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View Poll Results: When did you first play TFT?
1970s 59 59.60%
1980s 24 24.24%
1990s 0 0%
2000s 4 4.04%
2010s 1 1.01%
Haven't played yet 11 11.11%
Voters: 99. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 08-03-2018, 04:37 AM   #11
gpoehlein
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Default Re: When did you first play TFT?

Pretty sure it was late 77 or early 78. I got interested in Metagaming products through Ogre. I remember that sometime in 78, our local hobby shop (which was the only place to buy most gaming products in our city and also was where Guy McLimore was working at the time) hosted a game day at one pf our local colleges. Had to be 78 because I remember that I had just purchased a TRS-80 model I that spring and had coded a picture of a Mk V Ogre on the screen which we displayed at the gameday (computers and computer art were a still a novelty back then). As I remember, Guy ran a simple Death Test style adventure with Melee maps linked by dungeon corridors. As I remember it, instead of doors, there were "darkness screens" at the entrance and exit hexes to each room map, I I remember one player declaring he was going to "charge into the doorway". I do remember Guy rolling his eyes at the idiot and saying something like "OK... go for it" Don't remember for sure what he ran into, but he did find himself surrounded by bad guys and I think he died pretty quickly as a result.
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Old 08-03-2018, 06:28 AM   #12
Jim Kane
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Default Re: When did you first play TFT?

Late July or early August '77. I was 13. It was summer. It was hot and humid. Stayed inside with the AC pumping and played Melee unceasingly around the clock with my cousin, totally addicted. Annoyed parents yelling up the stairs to us at 3:00 am: "Stop rolling those dice on the floor (their bedroom ceiling), and... go... to... bed!". Waking up my cousin in the morning to immediately begin playing again at the kitchen table while trying to eat our cereal, and not get milk on the Melee Map or counters. Annoyed (and bleary-eyed) Mother yelling: "Stop rolling those dice on the breakfast table, and... go... outside!!!". Neighborhood friends joining in during the afternoon sessions, and teaching them how to play. Watching the light in their eyes kick-in when they *got it* and felt the magic of Melee.

What a summer. Such memories.

Oh, and pimples, lots of pimples; and waiting in this huge line to see Star Wars. I also remember that about the summer of '77; Star Wars, Pimples, and Melee.

JK

Last edited by Jim Kane; 08-03-2018 at 06:59 AM. Reason: Typo
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Old 08-03-2018, 06:44 AM   #13
Venomous Filigree
 
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Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: Plymouth, UK.
Default Re: When did you first play TFT?

Quote:
Originally Posted by CardDiceian View Post
I answered 1980's - I'm sure it would have been about 1980 - bought from Esdevium Games in Aldershot (Hampshire) -UK.
Quickly followed by ITL and advanced books + Microquests - Death Test 1 & 2 & Grail Quest.
That was my "local" gaming shop too, living in Woking at the time.
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Old 08-03-2018, 07:23 AM   #14
Chris Rice
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: London Uk, but originally from Scotland
Default Re: When did you first play TFT?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Venomous Filigree View Post
That was my "local" gaming shop too, living in Woking at the time.

I used to get stuff by mail order from Esdevium as they seemed to stock just about everything available at that time. Remember having to go to PO to get a postal order to send off to them and wait weeks for stuff to arrive. Happy days.
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Old 08-03-2018, 07:51 AM   #15
CardDiceian
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Berkshire - UK
Default Re: When did you first play TFT?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Venomous Filigree View Post
That was my "local" gaming shop too, living in Woking at the time.
I was lucky to be living IN Aldershot at the time they opened - otherwise I might not have discovered this different type of gaming at all.
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Old 08-03-2018, 08:18 AM   #16
Kirk
 
Join Date: Feb 2018
Default Re: When did you first play TFT?

May, June? 1977, the end of my senior year in high school. Everyone was going to be leaving to various universities and beginning their adult lives. Four of us in Dibble's Hobbies in San Antonio, one copy of 1st edition Melee sitting in a display near the register.

We flipped for it, I won and paid my $2.95 plus tax (about two hours work after taxes as a teen). In gaps in summer job hours, we explored Melee, the normal curve, adventuring rather than wargaming. I was hooked. It opened my imagination and I carried it with me eventually to the University of Texas at Austin as an engineering student.

Lived in a housing coop (old house) in west campus with 35 other people, introduced numerous housemates and friends to the game as it expanded until 1983 and then beyond, GMing primarily.
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Old 08-03-2018, 09:46 AM   #17
Skarg
 
Join Date: May 2015
Default Re: When did you first play TFT?

1980 (maybe 1979)... right on the edge. Mainly played in Seattle, but also in California, and I introduced TFT to my cousin in Greece in 1980.

Last edited by Skarg; 08-03-2018 at 09:50 AM.
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Old 08-03-2018, 12:37 PM   #18
Erik Wingren
 
Join Date: Aug 2018
Default Re: When did you first play TFT?

The spring of '78, I think? A fair deal of Melee and Wizard, and then I was lucky to play in a campaign that Tracy Harms ran pre-TFT release. Tracy was in communication with Steve and is the first playtester listed in the In The Labyrinth original release. We often played big melees, but that campaign Tracy ran was truly special. I recall a hilarious night of playing the summer of 1981 when I made a visit back to Boulder. I ran a small campaign or two over the years and drifted away from table top much at all.

This relaunch has me digging out nearly forty year old notes and materials. My 3x5 card file of bad guys! I was pleased to see I have three sets of the original books. I will be playing again before the kickstarter releases. I'd forgotten some of the wonderful features of this system, fun to rediscover!
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Old 08-03-2018, 12:44 PM   #19
Skarg
 
Join Date: May 2015
Default Re: When did you first play TFT?

Some of the DT 1 counters did have a "too thin lines" issue, and they were more specific and realistic than the Melee/Wizard counters, but I think several of the DT 1 counters (the goblin archers, the mace guy, the giant...) were some of the best-looking counters made for original TFT. I think they added a lot to the grimness of Death Test.
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Old 08-04-2018, 10:14 AM   #20
Terquem
 
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Idaho Falls
Default Re: When did you first play TFT?

I picked up Melee in late 1978

I was 14
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