I blame ff for...

[tyrion]

Getting told off by my English teacher for not reading a proper book
Starting to play dungeons and dragons, then later ad&d (there is a sentence in the red box that explicitly says eating food does not restore hp..I do wonder if that was directed at ff readers)
Giving up on d&d and playing Warhammer and Dragon warriors instead
Buying white dwarf and Dragon magazine every month
Starting to collect space marine and orks because of rogue trader advertised in white dwarf
Having a collection of space marines cluttering my house up...but still buying more.

But at least I've not succumbed to paying £150 for magehunter.

[The Count]

I blame FF for:
Kick starting my love of Elves
Introducing me to the amazing work of Ian Miller, despite not liking the cover of Phantoms of Fear
Getting me into the Shannara series as my dad thought I'd like Elfstones. Shame the tv series was terrible despite Manu Bennett playing Allanon brilliantly.
Encouraging me to spend my last night in Adelaide alone in a part of an otherwise busy hostel (it had a smaller 'overflow' building across the road where I ended up being the only resident for almost the entire time I stayed there...) awake until 5am completing the grubby second hand copies of Vault of the Vampire, Spectral Stalkers and Legend of the Shadow Warriors I found while looking for a book to read on the bus to Melbourne.
Being the first common ground I had with the first friend I made in secondary school.
Getting me that board game with the Vampire stamp
Probably being the gateway to Heroquest, which became the way into Warhammer, 40K, Blood Bowl, Mordheim, Necromunda, Space Hulk, Gorkamorka, Dark World...
Helping me appreciate classic Hammer Horror films
Keeping my imagination alive in a good way as a child. I even wrote a (very bad) attempt at my own adventure where YOU were a pirate who had to find the ships hidden treasure.
Giving me a taste for unusual pendants and rings. All of which I've lost or had stolen over the years, including a beautiful dragon with a crystal keyring that got stolen with my car.
Encouraging me to explore markets and obscure shops in case they had something useful.
Introducing me to art prints and posters, again usually found in markets and obscure shops. I was quite upset to discover that the obscure shop where I bought all the posters of barbarians, wizards and dragons that covered my room as a teenager had closed last time I went back up.
My habit of ensuring I have provisions to hand when reading a good book - whether that is a bottle of cold water and a beer at the beach, or a glass of wine and some cold meat with cheese in the evening.

[Wilf]

I blame FF for: My Entire Career.

Nothing to do with elves and wizards and so on, but if you think about the structure of a FF gamebook, it's basically a flowchart with a lot of prose and the occasional dice roll.

In Real Life I work with Microsoft Project building project plans, and the thing about MS Project is it's basically a flowchart with a lot of dates. A concept with which I was already pretty familiar due to my childhood reading habits!

So yeah, I completely blame Messrs Jackson and Livingstone for my being an office worker instead of a pop star. (To be fair, my singing voice and dancing ability might also have scuppered my chances at that last one...)

[kieran]

Jun 11, 2020 23:14:21 GMT The Count said:

Getting me into the Shannara series as my dad thought I'd like Elfstones. Shame the tv series was terrible despite Manu Bennett playing Allanon brilliantly.

I liked the whole cast and it had its moments but yeah it just didn't quite come together for me. Haven't got round to Series 2 yet. Was it better than the first?

[vagsancho]

Nothing. I was already crazy before readind my first FF book. Like maryhuana, like alcohol, it only diminished my social predisposition.

[The Count]

Jun 12, 2020 10:30:54 GMT kieran said:

Jun 11, 2020 23:14:21 GMT The Count said:

Getting me into the Shannara series as my dad thought I'd like Elfstones. Shame the tv series was terrible despite Manu Bennett playing Allanon brilliantly.

I liked the whole cast and it had its moments but yeah it just didn't quite come together for me. Haven't got round to Series 2 yet. Was it better than the first?

It had it's moments, but the swapping books around was hampered by a badly written plot, and the worst bits really stood out.

SPOILER: Click to show

Ignoring the teleporting around the four lands that happened every episode, the completely new character showing up completely randomly, instantly falling in love with Wil, then becoming the last Druid AND heir to the Elven throne being totally unlikable played by a particularly bad actress whose one note was bratty sulking teen didn't help...

[Peter]

I blame FF for:

Understanding the Lord of the Rings movies better than everyone else. My sister once said to me "you like these books, you should read Tolkien", so I immersed myself. When the movies came out I kept noticing little features that made sense if you were familiar with the books, like the leaf-shaped clasps on the cloaks the elves gave to the hobbits.

And for my avatar picture. My wife drew it when she was at school, she said it was inspired by FF.

In fact, for my marriage. FF was one of the things we found that we had in common, and we went from there...

[Law]

I blame FF for:

Hardly ever beating one of them honestly!

Lone Wolf and Way of The Tiger? Easy-peasy. Might have to replay them twice or thrice when bad rolls conspired against me.

Anything but SoS, FoD and Sorcery!? Five finger book-marks were required to save me from my +10th ignominious and humiliating death!

Bless this board for Champskee's walk-throughs. It's probably time to use his ToD one as I've been stuck on it way too long.

I don't mind the tension of playing through the book once honestly and dying from what is hopefully in hindsight a foolish decision.

But after that, considering the often easily-missed straight and narrow: I prefer the golden path to be laid out for me.

So yes, I admit it! This hallowed series made me a no-good cheater!

[bloodbeasthandler]

FF as the gateway drug.
FF books -> roleplaying [via The Wishing Well, Riddling Reaver and Advanced FF] -> D and D and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay -> collecting Citadel Miniatures -> reading White Dwarf -> playing Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000.