Melf

[Gentlegamer]

I was just visiting one of my RPG communities and reminded me that I've meant to ask: where did you get the name "Melf" . . ? Are you an old D&D player/fan?

[Melf]

Yes I am! I started playing D&D around '80-'81, and I loved the name in the spell "Melf's Acid Arrow." I originally used a character called Xavier the Mighty, but I switched to Melf shortly thereafter. It became the name for all my RPG video game characters (four characters FTW), and then my online name. I've been using it more or less for around 25 years or so.




...damn I'm old.

[VinnyT]

So, since you were 5 years old then?
I thought you were in your early 30's.

[Melf]

I was born in '73.

[extrarice]

Funny, I just rolled a new character last night for a new campaign starting in a few weeks.

[Joe Redifer]

Isn't the point of games like Dungeons and Dragons just to level up your characters? Do the games have endings? Cutscenes? I heard they go on forever (literally) and people who play them enjoy committing suicide for some reason.

[Genesis Knight]

By D+D games I guess you mean video games (Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights)?

[Joe Redifer]

I'm talking about the board games where you roll a 900-sided dice. Back when the Master System was around I recall a whole slew of D&D players killing themselves because they were so into the game or something like that. From what I've heard, people who do play the board game get perhaps a little "too" in to it, kind of like people who play Warcraft. Keep in mind that my experience with the game and knowledge of it is extremely limited.

[Genesis Knight]

Well, then...

The point isn't to level up as much as to complete storylines and roleplay your way through fictional scenarios. It varies. Pretty much all games have an ending to the quest, but many people carry their characters over from quest to quest throughout a campaign, which yeah might go on for a long time. You have to remember that D&D's content is usually player-created by dungeon masters, so it's not quite like buying a board game and playing it through. You could go your whole life without playing the same scenario twice; it all depends on people's imaginations.

Back in the 80s there were some unsubstantiated claims that tons of people were offing themselves over D&D, based one on case where a guy died during in-costume roleplay. I don't think D&D players are any more suicidal than the usual anime-gaming-metal-fantasy-scifi fan. Yes, they do usually get obsessed with the game, but no moreso than WoW players; probably a bit less likely because the content is harder to generate and not as convenient.

So basically, no to 'the only point is to level up', yes to the endings, no to the forever part, and no to 'are you a die-hard freak, Genesis Knight?'

[Mr Smith]

I was always under the impression that D&D was the pre-computer equivalent of an RPG of which the Dungeon Master acted as the CPU.

I would imagine the suicide rate would be higher among D&D players than the general population, as there were some real hardcore nerds who played that game. As with any niche group that features leapers from society, the suicide rate would likely be higher. Although I doubt many people took their lives because a Cyclops slew their level 48 cleric.

[Genesis Knight]

I was always under the impression that D&D was the pre-computer equivalent of an RPG of which the Dungeon Master acted as the CPU.

It is, sort of, but there's far more playing interaction, acting, and storytelling going on, so the connection is pretty loose.

[Joe Redifer]

WTF is a dungeon master? Please tell me that it doesn't involve cosplay.

[Genesis Knight]

Basically you have the group of people who are assuming the role of the heroes and are 'playing' the game in the traditional sense. They fight monsters, find items, talk to NPCs, etcetera.

The Dungeon Master is the person who controls the monsters, the NPCs, dictates the flow of the story, and all that. This element is what makes D&D different from your standard video game because it's basically the Dungeon Master and the players telling a story together. It's just that the DM knows everything and has ultimate control while the players are along for the ride and have the ability to change small things, decisions, etc.

It's like Mr. Smith said. Dungeon Masters take the place of the computer.

[VinnyT]

I remember Dexters Lab doing a D&D episode, which ended up with DeDe turning a giant dragon into a pinata and giving everyone candy.

That's the extent of my D&D career.

[Genesis Knight]

Wow. S-16s geek quotient is trending downwards. Bonus points for Dexter's Lab, though, which was a fav of mine back in the day.