2 people separated by the same language

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Lurker
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2 people separated by the same language

Post by Lurker »

I heard that saying a while ago when watching something about WWII and the US working with England. How everyone spoke English, but there were so many little miscommunications that the difference between American English and English English caused.

I always liked that saying and in the military I saw it first hand myself.

Now, how does that apply to gaming …..

A guy that works at the front desk of one of my stops. He is nice and friendly, will talk to anyone (kind of important for him to be like that since he is one of the first person anyone sees when they walk in.

He is young (mid-late 20s ish) a little social awkward (yes he talks to anyone easily, but sometimes it is a little off especially when he is talking to older back woods Okie hicks), and I knew he was a video game fanatic.

However, this week when I saw he, for some reason he had a ton of pins on his neck lanyard for his ID badge. One was the DnD & pin. Ok so he is a gamer.

When I had a break I went back out to BS a bit, I said I noticed the DnD pin and that I was a gamer too …

He talked for 15 minutes straight about his last 2 campaigns. I couldn't get a word in edge wise if I wanted to. I let him talk and just listened. Eventually he slowed down and I said I played D&D back in the day but my games of choice were now C&C and Traveller. He talked a litle about C7c but you could tell he had just heard about it but never played (turns out all he had EVER played was DnD 5e).

Everything he talked about was gaming, …. but it was a foreign language to me compared to my years of gaming.

He was playing a shape changing artificer that stayed in a wooden enclosed wagon pulled by automaton scorpions. Mentioned that when they go into a cave or something that his wagon wont fit into, his DM lets him stay in the wagon, but send some automatons with the group that he can make up what they do as needed …

Said his last campaign he started out as a level 1 (forgot what class but it was some type of magic user) lich that had all the physical abilities of a lich but not all of the spell casting at 1st level … oh and he was a good lich but the group paladin hated him because he couldn't turn undead without also turning him …

I talked a min or 2 about some of the great campaigns we have played in the Monday night ne'er-do-wells. Especially the friendly rivalry my swashbuckler had with Max's ranger, and things like that. Then how I ran a very Tolkien game for my girls face to face but used the ole 'Keep on the Borderland' mod as the bases for it. Within seconds his face was blank as a calf at a new gate ...

I am all about play the game you enjoy, it is a hobby for fun so enjoy yourself. But boy, NONE of what he played is anything I would have ever thought to play, and my games just did not compute into his experience of gaming.

Yeah 2 people with the same hobby, and shared language associated with it, but absolutely no common experience or thought.
"And so I am become a knight of the Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows!" - Mark Twain

Forgive all spelling errors.

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anvil242
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Re: 2 people separated by the same language

Post by anvil242 »

Several years ago, Iron Crown Enterprises released a rules checklist for Role Master, because the wide variety of options available could result in this same situation, and that's within the same edition of the same rule set. My teenage son wrote and ran a scenario for us using 5e (my only foray into that game) where the BBEG was a giant who had accidentally drunk a shrinking potion.

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maximus
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Re: 2 people separated by the same language

Post by maximus »

Interesting and funny story. I would say that the game most people play as "D&D" now is entirely separate from what we played back in the '80s and '90s. Both roleplaying but totally different culturally.

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Ancalagon
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Re: 2 people separated by the same language

Post by Ancalagon »

Lurker wrote:
Sat Jul 15, 2023 1:55 am
<snip>

He talked for 15 minutes straight about his last 2 campaigns. I couldn't get a word in edge wise if I wanted to. I let him talk and just listened. Eventually he slowed down and I said I played D&D back in the day but my games of choice were now C&C and Traveller. He talked a litle about C7c but you could tell he had just heard about it but never played (turns out all he had EVER played was DnD 5e).

Everything he talked about was gaming, …. but it was a foreign language to me compared to my years of gaming.

He was playing a shape changing artificer that stayed in a wooden enclosed wagon pulled by automaton scorpions. Mentioned that when they go into a cave or something that his wagon wont fit into, his DM lets him stay in the wagon, but send some automatons with the group that he can make up what they do as needed …

Said his last campaign he started out as a level 1 (forgot what class but it was some type of magic user) lich that had all the physical abilities of a lich but not all of the spell casting at 1st level … oh and he was a good lich but the group paladin hated him because he couldn't turn undead without also turning him …

<snip>

I am all about play the game you enjoy, it is a hobby for fun so enjoy yourself. But boy, NONE of what he played is anything I would have ever thought to play, and my games just did not compute into his experience of gaming.

<snip>
Emphasis mine.
Diito with regard to not thinking of playing those kinds of games. I'd probably give a polite "thanks but no thanks" to the DM if those were the kinds of games he intended to run.
Imaginatio est Vita
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