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-   -   Are you experienced? (http://www.topmudsites.com/forums/showthread.php?t=753)

Brody 04-18-2002 04:19 PM

I'm Brody, also known in the real world as Wes Platt. I'm the creator of OtherSpace, an interactive science fiction saga built within a PennMUSH hardcode architecture.

With Synozeer's encouragement, I agreed to moderate this particular forum at Top MUD Sites, and I enjoy the discussions here quite a bit.

I've been roleplaying since I was a kid (haven't we all?). But back when I was a kid, we didn't have Nintendo or Gamebox. We had to walk uphill, both ways, in the snow, without shoes, with concrete blocks tied around our ankles, yadayadayada.

Actually, it wasn't THAT bad in the 1970s and 1980s - we did have Atari (yes, I played Pong and thought it amusing), we had a Beta videocassette player (I watched Star Wars on Beta about 300 times - yes, pathetic), and I had the original little brown books from the early Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying (my stepfather, BTW, was the first gaming twink I ever met! I was running a scenario around a castle I'd built, and he tried attacking with his evil lord on a previously non-existent giant slug he used as a pack animal).

I played Infocom text adventures on an IBM PC clone, then got into the Ultima and Wizardry graphic adventures. In the late 1980s, I got involved with my first local bulletin board service, running an interactive story on a message board with a handful of people.

In 1994, as the Internet started taking off, I began playing on MUDs - mostly the stock games with the Smurf Village or Midgaard. A year after that, I started playing on TOS TrekMUSE, a game set in the era of the original Star Trek series with a heavy emphasis on roleplaying. I also played at Hemlock, an original-theme science fiction game, also with a heavy RP emphasis.

In 1998, I decided to start OtherSpace - and I've pretty much been there ever since. It has been my policy not just to create the world and run it, but to actively participate in it as a player as often as possible. As we've grown, this has become increasingly difficult, but I still manage to keep a few characters active in the storylines.

So, that's my story - the short version, at least.

What's yours?

BTW, this is one of those times when you can feel free to pipe up about your favorite RP hangouts, so long as it's in the context of sharing your RP experiences.

Grizzly 04-18-2002 05:56 PM

Well let's see.  My RP experience resembles Brody's a bit, a side effect from growing up in the 70's I suppose when RP gaming and computers were in the stone age and had a very limited following.  I learned to play D&D out of those same books from TSR but quickly went looking for the same sort of thing but based on Sci-Fi rather than swords and scorcery. I eventually found Traveller and Star Frontiers, both fun and highly underrated. I have also delved into some of the horror game systems namely Call of Cthulu and Chill.

I have been usuing computers since high school but aside from a brief stint on GEnie's Federation, I didn't get into MU*ing until about 1995-6 and have pretty much stuck to Sci-Fi themes, predominately Babylon 5, and RP rather than PK.

That's about it, I guess.
Griz.

Edited for typos

Aliyah and Co 04-18-2002 06:00 PM


tjs102 04-18-2002 06:25 PM

RPG has a pretty broad definition. Arguably, you could say my first RPing experience was playing Adventure on the 2600, as I assumed the role a box-shaped knight, armed myself with a pointer, and ventured of in search of some magical chalice (or a magic dot).

But I count my first RPing experience as playing Dungeons and Dragons. It was the early 80s, I guess, and was a goofy little fourth grader at the time, and a friend of mine got me really excited about the whole concept of RPing. Soon enough, I was Saurton Armen, Dwarvem Cleric of Thor, and we were staying up all night adventuring and RPing as best we could for our age and maturity. (We had laser crossbows, a la the D&D cartoon okay? No, I'm not proud of that!)

I was also into those PC games, both graphical (Ultima, Transylvania, King's Quest, Space Ace, Leisure Suit Larry) and text-based (Planetfall, Hitchhiker's Guide).

In high school, I dabbled in D&D some more, as well as TMNT (I had a porcupine!), Heroes Unlimited, and a couple others I don't remember the name of.

Onto college, I was out of the RPing loop until one day, (around 1994 or 95?), a friend told me that you could RP online in something called a MUD. I was intrigued by the concept, but my school didn't allow that kind of activity and would block any attempts to get into MUDs, chatrooms, etc.

So I bought my first modem and signed on with GEnie. And there I spent lots of time and money playing Dragon's Gate. I also dabbled with Gemstone III, Modus Operandi, and Dragon Realms, as well as some of the free MUDs, but today, I am a DGater through and through, having followed it happily from GEnie to AOL to its current home on the Net. I do, on the odd occassion, do some more table-based RPing, mostly D&D and Star Wars.

I consider myself fairly experienced, and have played a fairly diverse range of classes, races, religions, and genders (well, two genders).

I have yet to play roll up and play a true villain, however, and I greatly admire people who CAN pull off a convincing villian -- and I don't mean just a character who beats the tar out of someone else because he or she can.

- T.
edit: Bad emoticons! Bad bad bad!

sabia 04-18-2002 09:21 PM


Serrina 04-18-2002 11:11 PM


The Oosil 04-18-2002 11:37 PM

Heh. Been RPing since second grade. Back ten, me and my buddies actually made our own game called Axe. We came up with most of the rules ourselves, maybe borrwing a few D&D books for ideas though. Don't remember too much about that game anymore since that was like 20 years ago, but I do recall the central figure was a sentient, omnipotent Axe. Don't ask...

Then it was ICE's Middle Earth. Then Gamma World. (loved that one alot), Star Frontiers, Star Wars, Boot Hill, D&D, Warhammer, etc. etc. etc. The list goes on and on

MUDs are actually a fairly recent discovery for me. Long since away from the friends I used to play the other games with, I just drifted away from it all together (with some resistance at first). I stumbled upon one in particular that impressed me with its playability and the fact so much was left up to the imagination. I was hooked.

Alas, this game ended up charging ridiculous fees, and I again had to take a break, or declare bankruptcy over my addiction. Decided to give the real world a shot. What a disappointment that turned out to be. heh. So, reluctantly I returned, and have not looked back since. Thankfully the price has reduced considerably and my financial security is maintained.

Why do I do this to myself? Creative outlet, I suppose. I was always more comfortable on the GM side than the player side. I thrived off grabbing a stack of graph paper and creating the most elaborate, contrived dungeuons and scenarios I could think of. More often than not though, the players would always get frustrated or bored and they rarely ended the way they should have (or ended for that matter). Which is why I would always revert to being a player occasionaly so I wouldnt lose touch with what made the game enjoyable for others.

In a way the MUD has turned into a bit of an on going experiment for me. As a writer by occassion, I have learned much from the others ive interacted with in my MUDding experience. Negative experiences always turned out to be the best once I learned to throw my pride out the door. I constantly try out new characters and combinations, and have found most of my characters thrown into all kinds of interesting situations, both GM driven scenerios and player contrived ones.

It can be frustrating at times. Infuriating as well. Several times I have had to step away from the computer for weeks at a time just to maintain my compsure, or to combat burnout. But it is a wonderful distraction. Addiction, if you will. I work 40-50 hours a week. I have a side business as well. I play online an average of 5-10 hours a day, 5-10 days a week with various characters. Between the game and my job(s) I am on one computer or another an average of 10-15 hours a day, yet somehow have found a way to have a life as well. Not much of one, granted, but my side job actually forces me into social situations quite often.

Guess I'll sleep when I'm dead.


The Oosil is Dead!
Long live the Oosil!

Savinien 04-19-2002 01:20 AM

Yo,

I've been RPing now for about twenty years. It started in the late 70s with the popular boxed set of D&D. A few years later and puberty and I was running my own games. A few years after that I was branching out into other systems, I'd say that right now, 2nd ED D&D, HERO 4th, and MERP are probably my favorite systems. (I don't think any of the sci-fi games were very good, but I've always been more fantasy than science minded anyways.)

The next chapter: I found MUDding with Terris on AOL -before- they were unlimited. I still remember that party I threw when they went unlimited for 20$ a month! Anyways, my wife eventually graduated and we moved back to hicksville that had no AOL. Terris was out of the picture and I found this little hole in the wall called South of Heaven. It wasn't great but, we made due and had a lot of fun with it. I then went searching for the hallowed perfect MU* (though, I called everything MUD back then).

I'd say hundreds of MUDs later. Sometimes as a player and sometimes as staff I was still searching. Eventually, a fella known as Platinum from TMC replied to an email request and turned me onto FEM. It was a dream come true. A real tabletop environment in a 24-7 environment. I eventually even became a member of the staff, hoping to give back a little of what I'd been given. Alas, it was not to be, things change, and time passes you by.

I found the next best thing to the RPI MUD and began to look over the other side of the fence, MUXes and MUSHes. consent has always been a killer for me and it just doesn't sit well with my table-top background. I stuck with an OT game called Azhad and I'm working on a new Dumas' spawned OT MUX called Outremer. Hopefully, if I can't find the perfect place, I'll help build it myself.

SaVinien

Maggie 04-19-2002 02:09 PM

I'm not sure if a lot of people would consider my beginnings to be roleplaying, but they were to me. The summer after first grade, a friend and I started a `library'; it was really more like a book rental shop.  We combined all of our books and set up her basement with shelves; kids would pay a dime to take out a book, and get a nickel back when they returned it. I was extremely shy back then, so I would just pretend I was a real librarian so I could speak to those who came;even my sister, brother and best friends got the line "Hello, is there some book I can help you find?" (Unfortunately we went out of business when we ran out of books because nobody ever returned them, and we couldn't write well enough to send out notices on them).

With the money we made from the library, we bought props for plays we would put on. We charged a nickel for admission, and usually had about 20 people at each one. I'm sure they were prety bad since we wrote them all ourselves, but we had fun and made a bit of spending money. Later we also started running carnivals; our rides were spinning kids on a swing, letting them use the pogo stick and stilts, pulling them around in a wagon, etc.  I was the fortuneteller, and would read cards, my crystal ball (I collected marbles and used a crystal shooter), and palms. I charged a nickel for a reading, and was sure I'd be a millionaire soon when I made over $7 in one day.

Several years later, some friends and I got separated, and started writing letters. Eventually we started sending parts of 'stories' to each other, adding some and sending it on to the next person. I'd never heard of roleplaying back then, but I found it was easy for me to talk to people if I was pretending to be somebody else.

When my older son turned 7, he got his first computer for his birthday. He was already reading at a 12th grade level and very bored with children's games, so he started getting text-based adventure games to play instead. He would sometimes have me write up what he wanted to do, and make his own until he started learning to write his own programs. A couple years later, he got a modem and started using BBSs and playing some of the games there; he got me to try a few, and we both thought it was really great to have someone else to play with rather than the simple games we'd been playing.

In 94 we finally got a good computer, and a Compuserve account, switching to AOL later. My younger son, who was 9 at the time, discovered the online RP games, and got us all started on them. He found DragonRealms, GemstoneIII, and Dragon's Gate in early 96, and we all thought they were the best thing we'd ever played. None of the others really seemed to get into the roleplaying much, and it was great seeing how other people played their characters.

I spent most of the next 2 years playing DGate, until AOL started charging by the hour to play. I switched to DR for the next 4 years, and was on staff there for a couple of them. In December 2000 DGate moved to the web and went to a monthly rate; I left DR and went back, and have been there since. Both of my sons still write up their own games at times, and I help them test them, and I occasionally play others when I have the time. At the moment, I've been pretty busy and play little, so I spend a lot more time reading message boards to give me some ideas for when I am able to play.

Sorry, this has turned into more of a novel than a post. I still don't consider myself to be a good roleplayer, but I have gotten better over time; including having 3 characters in a game for oever 4 years without anyone knowing they were all played by me.

Editted because as long-winded as I am, I always miss typs.

Shao_Long 04-20-2002 05:02 AM


Siobhan 04-20-2002 10:23 AM


aeslyn 04-21-2002 04:10 AM


Chapel 04-21-2002 03:20 PM


Grey 04-22-2002 07:51 PM

I'm Grey from over at Seasons of Almadyn. My roleplay experience probably goes back as far as early 90s, since I'm only 19 in May. I've played D&D (who hasn't) and was very hardcore into the FF series until the made '8' gay and FF9 stupid as well. I have touched on games such as Vampire: The Masquerade (V:tM) and am very big into board games like settlers of catan and especially Diplomacy.

On some muds i have been known as Aedric Rainnias, on others, Ashton Alesse. Now I am known simply as Grey, Forever Grey. I am a Plane Shadowwalker, seeking the home I was torn from as a young shadow. I walk the plain of Mesa on SoA, in search of a clue, a hint of some sort. Until that day, I must code the most evil and twisted ways to destroy mortals that the MUD world has ever seen.

Robbert 05-04-2002 03:54 PM


Igor 05-04-2002 09:59 PM

Known as Igor to most.

My RP experience begin with D&D, much like everyone else.  Was introduced to the game at the tender age of 11 in '81.  Played on and off for at least 12 years - would still play if I could find a group about my current residence that I know would be consistant in showing up.  Played a few other games of the same - Traveller, Gamma World being the two I can remember at this momment.

I went through a lot of the early games as well - Zork being one that fasicnated me.  Zelda on the Netendo system.  When PC games started coming out, Wizardry was one that caught my eye, and still does.  The old wire frame mazes and simple icons for critters.  I spent ( and still do spend ) hours walking those paths.

I didn't manage to stumble over a MUD, however, till '97.  Dragon's Gate was on AOL at the time, and I was hooked when I found it.  Still playing to this day.  I've also played a bit of Achaea, and was on Shatterened Lands ( I think that's the name ) for a few months when DGate first went pay-to-play on AOL.

Time, however, keeps me on Dragon's Gate these days.

Igor
Dragon's Gate Webmaster

Dracmorair 11-17-2008 10:52 PM

Re: Are you experienced?
 
My RP experience has been exclusively with Vampires the Masquerade. Since the revised rule book. Been a story teller there and followed it through the paces. When Activision drop the ball on the 3d enviroment the users took over. It stalled because not enough players were coming.

So... where do I go? The place that has the market share on vampire stemmed right out of the masquerade.. gues what?

IMVU.
avatars.imvu.com/dracmorair
Ironic isn't it? The one place where blood and violence is to be considered a heretic to create content for.

At least the rp experiance is there. I do so missing the gameing aspect though. Oh... that and defined set of role playing rules. Even though even reviced a lucky roll could turn you to vampire ash in one action. Ah the flaws, the flaws.. haunt me so.

But my first RPing experiance... AOL's world of Rhy'Din. I was a prime fight moderator & was starting my kingdom before Ulitma Online was released.

prof1515 11-18-2008 05:58 AM

Re: Are you experienced?
 
A six-year, five-month, thirteen-day bump? Someone call Guinness!

The_Fury 11-21-2008 05:25 PM

Re: Are you experienced?
 
All that was missing was the Grats on becoming a Mod Brody. ;)

Grats. LOL

cuiorne 11-22-2008 09:50 AM

Re: Are you experienced?
 
Grins - Yes I have to say I'm a bit experienced.
Back in I believe was right before Thanksgiving 1985 while I was on GENIE - I stumbled across a ad for a free week on FED - Federation. Curious I stopped in never having RP'ed before and wondering what this Federation could possibly be about. By the time the free week was over I was addicted:) Spent some time (to the tune of $300 a month) on Federation until it moved to AOL.

When Fed moved a few of us 'found' a Mud that was just getting started. I think it was GemStone but hey that was years ago so could be wrong. Anyway played there for awhile, from there went to Medieva for awhile. But I missed the Role Play aspects.

From there went to a start up Mush that had a very small player base and had a great time. For reasons I do not remember the creator of that Mush decided to pull the plug. Went through a few other Mush'es to include Castle D'Image, Elendor and places that no longer exist.

Took a break from mushing as RL was just too busy, then picked up one of Jordan's Wheel of Time books - read as I recall the three he had out at that time and thought "wow that would be great to RP in!" Went looking around and found Daes Daemar Mush - had a wonderful time there, than went to Cuen for a bit, than to Patternfall (Amber theme). RL stepped in once again and had to step away from mushing. By the time I was able to get back - all the folks I had rp'ed with had moved on.

Somehow got involved )player, admin, wiz) with a few start up mushes that never made it. Took a break from mushing again. Within the last few years got involved with Elendor (after all the LOTR movies had come out - so missed the huge numbers on Elendor) , moved from there to a original medieval genre mush and from there to Castle D'Image.

Last year a few of us decided to open our own mush. We came up with a medieval genre, original theme which drew from the collective experiences of 6 very creative individuals.

It was finally opened in late Jan 08. We did have some great RP, but for a number of reasons - staff RL, theme issues, summer slowdown (the small player base we had all seemed to go on vacation in late May) - Mid summer decided to place the game in hiatus to reqroup and redo. Grins:) If anyone is interested - email me at or stop in at anwethia.mushpark.com 3498 -( I really have NO idea when the game will re-open, depends on how quickly I can get the theme files done and have a staff in place)

Why Mush? I really enjoy having a character come alive, the cooperative storytelling, the creativity of Mushing.


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