How did you start?

My brother came home one day from hanging out with his friend down the street, and told me about this fun game called Dungeons & Dragons that he had played. I'd never heard of it before. Must have been like, '79 or thereabouts. Gah!

A friend at school got me into it; although I think I'm the only one still playing from that crowd.

Having worked in a FLGS, while it was far from an every day event that someone would come in interested in roleplaying, or Dungeons and Dragons etc, it wasn't a rarity either. I guess maybe once a month or so someone would ask about it in some form or another, although it wasn't always a genuine interest (there'd be occasions when a parent wonders what their kids actually spend their time doing, for example).

Numion said:

This thread seems to confirm my suspicion about the claims that (F)LGSs are essential to getting new players. Seems like bunch of BS.

Which just makes it more irritating that publishers are artificially giving breaks to game shops by not offering stuff to Amazon :\

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The thing is, though, that guys like me started gaming back when the hobby was really new. There weren't game shops dedicated to RPGs because there simply weren't that many RPGs in print at that time. Hobby shops, such as those that carry aircraft models and electric trains, were the first stores I found besides bookstores to carry RPGs. Next were comic shops. It would be sometime in the early 1990s before I saw game shops devoted only to RPGs and minis. In the early years, the most rare places were ones that actually had room set aside for games to be run. I never gamed in a store until about 4 years ago.

I would love for there to have been game stores back when I had started playing. My group was pretty isolated. Occasionally we'd have a melding between our group and another one from another part of town, but that was rare. Having a centrally-located place for everyone to congregate and exchange ideas would've been great.

I learned of roleplaying games' existence back in 1980 (I was in the third grade) from some guys who kept bringing their rulebooks to school, but my mother wouldn't let me play because she heard it was satanic. It took three years of wearing her down before I finally convinced her to buy me Star Frontiers Alpha Dawn for Christmas 1983.

Want to know what makes this story even more wrong?

1 - My mother (who worried about me becoming a nine-year old devil worshipper is an atheist who celebrates Christmas.

2- She couldn't figure out what to get my younger brother for Christmas that year, so she got him the Moldvay Basic D&D boxed set. I guess she wasn't worried about him worshipping Satan.

There. Everybody bummed out now?

Swim team (SCAT - Space City Aquatic Team)

With nothing to do all day before our events, we'd game. I can still remember not having a clue what books I really needed and buying Dieties and Demigods (w/Moorcock and Lovecraft) as my first book.

ColonelHardisson said:

The thing is, though, that guys like me started gaming back when the hobby was really new.

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Exactly. Most of these anecdotes appear to be 25-30 years old. The only way you'd really learn if the FLGS is important to bringing in new players today is to make sure you only surveyed people who've picked up the hobby in the past few years.

My Story

I started when I was five, about at the same time my brother started DMing. I would play with a family friend 4 years older than me. In my frist game, I refused to play unless my cat toy represented my elven cat. If I look back on it now, it was quite humourous.

I got into the game in 1991. I made a very good frriend in a group therapy environment. He introduced me to 1st Edition AD&D Player's Handbook. I had no idea at the time that the game was still supported, so I asked him if I could borrow his PHB. I then read it from cover to cover. I also photocopied the entire book. That cost me quite a bit, at $.10 a page.

A year or so later I found myself a game store and noticed second edition. It got ideas in my head flowing like water, and I have been a gamer since. If asked my favorite edition I happily reply, 3.X.

Friend (without gift). Not the happiest story though.

That was 7 years ago (in 7th grade). I have no idea where this kid is now, but we stopped being friends after high school, when he became one of those emo kids, you know?

The ones who linger on failing out of school, dress in all black, listen to music, and date obsenely bad-looking girls.

But DnD is awesome. I love it.

Wanted to get Warlock of Firetop Mountain. Only found the TSR Endless Quest books. In the back of these were advertisements for that eeeeeeevil game.

The rest... is history.



OK, perhaps not. This was around 1981. I had to wait another year and a half before I could buy the game (with my birthday money - $15) - the infamous red box set.