I'm an old laid back hippie and a Viet Nam vet. Have played D&D since the early seventies. I'm not very computer savvy, but I'm eager to learn so as to play the game I love. I see a bunch of ..uh..alleged ...?achievements? above my name. How in tarnation (love that word) did those things come to be associated w/ my name? I don't give a rat's ass for "achievements." Didn't figure out how to work all the little movement things in the tutorial. Don't know how to turn the blue circular thing associated w/ my name into a picture...Still not computer savvy....blah...blah...etc...
But, as long as I'm writing here, ...: My wife & I have run a AD&D game in our huge old ramshackle 100 yr. old mountain home once a week for many years. I got stuck w/ the DM job. It's a lot of work. Many hours a week. In more than 40 yrs. of DMing I've never used a module. I HAVE used "world settings" (mostly Greyhawk.) Our life revolves around the big table in our living room, w/ plenty of guest rooms up stairs where our younger folks (21-55 years old) can "sleep it off" after playing all night, crashing as the roosters crow outside. Yup, we live on a farm. Organic beef. Running a good campaign takes hours every day to do lots of stuff, like developing alternate plot lines, each of which branches into yet more plot lines, 90% of which will never be touched or known of by the players, but ya gotta be ready 'cause the players will do whatever they decide, whether you like it or not. I should probably shut my trap at this point. Maybe more on "the Spirit of the game" later. I think I'll put it in the topics section to the left of this here "cage" right now. And in my games, THE DM IS NOT, NOT ALWAYS RIGHT. I've missed too many little details in the past years, usually in a big, confused melee, to think I'm not capable of making a mistake. Usually one of the players points out the error. Ol' Willy had it right:"To err IS human." More raging soon under topics, on this page at left.