D&D Part 7

Community
Dungeons and Dragons community is much like other broader parts of the geek culture, in that there is not one definition for it. DDO is one great way to have a community for Dungeons and Dragons players, they can be playing with a person they are at a LAN party with, or they can be playing alone in their room, while still playing with someone on the other side of the world. Many stick with the pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons and their community is the people they sit down and play with. Much like pen and paper Dungeon and Dragon Players board game Dungeon and Dragon Players’ main community are the people they sit down to play with. LARPers have a more active community, and usually deal with more people than either the pen and paper or the board gameDungeon and Dragon Players. Many Dungeon and Dragon Players find community on the web, usually in the form of forums. Many Dungeon and Dragon Players like to go to conventions, some to feel they are a part of something bigger, others to learn from other Dungeon and Dragon Players, others to teach other Dungeon and Dragon Players, and some just to show off their character, or costume.
Ideology
Most Dungeon and Dragon Players would say there is no one ideology for all Dungeon and Dragon Players , some wish to be what they always wish they could be in the real world, other wish to do things not allowed in the real world, some wish to save the day, but cannot or do not have the skills required to do so in the real world. However all have imagination, and the wish to use them in some way, whether that is to escape from some part of the real world, or to create a better (or worse) world of their own.

D&D part 6

Language
DDO - Dungeons and Dragons Online
LARP - Live Action Role Playing
NPC - Non-Player Character
PC - Player Character
GM - Game Master (same as DM)
DM - Dungeon Master (same as GM)
Squishies - Players with low HP and/or AC
CC - Crowd Control - used for characters who keeps the ‘squishies’ safe
DPS - Damage Per Second - the characters that do large amounts of damage
Tank - The character meant to take the hits, usually high HP and AC
HP - Hit Point
AC - Armor Class - used to describe how good the gear is at taking hits
Melee - Up close fighter, the ones that get right into the thick of the fight
Range - Fighting from a distance

Comments Half way through

I would like to point out the D&D culture is not conclusive, or even all that in depth, as it was after only 4 weeks of actual research on the specifics of D&D culture, which means this is just a start point, not an end point.

D&D Culture part 5

History of Dungeons and Dragons Original 1974 D&D Basic Set 1st Revision 1977 AD&D 1977–1979 D&D Basic Set 2nd Revision 1981 D&D Basic Set 3rd Revision 1983–1986 AD&D 2nd Edition 1989 D&D 3rd Edition 2000 D&D v3.5 2003 D&D 4th edition 2008 4th Ed Red Box 2010 1974 changed the world. At the time people thought nothing of it. Now we have so much from both the geek and the non-geek worlds to thank for this one thing. It was not a completely new creation, but it did create a whole new culture. D&D, Dungeons and Dragons, the original RPG, role playing game. It has since created a culture completely unique to Dungeons and Dragons, but has also had major influences on education, board games, video games, helped people with social disorders, what more can you ask of a single three volume set. When Dungeons and Dragons first came out people who did not want to play a game that seemed to be the same every time, the people that had imagination, the outcasts were given something that was theirs, something designed for the way they think. Since its first creation there have been a total of 4 base editions, this does not include sets like original, 3.5, etc. The real downside to OD&D, Original Dungeons and Dragons, was that the math was very complicated, making it hard for the average person to access. Each set since than has made things more understandable, and in many ways easier to play, the latest set even has a way to sit down and start playing with almost no set up, or start up time needed. My own group of friends love the Dungeons and Dragons concept, but even in our little group the exact opinions vary. None prefer OD&D, 1st Ed, or 2nd Ed, but there are the 3rd Ed faction, v3.5 faction, and the 4th Ed faction, I do have other friends from outside my main crew that are a part of the 2nd Ed . I myself started with v3.5, so even though it is not my favorite anymore, I still defend it, and probably will for the rest of my life. Caroline has tried every Dungeons and Dragons set, she believes that v3.5 is the best, for her play style at least. “3.5 is not as complicated as earlier versions, but not so simple that you can just phone it in.” I have not dealt with the Red Box Set yet so I will use the words of one of the pair voted most influential geeks in the world, Mike Krahulik, known to most of the geek world as Johnathan "Gabe" Gabriel “The first thing I noticed about Essentials was its character creation process. I have honestly never filled in a character sheet with a pencil. Since I discovered Dungeons and Dragons with 4th Ed I have always had the benefit of the online character creator. I have to say there was something cool about filling in numbers and erasing mistakes. The Essentials Player’s Handbook does an incredible job of walking you through this process via a solo adventure. “It’s structured like an old choose your own adventure with questions at the end of each section. When your wagon is attacked by goblins in the beginning the story asks you if your first reaction is to draw a weapon, cast a spell, heal the driver or sneak around behind the attackers. From there you jump to the appropriate section and continue with the adventure. What kind of spell do you cast? do you offer to help or ask for a reward? By the end of the adventure you have completely filled out your character sheet with your class, defenses, skills, languages, gear and powers. I honestly found this part to be really smart and a lot of fun.”

D&D Part 5

Who are the people involved in this research? My main group for this research was my Dungeons and Dragons crew of 8, including myself, I also asked those who are joining our group in the next few weeks as we spilt the rather large group into two smaller groups that are working towards the same goal, without being together while we are doing so. Old Lady* plays a Psion Changeling, in the real world she is the oldest in the group at 50, she is white female lawyer from New York who is married to one of the groups latest additions. Monkeys* plays a Warforged Battle Mind, in the real world he is a mixed blood 23 year old single male from Seattle that works in IT. El Toro Grande* plays a Human Fighter, while in the real world he is a 26 year old student from Seattle, who labels himself as forever alone, and is very proud to be both Portuguese and South American. Amy plays a Gnome Storm Sorcerer, and in the real world is a 26 year old artist originally from Monroe, married to another member of the group. Richard Rockhard* plays a Gnome Warlock, in the real world he is 34 year old from Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa who works in IT and is married to Amy. Bryon plays an Elf Monk, and in the real world is a 24 year old single white male from Seattle. Damoel* is the leader, AKA GM for the group, when not gaming he is a legal assistant, he is 29 years old which puts him near the middle of our ages. I also talked with Pete, who joins the group on 3 December 2010, and is married to Old Lady. Caroline and her husband Brent who will be joining us sometime in the next couple of weeks, originally they said they would never play 4th Ed, that v3.5 was the only Dungeons and Dragons they would play.

D&D part 4

What is Role Playing Culture? Language Role Playing does find most of its players speaking English, but the real part of the language that makes Role Playing language its own is the using of words no one else uses, and in ways that no one else would. Melee, GM, DM, DPS, tank, crowd control, MMORPG, and healer are all common Role Playing words, and are really required if one is to discuss what they are doing. Community Role Playing culture can still be anywhere, but is more defined and yet less defined. Online RPGs, MMORPGs, FRPGs, pen and paper RPGs, board game RPGs, and LARPs are the main forms of community of the actual gaming itself. Online forums, and conventions are major places for Role Players to go, to see and learn what others are doing and show off what they are doing. Ideology Role Playing Ideology is more than just the escape from a world that does not accept the gamer, but is a very active escape, one must either play as someone else in a world that is not the real world, or create the world the players will be using to escape. Traditions Role Playing traditions are simply the playing of the games, and usually going out either in the real or virtual worlds to meet other Role Players. Cultural Items Dice are very important to Role Players, sometimes because they need them for the gaming, other because they wish to have a connection to the past, other simply because everyone else they know has them, and the thought of being the odd one out in a group of social misfits just seems wrong. Music For the most part what has been covered for the other broader geek and gaming cultures is the same for Role Players, there is one addition, the really over the top GMs sound effects (eg rain, storm, eerie music).

Late night WoW

"I meant to hit Alt-4, but hit Alt-F4." ~ D
"This next fight is an idiot check, so we are screwed." ~ D
"You guys are killing me, I need to breath, not just laugh." ~ E

In class quotes

From Comparative Study of Death:
"I am the professional dead person." - Prof
"We use nice terms like going home, etc, you are dead. Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead." - Prof

I expect more interesting comments to come from classes this quarter, I will be posting them here (but only when I remember this blog exists).

Posting has me confused

Clearly I have not been around here much, but over break I started posting my D&D research (as turned in) to my gamer research blog, but when I posted just now, I decided to look at the blog itself (as some classmates have shown interest in it) and it looks like all 3 posts did not go up until today, even though they are dated earlier . . . looks like I found something else I have broken, go me.

D&D culture part 3

Again, this is not the bible on the subject, just part of geek introduction. What is Gaming Culture? Language Gaming Culture does not have a unifying language, but does use words in slightly different ways. For example turn can be used as most of society uses it to mean ‘my turn’ or ‘your turn’, but is very commonly used to mean this round of turns. Community When it comes to gaming your community is whoever you game with, and whomever you discussing said gaming with, which can be anywhere, and everywhere. Ideology Many geeks escape into discussions, or non active members of their escaping by just watching TV or Movies or reading books or graphic novels. Gaming culture is built around the active escape, whether it be through playing of gaming that other have created, creating an avatar and existing for a time as another person, or even creating your own world, and people in it. Traditions Gaming cultures one real tradition is gaming. Gaming can be anything from playing a single player video game, to LARPing all across the UW campus. Cultural Items Gamers cannot really be gamers without the having of dice sets, whether that be a block of d6s or a full set of dice. Even video gamers have dice sets even thought they are not needed for their game of choice. Music McChris is very popular with gamers, most geeks have at least heard his stuff, but Gamers seem more connected to his work. Jonathan Coulton is also very popular amongst gamers.

D&D culture part 2

This is purely an overview that I thought was important for the non geek reader to understand before they could understand anything deeper. What is Geek Culture? Language Unlike most cultures where part of their self definition is a shared language, geek culture does not have a language that everyone speaks. English is a major language for many parts of geek culture, German is major in board gaming culture, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese are major in video gaming. There are some things that while not technically part of the same language has crept into the different languages. 1337 (pronounced leet) is common where the non-letters on the keyboard can be used in such a way that they look like letters. lolspeak started as a way to make fun of people that use bad grammar, etc, now it is mostly used by the people it was first meant to make fun of, and by people doing cat, etc pictures online. Geeks have also created language that others use on a daily basis, just to exist. Without C++ I could not be writing this paper, and without html I could not turn it in online. Community Space the final frontier, but not all that important to geek community. Geeks do not have one place that they need to use or share, or even deal with to be a geek. The internet was created by geeks, and while non geeks enter the space, and use it, it is still the home of the geeks, but one need not ever go into a geek forum, or write a geek blog, or even play an MMORPG to be a real geek, or be involved in the community. There are geek groups all over where people get together in the old fashioned way of face to face. Ideology There is no one unifying ideology for this culture. Mostly it is people that are misfits, but find community with other misfits that think the same way, or enjoy the same things. Most geeks do seem to wish the world to be a better place, or to exist in another space, and so they go online, and enter this otherworld, or they play games where there is no need to dealing with real things, or even create their own world to exist in for a short time. This wish to be anywhere but here likely has to do with the way society as a whole views geeks, even as we are becoming the majority. Traditions There is not one things you can say all geeks do, but there are things that are very common. There are certain shows e.g. Monty Python, Dr Who, Red Dwarf, Star Trek, and Star Wars, that most geeks have seen and have opinions on, and most of them will gladly share with anyone looking for an in depth ‘discussion’. There are also movies that the same can be said of eg Dr Who, Red Dwarf, Star Trek, and Star Wars. Most geeks also either play a lot of games, or have strong opinions on why they do not Cultural Items With such a broad spectrum of what it is to be a geek is it possible to walk into a geeks house and see something that makes a person know that this is the lair of a geek? Well, there is not just one thing, but most geeks collect or prize certain things. Dice collections are very common amongst geek, as are minis, books are a staple of most geeks worlds, as are board games. Many people today have computer along with a few computer accessories, but not on the level that most geeks do. Music Geek music is rather varied and is more defined by where a person lives, than by their level of geek. However Nerd Core is common in most geekscircles, even if they otherwise do not like Hip Hop. For people who like the more folksy sound Filk is the musical choice, from what I can gather Filk started with a certain song that came from a show that defines the geeks want to not exist in this world, “The Man They Call Jayne” was from Firefly.