thebitterguy

You know, it's odd, but the phrase "the Golden Age of SF is 12" is one I really like because, against all odds, I have fond memories of my childhood.

Admittedly, I don't have a LOT of memories of my childhood (possibly because of brain damage suffered in a car crash 13 years ago, and holy crap was that 13 years ago?), but I remember it fondly.

So, yes, it's odd to realize how mind numbingly nostalgic I can get reading old issues of Dragon Magazine. Anything from the late '80s to early '90s will just make my eyes get misty.

It's not so much the articles as the ads. A book on Dwarves, by a guy named Aaron Allston? Suddenly, Dwarves of Rockholme is on my 'must get' list. The ads for stuff from England: stores like the GamesKeeper in Oxford (much unlike our own Gameskeeper, a skanky arcade with dust covered modules) or The Crazy Dwarf in West Sussex, probably just like our local shops, are far off venues that must be stuffed with mysterious wonders; The Circle of Legend Fantasy Club, which as far as I can tell was just a fancy module (signed by author Andrew J. Beasley, who might have gone on to write a Dr. Who novel) and which had four sets of minis you could buy with it for 39.99 pounds; and the Esdevium Games mail order catalogue, which dwarfed the selection available at any venue here in the Dominion (remember, Napanee. I had a 30 minute drive to a poor Lesiure World store, and couldn't find a good game shop with a map and a compass). There was adventure across the ocean. Delphi, some kind of computer thing, was talking about 'A NEW ERA' in gaming.

All these things held promises to a young boy. They offered excitement and adventure. Sure, I was in what could possibly be the most mediocre D&D game in the world (The adventures of Dave's Girlfriend and the other PCs; imagine being a henchman in a Monty Haul game. Yeah, that bad), but this was reassurance that there was good gaming out there. FUN gaming.

I'm glad that I've found out it's true, that there's lots of neat guys (and girls) out there to toss the dice with, as well as lots of jerks in the hobby. GenCon isn't necessarily better than your local game con, just a whole lot bigger.