Mechanus is the plane of law and order, or so I remember from Planescape guides from 2nd Edition. For many reasons, the idea of a plane of existence ruled by, what my young brain could only imagine as, robots, set inside of a fantasy game caught my attention. I imagined that plane of gears, cogs, and machinery as a huge unknowable pattern, and much to the chagrin of the DM, I was set on exploring it and understanding what fueled the mechanics, what made it tick, and why those gears were the size of a continent.

Little did I know, playing D&D, all those years, was to set into motion a method or, maybe even a mindset, that impacted almost every game I played afterwards. From the mild summers of the early 90s onwards, it was set in stone that every time I ran into a game that caught my attention, I was going to breakdown the mechanics, the design, and try to figure out how a game ticked, what types of decisions were made to arrive to the final experience that I was playing.

As time went on, this mindset didn't change. On the contrary, it broadened. It encompassed everything around me. From tech, to software, to fashion, to buildings, and anything in between. Why was this product built this way? Who was the audience? (And was it successful in its goals?) Those were the burning questions I just had to answer.

When I joined the Alpha Systems group in 2000 and I started to get involved in the actual go-to-market of tech products, I started to integrate questions that keep Producers up at night: how do we cover for blind spots? What's the competition doing that can derail our well laid plans? What's the terribleness that I don't see and how can I avoid that?

Little did I know, as a 13 year old kid, playing D&D, trying the patience of the DM, that the same questions of a fantasy world, of not falling for tricks, having backup plans for backup plans, and trying to always understand who my character's audience was, was going to impact how I viewed the world for decades (and more, hopefully) to come.

/r