's a very rich world, really, with a complex theology, military and political system, etc. I always prefered mentally describing it, defining its paramenters, and sketching out its full range of possibilities to actually interacting with the players and actually playing the games. I always found that actually playing involved way too much of the DM trying to prove how much more clever he was than everyone else. Of course, when 9th-graders try to prove how much smarter they are, they don't create careful and thoughtful puzzles, they create deliberately inscrutable ones. D&D was for me the realm of people who would look down their noses at me because I didn't know the exact combination of Lovecraftian mythos and Monty Python quotes that they'd built their "intellectual challenges" on. Once could look at this three ways: 1) Though engaged by the inner world, I wasn't nerdy enough to stand playing. This is my preferred reaing. 2) I was so nerdy that I preferred sitting in my bedroom alone reading books about D&D to actually interacting with people. 3) I was exactly the kind of nerd who would want to play D&D, but I just wasn't smart enough to keep up. You know what I really liked though? Reading the manuals. I loved that. I had the player’s guide, the DM guide, and the monster manual of course. Read them cover to cover multiple times. Me too. It’s a very rich world, really, with a complex theology, military and political system, etc. I always prefered mentally describing it, defining its paramenters, and sketching out its full range of possibilities to actually interacting with the players and actually playing the games. I always found that actually playing involved way too much of the DM trying to prove how much more clever he was than everyone else. Of course, when 9th-graders try to prove how much smarter they are, they don’t create careful and thoughtful puzzles, they create deliberately inscrutable ones. D&D was for me the realm of people who would look down their noses at me because I didn’t know the exact combination of Lovecraftian mythos and Monty Python quotes that they’d built their “intellectual challenges” on. Once could look at this three ways: 1) Though engaged by the inner world, I wasn’t nerdy enough to stand playing. This is my preferred reaing. 2) I was so nerdy that I preferred sitting in my bedroom alone reading books about D&D to actually interacting with people. 3) I was exactly the kind of nerd who would want to play D&D, but I just wasn’t smart enough to keep up.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39304 Andrew Edwards Fri, 20 Aug 2004 11:54:49 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39304 <i>You know what I really liked though? Reading the manuals. I loved that. I had the player’s guide, the DM guide, and the monster manual of course. Read them cover to cover multiple times.</i> Me too. It's a very rich world, really, with a complex theology, military and political system, etc. I always prefered mentally describing it, defining its paramenters, and sketching out its full range of possibilities to actually interacting with the players and actually playing the games. I always found that actually playing involved way too much of the DM trying to prove how much more clever he was than everyone else. Of course, when 9th-graders try to prove how much smarter they are, they don't create careful and thoughtful puzzles, they create deliberately inscrutable ones. D&D was for me the realm of people who would look down their noses at me because I didn't know the exact combination of Lovecraftian mythos and Monty Python quotes that they'd built their "intellectual challenges" on. Once could look at this three ways: 1) Though engaged by the inner world, I wasn't nerdy enough to stand playing. This is my preferred reaing. 2) I was so nerdy that I preferred sitting in my bedroom alone reading books about D&D to actually interacting with people. 3) I was exactly the kind of nerd who would want to play D&D, but I just wasn't smart enough to keep up. You know what I really liked though? Reading the manuals. I loved that. I had the player’s guide, the DM guide, and the monster manual of course. Read them cover to cover multiple times. Me too. It’s a very rich world, really, with a complex theology, military and political system, etc. I always prefered mentally describing it, defining its paramenters, and sketching out its full range of possibilities to actually interacting with the players and actually playing the games. I always found that actually playing involved way too much of the DM trying to prove how much more clever he was than everyone else. Of course, when 9th-graders try to prove how much smarter they are, they don’t create careful and thoughtful puzzles, they create deliberately inscrutable ones. D&D was for me the realm of people who would look down their noses at me because I didn’t know the exact combination of Lovecraftian mythos and Monty Python quotes that they’d built their “intellectual challenges” on. Once could look at this three ways: 1) Though engaged by the inner world, I wasn’t nerdy enough to stand playing. This is my preferred reaing. 2) I was so nerdy that I preferred sitting in my bedroom alone reading books about D&D to actually interacting with people. 3) I was exactly the kind of nerd who would want to play D&D, but I just wasn’t smart enough to keep up.

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39303 Scott Martens Fri, 20 Aug 2004 10:13:55 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39303 Or D&D could do what I did and start going out with the DM. Got loads of experience points for that. :^) Or D&D could do what I did and start going out with the DM. Got loads of experience points for that. :^)

]]> http://crookedtimber.org/2004/08/20/roll-10-or-better-on-2-d8s-to-make-the-obvious-joke/comment-page-1/#comment-39302 Simstim Fri, 20 Aug 2004 09:43:38 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/wp/?p=2055#comment-39302 The general air on here might be rather dismissive, or at best nostalgic, but RPGs raise a number of interesting issues from a philosophy/social science point of view. For example: modelling society, history and culture; generating an interpretive consensus amongst the participants as to "what's going on"; how to make fictional worlds "believable"; and the clash between instrumental ("power-gaming") and other approaches to playing. The general air on here might be rather dismissive, or at best nostalgic, but RPGs raise a number of interesting issues from a philosophy/social science point of view. For example: modelling society, history and culture; generating an interpretive consensus amongst the participants as to “what’s going on”; how to make fictional worlds “believable”; and the clash between instrumental (“power-gaming”) and other approaches to playing.

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