Hello all!

My name is Kurt, from Alabama. I'm 33 and started playing/collecting in 1981 when a buddy gave me all his duplicate material to help me learn to be a player after his other friends moved away. I was quickly hooked and began playing and collecting avidly. I was schooled in the art of DMing by a guy I met a couple of years later named, John. In thanks I gave him my 1E D&D (already a hard find around these parts) and a year later, when he moved away, he imparted to me a stack of characters and half a dozen modules. I miss that guy to this day...

At any rate, I developed a group of players and occasionally took the other side of the table as a player but mostly remained a DM for the next several years. I learned enough of 2E to guide some new, interested youngsters but lost interest (partly due to the seemingly constant poor bindings, erros, etc and mostly to my interest in girls).

Fortunately, I saved the bulk of my collection (even most of the dice), much to the chagrin of parents, girlfriends and a wife. Fast forward to around two years ago when one of my old friends suggesting pulling out our old troves and just "looking it over." In less than an hour, we had rolled up some characters and were back in business.

So, after cataloging our collections I jumped on the net and realized I had some gaping holes in my collection. Being of significantly higher funding in my current state, I've begun the long task of filling in the blanks (sometimes for collection, sometimes for playing) and have found nearly as much joy in that endeavor as the game itself. I'm no high-end horder but I maintain a growing stable of over 200 odds and ends, not counting dice, characters, etc.

I certainly don't have the large circle of interested parties anymore but the occasional game is a real delight. The old local bookstore (The Bookmonger) with the small back room for play is long gone as are all but one or two local clubs (I don't have the commitment time for either) but the passion stilll burns with all the fury of Smaug's wrath.

I doubt I'll ever advance into the newer versions of the games (I'm strictly pre-2E) but I do love seeing young blood being involved in the game's survival, in whatever version of the game they become immersed.

I look forward to hanging around here and furthering my encyclopedic knowledge of this large chunk of childhood indentity and making new friends. I truly did not mean for this to run so long...blame it on Gygax!

Alas, to this day, it's hard to top the magic of simply saying (or hearing), "Hey man, we need to get together this weekend and play some D&D!"

Wonderful site. Really. Kudos all around!

Hi mearls.  Welcome.  Tell us a bit about your work at WOTC?

Mark  

Well, I have serious doubts every time I read anything about d20 system. However that's the new market, and good luck to anyone who's in it.

nice cans.

mearls wrote:Hey all!

My name is Mike, and I've been collecting off and on since I first discovered the various for sale newsgroups on Usenet back in the mid 1990s. The collecting urge took hold back when my brother and I received the Dungeon! boardgame for Christmas in the early 80s. The TSR catalog listed all sorts of cool and mysterious D&D books that we couldn't find at the local toy store.

I currently work as an RPG developer at Wizards of the Coast. I thought one of the perks of the job was access to archives of everything D&D, but what's left of TSR's game library is surprisingly small. Apparently, it has gone through several winnowing out periods since WotC bought TSR back in 1997. Nothing's been thrown away, just sold to employees at steep discounts.

Anyway, just thought I'd introduce myself. I've noticed several folks who have sold me items on eBay and outbid me on a few things.

Hi Mike,

Welcome to the Acaeum.  I was just packaging up the From the Ashes box set you bought from me when I noticed your post.  I went ahead and gave you a "free" upgrade on shipping to Priority mail.  You should have it in 3 days.

Paul  

Left_Behind_Subject wrote:Finally I confess that I dislike "3rd Edition" so please forgive me if I ever insult that which is dear to your heart.~Thomas

Take it easy, you won't be alone!

mearls wrote:The designer's job is to push the edges of the system, and I serve to keep things functional and balanced.

So you're the DM, then?  :lol:

Hello All!

Larry, 34, from California. Been lurking for a while and found the Acaeum to be extremely useful while rebuilding my collection of old school D&D stuff. I used to DM quite a bit in my earlier years ( 9-18 ) but after high school other matters became more important (college, work, women, ...not neccessarily in that order, you know the drill hehehe). Anyway thought I would break down, sign up, and say hello.

Hello =)

Just slightly warmer hehehe, and thanks for the welcome! I would imagine London right now as icy, cold, and dreary.  I am a fan of the cold however =)