Risto J. Hieta (born 1956), also known by the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Nordic or Nordic the Incurable, is a Finn connected with the role playing and computer game culture.

Early life and career

Hieta was born in 1956 in Mänttä in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Hieta has designed several role-playing games himself, and he is also known by columns written in game-related magazines. Hieta published his first Finnish-language role playing game, '' Miekka ja magia'', in 1987. Other games by Hieta include ''Elhendi'' and ''Astra''. He has made the largest number of games produced by Arctic Ranger Production. Hieta has said that he originally found role playing games via a computer game set in the ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

'' world. According to Nordic, his designation "the incurable" refers to his feelings about

dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

s. Hieta became famous by the name "Nordic" as the writer of the "Peliluola" ("The Gaming Den") column in '' MikroBitti''. Hieta had originally contacted the magazine claiming to write better

review A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a content rating, ...

s than the magazine had at the time. The contact led to him becoming an assistant in the magazine. Nordic had a very personal touch in his column, and he often wrote very freely about his own and his friends' activities with computer and role playing games. "Peliluola" published gameplay hints, viewers' high scores and short reviews. Letters sent by readers played an important part in the column. The column usually started with a story about Nordic's current adventures in his role playing games. The best known figure in the stories was Petrell, a games character created by Pete, a friend of Nordic. Nordic's long-time favourite computer game in the 1980s was '' Boulder Dash''. The first "Peliluola" column was published in ''MikroBitti'' issue 3/1985 and the last in 1998. Especially at the early times of the column, when very little was written about gaming in Finnish magazines, "Peliluola" was an important resource to Finnish computer and role playing games culture. Afterwards, Nordic wrote columns for the '' Pelit'' magazine. Hieta worked at a Fantasiapelit games shop in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

until retirement in 2022.

Publications

* '' Miekka ja magia'' (role playing game), 1987 * ''Astra'' (role playing game, together with Aki Tukiainen), ACE-pelit, 1991 * ''Elhendi'' (role playing game), ACE-pelit, 1993 * ''Roolipeliopas'', Tehokopiointi ky, Tampere, 1994 * '' Kalmo''

References

External links

* (in Finnish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hieta, Risto Finnish journalists Living people 1956 births Date of birth missing (living people) Role-playing game designers