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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.'"
"A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit weighed in Wednesday [that's yesterday]."
So how is this story "at least a year old"? RTFA!
Oh and I can't help noticing the description about D&D is reminiscent of ANY organization. A Master ordering people what to do? Sounds like the President of my country or the CEO of my company.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
Oh and I can't help noticing the description about D&D is reminiscent of ANY organization. A Master ordering people what to do? Sounds like the President of my country or the CEO of my company.
Did you also notice how it's wrong with relation to D&D?
The Dungeon Master doesn't tell players what to do, he's asks them what they are going to do, and the DM just tells them the consequences.
The enemies of Democracy are
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."
There was also a Wednesday last year.
TFA does not mention dates, but the referenced court documents are all dated 2010. The Geeks Are Sexy (citation needed) link is also dated today, but it references an Above the Law story from a year ago.