Breakfast Topic: Your first step toward Azeroth
by Dan O'Halloran 
May 19th 2008 at 8:00AM
Matthew Rossi wrote this weeks RP column as David Bower takes a short break. I'm not an roleplayer myself, but the first paragraph caught my eye. To establish his RP credentials, Matthew linked to the old Erol Otus art of the original Dungeons and Dragons printed rule books.Looking at those reminded me of when I was but a wee lad playing the game with my friends. It was my introduction to the world of tabletop roleplaying games. But even before all that, my first true introduction to fantastic world was (big surprise), a copy of 'The Hobbit' my uncle gave me for my 11th birthday. It opened my eyes to fantasy novels which led to my interest in D&D and eventually computer games and World of Warcraft.
What was the first spark in your life that led you to playing WoW today?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
SaintStryfe May 19th 2008 8:07AM
Final Fantasy I in 1990 was a big push. So was FFVI (FF3 US) 5 or so years later. I think my greatest push was running the RPG Club I did in college. When I left college and couldn't find a gaming group locally to me when I went home, I got into WoW.
Josef May 19th 2008 8:10AM
When I played warcraft 2 at my cousins house, I failed at it completly (I was 10 so I have an excuse) but I loved the fact that you could play as the "bad guys" :)
Chriasas May 19th 2008 8:10AM
That picture above was probably the cataylst. I was in sixth grade band class, using first level elf running through S3, and surviving only long enough to be killed by a PC assasin named Crom.
Khanmora May 19th 2008 8:15AM
I am playing due to spousal interference :)
My husband thought I would like it even though I hadn't played many PC games (Bedazzled for the win). I enjoyed playing tabletop Shadowrun in college and read fantasy novels and played console games. He was right, I did like it and am still playing 3 and a half years later.
Gentber May 19th 2008 8:21AM
Mine was D&D (the one that came in the red A4 box) when I was about eleven or twelve years old; then some more RPGs and tabletop gaming (Rifts, Cyberpunk, Shadowrun, Cthulu, W40K...) throughout my teens.
Then I went away to University and decided that I was much too cool for all that stuff and that girls and guitars was where it was at which is how it remained for most of my 20s, although I did manage some very casual console gaming.
Anyway, I pitched up at nearly-30 with a house and fiancee and realised that I could do without being in bars five nights a week and had read a lot about WoW so thought I would give it a go. And I love it, it's the escapism I felt when I was a teenager in a more easily accesible form.
Jp May 19th 2008 8:37AM
I came via the route of the console games. Dragon Warrior for the NES.
mdmadph May 19th 2008 8:58AM
Hey, me too! Loved that game, though I never finished it.
(Got to the very last level of the very last dungeon and was eaten by a dragon, threw down the controller in disgust, and never played again. Hey, I was nine.)
Aaron May 19th 2008 8:38AM
Shining Force II on the Genesis entered me into the Fantasy RPG world. Being the first RPG game I've played, it still remains my favourite to this day
spido May 19th 2008 8:48AM
d&d also, but i've been playing console rpg games for a while
wow is kinda of a copy of d&d anyway
mdmadph May 19th 2008 8:57AM
You could say the same for every role-playing game since D&D, if you really wanted to. :P
dotorion May 19th 2008 8:47AM
Age of Empires II --> Warcraft 3 --> WoW
Xecnamalain May 19th 2008 7:12PM
The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past.
jaykay May 19th 2008 8:55AM
i used to play AD&D back in the day but the "spark" that made me interested in WoW was a MUD called Duris - Land of Bloodlust.
It was a damn hard MUD to play which was full pvp.. meaning you could kill anyone.. your side or the other :) was wicked fun but it so much more hardcore than WoW.
things like:
* lootable corpses on pvp.. and i mean everything!
* lose exp on getting killed, and gained exp on making a kill. adds a new spin to griefing :)
but we all played it and had a damn good time. couldn't imagine going back though.. i like pretty images now!
Chuddy May 19th 2008 9:01AM
Kyrandia back when BBS's were king before the internet's and I still connected via a 4800 modem. Thank god for cable. Then King's Quest. Then years later got into W2 in college. Played it until 3 in the morning. Sounds a lot like another game of the same franchise I play now. haha.
MechChef May 19th 2008 9:19AM
I always enjoyed the Warcraft/Starcraft RTS games. Plus I knew a couple people who played WoW. That coupled with moving to a new town and being bored out of my mind.
Supernoob May 19th 2008 9:07AM
My first step to WoW was mume. A full PvP, full RP full loot/theft Tolkien Mud. It is still much more intense and rich than Wow, even though text based. Sadly though without a fulltime commitment it is very hard to level and map.
Cremean May 19th 2008 9:06AM
The First RPG I ever enjoyed was Earthbound for the SNES, first step into PC gaming was Diablo 1.
Mel May 19th 2008 9:06AM
Talisman, DSA, Stormbringer-RPG. Then a loooong time nothing except obsessiver fantasy-book-reading, followed by a brief Diablo spout which finally brought me to WoW.
Dobs May 19th 2008 9:15AM
That selfsame copy of D&D, circa 1981 or '82.
Arcturus May 19th 2008 9:18AM
The Hobbit has brought a lot of people into rpgs and the fantasy genre in general, including myself. However the first pc game that I played was this baby right here, which was sent to me in the mail by complete mistake, and I actually considered sending it back for a refund :0 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betrayal_In_Antara