Gary Gygax passed away today, and I am reminded of something I said a few years ago. Playing Dungeons & Dragons inspired me to become a database developer, not even playing really. Actually, my favorite parts of the game were setting up a new campaign, working with the lists and categorizing monsters, crunching the performance statistics of different equipment, and setting up the random characteristics of a new warrior. By the time I had a game ready, I wanted to skip the actual playing and build another. (I still played of course: I wasn't completely devoid of all social interaction.)
But my fascination with all of this is really the first time I realized I love playing with data. Today, I love modeling the data into tables and their relationships, mining the data, and developing the processes that affect that data. These things are still as fun and exciting to me today as rolling that 20-sided die on the playground table behind the school building, lo those many years ago. So in honor of Mr.Gygax, I give my thanks for that early inspiration.
What inspired you to be in the field you are today?