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June 21, 2004
My Intro
I had kind of a funny start roleplaying. When I was 8 or 9 I was playing Zork on my uncle's new Atari 800 with a couple friends, and we dug it. At some point we wanted to play it but we weren't at my uncle's house, so I volunteered to "be the computer." We even played it text-based! I'd write a description, pass the notebook, my friends would read it and write their actions, I'd write the results. We kept that up for a while, actually, several sessions, before we figured out that we could just talk instead.
I kept playing my own made-up games with my friends. As a teenager I finally had a chance to play real D&D. I expected it to be much better than the games I'd made up, because, I mean, it was a real game, right? Published = better, right? I was disappointed.
I lived and gamed with the Ennead in 1995, for those of you who followed RGFA in those days. That's when I started thinking hard about roleplaying theory, and also when I started designing games with other people playing them in mind -- although it wasn't until 1999 that I finished one. Right after I finished my second (infamous) game, I found the Forge, and that was a good thing.
I guess that now I'm a successful indie game designer, because sometimes people I don't know play my games!
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Comments
Good intro.
Posted by: Arref at Jun 21, 2004 4:18:07 PM
So much for red-box D&D! Wow!
I think you must've lucked out with your friends - then again, I never played Zork.
Posted by: IMAGinES at Jun 22, 2004 2:24:13 AM
Vincent lies...lies...!
- J
Posted by: Jared A. Sorensen at Jun 22, 2004 8:24:04 AM
Jared! I lie?
Posted by: Vincent at Jun 22, 2004 9:12:17 AM
You are in a small, windowless room. A nervous neon light casts a flickering light. A motionless body lies between heaps of dismantled dolls. Their heads are missing. There is a grandfather clock at the east wall. There are two doors, one to the north and one to the west.
Posted by: TGWW at Jun 22, 2004 1:49:56 PM
I examine the grandfather clock.
Posted by: Meguey at Jun 23, 2004 6:54:39 PM
The pendulum and watch hands are missing. There is a key at the bottom of the cabinet.
Posted by: TGWW at Jun 24, 2004 1:13:16 PM
GET KEY
Posted by: Eric Minton at Jun 24, 2004 3:28:41 PM
taken.
USE KEY
I can't use that.
PUT KEY IN CLOCK
I can't put that there.
OPEN CLOCK
The clock is already open.
CLOSE CLOCK
The clock is closed.
PUT KEY IN CLOCK
The clock is closed.
OPEN CLOCK
The clock is open.
TURN KEY
Turn the key into what?
TURN KEY INTO CLOCK
I can't turn the key into that.
TURN KEY INTO HOLE
I can't turn the key into that.
INSERT KEY INTO CLOCK
I can't insert that.
EAT KEY
I don't think the key would agree with you.
EAT SELF
Autocannibalism is not the answer.
WIND CLOCK
Wind speed: 6 knots SSW.
THE HELL?
I don't understand.
ME NEITHER
I can't me that.
EXAM KEY
A small brass key, such as you might use to wind a clock.
USE KEY TO WIND CLOCK
I can't use that.
GO TO HELL
That's not nice.
FUCK OFF
That's not nice.
BITE ME
I don't think the me would agree with you.
KILL SELF
Goodbye. Score: -4 of 10500. Someone should wash your mouth out.
Posted by: Vincent at Jun 25, 2004 9:08:23 AM
Holy crap. I thought I was about the only person on earth who got directly into tabletop roleplaying via Infocom games.
In 7th and 8th grade (1990-92 for me), I made several science-fictiony puzzle-solving games for two of my friends, influenced by the Infocom games I was playing on a borrowed Apple II. They were dominated by the "find the zotch tube, put the zotch tube in the frobozz dingus" sort of hunt-and-peck-and-die-trying game style.
I didn't play a "real" tabletop game until 1995.
Posted by: Scott Lynch at Jun 25, 2004 1:05:46 PM
Vincent... always playing with himself... ;)
Posted by: Jürgen Mayer at Jun 26, 2004 8:23:21 AM
As I said on my large main blog, this is the best intro to RPGs story I've ever heard or expect to hear. And I realized my son has engaged in oddly similar activity. I bought him his first Yu-gi-oh! deck this spring (okay, decks) because he said he and his friends were playing it at lunch. So once he had his own deck(s), I asked if he would be taking one to school with him to play with the boys. Oh no, he said, we're not allowed to have cards at school. But how, I asked him, do you play then? You said you played Yu-gi-oh! at lunch with Cade and Lawrence.
Oh, he said, we played with pretend cards.
Gunh! I later figured out they were "playing" the TV show more than the card game itself.
Posted by: Jim Henley at Jun 26, 2004 10:20:12 PM
Jurgen: I'm the only person I know who, when I play with myself, I lose.
Posted by: Vincent at Jun 26, 2004 10:49:18 PM
Are you sure that's all it takes to become a successful indie game designer?
Posted by: Trip at Jun 28, 2004 12:10:04 PM
Am I sure? Well.
If a) people I don't know are playing my games, plus b) over time there are generally more of them, not less, plus c) I'm not doing myself any financial harm by publishing my games, plus d) I'm enjoying the time I put into it, then yes, I'm a successful indie game designer.
I'm not sure that any other standard for success would be meaningful to me right now. That is, I have some hopes and dreams for sure - who doesn't - but I've got a good start and years ahead of me. I don't think I'm a failure meanwhile.
Why do you ask though? What else do you think it might take?
Posted by: Vincent at Jun 28, 2004 12:41:37 PM
That's at least two and a half more criteria than you stated originally. :)
Mostly I was just curious because I recently found out that people I don't know are playing the one game I finished designing, but that didn't seem like quite enough to justify adding "Successful Indie Game Designer" to my (hypothetical) business cards. :)
But my insecurities are not actually on-topic er anywhere, so back to whatever was being discussed before.
Posted by: Trip at Jun 29, 2004 11:51:04 AM
Vincent: No, no, you're just too honest. Everybody else also loses against themselves, they just don't admit it.
Posted by: Jürgen Mayer at Jul 2, 2004 5:10:37 PM
