A lot of you out there are new to the gaming market, but many of you
still have been there since the beginning. Many of us remember when
came out. Wow.
What else can you say? It opened up
a whole new subculture, an underground social group: The Gamer. The
Gamer is simply put: someone who plays non-conventional games such as
card games, role playing games, miniature war games, and odd ball
strategy games. Stereotypically, the gamer is portrayed as: anti-social,
quirky, oblivious to hygiene, and in more severe cases as devil
worshipping homosexual perverts who are out to corrupt little children
and bring about the rise of the dark demon Cthulu. . . Well, those of us
in this illustrious subculture recognize that the common populace has
difficulty identifying with things they don't understand. I mean, come
on, I'm not a nerd. I have a life, a company, a job (yes the two are
mutually exclusive), the occasional three to six month relationship, I
brush my teeth and shower every day, and I happen to play role playing
games. In fact, I know a lot of people just like me. But I have to
admit, I always feel a little uncomfortable when the 98lbs bottle lens
wearing misanthrope in the baggy trench coat sitting next to me in
History 101 starts rattling off to me about his 23rd level
fighter/mage/priest/thief demi-god. I mean, sheesh, when you carry the
Dungeon Master's Guide between your English Lit book and your notepad,
there's gonna be cause for concern, not to mention an open season on
taunts and jeers. Like it or not, that's the stigma we gamers have to
contend with on a regular basis.
And then there's the media. Yeah, the vultures that killed Princess Di.
Those corpse consuming meat markets of entropy and disillusionment.
Yeah, the media. The ones who blamed role playing games for the deaths
of hundreds and declared a tool for satanic inititation. Sorry to
disappoint, but when I met Gary Gygax he struck me more as a caring
grandfather than a dark indoctrinator of the infernal intelligences. But
what do you expect when you hear gamers sitting around the cafeteria
declaring, "And then I took my +3 vorpal blade and beheaded the demon
and stole his dark sceptre of the Nine Levels of Hell!" Not exactly
dinner conversation is it? So, the gamer does provide the media with
ample ammunition. But hey, all this negative press, I think, helped make
the market what it is. Dozens of gaming companies would probably shoot
me on sight for saying that but look at it. Mommy and Daddy tell little
Jimmy that role playing games are evil and. . . do you really think
little Jimmy is going to cringe fearfully? No. Little Jimmy is going to
look for it, buy it, and play it feverishly. I think the second parents,
or the government for that matter, tell you it's no big deal. . . it
becomes just that. Make something taboo or forbidden and people will lap
it up like a mindflayer in a labodamy lab.
So I would like to encourage all of you to stay as far away from
as possible. It'll
drive you into random blood cults and cause you to tattoo 666 across your
forehead. It's not a game for good little Jimmys. Bad Jimmy. Bad, bad Jimmy.
Don't play .
Timothy Till
President Rune's Law Inc.
P.O. Box 73146
Houston, TX 77273
(281) 397-7595 Phone
(281) 397-6640 Fax
-- Makers of Wayfarer Infinity: Science-Fantasy Role Playing
-- Hosts of "I Think Therefore I Con" in Houston, Texas
