A look into the world of gaming

YPSILANTI Mich- Nine people sit around a large black table; there is a large dry erase board with miniatures on it. These represent their characters, which are about to do battle with a great evil. There are several sets of dice at hand, and these will allow them to fight the tyrant in this scenario.

“So, you have decided to finally confront me? “ The lithe human woman said, her fiery hair flowing in the breeze. “There is no such foolishness as that of some dwarves and a few humans it seems.” With that she took a run forward, “You will all BURN!” As she transformed into her true self, a large red dragon, she let loose a jet of blue and red flames. This was followed by a human warrior charging through the flames, heedless of the odds. His head was split in two by the large razor sharp barb on the end of the dragon’s scaled tail. This battle was just beginning.

A look into the world of gaming

What's with the dice?

YPSILANTI, Mich – Graham Bennett, an Eastern Michigan University Alumni, has recently been introduced into the world of Dungeons and Dragons. Although his first experience was over a year ago, he has grown from a N00b (a new player) into a significantly more advanced player who DMs (dungeon masters) as well as still plays regularly.

Although Graham has been a gamer, so to speak, as soon as he had the fine motor skills to operate a Super Nintendo controller almost twenty years ago, he has only recently been involved in tabletop RPGs (role playing games). “My thought on the game (Dungeons and Dragons) was that of nervousness, I didn’t know what to expect and I did not want to give into that schema,” Bennett said. This schema which he was referring to was that of the stereotypical “Nerd” who plays these types of games, and is looked down on for what they do.

“I was not particularly worried about any kind of demonic influences, like some people seem to be,” Bennett said. “I knew that wasn’t the problem. I was worried of how people would act toward me once they knew I played.” Although he was somewhat apprehensive of this stereotype, he decided to give it a shot.

What's with the dice?

Magic: The Gathering tournament at local comic shop

YPSILANTI Mich- Where is it you can test your powers as an arcane wizard and summon creatures to do your bidding and then defeat the enemy wizard on the field of battle? This can be done at Stadium Cards and Comics, on Golfside in Ypsilanti Michigan every Wednesday. There is a hosted Magic: The Gathering tournament held for anyone who wants to try their hand at one of the most competitive TCGs (trading card games) around.

Magic: The Gathering, for those not familiar, was invented by math professor Richard Garfield and was introduced by Wizards of The Coast in 1993. It is extremely popular today and is still growing; the players at “Stadium” as it is referred to by locals are looking forward to the new set of cards called The Rise of Eldrazi. This will unveil some hundred or so new cards and create new “Standard” play, which generally means the cards which are currently new.

Magic: The Gathering tournament at local comic shop

Local Dungeons and Dragons group meets on the third floor of the student center

YPSILANTI, Mich- For this event I covered a Dungeons and Dragons game with live tweets during their session which ran for about 2 and a half hours. This lead to nearly eighty tweets. Feedback is always welcome, please excuse the minor errors during the tweets.

Local Dungeons and Dragons group meets on the third floor of the student center