The Joys of Gaming: Part 1 In An Ongoing Series Explaining My Geekery

I am an addict. Of course, the fix that I need is far more insidious than some mere chemical dependency. I crave the rolling of dice, the maneuvering of miniatures, and squabbling over rules. I’m an intelligent, well-read liberal arts major, and I am a gamer.

My love of gaming goes way back. I vaguely, but fondly, remember my father teaching me how to play chess. I loved the intricacies of the game, how each piece moved differently. As I got older, and entered middle school, I started reading chess books and learning about some of the more arcane aspects of the game, such as en passant.

I suppose it was about this time that I was introduced to Hero Quest.

For the unfortunate few of you who never experienced this game, it was, in essence, an extremely simplified and scaled-down facsimile of D&D. Up to four players took control of the barbarian, dwarf, elf, and/or wizard “characters,” moving them around frightening dungeons full of orcs, goblins, traps, and treasure. One player controlled the monsters and pretty much “ran” the game, using a special booklet that described how to add furniture, doorways, and of course, monsters to the game board as the players explored the different rooms. Each time you played, the heroes attempted a different adventure, giving the game excellent re-playability. Even better, the treasures you found in each adventure could be carried over into the next one, meaning that each player felt invested in what they were doing across sessions.

It was an awesome experience. I vividly remember the first time I played, splitting up the band of heroes and quickly getting everyone in over their head. Cornered by Chaos Knights (yes, this was a Games Workshop product) my elf used a spell to escape through the solid walls around him, only to appear in the next room- and get cut down by a hideous gargoyle.

As I said, an awesome experience.

Hero Quest quickly spawned a strategy-based sequel called Battle Masters. Each player took control of a massive army of good guys (knights, archers, footmen, etc) or bad guys (orcs, goblins, chaos warriors, etc) and duked it out on a spectacular fabric map divided into hexagons, with terrain painted all over. A deck of cards would be turned over one at a time, and whatever units were displayed on the card were allowed to move, fight, etc. It was simple, and largely decided by chance rather than strategy, but the awesome models and spectacular decals made this a delight for a geeky kid like me. Each side had a special “gimmick unit” that could devastate the enemy, or backfire and screw over your own army. The good guys got a cannon that could accidentally blow up, killing itself or nearby units, and the bad guys got a crazy Ogre, that might go berserk and wail on nearby allies.

From here it was a downward spiral. Various iterations of Axis and Allies soon followed, and it wasn’t long before Games Workshop got their claws into me again. Before I knew it, I was buying hideously expensive plastic models and doing a pathetic job of assembling and painting them up so I could head to my Friendly Local Gaming Store for a rousing game of Warhammer 40,000 (or 40k, as we in the gaming biz like to call it).

The real appeal of 40k was getting to design and customize your army each time you played. You purchased models and painted them however you wanted, and fielded armies based upon a predetermined number of “points.” Different models had different point values- two light infantry squads might have the same point value as a light tank, for example. Some people really got into the painting and modeling aspect of this, like my friend The Ninja, but I didn’t have the talent or the patience for the artistic side. I was all about the strategy and gameplay.

Of course, it cost a small fortune to play, so the hobby wasn’t really sustainable over the long-term; even the cheapest infantry squad could easily set you back $20.

By this point, I was an upperclassman in high school. But it wasn’t until college that I finally succumbed to THE GAME, the game of games, the game that in and of itself has come to represent gaming geekery to the world at large.

But I’ll save that for a later post.

Dragon Con 2008

I’ve been going to Dragon Con for the past 6-7 years, and every year I work myself into a frenzy of geekish excitement. It is, without a doubt, one of the nerdiest things that I do, which is why I think the wife appreciates that it only happens once a year.

It’s a bit hard for me to put my finger on just why DCon is such an extraordinary event for me. The amount of anticipation that builds up before hand, and the depression that settles in afterwards, is rivaled only by what most children feel with respect to Christmas. Still, it’s hard for me to pinpoint just why I go so crazy about the event every year.

The costumes are definitely part of it. I remember marveling at all of the exotic and well-assembled masquerade pieces on display at the Hyatt, envying the craftsmanship and superior geekery that produced such masterpieces. The first few years I spent a lot of my time snapping pictures of well-dressed con-goers, but more recently I’ve tried my hand at producing a few amateur costumes. I never came out with anything too impressive, being completely unskilled in sewing and such, but with a little thrift-store savvy, I’ve been able to cobble together some passable duds. Past outfits have includes Badger from Firefly, Gabe from Penny Arcade, and Conan Edogawa from Detective Conan/Case Closed (this one attracted an unhealthy level of interest from teenage girls, so I had to retire it).

The celebrity guests are also awesome. There’s always a huge list of actors, authors, artists, and other notables from the creative community. The wife pokes fun at me for being so awed by their presence- I’ve been notoriously starstruck in the past. Still, even just getting to walk by their autograph signing tables has provided a huge thrill for me. Even better is passing by them on their “off time” around the hotels. One year (I think it was my first) I saw Kenny Baker himself (the original R2-D2) hanging out by a snack bar. Awesome!

Overall though, I think it’s just being around so many like-minded people (weird though they/we are). Being as tremendously nerd as I am, sometimes there’s a sense of isolation. A lot of my coworkers (who I’m very good friends with, I might add) have never heard of and would never be interested in a lot of the games, films, television shows, and literature that interest me. There is a very real subculture that geeks belong to (I use the term without any pejorative intent), and it’s great to connect with other people who share so many interests.

That isn’t to say there aren’t some real weirdos who show up- I have to admit that a lot of the goth/punk scene at Dragon Con is a bit creepy to me, but I’m always able to put it into perspective. I’m sure my eccentricities come across the same way to others. If I had more exposure to the goth/punk culture, I doubt I would find it out of place in the least.

Speaking of cool people, this DCon was especially great in the that I got to meet some really neat folks. Ginger, Rucht, and Tony were all super cool (you know, in a geek sense ) and I wish they didn’t live so far away- they’d be fun folks to game with! Oh well. I suppose there’s always a chance I’ll see them next labor day weekend.

I think that’s enough for now. All this blogging has helped me work through some of the post-con doldrums, but it isn’t going to help me get any of the work done that I need to finish for tomorrow.

Excelsior!

Let’s Get This Thing Started…

For someone who likes to bloviate as much as I did, I think it’s pretty crucial that I keep a well-maintained blog, ne c’est pas? Look for some fun geek commentary to come.