The character of a DM fan...?

T0Mi · Post by **T0Mi** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 3:40 am

hmm...

I've digged a bit in this forum...
(not too much about rope AND training, no)

I've noticed an interesting thing about... eh... "all this" or "the cult". My basic English will prevent any "now, where was the dot" sentences, maybe thats an advantage. I've found postings that (for me) needed minutes to read and understand a single passage.

When you first log into the internet, you will immediately look for the whatever interest(s) you have that can't be found in your local neighborhood. If you like fishing, you will find people easily within the next few miles. It gets harder as soon as you're into some exotic stuff, let's say rare trucks from russia, Veganism, home brewed beer, C64-programming, or... an old game that was asolutely outstanding. Plainly spoken there is the need to find out about more similarities than just the single interest. (man... this would have been a single sentence in German)

I'm on the inet now for more than 12 years (just 34 years of age and guess hard that there is a looong way to go, mentaly, yes) and have taken part in various forums, webrings and mailing lists. I still have my old 28.8 modem and use it to access an old account, just for nostalgic reasons and to be in contact with some ppl from the very start. Others may have been much (much!) more active in these years, after all (and using DM as an example) I see people coding CSB from scratch and running through it in 8 minutes while having thousands of posts. Beside of course the total online time, it depends alot on the specific interest(s) you have, how deep they are and (if existent) the need to justifie/satisfie them.

To some extend you may tell what a group of people 'is like' before you get to know them. Fans of classic american muscle cars, exchanging their knowledge using a forum are usually doing this the rough style, because the peple are... rough. So whats the thing about DM... beeing into computers long before the PC was a common tool as important part of the personality? What shared interests are implied by having played DM extensivly and still loving it? I have found the term "vegetarian" guite often, also very well written posts concerning the climate change and interesting threads about (ok, now that is close) RPG fantasies/furry fandom. Has anyone spend any thoughts about that?

...now, this has gone completely OT, just been in the mood to write stuff like that. I hope you all don't mind.

Greetings from Germany
T0Mi

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 9:19 am

You are welcome to stat writing the the first 'general' forum to go fishing for personalities if you like - there is an introduction thread

Basically there is no 'right' type. You have very, very young readers of this forum aswell as very old, the basic age range seems to be about 30-ish merely because this put you as beign the right age to play DM as a kid.

Because of this, even though we all still love DM, I think that this love has stayed even while personailities have become wildly divergent on other things.

More likely to know their way around computers and even code, more likely to have some creastive talent (graphics or writing), and luckily more likely to be pretty sensible and polite - this forum seems to have survived quite well with the odd blip without any flame threads

Post by **Gambit37** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 11:40 am

I shall move this to the general forum. But only when you've seen this note TOMi, so that you don't get confused!

Adamo · Post by **Adamo** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 2:27 pm

tomi, take a look at here:
http://www.dungeon-master.com/forum/vie ... 97&start=0
we have a lot of interests, not just DM!! We used to talk on the flashchat sometimes, but it seems to be empty lately.

man... this would have been a single sentence in German

I guess in german it could be a singe WORD..?

T0Mi · Post by **T0Mi** » Sun Jan 13, 2008 7:21 pm

I've seen the note.

Confusion is my default state of mind, so feel free to move the OT posts to a new thread or to whereever they may fit.

Also I've digged through the first few pages of the thread Adamo posted the link to. Very interesting. I hope I can write my own entry, if I find the time. Too sad, I haven't been on this forum earlier, I'm sure it would have been fun seeing all the DM add-ons (and it's community) develop.

So that "who-is-who" thread is taking out some sense of searching for main characteristics the 'average' DM-fan shares with the rest, as a trained pychologist may point them out with ease. Would be boring though, let's say the sared common interest of DM-fans is cycling, computers and role-playing.

This sentence from beowuuf points it out clearly:
---
even though we all still love DM, I think that this love has stayed even while personailities have become wildly divergent on other things
---

So what I'm thinking of right now (it popped to my mind while I groomed my horses, so what does that mean...

), is creating a geek code for DM-fans. Has this been done yet?
I know, the time with limited bandwidth is over and the need for compressing a personality into a few bytes is no longer needed. Still I think it's a cool idea, and if it's just for the reading fun.

T0Mi

T0Mi · Post by **T0Mi** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:24 pm

thanks for moving the posts and creating an new thread @ gambit!

let me chew a bit on all this... I think the DMist-code can be combined with one of those (well, not really semi-psychological) test so widely spread. "Please don't read any beauty magazines, they only make you feel ugly."

This may take a while. I've written stuff like that before, but not in English. Any input will be welcome of course.

T0Mi

Tom Hatfield · Post by **Tom Hatfield** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:04 pm

DM is a pretty versatile game. For example, most "experts" have adopted the stick-and-move technique to combat, whereas I always go with standup fights, retreating as necessary. I like having to feed my party; others see it as a tolerable hindrance. Some people prefer one puzzle over another. I don't think you can really peg a personality "archetype" for DM fans. The only thing we truly have in common is that we all managed to find our way here at some point, and that's because we all love DM for one reason or another.

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 11:17 pm

You might find the community is a little small to accomodate a geek code, but don't let me stifle creativity - be interesting to see.

T0Mi · Post by **T0Mi** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:19 pm

hey folks,

I'm actually very busy right now (coming home from work at about 10pm after at least 10 hours of work) and have done just the obvious categories for the code, by far not enough for postung it as a v0.1 and having problems to keep it seperated from the 'normal' geek code (when it comes to coding, fantasy). I wrote a code for german fans of classic american cars, which was much easier to get down. Still it's fun!

@Tom: good point. The problem seems, that a certain way of play / fan type can't be 'judged', so the plus/minus style won't work. Still, this could be put into a survey. (or at least I hope so. O:-)

Example:
"In times you played DM on your Atari/Amiga did you ever use a joystick with Autofire in the mouseport to train your charachter?" (yes/no)

could also be seperated more detailed this way:

I...

0 - consider training as cheating, I even kill respawned monster using doors without my party having to gain exp.
1 - train if it doesn't really interrupt my way through the dungeon
2 - train occassionally, killing respawned monsters, but as soon as it bores me I resume exploring the dungeon
3 - train whenever I get the chance to do it. Continuing only if I run short on food/water.
4 - won't enter Level 3 before I reached at least << Master in every profession, keeping my charakters alive with stamina potions.

This of course won't work (will just be a poll again) when it comes to the favorite party members (Fighters/Adventurers/Mages/Mix/is there a difference at all), or the (fun)question:
"The door bell rings, you open the door and a screamer comes in, do you..."

- hug him and keep him as a pet
- kill him, then eat the slices
- sample the "peep"
- take more of the substances you took before, hoping next time it will be a dragon

I will try to get the first version 'postworthy' on sunday. Then it's your part to correct my bad english.

))

T0Mi

Post by **Sophia** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:45 pm

If you want a "geek code" look to it the question would probably be phrased something like a scale from T-- to T++, based on your feelings on training.

(And, of course T* means "I wish CSB had a malificent guild")

T0Mi · Post by **T0Mi** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:02 am

Don't worry, beside a limited variability compared to the original it will look alot like 'the' geek code.

I guess it is possible to enable editing a post for everyone logged in? So as soon as v0.1 is out, everyone can correct & edit the post, making it a collaboration. Good idea?

T0Mi

beowuuf · Post by **beowuuf** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:28 am

Everyone can only edit their own post I'm afraid

Post by **Ameena** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 10:01 am

Oh that's a geek code? I wondered wtf everyone was talking about lol...I've seen something like that on a TLK site once, years ago...this could be interesting

.

Post by **Gambit37** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:29 pm

I have no idea what this means and am not that geeky that I want to find out....

Post by **Ameena** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 9:32 pm

Well, the one I saw basically was a load of letters and numbers based on your answers to a whole bunch of questions...errgh that doesn't really make sense but I'm not sure how to explain it. Basically you answer a load of questions on your opinions/favourites etc in a certain thingy and every answer is represented by a letter or symbol (or combination of the two) so your finished code is a massive long list of the things.

Post by **Gambit37** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:57 pm

And this is useful how?

Post by **Ameena** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 10:03 am

It's not, I suppose...it's just a little messing-around thing...looked kinda complicated to me...well not everything in life has to have a use, does it?

Post by **Gambit37** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 2:21 pm

Heh, I'm only teasing...

T0Mi · Post by **T0Mi** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:05 pm

okay, here is the v0.01 of the Dungeon Master geek code
---------
EDIT
added suggestions:

- prefered number of party members
- prefered method of adding members to the party

and:
- additional question concerning training
---------

You will find the original geek code here: http://www.geekcode.com/

I changed the syntax of the original to make it easier to read, please feel free to flame me.

There is still a whole bunch to add, change and rewrite. Any addon, suggestions is welcome. ('fighting style' is still missing, sorry). Mods should not hold back correcting my English.

1. the age you had when you first played DM (or its sequals)
--------------------------------------------------------

aDM+++
60 and up

aDM++
50-59

aDM+
40-49

aDM
30-39

aDM-
25-29

aDM--
20-24

aDM---
15-19

aDM----
10-14

aDM-----
9 and under

to be more precisely, you may also add your age as a number, for example:

aDM-14

2. the version you FIRST played, which also implies the system you played it on. (Leaving the odd fight between Amiga and Atari aside)
--------------------------------------------------------

DMI
Dungeon Master (Atari/Amiga)

CSB
Chaos Strikes Back (Atari/Amiga)

DMII
Dungeon Master II (PC)

TQ
Therons's Quest (PC-Engine)

DMN
Dungeon Master Nexus (Sega Saturn)

3. Did you ever finish DM (or any of its sequals) back in those days?
--------------------------------------------------------

end++
finished it and seen the end

end+
I came close to the end, but just didn't figure out what to do with the firestaff

end
I got lost deep in the dungeon, then gave up

end-
travelled guite a way through the dungeon, but it got too hard for me

end--
I got stucked early, and gave up early

end---
I never got beyond the first few levels, I was too young to understand the game, didn't have the time, whatever.

4. how it affected your life and growing up back in those days concerning grafixs, writing and roleplaying/fantasy, coding, etc.
--------------------------------------------------------

inf-
DM was a great game, but it didn't have any influence on me

inf
I remember scribbling DM stuff while phoning

inf+
I created some grafixs on paper or using painting programs, wrote some stories and guess hard that DM is the reason for me to still love RPGs today.

inf++
DM was the reason for me having a strong affection to all kind of roleplaying stuff. It's one of my favorite hobbys to create stories in fantasy worlds, paint, roleplay, etc.

inf+++
I became a professional grafix artist/book writer/whatever mainly because of DM

5. what you think about DM as a game, still playable today?
--------------------------------------------------------

now-
I've played it aslike I played any of the other games of that time. Good game, but it would bore me today.

now
DM was great, I think I will try it again on an emulator

now+
DM was really great, I played it on an Emulator and might try versions on other systems I've missed.

now++
DM was one of the greatest games ever and after I played almost any offical version, I will try out those custom dungeons.

now+++
DM IS outstanding and will always be, I'm hungry for new dungeons.

6. your favorite party to choose from the Hall of Champions
--------------------------------------------------------

pFIG
I choose Fighters

pWIZ
I choose Wizards

pPRI
I choose Priests

PNIN
I choose Ninjas

pADV
I choose Adventurers (Allrounders)

pMIX
I choose a mix of the above (having 2 Fighters, 2 Mages, or a mix)

Your prefered number of partymembers can be added in parentheses after your favorite type of charakter(s).
Example: pFIG(1) for a solorun with HALK.

The prefered method of adding members to the party using either resurrect or reincarnate can be displayed using a "+" for reincarnated and "-" for resurrected charakters after the number of partymembers.
For example pWIZ(4)+ for a full party of Wizards, all beeing reincarnated.

7. One of the main feature of DM was/still is developing your charakters and training them.
Complete the sentence: When it comes to training, I...
--------------------------------------------------------

lev-
consider training as cheating, I even kill respawned monster using doors without my party having to gain exp.

lev
train if it doesn't interrupt my way through the dungeon

lev+
train occassionally, killing respawned monsters, but as soon as it bores me I resume exploring the dungeon

lev++
train whenever I get the chance to do it, continuing only if I run short on food/water.

lev+++
won't enter Level 3 before I reached at least << Master in every profession, keeping my charachters alive with Stamina potions

Additional (optinal) question for nostalgic reasons:
"Did you ever use a joystick with Autofire on plugged in the mouse port to train your charakters?" can be answered yes or no using /atY or /atN after your choice.

8. creative custom work on DM
--------------------------------------------------------

cus--
never did anything custom for DM and won't do in the future

cus-
I plan to do some custom work (dungeons/grafix), but havn't done yet

cus
I tried out some of the programs for customizing (dmute, etc.) but I didn't come close to completing my own dungeon

cus+
I've made dungeons and/or some neat grafix, which were played by other fans, hungry for dungeons.

cus++
I raised my customizing work to quite a level - other users where really looking forward to play my dungeons/see my grafix/programs

cus+++
I wrote programs for other users willing to customize grafix/dungeons, which where used as standard tools nowaday. I also made major modifications to the source code or ported the game to other systems.

[...]

looks rather thin till now:
(GDM) aDM-13 DMI end+ inf+ now++ pMIX(4)+ lev+/atY cus-
I hope I'll find the time to add some more.

Greetings
T0Mi

Post by **Ameena** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 6:42 pm

Right, here's mine so far then...

aDM----- DMI end++ inf+ now+ pMIX lev cus

zoom · Post by **zoom** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 7:22 pm

what does (GDM) mean?
maybe add pONE for one champion party? nice questioning..

somehow my relationship with dm,
if you can call it that, has changed a bit over the years.
I would probably use more pWIZ than pMIX and it would be
now+ rather than now++ because I somehow do not get the
time to try out and play custom dungeons so much..

aDM---- DMI end++ inf+ now++ pMIX lev+ cus

Post by **Sophia** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 1:21 am

I'll propose an addition: instead of pONE, putting your favorite number o characters in parentheses after your favorite party composition. It looks more geeky that way.

Here's mine:

aDM----- DMI end+ inf++ now++ pADV(2) lev+ cus+++

Christopher · Post by **Christopher** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 2:22 am

aDM----- DMI end+ inf+ now+++ pMIX(1)+ lev+ cus+ hnh phy, mag kpS (sometimes but rarely)

or something like that.

Post by **linflas** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:51 am

following Sophia's addition to the code and adding mine : "-" if you prefer a resurrected party and "+" for a reincarnated one.

aDM-14 DMI end++ inf++ now++ pNIN(2)- lev- cus++

zoom · Post by **zoom** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:10 pm

so mine would be then>
aDM---- DMI end++ inf+ now++ pMIX(4)- lev+ cus

geek on!!

T0Mi · Post by **T0Mi** » Tue Jan 22, 2008 10:38 pm

Thank you folks.

I've included your suggestions. I hope doing an upgrade to v0.02 on Sunday adding fighting styles, maybe dividing up creative work/influence on artwork/coding/fantasy and adding the "are you a GDM (Geek of Dungeon Master) or not" fun test.

busy greetings
T0Mi

Adamo · Post by **Adamo** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 1:29 am

aDM----

DMI

end-

inf++(hm.. I bought computer and connected to the net mainly because of this site and CSBwin.. I love to design new levels and stuff in my custom dungeon.. however it`s still not ready. But I don`t care about whole the RPG-world, if it hasn`t touch with DM/CSB. So generally yes, it affected my live very much).

now+++ (if I only had a time..)

pADV

lev+

cus+ (I made a lot, but my custom game still remains unfinished..

)

Post by **Gambit37** » Wed Jan 23, 2008 9:46 am

Well ok for completeness, here's mine, though if I'd done it a few years ago, there would be a few more plus signs on it's longevity. While I still love DM, I simply don't have the TIME to indulge in it as much as I might like to...

aDM16 DM1 end++ inf+ now+ pMIX(4)+ lev+ cus+

T0Mi · Post by **T0Mi** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:03 am

Thank you for your open post, Adamo. Now you actually -are- a Geek of Dungeon Master.

There should be a inf++++. It also reminds me that some descriptions are quite inbetween, making it hard to choose. I sould change/rewrite that before adding new categories.

Anyway... spend some on "ways of fighting":

-----

dealing with mosters, I...

"hnh"
(hack and heal)
I fight the monsters where I find them, rarly running away.
Either because I feel running would be the choice of a rabbit or because I want to get the extra exp from beeing hit. I also like to see how good my party really is in a one-on-one fight. If I die even though I try hard to heal the members in the front line, I simply need to do some training before trying again.

"hnr"
(hack and run)
I use a lot sidestepping to avoid beeing hit and it annoys me if it happens anyway. A good player just won't let his party get hurt.

"hnc"
(hack and choose)
I back up from strong monsters or groups of them, but won't give up a good strategic psoition or even get caught because of a monster group of which I don't know its true strenghth. I accept beeing hit, as long as I know a place where I can rest and heal.

Adding the prefered way(s) of dealing damage, seperated using ",".

/phy
dealing damage using weapons (or bare hands/feet) in melee combat

/trw
dealing damage using thrown weapons (bows, darts, etc.)

/mag
dealing damage using magic (fireball/poison cloud)

/env
dealing damage using the chances given by the dungeon (doors, fireball generators, monsters hitting each other with spells)

/mit
dealing damage using magical items (like Bolt Blade, Flammit, etc.)

-----

I don't know how to include the ways of inflicting damage nicely, I guess there isn't a large variability between players anyway?

Also there should be an add to leveling/training:

-----

Add a /kpY or /kpN when you care about the increase of attributes when leveling, killing your party and reloading to level again if you're not satisfied with the gain.

-----

ok, off to work now, more to come soon.

greetings
T0Mi

T0Mi · Post by **T0Mi** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 9:31 pm

sorry, I've been in hospital/emergency physican this weekend because af a suspected disc prolapse. Luckily it proved to be wrong... anyway, as it hit me I crawled on the floor in pain, having some great fun.

painfun greetings
T0Mi