Tragedies of Role Playing

[unerring dogma]

For those who might think I am joking or trolling, I certainly am not. Role playing games can be highly dangerous and addictive to young minds who can not seperate fantasy from reality. Yes, some of you will say the same thing about alcohol and gambling and smoking, or at least those of you who are not paying attention will. None of the later things lets you play a part of a great and mighty warrior or a magician who uses dark and nefarious spells to slaughter hundreds or thousands of your enemies. Or clerics who worship pagan gods to heal their supposed allies for a price. Yes, role playing games are bad.

Take the case of Dallas Egbert from East Lansing, Michigan.. The boy who the movie Mazes and Monsters was based upon. He was a sixteen year old boy who was a straight A student, highly intelligent, and very succeptible to the whims of his peers. In this case, his peers were homosexual adult men who let him join their role playing games beneath the college. So immersed did he become that he started to take drugs and want to kill himself in a room in said steam tunnels. While the private investigator who found him, later denied the credibility of his own words, the truth is plain. Dallas Egbert lost touch with reality.

Here are a few sites discussing this very issue:

site 1

Site 2

Click the HTML link

The Catechism of th New Age 7 Besides, what we’re doing is the way of the universe. Only the strong survive. Nice guys finish last. I’m number one. Might makes right.

Quite explicably, the name of the game is power. Of all the characters, the Dungeon Master is clearly the most powerful. D&D enthusiasts have no hesitation in saying that the Dungeon Master is “God.” But the other characters are equally motivated by lust for power. Power can be exercised by brute force or through magical spells. For some players, this motivation is transferred to real-life relationships. One young player admits that playing D &’D encouraged him to be deceptive and manipulative at home and in school. He would purposely get into trouble just for the sake of testing his survival skills in a real-life crisis. He was especially attracted to Merlin, the magician of King Arthur’s court.

I thought it would be great to have Merlin’s spirit inside of me; then I could do what he used to do. I tried to get deeper and deeper by playing D&D, playing the Ouija Board, reading horo- scopes and even having my palm read. I really got into it a lot, and I would think inside of me that I wasn’ t scared of any- thing – I had power, too. I believed that I was too tough to be hurt – nothing could hurt me. I did things like jumping on a Doberman Pinscher that was chasing me and some guys, and walking off a ledge just to prove the power I had. ,

A fmstrated writer admitted that he experienced “an incredible sense of power” as a Dungeon Master: “In some games, they don’t call me Dungeon Master; they call me God.”

Fantasy power is a strong attraction to many people who feel powerless in the real world. For such people, D&?D becomes an escape from a drab and burdensome life. Advertisements for D&’D play on this aspect: “I don’t have to just hang around. I can play Dungeom and Dragons.” The degree of escape varies. Some can leave the game behind them when a session is over. For others, D&D replaces life. They talk about nothing but their dungeon experiences. What began as a game becomes a life-dominating obsession. Such was the case with ‘John,” a 16-year-old living in Southern Califorriia: I am the Dungeon Master 98 percent of the time. I am the God of my world, the creator who manipulates the gods and humans. But my bossiness has extended itself into real life. I’ve exploited and abused people. People have hated me for it. . . . Ever since I was ten, I’ve wanted to drop out of this world. There are so many

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[Ubasti]

My sources disagree.

Is not satanic

[Asevenex]

Riiiiiight. Because the random images of death and torture that I have is the fault of DnD rolleyes

[Dion Necurat]

I guess he wasn't that smart of a kid, then.

[Nonesuch Solo]

Chick tracts? Man I haven't seen those in YEARS!

Probably since I first realized the internet existed outside of AOL.

[Bob Motley]

You used Chick. You Have No Argument. Try Again?

[Nonesuch Solo]

To be honest, I was hoping it would be about real tragedies in roleplay--excerpts from bad roleplay and the effect such bad grammar, ridiculous characters and unrealistic situations have on developing young minds.

[Repellant]

1. The DM is not a character

2. Crazy people will be crazy

3. Where did homosexuality gain relevance

[Pet my pancakes]

No. For the same thing as video games. Yes, there is going to be a minority who can't separate the two, but this a a minority, millions, maybe even billions of people engage in such activities, yet there are so few reported cases of it going wrong. You're blaming the drug, and not the reason why the drug is used. People grow addicted to escape from their lives, which are normally too stressful or they hate it, and the only alternative is insanity. The solution isn't to stop or censor the games. It's to evaluate the psychosis of the people who get too attached, and develop ways to prevent this.

[Heartfout]

Nonesuch Solo

To be honest, I was hoping it would be about real tragedies in roleplay--excerpts from bad roleplay and the effect such bad grammar, ridiculous characters and unrealistic situations have on developing young minds.

Here is your source, get cracking on it.

[Requiem in Mortis]

This isn't a debate on why RPGs are bad, it's a debate on why DnD is bad. While you're at it, care to explain why Final Fantasy is bad? Because a LOT of the stuff in FF was taken from DnD.

Unless the players are dressed in robes and speaking to each other in Tolkien Elvish while sacrificing a chicken, I say let them play. It's just a game.

[Nonesuch Solo]

Heartfout

Nonesuch Solo

To be honest, I was hoping it would be about real tragedies in roleplay--excerpts from bad roleplay and the effect such bad grammar, ridiculous characters and unrealistic situations have on developing young minds.

Here is your source, get cracking on it.

I don't wanna!

crying

[Akira Fudoh]

I read this same type of nonsense in an issue of Watch Tower once.

as if didnt think you guys were ignorant enough.....NOW....HA! blaugh

[GunsmithKitten]

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For those who might think I am joking or trolling, I certainly am not. Role playing games can be highly dangerous and addictive to young minds who can not seperate fantasy from reality.

Wow. How quaint. I didn't think people still harped on this.

Allllriiiiighht then.....

Quote:

Take the case of Dallas Egbert from East Lansing, Michigan.. The boy who the movie Mazes and Monsters was based upon. He was a sixteen year old boy who was a straight A student, highly intelligent, and very succeptible to the whims of his peers. In this case, his peers were homosexual adult men who let him join their role playing games beneath the college.

Excuse me? Evidence that these were homosexual men in his group, first off.

Quote:

So immersed did he become that he started to take drugs and want to kill himself in a room in said steam tunnels.

How did the game have anythign to do with that, pray tell? Also, no mention of his already unstable mental condition in the first place, I note...

Quote:

site 1

Site 2

Did you really....really...just cite Chick tracts?

You best be trolling. You really. Really. Best be trolling.

If you aren't, I can destroy what Dark Dungeons says with half my brain tied behind my back (to borrow an El Rushbo meme)

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The Catechism of th New Age 7 Besides, what we’re doing is the way of the universe. Only the strong survive. Nice guys finish last. I’m number one. Might makes right.

Son, I've gamed almost 20 years and NEVER heard of the Catechism of New Age 7 outside of crap like this.

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Quite explicably, the name of the game is power.

No, it's all about clever use of power, teamwork, and improv acting.

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Of all the characters, the Dungeon Master is clearly the most powerful. D&D enthusiasts have no hesitation in saying that the Dungeon Master is “God.”

No, he's not God because we can bounce him out of the game, find another GM, or break out the card games.

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But the other characters are equally motivated by lust for power.

Says you. My latest character is soley motivated by a desire to have enough cash to settle down and open up a nice seafood resturant. Seriously!

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Power can be exercised by brute force or through magical spells.

You know what we call characters who think they can solve everything like that? MORONS.

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For some players, this motivation is transferred to real-life relationships. One young player admits that playing D &’D encouraged him to be deceptive and manipulative at home and in school.

I promise you; he was just as manipulative before he had D&D.

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I thought it would be great to have Merlin’s spirit inside of me; then I could do what he used to do. I tried to get deeper and deeper by playing D&D,

Using D&D to explore spirituality is like trying to read the back of Swanson TV dinner in hopes of becoming the Next Iron Chef.

Quote:

I really got into it a lot, and I would think inside of me that I wasn’ t scared of any- thing – I had power, too. I believed that I was too tough to be hurt – nothing could hurt me. I did things like jumping on a Doberman Pinscher that was chasing me and some guys, and walking off a ledge just to prove the power I had. ,

And if you thought a table top gave you that power, you my friend were already ill past the point of no return.

Quote:

A fmstrated writer admitted that he experienced “an incredible sense of power” as a Dungeon Master: “In some games, they don’t call me Dungeon Master; they call me God.”

Lost gamer sarcasm is lost.

Quote:

Fantasy power is a strong attraction to many people who feel powerless in the real world. For such people, D&?D becomes an escape from a drab and burdensome life.

In the sense that it's a fun romp where I can ham up some acting skills, perhaps.

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Advertisements for D&’D play on this aspect: “I don’t have to just hang around. I can play Dungeom and Dragons.”

Which advertisement is this?

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The degree of escape varies. Some can leave the game behind them when a session is over. For others, D&D replaces life.

Whichi s TOTALLY different from sports, TV shows, barhopping......

Quote:

They talk about nothing but their dungeon experiences. What began as a game becomes a life-dominating obsession. Such was the case with ‘John,” a 16-year-old living in Southern Califorriia: I am the Dungeon Master 98 percent of the time. I am the God of my world, the creator who manipulates the gods and humans. But my bossiness has extended itself into real life. I’ve exploited and abused people. People have hated me for it. . . . Ever since I was ten, I’ve wanted to drop out of this world.

John, my group would have tossed your sort out of our sessions within 15 minutes.

[Djavlepik]

I believe you when you sa you aren't trolling, but I'd have to say you are either very stupid or very gullible. Your 'Dallas Egbert' example is terrible for several reasons:

1. Homosexuality is not morally wrong.
2. If he got on drugs playing D&D, then he is an exception to the rule. You are far more likely to start doing drugs at a more 'socially acceptable' event like a frat party or a concert.
3. Your example states that he played D&D, but not that it caused him to lose touch with reality. That was the drugs, and, as I mentioned before, it has no correlation to the game beyond a coincidental one.

The one true fact that is often horribly misinterpreted by the media is the fact that D&D players sometimes kill themselves, probably in a slightly larger percentage than non D&D players. Most people, being stupid, assume this is because they play D&D. I would have to say that 99.999% of the time, people who play D&D were social outcasts long before they got into the game, and it is the cruel idiocy of people who DON'T play the game that drives people to ill-advised suicides from time to time.

Also, I agree with nonsuch, this topic would be more fun if it was about crummy roleplayers.