Dungeons and Dragons

I have always wanted to play Dungeons and Dragons. Role laying games were not part of my world growing up. They were just getting started and very few people in my world were playing them. Being of a "certain age" females were not encouraged or invited at the time. 

 

Every now and again I run into someone who plays. I even have friends who actively play. However our schedules don't fit and if they do I am to intimidated to ask if I can play. 

But I remain intrigued by the game and the idea of creating the stories as you play. Critical Role is an Internet show that is simply a group of friends playing D and D. It helps the quality that they are all voice actors and it's on Geek and Sundry. I now look for other role playing games played out on the Internet. I love to watch the players create their own stories within the world. 

Role playing video games are my favourite. I can't cruise through them like my sons but I get a great deal of enjoyment as I play through a good story. I might even finish the major storyline if I get enough playing time.

And that is what grabs me, the stories. Creative stories that evolve as things happen. Adventures told in your mind yet shared with others. I wonder what might have changed in my life if I had ever started playing Dungeons and Dragons?

Video Games

My dad is a child of the depression. Which means nothing ever got thrown out until it could no longer by fixed or became too expensive to operate. Due to this my brother and I had Black and white TVs in our rooms long before that was a thing. Of course this was also during the time before cable reached our town so we had 2 local stations, 3 late at night. 

One day dad brought home a Pong game and gave to my brother. Pong was one of the first mass produced game systems for the home. It included a console with two controllers. You could play single or against another person. Essentially you bounced a ball back and forth by controlling your paddle which was a line that could travel up and down in a straight line. The ball got faster and faster and you had to react to keep it from getting past you. I found it fascinating and could play for hours, occasionally talking my brother into playing against me. 

Given my interest you might think I would get into video game arcades. However our town never had one. The only games available were in bars so weren't available to me till much later. By then I had no interest. 

It wasn't until we got hubby and I got our first home PC that I returned to gaming. This was followed by my brother giving his Playstation 1 to my sons and my mother-in-law gave them her sons' old Nintendo gaming station. From then on we have remained a multi platform home. I still love games, preferring RPG games with a puzzle element and a strong story. Being the best is not important to me. I'm looking for an immersive experience that gives me an escape.

I just wish I had more time to game regularly. Now I game sporadically, gaming for hours when I do. At this time of year, with E3, I love to listen to the upcoming game announcements. Oh to play some of these games. The art work, the stories, it's storytelling and some of the stories they are telling are very cool. It calls back to an old style of storytelling that lets the audience influence where and how the story evolves. Today we get good art too.  

Games = stories at their core.