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Court Rules Dungeons and Dragons Threatens Prison Security
KermodeBear writes "Dungeons and Dragons — originally Satan's Game — has now been found to encourage gang-like behavior. In a finding by a three judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, D&D 'can mimic the organization of gangs and lead to the actual development thereof.' From the ruling: 'during D&D games, one player is denoted the "Dungeon Master." 'The Dungeon Master is tasked with giving directions to other players, which Muraski testified mimics the organization of a gang.'"
This story is at least a year old. Thanks slashdot for rehashing the past.
This is the appeal of that case. The initial ruling was upheld yesterday.
Creationist Textbook Stickers Declared Unconstitutional by CowboyNeal
I actually watched the oral argument for this case, and the appointed counsel did a really hideous job ... one of the judges (based on the testimony of the correctional officer at trial) was talking about "escapism" being a problem that was promoted by dungeons and dragons, as in it would actually lead to the players escaping from the jail. The attorney completely missed this, didn't even familiarize himself with the material that was being discussed, and generally did a half-assed job of informing the court, which also admitted they had no idea how the game worked or what its implications were. I only partially blame the judges -- after all, part of your job is to inform the court of your arguments and interpretations of facts. That's what an oral argument is for.
So yes, "escapism" is a real problem. I expect the next things to be banned in the seventh circuit to be books, closely followed by looking out the window, closely followed by thinking.
Anyway, the judges have betrayed two things:
1. They have never been in a gang, because gang heirarchy doesn't work that way.
2. They have never played Dungeons & Dragons, because they think people actually listen to the DM.
There's plenty of posts, you just can't see them since after the redesign, "abbreviated" comments completely hide all of the comments below them.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Well, my gang and I will be getting together this weekend to try and tackle the Tomb of Horrors. Hope the cops don't show up and bust us like they kicked us off a frozen pond while playing hockey a few weekends ago.
"Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
A gamer buddy of mine actual was in jail for a few years and game mastered plenty of games while he was incarcerated.
He said the escapism allowed by DnD or tabletop rpgs in general was one of the few things lifetimers had to look forward to while behind bars. I'm talking about stonecold killers with a lifetime of no parole. For a few, it was the only thing they had to look forward to in life. (You can easily argue that they don't deserve the fun they are having but that isn't what I'm trying to say.)
I think the courts are getting the wrong impression from what he told me. For example, when a player greets another player out in the yard and says "what up Olondir?" (referring to the player's character) he isn't referring to a gang name. They just have so much fun playing that they refer to each other by character names in real life.
Perhaps you should watch this... It's a 8 Bit reenactment of an DnD session.. Quite funny.
8bit DnD
I wannna cast a spell