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Erikor
Seeker
Norway
60 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 04:57:41
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I have no idea if this is the right place to post this. If not I hope some admin can move it to the right place.
I became a member of this site just a few hours ago. I've never played d&d. I've always wanted to but no one I knew were interested. But I did play Baldur's Gate and Shadows of Amn, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights while in school. And because people knew that, I was considered a loser. The "cool" kids in school made me throw my BG discs on the ground and step on them and grind them against the gravel. All five original BG discs. Otherwise the "cool kids", kids that I grew up with wouldn't let me join them in their games. I was maybe 13 or 14 at the time and that stuck with me. I bought another copy of the game that they didn't know about just so I could play BG without them knowing. I'm 34 now and I've been playing the games again for the last couple of years and I've been reading a lot of the Forgotten Realms books and I love them but apart from my soon-to-be wife I'm still scared to tell anyone. I've known about this site for years but I've been afraid to join in case someone started to make fun of me for joining even though I know that the friends I have now wouldn't care and if anything they would support me but that's how much of an impact the childhood stuff made on me. I don't really know what I'm trying to say but it feels good to finally be able to create an account here. Hopefully I'll be able to read and talk about things here that I haven't been able to before.
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36804 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 06:06:13
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I had a longer post here, but my internet crashed whilst I was trying to post it, and it got eaten...
Short version: Unless Norway is way different from the US, fantasy in general and gaming in particular have become considerably more popular and accepted. It's s different world now, and I think you'll find that most people wouldn't even care if they knew you were a gamer.
Either way, you are welcome in our halls! |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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Erikor
Seeker
Norway
60 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 07:35:48
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Norway is a bit different from the US when it comes to fantasy, I think. It's not as accepted here as it appears to be in many places the US. We're not quite there yet but it's getting better. It's more accepted now than it was when I grew up but I'm a grown man now and a grown man who reads fantasy books or plays games where he's an elf? To quote my colleague: Fantasy books are comics without pictures and it's for children.
I apologize for my rant but when I started writing I had to put words to a lot of thoughts that just came out. I just want to talk to people who are interested in the same things as me. |
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Zeromaru X
Great Reader
Colombia
2476 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 07:45:42
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It happens in my country, too, so I can relate. But is getting better here, as well, but at the speed of a limping turtle, lol.
Anyways, welcome. And as Wooly said, we are here on the same boat, so feel free to love the Realms in whatever form you like. |
Instead of seeking change, you prefer a void, merciless abyss of a world... |
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Erikor
Seeker
Norway
60 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 08:02:00
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| Thank you Zeromaru X and thank you Wooly Rupert. |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3287 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 13:59:52
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| Hail and well met! |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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Gelcur
Senior Scribe
523 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 19:19:43
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| Welcome to Candlekeep. I enjoyed all the old CRPGs and have been slowly getting through the back log of novels. What are you reading and/or playing at the moment? |
The party come to a town befallen by hysteria
Rogue: So what's in the general store?
DM: What are you looking for?
Rogue: Whatevers in the store.
DM: Like what?
Rogue: Everything.
DM: There is a lot of stuff.
Rogue: Is there a cart outside?
DM: (rolls) Yes.
Rogue: We'll take it all, we may need it for the greater good. |
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deserk
Learned Scribe
Norway
238 Posts |
Posted - 13 Aug 2021 : 22:33:02
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Welcome to Candlekeep. Nice to see a fellow nordmann with a good sense for games. 
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Neverwinter Nights are definitely the two the games that got me interested in the Forgotten Realms, and of course BG2 and Icewind Dale are great games as well.
And honestly high school is a tough period for a lot of people. Millennials probably have a much easier time of it now than people had in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, now that D&D is becoming gradually more mainstream. I'm 30 myself and very few folks I knew in my childhood were aware of games like NWN or BG back when I was school, but I feel like the awareness of it is actually growing. I'm always pleasantly surprised to find new colleagues and friends these recent years that actually some experience with D&D, which I think is really cool. Though of course many, like most people in the D&D community I'd say, tend to have a "gamer" mentality rather than a "roleplayer" mentality.
And I'm not sure I have the same feeling that you have about how fantasy is looked upon in Norway. Virtually everyone I know loves the LotR movies, and LotR (books and movies) still remains one of the most powerful images of fantasy literature in popular media. And D&D and Forgotten Realms by extension is obviously very related to it. |
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Erikor
Seeker
Norway
60 Posts |
Posted - 21 Aug 2021 : 22:55:56
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quote:
Originally posted by Gelcur
Welcome to Candlekeep. I enjoyed all the old CRPGs and have been slowly getting through the back log of novels. What are you reading and/or playing at the moment?
I mostly play old PS4 games now. I don't have a gaming PC anymore.
At the moment I'm reading Circle of Skulls from the Ed Greenwood presents Waterdeep series. I'm about halfway in and it's interesting so far. |
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Erikor
Seeker
Norway
60 Posts |
Posted - 22 Aug 2021 : 00:05:52
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quote:
Originally posted by deserk
Welcome to Candlekeep. Nice to see a fellow nordmann with a good sense for games.
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and Neverwinter Nights are definitely the two the games that got me interested in the Forgotten Realms, and of course BG2 and Icewind Dale are great games as well.
And honestly high school is a tough period for a lot of people. Millennials probably have a much easier time of it now than people had in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, now that D&D is becoming gradually more mainstream. I'm 30 myself and very few folks I knew in my childhood were aware of games like NWN or BG back when I was school, but I feel like the awareness of it is actually growing. I'm always pleasantly surprised to find new colleagues and friends these recent years that actually some experience with D&D, which I think is really cool. Though of course many, like most people in the D&D community I'd say, tend to have a "gamer" mentality rather than a "roleplayer" mentality.
And I'm not sure I have the same feeling that you have about how fantasy is looked upon in Norway. Virtually everyone I know loves the LotR movies, and LotR (books and movies) still remains one of the most powerful images of fantasy literature in popular media. And D&D and Forgotten Realms by extension is obviously very related to it.
Hello fellow nordmann. Things are a lot different now than it was 20 years ago and thank the gods for that. The thing is that all the bullying I experienced growing up still haunts me to this day. I mean, one time a was forced to explain how armor class worked in front of a group of kids and everyone pointed and laughed at me. The LotR movies, GoT and others has done wonders, but the bad memories still stick with me to this day. |
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CorellonsDevout
Great Reader
USA
2708 Posts |
Posted - 26 Aug 2021 : 03:09:58
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| Oof, I'm sorry you were bullied so badly. It happens here in the US, too, but "nerd culture" is getting more accepted (though granted I don't know how it is in schools now). Welcome to the Realms! |
Sweet water and light laughter |
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It took me almost 20 years
