I started playing D&D back in 1980 in Detention of all palces, we actually got caught on purpose so we could all have a time to get together to play. It was the Purple/Red box of D&D.

Since then things have been hit or miss, my dad was in the navy so after being born in NY, moving to RI, Iceland, Virgina, and New Hampshire he finally retired. We played D&D hit ot miss from Virgina to New Hampshire. Got back into RPG's more full time in high school and much more in college. I started DM'ing back then too, and did so up through the long years of grad school. It was in grad school that i Finally got to play the SWRPG, while i like D&D and play it more often than the SWRPG i much prefer the SW universe, and had owned just about every WEG book they put out, just never played it. And just last week i got an article published on the WotC web page for the SW RPG.

(Wonders if he has ever seen the Auld Grump around stores in the NH area, for the MANY years i was in the area)

I had an eventful 1976/1977, my 4th grade year. I saw Star Wars, and read both Dune and Lord of the Rings for the first time - and my life was forever changed.

Shortly after that (5th grade), people started playing D&D at my school. I couldn't get my folks to spring for buying any of it, so I started designing my own stuff, and the first RPG I ever really played was my own (and it sucked). Finally at the end of 6th grade and into 7th grade, I was able to start buying my own (I started spending my allowance on gaming stuff instead of Star Wars figures and baseball cards), and I found some people to play with more regularly. My first D&D purchase was the Red Boxed set, although one of the guys we played with had the one before that.

Later in Jr. High, we started play AD&D, which opened up new worlds to us. I experimented with a lot of other games - RuneQuest, Star Frontiers, Gamma World (loved GW), and on and on, into college - Vampire/Werewolf, Over the Edge, Champions/HERO, GURPS (yuck), In Nomine, Call of Cthulhu. Some friends dabbled in 2nd Ed. D&D, but I thought it sucked horribly.

After college I got busy with life, the band I was in and other stuff (not all of it good stuff), and quit gaming for almost a decade. My marriage coincided about the same time as the release of 3rd Edition D&D, and my wife had been a gamer in college - so after we got married (strange timing, it seems that people usually stop after getting married, not start) my wife and I decided to get back into gaming.

I started playing D&D again, and really got hooked on the Scarred Lands. Then came more and more and more and more and more D&D sourcebooks - and then came 3.5, which really irritated me. A few intrepid souls on this board introduced me to Savage Worlds, and I haven't looked back since.

I started gaming when I was 9 or 10, with the D&D red box. (Man, it's amazing how many of us started there!) I played sporadicaly through high school; some D&D, some HeroQuest, and the like), but didn't get serious until after I graduated from High School.

I was visiting a friend of a friend, and was introduced to Vampire: the Masquerade. They were all about LARPing (before any rules for it ever came out), with 99% of the focus being character interaction and plot. I was hooked! I got back into D&D, found 40k and Fantasy Warhammer, BattleTech, Call of Cthulhu (started inhaling Lovecraft, too), GURPS, all the other White Wolf games, and Magic: The Gathering all within a space of two years.

I met my wife during this time, and she was just as into it as I was, having grown up in a household that had the adults around a gaming table every week! She and I have played just about everything together, and she's still in every game that her schedule allows for. She's also my biggest supporter for my WorldWorks habit!

All this has culminated in the quest to open my own game store with my best friend. It's been a project for well over the past 6 years, and we're nearing the final stages. In a bizarre twist of fate, this will mean that I won't be able to play nearly as much myself, but I will be able to introduce my favorite hobby and pastime to a whole new generation of gamers! Viva la Game Stores!

Started with D&D in the '70's , think I was 11, maybe 12. Only played a few times in somebody's basement in Colorado. The book has a blue cover. Still have it......somewhere buried here. Bought DragonQuest by SPI at a garage sale soon thereafter. Went through a period with AD&D, and Tunnels and Trolls, and then a dry spell, mostly SJ games: Car Wars, Ogre, GEV, along with WH40K. Got into LARP with the IFGS for long while, and my favorite system from that period, WFRP.

Moved to Central Florida, got in with a group here in the late 80's been playing weekly pretty much ever since, with a few quiet spells here and there. WFRP, 2nd ed, 3rd ed, Champions,Shadowrun, Marvel, DC,Talislanta, Rifts, earthdawn, Ars Magica, Gurps, Savage Worlds. The list goes on awhile........

Been GM'ing since moving to FL, haven't 'played' in who knows how long.
Most of my 'play' time comes from wargaming. Various and sundry games in that list too.

Remember reading an article about D+D in The Times supplement sometime in 80/81.
Then went to secondary school and met a guy there whose older brother played First ed Ad D +D. Had a steady group of 6-7 players.Played solid for about 7 years.
Also played classic traveller,Runequest, Call of Cthulu-we had an excellent referee.Later played Cyberpunk 2020 which i still love.
Unfortunately the group drifted apart as we went off to Uni and never really got back again.Kinda lost interest playing with anyone else as the nights were often just as much social events as the actual gameplay.
feel a little nostalgic now(gazes out of windoe wistfully...)