Welcome to My Game World, Part One

    Back in the 90s, when I was unemployed, I would sometimes accompany my mom to work in Prestonsburg once or twice a month to break the monotony of staying at home.  I would spend the mornings at the library, reading the newspaper, working the crossword puzzle, looking at the stacks, and goofing off on the computers, once they were installed.  In the afternoons, I would go shopping.  Sometimes, I would sneak off to Paintsville just to see some of the stores there.  Other times, I would go to Pikeville to pick up my comic books at Page 3. While they would keep them for a few weeks, I still felt better picking them up more regularly when able.  This one time, in late September 1997, I went to pick up my comics, as well as something else. I had made the decision to finally get into RPGs, in particular World of Darkness (WOD).  I had learned enough about the game line from my gaming magazines (I was slightly into the Magic:  the Gathering trading card game at the time, although I didn't feel good enough to compete, only collect the cards.) to finally get one of the books.  However, on that day, Page 3 was out of the premiere game in the system, Vampire:  the Masquerade. (VtM) They did have the recently released historical version, Vampire:  the Dark Ages instead (VtDA), so I got it.  I'm glad I did, as I later found out the VtDA was a larger book with a wider range of material included than VtM.  I hid the book in the trunk of my car, so my mom wouldn't know of my Pikeville trip, and went back to Prestonsburg to pick her up.  The following day, I literally read that book cover to cover, writing credits to index.  I was overcome with the game world and systems.  Something about it just clicked with me. When I went back to Pikeville/Page 3 that following Saturday (I had to fake picking up my comics so my mom wouldn't get too suspicious) I picked up the Dark Ages Companion supplement just so that I could continue my experience. A month later, late October, I was back in Pikeville on one of my then monthly solo trips, this time to pick  up the Halloween candy. I stopped by Page 3 first thing that morning to pick up my comics.  They finally had VtM (2ed) back in stock, so I bought it. I would take peeks at it in between stops to shop and browse.  I couldn't believe how skinny the book was and how little it actually had in it. (I didn't know that it was the first book in the WOD line and many of the latter games, rules, and secondary features hadn't been thought up yet, so they weren't included.) I would stop back at Page 3 on my way out of town that afternoon and bought the Vampire Player's Guide (also 2ed) to get the wider experience.  Probably the only time I ever stopped and bought something twice in the same day there.  I would go on to get Werewolf:  the Apocalypse (WtA, 2ed) just before Christmas and some supplements for it after with Christmas money.  I would buy my first new book, Kindred of the East, the following spring there. I would go on to order many more new books, as well as some older ones,  to try and ensure that I would get them, starting with Mage:  the Sorcerer's Crusade that spring.  Sometimes, Page 3 wouldn't get my books in.  Other times, I would wind up buying a book I wasn't planning on getting, but I would buy it after looking it over. Unfortunately, I would sometimes get a book elsewhere and have to decline an order. I would get the Revised/Third edition of VtM there in the fall of 1998.  I would get the high-fantasy prequel spinoff game Exalted in 2001.  When the WOD game line ended, I would get many of the Chronicles of Darkness (COD) (originally called the 'new' World of Darkness) follow-up games there.  Sure, there was a gap of about a year when they missed every single special order I made, but I still made due.  I was able to pick up some used copies of books a lost in the 2003 flood there, most of them many years later.  I was even asked to join the store's game session a few times, but I politely refused.  I was unsure if I could play with strangers, not to mention having to drive almost thirty miles, at night, was not the best of ideas. When the current owners of the WOD property finally came out with a Fifth edition of VtM, I picked up my copy at Page 3.  I would go on to pick up other Fifth edition books there, including WtA.  In fact, if it wasn't for my pre-order discount and store credit, I wouldn't have bought WtA, as it turned out to be less than a perfect product. [I went into a very detailed review of W5 on an online forum.  Basically, it's an okay game for beginners, albeit one with many mistakes; it is not a great game for veteran players, especially to those of the older versions of the game.] As of now, Page 3 is the only retail location I can get physical copies of new books, if I chose to get them.  I've tried to order a few before the W5 fiasco, but they weren't able to get them. So, I am unsure what to do if I change my mind.  They are literally the only place in town to get the physical copies, but they can't always get them. It is kind of sad to see this happen, but if they get any more of the original, older stuff back, I am sure to look them over.

    [You may have noticed a few gaps in the timeline.  Future installments in this series will slowly fill these gaps in. Next week, I will cover a very special place to me, my own store. There is a reason why I own a book store after all.]