I have been reading and collecting science fiction books since 1964, and the the first time I came across Role-Playing Games was during a holiday in Canada in 1982, when I bought Larry Niven and Steven Barnes' novel "Dream Park". RPG games were mentioned there, but the first computer game that really hooked me was the Crowther-Woods game Colossal Cave Adventure. I also played a little bit of Zork, but I didn't have long-term access to a computer powerful enough to handle the original game until some years later.

The irst CRPGs I played were MM3, Eye of the Beholder (EOB1), and The Legend of Darkmoon (EOB2). However, I didn't come across any table-top RPG groups until 12 years later, in 1994. I liked those games because we had two superb DMs who ran their games primarily for the players' enjoyment. These contrasted markedly with a third DM, who tended to run his games as an ego trip – he liked to keep very close control over the player characters and what they were and were not allowed to do. The two good DMs designed their own games and their own puzzles and ran their games with a much freer hand, but you really did have to think outside the box if the players' characters were going to avoid serious damage. That is still the case . . .