That's "dealerkids.com" or "dealership.org"... but not the hybrid ^_^

I'm afraid I can't join an all-girl D&D party, but perhaps I can track down Mr. Diesel. I'm really interested to see what kind of characters he plays (female elven mages?).

Has D&D become more popular? I'm not entirely sure... but I've noticed some references recently in movies and television to things specifically D&D, such as "short sword +1", etc. However, these references are still meant to be pejorative to the characters who use them.

D&D was where I first learned the words: dexterity, constitution (in that usage), charisma, proficiency, missile, diminuitive, and minute (my-noot). There are probably several others I can't think of right now.

I haven't played in a long, long time, but I loved it when I did. I wonder if my experience with D&D caused me to be more receptive to RPGs as video games, or if it was something else entirely that lead me to like both.

All I know is that I still think Dark Queen of Krynn and Eye of the Beholder 2 were two of the best computer games of their time. I used to want to buy anything made by SSI... it's a shame they went under.

d'oh! thanks, antares, i fixed the link.

one time in math class in sophmore year, the math teacher asked if anyone knew how many things were in a "score." a friend of mine who was a little jockly answered, "20". "And how do you know that, Josh?" asked the teacher. "Uh, because when Lincoln gave his speech, like, 'four score and seven years ago,' the year was, uh, 1860 and..."

"Bullshit," broke in another friend. "You know that cuz of D&D. A score of arrows for one gp - that's twenty arrows."

Busted!

D&D was my enabler drug for table-top RPGs (back then only known as the RPG, since there was no video-game RPG until we started playing Wizardry).

Since then I've played rediculous amounts of them, and now the friends I used to play them with get together online for some MMORPGs since we don't have the time.

Geek test point I thought I'd never remember the answer to: You know what a THACO is. Ugh. I'm such a nerd.

Sorry I had to bag out of the game early. I find that I just can't play a thief all that well - I'm never clear on what he wants in an adventuring-party context.

For the record, Jane's female human ranger seemed to want money from everyone. Why can't a ranger just hang out in the woods and live off venison? Is she too addicted to medieval hygiene products?

ah, and you also know that the 0 in "THAC0" is a zero!

we are such nerds.

what did you get on your geek test?

and for your information, Mike, my ranger is perfectly at home living a simple life in the woods, but she happens to like very nice leather footwear products. is that so wrong?

D&D is still pretty geeky, but, geeks have come a long way and are getting pretty good media exposure lately, what with all the comic and sci-fi dominance of the movie theatres. Still there is a fine line that today's geek must walk between a) promoting themselves as a person unashamed of their RPG past (or Present) and b) appearing to be a mouth-breathing basment dweller.

The real test was whether or not you get pissed off when some body pronounces THAC0 : "Thay-co" when we all know that it should be pronounced "THAC-Zero."

I'm gonna go hide from the football team now.

D&D certainly seems more mainstream since the latest version released. Prominant sections of RPG books can be found in Barnes & Noble, Waldenbooks, and even some Toys R Us stores. Gary Gygax gets cameo spots on trendy TV shows right and left, and a rust monster shows up randomly on Futurama. If only the movie hadn't been a complete waste of time, who knows how popular the game could be by now.

The ranger has a penchant for fine footwear, eh Jane? I'll have to work that into the plotline.

My geek test score was about a 43%. I think that was MAJOR GEEK status or something.

Jane, check your email.

I got just plain ole'geek status. Shucks!

wow. only 34%-total geek. i am both bummed and glad that i didn't get higher.

I've found that D&D has become more tolerable in society, and while I do not know if it will be this huge popular thing everyone openly (least in the next year or so or whatnot) plays, it seems to me to have lost it's taboo-ness. I am in High School, and we have a D&D club, and while in the begining a few kids were harassed for it, it was not because they played, but rather it was something to attack the kid with, because the kid wasn't a very pleasent person to begin with. I think this is due to the fact that "smart" people (geeks) in society today are not such a bad thing, they can get jobs and do rather cool things with computers or whatnot if you let them.

By the way got: 53.25444% - Super Geek

Yeah, what has happened? A year ago, our group was down to 3 guys and the DM in a long (3 years, now) campaign. Then, suddenly, I just put out feelers if anyone new wants to join, and, BAM! Six new people, three of them female. Now I'M dming, with a nine person party, almost half of which is female (two guys and one girl crossplay).

This is great, though.

Incidentally, someone else beat you to the all-girl gaming group experiment:

http://www.gamegrene.com/game_material/an_experiment_in_singlegender_gaming_part_2_technocracy_chronicles.shtml

Vocabulary words we learned playing dungeons and dragons :

here

I still use 'fecund' at any opprtunity

Even though RPG-purists might be loathe to say it, I think that computer, and even console RPGs have probably helped the public image of roleplaying games.

During my senior year of college, I designed a roleplaying game for an honors thesis, and I never once had to explain the concept of a roleplaying game to any professor. Not even the grizzled old ones. I didn't even have to fight to get "make a roleplaying game" accepted, once I told them the sort of work one has to do to make a game balanced.

Anybody here bound for GenCon?

40.63116% - Major Geek

yeah. apparently it is now cool to be into d&d again (?)

I guess I'll step out of the D&D closet too. I still have some of my characters written down on wide ruled notebook paper circa 1983. Aaah, the memories.

I still use my favorite D&D character's name on RPG games I play. I don't know why, but I can't stop using it. 2bad I lost all those notes.

I've noticed this too, although it may be that most of the geeky types that I hang around with also fall at least partialy into the "goth" bracket, but no-one I know plays D&D, its all Vampire The Masquerade instead.

Shame, i like dragons :(

I was in a great D&D group a few years back, with 3 women and 2 men (a woman was the DM). One day I looked around at everyone and said, "Hey, we're playing D&D and not a single one of us is a straight white man." We wondered just how rare a group we were.

Back in the day, D&D was banned in my town (tool of the devil and alla that), so I never got to play the original -- but I remember the cartoon! Several of my male coworkers were actively recruiting new players just before the release of 3rd edition, and I joined the ranks as the token geek girl. (The other girls were all girlfriends and definitely not geeks -- they stayed around for one or two nights before calling it "way too nerdy.")

Contrary to my hometown elders' beliefs, I've gotten some positive things out of playing the ol' miniatures-and-dice game. My MMORPG game has definitely improved, since I'm far more serious about leveling up. DMing has been a great learning experience (in entertaining a variety of people with different goals) as well as a creative outlet.

I would dig an all-girl game! The guys do have a tendency to take over, just by outshouting the girls. Much like at work, come to think of it... I've got at least one friend here who would join in as soon as her current work contract is up. Anyone local to the Eastside (by the Evil Empire)?

I play in a mostly girl D&D group. There's 3 of us girls and 1 guy. The guy DMs. Never will you see a damsel in distress in his campaigns. The girls are always saving the guys. Or at least, if they're in trouble, it's for a legitimate reason. (i.e. HUGE dragon and no weapon in sight) The guys and the girls are pretty much equal in his campaigns so it doesn't matter what you play as, you'll be just as respected either way.

I think there's a number of sociological factors that contribute to the phenomenon, but 4 words are especially meaningful:
Lord - Of - The - Rings
I think suddenly it's completely acceptable for mainstream folks who've never read a lick of Tolkein to have posters of elves and dragons on their dorm room walls. Moreover, my lady friends have told me flat out that it's now acceptable to wear pointy ears ("Legolas is -soooo- hot." they say) while only months ago it was the exclusive domain of Vulcan-wannabe Trek weenies. ;)
I think the new 3rd edition simplifying all the rules makes it more accessible to those people who are curious after seeing LOTR who don't want to spend hours memorizing THAC0 tables, and that terrible D&D movie managed to rekindle the memories of long summers spent questing for gold in the hearts of old hardcore players.
Revel in the ungeeking of D&D, but keep in mind that slinkies, rubics cubes, and He-Man have had recent resurgences that met with pretty limited success.

I used to play - back in the golden age of 2nd Edition - and still have quite a few boxed sets, modules, and handbooks leftover. I'd probably still play, but I've since grown distant from all of the friends I used to play with, and it seems awkward to join a group of people you don't really know at all. MMORPGs and other games fill the void, but there is nothing quite like rolling up a character with a few of your friends and conquering the world. I still occasionally pass by the RPG section in bookstores and browse over the new material (I have nothing against WotC, but I wish TSR was still around). Now it's mostly just a source of nostalgia, but if I did happen to get to know people who played I'd most definitely get back into it.

I think it has become more accepted by the mainstream (just look at the volume of posts on WotC's message boards), but it still has the geeky stigma attached to it. Not to mention the unfounded and outrageous accusations leveled against it by some religious groups, but these are the same people that believe dancing is satanic and that evil dictators like Charles Taylor should stay in power. Neverwinter Nights hasn't hurt in making it more mainstream either, the same could be said of Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale as well.

About a year ago, I was allowed to join for one session of an all girl D&D campaign. It was definitely different than gaming with the guys. There was much more dialog, character development, and general sillyness. I had a blast.

As for the mainstreaming of RPGs, the gamers have always been there. They're just now willing to admit it. In high school, a rather jock-ish friend invited me over one friday evening. Before I knew it, I was running AD&D for half the football team's defensive line. It was never said, but I had always assumed that if I ever talked, I'd end up in a great deal of pain. ...Maybe I should start looking over my shoulder.

-E

Think simple. Learn different. Macinstruct.net

Think simple. Learn different. Macinstruct.net

Sadly, I have posted a 74.1257 on the geek test. Less then 1% off of dysfunctional. And as for mainstream? Try announcing nerd-dom in PA, and you get to re-enact the mob scenes from Frankenstein. At least he had the strength. Pelting attackers with 20-sided dice only pisses them off more!

Posted by: Twisted Mage on April 21, 2008 10:32 AM