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

[Wippit Guud]

Erica Noonan can be reached at enoonan@globe.com.

Of course, only such sweeping accolades could come from a Noonan...

- Chris Noonan (but you can still call me Wip if you want)

 

[Moe Ronalds]

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

Where are you seeing this? I haven't found anything on this thread that was terribly anti-occult.

 

[Davelozzi]

Any of you Bostoners been there? What kind of selection do they have compared to , say, Pandemonium or Compleat Strategist?

Doug,
Clint's response is pretty much spot on, but I just wanted to add my support. The folks that run the place are real nice, and actually know what they're talking about. And if you want something that they don't have, they're not afraid to order it. The hours are another benefit (Mon-Fri: Noon - 11pm, Sat: 10AM - 11PM, Sun: Noon - 8PM), and parking in Waltham, while sometimes a bit of a challenge, is still a hell of a lot easier than parking near either of the other two. It's definately worth a look.
-Dave

 

[dougmander]

I went to Danger Planet today, actually. The guy there was really friendly, and the store was very clean and tidy, but it was essentially a GW store with two shelves of d20 stuff and a small but well-chosen selection of board games. Outer Limits, around the corner, actually has a larger RPG section.

My fave game store of all time is still Wizard's Tower in Nashua NH -- well worth the trip from Boston! Huge selection of Reaper minis, paints, RPGs, including OOP titles, and a really informal club atmosphere.

 

[Silver Moon]

Our group began tonight's game with a 15-minute discussion of the article. One interesting thing was that everyone in the group had already read it, even though none of us had sent it to the others. We pretty much concluded that the game itself may not have changed that much but the public acceptance of fantasy material ala LotR and Harry Potter added to the natural maturity of older players brings the game to a new level as far as public acceptance. The GE commerical with the Player's Handbook also helped to confirm that.

 

[Brother Ezra]

I think it's interesting that the first generation of RPG'ers (such as myself) are now becoming the established two-income, homeowning, 2.5 child, thirty- or forty-something crowd, and are remaking the image of the RPGer in the public eye. I love the bit about the $50,000 + income!

I would be interested to see a study done on how role playing has influenced people's success in the real world. Do gamers earn more? Achieve higher positions in their chosen professions? Does the stimulation of imagination required by role-playing have a tangible real-world effect on their lives?

 

[WizarDru]

I think it's interesting that the first generation of RPG'ers (such as myself) are now becoming the established two-income, homeowning, 2.5 child, thirty- or forty-something crowd, and are remaking the image of the RPGer in the public eye. I love the bit about the $50,000 + income!

I would be interested to see a study done on how role playing has influenced people's success in the real world. Do gamers earn more? Achieve higher positions in their chosen professions? Does the stimulation of imagination required by role-playing have a tangible real-world effect on their lives?

Heh. I think the 60 year-old RPG'ers might take umbrage with our claiming to the be the first generation.

My assumption is that gamers are just like every other cross-section of the population. I have met gamers who make six figure salaries, and gamers who are working for minimum wage after college (if they went). However, I would argue that all of those gamers who started in the early 80s (and who comprise a very strong percentage on these boards) have played a major factor in making D&D more acceptable, as we've gone on to completely normal lives.

 

[WizarDru]

Where are you seeing this? I haven't found anything on this thread that was terribly anti-occult.

The only thing I can think of is this line in the article, perhaps:

Older D&D players recall a bleak time in the 1980s when the game became a target of cultural conservatives who insisted that role playing led to an interest in the occult and contributed to teen suicides.

Mind you, I'm not sure what that has to do with anything. The author doesn't appear to be a geek, to begin with. And second, none of the pagans I know refer to paganism, neo-paganism or wicca as 'the occult', although I suppose that's open to interpetation.

 

[Kemrain]

My fave game store of all time is still Wizard's Tower in Nashua NH -- well worth the trip from Boston! Huge selection of Reaper minis, paints, RPGs, including OOP titles, and a really informal club atmosphere.

Gotta agree with you and give them some free advertising. Think they're right off Rt. 3, Exit 5E, on the left. One way street, little hard to follow for us Dis-Urban folk, but it's there, and well worth the travel or trouble. It's what I think of when I think Gaming Store, and probably why most of the gaming stores in Boston have left me dissapointed. It's a step above all else I've seen.

- Kemrain the Wizard's Tower Lackey.

 

[Luddite]

Heh. I think the 60 year-old RPG'ers might take umbrage with our claiming to the be the first generation.

Fine. Take all the umbrage

Generation is not strictly age based for RPGs. It has more to do when person started playing. Anyone playing in the mid to late 70's with the various box DnD games would be a First Generation RPGer. Most likely I would consider those that played ADnD when it first came or other contemporay games would also be considered First Generation.

With that in mind, the youngest a "First Generation" RPGer could be is early 30s.

However someone who is 40 years old and just started with DnD 3rd Ed would be "current generation" or what ever number we want to asign to that. A discussion of Gamming Generation break points would be a different topic

-The Luddite