Great D&D article in today's Boston Globe!

[Breakstone]

Wait a minute!

By Erica Noonan, Globe Staff, 1/3/2004

Erica Noonan

Just add an "h" and it's Eric Noah!

Has the paper been infiltrated?

Call the press!

 

[elforcelf]

As a pagan,I am pissed off that the occult is still called evil.And by roleplayers of all people.elforcelf.

 

[gregweller]

I emailed the reporter, too. I bet she's surprised when she has an email box full of letters thanking her for the article. And who said RPGers are negative?

 

[Gnarlo]

[hijack] I had read that an inadvertent side effect of an anti-terrorist bill was that Estes was being forced out of business, because it technically became illegal for them to ship the model rocket engines. Do you know if this got waivered? I loved model rocketry, and would hope that the industry is still going.

Thanks for any update! [/hijack]

Come, PC, surely your Google-fu is greater than that! From the ESTES website itself:

Homeland Security Act and Model Rocketry

The Homeland Security Act includes the "Safe Explosives Act" which has placed even more responsibility on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms in an effort to keep explosives out of the hands of terrorists. As would be expected there are now more explosives regulations. However, some of the information that has been provided to and reported by the media has several issues confused. Visit http://www.atf.treas.gov/explarson/safexpact/modelrockets.htm to obtain accurate information with regard to the ATF and model rocketry. UPS, FedEx and other carriers continue to carry model rocket engines (model rocket motors that contain no more than 62.5 grams of propellant per device) that are properly packaged, marked, labeled and documented in accordance with the regulations of the U.S. Department of Transportation (49 CFR). The same is true with regard to the United States Postal Service for Toy Propellant Devices (Model Rocket Motors and Igniters that are pre-approved for mailing by the USPS) that contain no more than 30 grams of propellant per device.

Their catalog is up and they seem to be doing well.

 

[Ranger REG]

Uh oh.

This is what I'm afraid of, taking my favorite underground hobby and making it streamlined for the mainstream, the "in crowd." For the record, I dislike the commercialization of D&D. Now I have to compete with the jocks and betties who have for so long dreaded us geeks. Now I have to worry about getting a wedgie at the gaming table or a swirlie at the convention's public restroom.

This bodes ill, with the erosion of the geek culture.

 

[I'm A Banana]

This is what I'm afraid of, taking my favorite underground hobby and making it streamlined for the mainstream, the "in crowd." For the record, I dislike the commercialization of D&D. Now I have to compete with the jocks and betties who have for so long dreaded us geeks. Now I have to worry about getting a wedgie at the gaming table or a swirlie at the convention's public restroom.

People, I think, should like things because they like them, not because they're niche or rare or safe. Liking D&D because the "in crowd doesn't" is just as silly, IMHO, as liking football because the in crowd does.

Like what you like. Poo on what others say.

And the same goes for everyone. Jocks, geeks, betties, and bimbos...

 

[Ranger REG]

Obviously you're not geeky enough to get a wedgie nor a swirlie, huh? Consider yourself lucky, bub.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Wow, good press.

Not only that, but the Seattle/pugeot sound area is now under about a foot of snow. Coincidence? If we get word in the next few days that the new Battlestar Galactica series is a go, that will complete the improbability trifecta and I'm going to take out a long-term loan to have a bomb shelter built under my house.

 

[Clint]

Good publicity for Danger Planet Games. I live just one town over and I've never been to that particular store. Judging by their web site they seem to be big on Warhammer and card games, and not so much on RPGs. Any of you Bostoners been there? What kind of selection do they have compared to , say, Pandemonium or Compleat Strategist?

Hey, Doug.

Danger Planet is primarily focused on minis, but they do more than that. They have a wonderful non-mini board game selection (Settlers of Catan and so on), and their RPG section is good, but nowhere near as extensive as Pandemonium. They have all the WotC books that you could want, a loose collection of third-party d20 publishers (be there when the book you want is released), and finally a decent scattering of non-d20 RPGs, including a copy of Rune that stares at me lovingly every time I go there.

The best part about the store are the owners. They're really friendly people, and they work at making a community.

I lived right down the street from them for two years, and now that I've moved a bit west, I miss them.

-Clint

 

[I'm A Banana]

Obviously you're not geeky enough to get a wedgie nor a swirlie, huh? Consider yourself lucky, bub.

Naaaah, it's just that my first DM was a jock, and I played with frat boys and sorority girls and "white trash" and straight up "gangstas."

If they liked the hoby, the liked the hoby...I wasn't going to assume that the frat boy would turn it into a drinking game. If he did, he obviously wasn't into the hobby.