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Dungeons & Dragons and the Ethics of Imaginary Violence (hopesandfears.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Are people just naturally inclined to be destructive when there aren't any real consequences? Should we be worried about people who imagine such violence? Writer Clem Bastow spoke to D&D experts, psychologists and others to answer these questions. It turns out that playing out violent fantasies in D&D is not only healthy, but could even teach players how to be a better person. “Rather than playing an extension of who you or I are within the game, I see it more as playing a fantasy character who can do whatever they want, and who doesn’t feel inhibited by social anxiety or fear of punishment or rejection. It’s an exaggerated version of how [the player] would like to be, but can’t. The game is a safe way to be this other person,” says Clinical psychologist and games designer Dr. Owen Spear.
Please consider this seriously, rather than immediately downmodding it. This is posted in the spirit of improving my understanding of people I don't always understand very well.
I've worked in IT for ages, but I'm what would be considered an "average" or "normal" person by most measures. I have a college degree, I'm married and have kids, I like football and golf, and I shave daily. I don't like to play D&D.
A lot of the people I've worked with over the years don't fit such criteria, though. They'd typically be labelled as "nerds" or "geeks". They're mostly self-taught, they're single, they hate sports, they hate to shave or shower, and they absolutely love to play D&D. They're really into wizards and elves.
What is it about D&D that draws in so many people that would be considered "abnormal"? I don't use that term in a negative way. They aren't bad people, but they are different in their own way, and there are far fewer of them than there are people like them.
Is it the escapism that D&D allows them to experience? Does this allow them to temporarily overcome the powerlessness they have in the real world? Does pretending to be a majestic archer elf give a sense of machismo, for lack of a better term, that such an individual could never experience in the real world?