Adventure Gamers - Forums

This can be anything. Faulkner. Religious texts. The memoirs of Lord Byron. The Necronomicon.

Good question. Before I started playing lots of games again, a little over a year ago, I finished at least one fat book for every game I play these days.
The first answer that comes to mind is Harry Potter. I was a precocious contrarian when the books started to become poplar in the US, so while my family and friends were reading The Sorcerer’s Stone, I was reading The Eye of the World.
I really would like to have read them, not so much because I think I’ll find them to be mindblowingly good or more worthwhile than a number of other similar books, (I think I’ll enjoy them, but I don’t think I’ll feel very strongly about ‘em one way or another), but because it would be great to be Harry Potter conversant with the rest of the world.
Because my sisters listened to the first three books on tape on repeat, I know more than enough to get by, but in my job I meet a lot of very enthusiastic fans, and I’d like to be able to latch onto their enthusiasm and help them run with it, instead of giving them blank stares past a certain point.

Here’s another thing: I have read a lot of books. If I retained even half of the history I’ve read, I could be a professor in a couple of different areas. Problem is, I don’t retain info well. It’s great for replaying King’s Quest games and rewatching Miyazaki movies, but it’s very frustrating to read Thomas Babbington Macaulay’s five volume History of England (very readable, accessible, and enjoyable book, by the way) and a year later only remember 2% of it. And I read slowly and take notes, too!
So, before I even read books I’ve never read, I often feel impelled to reread books I’ve already read!

Yeah, Harry Potter was a phenomenon, but I never got into it either. My previous D&D group went in pretty hard with references to Harry Potter, “Scrubs” and “The Last Airbender”, 90% went over my head.

I used to think: I can pick up what I need to know about these phenomena from the people around me, in combination with just.. the general public awareness of these books/shows/movies/etc. In the meantime, let me get invested in every odd and interesting piece of media that crosses my path.

Turns out you have a couple of minutes of conversation about Star Wars or Harry Potter before something exposes you as a total rube.

I imagine real fans come into a store like yours, at least on some level, to feel their enthusiasm is understood. Or they’re just bored and they like looking at shiny things. Either way, if you know your stuff, you can roll those dice for fun and profit!

Baron_Blubba - 15 June 2021 04:15 PM

Here’s another thing: I have read a lot of books. If I retained even half of the history I’ve read, I could be a professor in a couple of different areas. Problem is, I don’t retain info well. It’s great for replaying King’s Quest games and rewatching Miyazaki movies, but it’s very frustrating to read Thomas Babbington Macaulay’s five volume History of England (very readable, accessible, and enjoyable book, by the way) and a year later only remember 2% of it. And I read slowly and take notes, too!
So, before I even read books I’ve never read, I often feel impelled to reread books I’ve already read!

In this game, “Thrift Store Quest”, can we have Blubba as a college professor of general but nebulous history? This infinite source of wisdom..

“..but where did I leave that book?”

I’d like to read the pitch for “Maniac Mansion”, the TV Show. I dove about halfway into that rabbit hole when I got home from work. It’s not that deep. But.. I do wonder:

Why did they insist on calling it “Maniac Mansion” and referencing the game in the intro music? I can’t imagine the game had such a cultural impact that a semi-mainstream family sitcom would gain traction by association. Did they roll with the name to keep that Lucas investment secure? Was the original idea darker, with characters being more dysfunctional (YEAH SO!!!), were there tentacles?

Why did it turn out the way it did?

Yeah, Harry Potter was a phenomenon, but I never got into it either. My previous D&D group went in pretty hard with references to Harry Potter, “Scrubs” and “The Last Airbender”, 90% went over my head.

DND with Potter? That might be pretty awesome.

Nice!

I imagine a desert island with a tent, a little bookshelf and a near-infinite amount of canned fruits and vegetables.

You’d wake up thinking.. this is the life. Eating soggy peaches and reading Hegel.

But for real, very cool picks, Luhr! I’d like to take a swing at both books myself.

Adv_Lvr - 26 July 2021 07:16 PM

DND with Potter? That might be pretty awesome.

It certainly worked, but I felt a bit out of the loop at times.

Maybe I’ll necromance a D&D thread if there’s one stuffed away in the back of the forums somewhere, or start a new one. Pretty interested in other people’s experience with tabletop roleplaying.

Regarding the topic at hand: the Quran, Hadith and general text on Sufism. I’ve read a.. less than mediocre English translation of the Quran, because I can’t understand Arabic.

(it was terribly edited as well, to make the blasphemy complete)