Oh man, so many mistakes, so little time to write about them...
Well, in general order, and I'm sure, missing quite a few...
1) Not getting into gaming sooner. I had seen the White Box edition, the LBB sups, and the Holmes edition in a toy store ca. 1978/79, and thought they were interesting... and I was all of nine or 10 years old. I pointed them out to my mom as something I wanted, as I had already read The Hobbit and was into fantasy. I guess she saw the cover of Eldritch Wizardry and decided no, not something for her little boy. So it was not until Christmas of 1981, when I got the Moldvay edition Basic Set, that I got into gaming. Ironically, mom and dad bought it for me... at Toys R Us!
2) When we first started playing D&D, all the members of our group misunderstood what "hit dice" were, and read them as "hit points." Yes, our early games were very deadly for those 10 hit point ancient red dragons!
3) The first time I tried to introduce someone to AD&D in 1982, my older cousin's husband, in a one-on-one adventure, I killed his character in the second room with a skeleton. It took longer for him to make his character than the game lasted! He never tried to play again...
4) Early in my Junior year of high school (Fall '85) I decided that I was going to get out of gaming, because it "wasn't cool any more," and "get a real life." So I sold my game collection to my friends. Three months later, I realized gaming was my life, and returned. I was able to re-acquire my D&D and AD&D books, but in the meanwhile everyone had discovered that Judges Guild went out of business, so nobody would sell my JG stuff back to me... and I'd had pretty much a complete collection! It took me 20 years and far more cash than originally to complete that collection again.
5) That same year, the D&D Club at high school was cancelled, as some meddling priest or minister had come in and spoken with the principal and convinced him it was Satanic. I regret never fighting back against that decision.
6) When I went to college, I decided to combine my interest in games with my studies, and so went into Anthropology, and ended up getting a degree in Anthropology and Humanities (with a minor in economics and classical studies). Silly me, I should have asked someone at TSR what they would WANT in a degree; I would have known then that they'd want someone with an English degree! Oh well...
7) My Worst Campaign Ending Experience Ever. I had been running a 2E AD&D campaign in Fort Wayne for a year or so back in '99, and was getting pissed off at the way the players were acting in the game (I'd lost control of the campaign, really; it had been the least of my worries, as I was going through a divorce, medical issues, and extreme career changes all at once). So I took the really, really, REALLY poor advice of the owner of the store, and built the Ultimate Grudge Monster to kill off the campaign before I left town. Pure, unadulterated revenge was what I sought, and boy, I got it in spades. As the grudge monster killed off the characters, one by one, each player left the table shell-shocked at my unadulterated DM vindictiveness. Some still haven't spoken with me to this day...
8 ) The eternal back and forth of working with Judges Guild and Bob Bledaw. So much time wasted, so many possibilities lost. Between 1998 and when Bob passed last year, every year there was an opportunity gained, and another lost, sometimes twice over in a year; the details could well fill a book (and maybe, someday will...) I shoulda just stuck to my guns, but I never did. I kept listening to too many other people, and what they thought, never followed my own path. A sad, tragic learning experience in many ways, filled with as many regrets as it had joys.
9) Not Gaming Enough! There have been many "dry spells" over the years; moving an average of once a year up until the last five years made it very difficult to build a regular gaming group. And now I live in the middle of nowhere, and find it just as difficult...
10) Never getting a picture with Gary or Bob. All the years I knew them, all the opportunities to get pictures taken with them, and I never did. Tsk.
11) Selling off my gamign collection. Again and again and again. Always because I was dirt poor. As my life has gone in cycles, I've needed to pay the bills more than once by selling off parts of my game collection. The first time was when I moved back to the Midwest from Seattle back in 1995. My collection valued at ~$40k went down to about $20k. The second major sell-off, again to move back from Seattle to the Midwest in 2002, my collection went from ~$50k back to $20k again. Then, after a real lean year in 2003, I sold it down from $20k to about $10k. Finally the third big sell off came over this last year and a half, from ~$30k again down to about $10k, again. Though with age, perhaps, has come wisdom, and I feel comfortable where I stand, mostly, with what I have. At this point I'm down to things I want to play and have been playing, or seriously would play if given a chance (i.e., if I could find a group). I've never missed the near complete original World of Darkness set I sold off in the first sell-off. I sometimes do miss the complete Rolemaster collection I had, or the very nearly complete MERP collection. I can't even recall all the other RPGs I've had and lost over the years. And yes, if you will note, basically during those many years I spent money on three things: food/rent, moving, and games, games, games.
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James Mishler
Main Man, Adventure Games Publishing
jamesagp1@gmail.com
http://adventuregamespublishing.blogspot.com/
http://jamesmishler.blogspot.com
