Accessory - Dragon Magazine #231.pdf - Dragon Magazine - Surenae

Remember when

“Well, hey, I didn’t spend all those years playing D UNGEONS & D RAGONS ®

and not learn a little something about courage.”

There’s something satisfying about having “been there” at

the beginning, even if all you were doing was playing a game

that thousands of others were also playing (or listening to a

band that ends up all over MTV a few years later). The phe-

nomenon ranges from quarrels over who’s been playing longer

to meandering reminiscences best saved for years spent in an

old gamer’s home. But all this business is a good sign; it means

we’ve got a history, and a pretty long one at that.

Remember when the first D RAGONLANCE ® modules came out,

and everybody quarreled about who would play Raistlin?

Remember when Unearthed Arcana arrived and we all rolled up

barbarians and cavaliers because they were so tough? (And we

still cheated on the die rolls, despite the new method.)

Remember the dice that came in the original basic set? The

four-siders were like caltrops. Step on one, even wearing sneak-

ers, and you were in a world of hurt.

Well, sure. Some of us remember that stuff. Some of us don’t,

or maybe have only heard about the “old days” in the wistful

and tiresome musings of the old guard. It’s great that you meet

players who know everything there is to know about Drizzt or

Elminster but stare blankly when you talk about White Plume

Mountain or the Tomb of Horrors. It means that the hobby is alive

with new players, that we’re not all aging veterans quibbling

over which of the hardcovers was released first.

The best thing is that when it comes down to the game itself,

it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been playing. A veteran of 15

years and a newcomer to the game will both have the same

reminiscence a few years from now: “Remember when we

played The Night Below, and your paladin started the fight with

that gigantic...”

There it was, on national television. When The X-Files busts

on your favorite game, you have to wonder just how far

beyond “arrived” it’s come.

It’s OK, though. We gamers laughed the loudest. Sure, it

would have been more flattering if the guy who’d said the line

wasn’t such a freak. But it was funny, and it made me realize

that we’re safe at last. Fantasy role-playing games, especially

the AD&D® game, are obviously here to stay.

I had been getting a bit worried in the 80’s. The cool kids

had me nervous.

You know who they are—the ones with the desperate need

to prove they liked something before it was cool, thus proving

they they are hipper than thou. It’s usually about bands. “They

were great when they played clubs, but now they’ve sold out.”

Of course, “sold out” usually means “became popular.” (And

by that token, no rpg has “sold out” more than the AD&D

game.) The cool kids won’t be seen at an REM concert, but they

won’t shut up about having “been there” when the band was

doing the college circuit.

You see a similar thing among gamers, especially ex-gamer

cool kids who won’t be seen indulging in a role-playing game

today but really want you to know that they were playing back

before you ever heard of beholders.

“I started with the first edition hardcover.”

“That’s nothing. I started with the blue box basic set.”

“Oh yeah? Well, back in my day, all we had were three little

booklets — and no modules!”

There’s nothing wrong with fond reminiscences, and there’s

nothing wrong with the accumulation of some of these anec-

dotes into such tall tales as rival any in-char-

acter tavern talk. The difference is in

whether you still play the game or

just want people to know that you

did, once.

Publisher

Associate Publisher

Editor-in-Chief

Editor

Art director

TSR, Inc.

Brian Thomsen

Pierce Watters

Dave Gross

Larry W. Smith

Anthony J. Bryant

Michelle Vuckovich

Subscriptions

Janet L. Winters

U.S. advertising

Cindy Rick

U.K. correspondent/advertising

Carolyn Wildman

Printed in the USA

DRAGON #231

Associate editor

Accessory - Dragon Magazine #231.pdf

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: