Gadgetopia

What a fascinating-looking game! I love that they advertise that you can play for 2 minutes or 2 hours. That's what I look for, since some of the people I hang with are somewhat reluctant to sit down and play board/card games.

That said, although I'm a hardware geek, I've never had the opportunity to play D&D or other RPG board games. I grew up overseas a decade or so ago. I believe I played adventure games (the Sierra and LucasArts classics as well as interactive fiction) and console RPGs instead, along with some Gameboy puzzles. In terms of board games, I was partial to Trivial Pursuit and am now an avid fan of Taboo and its word-futzing ilk.

But! I do wish I had played those paper-and-pen campaign systems. And I know others who still play similar board games in my age group (mid-twenties) are 90% more likely to be a geek.

"There's no scientific basis for this — it's all empirical — but I know the relationship exists."

Guilty.

Rolemaster. Way better than D&D. http://www.ironcrown.com/RMintro.htm

I've played that. Yes, it's excellent. I liked the "Critical Hit" charts -- they were wonderfully gruesome. And using percentile dice for almost everything was elegant -- everyone can relate to percentages.

Here's an example of the creativity of their tables. This one was for weapon fumbling, but you can imagine how inventive the critical hit tables were.

http://www.ironcrown.com/images/SneakPeekPics/5800pics/5800240.gif

I liked this one:

"Worst move in ages! You are out for two days with groin injury. There is a 50% chance your foes will be out for three rounds laughing."

Hmm. I've been getting paid to program since I was 8, and that's about when I started gaming. My name is in the credits of one White Wolf book, and I also pioneered their character designer software. I helped a friend start his own miniature gaming business, and have a complete set of lead minis and web site designs to show for it. During the day, I'm a development manager at a small software company, but I still play D&D on Saturdays with some buddies.

Are RPG and programming skills related? I can't say for sure. Of the guys I play with on the weekend (in their 30's and 40's), we have a mail clerk, a Home Depot sales manager, an Lockheed programmer, a ship pilot, a computer developer for a food services company, a carpet layer, and a network admin for a telemarketing company. Just under half are computer professionals. Coincidence?

Rolemaster -t he system that caused me to be able up to 3 three-digit numbers in my head in the time it took the GM to say "And your result is?"

"When I was a teenager, I wouldn't play role-playing games as much as I would read them. I'd buy new gaming systems just to study the rules. Learning the combat and campaign systems was so addictive. Once I mastered a game, I'd usually lose interest pretty quickly."

I always thought I was the only one that did that. Glad to know I'm not the only freak out there.

I really think there is a connection. We had an interest in exploring these virtual worlds, creating complex storylines and managing the math to discern outcomes that now computers do for you. As a result we used our brains for a level of complex thinking and calculation, or just plain imagination that is no longer required in today's games. OK, maybe some games do, but primarily...no.

This is something we want to explore in an upcoming editorial feature at Gamehelper. We used to sit around with blocks of graph paper and sharpened pencils to map out the environments we were exploring in the early PC games (many of which were text only) or simply role-playing the latest Steve Jackson Games release. Now you can Google and find a complete walkthrough, solutions for every puzzle or simply buy a guide with all the maps done for you - including the secret areas.

But to get back on topic - Deane and I hadn't spoken for years since he moved away from California. I thought it was no coincidence that all these years later we would more or less be working in the same field - web development/design. It was such an obvious progression to me - I took a stint through electronic music to get here - and have recently revisited that love from my late teens and early 20s, but even in that we find very similar connections - the ability to manipulate the world around us or create new worlds of our own whether sonically or graphically.

One book I have to recommend is Dungeons & Dreamers: The Rise of Computer Gaming Culture From Geek to Chic - if you've not read it - and you grew up through this same transition - it's a quick weekend read and well worth the effort. http://www.dungeonsanddreamers.com/