Hall of Heroes

Welcome to the DM Press Hall of Heroes, where your gaming legends live on. Every so often, we hold contests where you, our readers, write in with your favorite memories related to the games we document in our books. After reading through all submissions, we immortalize winning entries by etching them into the pages of our books.

In the Hall of Heroes, you can check out the winning entries as well as the runners-up in each contest.

Stay Awhile and Listen - Book I

Contest: "Tales of Fresh Meat"

Shacknews readers recounted their first (or most memorable) encounter against the Butcher in Diablo's dungeon.

Winner: User "allaryin"

We played Diablo on a pair of midrange Pentiums connected by an Ethernet crossover cable my freshman year of college. Five or six of us took turns playing the game. Between swapping players regularly and the newness of it all, strategy was the sort of thing that happened by accident.

The first time I remember encountering the Butcher was a complete ambush. The Sorcerer opened the door and was killed before we knew what was happening. I was playing as the Rogue at the time and foolishly tried to kill this hulking mass that had just eaten my friend. It didn't go well.

So now both of us were naked and in desperate need of our gear. Relying entirely on Holy Bolt for damage, we worked our way back to our corpses, picking up garbage equipment on the way. I don't know what we were thinking; we couldn't take the guy fully outfitted. How could we hope to kill him wearing rags and clubs? But whatever.

Then, in the final approach, a bow "of the Bear" dropped. I hadn't ever seen one before, and I didn't pay any attention to the affix's stated effect, but when we rounded the corner and I started shooting the boss... and kept knocking him back... well, there was much rejoicing and also maniacal laughter.

We got our stuff back, but I kept that bow as my primary weapon. To this day, "knockback" is one of my favorite game mechanics, regardless of genre.

Runners-up

Runner-up #1: User "RogerDandy"

A friend of mine had parents that lived in the bush out of town on a fairly substantial property. There was a guest cabin out back in which my friend lived. We were all around 16-18 at the time and eagerly awaiting the release of Diablo II, and honoring said release with a replay of Diablo. Warrior, Sorcerer, and Rogue were our character classes and we played on a LAN with one massive speaker set blasting from one PC.

We had all played the game before multiple times for years up to this point, but we were all totally hooked again. We were well aware of the existence of the Butcher and had walked past his room and cleared to the 5th floor of the dungeon before figuring we were finally strong enough to take him on. We went back up to the 2nd floor and approached the famed room with bravado. I stood at the front ready to open the door; my Sorcerer buddy to my left and my bow-wielding Rogue friend to the right. I opened the door and "AAAHHHHH FRESH MEAT" echoed throughout the cabin.

At that exact moment my friends proceeded to unload all their ammunition into the back of my Warrior, sending me to a stun-locked death at the hands of the Butcher. Fifteen seconds after opening the door we were all dead. We turned to each other in shock and amazement. Even though we thought were more than prepared the Butcher, he proved with a few swings of his mighty cleaver that we weren't.

Runner-up #2: User "Rehevkor"

Dark, clotted blood covered every visible surface. Shredded bodies dangled from hooks like spent piñatas. The smell was unspeakable. I had seen horrors that would hobble lesser men and soldiered on, but this... this was different. Pain was sewn into the very fabric of this room; horror and despair permeated the air.

I had made up my mind to close the door and move on when I caught movement out the corner of my eye. A bloated monstrosity leaned over a table covered with gore, clutching a huge notched cleaver. It turned to me and spoke.

"Ah, fresh meat!"

The thing thumped across the room with sinewy speed. I fell back through the doorway, barely raising my shield in time to block the swinging cleaver. The force of the blow numbed my arm. I struck back, but my meager blade barely scratched the demon. It laughed and struck again.

We battled, for how long I can't be sure, but the clever brute maneuvered me back into the room as I dodged its attacks. I was out of potions and the demon had cut off my escape. My feet skidded in blood and I fell. I closed my eyes and waited for death.

But the killing blow never fell. Instead I heard an explosion and opened my eyes to see the room around me engulfed in flames. A horrible gurgling screech issued from the demon as it perished in the fireball's blast. My Sorcerer companion stepped into the room casually and looked down at me.

"WTF?" I said.

"Dude sorry, I was AFK. Mom made pizza bites."

"n00b."

Runner-up #3: User "happynoodle"

I was a Warrior my first time through Diablo. I remember opening the door and blindly running into "Ah fresh meat!" I saw this huge monster running towards me, so I bolted out the door and I just remember running all over the map trying to avoid him, agro-ing all the other monsters along the way. Eventually I get to a dead end and try to fight off what I created. I was holding my own, but at the same time every skeleton I killed only allowed the Butcher to get closer and closer until he was in my face and offed me in two hits.

That was pretty scary and intense, so after that I would avoid that little square room until I cleared out the first four floors. Then I would go back and fight him toe to toe, which seemed to work pretty well. I also remember heading back to his den and zooming in on all the dead corpses. My cousin and I were like "Oooh, that's so gross and awesome!"

On Battle.net, I remember creating a game with the name, "1v1 duels." Next thing you know, dueling games were norm. That was pretty damn fun. All my ear collecting also got our "Happy" Clan onto a Diablo Bounty Hunters website's Top 10 targets.

Runner-up #4: User "Teiresias"

The doorknob was red and sticky. That's all that remained: one blood-smeared doorknob. I came through the cathedral basement injured but intact, wading through the undead one axe-swing at a time. I was weary, my weapon was starting to crack, and all I wanted to do was run away and forget about any treasure that Tristram may have held.

A dozen skeletons lay shattered behind me, this single door in front. I downed a red vial that closed my wounds. I cracked open the door.

What I remember most was the whisper. Not the overwhelming stench of blood and excrement, not the sounds of chopping meat, not the beast that stood at its work. The whisper: "Please, kill me." Whoever on that hook didn't have long: their limbs were gone, and an oozing pile of flesh lay below.

Then the monster realized I was there and turned, thrilled to see me. "Ah! Fresh meat!" it yelled through a yellow grin.

It was on me before I could react, swinging a gigantic cleaver. It carved right through my armor and into my shoulder, but I twisted aside in time.

I'm not ashamed to say I ran. I sprinted across the basement, pulling doors shut behind me and knocking barrels into the beast's path. Finally, my legs limp and my breath raw, I bought a few seconds. I pulled out a scroll and let the words wash over me, invoking a blue portal ahead. I leapt through it and heard the giant cleaver crunch on the floor where I stood a moment before.

Maybe someday I'll vindicate myself and conquer that beast. Once I fix my gear and visit the healer, maybe I'll make another trip back into that basement.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll lay that whisper to rest.

Runner-up #5: User "darthfusion"

I remember playing the first Diablo, back in the day where there wasn't a lot of voice acting, and running around the dungeon hearing "FRESH MEAT!" That scared the crap out of me. The instant, Oh my god. What the hell said that? feeling of panic.

Contest: "Best Blizzard Stories"

Shacknews.com readers shared their memories related to any Blizzard game.

Co-winner: User "lord_omega"

I was around 12 years old when my neighbor lent me his copy of WarCraft, my first real-time strategy game. I started the install straight after getting home from school. I wondered what was in store for me as my imagination went wild over the medieval imagery—the universe felt solid and real right from the onset. From the first "My liege," I was hooked. WarCraft was the first game to truly captivate me.

I had great times playing FPS games like Wolfenstein and Doom. Playing the action hero was great, but [those games] lacked the feeling of power I was craving: A feeling that can only be gained by spawning new life, looking down on your minions, and sending them to their death in your name! I was playing god, only I didn't have to feel bad about the poor insects I was toying with. Building tiny towns was my favorite thing to do, until I realized how much fun it was to raid an enemy village.

I was snapped back to reality by my dad's shout: "Are you still up?!" I was covered in a cold sweat, tired, hungry, and had to pee badly. It was 2:00 a.m. and I had school the next day. WarCraft made me lose my sense of time and space. I felt elevated above my mortal coil and into a plane of existence in which intellectual stimulation and enjoyment was the only thing of true value.

Co-winner: Andy Lee (ahlee)

What I remember fondly from Diablo was the mystery of it all. There were items like "The Thinking Cap" made for wizards that my friend and I thought was so clever and appropriately named. The mood was dark and gothic with the dungeon floors streaked with blood. Sounds in the periphery were haunting and put you on edge. The whole experience was so new.

My friend finally got up from the computer seat to take a break and let me try, so I picked a Warrior and entered the dungeon. I clicked on a barrel, and my Warrior walked over and cracked it open. Just from the visceral feel of that action, I instantly understood the appeal of the game and fell in love.

Even though Diablo II was an improvement to the original in almost every way, Diablo had two things going for it—a noticeably darker, more gothic feel and the fact that it was a completely new genre for a huge audience.

Having played other games that defined their respective genres, that sense of mystery and thrill at experiencing something completely new is an amazing feeling that genre creators have access to. I'm happy I was there to experience it with the original Diablo.

Runner-up #1: User flagg209

StarCraft was the first multiplayer game I ever played on the Internet. To think that I was "playing with my friends" when they were in their own houses was amazing. I became part of the first of many online communities through a SC clan that originated at Drexel University. We rallied behind our best players and had tons of fun playing.

On more than one occasion I remember waking up on a Sunday, grabbing something to eat for breakfast and the next thing I remember was logging off and going to bed for the night. There was even a con of sorts. We went to the Philadelphia Art Museum and hung out on Kelly Drive. A white, 19-year-old, a bunch of early 20s Asians, a middle-aged woman from the mid-west and three of her kids.

The clan broke up. Two of them ended up getting married, but I heard through the grapevine that it ended badly. The person who got me in the clan (I didn't go to Drexel) ended up somehow hated by nearly every member. I'm still not sure how or why that happened.

Man. SC1 and the late '90s were awesome! To this day I wish I had a group of people like the old [PEST] clan who liked playing SC2 the way we played the first game.

Runner-up #2: User "DewFuel"

When WarCraft III came out, I used to play tons, mostly as the Night Elves. I started doing that Ancient of War rush, basically guaranteeing a victory against most opponents. I had a ridiculous record, something like 74-3. Eventually, the strategy started gaining popularity, and Blizzard fixed the problem, but I remember one instance before it was patched where I was sitting in my bedroom doing homework and I hear my brother scream from the other room: "GODDAMMIT NOT AGAIN!"

I figured he had a gaming mishap, which wasn't the first time, and outbursts like that were common.

About 10 minutes later: "YOU GOTTA BE JOKING ME!"

Which was promptly followed by him throwing a mattress down a flight of stairs while ripping his shirt off, just completely flustered. I asked him what happened, trying my hardest to contain my laughter, and he told me he got AoW rushed like 5 times in a row on the ladder. Probably my favorite rage-quit moments in gaming history.

Runner-up #3: User "FreshwaterAU"

WarCraft II was the first Blizzard game I played and the first game I played multiplayer on. I started playing on Kali. I recalled from the campaign that hordes of enemy units would run through my towers to their deaths. So, in one of my first 2v2 games, I rocked the towers hard, trying to get up as many as possible.

This took a considerable amount of time and resources so I MIGHT not have built a barracks by about 10 minutes in. My ally says "BUILD A FUCKING BARRACKS" and as he's saying that my towers are getting death-and-decayed by Death Knights. Good times.

Oh--I also was worried my mom might see "Temple of the Damned" in the game so I hacked the game file to rename it "Temple of the Doomed."

Runner-up #4: User "Ambient80"

Back when I was in high school, World of WarCraft was released. A friend of mine was seriously into WarCraft III, and he practically begged me to check out WoW. So I got it, and decided to make a Night Elf. After I completed the starting quests outside of Darnassus on launch day, I went into the city. Wow! That place was incredible!

I walked around for what seemed like hours, and then headed back to the main gate to do more quests. I saw an Orc player running around outside, and watched him run up to the gate. One of the guards, an Ancient Protector, ran after him, and from my point of view, simply stepped on the player, and he died.

At that point, I was instantly hooked. The rest, as they say, is history.

Contest: "Tristram's Tune"

DiabloFans.com and DM Press wondered what memories stirred when readers listened to Matt Uelmen's iconic Tristram tune.

Winner: René de Hoog

I have a terrible confession to make: I have only defeated the Lord of Terror once or twice. Even though battling the denizens of the burning hells was the primary focus of Diablo, I spent most of my time on the surface in the darkened village of Tristram: talking to all the townspeople about the terrors below, listening to them gossip, while Matt Uelmen's music played on and on.

I've led many Warriors, Rogues and Sorcerers to their doom in the depths below Tristram. Diablo was a harsh game and your hero started out brave but very vulnerable, fighting hordes of demons and undead. Death--and the potential loss of your arsenal of weapons and armor--was a very real threat. Every time the howling, ghostly music swelled and my hero noted that the sanctity of the cathedral had been fouled, I'd get goose bumps.

My heroes battled bravely, but often they had to flee. Whenever the monsters were too numerous or all healing potions had been gulped down, I'd quickly cast a town portal and scamper through it. The first chord of Matt Uelmen's defining music always was a welcoming beacon of relief. Tristram was a desolate, nearly abandoned village where the cold wind howled trough the rickety shacks. But it was a safe haven. My safe haven.

I've only dared to take a handful of heroes into hell to confront the Lord of Terror. Sure, I defeated him, but I liked it better on the surface, just staying awhile and listening. Not to Deckard Cain, though. I was listening to Matt Uelmen.

Runner-up #1: User "Blaqksmith"

Rather than submit a text entry, Blaqksmith shared his recollections in a YouTube video that captured the mood of Diablo perfectly. Check it out

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