RPGs In The 'Real World'

As more and more people realize the fun they're denying themselves by turning away from orc-bashing and dragon-baiting, mainstream businesses and media are paying more attention to RPGs. Sam the Giant writes "Barnes & Noble University is offering a free 8 hour on-line course titled 'Discover Dungeons & Dragons: Becoming a D&D Player'. The free course is described as follows: 'As a beginning player, this course will guide you in understanding how D&D works, explaining the various worlds and characters types that it is based on, creating a D&D role for yourself, and understanding how your player role interacts in the world and with other characters. You will learn the extent of your abilities and the possibilities that lie ahead for your player, including magical spells, mythic quests, and epic battles with incredible monsters.' It's free to enroll." In the same vein, NPR's great reporting turns to World of Warcraft. Dragoonmac writes "All Things Considered recently ran a feature about WoW communities, farmers, and a humorous review of real-life. A Slashdotter's must hear."

Comments

Life is a party, I wonder how I keep myself thin

[LittleBigScript]

I thought DND was something that 'happened' to you? Like an anti-choice.

What about "Barnes & Noble University" Can I get a degree?

RPG...

[Comatose51]

Obligatory Quote:

"RRR....PPPP.....GGGG........" -Blackhawk Down

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Reading the NPR article now. Hope that might make up for the Karma burning. Interesting graph of WoW Gold versus USD rate. I've always wondered about that. I remember when EQ first came out and EQ Plats were trading at a better rate than the Euro (or was it Franc) was at that time. I thought it was absurd... until the eBay character sales.

Re:RPG...

[Anonymous Coward]

lol remember when that guy shot Lincoln?

* rolls twenty-sided die *

[Anonymous Coward]

I'll pass.

Re:Life is a party, I wonder how I keep myself thi

[richdun]

Can I get a degree?

Nope, not from B&N, Amazon filed a patent yesterday for "a piece of paper denoting completion of a series of related educational courses with the intention of impressing those without said piece of paper to make more money than them. In another application, a collection of these pieces of paper are used to add every letter of the alphabet to the end of one's name, again in an attempt to compensate for inadequacies or impress those without the letters. When combined with user feedback and recommendations, a multi-million dollar 'non-profit' industry is created."

Re:You're utterly off-topic

[Anonymous Coward]

You want evidence that NPR is liberally biased?

Ok, try this website. Tons of examples.

Can I test out?

[ThePuceGuardian]

Though I am very interested in taking the intermediate course: Finding A Game Group (That Doesn't Suck). Until then, all my books will just gather dust..

Re:Life is a party, I wonder how I keep myself thi

[uberdave]

You mean like all those Israelite slaves playing "Dungeon Draggin" back in the pyramid building days?

Oblig. Reno 911

[Anonymous Coward]

"Why did you shoot your friend with an arrow?"

"I didn't. He opened the chest and set off the arrow trap inside."

"Sir, did you shoot him with that arrow?"

"No, it was a trap on the chest. He failed his reflex save and was hit by it."

"Sir, he's bleeding."

"He shouldn't have failed his reflex save."

Re:Oblig. Reno 911

[Hinhule]

You mean this?

http://drunkstunts.com/site/gallery/displayimage.p hp?album=9&pos=30

Scam?

[aj1]

Sure the 8 hour introductory course is free... But how much will the 80 hour Overcoming D&D addiction course cost? Sounds a lot like legal drugs too me! Of course who am I to say anything. This is one drug I use frequently.

Ditto

[TubeSteak]

While I realize this site is about news for nerds,
How does a title like RPGs In The 'Real World'
Not make you immediately think of things asploding?

http://science.howstuffworks.com/rpg.htm/printable
To keep this semi-ontopic, howstuffworks does discuss
RPG Basics
Tactics: How Are RPGs Used?
RPGs: The Future

The section on "Firing an RPG-7" might not be so applicable... but I bet it'll beat rolling a 20 sided dice any day.

Re:Getting into D&D?

[RubberChainsaw]

How can you leave out the classic: I wanna cast.. MAGIC MISSILE!

:)

I'm sorry, what?

[Xytheril]

The title is RPGs in the Real World. I thought the real world WAS an RPG where you are your character and you only get to play it once.

Re:Ain't Real World

[Deekin_Scalesinger]

Please, no 733+ sword is going to do 10 points of damage. Come on. You get 10 points of damage with like a dry sponge, or a fistful of leaves flung at someone. Expect a mega-reet longsword in D&D to do over 100 points of damage, once all the enchantments and criticals are taken into account (you didn't forget about the critical hits, did you?) Think outside the bun, man.