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My regret: I couldn't find a nice old set of scales to put the gargoyle's quest cartridge on one side and chocolate on the other.

's an authentic BruceVC post all right.

Nice reading Bruce! I don't know the specific book, but Enid Blytons "The Famous Five" books were something I loved, growing up. The four kids and their dog going on all kinds of adventures, helping a young mind escaping the limitations of the physical world and go to various places of the imagination. Had the very same "red" D&D basic rule book too Good to see, that circumstances didn't completely block your access to things that interested you

Great blog. A very interesting and fun read!! And your gaming interests very closely mirror my own! After RPGs, it's strategy games and builder/management games for me as well.

Fascinating! The Famous Five books were the first books I started reading for myself, as opposed to having my father or grandfather read them to me. Prolly when I was four or five years old.

Well said, though games are complex and the players' hardware and software configurations are diverse, so waiting for at least a month before playing might bring a more enjoyable experience. Still, I do believe that you will have a great time even if there are minor technical issues. I am looking forward to the game, though more accessible and environmentally-friendly system requirements would be most welcome and I shall resist the urge to pre-purchase and take a vacation.

Great story Melkie, I really enjoyed it The eternal and industrious entrepreneurial gamer spirit never dies !!!!

I knew my expectations were justified! Awesome read @melkathi Yeah, some things haven't changed the last 40 years when it comes to how games are marketed. The games don't always match the box art (said the guy who stared at curvy women box art painted by Boris Vallejo on the old SSI and 3Do games in the 80's) Hope those cat forks pays your next games!

Tl;dr; 20 years is a life time I still think back to those days in 1983, when fighting my mum over access to the TV. I swear, she never cared watching TV before, until I got that Commodore 64 and didn't have my own screen (yet) It was the fight of the titans, seeing who was the most stubborn In the end, I made enough money to buy a 12" black and white TV to put up in my own room. Peace settled over the land and everyone could back to worry about total nuclear war (the real thing, not the later video game) But it's been a long journey, technologies come and go, concepts come and go, target audiences come and go. VHS won out over Beta MAX, but nobody today knows what the heck either of them are. Tapes were the original medium video games were sold on for home computers, whether they be Acorn BBC model B or Sinclair ZX Spectrums. Floppy disks followed and less floppy, floppy (3.5") followed and eventually cd roms. Even those eventually died out and everyone gets their fix from the internet. Scratching my head and wondering what replaces the current internet some day? All of that in 2x20 years.

Thanks, @MedicineDan! I remember the Satanic scare. I was just being introduced to D&D at a community centre where I learned to love RPGs and play chess. I also recall the community centre had to decide whether to continue to provide space for D&D sessions. I am most grateful they decide to continue to offer this resource. For a child, of a single parent, there were already enough strikes against my family and this exposure and that centre were likely resources that helped me navigate such challenging times.

Great story, nice one Dan I love how these blogs demonstrate the reality and humanity of peoples lives and how gaming became a positive influence I am glad you didnt end up corrupted and a Satanist because of RPG, I always suspected it wasn't likely And MoB, what a gem. An iconic game for sure and a " must play" for all fans of party based RPG

Sounds like a plan, count me in. Hopefully we get to read your blog and gaming journey as a contribution Good to hear you still around

lol Bruce, you glorious bastard! I have a feeling we'll be laughing together soon. I read your post and I thought, "this is sweet." We will meet sometime, brother. If not in this life, then in the next. I hope Valley of Fire, only without the Deathclaws.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Faraway_Tree There are a whole series of fantasy books based on the Faraway Tree theme and these books were written from 1939-1951, I had forgotten how much they had influenced my love of fantasy because I had assumed it had started with the Steve Jackson books but when I was thinking about the blog and my journey I realized it had started much earlier. I didnt read these books myself so that was what had created my original love of fantasy And that red box D&D image, I will never forget it

Thank you, Bruce, for sharing your journey into gaming. It's intriguing to see how our reading interests lay the groundwork for our digital inclinations. The recurring theme of the power of storytelling is striking, as it not only motivates us to engage in gaming but also to connect with and remain loyal to exceptional storytellers

Heya BruceVC - I appreciate the nuance that cRPG are not intrinsically narrative driven. That has been my experience and I have found, though I love a good RPG, if it is not essentially story-driven I quickly loose interest. I think that is why SIMs interest me but tend not to hold my attention for very long!

Thanks, Hawke64. Yes the ability to branch with choices that feel real and have consequences has always been a strength. I think it is interesting the evolution since the original FO (1 & 2) and how ambiguity continues to be a strong component of the realism: if that makes sense?

Great read, its not a surprise that the common thread in most of the blogs is the appreciation and love of the strength of Obsidians story telling and world building Someone might say " but every RPG has to have good story telling " but thats not necessarily true. You can find entertaining RPG that are strong on combat mechanics or quest choices that you enjoy but the overarching narrative is not fantastic A grand and compelling narrative that is truly thought provoking is an art that Obsidian delivers on. And I gauge that on when I literally have to stop the game and think for 15-20 minutes about what choice I need to make and the consequence around that choice Like with PoE2 and with F: NV and who I should support around who ends up controlling NV

Well said. These qualities, the player's agency with branching paths, choices, and their consequences, are what sets Obsidian's work apart and utilises the unique aspects of the interactive medium. Also the strong writing and characters, rich lore, and other engaging and well-designed gameplay systems. I am looking forward to Avowed, even if I am going to wait before purchasing (would like to have it on GOG and complete). There were Eothas and the faction leaders. I found myself quite enjoying cutting down Atsura and Hazanui Karu. They were reasonably grounded and understandable, while having the capacity to be compelling antagonists. The same can be said about the other factions, I suppose. The Vailian Trading Company was the least directly hostile to the party, but they absolutely could (did) murder random civilians. On the other hand, allying with a faction would provide a satisfying ending as well. Though, as it required compromising my ego and losing companions, I greatly appreciated the ability to finish the game without their support.

Thaos is a great villain. He is menacing and mysterious, and he has a personal connection to the player character. It's the sort of nemesis that Deadfire is missing a bit. I guess Deadfire went for a bit less traditional storytelling, but I don't really remember any antagonist from Deadfire that quite has the same impact as Thaos. Not even Nemnok. Sorry, little fellow.

After replaying The Outer Worlds fully, I discovered* that the civilians in Byzantium do try to run away, though not quite far. *It was after I chose the Attack option while looting a certain companion's parents' house. So, there was not much space to run and definitely nowhere to hide (the NPC survived the encounter, but it was interesting to watch).

Thanks, Bruce and my Scaly Friend. I hadn't been on this board for years before I saw this blog. Over that time, I've developed friendships and lost them on this board. I have a personal friendship for some 20+ years because of these boards. I don't know where metadigital is. I hope he is well and everything is okay. I literally contacted a friend in law enforcement to check up on him some years ago to make sure he was okay. Hell, I met with him in England when I was there over a decade ago and in Las Vegas also, where he mocked American coffee, of course. lol I created an imaginary card game on, I think, the old BIS board before it went under. Maybe here under the name Cantousent. I don't know. It doesn't matter. The world is different now. Eldar is dead. He was dead a long time ago. MedicineDan is a boring person and of very little consequence. Still, whoever I am now, Eldar, that ridiculous, vain, and grandiose name a very young man chose for himself years ago, is still in there somewhere. After all, I am what I've played.

Great job, Bruce!

Thanks, Hawke64. I appreciate the challenge and shared hope :). Some of the Devs have referenced that Avowed will be akin to Outworlds in regard to story-style and gameplay: does that comparison help with some of your wonderings?

While I am trying to avoid significant spoilers for the game, Avowed seems to be more combat-heavy and less flexible in terms of the story (e.g. all companions are mandatory). I would hope Avowed to be closer to immersive sims, considering the first-person camera perspective, with their detailed level design and multiple ways to resolve quests, and Pillars of Eternity II, which supported the player's agency in terms of narrative and consistently high-quality writing, but I am unsure at the moment how it is going to be. In terms of sustainability, the lower system requirements, the better (<20GB storage space, <4GB VRAM would be ideal), which is even less likely to happen. Still, it is an Obsidian game and I am looking forward to it. I also hope to be able to purchase it on GOG on release (highly unlikely) to prevent any updates that can significantly worsen my experience.

Great story Gorthfuscious. Such an interesting journey and you have been around since the early days so you have seen things progress and advance to the level of gaming from where we are now